The Radavist

Aptos, California’s Black Cat Bicycles is a jack of all trades and a master of them all. Fit, frame construction and paint are all done in house by Todd Ingermanson, the self-described one man dance party. His bikes are purpose-driven with elegance. Todd will always fit a bend or two in one of his bikes.

Having been shredding a mountain frame from him over the past few weeks, I can attest to how they ride.

For NAHBS this year, Todd brought a couple of gems with him. An Operation Thunder Monkey rowdy 29’r hard tail and this all-road disc bike. Fitted with Clément X’plor USH tires, a Brooks Cambium, Shimano from head to toe and a custom fillet stem it’s hard to overlook this cherry red beauty. Oh and that paint, yeah…

While we’re on the subject, head over to Black Cat Bicycles to see Todd’s brand new website and follow him on Instagram!

LoveBaum is a framebuilder pairing from Denver, Colorado started by Chad Lovings and Bryce Baumann. The two initially met in Rifle, Colorado at Yamaguchi’s framebuilding school. Shortly after leaving, they decided to begin building together under the name LoveBaum.

The two bikes at NAHBS bearing the LoveBaum name immediately caught my attention in the rookie builder hallway. The first being this curved seat tube track bike. Made from a mix of True Temper and Columbus Life tubing, Bryce intends to put its stiffness and design to the boards at his local velodrome.

White Industries hubs laced to no-name carbon rims and Challenge Pista tires are powered by the AARN chainring and Dura Ace cranks, polished to a shine. With custom leather work by Carson Leh, the contact points on this bike are different than your average track bike.

A Leh top tube protector keeps the custom fillet brazed bar and stem from chipping the top tube’s beautiful pearlescent paint. This is probably one of the most elegant track bikes at the show and has won me over.

He’s back. Eddy’s back. Well, Fat Chance is back and the by-product of a successful Kickstarter launch, Yo Eddy! has returned as well. The spirit and soul of Fat Chance has been resurrected and the modern rendition will leave you all antsy.

A lot has changed since Chris Chance shut down his company. Full suspension, dropper posts, disc brakes, hell, steel has been forgotten by the industry – for the most part. When beginning to understand what the market wanted, Chris kept the modus operandi the same as it’s always been: build bikes that are fun to ride and still highly shreddable.

That’s where we’re at with the Yo Eddy!

Dropper post, 44mm head tube, tight rear end and ample tire clearances. This model in particular is 1x thanks to SRAM and is stiff at the feet with WTB’s first ever carbon, tubeless rim. I’m in heaven! Fluoro, trail illuminating heaven. I don’t know about you, but I’m stoked to see this brand making a comeback.

A few notes: this bike is the first sample. The 433mm chainstays are the same as the 27.5 bike. For production, they will be lengthened. Also, Fat Chance is waiting on custom drawn stays for production, so they’ll change a bit as well.

Hopefully you guys got on that pre-order… I’m kicking myself!

Say, for argument’s sake, that you’re the owner of Henry James Bicycles, the main supplier of True Temper tubing, various lugs and tools. You know just about every framebuilder in the USA and have seen their work in great detail. So when it comes to select a builder to construct your dream bike, who do you call?

For Hank from Henry James, he looked to Santa Barbara’s Stinner Frameworks. When he found out about the beloved Mudfoot cyclocross bikes, he wanted in, but not being on the team, Aaron and painter Jordan Low designed Hank his own paint job.

Arguably my favorite from Low, this bike has pizzaz. With matte and glossy notes, a pearl top coat and yes, stripes with fades, Hank’s bike is a show stopper. SRAM Red 22, Chris King, ENVE and cyclocross tires with minimal tread will take on the fire roads, trails and tracks surrounding Henry James’ facilities in SoCal.

In fact, this bike looks so damn good, I might have to visit them to see it in the wild… If you’re at NAHBS, swing by the Henry James booth at #636 to see it in person.

Each year, NAHBS presents challenges. Both to frame builders and believe it or not, me. As “media” it’s my job to document these bikes and deliver delicious galleries to you, the readers. Now, don’t interpret that in a negative light, because truthfully, it’s my favorite time of year.

Over the past few years, there have been plenty of spaces to photograph bikes, especially outside. This year however, mother nature dropped a blanket of ice and snow on NAHBS’ host city of Louisville, Kentucky. Which presented me with a problem…

Backtracking a bit… For the past few weeks, I’ve been checking out Google street view and photos of the convention center only to realize, I’d spend a lot of time photographing bikes indoors. Luckily, I’ve come prepared and while I don’t think everything is completely dialed in just yet, I’m a lot more confident with my setup.

Tonight, the kind people at Henry James allowed me to experiment some on their two beautiful Stinner Frameworks Disc Cross Bikes. The first one being Ryan from Henry James’ wife’s bike. Jenny’s an avid mountain biker and this will be her first “drop bar” bike. To give her confidence, Ryan decided to go with disc brakes and SRAM’s CX-1 group, the closest thing to her MTB kit. From there, Boyd‘s disc cross rims and Chris King’s components topped off this bike with ease.

