Posted on December 14, 2022 by Tyler Benedict
The new Wilde Dream Engine drop bar bikes are made for adventure, and made in the USA. Designed for bikepacking, gravel grinding, or just playing around off the beaten path, they come with a variety of mounts, massive tire clearance, and your choice of steel or titanium frames.
Founder Jeff Frane says the model was built for things like the Tour Divide, where riders are off grid, in the backcountry, and putting in lots of miles and long hours. The steel bike is shown here in red and black, the titanium model in raw and brown.
Both bikes fit 29×2.6″ tires and use a Salsa Cutthroat carbon fork with 3-point “Anything” cage mounts on both legs. A bit extra chainstay length gives them room for those bigger tires, but also adds stability for loaded touring.
They get three-point mounts on top and bottom of the downtube, plus a standard two-point bottle cage mount on the seat tube.
Save for stealth dropper post routing, all cables run externally through Paragon Machine Works’ modular bolt-on cable guides.
The frame gets rack and fender mounts, with the Ti bike getting shielded rear dropouts housing a Boost-spaced thru-axle. Flat mount brakes allow all modern drop-bar groups to fit.
The steel bikes get simpler dropouts, still Boost-spaced, but add an extra mounting point.
The only real differences, other than frame material, are the chainstay yoke on the titanium bike (it’s a bit more shapely) and the seat tube diameter. The steel bike fits 27.2mm seatposts, and the titanium bike fits 30.9mm posts.
Top tube “feed bag” mounts are standard on both, and they get a handcrafted Jen Green Headbadge, which is normally offered as a separate upgrade.
The steel Dream Engines get a standard wet paint finish. Framesets are $2,600, including fork, and complete bikes are available upon request with your choice of components.
The titanium Dream Engines get a Cerakote finish and is $4,900 for the frameset with fork. Both bikes can be had with custom paint or Cerakote finishes. Geometry charts and more info on their website.
WildeBikes.com
