The Radavist

Yesterday after arriving in Charlotte, I made my way over to the convention center to see what the general vibe would be like for the next few days. After a quick pass through all the controlled chaos that is convention center setup day, one road bike really stood out.

This Mosaic Cycles road bike was built with True Temper’s S3 ultralight tubeset and painted by Spectrum, utilizing the new True Temper branding. While I’m not usually into red and white paint jobs, I absolutely love this bike.

SRAM, ENVE, Fizik and Chris King ain’t a bad way to finish it off either… the build comes in at 15.5 lbs. See more in the Gallery!

When I found out Eric Estlund from Winter Cycles wasn’t going to be at NAHBS, I was pretty bummed out. His frames are always so good and he always has a track bike on display. Aaron and I wanted to get one of our limited edition Aamerican chainrings (maybe we should sell those?) on a track bike for the show but with Winter not being there, what would we do?

Fret not. It’s the internet. I can make up my own rules. Presenting a damn hot “Not at 2014 NAHBS” bike… Here’s a background on the project:

“This is the Winter Bicycles “OverKill”, a new iteration in the “Speed Metal” track bike series. Designed as a true blue track sprint frame. Built with a blend of fillet brazed and signature bilam construction from a blend of shaped True Temper, Columbus and Deda tubing. The long point Winter track stem holds customized bars with integrated grip over a Cane Creek headset. Custom Winter sprint wheels driven by a Campagnolo Pista crank and limited edition AARN/ PinP chain ring. This bike was powder coated by Custom Powderworks in Springfield, OR.”

All photos by Anthony Bareno of Velo Cult. See more in the Gallery!

The thing I appreciate about Kristofer Henry’s work at 44 Bikes is that each model represents a different New Hampshire season and it just so happens that the New England winter is unforgiving (especially this year), which is why most of his bikes have big tires. Winter thrashes the roads, the tracks and trails, so over time, he’s designed his bikes to accommodate those conditions.

At the 2014 NAHBS, Kristofer brought his own personal bikes to display. Why? Because they’re all purpose-built and besides, he doesn’t want to make his clients wait any longer for a frame. If the bike was done pre-NAHBS, he sent it out.

This Big Boy Fatbike was an obvious first choice for photos from the brand but it won’t be the last. I really can’t wait to shoot his disc road and his rigid 29r. Using the 5″ platform and a 1 x 10 drivetrain, this thing will motor through snow with ease and the carbon components shed some weight off the total build, which comes in around 27 lbs.

See more in the Gallery!

When Ben from Argonaut Cycles designed and developed his first road frame, he was content, but that didn’t mean his desire to create the best made in the USA carbon fiber road frame was sated. Ben knew the market was changing and wanted to have even more options for his customers to select when purchasing a custom bike.

With the popularity of gravel / dirt rides and races, he knew that his current racing geometry would need some finessing and with the increasing demand for disc brakes, the opportunity arose to adapt.

A bike suited for off-road riding has a few tweaks to the geometry. The rear end will be slightly longer, the bottom bracket, just slightly lower and the head tube loses around half a degree. This enables the bike to still handle fast on sealed roads, but really be at home on dirt. Tire clearances are important as well. These bikes fit a 28mm tubeless road tire with ease, which is all you need for gravel. Remember, this isn’t a cross bike.

The Argonaut Disc Road bikes that the Rapha / River City Bicycles team rode during the Rouge Roubaix were developed for off-road conditions, while staying true to their race machine pedigree.

For those familiar with the Di2 hydro system, you’ll note the front plate of the shifters were painted black. Other than that, it’s pretty straight forward. 140mm disc rotors, Argonaut Made in the USA frameset, ENVE bars, ENVE stem, ENVE wheels with custom decals and dripping with Chris King’s precision components.

Tim from the team has the first production model. After an afternoon of shooting photos and video of the bike in action, I took it out for some portrait photos.

This bike ripped apart the dirt and stood out from the pack at the Rouge Roubaix. See more in the Gallery!