As for the paint, there’s only one man who paints bikes like that: Jordan Low. His paint design and execution really brought Aaron from Stinner Frameworks’ craftsmanship… and those colors!

At a glance, this chop-job might actually appeal to some of you. Hey, it’s got everything you need. Low-riding porteur rack, shifting options, multiple paint finishes, massive tire clearances, rim options, disc brakes (hydro or cable) and a reasonable saddle to bar drop.

Doing this little exercise made me realize one thing: damn, there were a lot of disc brakes at NAHBS this year!

While I enjoy detail photos, the drive side of a bike lets you see so much, especially when it’s shot at a nice and level side profile. You can see clearances, BB drop, overlap, trail and reach.

The drive side photo is the most important portrait you can shoot of a bike, in my opinion anyway… This Gallery breaks it down. Flip through for easy comparison and if you missed any of these photosets, check out the 2014 NAHBS archive.

Let me preface this by saying the Guest Gallery you’re about to click through (hopefully!) was no easy feat. Photographing macro details in a convention center isn’t easy, especially when you’re toting around a Hasselblad 500cm, equipped with an 80mm lens, an extender tube, a Phase One back and lighting the scene with an LED lamp. It doesn’t matter how much you know about cameras, that last sentence probably made you scratch your head a bit.

Why would any photographer go through that much of a hassle to shoot NAHBS? Well, because the photos produced by such a rig came out stellar, that’s why.

Photographer Atom Moore had the most unique camera setup at NAHBS. When I saw him toting it around, I had to see what he was working on and after flipping through his submissions to PiNP, I gotta say that I’m so stoked on how they came out!

Check out some incredible macro shots from the 2014 NAHBS in the Gallery!

Much like the road, cross and MTBs found at the 2014 NAHBS, this gallery has a 44mm headtube and is built from OS tubing. In fact, there’s so much packed into the gallery, that I had to give it hydro disc brakes, electronic shifting and through-axles. So descend into the rock garden of Galleries at your own risk…

This year, NAHBS was in my old stomping grounds of Charlotte, North Carolina. I went to architecture college there, slaved away for five years, got my degree and walked away, never looking back. Nothing against the city, because Charlotte has its rad moments, I just never found myself close enough to make the trip. So for me, NAHBS was kind of a homecoming. While I didn’t recognize a lot of the downtown or surrounding areas, that’s to be expected. It had been over 10 years…

I knew a few things were on the agenda: eat at Bojangles fried chicken and biscuits, try to shoot as many bikes outside of the convention as possible, chat with Chris Bishop (who wasn’t showing this year) and somehow, avoid getting wasted each night, because working 14 hour days with a hangover sucks.

Then I got sick. Sicker than I’ve been in some time. Musta been some bayou bug I caught down at Rouge Roubaix. Whatever it was, I could barely focus on anything, my head hurt, my throat was swollen and it was hard to stay indoors with the horrible lighting. So I lost a full day of work, didn’t get to chat to Chris Bishop (sorry dude!) and missed out on the late night shenanigans (thankfully).

What I did accomplish was a selection of bikes I felt were significant and a pretty ok Gallery, showcasing the highlights of the show (for me anyway). I also managed to catch a few friends meandering the aisles… See more in the Mega Huge Oversized Gallery!

In the midst of all the NAHBS madness and in between nearly overdosing on Dayquil, I bumped into Armando Quiros, a frame builder I’ve featured on the site before, way, way back. Armando usually pops up at NAHBS with some insane track build. This time, he didn’t disappoint.

Like most builders, Armando keeps an eye out for vintage, rare tube and lugsets. A few years back, he acquired a set of the uber-scarce Tange Aero lugs, knowing good and well that the lugs aren’t worth anything without the tubes, or the post.

Some time passed and a random search on eBay revealed the tubes and the post, with a note stating: please note, the lugs are not included. He now had all the pieces to the puzzle so to speak.

He got cracking to it, built up a mean track frame and got it powdercoated before the show, building it up in the hotel room the night before. I bumped into him, outside the convention and shot some quick photos, which you can see in the Gallery!

At this point, Tony Pereira of Breadwinner has won three “best MTB” awards at NAHBS over the years. So when this Bad Otis was getting built up on Thursday night before the show, I was interested to see what he had up his sleeves… Boy, was I surprised and impressed. Both Ira and Tony had killer personal bikes at the show.

Tony’s Bad Otis sports a Rockshox 160mm Pike front fork and it’s a hard tail. While that might be an issue on a 29’r, this 27.5 bike will destroy about anything Tony throws at it (or anything he hucks it off, rather). The Reverb Stealth dropper adds another level of adaptability for trail conditions.

With a head angle of 66 degrees and some nice, plump tires, this bike wants to go down things, fast. I just wish I could be there to see him shred on its maiden voyage.

