Stories
Nathan’s Story
For most riders, the thrill of mountain biking comes from tackling tough climbs and feeling in control around every turn. But Nathan Biles wanted more. He had always wanted to try making his own bike, and now he finally had the opportunity to do it.
Nathan had always toyed with the idea of building his own mountain bike, but the opportunity to make it a reality only presented itself recently. “I decided it would be a good project to work on because I wasn’t sure if I could do it,” he said. It was a challenge he couldn’t resist—especially for someone aspiring to become an aerospace engineer.
As Nathan worked through the design and construction of the bike, he found the project aligned perfectly with his future goals. “Being an aerospace engineer means constantly working through problems and challenges. Building this bike taught me how to approach and solve those problems step by step,” he explained.
“The best moment was when I saw it all finished and took it out for the first ride,” he said. “After putting in over 500 hours, it was an incredible feeling to have it done and to ride something I built with my own hands.”
What made Nathan’s journey even more impressive was the fact that he taught himself everything from scratch. Without much information available on custom bike building, he dove headfirst into the unknown. “I started with simple sketches of how I wanted the frame to look,” he said. From there, he took his own body measurements to calculate the optimal geometry for the bike, ensuring it would fit him perfectly. After weeks of calculations, he designed the suspension’s kinematics and transferred all the numbers into CAD, where he crafted the frame and molds for 3D printing. The molds had to be printed in small sections and glued together before Nathan cast the frame out of carbon fiber using dry carbon cloth and resin.
Nathan’s approach to stress testing the bike was as hands-on as the rest of the process. “I did simulations in CAD to optimize the shape of the frame, but in real life, I just slowly gave it more stress while riding until I felt it was ready to race,” he said.
Looking ahead, Nathan already has big plans for the next version of his bike. “I plan on doing almost everything differently,” he admitted. “For one, I’ll use fiberglass molds and prepreg carbon, which already has the resin impregnated into it.”
Despite the challenges and the steep learning curve, Nathan’s favorite part of the project was seeing the final product come together. “The best moment was when I saw it all finished and took it out for the first ride,” he said. “After putting in over 500 hours, it was an incredible feeling to have it done and to ride something I built with my own hands.”
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