The Radavist

The more I read about the Almanzo 100, the more I really want to ride in it (fuck it, we’re doing the Royal 162). I’ll be sending out my information this week and I suggest you do the same. Jeff Frane, Kyle and Ty, I’m looking at you!

Check out more photos here, the video here and get pumped.

The whole time I’ve been in Sydney, all I’ve wanted to do is go on a nice, long road ride and little did I know, I’d do just that on Saturday. So far, I’ve done a few spins with new friends and it’s been great. When Adam from CycleEXIF offered to take me to Wollongong to see Tarn and Meg at Primate Frames, I got excited. A quick look on the map showed it was at least 60 miles down the coast from Sydney. We chatted and I misunderstood Adam’s description, thinking we’d be on a ferry for most of the way, I showed up in sneakers on my road pedals, Dickies and a black shirt, toting 20 lbs or so of camera equipment on my back. Boy was I in for a surprise, and a sun burn.

Check out nine more photos below. Man, it’s been a while huh?

I’m sitting here, drenched in my own sweat from a ride here in Sydney, with my GSC bottles filled with ice, resting on my back, so this image from Tracko is quite fitting. It’s Merkcx Mondays (Tuesday Australia time) and there’s more below!

Some Minneapolis locals put together a documentary on Erik Noren of Peacock Groove. Here are the details:

“SEE DEEP CUSTOM in its entirety, at the Jungle Theater on 12/12/11 at 7pm. Admission is free. Beer isn’t. Just show up. For details, check the Facebook event page.

Deep Custom was conceived when Art Director Tony Franklin (of publicconvoy.com) and Photographer T.C. Worley (studiobluempls.com) decided to collaborate on a personal project together. Believing their best creations were those unpaid “labor of love” jobs, they embarked to construct something born of passion, and not monetary gain.

Erik Noren, owner of Peacock Groove Custom Cycles was the clear choice for the film’s subject as he embodied this same passion in his bicycle building. No vacations, few days off and even moving into his parents home for a time were all sacrifices he has been willing to make to keep his small shop afloat.

The duo spent the better part of the Summer 2011 filming on weekends and in their free time. A strong theme of giving surrounds this film, as each side contributed time and talent to make this project a success.

This was their first motion project together, but will not be their last. Look for their new production company RoyalAntler to be born soon.”

See at Bike Jerks.

Mashafix just put out a new video from Long Beach grom Gabriel Garcia.

Resist just announced that the new Congoloid bars are now in stock! I caught this on Congo’s Facebook last week and wondered when they’d drop. Head to your LBS now to order these. I hope you got royalties homie, these things are gonna sell fast!

Barbore: 22.2
Rise: 3.5″
Width: 28″
Backsweep: 9º
Up Sweep: 2º

Dan commutes on a rather rare bird. For those of you who weren’t aware, Grant Peterson, of Rivendell, used to design bicycles for Bridgestone. His most famous models were the RB-1 and XO-1 frame. In 1993, the XO-1s sported a burnt orange color and could fit either 26″ or 700c wheels. They became the essential touring bikes of choice for many and have accumulated a rather cult-like following. Dan’s Bridgestone is a 1991 and was the only XO-1 to ever come with standard calipers, not cantis and it was designed for 26″ wheels, not 650b or 700c. This was also the only year that the XO-1 came in a purple or “tusk” paint color.

Bottom line is, Dan’s got an awesome commuter and you can check out more photos below.

I have always been a fan of the Royal Flush rings but recently PAUL Components released what they call the “Circles” rings. Available in 46 and 48 teeth, these chainrings are machined out of 6.3mm thick aluminum plate. Made for BMX and track chains, ⅛”, they aren’t bending on you anytime soon. Check out more at PAUL.

In what I hope to be an ongoing series, the A Girl and Her Bike entries will show chicks and bikes in what I consider a genuine light. First up is the lovely Jess Versus. Working full time as a tattoo artist and commuting daily on her bike, Jess fits the bill of a cyclist in my opinion. Recently, she picked up a Gran Royale Lurker and as her first brand new bike, her passion in cycling improved ten-fold. The other day, I took advantage of the warm late-summer sun and shot some photos with her. As alluded to earlier this week, here’s the full set.

