As part of the run-up to the 2024 MADE Bike Show in Portland, we're featuring some builders that we're stoked to have in our booth at the show. First up is Woodpecker Cycles from Lacey, Washington. Woodpecker is piloted by Daren Beenen and Bruce Rolland (in Des Moines, Iowa). Check out more of their work on their Instagram page.
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Daren built this bike for his wife, and we love the multi-purpose nature of it. As he puts it:
The bike is a 27.5x2.6 long tail step through creation. The intent was to build my wife something for taking kids to the park, but look cool doing it. It also doubles as a trail building machine!
In keeping with the versatile, unconventional nature of the bike it features a Bosch CX-Race motor for maximum "wooooo!" factor both on the trail and hauling kids and/or groceries.
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Here are some more specs.
- Stan's Barron rims, Industry Nine 1/1 hubs
- Doom Bars, Paul stem, and Wolftooth grips
- Sram GX AXS drivetrain, TRP Slate Evo brakes
- Cane Creek Helm DJ fork
- TransX dropper seat post and Brooks saddle
Dirt Jump fork and dropper post on a longtail cargo bike?! Yes please!
Without further ado, let's jump into a Q&A with Daren himself!
VPL
Why don't you start out by telling us about your your background in bikes and metalworking and frame building and all that?
Daren
Okay, so my metalworking background sort of started when I joined the army...when I joined the army, my first job was actually a welder and machinist. But we did welding that was really crude - "Weld this bumper or weld this cage or armor plates" or something like that.
So it was just make metal stick together. It wasn't really to make beautiful things. And then it slowly turned into making fancier stuff. A unit would say "Hey, I need you to make this pretty sign that will go in front of my headquarters."
So I'd make stuff out of aluminum, then I'd sand it and then paint it and make it all look pretty. Then it turns out those people (welders) in the Army don't get promoted, so I changed jobs. But that gave me the basics on TIG welding, MIG welding, and using a torch and stuff like that.
And then I got into cycling because randomly my wife had a cheap Fuji 26er. I've always loved running and stuff and one day I said "I'm going to pump the tires up in this thing and I'm going to try it out."
And I know it sounds stupid, but I hadn't really ridden a bike much since I was a kid, so I got on this Fuji and it was immediately this feeling of "Oh my god this is exhilarating! I can go so far now! This is amazing!"
And so within two months or so I became obsessed, but I became obsessed with NAHBS (North American Handmade Bicycle Show) and the idea that there were people out there building extremely intricate, very ornate and off-the-wall bikes with cool paint jobs. And there was this association of weirdos, kind of, that obsessed over these extremely expensive bikes. I could go buy a Colnago or a Trek or whatever and spend way less money and get something way lighter and more dynamic certainly. But you know, is it as cool as this?
NAHBS is what catapulted me into the idea of custom bikes. So then I stewed on that for a long time because when you get into custom frame building, there's kind of a few ways to do it: you're either Richard Sachs and you're smoking cigarettes and filing everything by hand, or you're a CNC machinist and you're like Reeb where you've got a guy that's a wizard with a CNC (Adam Prosise) and making all these cool parts and 3D printing frame parts. There's a middle of the road also, but that's kind of how it appeared. And I had zero interest in fillet brazing; I wanted to go the TIG route, and I knew I wanted to have some very specific tools to do it.
So then three years ago, my buddy and I wanted to start the company. We're actually in separate locations. He's in Iowa, in Des Moines, and I'm out here in Washington. Eventually, the company will be be together, but we didn't want to make two different brands and go through all the rabbit holes of doing that.
VPL
Can you talk about the name Woodpecker and what it means to you?
Daren
So Woodpecker - this is going to be a really fabulous story. It's a joke! The first thing I came up with was Woodpecker and because it sounded funny and I'm in the military, and I don't know if you have any friends that are in the military but we take very little serious. Like it's hard to keep up with us where it's all jokes all the time. I'd come up with a bunch other names - we looked at Fireweed and Lupine Cycles and a bunch other stuff and I was literally polling my friends when it got close to my first frame being done - "What should we call it?" So they suggested "You're just not that serious, just go with Woodpecker." Then I thought "All right, that's funny. I'll take Woodpecker."
And then somebody said "I mean, it fits the bill."
VPL
Haha, perfect! How many bikes have you two built?