Back in 1999, a rider named Jon Anderson got the idea to start a group ride in his old stomping grounds around St. Francisville, Louisiana, West Feliciana Parish and Wilkinson County, Mississippi. Jon had been riding these roads since the early 80’s, as a form of escapism and reflection. Like most cyclists I know and ride with, Jon enjoyed a bit of pain at the hands of the dirt gods.

It wasn’t until the early 2000’s that the Rouge Roubaix shifted from being a group ride to a sanctioned event. Racers from all over the Southeast came out for promises of punchy, steep climbs, lots of gravel, scenic roads and yes, pain. It boasts 100 ish miles, with 30-40 miles of undulating gravel and dirt roads. This year, the Rouge is being run by Will Jones, the current organizer and I gotta say, he really delivered a hell of an event!

As part of an ongoing story detailing the design of a new disc road bike, Ben from Argonaut Cycles flew out two members from the Rapha / River City Bicycles Team to race with as well as Brian Vernor and myself to document the event, the culture surrounding it, the performance of the bicycles and let’s be honest, to experience one of the oldest and most intriguing gravel races in the United States.

See more narrated photos in the Gallery and don’t miss those last two photos!

Erik Noren. There can be only one. This man makes me laugh more than anyone else at NAHBS. Every year, the man behind Peacock Groove outdoes himself and wows the crowd with his tribute bikes. Some are Voltron-themed, others pay homage to the Evil Dead, while others are just so damn rad! Peacock Groove is unlike any other frame company I know of…

While I expected to see Erik in the throes of production for NAHBS, I didn’t expect to see his long-time side project “The Plus System” underway. While I won’t go into too much detail on what the Plus System is, I will say it’s a line of in-house designed and manufactured headsets, available with a Peacock Groove frame. There’s more to come on that – at NAHBS, for now, let’s look at some photos from Erik’s well kempt work space.

John Slawta’s work is easily some of the most recognizable in the world. While many have attempted to emulate his paint jobs over the years, even a subtle coat like this one is still strikingly unique. Landsharks are known for one thing: their paint, which is a shame. It’s only a disservice in the sense that Slawta’s fillets are undeniably clean.

Whereas some builders need to cover their work with flashy paint (called the pig with lipstick phenom), Slawta could walk away with a single color just fine. Yet, his bikes are all wild. Even when it comes to just two or three shades of blue (don’t mind the gypsum road residue splatted on the seat tube).

Spencer bought this frame off eBay and began to scrounge up parts. While it appears to be a balleur build, it was still done on a budget. The wheels were gifted to him by his dad (the bike would have still looked great with a box section rim), who also rides, the bars and stem were from his local shop’s spare parts bin. The SRAM Red though, that was purchased new.

Taking a vintage steel frame and dressing it up in a modern component group is by no means anything new, but there’s something special about seeing one done so tastefully…

See more in the Gallery!

From snowy Minneapolis to sunny SoCal…

What better place to shoot this bike in Los Angeles than a spot that Kyle calls “Little Big Sur”. In actuality, it’s near the top of Griffith Park, just 30 minutes and 1,000′ in elevation gain from Golden Saddle Cyclery. This is the shop’s official sunset beer spot.

Just about every time we ride up, Kyle’s been on his All-City Space Horse. We’ll poach the horse trails as the sun is setting, rather than take the road and climb in half the time (they’re freaking steep). Usually, I’m huffing, out of the saddle on a cross bike, but Kyle kicks it into his triple and spins on up.

This bike is setup for the kind of rides Kyle enjoys: fully-loaded dirt S24 camping trips in the Angeles National Forest. He’s taken it up Mt. Lowe in the middle of the night, down a dirt track off the backside of Gleason and all over the San Gabriel Mountains. The build specs tell the tale:

Surly’s do-all Rack up front holds his E3 lamp, powered by a SON hub. Sitting on top is the JANDD Briar beer cooler rack bag (in stock at GSC). His shifting relies on Retroshift and Shimano. PAUL Minimotos provide the stopping power. A well-used Selle Anatomica saddle has seen its share of spills and thrills and those Bruce Gordon Rock n Road tires keep his rear wheel roostin’ turns.

This is probably one of the nicest Space Horse builds I’ve seen! I love the brown Chris King NoThreadset too. See more in the Gallery and remember, if you’re in LA and want a similar build, the guys at Golden Saddle Cyclery can make it happen!

