The archetypal Soma Wolverine

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For us, the Soma Wolverine is the original gravel bike. Admitting that we've all been riding bikes on gravel and dirt roads forever (were the first safety bicycles not "gravel" bikes by default?), the current rising popularity of big wide slick tires in do-it-all steel frames, with drop or flat bars, is intimately linked to the Wolverine in my mind, since we spent a few years building quite a number of them for our customers and friends. It was designed as a "monstercross" frame, so a cycle for going fast on bad roads, something in between paved streets and endurance mountain biking: an all-road bike of sorts, if you will.

For proud bike-daddy Simon, the point was to get a simple, beautiful cycle, using the best parts for the job where it counts: light and tough Made in USA parts like Thomson stem and post and White Industries crank, headset and hubs, which the customer suggested. On our end, we proposed the BB7 brakes, the DT Swiss rims and the C&L hand-lacing using butted spokes, so that this bike will be able to take anything one cares to throw at it. Finish it off with 650x47C Byway tires and a 1x11 SRAM transmission and you have yourself a ride that will turn heads and ride smoothly for years to come.

Photos by the handsomest fella with a camera Jonathan Chhun