tag
There’s nothing worse than the sting associated with paying a hefty shipping fee, especially for international purchases. Wraith Fabrication recently lowered their $250 rate to around $50 – $70 through switching to USPS. That’s enough money to make the cost of a brand new bike a bit easier to swallow.
Head over to Wraith to check out more specs on the Hustle, their road model.
Repete Cycles have been featured here on the Radavist before. Their handmade in the Czech Republic, custom frames are simple machines with clean, austere lines. That is, until you start to really examine their cyclocross bike, the Grizzly. Subtle elegance can be found in the bent Columbus Spirit HSS stays and the matte brown finish. Details that make this bike as fierce as the alpha predator from which it formed its namesake.
Oddly enough, this Czech company will be at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Louisville this week and I’m not complaining! You can see more of Repete’s work at the NAHBS Exhibitor Feature website.
Macro photography is a delicate art and while I prefer to err on the “stopped down” side of things, sometimes a shallow depth of field works, especially in a controlled lighting environment like a studio. Flickr user Twenty Tree has just uploaded a photoset of this Stoemper ‘Cross bike shot against a black backdrop and my favorite photo is of the head badge. Head over to Twenty Tree’s Flickr to see more.
There’s something so boss about an oversized titanium frame, especially with Baum‘s own unique selection. It looks like you can throw anything at it. Dirt rides down fire roads and cross races beware! This Turanti from Above Category fits the bill, right down to that blue paint and red anodized components. Check out more of this Bike of the Week at Above Category.
When the team at Pedalers Fork became a dealer for Argonaut Cycles, they needed a bike that would operate as both an advertisement and a floor model / test bike for interested clients. While I love my matte-black Argo, stealth is not the best at advertising for the brand, so Gideon at Pedalers Fork cooked up a purple, flashy, chevron-inspired design for painter Eric Dungey to get to work on.
Since this particular model will be a test bike for inquiring customers, Pedalers Fork chose the traditional seatpost spec, rather than an ISP. The result is a flashy, yet classic stance with the brand’s name in bright silver on the downtube. With a painted PRO stem, a blue King, a purple seatpost collar, Mavic 125ans wheels and Dura Ace throughout, every detail has been considered… It’ll be sure to turn heads.
Inspired by the Bel Airs of the 1950’s, this backroads Retrotec is remarkably as easy on the eyes as I’d imagine it’d be on washboarded gravel roads. With clearances for a 45mm tire, this build included hydro Di2, the new Whisky No.9 CX fork with fender mounts and one of those nifty Brooks Cambium saddles.
You’ll also spy 2 winchester shells in the bar ends, with special meaning to the owner, Matt, who works for QBP. Those shells shot his late gramps’ ashes into the woods. To further up the ante, the seat pack is one his wife’s gramps used in the Korean War to hold ammo. Matt uses these items to remind him how bad-ass his grandparents were… and it kinda puts the pain encountered while pedaling a bike into perspective.
Thanks to Marty Wood for the beautiful photos and the crew from Angry Catfish for help on the build.
We’ll be seeing this bike at NAHBS next month! Til then, check out more below!
To quote Tom Petty, “the waiting is the hardest part” and waiting for a custom frame isn’t easy by any means. Plenty of frame builders are so busy that their queue is up to over a year out. For Santa Barbara’s Stinner Frameworks, things have been slammed. New clients and a warm winter has kicked his queue into overdrive. Although, that’s not the only reason Aaron is busy. His bikes ain’t bad either!
David placed an order for a straight forward road bike 9 months ago and just picked it up. Since then, Aaron has hired extra help and reduced wait considerably.
I met David today and talked to him about his new bike a bit. Consensus: nothing but stoke! With Stinner’s Select Tubing, the bike will perform out in the hills surrounding the Pedalers Fork in Calabasas, where these photos were taken. David’s component choice round out the crazy sparkle olive paint: Force 22 and ENVE rims, matched with Thomson bits and Ritchey bars.
Ride safe, David!
When I first came across this MTB on the 44 Bikes Instagram, I immediately was reminded of a 1980’s BMX frame. Turns out, this is for a man entering his retirement in Connecticut. The client approached Kris of 44 Bikes with a few ideas of what he wanted, pointing towards specific products like a Rohloff system, as well as a few color notes, but let Kris and painter Jay Nutini take over from there. The resulting design exudes speed, despite the upright riding position.
For the long term this bike is initially for rails to trail usage and buzzing around town, but it’s infused with true 44 Bikes trail shred-technology so when the client is ready to ride single track, the bike is waiting for him.
Check out more photos below, and follow 44 Bikes on Flickr!
Phil runs the finishing department at Indy Fab, where recently, he was able to design, build and design the paint for his newest bike. This steel Deluxe MTB, built around a Paragon Machine Works chainstay yoke. This allows builders to have clearance for a 3″ 29er tire, along with ensuring chainrings and cranks will fit the stays, using a 68mm wide bottom bracket shell.