I love how you can take a frame that’s very accessible and affordable, strip it, then paint or powdercoat it. From there, you can either rebuild the stock kit, or build it up with choice components. For Matt at Whisky Parts, he did the latter.

Matt put a Whisky fork, bars on the front, a Whisky seatpost, Chromag stem, saddle, Industry Nine wheels, Middleburn cranks, HOPE pedals, Hope brakes and a Chris King bottom bracket. The all black component list just makes that gold powdercoat pop! I think this bike was my favorite at Frostbike and I gotta tell ya, it makes me want to do something rad with my Pugs…

See more in the Gallery!

FOES‘ newest revamp to their line actually dropped back at Interbike this year and by dropped, I mean a few pounds. While keeping to their monocoque aluminum construction, Brent engineered a new, lighter tubeset and reshaped the rear swingarm, shaving almost a whole pound off the rear alone.

This 27.5 Shaver FXC is a cross country racer’s dream bike. Coming in around 23lbs complete, laced with SRAM’s XX1 group, Fox Float CTD shock in the rear and the trusty Rock Shox front fork, this 4.5″ to 5″ travel bike has adjustability built in at the rear shock. Sliding the bolt down the gusset at the linkage can change the front end.

I’ve ridden a fair amount of modern mountain bikes and I can say, this is one of the first 27.5 machines I was visibly salivating over. How can you go wrong with that color? Retail will be around $2,400 for the frameset… Expect these to drop later this spring. For now, see more in the Gallery!

I’m a firm believer that once a track bike leaves the velodrome, steps can be made to make it slightly more practical for street use. First, off with the tubular wheels and the road pedals, then a gearing change. Maybe even a brake gets added, depending on the skill level of the rider. Better safe than sorry, especially when it comes to a beautiful machine like this.

Joseph is an “intern” of sorts at Golden Saddle Cyclery. He’s a third hand in the mechanic’s area and is learning all he can about bicycle maintenance. Though you wouldn’t think it based on their day to day interactions (you gotta keep kids in check!), Joseph got on Kyle’s good side and managed to swoop up this bike for a song. He built up new wheels – since he’s a bigger guy – he felt that deeper rims would be more durable, added a brake and put on SPD pedals.

While it’s not a purist build by any standards, it’s still a gorgeous machine. On my last night in LA, Joseph brought it out for me to shoot some photos. I wish there had been more daylight because this thing is a beaut! If track bikes are a gateway drug into cycling, this bike is heroin. See for yourself in the Gallery.

Brent Foes is no stranger to metal fabrication. He began working in the automotive industry, designing trucks and other off-road vehicles for brands like Ford and Nissan before he opened Foes Racing in 1993.

Since then, Brent’s been pursuing the perfection of the long travel system (LTS) mountain bike at his shop in Pasadena, California, where, over the year’s he’s had race machines under some of the fastest pros in the world.

His bikes are no-nonsense trail machines. Most of the work is done on-site and Brent welds each frame himself. At Interbike last year, Foes unveiled a 27.5 XC machine that weighed 23lbs complete. That’s light for a full sus MTB, much less one that’s made in the USA.

Last week, I had the opportunity to tour the Foes facility before picking up a bike to demo, meet Brent briefly and see the man at work. It was an incredible experience and one that I’ll outline in the Gallery!

If you’re in the market for something different, contact FOES for your next build!

It’s a shame when a name like Serotta shuts their doors after years of building steel, titanium and carbon frames in the USA. When the brand collapsed, The Pros Closet on eBay liquidated a ton of frames, which is where Chris scored this Pronto Ti frameset for a killer deal. It took him a little bit to gather all the parts. At the time, Deda Superleggera parts weren’t easy to find, SRAM was in the transition from 10 to 11 speed and he was thrashing the wheels on his cross bike. Once cross season ended, it was time to dial in his road bike.

Chris already has an insane Icarus, but he wanted something new. A new mistress if you will. Being a mechanic at Mellow Johnny’s, he was rather tedious with this build, dialing it into perfection…

See more in the Gallery!