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The Speedvagen Readymade program returns for 2021 but due to the pandemic, it required some new requirements for this popular program. Right now, Speedvagen is taking deposits for the Drop Bar GTFO and the Disc-OG bikes. A deposit of $1,000 is required to get get the ball rolling and only 11 of each bike model are available. Check out all the information below and if you like what you see, place your deposit at Speedvagen.
The 2021 Easton Overland team is rearin’ up and ready for the 2021 gravel calendar. Here’s their announcement video, check out the athletes below, along with the team’s race calendar.
Wahoo Frontiers takes to one of California’s most breathtaking places, the Lost Coast:
“In this first episode of season two, Ian Boswell, Peter Stetina, and Colin Strickland meet up in California for a bike trip that explores the Lost Coast. This is not just an adventure, it is the new training camp for these privateers. What do you do when you need your competition to get better so you can beat your competition later? Ian, Pete, and Colin find out as they tackle the Lost Coast each seeking something a bit different and each riding away with fresh perspective and motivation for challenges ahead.”
See the route links below…
As someone who documents all sorts of framebuilder creations, it’s always this sort of bike that gets me every time. There’s something really wonderful about a builder’s personal bike, especially when it’s a byproduct of their own journey as a constructeur. Flashback to last month and the Baphomet Bicycles Shop Visit. I spent the day watching Dillen work, discussing his story – which if you’re just now joining us I suggest you read – and eventually, I began documenting some of the bikes had had in his shop. We saw the “Shreddy Rando” bike, which was a crowd favorite with its pristine presentation, chrome bits, and as we say “dialed” build. Now it’s time for the really good stuff. Bikes with beausage and a story will always tug at my heartstrings and this one is no different.
A little while back, Patrick from Bikes or Death reached out, saying he was going to be in Santa Fe and was hoping we could sit down for a podcast interview. Naturally, I obliged, and last night we hung out at our office here in Santa Fe and talked about bikes, photography, other randomness related to this website. I won’t give too much away but I was really stoked on how it went. Doing interviews is a great way to bond with a person and afterward, I just had to shoot Patrick’s Chumba Cycles Stella Ti. While the podcast episode won’t be out for a few weeks, I wanted to feature this rad build while it was all still fresh on my mind, so enjoy!
Two years ago Backshop Bikes introduced one of the first gravel cycling tourism efforts in Trinidad, Colorado. The perception was that gravel had already matured to the point where as a category it would evolve towards a destination model akin to mountain biking. If it worked, then suddenly rural drive-by towns had a chance to leverage gravel bikes towards social prosperity. This is why we created the Explore Las Animas campaign in 2019, which included a website with community and route information. Unfortunately, it came down and I’ve been brainstorming on ways to get one back up since…
Our friends at Giro have sponsored a new collective of athletes and brands that stand united in a common goal to introduce new audiences to cycling. Read the full press-release on this group below!
Our friend Andrew Juiliano breaks down Lezyne’s new mid-volume floor pumps. These pumps are in-between a high-pressure road pump and a high-volume, low-pressure mountain bike pump, which makes sense. For $99.99, you get a digital interface Pro-line floor pump, for $79.99 the standard model, and the standard “analog” pump runs $64.99. See more at Lezyne.
Wraith Fabrication made some really slick bikes in the years they were building frames. It’s not too often we see them, so when Quinn sent his over for a Readers’ Rides feature, we dropped everything. Check out a short write up by Quinn below, along with many more photos…
Hear me out here, set your preconceptions aside for a bit. Before jumping into today’s Shop Visit, I have to clear the air and give an introduction to the iconography and ideologies which represent this particular framebuilder’s brand…
Salsa’s flagship gravel bikes are back this year with new paint and new specs. The all-carbon Warbird still fits a 700c x 45 mm or 650b x 2.0″ with a racey geometry. New for 2021, the Warbird comes laced with AXS wide ($6,999) at the top end or Apex 1 ($2,799).
The aluminum Stormchaser can cram a little bigger tires at 700c x 50 mm or 650b x 50 mm, yet is designed to be raced in muddy conditions with a 42mm tire for ample mud clearance. The Stormchaser also has a slacker head angle to battle the muck. The Stormchaser comes built as shown as a singlespeed ($1599) or as a frameset with a geared or singlespeed option ($1199).
See more at Salsa.
