Our first Dream Build wasn’t on YouTube. It was on paper. Beta Gear Editor (and former World Cup mechanic) Ryan Palmer, whose corrugated aluminum lair you’re about to step into, first made fantasy into reality on the printed page back in 2013, where a few lucky, probably undeserving magazine editors got to build their perfect bikes. But Dream Builds are about the journey as much as the destination, so the whole process is artfully documented by our Video Editor, Satchel Cronk. Please have a seat, relax and settle in for Beta’s Dream Builds.
Photos: Satchel Cronk
For most of us, choosing the parts for our Dream Builds was a surprisingly easy process. There’s an endless world of options out there, but once you have a vision, everything kinda falls into place. We have a goal in mind, and we’re familiar enough with that endless world of options that we know immediately which rear shock will achieve that goal. Or which tires or which handlebar. But the thing is, the bike we end up with on the other side is often a bit of a mess. You buy a bike out of the box, and the carpet will match the drapes, as you might say. But we’re spending all this time getting custom stickers, black spoke nipples, or the XO1 group with the red accents, not the gray accents. It takes some effort to make a Dream Build look like all of its pieces belong together.
And then, there’s Anthony Smith’s Commencal Meta TR. Beta’s photo director put together this mirrored masterpiece to represent the ultimate in high-impact mid-travel fun, and it looks like it was carved out of platinum. No stickers, no accents, just raw, polished perfection. Not all dreams have to be in color.
And of course, Ryan Palmer was there to make it into a reality. Palmer’s workshop, as always, is as carefully thought-out, painstakingly organized, and as full of Apple products as a Genius Bar. If you borrow a 4mm, make sure you put it back.
