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Do you think the Dutch abstract painter Piet Mondrian would have ever expected to see his unique form of Neoplasticism art used so wildly in pop culture? To the point where a bicycle frame – hell, multiple bicycle frames! – would be adorned with his unique form of abstract art? Firefly Bicycles is working on documenting a beauty of a frame. See more at their Tumblr.
Malden, Massachusettes is a gateway to Middlesex Fells and various outdoor activities. Landsmith is a Cafe + Outdoor Adventure Clubhouse looking to open to cater to mountain bikers, cyclotourists, gravel riders and everything in between. If you’re in the Boston area, check out this Kickstarter project.
Ride in Peace Jacob Smoller: A Tribute Jacobs Track Bike
Photos by Kyle Kelley and words by Billy Sinkford
Preface: Jacob Smoller recently passed away in Boston. Coinciding with this unfortunate event, Kyle came across a Jacobs track bike in Los Angeles. To celebrate Jacob’s life and work, we reached out to Billy Sinkford, a good friend of Jacob to write a memorial piece:
Try Harder. That was Jacob Smoller’s motto. His creed. Jacob would have turned thirty a few weeks ago and passed just a few days before his birthday. He was a Boston bike messenger, frame builder, beloved member of the international messenger family, and urban cycling community at large.
Be it music, racing, building bikes or riding them, Jacob was an artist with a strong creative drive. His commitment to the cycling community even stronger. Over the past 10 years Jacob had a hand in organizing countless cycling events and races, all with the emphasis on fun and inclusion, he was happiest bringing folks together.
Jacob loved this community, he loved bikes, and he loved Boston. Try Harder, never settle and give your all. He gave everything to the messenger community, his friends and family and we will miss him all the more for it. As everyone does, Jacob had his demons. It’s important to remember our friend for the light that he shined and not the shadow that he cast. He was a beautiful man who didn’t ask of anyone and stood tall with his decisions.
Jacob and I met over a decade ago during my transition from messenger life in Boston. I had some of the best times of my life with him, late night antics, exploring the country by bike, and candid conversations over the years. He is a friend that I hold close and his loss has rocked my world. I miss him with all my heart, ride safe my friend. I will miss our talks.
____
David, or as many refer to him as “the Wilcox”, is a bit of a legend in the Boston-area, much like Mike Zanconato, the builder of his trusty cross bike. Since 1998, Zanconato has been building custom bicycles in Massachusetts, which is where David got this matte-black beauty.
While Tim and David were in town this week with the Rapha mobile cycle club Tillie – after a grueling drive straight from Louisville – I shot photos of his race bike, still caked with Kentucky mud. His build is steller with Chris King, CX1, Wolf Tooth and yes, a Quarq power meter.
See more in the Gallery!
Tyler at Firefly was kind enough to send over some photos from last weekend’s MERCIBOS exhibition by KCE at Firefly. I can’t get over how creative these prints are, especially the ceramic snail design.
See more below!
This Saturday, April 26th at Firefly in Boston, the mystery artist KCE will be presenting some of their prints. If I wasn’t at the Whiskey 50, I’d be there – so if you make it out, do so! See more details at the Firefly Facebook.
KCE was kind enough to send over some stealth teaser images from the show, which you can see below…
That came out wrong. You know what I meant! Chris Milliman doing his thing for Luxe Wheelworks, featuring Kelli. While they were shooting this video, Chris shot these portraits. Keep on top of his (amazing) work here!
It’s great to see two Boston brands representing American production and fabrication: New Balance and Firefly Bicycles. Although, it’s a little weird to go through that whole speech and end with “1 out of every 4 pairs of shoes we sell in the USA is made or assembled here”.
This is Tomii number 12 if I’m not mistaken and in the short time Nao has been building, I have to say that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching him progress. This latest customer project is best described as a “fat road bike”. Bigger tires, disc and Dura Ace downtube shifters. Pretty interesting component choices, wouldn’t you say? Check out more at the Tomii Flickr.
While 44RN might be known best for his 144#47 rings, Aaron loves to tackle projects, no matter how simple they are. Take this replacement lever for the Joy Tech system, done exclusively for Justin at Luxe Wheelworks.
When you’ve been working with wheels as long as Justin has, you learn a thing or two about skewers and applying that knowledge will merit a sharp product. These will be available through Luxe Wheelworks custom wheel builds soon.
Check out more at 44RN.
Marty at Geekhouse is probably the biggest Chris Chance fanboy out there. Somerville, Mass and its framebuilding community are forever in debt to Fat City Cycles. Little homages like this prove it! Man, I can’t wait to build this thing up!
I put this up on my Tumblr, meaning to schedule it for a week from now, only to have it go live today, sending a slew of emails my way. It is true, 44RN is machining a new batch of 144#47 chainrings this week. That means another week or so for anodizing. As it stands, there will be 50 silver and 50 black rings in my web shop around Halloween.
This is only to alert you that you should set money aside for one. As far as I know, they’ll be $77, the same as before. Aaron is a very talented designer and he is doing this out of the goodness of his heart. He’s not making much money here, and it’s only after constant pestering that I convinced him to do this.
Everyone who’s had these rings (myself included) has nothing but positive things to say about them. So get stoked!
Justin Spinelli has spent years as a professional racer and mechanic. His company, Luxe Wheelworks is nestled in the freshly-established HQ in Boston, where he assembles high-end wheels for clients all over the US. Even if you have no use for his wheelbuilding expertise, you really should check out his blog for some wheel porn.
Also, Justin, thanks for the water bottles!
Don’t have a bike? Make one! Geekhouse shows us what you can do with a little time and a lotta space. While we’re on the subject of Geekhouse, head over to Facebook and Like their page.
This is very nice. I love gumwalls, bright frames and even silver components. But the dual brakes seal the deal. You can tell someone’s in this for the distance. Check out more at Superb. Thanks for the heads up Tracko.
Marty and the Geekhouse boys are back at it, building frames in their new HQ spot. He’s got the list going for the new 2012 Geekhouse Mudville cross team bikes. I’m on the list, are you?
Photo by Justin Keena
Ian of Icarus Frames is one of those people who will inspire you just by being around him. He’s sometimes quiet, shy and soft spoken, but when you get him going, he’s very opinionated. He’s also one of the most talented individuals I know. Recently, in pursuit of a different kind of life, Ian packed his shop up at Fringe and moved to Asheville, North Carolina. Having grown up in NC and since I’ve spent a good amount of time in Asheville, I can say that both his business and Ian will thrive there. Justin Keena, former studio mate of Ian, took some photos of him before he left for the South. You really should head over and see the full set for yourself.
Thanks for sharing Justin and Ian, best of luck homie! By the way, there’s nothing a recently-relocated builder loves more than a few orders. Why not put a deposit down?
You’d think Marty and the Geekhouse gang would have mistaken Austin for Boston at last year’s event. Somehow they got confused and set up their NAHBS booth in their new space at HQ Boston. Silly guys, the convention was 3,011 miles away! While they sort out their flub up, head over to the Geekhouse blog and Flickr for more details on what happened.