Daren
He's built I think three or four; he's definitely more of a hobbyist. I'm at I think 18 right now. 18 or 19. The first year I built a ton, the second year I kind of slowed down a little bit, and then this year I've done three so far. I got into making some single pivot full suspensions and then my wife's bike. Suspension bikes are generally not super complicated, but they require a lot more planning then a lot of other bikes because there's all sorts of little crap to think about.
VPL
What's your favorite kind of bike to build?
Daren
I mean, I haven't done anything for the road. Everything that I built is intended to touch dirt. The road is the devil. No, not really. I love, I love road riding, I love road racing...but if I look at my budget on what I'm buying parts for, it better be able to get on the dirt, because there's no traffic there, and generally my customers are similar. Most of them want to ride off-road, whether that's gravel, trail, or whatever. That's what I push towards and that's what I enjoy doing.
These full suspensions, I surprisingly do love building. I've designed the bike with manufacturing as important as the kinematics or the geometry. So I try to make it the most garage-manufacturable full suspension you can. I use a 44 millimeter headset for it for the main pivot. The seat tube is two pieces - there's an upper portion to the seat tube, so there's really no jig required there. Then the yoke is laser cut and uses...a Paragon Machine Works stem clamp...I just slice that in half and that welds to the yoke and that's my pinch bolts. So I really enjoy making the full suspension.
VPL
Who are your influences? What what stuff do you love that's coming out right now that really influences the work that you're doing?
Daren
I think in the frame building community, it's massive because this is probably the most inclusive community I've ever been in, ever. 99% of people want other people to be successful, and they want to share their process, how they're doing it, because I think a lot of us are more into the...process and seeing somebody else replicate what you did because it's kind of a term of endearment almost.
I mean, 44 Bikes, obviously, is massive. Because he is the whole package, and he focuses on things that I really appreciate, like the aesthetics of not only his bikes but the aesthetics that surround his photography and the shop. And I really can associate to that as well. Because I think the process and the feeling is just as important as the actual product itself.
Hill Frameworks - he's a similar hobby builder.
Starling Cycles, obviously, for like the full suspensions I build. I didn't invent anything. I looked at what Starling did, and I thought "I like that. I'm going make an American Starling," and it just happens to be a Woodpecker.
And then obviously Tomii Cycles. He makes really nice custom one offs, but simple, well-painted gravel bikes, all-road bikes, and stuff like that. I really like the aesthetics of his stuff, too.
VPL
You talked about NAHBS and how it inspired you early on. Did you ever make it to one? If not, is MADE going to be your first bike show that you've had product displayed at?
Daren
Yeah, so I did never get to NAHBS. That was kind of before I was obsessed, but internet obsessed with it, right? And I hadn't made the emotional jump where my wife would agree to it - "You can totally go to another part of the country to look at bike frames." We weren't there in our lives yet, you know? There's levels of commitment and I hadn't made it to that part yet. Now if I said I'm going to go to Antarctica, she'd say "Yeah, whatever, whatever you want. That's fine, I know you're insane."
This is the first time I will have a bike displayed anywhere. I originally tried to get my own booth at MADE and couldn't get a booth. So then I was just resigned to it, and then you guys reached out, and I thought "Yay, I wanted it at MADE anyways."
VPL
What sort of projects do you have coming up that are super exciting to you that are maybe out of the ordinary or what kind of weird stuff are you thinking about?
Daren
So I've got a couple cool bikes coming up, well three.
So right now in the jig is a gravel bike and it's sort of...an amalgamation of...my adventure bike and...a lightweight gravel frame. I normally use a 31.6mm seat seat post and 31.8mm or even 35mm down tube; this one is sort of both. So I'm using skinny tubes - 27.2mm seat tube - but then still putting room for giant 2.1" tires.
Then I also have a pair of frames for a guy and his friend. He's a retired Special Forces soldier who now works for a couple different charities. And they're going to do the tour divide next year. So I'm building a pair of bikes for the tour divide for those guys. And they'll be fully decked out - fully built bikes, bike packing bags, frame bags, everything, the works.
And then I have been drawing a full suspension that I'm trying to make an e-bike full suspension. And I've just been kind of kicking around different link designs.
Thanks so much to Daren for taking the time! We can't wait to see your bike at the MADE show!