This Deluxe is rolling on Industry Nine hubs, Stans Hugo rims with the new Bontrager Chucacabra tires. Drivetrain is Sram X01 1×11 groupset with gripshifts and the bike is very stoppy thanks to the Avid BB7s mechanical disc brakes. Those 3″ tires fit just fine in the Bontrager carbon 29r fork, and Phil painted the Bontrager seatpost to match, along with the stem.
The color is PPG’s liquid crystal Candy Apple Red, with black on white decals. See more below!
Photos by Anthony Bareno
Eric from Winter Bicycles‘ newest bike to roll out from his shop is this gorgeous touring / randonee bike. The Quiscale is an all-rounder, meant for exploration, touring and is perfect for a daily rider. This frameset features thin lugs with accented window cuts and is built from traditional, classic diameter tubing. Accompanied by internally-routed lighting, fenders, custom racks – with removable low-riders – and specially-made RuthWorks bags.
The parts group is nothing short of choice with White Industries, Paul, Cane Creek and Shimano Ultegra, yet one of the cleanest details is the “French point” winter stem with bell mount.
The Quiscale’s class is elevated by Keith Anderson’s impeccable paint. See more at the Winter Flickr.
Photos by Eric Baumann
Belt drive commuters make a lot of sense in cities like Boston and New York. Road grime, dirt, salt and other contaminates hardly effect the system and personally, it’s always interested in seeing this technology paired with a Rohloff on a custom steel bike.
Royal H Cycles keeps me tuned in and this recent project is maddeningly beautiful. See more of it at the Royal H Flickr!
Purple and teal go surprisingly well together, especially when there’s a slick fade happening like on the latest from Tomii Cycles in Austin. Annie’s Road is strikingly beautiful, but don’t say the word “girly”, because I know I’d take pleasure in riding it, as I’m sure you would too. Once again, JL Custom Paint knocked it out of the park.
Check out more at Tomii Cycles’ Flickr.
When it comes to custom titanium, few do it like Firefly, especially when it comes to their custom anodizing, specifically the anodized cells in this mountain dropout. So good! Keep on top of Firefly’s work at their Tumblr and Instagram.
I tell ya, these Mosaic XSS-1 cross bikes are unforgettable. Except, I kinda forgot about posting this one. Sorry guys! Aaron and the crew at Mosaic do a superb job on these bikes, which they make for some of their local racers on a team they’ve come to call Team Single Barrel. There’s also Team Small Batch, but Single Barrel is their SSCX team. It’s a pretty rad concept, which you can read up about at Mosaic.
Now onto this bike. Daimo is, from what I could gather anyway, quite a character. The first thing he said to me was something along the lines of, “don’t forget to photograph the best finishing tape job on the team.” All It needs is some shallac! Anyway, Daimo’s bike came together great but it wouldn’t have been possible without support from Shimano USA, Chris King and PRO Bike Gear… and yes, tying off the bar tape was a nice touch. It’s not too early to be thinking about a custom cross frame from Mosaic. Holler at the boyz. For more inspiration, check out Aaron’s own suped-up XSS-1.
If you’ve been waiting to pull the trigger on a new road bike, you might want to check out the 2015 Speedvagen Road Guide Book. It goes through the ordering process, pricing, standard and custom features, as well as timeline for delivery and how to order. This year, the new paint scheme is Ghost. An olive drab coat in matte finish with the graphics inlayed, creating a 3d effect on the frame. It’s something else. Read more about the paint at Speedvagen and while you’re there check out the 2015 Road Guide Book.
Photo by Kyle Kelley
Slawta has created some of the most unique and ostentatious frame designs under his moniker Land Shark. Every time I see one of his works of art, I’m completely mesmerized, especially when neon paint is involved. Kyle recently shot this unique triple triangle track and I don’t wanna give too much of it away, so you’ll have to head over to Trackosaurus Rex to see the rest.
In Seattle, a local staple has closed its doors. Back in September of last year, Elliott Bay Bicycles, home of Davidson Cycles, shut down. Luckily the in-house brand of frames, made by hand since 1973, by Bill Davidson lives on.
Even though Davidson is a Seattle-based framebuilder, his work can be seen from coast to coast, from vintage steel to modern composite. Although Bill only currently offers road frames, he makes them in a variety of materials. As a Davidson customer, you can chose between composite, steel or titanium, all of which are done in house. While the modern bikes have their own character, there’s something about a frame from the late 80’s and early 90’s. They all have a certain finesse that’s harder to achieve these days with modern materials.
This particular frame was most likely made in the mid to late 1980’s, if the 1″ threaded steerer and internally-lugged unicrown fork is any indication. Chris scored it off eBay as he was looking for a traditionally lugged frame to kick around town on. Fit with a mix of Campagnolo 10-speed, the bike looks like a classic road from the 80’s, yet has the technology from a modern road group.
Bottom line, she’s a looker. See more in the Gallery.
We’ve seen the road twin to this custom peace paint Baum Extensa before, but there’s something super rad about a pink mountain bike, especially with that build kit. See more at the Baum Flickr and even though I’m a metalhead, seeing peace signs on bikes is the best thing ever.