The Bikes We Keep: David Hong’s Forever Bikes
By Ryan Kim
Hello everyone! Today’s feature takes us to South Korea, where Kim recently caught up with David to take a closer look at his bike collection. David is one of the most well-known riders in the local scene, with a riding style and personal approach to bikes that needed to be shown here. If you’d like to submit your guest articles, don't hesitate to use the contact page to get in touch!
Enjoy the read!
I recently met up with David Hong (a.k.a. @afe_hdy1016 ) to take a look at his bike collection. As a member of the 0nstag3 crew, covered in a previous write-up, he’s one of the most well-known riders out here in South Korea. Best known for his aggressive riding style, as well as being a mechanic at the old Spellbound shop, David has left a strong mark on the Korean cycling culture.
He has more than a handful of bikes, all tastefully built. Of those, today I'd like to focus on two of his builds.
Affinity Metropolitan 2012
This Metropolitan was one of the first-generation colorways, which he acquired used. He mentions that this is the bike he holds the closest to his heart out of all of his bikes throughout the years.
But why the Metropolitan?
David used to work at Spellbound, which was one of the OG fixed-gear shops in South Korea. Spellbound always maintained a very close relationship with Affinity as its sole distributor here. So naturally, David's first encounter with Affinity was when he started working there and batches of new Affinity framesets arrived at the shop one after another. Working on them and taking them out for test rides, the quality and uniqueness of these frames drew his attention. On top of that, the owner of the shop had always talked them up, framing them in a positive light.
Then David came across the movie <Premium Rush>. As you may have seen from a bunch of scenes, the main character, Wilee, was mashing down the streets of New York on his trusty Metropolitan. These scenes stayed heavily engraved in David's mind, making him want this bike even more. He then went on to try every single Affinity model, including the Cyclone, multiple Kissenas, the Lo Pro, and the Anthem. However, he found himself dissatisfied and always circled back to wanting the OG Metropolitan, drawn to its iconic movie star status, classic looks, and rarity.
Ever since then, he was on the lookout for one. For years, he could not find any for sale in Korea due to how old it already was. But finally, during the pandemic, he found a listing that also happened to be in his perfect size and immediately jumped on it.
When he first got the bike, it was built with basic Spellbound components: Miche wheels, Omnium cranks, and the like. Before long, though, he grew bored of steel bikes and gradually stopped riding them. At the time, he was still in high school, juggling several other bikes and lacking both the time and money to build them exactly the way he wanted. The Metropolitan was eventually put into storage, first at his place, then at Spellbound, where it sat for nearly three years.
During that time, the bike was put on display in the shop. While working there, he had famous visitors, rappers and YouTubers among them, sign the downtube as they passed through. Finally, after three long years, he had the chance to rebuild it when the Spellbound shop closed and he had to take the bike out of storage.
Detailed Parts List
Frameset
2012 Affinity Metropolitan with 1” Wound up track
Chainring and Cog AARN Pro 47T, Max Torque 17T
Crank Super Sugino 75
Seatpost and Saddle
Thomson Masterpiece, 1990 Selle Italia Flite
Stem and Handlebar
Salsa, Nitto B264AA
Wheels
Hed Belgium laced to Phil Wood classic (With Phil Wood spokes)
It was still his favorite frameset, a neo-classic staple. Just like how the C-track and the GT GTB got their legendary status, he sought to put the OG Metropolitan on that same level. He was motivated to build this bike up properly as a modern classic with his own unique twist. Take a look at the OG Flite saddle, Wound-up fork, Super 75 crankset, Salsa stem, etc., and you may think this is a show bike.
But the closer you get, the more you start to understand. When people think of these classic bikes, they think of a babied museum piece, but he wanted something that was actually ridden by him, like Chas's C-Track, beat to the end of its life. He actually rode this Metropolitan as a true workhorse, with a daily 40 km commute to his school, then another 10 km to work.
Notice how his bar tapes are different colors? One side is medical gauze. The other side was leftover from a shop customer who wrapped their riser bars. The bike is full of faults. The Salsa stem was bought off an eBay auction, and his Nitto risers were from a random kid in his neighborhood, for which he paid less than $10.
"The soft compliance of this steel frame and the stability from its geometry are so memorable. When I ride it, it feels so well balanced, and this is the one I will never be letting go. A true forever bike."
