This year's NAHBS was somewhat of a coming-out party for Boulder, Colorado builder Aaron Barcheck and his Mosaic Cycles brand. Though in business for several years, his gorgeous titanium and steel bikes really drew serious attention this year.(Image credit: James Huang)
This Mosaic titanium bike looks particulary good with paint.(Image credit: James Huang)
Sure, why not hit the local dirt jumps on a custom titanium machine?(Image credit: James Huang)
Ports for the internally routed cables are drilled at an angle.(Image credit: James Huang)
Clean-looking Paragon dropouts are used out back.(Image credit: James Huang)
Mosaic often uses integrated seatposts.(Image credit: James Huang)
Not surprisingly, there were a lot of disc brake-equipped road bikes at this year's NAHBS.(Image credit: James Huang)
Mosaic builds mostly titanium frames but steel is in Aaron Barcheck's repertoire, too, as evidenced by this 'cross bike.(Image credit: James Huang)
Mosaic builds a wide range of bikes but most of the machines in the NAHBS booth were of the performance variety.(Image credit: James Huang)
More blasted graphics.(Image credit: James Huang)
Better make sure the seat height is right on this one!(Image credit: James Huang)
This Mosaic titanium hardtail was simply stunning.(Image credit: James Huang)
Mosaic's head tube badge graphic is mirrored on the seat tube of this titanium frame.(Image credit: James Huang)
Mosaic is a big fan of selective media blasting for creating permanent graphics on his titanium frames.(Image credit: James Huang)
Fantastic paint work on this Mosaic machine. Check out the colored housing and cable donuts, too. Details, folks. Details.(Image credit: James Huang)
Smart man, that Aaron Barcheck. The Mosaic Cycles builder crafted this rig for his wife, Liz.(Image credit: James Huang)
My my, to whom might this gorgeous bike belong?(Image credit: James Huang)
Mosaic's eye-catching head tube badge.(Image credit: James Huang)
We expect big things from Mosaic in the coming years.(Image credit: James Huang)
Frame builder Aaron Barcheck had been somewhat of a local secret. Many in his hometown of Boulder, Colorado knew of his skills, but he wasn't quite a household name. But Barcheck put on a big show at this year's NAHBS, with nearly a dozen gorgeous machines in both titanium and steel. Come Monday, we don't anticipate Mosaic Cycles will be much of a secret anymore.
Barcheck is well versed in both TIG-welded and lugged construction and he works in steel and titanium. After seven years at Dean under the tutelage of John Siegrist, though, it's perhaps no surprise that most of Mosaic's display bikes were titanium this year, including road, mountain and even dirt jumper variants.
Mosaic is fast developing some trademark features, too, including integrated seatmasts, ultra-trick masked and selectively media blasted frame finishes, and a characteristic paint layout that could be identified even with the name on the down tube.
With a rare mix of technical skill and artistic creativity, we expect big things from Barcheck moving forward. We've covered Mosaic at previous NAHBS events and recently offered an inside look at the company's Boulder workshop. If you haven't taken a good look at Barcheck's work before, better late than never.
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