The Radavist

I’ve yet to see many Inglis Cycles in person. Usually, I run across Retrotecs in my travels and it doesn’t matter where I am in the world, there will always be a Retrotec somewhere. Since moving to California, my interactions have doubled, if not tripled. That said, I’ve maybe seen one or two Inglis Cycles in person. So what’s the difference? Well, it should be obvious to the trained eye. Retrotec Cycles feature classic automotive motifs. Checkered badges, colors inspired by classic cars and swoopy, sometimes double top tubes, with bent stays. Retrotecs have been compared to looking like classic cruisers from the Stingray-era Schwinn factory, while Inglis Cycles are more straight forward, less swoopy but still made by Curtis Inglis in Napa.

Here’s where Kobi comes into play. He’s Curtis’ intern. After building a frame for his senior project, Curtis asked him if he wanted to help him out in the day to day operations of Inglis / Retrotec Cycles. Kobi has raced ‘cross on this bike, he’s crashed the bike and ridden it all over California. While Kobi was in town for FYF, I photographed his bike at Golden Saddle, where I gave him directions to ride Mt. Lukens. Let’s hope he got out to climb the highest point in the city of Los Angeles, topping out at over 5,000’.

A Ponderosa Cyclery + Tour Capricorn ‘Cross Bike
Photos by Kyle Kelley, words by John Watson

If it’s a Ponderosa Cyclery + Tour bike, from the shop’s archives anyway, then it’s Vince’s. As Kyle mentioned in his Shop Visit galley, Vince is a collector of rarities, including this Capricorn ‘Cross bike. Bradley Wilson builds under the name Capricorn, out of my home state of North Carolina. His bikes have a constructeur feel, with a clean aesthetic, devoid of ostentation. Instead, Bradley’s bikes have a personality that beckons to be used, just not abused. This build is top notch, with the DA7400 shifters, XT rear mech and original Chris King headset.

Vince from Ponderosa Cyclery has clearly used this bike, with lots of beausage present and knowing bike shop owners, he relishes every pedal stroke.

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A Ponderosa Cyclery Eisentraut Road with Mavic Zap
Photos by Kyle Kelley, words by John Watson

If you think Shimano and SRAM were the first to the e-shifting market, you’re mistaken, my friend. Mavic blazed that trail over a decade before Shimano put its tires down on it. Back before they shifted focus to wheels and apparel, Mavic developed and manufactured component groups. Their “Starfish” cranks are as iconic as their unique headsets, but one group stood out from the rest of Mavic’s catalog. Zap was the name for Mavic’s electronic shifting system and while it was way before its time, it wasn’t underused, making several Tour appearances. Even Chris Boardman secured several victories in the Tour back in 1994 and 1997.

Bailey lives and rides in Chicago, where he’s one of the owners and operators at Comrade Cycles. He and Kyle from GSC are buddies. They met a few years back at QBP’s Frostbike tradeshow. At some point, Kyle left an open invite for him to visit Golden Saddle, so Bailey rolled out to Los Angeles to soak in the sun, ride some mountains and officially break in his new Pachyderm Bikes dirty 650b tourer with his girlfriend Allison. The two of them took on some of the rides in the area, during one of our gnarliest heat waves of the year and even braved our psychedelic camping trip up in Chilao one night. I swear, the spider chicken had eight legs.

This bike was inspired by randonneuring bikes, yet Bailey wanted something he could fit a chunky tire on, namely something like the WTB Byway. For this trip, since they’d be sticking to mostly sealed and dirt roads, he went with the 48mm Compass Switchback Hill. Other details include White Industries cranks to an XTR derailleur and Shimano cassette, a Shutter Precision hub powering a Luxos light, with a USB recharging node, powering his Garmin.

For me, the paint is what really sets this bike off, aside from its owner, obvs. The painter masked mountains wrapping the seat tube and top tube, giving it a subtle contrast before finishing the head tube in a bright orange. Brown and orange bikes remind me of A&W root beer and mountain sunsets, with at least one of which I know for certain Bailey and Allison enjoyed on their recent trip. My only complaint was not being able to shoot the bike at sunset!

My Celestial All City Spacehorse Disc – Jarrod bunk
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

All City’s Spacehorse Disc ticks a lot of boxes for me, I fell in love with my canti version two years ago, since then I probably spent the most time on that bike of all of them. It just felt right, the geometry was fun and it climbed, descended and shredded so well.  Fast forward to Saddle Drive last August, I happened to check out the new Spacehorse Disc, it solved one of the only issues I had with the canti version, the braking.  I ordered up a frame, but my mind wandered and I decided to add a few small things to the build, based on what I wished the canti bike had, warranty be damned. I had Maestro Frameworks braze on a third bottle, pump peg, and add some internal wiring for my rear tail light.

