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For over 25 years Chico, California has been the home base for Paul Component Engineering. During the Speedvagen Fit Tour we swung by to check in on their operations and to get a sense of what the team, the city of Chico and Paul Price himself are all about…
When Paul Component owner Paul Price started to “make it big” he told himself that he wanted to order a bike each year from a NorCal frame builder. Retrotec, Rock Lobster, Sycip, etc, etc. At the time there were a handful of builders and for a few years he kept to his yearly deposit.
Then he got busy, the framebuilding industry grew and technology changed. For a few years he focused on the company and put his frame builder promise on hold. He then came back around to his promise and at the Sacramento NAHBS, picked up this Black Cat monster cross from Todd. Soon it became his staple bike. Like many custom frames, Paul had an idea for this bike that surrounded a specific component or part.
Those Panaracer Fire Cross tires are awesome, but they won’t fit on most production bikes, or even most custom bikes. 45mm is a lot of rubber for a cyclocross bike, and Paul knew that so he asked Todd to build him a bike around those tires. The end result is really incredible.
The beausage on the cranks alone are worth a photo. Luckily, I shot the whole bike too…
When you’re on the road, you get brief vignettes into people’s or company’s day to day routine, without fully immersing yourself in their operations. Or at least that’s usually the case. Yesterday, however, my preconceptions were shifted and I came to the realization that you can indeed, peer into a company’s soul in the right environment.
What Paul Component is doing in Chico, California is rad. Hands down. We all knew that but yesterday, I got to hang around their shop for an afternoon, not minutes and then, here’s the best part: I got to ride bikes with a few of their teammates, including Paul Price, the owner.
There’s a story to come, but I just wanted to thank the team at Paul Comp for opening their shop doors to us.
For 2015, Ritte Racing has reenvisioned their Snob road frame to fully adopt disc brakes with 30mm tire clearances in mind. The new OS 630 Stainless frame is custom hardened in-factory, laser mitered and tig welded to last a lifetime. Each Snob Disc comes with a 1-1/4″ Enve Disc Road fork and Chris King IS-8 headset. To provide an ample platform for butting those oversized tubes together, the Disc Snob uses a PF30 bottom bracket, which coincidentally delivers stiffness where riders like to feel it.
This particular bike was on display at Sea Otter and was built using the latest working prototype Paul Klamper disc brakes. All I can say is there’s a whole lotta bad-assery going on here. Good job, Ritte!
Expect the Disc Snobs to drop in June with an MSRP of $3,000.
Curtis Inglis’ company Retrotec is located in Napa Valley, California. Not exactly full fat territory, but as we all know, riding fatbikes can be fun in any terrain. For Curtis, building countless plump-tire bikes finally wore on him, resulting in not only the Best Mountain Bike award, but a new steed in his personal stable.
With a custom-painted Pass and Stow rack, PAUL Klampers, PAUL thru-axles and XTR, it has all the bling of a show bike and the stance of a trail beast. This is my personal favorite fatbike in the show…
Paul has responded to your requests and today announced three new thru axle hubs for your off-road bicycle of choice. New to the Paul hub lineup is a standard FHub disc 10 x 100, Fhub disc 15 x 150 for fatbikes and their WORD thru axle hub in 12 x 142. All three are made in Chico, California and in stock now, ready to roll at Paul.
For all the dirt droppers and bike packers, Paul Components just released something special that’s sure to warm up your current build project with golden rays from Chico, California… Here’s the one-two from Paul himself:
“PAUL Component Engineering has released not one, but TWO new shifter adaptors. One is for MicroShift bar-end shifters (found on many new SURLY bikes); PAUL has designed a MicroShift Thumbie that will allow riders to use MicroShift bar-end shifters on a flat bar. The adaptors will be sold as singles or pairs. MSRP for the pair is $74.00 and singles are $39.00. These weigh in at 60g per pair.
