Aaron Barcheck and company build beautiful bespoke bicycles as Mosaic Cycles, in my home of Boulder, Colorado. This is mine. And I love it! It's essentially a Salsa Cutthroat rendered in steel. It has clearance for both the 27.5+ wheels and tires pictured as well as 29" wheels. I have a ridiculous number of bottle mounts thanks to the three on the frame and two more on the Salsa Firestarter carbon fork. There are a few things that set it apart from what you can buy from Salsa though. Dropper post routing is one of them. While I don't have a dropper on it now, I plan on using the port as a way to quickly change between a pair of Di2 batteries. I'm making a custom frame bag for the bike that will have a corresponding port for the wire and an internal pocket for the batteries. Nor does Salsa offer this color, based on San Pelligrino's Blood Orange sparkling soda.

This bike will serve as my bikepacking bike and it's the steed that I'll use next year on Tour Divide. It will also see action in gravel races where I want mega tire clearance with 40mm tires. In a few day's time the Mosaic will experience its first multi-day trip when Kristen and I ride from Grand Teton, north along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route to Ovando, Montana. From there we'll head to Missoula to fete the 40th anniversary of the Adventure Cycling Association and the BikeCentennial. Can't wait to get out there!

Derby's wide 27.5 carbon rims are fantastic. I loved building them and they work well with both 27.5 and 27.5+ tires.

A Schmidt SON 15mm thru axle dynamo hub provides power for electronic accessories.

Almost a shame to put a strap over it. While beautiful, this bike will see its fair share of scuffs.

Kerry Straite produces K-Lites, incredibly powerful dynamo lights, handy switches and wiring harnesses designed with bikepacking in mind. Can't wait to test them in the field!

With Synchro Shift Di2, dynamo lighting and accessory charging, there are a lot of wires, but I'm fairly happy with the tidiness of it all. I've been drawing up different schematics for it all and may try to hide a junction box in a PRO Tharsis XC s… — With Synchro Shift Di2, dynamo lighting and accessory charging, there are a lot of wires, but I'm fairly happy with the tidiness of it all. I've been drawing up different schematics for it all and may try to hide a junction box in a PRO Tharsis XC stem later.

To get Shimano's Synchronized Shifting (essentially sequential shifting) you need to run the XTR Di2 display. It also allows me to switch between two shift maps that I've customized. In the future, using Shimano's updated internal battery and a firm… — To get Shimano's Synchronized Shifting (essentially sequential shifting) you need to run the XTR Di2 display. It also allows me to switch between two shift maps that I've customized. In the future, using Shimano's updated internal battery and a firmware update, any 11-speed Di2 bike will be able to run Synchro Shift.

I hit up my buddies at Industry Nine for a rear hub. Love the quality!

Shimano XTR 10-speed M985 Race cranks in a hard to find 172.5mm length. Nice low Q factor and a beautiful look if I say so myself!

Yep, I'm mixing and matching generations of components here. And you know what? They work flawlessly! Bobby Wintle and Seth Wood ran a very similar on their Tour Divide Cutthroats. Both finished today, the 4th of July! Job well done! Can't wait to h… — Yep, I'm mixing and matching generations of components here. And you know what? They work flawlessly! Bobby Wintle and Seth Wood ran a very similar on their Tour Divide Cutthroats. Both finished today, the 4th of July! Job well done! Can't wait to hear their thoughts on the parts they ran.

As you might expect if you've looked at my other bikes, I have a Selle SMP Drakon saddle on the Mosaic.

I can't thank my friends at Stages enough for the power meter. So excited to have a gravel bike equipped with one for use in structured training.

Right now the battery is housed in my seatpost, but for multi-week events I'll use this dropper post port to run the wire externally and then into the custom frame bag I've yet to make. Inside will be a special pocket for a pair of Di2 batteries.&nb… — Right now the battery is housed in my seatpost, but for multi-week events I'll use this dropper post port to run the wire externally and then into the custom frame bag I've yet to make. Inside will be a special pocket for a pair of Di2 batteries.

Shrink wrap is your friend, especially on Di2 bikes and even more so on bikepacking Di2 bikes. It keeps the wire out of the way and adds a layer to protect against a bag rubbing a hole in the wires.