Since the bike was getting the paint stripped off for the frame work I had Wanderlust Paint make something special for me. I printed a picture of All City’s geo chart and broke out my markers, I’ve always had something for brown on bikes, so that’s where I started.  I think that paint can make a bike, so I even had my Simworks stem painted to match.  Years ago my friend Jesse turned me onto Pass and Stow racks, I always wanted one, and since then have been waiting for the right bike, this was that bike.  I knew I would be using a dynamo system on my Spacehorse and loved that I could run wiring through the rack for a cleaner look.

I used a little Newbaums tape to cover the wiring safely and protect the powder coat on the rack.  I think this worked out well.  Aside from those details, I’m running a Chris King rear hub, SON front, and Supernova lights.  Other parts include a CK40 headset, Silca frame pump, White Industries cranks, Chris King bottom bracket, and Velocity Cliffhanger rims.  I build custom bikes 6 days a week and breaking bike parts should be my job, so I built this bike with the most bombproof parts I could. Enough about the build, I’ve got to spend a bit of time on this commuting and riding, and its as good as the old canti bike, just a little bit better for my needs. For whatever reason the disc fork feels a good bit stiffer, which is real nice for front loading, and adds some confidence under hard fast braking descents.

Swift Campout was a blast this year thanks to the Spacehorse which handled the muddy, slick, steep terrain perfectly, hence the dirt on it.  I can’t say enough about just how damn fun the Spacehorse Disc is, the versatility of the bike is out of this world, from commuting, to touring, to just shredding gravel I love this bike. It didn’t take much but I turned a stock frame into my dream bike, one I will have for a lifetime.  If you haven’t ridden one I recommend checking one out at your local dealer, you won’t be sorry.

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Photos and words by Morgan Taylor

From first time bicycle campers to experienced fully loaded singletrack riders, 30 people joined us for Swift Campout here in Vancouver. Swift Industries‘ global call to head out for a bicycle overnight on solstice weekend was a perfect opportunity for us to scope a camp spot and a route and put out an open invite.

After weeks of route planning, helping with camp setups, and hoping for good weather, the sun shone down Saturday morning and we set out en masse with spirits high. For a good number, it was their first time camping by bike, or their first time loading up without racks to ride singletrack to camp.

A quick ferry ride landed us on the Sunshine Coast just outside Vancouver and the group split up, one third to ride a challenging singletrack-heavy overland route and two thirds to ride the backroads, eat ice cream, and swim in the ocean. We converged on the camp spot in the evening and shared stories of our travels.

As expected, we met lots of great people, got to ride bikes and hang out on the roads and trails and beaches, cook and camp together, learn more about ourselves and each other. Thanks so much to the wonderful folks at Swift Industries for facilitating this global event!

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Follow Morgan and Stephanie on Instagram at Found in the Mountains, and if you find yourself in Vancouver, join them for #CoffeeOutsideYVR every Friday!

MinneCycle 2017: Cecil Behringer Matching Road and Track Bikes
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

Cecil Behringer started his love affair with bikes at age 17, racing around the track.  Soon after he had to leave bikes behind to join the war at the time. While in the Navy Cecil learned more and more about metals, so much so that some years later he created a lugged Ti frame using an oven (the first one in the world).

His work has a similar approach to Wyganowski, and that with good reason, he is the first in the lineage of builders that taught the like of Terry Osell and Tim Paterek, who then taught Paul Wyganowski.  This is apparent in the use of open tubesets, again to help with the breathing of the frame, and reduce interal corrosion and rust.

This matching set of bicycles was on loan from the Cycling Museum of Minnesota, with similar details spread between both bikes, like the stamped Behringer “top eyes”, Dura-Ace cranks, and Columbus tubesets.  Thank you to the Cycling Museum of Minnesota for bringing out these two beautiful bicycles.  For more information you can check out the Cycling Museum of Minnesota here.

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MinneCycle 2017: Prairie Crow Bikeworks Shred-Muter
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

Prairie Crow Bikeworks makes one beautiful bike.  Based out of Minneapolis,  Alex specializes in custom and limited run bikes, he had this shred-muter at the show.

I love touring style bikes that can handle larger rubber, the Surly Knard/Velocity Cliffhanger combo really makes this bike capable of riding off the beaten path.  From the IGH rear hub to the Dynamo front, Supernova front and rear lights, front rack and swept Metropolis bars, this bike can handle much more than just commuting.

More and more capable bikes are being created every day, this bike covers all the utilitarian needs of getting around Minneapolis, but can handle having some fun along the way.  There are a lot of beautiful touches on this bike, it’s full lugged construction, the asymmetrical cable hanger, and the seat cluster.  The mix of no nonsense parts from the Paul Components canti, MKS Pedals, and Cane Creek 110 headset should keep this bike running for years to come.  Check out more over at Prairie Crow Bikeworks.

