The Radavist

Jordan Hufnagel is one of my favorite framebuilders. Or I should say, was one my favorites. After he decided to lay down the torch, he and close friend James Crowe began West America. Together they rode motorcycles to Patagonia and documented the whole journey with 35mm film. Upon returning after a year on the road, the two began fabricating everything from more motos to furniture and eventually, Jordan began his own metal working business. Sometime prior to taking off for Patagonia, Jordan made this frame for Kyle of Golden Saddle Cyclery. Now, I don’t know if the frame was made to specifically pair with this Death Spray Custom fork that Kyle has had hanging on the shop wall, or if it was the plan all along, but soon enough, the two were mated and awaited parts.

Fast forward for literally two years and Kyle was ready to build the bike up, as a result of his Mudfoot Stinner getting side-swiped by a car. Kyle poached some parts and built it up, ready to rip the trails in Los Angeles and up until his Red, White and Blue Stinner 27.5 ‘cross bike, it’d been his go to bike for dirt riding. With a prototype 44RN ‘cross ring, SRAM Force 1x, Paul Minimotos, Chris King and ENVE bits, it’s a pretty tricked out build, but the last piece of the puzzle just landed from Japan.

Sim Works‘ Pop Up at Golden Saddle Cyclery this weekend will have literally everything from the brand’s catalog in stock and in person, including these Homage tires in Michelin green. Made by Panaracer, these tires measure 43mm on a rim like the H+Son Archtypes and even wider on a more modern carbon disc rim. They set up easily tubeless, on a tubeless rim and with the center file tread pattern, roll fast on pavement with the side knobs adding extra traction on loose corners. They are available in 650b or 700 diameters.

This bike has had a long life in the build racks at Golden Saddle Cyclery but in its short time being built up, has lived a pretty exciting life, as evident by the dirty fork crown.

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Visit Golden Saddle Cyclery in Silverlake, Los Angeles and follow them on Instagram.

Jordan Hufnagel took a short sabbatical from bicycle frame building to take on his transcontinental motorcycle trip with West America partner James Crowe. Before taking off on the road, or dirt rather, he produced a run of porteur bikes. These bikes may look similar, clad in their matte black with gumwall 650b tires, but each one was specially tailored to his client’s needs and potential uses. Hufnagel has an aesthetic he likes to hit, ever-so precisely.

As I was flipping through Instagram, I noticed an newly-built olive-drab disc bike on Jordan’s Instagram. No less than a few minutes later, in rolls Jason with his Hufnagel.

Jason snagged one up as soon as he saw the pre-order go live and to be completely honest, it’s my favorite one I’ve seen. Having shot a few for the Radavist already, I was impressed with the detailing that went into Jason’s build: clean lines, custom fender brackets, custom racks, custom stem, matte black paint, clean generator routing and that awesome pannier…

See for yourself in the Gallery!

The Hufnagel porteurs are my all time favorite, especially since Jordan has put the frame building torch aside while he and West America-partner James head south to Mexico on their dirt bikes. The rugged, utilitarianism of these frames is only exceeded by the sophistication and lack of ostentation. Fillet brazed, simple and mostly made with domestically-produced components, they’re timeless…

Caleb’s one of the locals here in Austin that owns one and every time I see it, I get a tad bit jealous. Especially knowing that Jordan has a single speed version in my size for sale right now (56cm ST 61cm TT). If you’re interested in that, email him! In the meantime, check out more photos of Caleb’s Hufnagel Porteur in the Gallery!

Ok, brace yourselves here. This bike is absolutely stunning. It’s no secret that Jordan Hufnagel made some Beautiful Bicycles in his days as a frame builder and I feel like in the last few months of his torch time, the bikes he built were so full of class and character. Ty’s cross, his own porteur and Jesse’s “Fire Road Racer”.

When you are from LA, you’re very familiar with the various fire roads and singletrack off-shoots. After spending time on his road bike, carefully descending down these rutted and rocky descents, Jesse decided it was time for a more fitting vehicle… See more in Gallery!

