Philadelphia-based builder Drew Guldalian of Engin showed a sweet titanium hardtail mountain bike he made for Donna Norstad, who helps her husband Mark run Paragon Machine Works in Richmond, California.

The head tube is made by Paragon and it arrived in Drew’s workshop pre-etched with his company logo. Drew then stenciled the Paragon logo onto the top of the matte-finish top tube paint.

Headtube etching courtesy of Paragon Machine Works.    All photos: Brad Quartuccio/Philly Bike Expo

A little curve was applied near the bottom of the seat tube to provide some extra clearance for the rear tire. It’s a 1 ⅜” tube bent around a 6” radius. Up at the top, there’s a 120mm dropper seat post. “Everybody wants those these days,” says Guldalian.

The part of the bike he’s most proud of though is the rear dropouts. “Mark asked for Engin dropouts, I’m honored by this,” said Drew. His pride is understandable given that Paragon makes a hugely popular rear dropout that sells around the world. “I bought a CNC machine two years ago instead of going to NAHBS,” he explains.

Engin Cycles' Drew Guldalian

In conversation, Guldalian expounded the qualities of the urban single-track riding within the Philadelphia city limits. He reckons it has to be some of the best urban single-track in the country and he’s open to proving this to any journalist or blogger traveling to Philly for the 2017 expo.