Rob’s 333Fab*Meriwether

(Guest post by Rob Reed)

Purple bikes have an infamous history in my family…

Back in the mid-1970’s, a used Bob Jackson painted in purple-and-gold Mardi Gras colors was probably the single most valuable thing my family owned outside of our 1963 convertible VW Bug.  On one epic move from California back to the midwest, the trailer holding all of our belongings came unhooked from the truck and went down a ravine somewhere in Arizona.  Clothing, housewares, books all strewn along the highway, and my father made sure that the bike was retrieved safely, first.  

That bike sat in a shed in Texas for 30+ years until I had it shipped back to California, where it was restored with the incredible help of Tony Tom at Bicycle Odyssey, and repainted by Joe Bell in San Diego.  The Bob Jackson lives on in resplendent glory, and recently was my ride for the 2025 Marin Century – still a classic with an incredible ride on factory-spec’d Phil Wood hubs, Dura-Ace cranks, and Campagnolo brakes and Nuovo Record derailleurs.  It is a bike that will get passed on to my own sons, and hopefully to their children as well.

Five years ago, I began a conversation with a local framebuilder who had recently moved to San Anselmo CA from Seattle, Max Kullaway of 333Fab.  I was looking for that all-road bicycle that could take me across the Pyrenees, up and down Mt Tamalpais, or back and forth to San Francisco on the regular, all with grace and comfort and enough aggression to make it fun to ride.  Max and I had many long discussions about riding and life; he was fighting cancer at the time so we focused on the important things.  We got a design roughed out, picked out some tubes and components, but we both knew that his shorter and shorter windows of coherence while in hospice meant that the bike was aspirational.  His grace and warmth in those final months still bring a sad smile to my face, as he set an example for me that I am not sure I would be able to follow.

Max passed away four years ago, August 3rd 2021.  The tubes sat in a box for two years and collected dust.  It was hard to look at, that box and the bicycle that it promised.  My father, he of the Bob Jackson infamy, passed away two years ago and I realized shortly after his passing that both he and Max would want that bike to get built, and the bike should feature purple.

Nine months ago I emailed Whit with a request to join his custom bike queue.  Reading Whit’s blogs, looking at his custom Ti work, and seeing that his location was not too far away from San Anselmo all made me optimistic that perhaps the bike could get built after all.  

Whit was incredibly kind and understanding and “got the vibe” of the bike immediately.  We did not cut any corners or rush any aspect, and for a time I was sending more emails to Whit than my own family.  His attention to detail was perfectly attuned to what needed to be done.

The frame was always going to be a Ti frame; as my oldest son says, I am a fussy man over 50, so custom Ti is mandatory.  However, credit here goes to Kent Eriksen and Brad Bingham for building my custom Ti MTB Hardtail (10k miles+ and counting on that bike) and custom cyclo-cross bike (50k+ miles and counting after a decade of adventures), so I was no stranger to Ti and its properties of never rusting, providing lively frames with some built-in bump absorption, and its timeless beauty with a simple bead-blasted finish.  A Kent Eriksen/Brad Bingham Ti weld is pure art, in my opinion, and Whit’s work is in that same category.

The bike that Whit created speaks for itself in the pictures… We chose to keep the frame itself raw Ti but add purple components and anodizing, with as many “local” parts as possible – White Industries rear hub. Paul Stem, Phil Wood seat clamp, Drust tail light mount, etc etc.  My oldest son Walden Reed designed custom logos which combined the 333Fab logo and the Meriwether graphics with a lovely font and front head badge.  The final design was executed beautifully by Agave Finish Works in Colorado, and the bike arrived at its home in mid-July 2025.  Whit and I were lucky to get the last purple SON dyno hub, and having a bike with all of the braze-ons and build-in lighting means that I can approach my recent retirement from corporate-land with an eye towards multi-day bike wandering either in my back yard or anywhere that promises adventure on excellent trails.

This bike is not just a bike, it is my contribution to the family heirloom collection, and might be the most valued possession I have… not because of its monetary value, but because of its history and the amazing people, living and eternal, who have put their imprint on it.  

-rob reed, san anselmo ca

Meriwether’s notes on the build:

Custom bikes are always a collaboration but this one turned it up a few notches. In some ways it was easier since I started with Max’s geometry and could use the tubes Max had set aside for the build. But with new standards almost every year we had to change out the dropouts so he could use the SRAM Transmission rear derailleur, and add larger tire clearance than Max had originally planned for since 700×55’s weren’t a thing in the gravel bike world when he created the drawing. After some headscratching I was able to bend the chainstays a bit more to clear the bigger tires and use a driveside yoke. I was also able to use the T47 BB, 170mm Paragon head tube, 27.2 seat tube collar and seat tube, and 35mm top tube. But he hadn’t chosen a downtube yet so i added what would best complement the designed use of the bike. With this “collaboration” of tubes and design work, I like to think part of Max is in this build. The custom anodization by Peter of Agave Finishworks highlights the one-of-a-kind graphics that’ll never be used again – all designed by Rob’s son, Walden. How cool is that?!

Once i dropped the frame off he and Walden built it up. They did all the lighting connectors and routing using the holes I drilled in the frame and rack, though he added a hole at the back of the rack to get a cleaner routing. The rack can be detached and the wiring left inside the tubes and the taillight can then be mounted to the seatstay boss using a purple Drust mount.

I’m really happy with how this bike turned out and how it’ll be a family heirloom. Walden already loves riding it, relegating his dad back to the Eriksen when they ride together.

Once it was all built up i joined Rob for a ride around the same trails I’ve ridden since i was a kid but this time on bikes i built. Descending dirt in the drops is always a good time – having a blast on two wheels some 40 years later. It’s not just a bike…it’s so much more.