The Radavist

Last year at NAHBS, I documented a rigid mountain bike from the Russian framebuilder TORESVELO. This year, Anton from TORESVELO couldn’t make it to the show himself, due to visa issues, but his friends brought this rigid mountain bike for him. It was commissioned by someone who saw last year’s bike and wanted one just like it. I love little stories like that because ultimately, that’s what NAHBS is for – showcasing bikes for builders to grow their audience – and it’s why I love documenting NAHBS.

This frame has a beautiful olive drab finish with orange Hope parts, and a Bjorn, handmade in Russia carbon saddle. I’m really glad the Russian contingency showed up this year and brought such great bikes!

You know what I love about this bike? It’s been out there, getting dirty and living it up in the randonneuring trenches. It was built for the Concours de Machines, which you can read all about at Jan Heine’s blog. This competition is used to determine the best lightweight randonneuring bike and adheres to very strict rules. While this feat may sound intimidating, for Peter Weigle, it’s just another day in the shop. You see, Weigle is a master of his craft and it’s the details you can’t see that make his bikes so extraordinary. His construction techniques are second to none and his bikes are meant to get ridden, not to be hung on a wall in someone’s personal bicycle gallery. A Weigle wants to live its life to the fullest and luckily for the owners of his bicycles, the pleasure is shared between the two. To top it off, this bike, as shown here weighs 20lbs (9.1kg) on the nose and can be broken down easily to “Rinko Parts,” or the Japanese method of breaking down bikes for train travel.

Dmitry Nechaev from Triton Bikes is a character whose presence is intoxicating. The dude is just a good time! I first met him at Eurobike a few years back as we tore into a black forest cured ham and drank bourbon. Ever since then, I always look for what this Moscow-based framebuilding operation brings to the table at NAHBS. This year, they did not disappoint with this single speed ‘cross bike. Built with ENVE, i9, Whisky, SRAM, a Bjorn, made in Russia carbon saddle, and rollin’ on some supple Challenge tires, it’s got bling in all the right places, but don’t get too distracted, or you might miss my favorite detail: the Triton chainstay yoke.

Out of all the new-to-me brands at NAHBS, I was most impressed by Dublin, Ireland-based Fifty One and their carbon road bikes. Everything about the brand was dialed, from the paint to the geometries, and the overall stance of the bikes. Take this Fifty One road, coated in a matte peach color, with bold, white branding, it looks almost uncomfortable just sitting still in a convention center. The overall package and presentation distracted me from the frame construction and the unique seat stays, which are made in-house at Fifty One’s facilities.

Sometimes, the simplest bikes at NAHBS are the ones that grab my attention. It doesn’t have to be shiny or flashy to motivate me to document it. In fact, I often like seeing bikes at NAHBS that don’t look like overly precious, especially when it comes to mountain bikes. This year, Indy Fab brought a handful of completes and various frames, but this hardtail really did it for me. Chris, the painter, had fun applying this fade paint job, a throwback to IF’s first bike ever. These paint jobs lived on for a while, even through the serial numbers in the 200s. For example, this “Test Bike” on the MTBR forums, built with XTR. Now, with this bike and its updated, modern components the legacy that is IF lives on.

Whoaaaaaa there, pardna’, you’re rollin’ into 36’er territ’ry. This is NAHBS, the place for over-the-top, artisan, balleur bicycles and no one does it better than Black Sheep Bikes with their Colorado-made swoopy titanium frames. This year, the team brought one of the most extravagant builds I’ve ever seen from their shop, this giant 36’er all-rounder. Just about everything on this bike is handmade, down to the Leh Cycling leatherwork, titanium fenders, and titanium pannier baskets. No detail was spared when it came to the design, construction and the final build. I’m actually at a loss for words, so I’ll let the photos do the talkin’.

Where do I even begin here? DiNucci is a damn living legend in the frame building world and anytime I can get my sweaty palms on one of his bikes, I take extra time documenting it. Case in point: this beautifully-lugged classic road bike with Campagnolo Super Record. I love everything about this build, from the lug work, to the Enduro headset, right down to the bright, sparkly arrow reminding you to keep pushing forward. With a bike like this, however, I doubt the owner will need any motivation. Mark, if you’re reading this, it’s always a pleasure to be in such great company.

