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All of us at Bivo appreciate thoughtful design and ingenuity. That’s why we’re excited to share the story behind an awesome, small bike company Neuhaus Metalworks and ARTEFACT. They figured out how to make sure that two water bottles could fit on every one of their mountain bikes, not necessarily typical for mountain bikes with dropper posts.

We’ll be at Sea Otter in Monterey next week and we’ll have one of Neuhaus’ bikes on display with our bottles. In Monterey next week? Come visit Bivo’s booth (B49), say hello, and get a sneak peak of our newest product, dropping next week…

I am on a mission: to put two bottles on all bikes. I wish I were kidding, but it's true. Most mountain bikes do not have two water bottles. Like many readers of the BIVO blog, I enjoy drinking water, especially while riding my bike.

My name is Daniel, and I design and build custom bikes with Nick Neuhaus for Neuhaus Metalworks and ARTEFACT. Framebuilding gets romanticized as an art—and while there’s truth in that, what excites me is solving real-world problems with design and engineering. In college and graduate school, I fell in love with riding bikes: recreational, commuting, racing, I love it all. I always dreamed of building bikes, but never had the opportunity. That all changed when I moved to Northern California for work. 

Northern California happens to be home of many legendary framebuilders like Tom Ritchey and Charlie Cunningham. I believe there is something about the creative spirit, culture, topography, and riding in the Bay Area that cultivates so many talented framebuilders. I managed to connect with Nick Neuhaus, and we began building frames together in 2020. A few years later, when the tech market crashed, I took the leap of faith to pursue this dream full time.

It’s never easy, but always rewarding.

So what is my obsession with bottles? I grew up riding in Southern California, where it is hot, dry, and loose. On mountain bike rides, water isn’t just nice to have — it’s the limiting factor for outdoor activities, especially if you sweat a lot, like me. That is why I always rode hardtails, because it has more frame capacity for water than a full suspension. Yet, most modern hardtails can only fit one bottle. The culprit? Dropper Seatposts.

Dropper posts have revolutionized mountain biking, allowing riders to lower their saddle on descents for better control. But it requires a deep insertion into the seat tube, which interferes with the water bottle mounts. The problem is even worse on smaller frame sizes. Riders often resort to hydration backpacks, but nothing is worse than wearing a sweaty backpack while trying to climb a mountain!

Finding a solution to the two water bottle dilemma was the very first thing I did as a framebuilder. My technical background is in 3D printing, which allows you to think outside the box of traditional manufacturing techniques. By using a 3D-printed stainless steel bracket, we can angle the water bottle mount out of the frame, allowing for an additional 60mm of insertion depth. A tiny detail, but every millimeter matters when I am trying to maximize hydration space! This simple part allows us to put two bottles in the main triangle on all sizes without compromising dropper insertion.

These simple and elegant solutions are what I love about framebuilding.

What started as a fancy 3D-printed bottle bracket on our custom bikes has made its way onto our latest project: the new Hummingbird Core Collection, our made-in-Taiwan production bike. You don’t need one of our fancy custom bikes to experience the joys of hydration!

Production bikes are a big step for us as a business. Even though our new Hummingbirds are made by another manufacturer, I try to make every bike design special and thoughtful. If anything, I put more love and thought into our production bikes! Plus, we are still building custom bikes in our Novato shop every week. The best of both worlds.

If an extra water bottle is what allows someone to ride longer or tackle the next climb with confidence, then my mission is complete.

Framebuilding isn’t as glamorous as it looks from the outside. I work twice as hard and make half as much as I would in a “real job.” But despite that, I keep going. The drive, the motivation, and the passion are still there. And it’s the simple things that fuel me—riding a bike I built with my own hands, watching a customer’s face light up on their first pedal stroke, and, yes, figuring out how to fit two bottles on a small frame.

This spring, check us out at Sea Otter Classic! I just came back from a trip to Taiwan last month to film a Youtube series to explore the culture and boutique metal bike manufacturing!