See more in the Gallery!

You gotta hand it to Mosaic Cycles out of Boulder, Colorado. They really do love their dealer shops. In fact, this year, each of their bikes were designed specifically for a different shop, around the world. My favorite happened to be for Crankstar in Brisbane, Australia.

Painted in a navy and baby blue rings, this road racer has an intimidating stance. Built with Dura Ace (yes! calipers!), Chris King Turquoise, ENVE wheels, custom painted Shimano Pro Stealth Evo bars, custom Busyman saddle and bartape, this bike caught my eye before the show even opened on Thursday night.

I had a lot of fun photographing this one. See for yourself in the Gallery!

“Step right up, come see the latest from Cielo / Chris King – this bike has it all: tapered head tube, ENVE wheels, Chris King e’rywhere, PF30 BB, Ultegra Di2, grippy, fast tires and even the latest in chartreuse technology.”

Kyle from Chris King is always peddling the latest from Cielo and Chris King. With good reason too. Made in the same facilities as their brightly-colored, or murdered out Sotte Voce headsets, these bikes bear the same precision as the rest of the Chris King line.

The newest model in their road line, the Ultegra Di2 Road Racer is a full-on production model – meaning from the time you place your order, till it arrives at your front door, you’re looking at 60 days. Maybe 61. But still.

One reason I’m so stoked on these bikes is that any Chris King dealer can carry the frames. That means – nudge, nudge – any shop employee with a Chris King account can order one. Retail price is $2,495 for the frame, fork, I8 headset and add $300 for the matching stem. Cielo’s Road Racer frameset is also available as a standard “cabled” option. Remember, there are always Stem options too…

This bike in particular came in around 16 lbs. It might be less than that, but I don’t want Kyle wacking my knuckles with a straight edge if I’m wrong… See more of this chartreuse beauty in the Gallery! I took extra time with this one…

One of my favorite builders this year at NAHBS were the Czech builders Festka. Their work with oversized Ti and stainless tubing is impeccable. While most of their paint jobs are pretty over the top, this Union Jack Di2 disc road was actually pretty subdued.

Built for Richard Hardy, this particular frame was constructed from Columbus XCR tubing and sported a British racing green coat of wet paint, overlaid with a pattern inspired by the Union Jack flag of the UK.

When people asked me what the overall theme of NAHBS was this year, my reply has been: Di2 and disc brakes. Staying true to that observation, Richard’s bike is equipped and ready to rip. The addition of Rocket Wheels and Tune hubs gave this bike some European flavor amongst the sea of Chris King and Enve.

Remember, if you are interested in carrying Festka, or ordering one for yourself, contact Cycleast in Austin, TX.

See more in the Gallery!

Going into NAHBS this year, one builder I was very interested in chatting with was Kris from 44 Bikes. I’ve enjoyed watching his brand gain so much notoriety over the past year and wanted to find out more about what made him tick.

We chatted a lot, went over all his bikes, talked about New Hampshire life, dirt, trails and what inspired his insane DIY workshop project. At the end of the show, I realized that I shot all three of his bike, essentially giving more coverage to him than any other builder.

There’s no real reason for that, other than since Kris was new to NAHBS, I really wanted to give him some exposure because I really admire his work.

Case in point: this 1×8 Retroshift Cross Bike. Kris used the Retroshift system on his TRP Hylex hydro disc brakes, Industry 9 wheels, along with the Retroshift BURD rear derailleur. Tech aside, this bike has stance. Bright red, crisp lines, no-nonsense language and yes, as I like to say, it’s utilitarian art. See more in the Gallery!

Don’t adjust your handheld or desktop computers, those are indeed indexed downtube shifters… This bike is a throwback to Ira Ryan’s personal history as a bicycle racer and frame builder. Ira is no stranger to gravel, or dirt road riding and racing. Years back, in the early years of the Rapha Continental, Ira was on 23c tires tackling some of the US’ most picturesque roads. Maybe that’s what inspired this ride? That and classic road frames, with an edge. Think of this B Road as an homage to the bikes of yesteryear, with modern upgrades.

Breadwinner‘s bikes this year absolutely slayed and this tangerine B Road “gravel” bike had so much zest. The project began with Ira and Tony modifying Dura Ace downtube shifters to fit 11-speed bar end internals (yes, it shifts like butter). From there, a tapered head tube with an ENVE CX fork and 32c Pasela tires provide more than adequate clearances for true all-road riding and racing. Then, Breadwinner added a third bottle cage and fender eyelets to the ENVE fork!

TRP’s Hylex hydro disc brakes (with custom drillium levers!) will provide the stopping power and modulation. The internal cable routing ensures the lines of the frame stay clean. I don’t know why I love this machine so much, maybe it’s a combination of it truly being unique or the color? For whatever the reason, I enjoyed photographing this in the morning light at this year’s NAHBS.

See more of this mind-boggling machine in the Gallery!