The Olivetti namesake comes from an Italian typewriter company. That was Peter’s grandfather and he is carrying on the Olivetti name, but with bicycles. This Thunder Pig rigid mountain bike was an experiment in making a robust, fun and practical frame, with clearances for a 3″ tire and a rigid fork. It was the first time Olivetti had made a segmented fork and I’d say his experiment worked wonderfully, down to the pure silver coin caps. As a side note: every Olivetti customer gets to select a silver coin to be brazed onto their frame if they so choose. These coins were passed down to Peter and it’s nice seeing them live on with his art…

Baltimore’s Chris Bishop of Bishop Bikes hasn’t been to NAHBS since 2013 and this year, he brought what he’s known for and then some. You can always count on Chris for the finest fillet and lug construction, but I was completely surprised to see him soft-launch a production line called Item 4, named after the substrate specification used in gravel roads in the North East. Item 4 is a collaboration with Vicious Cycles, who is tig-welding the front triangle of these frames, with Chris fillet brazing the rear and all the accoutrement needed for a rim brake or disc brake road bike. Chris really wants to expand the Bishop Bikes lineup, to get more people out on bikes that he’s designed and to be honest, I can’t wait to see more of these roll out of his Baltimore workshop…

Rody Walter of Groovy Cycleworks was devastated when Jeff Archer from First Flight Bicycles passed away in 2016. Jeff and Rody were good friends and Jeff was loved by all, but especially by the mountain bike industry. Jeff always wanted a klunker, so this year at NAHBS, Rody made him one to ride in peace. This bike is an homage to a lost brother and is a symbol that good people never really leave us, just like classic designs and approaches to cycling. Rody put all of his time and energy into making this bike and his friends at Magura helped make it extra special. You see, the original Klunkers used Magura moto levers, so they gladly supplied Rody with some to make this bike extra special…

When a frame builder has access to an in-house graphics department and paint booth, great things happen. Thomas from Horse Cycles‘ partnership with Ben Falcon has really paid off. Ben’s paint mixed with Horse’s frame design and construction delivers show-stopping road bikes like this.

No matter how high tech the road bike gets, nothing beats the lines and elegance of a classic road bike. For this year’s NAHBS, Bryan of Royal H Cycles brought this beautifully-lugged road bike with equal parts practicality to functionality. At first, I didn’t even notice the Di2…

Remember that DeSalvo dream bike NAHBS contest? Well, here’s the winning bike concept. Mike’s offerings each year are usually clean, minimal road bikes but this year, it was a special treat seeing a bike like this in the DeSalvo booth. This dirt drop frame features the Fox AX “gravel” fork, a KS LEV dropper, Sim Works To Smile dirt drops, color-matched PAUL and White Industries. A few builders brought bikes like this to the show and personally, I’m into it.

What McGovern Cycles is bringing to the carbon fiber road bike market is not necessarily a new concept, but seeing it made in California is a first for me. His 27.5 carbon fiber road bike will fit a 27.5 by 2.1″ tire or a 700 by 45mm, is light as hell, features beautiful details, and has the stance of a race thoroughbred machine. These frames are built using tube-to-tube construction, not a mold, so a completely-custom geometry is possible. The 3T Luteus 2 fork gives ample clearance, without drastically increasing the ATC measurement. Last but not least, can we talk about that paint job? Outstanding work by John Slawta of Landshark!

Down on Rando Alley here at NAHBS is an entire lane dedicated to the randonee constructeur. Right there, next to J P Weigle is Chapman Cycles, the Rhode Island-based builder with a knack for creating both highly elegant, yet functional machines and exceptional drillium. Brian Chapman went the distance on this machine, drilling just about everything he could, down to the SRAM Red shifter paddle, yet the detail that really piqued my interest is the rim generator device, that’s able to be switched on via the non-drive side downtube shifter…

I say this a lot at NAHBS, but when I saw this big and beautiful Northern Frameworks single speed MTB in their booth, I exclaimed “HOT DAMN!” This bike is for a tall rider and I love seeing how builders balance the proportions of large bikes with modern MTB geometry. The client spec’d all brown anodized PAUL and White Industries, to complement the rich, copper paint.

A few weeks back, around the time of the Giro x Radavist collection drop, Mosaic reached out, saying they had the perfect bike to display the goods with at NAHBS. I was into it, Giro was into it and I think you’ll be into it. This GT-2 build by the Colorado-based builder features a geometry more tuned for long day dirt rides and lightweight bikepacking, custom Spectrum-powdercoated decals with matching OD green King Kages, and a set of custom bikepacking bags from Colorado’s JPaks Bags. The beauty of the JPacks frame bag system is the nesting frame bag that fits under this partial frame bag, allowing you to either run bottle cages, or an additional bag for storage. You can see this bike for yourself at Houston’s Bicycle Speed Shop.

Brookyln’s Weis Manufacturing first made an appearance here on the Radavist not too long ago. With their asymmetrical seat stays and robust dropout design, the look and feel of their framesets felt very unique to me. After seeing their bikes in person, it further solidified this. While their construction is top-notch, I couldn’t help but be drawn into their Splatter Track finish, which was executed perfectly, in my opinion anyway, by the paint shop at Horse Cycles.