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Nao at Tomii Cycles has been working on pulling together a cross team for this year’s season and we all know that paint can make, or brea… ok, nevermind. What I’m trying to say is that paint is very important to a team bike.
This year, Tomii reached out to JL Custom Paint to do his thing and the end result is insane. See more of the 2014 Team Stampede at the Tomii Cycles Flickr!
Damn. The newest from Milwaukee Bicycle Co is a head turner for sure. The Mettle is their new and improved disc cyclocross bike. It features a tapered head tube, large diameter top and down tubes, stainless disc dropouts, a stainless stay protector, Whisky parts fork and a slick, classic paint job. These frames are made in the USA by Waterford Precision Cycles from True Temper OX Platinum Tubing.
Seriously, this bike looks amazing. Head over to the Ben’s Cycle Blog for more information and contact Milwaukee Bicycle Co for ordering.
Cross is coming but this thing wants to shred trails now!
Ever since I first got to use one of Speedvagen’s Integrated Cross Stems, I was in love. After deciding to “archive” the CX Worlds Edition, I commissioned Speedvagen to make me an all-black version. As long as my cross bikes use cantilever brakes, one of these stems will be resting atop of the steerer… especially since they look so good in all-black!
It’s such a simple design, on a high-tech component. It greatly improves the usability of a cantilever cross bike, for a small upcharge to the retail price on a standard ENVE stem and right now, Speedvagen is offering free Shipping on all Speedvagen Integrated CX stems for 1-week. Use code: SHIPMYSTEM at the Vanilla Cycles Boutique.
Absolute Black not only has one of the best names, they claim to have the best singlespeed cog. Designed in the UK and manufactured in Poland, these cogs offer up quite the blast beats for your buck. As far as I can tell, they’re the first people to adopt and adapt SRAM’s “narrow wide” tooth to a singlespeed cog, which seems like a no-brainer for cross.
These beastly cogs fit Shimano freehub bodies, offer up a thick, 7mm base to prevent freehub damage and are constructed from cnc machined 7075 Txxx Aluminum, with a steel option on the way for the bigger riders.
18t is in stock for $39 with 16t and 20t on back-order until the 25th of June.
See more at Absolute Black and praise the Necronomicog.
Thanks for sharing this, Chris!
Sometimes you need a rebrand… Retroshift is now Gevenalle, which when loosely-translated from two Dutch words, means “Give All”.
To coincide, they’ve introduced an expanded and updated product line: Hydraulic Shift Levers and Cassette Adapters both designed to address the specific needs of shifting in the mud and dirt.
While the brand clearly markets to cross, don’t forget they’re great for touring and commuter bikes. See more at Gevenalle.
Photos by Kyle Kelley
Male models have it tough. People throw a new kit on you, put a bike under your legs, and send you flying down a fire road. Sean from Team Dream has been known to turn a trick for money once and a while, although sometimes the trick turns him. At least I think that’s what happened on this All-City kit photoshoot gone bad.
Still, Kyle shot some great photos of him anyway – and they’re probably better this way! Head to All-City for specs on the Chevron bibs and Chevron jersey, in stock now through your local dealer.
Head over to the All-City Flickr for more gnarness!
I love videos like this for the scenery and roads, but at the same time, I feel like everyone is always saying the same thing in them. Just once I want the video’s landscapes to do the talking. Nothing against this video in particular, of course.
That said, this looks like an awesome ride.
Anyone who hangs their cross bike on the wall when season ends is missing the point. A cyclocross bike is one of the most well-rounded rides you can own. I’ve said countless times before that my Geekhouse Mudville is my favorite bike I own. If only because I’ve made so many fond memories while riding it, in pain, covered in sweat, hating life, on a ride, not racing it.
For some reason, I never once thought to beef up my bike post-season. Well, I did, but I couldn’t fit my Bruce Gordon Rock and Road tires on it – the derailleur hanger clamp gets in the way. That was well over a year ago however.