Check the rest out below.

cold lurkin’ in the bushes

Now, I know you’re all aware that I don’t usually post photos of scantly-clad girls on bikes on this blog. It’s mostly out of respect for the female readership and besides, you’re on the internet. If seeing naked girls is your thing, open a new tab and well… you know. All that aside, today I shot the lovely Jess Versus ( @JessVersus ) on her new Gran Royale Lurker. It’s her first single speed and she’s in love with it. Here’s a little sample to hold you over until I put the set up on Friday.

Shooting girls on the bikes they ride and in the clothes they normally wear is the jam!

I took the opportunity recently to photograph this neon yellow Ciöcc after seeing it all over town. While it’s not Locked Up, it’s certainly “leaned up”. Even though, in my experiences, Ciöcc bikes rode like a big “meh”, this one’s quite the head-turner. Coated in neon-yellow paint and adorned with Super Record, there’s not much I’d change on the build. To top it off, the owner has a MASH Histogram water bottle. Not bad!

Check out some more photos below.

Damn. Steven and Alex Royal slaying the skatepark in Seattle. Disaster bars are so rad on a fixed gear. Don’t miss that legit 540 cab either!

I get so many emails from readers and from now on, when I get a re-occurring question, I’m going to address it in a post. In recent weeks, I must have answered this one question countless times:

“What’s a good beginner sfixed freestyle bike? I need a bike that can take a little bit of tricking and not break the bank.”

To which I’ve replied, each time to check out the Gran Royale Lurker, pictured above…

and the Subrosa Malum (pictured here) for complete street fixed builds under $600. If you’re looking to spend a little more, there’s also the Bens Cycle Bruiser economy builds for $900. All three offer super solid rides and can handle beginner-tricking. There’s no sense in dropping over a grand on a bike designed to withstand BMX tricks unless you’re sure that’s what you want. I always recommend people try something out first before investing a ton of money. For the longest time, my bike of choice for beginners was the Surly Steamroller. Now, with unicrown forks more common, it makes more sense to go with one of the three aforementioned builds.

Edit: A reader brought to my attention the Redline Urbis as another bike in the under $600 pricepoint. Solid build for sure. Disk-brake front too. Can you think of other options? Send them my way!

Hopefully this answers a few questions. Got something else you’d like to ask me? Feel free to email me!

Previously:
Gran Royale Lurker
Subrosa Fixed?

Traveling with your bike can sometimes be a royal pain in the ass. The day before I left to come to LA, I flat-spotted a rim, casing it on a ledge, cracked a bolt in my stem in half, rendering it useless and found out that after a long life, my bottom bracket spindle was shot. Knowing that I was flying to LA for the Summer Fix event, I packed up my bruised Bruiser and hoped for the best.

Check out more photos below!

click for full-resolution

Chris just got his Bruiser back from the painters. It looks amazing. I gotta say it man, that’s some Phoenician royalty right there. Here’s a side story on that. The Phoenician’s were the first to create the purple, or violet dye. All of their kings were adorned in it and it became a sign of royalty. In fact, the word Phoenician, derived from phoinikèia, literally means “purple”. Now I’m not implying that Chris is royalty, but I love his art and this bike is molten lava.

Pista de Tierra Mixed Terrain Alleycat from David Polka on Vimeo.

Cranks 505 is throwing the Pista de Tierra – Mixed Terrain Alleycat Sunday November 15th in Albuquerque, New Mexico. David threw together this promotional video for the race, which looks like a blast. Check out the flier after the jump…

The Architect’s Journal has a nice article on a new book entitled Crap Cycle Lanes.

Description below:

Architects come up against short-sighted planning on a daily basis – not least when they get on their bikes

This charming book provides pictures of dozens of half-hearted, incompetent and dangerous cycle lanes. Crap Cycle Lanes is available from the Eye Books website, Amazon or any good bookshop. The book was inspired by the Warrington Cycle Campaign and all royalties go to the Cyclists Defence Fund.

Looks pretty good. Anyone got similar stories or pictures? Post them in the comments!

OPEN will be opening in Boston relatively soon. More information to follow, but Zach and his friends are throwing a proper event this weekend in Boston to kick off the Winter.

If you’re in Boston and you’re hankering for some Boldsprints (Boston’s Goldsprints), check out their 10-race series. They’ll be releasing a flier Sunday with all the appropriate information.