“I just wanted something simple and white.” That was Ryan’s reply when I mentioned how much I loved his Hufnagel road bike on our ride. I get a lot of people asking to go on rides here in Austin when they visit and I usually take them on a quick 20-30 mile route. The day starts out with “is that all we’re doing?” and ends with “holy shit, these climbs are steep!”. That’s what we did on Monday. 25 miles, 3,100′ of climbing.

Ryan’s Hufnagel is as far as I know, one of three in Texas. Jordan isn’t building bicycles anymore but he made a few for people in Texas when he was and they’re just as nice as his later bikes. With the signature seatstay treatment and his fondness for deep stays, the bikes just scream personality, without being too ostentatious. They’re just tastefully done. An elegant paint job and Campy 11 was exactly what Ryan requested: something simple and white.

I’ve already featured this Beautiful Bicycle once, but it was fully decked out in “city mode” during my Shop Visit to Hufnagel Cycles.

When Giro began making their selections for who would get to preview and review their New Road line, I was surprised to see Hufnagel‘s name on the list. He’s a huge advocate of environmentally responsible construction and sustainability. Sure enough though, the merino in the New Road line is from New Zealand, not China and it’s made in San Francisco… Sounds like a perfect match.

But what would Jordan ride? His city bike of course. Stripped of the porteur accoutrement, it became a lively gravel machine. Even the 420mm chainstays with 650b wheels didn’t hold Mr. Hufnagel back from getting rad on this bike. Here I was, thinking a cross bike was the ideal travel bike and yet, this thing looked pretty freaking rad.

Let me just preface this post by saying I wish I could show you more photos from the Giro New Road photo shoot. Even getting clearance for posting up these took a little bit of eye-batting and begging. But man, am I ever glad I got to share them.

Day 03 began as Ty, Jordan and I took off for the hills adjacent to our ranch. Super steep gravel climbs and windy singletrack was no challenge for Ty and Jordan as the sunlight broke through the trees. They just flowed through the rocky gravel as videographers and photographers tried to capture the essence of New Road. Later on, the afternoon was spent out on HWY 1 at the mouth of the Navarro River. Climbing up and down the hills, before grabbing lunch, and finally dinner.

Some of the photos shown here give you an idea of what Giro is going for in the New Road. But keep in mind, the details that make this line different from any other will be under wraps for now. Till then, enjoy these photos and don’t miss Ty’s crossie wall ride sequence!

A while back, I posted about a pre-order for these Hufnagel porteur. Based on this city bike, the Hufnagel Porteur is a very understated and elegant bike. Built with hand-machined and brazed components, there are details spilling out all over. After I shot some photos of Hufnagel’s shop, I took his porteur out into the morning light in Southeast Portland for some lens love. There’s really not much else I can say about it, so I’ll let the photos do the talking.

Click on the above photo to launch the gallery, or here to open in a new tab.

Jordan Hufnagel is one of the most “fly under the radar” builders out there. His web presence is almost non-existent and that’s because when he’s not building his Porteur project bikes, rad cross bikes, or working on West America projects, he’s out camping on his motorcycle. With rumors of him going to Mexico soon for some dude-time with West America co-founder James Crowe, I had to get into his shop and check out his work place. Like most builders in Portland, his space is tucked away in a space on a quiet street. After catching up, I let him work as I poked around…

Click on the above photo to launch the gallery, or here to open in a new tab.

Ty from Golden Saddle Cyclery loves cross. He lives for it. All year he trains and diets strictly for the radness. He even turned vegan to eat healthier. I don’t understand all that but his new Hufnagel cross bike looks like serious business. After Ty rode the 2012 NW Rapha Gentlemen’s Race, I took his bike for some lens love. I didn’t want to bring it back after pedaling over to a spot in the woods for photos…

Click on the above photo to launch the gallery, or here to open in a new tab.