Ok, the real reason why I never monster cross’d my cross bike is because there aren’t a whole lot of 40c cross tires on the market. In fact, just the other day I was planning on buying some of Surly’s 41c Knard tires when these 40c WTB Nano tires showed up in the mail.
As we continue our “Hot Boyz of Cycling” series – that’s what I’m calling it anyway – I caught up with “Dominican Crihs” in Los Angeles en route to a local unsanctioned cross race. Which he lost to Hern if I recall. His Legor is one of my favorite singlespeed cross bikes I’ve had the chance to photograph. Crihs is a good friend of mine and one who is always quick to call me out on whatever he so pleases, so I put him on a spot a bit.
Geekhouse is having a spring cleaning, which means they’re selling some demo frames. Head over to their blog to check out the sizes available.
Some riders take to the woods around Paris on their cross bikes.
I feel like I’ve known Tyler for years, even though that’s mostly because I’ve probably shipped a ton stickers, kits and shirts to him. We also have a few mutual friends in NYC and Austin, so there’s a lot of overlap.
Back when Tyler first moved to Austin, we went on a few cyclocross rides and I was impressed at his bike control. Riding cross bikes in Austin, on the trails, is treacherous but Nutter held his own. Last night, while testing out the Fuji X-T1, I interviewed Nutter for a Ride Along post. Check it out below!
Each year, Speedvagen delivers a lookbook for their forthcoming cyclocross frames. Shot by Jeff Curtes with the team both on the road and at home, these photos remind you that cross is coming.
Head over to the Speedbloggen to pick up a copy.
Last year, Giro introduced their new Terraduro shoe at Eurobike. This was a heavy nod to the growing enduro crowd, salivating for “enduro specific” products. For the rest of us, who don’t enduro, bro – these shoes offered a new Vibram sole to a tried and true MTB platform.
Photo by Kyle Kelley
Last Friday, after posting Tom Robertson’s photo, I wanted to kick myself. There should be a Rubber Side Up post each week. The easiest way to select them would be to encourage you to tag #TheRadavist on your photos via Instagram, but I would encourage you to take the time to shoot a new photo, not just tag all your old shots. Any bike is cool, just try to make it unique.
Or. If you have photos in a hoard drive, send them over…
You can only send YOUR photos or photos YOUR friends shot of YOU. I need a photographer’s name and any appropriate links. If you don’t follow those two rules, I’ll just delete the email. Don’t worry, if you send one over, I saw it, no need to follow up!
It’s that time of month again. I’ve got all kinds of Randomness left over from a Recent Roll. Actually, a few Recent Rolls. There’s some LA, Pasadena, Austin, Moab and Fruita photos in here, all noted in the photo’s captions. Got a favorite? Point it out. Open up some commentary…
Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Portra 400 / Ilford HP5
This one’s for all you big guys… 60cm of Mosaic SSCX fun.
There are bikes that epitomize performance and style, but few carry the brand clout of Moots. Sure, your dentist, or doctor might have one, but chances are, they didn’t spring for the Psychlo X RSL. This frame is arguably the best cross offering to come from the brand, with its 44mm head tube, PF30 BB, oversized tubing, shouldering-friendly – formed top tube and more than enough mud clearance at the stays. This ain’t your everyday Moots!
Ben’s a mechanic at Mellow Johnny’s, the local Moots dealer here in Austin. He picked up this frame for a song and built it up over a six month period of time, from used parts and new, with no immediate deadline in mind. A few weeks ago, it was ready to roll with a mix of Force / Red 22, ENVE and TRP Spyre mechanical disc brakes.
We rode out to one of our favorite “hot laps” singletrack spots in south Austin and shot photos of the bike sitting in a field of Blue Bonnets, the Texas state flower. With Nationals in Austin this year, Ben’s starting to train for cross the best way possible: shredding trails!