That feller up at Bearclaw Bicycle Co is doing some really amazing things. The whole catalog is composed of some paradigm-shifting designs and a crowd favorite is the Beaux Jaxon. If you dig drop bars and chonk tires, that’s the frame for you. Throw in a titanium segmented fork and you’ve got a dream machine. Kevin Hinton is a tattoo artist here in Santa Fe. He also runs his Adventure Bikepacking Instagram account as a side project, which hosts overnighters, and tours in the area.
Originally from Los Angeles, Kevin cut his chops touring all over California, specifically in the desert, taking on the Stagecoach 400 multiple times. This particular loop goes from high pine country down through Anza Borrego and into San Diego before climbing back up to the pines. The Anza section is particularly sandy, so when Kevin built up this dream bike, he had some specific requirements and took that list to Sincere Cycles for the build…
I’ve got this bike. It’s a touring bike. So when it’s loaded down with gear, it can get quite heavy. To remedy this, I built it up with an Eagle GX rear derailleur and cassette, giving me a whopping 10-50t range (the new GX goes to 52t even). To shift this range, I used a barcon shifter from Microshift because as you are well aware, SRAM doesn’t make a cable-actuated road shifter that’s compatible with their MTB mech lineup.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with the Microshift barcon. I was and have been more than pleased with this option but then Ratio, a small startup out of the UK announced a 11-speed road to 12-speed mountain upgrade kit.
I think this is one time when we can ignore that old Eddy Merckx adage “Don’t buy upgrades, ride up grades…” Sorry Eddy, Johnnie’s bike needs this.
We posted about Ratio’s kit back in October. I ordered a kit the day the post went up but didn’t get motivated to do the install until I felt like I had a reason to. A few friends here in Santa Fe are taking on an all-road tour in April, and I wanted to get this bike dialed in before that trip, so last week, I swung by Sincere Cycles with the Dreamer and Ratio’s kit with hopes of rolling around on an 11-speed road shifter working with a 12-speed mountain…
Get Lost is a short video made by Daniel Koeth for Cadence Collection and it captures the vibes of summertime riding with friends where there is no exact destination needed… Great song, by the way!
The Warlock is a beefy gravel bike/light tourer from UK-based Fearless Bikes. Built around either 650bx58mm or 700x47mm tires, with a unicrown fork, flat mount brakes, 1x dedicated routing, internal dropper compatible, and more.
Warlock framesets are £720 for customers in the UK and £600 outside of the UK including EU countries.
Specs:
Tubing: Double Butted Chromoly Steel. Internal E.D coating and powder coat paint
Dropouts: Rear: 142 x 12mm thru axle. Front: 100 x 12mm thru axle
Tyres: 700 x 47c, 650b x 58c (27.5 x 2.25″)
Brakes: Flat Mount 160mm front & rear. Post mount- 180mm front, 160mm rear
Seatpost: 30.9mm. Dropper post routing
Headtube: 44mm- tapered carbon fork compatible
Headset: 404 Type 2 Fork: Top cup- ZS44/28.6, Lower Cup- ZS44/30. Tapered fork: ZS44/28.6 top cup, EC44/40 lower cup
Front mech: 1x dedicated
BB Shell: 68mm width. BSA/English thread
Chainring: 1x road (Sram 1x Road, Shimano 1x road conversions) – 42T. 1x Shimano GRX – 44T
Fork: Straight blade 4130 Chromoly Steel. 404mm A/C. S & M size frames- 52mm offset, L & XL- 48mm. Mid-blade rack mounts, eyelets for mudguards and carriers, 2x sets of cargo cage mounts
Color: Cool Grey, Faded Olive
Check out many more details at Fearless.
Last year, State Bicycle Co’s team took off on their new 6061 All-Road bikes to ride from Flagstaff to the mighty Grand Canyon. Watch as their adventure unfolds in this video… #SouthWestIsBest
These days, gravel bike designs can be very redundant, something German manufacturers like Nicolai Bikes are looking to overcome. Their newest design, the Argon GX, is as much a gravel bike as it is a touring bike but look closely for some clever manufacturing detailing.
Through 3D modeling and engineering, Nicolai is able to construct durable and lightweight 7020-T6 frame components. Each of these pieces are made on modern 5-axis CNC machines and allows for the construction of so-called “Hollow Mill” assemblages. The bottom bracket and chainstay yoke in the Argon CX use this technology to both shed weight and set their offerings apart from their competitors.
Other details include the option for a Pinion gear box, fender/rack mounts, flat mount disc calipers, internal routing, and designed geometries to fit just about any body type. Head to Nicolai to see more!
For today’s Readers’ Rides, we look at Sepie’s beautiful Breadwinner B-Road. Read on below for words and photos by Sepie!
