The Radavist

We’d like to think we’re pretty alright at photographing bikes over here at The Radavist. The steeds we choose to document reflect our audience’s preferences and capture distinct trends in bicycle design. Yet, each year as we reflect on all the builds that have rolled through this cyber showroom, we’re always surprised to see what the Top Ten list reveals. This year, we’ve got a good mix of bikes, outfitted with flat and droopy bars, running rubber across the size spectrum, and made of steel, aluminum and yes, even carbon. Let’s get to it!

J.P. Weigle is the gem of the Connecticut River Valley. From his small shop in Lyme, CT, he has built hundreds of beautiful randonneuring bicycles for Randonnée events worldwide and each year, he hosts the French Fender Day. Before Weigle was known for his rando bikes, he made a lot of experimental bikes. We’ve looked at his Ice Cycle in detail, a fat tire road bike, and today we present this pristine 1983 Time Trial Bike, with words by Noah Gellner and photos by the ever-talented Joey Schusler. Let’s get to it!

I met Ballz last August while riding around Brattleboro VT. Afterward, I was welcomed back to Nutmeg Country for pizza, more group rides, and tour guiding. While there I spent the night in Ballz and Troy’s Garage, also known as the Nutmeg Country Historical Preservation Society Of Alt Cycling, or something along those lines. No, really, they had it all: everything from prototype Crust Leather Handlebars to prototype Nor’Easters. So, seeing a one-of-a-kind J.P. Weigle wasn’t out of the ordinary, but I didn’t quite grasp what I was looking at.

Continuing our sporadic coverage of our Vintage Bicycles feature is this rare J.P. Weigle Ice Cycle. Due to the nature of this creation, I reached out to Peter Weigle himself to see if he could fill the readers of the Radavist in on this stunning bike. Check out Peter’s story below accompanied by a plethora of photos…

Each year I like to look at our content in its entirety and reflect back on bikes that took you, the readers of this website, by storm. Back in the mid to late 2000’s it was all fixed gears, then came the gravel bikes, the tourers, the MTBs, and the kooky, eccentric builds you’ve come to enjoy checking out in full-res detail. We’ve got some incredibly talented individuals contributing to this site and their hard work is something I cannot express my gratitude for enough. Going back through the 2020 content here at the Radavist, I am amazed at what we were able to accomplish all things considered.

For this year’s Top Beautiful Bicycles of 2020, we have compiled a great list of ten bikes, ranging from rim brakes to fixed gears, basket bikes, and more. This list is based on web traffic, commentary, and social media chatter, and each of these builds really brought something unique to our content. We omitted bike reviews here but included production bikes. Oh and I hope you like baskets!

Let’s jump right in!

A while ago Liz and I were rolling through Connecticut, on a mission to eat the best pizza in the world. We went to Frank Pepe’s, Sally’s, Modern, and BAR, a list provided to us by the one and only Ronnie Romance. Ronnie even told us a story of a date at BAR that would forever change his life, but both of us still agreed that Sally’s was the best pizza New Haven had to offer, and I’ll even go as far and say it’s the best pizza I’ve ever had. Ronnie and I have shared pizzas all across the globe, we’ve also shared many stories while eating pizza, and besides Namz, I don’t think anyone person has come up more than Peter Weigle. To me, Peter Weigle is a living legend, dealing in a world I know very little about, and because of this, I thought untouchable. Well… besides holding a can of his Frame Saver. To Ronnie, Peter is an old friend, who shaped the way he pieces his own bikes together to share with the thousands followers along for the ride. Hints, making everything Peter does “The New/Old Hot Thing”!

Next week, we’re going to peer into the workshop of JP Weigle, but we’re going to share his bike first, as an introduction to those who might not be aware of who the hell Mr. Weigle is, what he’s known for, and just how stunning his bikes are. Take some time and really mull over these photos because the work of Peter Weigle is second to none!

There were so many bikes at Peter’s worthy of being shot, but there was something about this particular bike that I just kept going back to. It was the cleanest, but for some reason felt like it was the most loved. I could’ve shot the bike that Jan Heine reviewed in 2017 for Bicycle Quarterly, but there was just something about this very blue bike that had me going crazy.

2018 Philly Bike Expo: JP Weigle Randonneur
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

For over 40 years JP Weigle has been crafting functional artwork. This bike is a culmination of those years, his hand cut and filed lugs in themselves are art. They pull you in and capture your attention.

These functional bikes aren’t just gorgeous show bikes though, each one gets ridden and tested to make sure it passes the ride quality that a Weigle is known for.  Every shape and line of this bike flows together, as the construction and build of the bike are done together creating something gorgeous and refined.  The build is comprised of Compass parts including René Herse cranks, Loup Loup Pass tires as well as Campagnolo Chorus. This modern Randonneur is ready for anything Connecticut weather can throw at it.

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Follow Jarrod on Instagram, and JP Weigle  on Instagram

Details, oh the details. This magnificant J.P. Weigle randonneur bike was propped up in the Bicycle Quarterly / Compass Bicycles booth at the Philly Bike Expo this year. And yet, for the life of me, I couldn’t make my way through the crowd to reach Jan Heine or Peter in order to photograph it the first day of the show.

Once I got their attention, I rolled this beauty out into the overcast skies for some lens love. Where do I begin? Herse cranks, SON hub, Mafac brakes, NOT Reynolds 531 decal. It’s impeccable. Even though I’m indifferent about 650B wheels on larger frames, I can surely confess my love for this piece of work. Somehow, the proportions work and this bike just pops. See for yourself in the gallery!