2018 Mash Steel "Silver Smoke"
This one you have seen before from my previous posting back in 2024. “Korean Fixed Gear Comeback, with Onstage”
The previously mentioned "other steel bike" he had was this or some other version of the Mash Steel. This one specifically is his fourth Mash steel/Cinelli Mash Work and the second time he has owned this exact colorway.
David believes that this is the best colorway of any Mash Steel: a colorway that he won't get bored of and won't show its scratches too much.
To tell his story of why this is one of his all-time favorite bikes, we have to go back to Spellbound and his home away from home, California, where he briefly lived during his early childhood. Spellbound, back in the day, was the only distributor of Mash when they started to make their own framesets after their split from Cinelli. Believe it or not, that’s when he was first introduced to the brand. As he dug deeper, his attraction to this brand only grew when he found out that Mash was based in SF.
Now you may be wondering, why would somebody own four of the same bike?
As he gained a taste of fixed-gear cycling, he was drawn to steel bikes, just like the Metropolitan. When he first got his hands on a Mash Steel, it was a size 53cm. So he ended up selling it in two weeks due to it being too small. He still absolutely loved it and soon went on to getting a size 60, which was slightly big on him. (A dramatic change in size, he knows.)
By this time, the world was already deep into the pandemic. Most of his friends had shifted to downhill mountain bikes, and in order to keep riding together, they began spending more time on mellow, unpaved trails. Naturally, this led him toward tracklocross.
After some time, his Mash Work frame cracked at the chainstay, a failure point that would later become well known. Determined to stay on a Mash Steel/Work, he tracked down a 57cm Work frameset that should have fit him perfectly. Excited to build it up, he soon realized he’d been scammed, as the fork was slightly bent. Between that disappointment and life moving quickly in other directions, his interest in fixed-gear bikes slowly faded for a while.
Some time later, he came across a listing for a size 57 Mash Steel in the Silver Smoke colorway. Despite the high asking price, he didn’t hesitate and went to pick it up the very same day.
After a long and winding journey, he had finally found his perfect bike in the right size. Today, it’s his daily rider. And while he doesn’t ride tracklocross as much anymore, David still considers this bike the ultimate all-rounder: generous tire clearance, low-maintenance simplicity thanks to the lack of derailleurs, and above all, the tight geometry that gives the Mash Steel its signature, reactive ride feel. Between the Mash Steel and the Cinelli Mash Work, he consistently prefers the Mash Steel, even though, on paper, the differences are minimal.
When this bike last appeared on SSS, it was set up as an aggressive crit machine. Now, it’s been transformed into a freewheel commuter. Between a tendon injury and South Korea’s ban on brakeless bikes, David wanted something safe, comfortable, and reliable for everyday riding.
Something worth mentioning here is David's favorite memory with this bike, when he made an unprompted trip to SF in the middle of the pandemic. Before he left, he reached out to Patrick (@patrickfixieking) from Track Lab, and outright he asked him if he could show him around the city. And surprisingly, Patrick accepted!
Patrick, along with George from Rapha (@milktea_rider), took the time to show David around the city. Caught up in the excitement of riding the very streets he’d seen in the Mash films, David managed to get lost on his way to Rapha SF, located at the bottom of a steep descent on Fillmore Street. Riding brakeless and geared at 43×17, he ended up absolutely bombing the hill, legs spinning out as he narrowly avoided traffic. Looking back, he still describes it as the highlight of the trip while also admitting it taught him a valuable lesson about riding safely and with brakes.
Back to the bike itself, parts-wise, he just grabbed a combination of the most tried and true parts that aren’t anything too special but would last him forever.
Detailed Parts List
Frameset
2018 Mash Steel
Crank Easton EA90
Chainring and Cog
Gabaruk 44T and White Industries 17T
Seatpost and Saddle
Thomson, Selle Italia Slr
Stem and Handlebar
Ritchey 130mm and Mash Riser Bar
Wheels
Mavic CXP22 laced to Suzue Hubs
These two bikes, as well as his Low bike collection (coming soon on SSS!), were there with him throughout his many years of riding bikes. While he has gotten rid of a lot of bikes, he kept these two (and a few more that you’ll see soon) to be his forever bikes.
PS: a message from david
"I want people to enjoy cycling in a positive light, where everyone comes together from this common hobby. In Korea, I feel like cyclists only talk about their FTPs, showing off who has a more expensive build, and talking down others. Just like my crew, 0nstag3, I want people to enjoy cycling for purely what it is, and build unique bikes."
✍️: @ryanleokim
📸: @ryanleokim
🎞: Fuji Color 400
📷: Nikon F3
📍: Seoul