***Update July 2023*** we’ve got a shipment about to leave Mone HQ so if you’re in the market for any of these lovely frames read on and get clicking.
We first got to know Cjell Monē from his trickle of blog posts outlining some his bike tours including 3 Tour Divide runs, 2 AZT rides, trips through India, Thailand, Nepal, NZ and our beautiful homeland of Australia to name a few. At a point along the way he began making his own bikes for his adventures in the back of a 1977 Toyota Camper. Some time has passed, his Toyota camper has grown into a larger bread delivery truck and his production has expanded to include 3 stock models being made in Taiwan that beautifully compliment the incredible custom work the comes out of Breadquarters in Silver City, NM.
Cjell’s unique combination of dirt touring experience, technical riding ability and engineering background have resulted in some of the best thought out and visually stunning bikepacking frames available. The hand brazed brass is a really nice touch and a constant across the range of products.
The three production models cover much of what people are looking for in hardtails, dirt tourers and gravel bikes. The El Continente is a drop bar- dirt road dreamboat. A little shorter in the top tube and taller in the head tube than your average bike, putting the drops in a place that just feels right to ride all day. The La Roca is an aggro hardtail that is ready for a long travel fork or a Bi-plane fork, or both! Making it a very versatile option for anyone looking to ride single track all day and then build a fire and sleep in a tent. Both these frames feature Cjell’s own Monē Changer tensioning system allowing for a tuneable rear end to accomadate 27+, 29 or 29+ with the minimum length preserving short and playful wheelbases as well as the option of singlespeed. Scalloped seat stays and anything cage mounts are part of what makes these so damn tasty. El Pebblito is the little cousin of both La Roca and El Continente, its Cjells own take on a gravel bike and comes in two guises to fit post mount or flat mount brakes, the post mount shares the same Monē changer system for chain tension as its bigger cousins. Read on as we dive a little deeper into each model.
La Roca
La Roca is up to it 3rd iteration now. I’m still rocking a V1 that sports a 150mm fox fork and a host of really nice bits from Paul, Chris King and White Industries. It’s a total party and a lot of fun from anything from multi day bikepacking routes like the Victoria Divide through to a weekend at Maydena (this might have pushed bike and body to the absolute limit but goes to show this bike might just be the only bike you need)
v3 has just been released and has had a few updates. The seat tube has been lowered further that previous models which means 175-200mm droppers are no problem. The High bottom bracket and neutral seat tube angle mean you can run a huge range of forks from 120-160mm. The stock for comes in either straight or tapered steerer which both work out to around a 120mm suspension corrected fork length.
El Pebblito
The latest release from the Mone bike stable comes in two flavours. Flat mount brakes or post mount with telescopic chainstays. The Columbus Max tubing creates a lightweight well balanced platform, the tubes are nicely shaped to add both strength and flair, there’s really nice detail the further you gaze at it’s beauty.
Cjell set out to build a gravel bike that was comfortable for long days in the saddle and produced something truly beautiful and unique. The Post mount version fits up to 29×2.1 inch tyres via use of the Mone Changer chainstays meaning spec’ing Rene Herse Fleecer Ridge is hard to look past. In the flat mount option one might opt for the newly released Manastash Ridge in a 44mm. You can also choose to run 650b tyres up to about 2.1 inch. Want a dropper? No problems there either!
El Continente
As the name suggests this is a continent crushing rig. If you are dreaming of long comfortable days in the saddle on some of the worst backroads on the planet this bike might just fit the bill. The El Conti utilizes super slack seat tube meaning three sizes fit most riders as taller seat posts extends the overall frame reach. The top tube is tall so there’s heaps of real-estate for frame bags and gear, you’ll also find lots of braze-ons for cargo so there no doubt you’ll find room for the gear you want on a cross country jaunt. For a big bike with 29+ rubber the El Continente is incredibly playful and fun to ride in so many conditions not only long dusty back roads. These are currently sold out but we are expecting these to available again in time for Summer.
Here’s a few builds for over the years:
Are they able to take a Rohloff hub?
Hi Sascha yes they can, It requires the A12 hub to integrate with the 148mm rear end.