Mitchell Connell

Over the past few years, Mitchell Connell has fallen in love with road riding with his friends – but he never felt at home on his Scott Addict road bike. He turned to Charles Thompson of Fine Bikes to design a dedicated road bike from the perspective of a fellow commuter, bike mechanic, and racer. Read more about their design process, visiting Charles’ shop, and how his bike turned out. Ten years ago, I would have balked at the idea of going on a “road ride”.

Last year Mitchell Connell fell in love with a custom road bike he saw at a bike show. After missing an opportunity to test ride the bike, he took a road trip to Raleigh, North Carolina to find it and its creator, Charles Thompson of Fine Bikes. Along the way, Mitchell got to pay a visit to the iconic local shop, Oak City Cycling, and get the tour of Raleigh’s mixed-surface riding. Working in a bike shop, I see a lot of bikes.

Spencer and I have been riding bikes together for 15 years. Since then, Spencer developed a career building and repairing guitars in Nashville, Tennessee. Back when we were younger, we spent a lot of time hanging around our local bike shop, Halcyon, and working on our bikes on their community stands. His bikes are deeply practical, very unique, and kind of clapped out. I’m not here to tell anyone what to do, but I wish more people built and rode bikes like Spencer.