The other new PAUL adaptor allows for the use of the SRAM trigger shifters on a 31.8 drop bar. This idea was born from a desire to run the awesome 10-42 cassette on drop bar bikes, a 420% gain ratio. These adaptors mount on the 31.8 bulge portion of the bar next to the stem. MSRP on this game changer is $41.00. Weight is 22g.”
420% is proof that the dirt gods love gain ratios. See these two shifter adapters at Paul.
You know the saying “good things come to those who wait?”, well, the original saying, which was shortened for public consumption was written by a cyclocross racer in Belgium back in the 1850’s. His text, which was later transcribed on his tombstone said “good things come to those who wait all ‘cross season…”
Here we are, at the end of the 2014 season, with all but two races left for the year, States and Nationals. Most of us are at our peak fitness, or maybe we’re already packing on the winter weight, but for whatever reason, suddenly I feel a lot stronger. Those parts that have been waiting for months suddenly have a home and my bike rack in the house, with that empty hook, finally has a mate. This is the peaceful twin, to the black metal steed, my Geekhouse Mudville.
When this project was first announced, I was honored to have Luis and Geoff from Mudfoot think of me to be involved. I can’t help but think Aaron Stinner may have had something to do with it as well. After a few email correspondences, Aaron agreed to ditch the “production geo” and go full custom. He asked which geometry I preferred and to be honest, I was completely satisfied with my Geekhouse, so we stuck to that for the most part, save for a half a º steeper head tube.
Ian at Icarus has been making random frames when he has free time in standard stock sizes, ranging from road bikes to everyday commuters or light tourers like this bike. He then sells them on his site and lets the customer pick out a paint color. That way, they can skip the queue and they only have to wait for paint, not the entire frame building process.
Spencer pounced on this bike when it went up on Icarus’ Instagram and immediately knew what color he wanted: Forest Service Green.
From there, it went to Circle A for paint and was built up with mostly spare parts. I sold him some shifters, he had a spare Wolf Tooth ring, some old race wheels and other random (well loved) bits and pieces. He ordered the PAUL-specific Paragon cantilever posts to give the touring cantis some added stiffness.
Yesterday, he took it all over town, on trails, roads and various errands. We shot it in front of a new mural over here on the East Side of Austin and you know what? I really, really like this bike.
When some design companies sell cycling products, they just slap a label on some Taiwanese blanks, but House Industries isn’t just anyone. They’ve done an amazing job, sourcing products that were made domestically. From PAUL, to Brooks, Tanner Goods, King Cage and even Waterford-constructed framesets, the House Industries Velo Collection is filled with products that will last a lifetime.
… and as I just found, it’s hard to not add a lot of it to your check out basket!
See more at House Industries and again, smashing job guys!
“If disc brakes were meant for road and cross bikes, Paul would have made them…”
Truth is truth and I’ve seen the light. Literally. I have a set of these and unfortunately, I didn’t have time to put any miles on them yet but I can assure you, they look and feel amazing. Like all of Paul’s brakes, they’re machined and finished to the highest of standards.
You should know however, that Paul is marketing these for road and cross bikes only at the time being…
Expect a review once I get back to Austin and if you’re going to Interbike, roll through their booth 15030.
The grass is good and dead here in Austin. That means cyclocross season is nigh. Jonathan recently relocated from Omaha to Austin, at the height of the summer heat, to replace the wrench of my buddy Chris at Mellow Johnny’s.
Even though it’s well over 100 degrees here, Jonathan’s Falconer cross bike scorches the ground it traverses. This thing is molten lava and the paint even matches the dried, dead grass. I think this might be one of my favorite bikes I’ve shot this year.
Accent points are the Chris King Mango bits, orange PAUL Minimoto brakes and a nice sparkle clear coat. My favorite detail however are the seat stays and Solid’s tapered head tube to match the ENVE fork.
I can’t wait to see this thing at the races this season!
