Our buddy Jeff Curtes is an exceptional photographer and part of the Speedvagen family. Living in Sydney means ‘cross season is here and this season he’s racing for MAAP, an Australian apparel company. When Jeff told me about his new team bike, I requested some photos. It sounded like an awesome build with Di2, a race geometry and no bottle bosses. Yeah…

I can’t even begin to paraphrase Jeff’s words, so check them out below, along with more photos!

“All of those cliches, all of the bullshit, well…kinda comes true, at least in my Speedvagen world that began in 2007 when I moved to Portland and within a week of meeting Sacha White was throwing a leg over my newly acquired personal Vanilla single speed that I talked him into selling me. And just like that, I’m n+1 ‘Vagens deep and this one is the latest, and the sweetest so far.”

“Since relocating to Sydney in 2011 (I married an Aussie in 2005 and guess what, Aussie’s want to live at home, in paradise), nearly every ride on my 2009 all steel Speedvagen road bike was interrupted with tap on the shoulder, or a simple ‘hey, what kind of bike is that, mate?’ greeting. It didn’t take long for things to progress let’s just say. Same for on the dirt, I showed up to a local club race a few years back, Winter and ‘cross happens down here in July/August, so it was perfect prep for some Portland preseason…and well, gold Speedvagen’s turn some heads.”

“So this year, after having Sacha down for a Speedvagen Fit Tour last September and him witnessing first hand the Speedvagen frenzy happening down here, he gave me the green light to pull together some friends, collaborate with the coolest group of guys doing the coolest brand in cycling, and launch what we are calling SVxMAAP…a four man strong CX team with the same vibe and good times goals as Speedvagen Family Racing values back home. Just so happens that we’ve got Garry Millburn, one of Australia’s quickest and most recognized and traveled cx’ers leading the charge.”