The Radavist

Ren is Ti Cycles production line. While Ti Cycles makes their frames by hand in Portland, they wanted a more affordable option for those looking to save a substantial amount of money so they started Ren Cycles. Ren embodies the same design and engineering principles as Ti Cycles, just made overseas and at less of a shock to your wallet.

The Ren Cycles Waypoint is their self-described “gravel / commuter” bike. Made with a 44mm head tube, low mount disc brakes, threaded bottom bracket and Di2-ready (check out that head tube port), this bike can be built up for back-country excursions or daily commuting.

With pricing starting at $1,895 for a titanium frame, with a 5-year warranty, Ren’s Waypoint suddenly becomes an option for many wanting to own a ti frame.

I got to check out the Waypoint at the Handmade Bike and Beer Fest in Portland last month and was impressed not only with the frame’s construction, but this unique finishing work. See more for yourself at Ren Cycles.

“If Ferrari made an off-road vehicle, that’s what it’d be like to ride the Santa Cruz Stigmata.”

That’s been the simile I’ve used countless times when describing how this bike rides. In fact, I still can’t think of a better way of describing the Stigmata’s handling and capabilities.

Seven months is a long time for a review and honestly, I wanted to get this up before ‘cross season began but with very little expectations to race this season, I quickly realized that I had been using the Stigmata in every other way than it’s market intention. That’s the beauty of ‘cross bikes though, right?

Let’s step back a bit and look at what this bicycle is.

Singlespeed ‘cross bikes on a course like Grinduro are no joke. For Lucas, the painter at Stoemper, the pain is part of the fun. The way he sees it, you’re grinning no matter what. Whether you’re spinning on the downhill or hiking up a steep kicker like China Grade, you might as well be enjoying the ride.

This SSCX was easily the wildest bike I saw the entire weekend. So. Much. Character. As I’m setting up the bike to photograph it, Lucas interrupted me, asking if he wanted me to remove the beer holster. “You’re riding it like that right?” “Yeah” “Then leave it!”

Races like Grinduro are best kept light and energetic in spirit. There’s no point in tearing yourself apart on a singlespeed, because you still have to make it to the finish!

I hope you’re ready for a complete overload of awesome rides from this past weekend’s Grinduro event in Quincy, California. We’ll start this avalanche of unique bikes with Adam from Sklar Bikes‘ own singlespeed disc ‘cross. But before we dive in, let me put this out there: this was Adam’s first tig-welded bike and there’s a reason it’s his personal rig. The welds on anyone’s first tig bike ain’t gonna be pretty.

While the welds might not be delicately overlapped beads of perfection, I can’t get over how clean and elegant this frame is. Even with what Adam refers to as a “parts bin build” with mis-matched rotors, this singlespeed has so much character and yeah, he completed Grinduro on it.

Run what you brung…

Colby has one of the best jobs in the cycling industry. He works for ENVE, where he’s the liaison for frame builders. Basically, if you’re a builder, he sets up your account and ensures that you’ve got everything you need to get your latest project or show bike rolling.

When it was time for a disc cyclocross bike, Colby reached out to Aaron Stinner in Santa Barbara for an OD green and orange race-paint-inspired shred sled that would pack a fat tire and blast the surrounding dirt roads of Ogden, Utah with ease.

Naturally, this bike was Colby’s go-to for Grinduro…

One of the best qualities of steel is its ability to be resurrected from disaster.

In-home or in-workshop bicycle storage is essential and while many of the systems we use to hang our bikes might be bomb-proof, sometimes the building itself is a little janky. Last year, Garrett from Strawfoot‘s bike rack fell off the wall at his shop, crushing his beloved Hunter ‘Cross bike.

Devastated, he called up Rick Hunter and put the bike in queue for repair. A few weeks later (he and Garrett are best buds, hence the fast turnaround,) Garrett’s bike was ready for powder. The color he chose was fitting for this resurrected zombie bike: matte black.

This will be Garrett’s Grinduro bike, but with a 40mm WTB Nano setup tubeless, which coincidentally is what I rode and will be riding this weekend in Quincy.

If you’re rolling through this weekend, swing through the Strawfoot booth and say hey to Garrett!

I’m here in Portland, Oregon attending the Bike and Beer festival at HopWorks Urban Brewery. While I’ll be documenting many of the frames, I’ll also be capturing the general vibes. For now, let’s just check out some bikes!

“There are so many different ways to make shit look awesome on a bike…”
– Rudi from Black Magic Paint

When Megan Dean from Moth Attack was approached by a group of ladies from San Francisco, to build team frames for this season’s ‘cross races, she knew it’d be an undertaking. Sure enough, as making batches of anything at this scale, it wasn’t easy but the fruits of her labor paid off, especially after Rudi from Black Magic Paint got ahold of these frames for paint.

There were a lot of unique frames and paint jobs at the Bike and Beer Festival, yet I kept gravitating towards this one in particular. I wonder why? Look out for these bikes at local Bay Area ‘cross races this season.

Follow @BlackMagicPaint, @MothAttack and @MothAttackCX on Instagram.