That 24k Gold Plated Fat Bike is Back on Sale for $1 Million USD for Charity

Back in 2013, the world's most expensive mountain bike was unveiled. First spotted by MTBR, the 24k gold plated mountain bike was a monument to excess and valued at $1 million USD.

The base frame is a Salsa Mukluk fat bike (current MSRP $2,799 USD) that is overlaid with 24k gold. On top of the frame, you get a menagerie of finishing details including Italian red leather in the rim, brown chocolate alligator skin on the seat, brown chocolate cowhide grips and a stingray skin water bottle. Finishing off the bike is the emblem that has 600 black diamonds (6.0 carats in total) and 500 golden sapphires (4.5 carats in total) embedded in it and is designed to be a standalone piece of jewelry. There's also a signature piece of 24k solid gold at the back of the headtube that features the signature of the creator.


That creator is a man named Hugh Power. After a career working as a deep-sea diver in Alaska, the Gulf Of Mexico and Tahiti, he returned to Beverly Hills to being creating Tahitian pearl jewelry then later used his knowledge of jewelry to found The House Of Solid Gold and Gifts Of Gold. These companies both specialise in producing golden objects and his piece de resistance was this golden mountain bike.

The whole thing came together over 2 years with 750 man-hours of work invested into it. At the time it was reported that 13 of the bikes would be produced however subsequent stories about the bike have called it a one-off so we're assuming only one of those ever got made.

So, what happened next?


Well, the bike is still for sale and it's still for 1 million dollars but this time it's not being sold by Hugh Power. Power passed away in 2017 at the age of 51 and left the bike behind without a home. It seems his son has now taken on the task of trying to sell it but instead of trying to entice a rich sheikh or tech billionaire, he's instead donated it to charity and it will be sold in aid of the Institute for Education, Research, and Scholarships (IFERS) and the Personnel Efficiency Foundation (PEF).


IFERS was founded in 2004 and describes itself as a "nonprofit public charity organization dedicated to improving society by conducting scientific and social research." while PEF "helps to revive the economy by increasing personnel efficiency at workplaces, and to help civic groups to improve the communities." The advert does not make clear how much of the sale of the bike will go towards funding charities but it does stress that the sale proceeds will be 100% tax-deductible in the U.S.

The bike is apparently fully functional although it will probably be left as an art piece if it does find a buyer. Anyone interested in purchasing it should email or phone IFERS.