In a world that focuses on “grams” and “actual weights”, Paul Components just focuses on making their products work better-er. Case in point: they’ve merged their two mountain v-brakes into one, clean package. Meet the new Motolite:
“The power, modulation, durability, and ease of service is all there but the pads now have an extended range so a 26″ wheeled frame can be converted to 650b or 700c. Made in our shop to exacting tolerances, there is nothing else out there that even comes close. Yes, disks are here but think about all the beautiful frames made for these in the last 25 years. Keep ’em shreddin’!”
Amen! Check out more at Paul!
Photo by Anthony Bareno
Eric at Winter, like many builders, has been busy, busy, busy with frames, the most recent being this Consano All-Road. This frame is equipped with clearances for bigger tires, while maintaining a road geometry and feel. Equipped with PAUL MiniMotos for stopping power and a deep red coat of paint from none other than Keith Anderson.
Head over to Winter Bicycles for more.
At this point, my Geekhouse Mudville is about as worn out as I am. It’s traveled the world multiple times and each trip to Australia, the build is slightly different.
Looking back, had I known this bike had clearances for up to a 42c tire, I would have ditched the 33c world a long time ago. For big, big rides, those 40c Nanos are the way to go. Surly’s Knard 41c looks like a great option as well, but I’ve yet to try them.
Over the past few years, this bike has proven itself to me time and time again. While there are a few characteristics that make a cross bike less-than-ideal for big tough dirt rides, I’d say it’s an all around, solid tool for the job. Even doing ‘road rides’ on a 40c ain’t as bad as you’d think.
Looking forward, I’m not sure what kind of bike I’d like to use for ‘dirt riding’ and travel. A road geometry with a slighly-slacker head tube angle is best suited for descending steep, rutted and sketchy fire roads, but the clearances for a larger tire make any rocky surface just kinda disappear, even on singletrack.
I’d love to make a bike with a road BB drop, a slightly slacker heat tube and enough room for a 40c tire but for now, this bike is ripping! Out of all of my bikes, it’s seen the most action and it shows, especially after a long ride like the two day Bush Blast (day 1 and day 2).
After that ride, I have had these photos on my desktop and figured I’d share them.
Paul has been making cycling components for 25 years in California and to commemorate a quarter century of radness, they’ve made a run of limited edition pint glasses. Every bike shop and cyclist’s house needs one of these!
The Powerglide derailleur, an icon of the CNC era in MTB componentry. Why does this Made in the USA product fetch such high numbers in the vintage market? Bike Mag takes a look at a few reasons and interviews Paul Price from PAUL. Head on over to check it out.
Yamaguchi’s framebuilding school has turned out some incredible talent over the years. While many enroll with hopes of becoming the next hot thing, some go to just learn the art. Chris Chou, a guy who probably has the most bikes featured on the Radavist, ever, went to Yamaguchi a few years ago to build a light tourer.
Like all Yamaguchi school frames, this bike was made from True Temper tubing and brazed by Chris over the course of a few weeks. When he was finished, he sent it off to Fresh Frame for paint.
Because Chris had never built a bicycle before, the original stem developed a stress riser, so Chris had his then housemate Ian at Icarus make him a stem. From there, the Nitto bars and Campagnolo 10 speed group add a considerable amount of class to what many would consider a utilitarian bicycle. PAUL e’rything, a Crane Bell, Mellow Johnny’s stem cap, my old Pentabike bar end and there’s a lil #JahBlessed going on with the Salsa Rasta Skewers and Ride Jah Bike button.
SON’s Edelux system and a Supernova E3 rear, lights the way and an Ostrich saddle bag holds the daily commuting needs. Cole rode this bike during the Yonder Journal (dis)Enchanted Rock Brovet and slashed a tire pretty badly on a river crossing, so Chris threw a Conti on, leaving the tires mis-matched, which I would add to the character of this bike.
I really love photographing bicycles like this.