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MinneCycle 2017: Clockwork Bikes Custom Tour Divide Bike– Jarrod Bunk
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

You’ve probably seen Clockwork’s bikes before: Joel shaped steel for Poppi’s romantical dirt droop 29’r, which was featured here on the Radavist in 2015. While at MinneCycle I was able to check out this rad bike that came together for the Tour Divide with some pretty special extras. Those include internal dynamo wiring, sliding dropouts, and a custom made rack with a unique decaleur and a quick disconnect.

Oddity made a pretty wild bar for multiple hand positions and longer days in the saddle, so naturally, it made its way onto this build. A White Industries rear hub and SON Dynamo front hub should have this bike service-free for the entirety of the trip and then some.

A Box Components drivetrain and Paul Klamper brakeset round out this gorgeous build. The sleeved internal cable routing should keep things tidy while on tour and should something happen, still remain serviceable. All in all this is one hell of a clean bicycle that is full of features to make life easier when you’re out there. Check out more at Clockwork Bikes.

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MinneCycle 2017: Chris Kvale And His Classic Steel Road
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

At the start of my trip to MinneCycle, I knew of Chris Kvale. His thin lugs are beautiful. He started racing bicycles at a young age. And these things you can see when you look at the vintage race aesthetic and precision in his builds.

I was able to get a small glimpse into his daily shop life right before he departed for his summer hideaway in Norway. Being that he’s Norwegian he’s extremely humble, and it was fantastic to have a mellow conversation about this beautiful bike. The Law of Jante keeps him reserved, and doesn’t let him romanticize about his process or his craft, but you can see a love he pours into each piece of steel he manipulates.

The way Chris takes extra time with each build – the bottom bracket, the DiNucci fastback seat clamp, his beautiful thinned lugs – Kvale is a true craftsman. He even makes his own tools, which I learned when I toured his studio right before he boarded the plane the next day. His workshop is always clean and extremely orderly and he still uses the same process he started with years ago. It was such a great experience to see his work in person. Check out more over at Chris Kvale Cycles.

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MinneCycle 2017: Peacock Groove Polka Dot Cargo Bike
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

Cargo bikes aren’t something you see every day. Polka dotted bikes aren’t something you see every day.  Peacock Groove threw out those notions, because the Liberace of bikes builds anything you’d like, just with even more style, and deep custom.

The deep custom approach is found everywhere on this bike, from the headset to the rear rack, Erik Noren, made it all.  Erik is an artist, and you can see that in every bicycle that he manufacturers.

To think that something like this can come out of his mind and be formed out of steel is incredible.  Where others see a zany cargo bike, I see a masterpiece, from one of the most skilled craftsmen I’ve ever met.  I only got a small taste of his operation while in Minneapolis, but as a long-time fan of his work, I hope to make it back to be able to document his shop. I can’t get enough of his deep custom bikes.

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MinneCycle 2017: Wyganowski Frames Minnesota Made Mixtie
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

Paul Wyganowksi has a pretty unique build process, one that was passed down four generations of frame builders to him.  From the exterior of this commuter, it doesn’t seem that wild, until you look closer, the use of vents to open up the tubes and inhibit rust, the reverse “top eyes” used for the mid stays, the thinnest dropouts I’ve ever seen.

Finding all of the details on this bike was an enjoyable experience.  Extra attachment points, three sets of waterbottle bosses, fender and rack mounts, this mixtie can handle daily transit and then put on some gear for a weekend of touring.  The sedate lines and beautiful fillets, make for one special Mixtie that was built in Minnesota to last a lifetime.

Paul actually teaches a frame building class as well, continuing in the footsteps of the builders that passed the torch to him. For more information check out Wyganoksi Frames.

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MinneCycle 2017: Appleman Bicycles Smooth As Silk Disc Road With E-Tap
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

The way that Matt Appleman manufacturers his bikes is nothing short of stunning. He starts with Minnesota-sourced tubesets, custom designed around the rider, at which point they are bonded together to create a seamless frame, that is smooth to the touch. This process allows him to make adjustments based on each rider’s needs. To me, I like the raw carbon look and the difference between the tube and the joint. Something about this bike just feels handmade.

Wood inlays with seamless decals make up the panels, which have a classic road aesthetic. Not to stop there, he also molds his dropouts into an apple, for an added touch. I couldn’t get enough of this bike and its rawness. There’s something extremely appealing to me about the lack of derailleur cables and internal brake housing that make this bike look fast, just standing still. For more information check out Appleman Bicycles.

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