The Radavist

When I travel, I always have a camera on me and lately, it’s been a toss up between the Mamiya and the Leica. The only time I really carry my digital camera with me is if I am going to shoot a bike, or a shop, but in general, all my travel photos have been film. Which creates an overflow of randomness from each city I visit. Most of which don’t merit a post just by themselves. See some narrated photos of faces and places in the Gallery! Hey, if I don’t post them, they’ll sit on my hoard drive…

Luke is one of my favorite people here in Austin because he’s a road racer that doesn’t appear to be a road racer. Stereotypes aside, Luke enjoys touring probably more than racing, but he still races road and cross. Most of which, end with him on or near the podium.

Living in Austin can overwhelm you sometimes with how competitive the road scene is, but there’s nothing better than leaving town to ride away for the weekend, which is where Luke’s All City Space Horse comes into play. He leaves his Mr. Pink behind (sounds dirty, huh?) and ventures out on this bike, fully loaded and ready to do nothing. Right now, it’s set up with a Pass & Stow front rack and a Freight porteur rack bag. Oh and a super bent Brooks!

It’s unfortunate that Luke broke his wrist during prime camping season here in Austin, so once the temperatures drop a bit, I’ll probably be spending some saddle time with him outside the city. Although I must admit, even though we’ll be touring or camping, I might have a hard time keeping up with this powerhouse…

Check out more photos of this well-seasoned bicycle in the Gallery.

I’m one lucky guy. Since Tracko has “sworn off” posting anything but track bikes, I get all the radness that rolls through the doors at Golden Saddle Cyclery. The first of which, being the crème de la crème of the Fat Chance MTB line, the 10 year anniversary Fat.

This is no ordinary Fat Chance. The 10th anniversary frames came with a titanium, etched plate (this one’s 113 out of 200), a BOI Yo Eddy Fork and complete True Temper OX tubing. Most of which came outfitted with a full Campagnolo Record OR gruppo and were highly sought after at the $1450 MSRP (frameset). The weight? Around 23 pounds. Not too shabby and that paint job…

Those who want to read up more on the 10th Anniversary frame can check out this article from the MTB forums.

Kyle did this one justice with tons of detailed photos and he even tracked down some Campagnolo OR brake levers to replace the Avid models currently on the bike. See for yourself in the Gallery!

When Ian at Icarus moved to Austin, Texas, I don’t think he anticipated working on this many local frames. Or that Chris would put down two deposits at once: a lightweight road bike and a fendered, touring / commuter. This is the first out of the queue, a modern, steel road bike with a matte paintjob and a few clean details. Nothing extravagant, but also nothing simple.

Chris is a father and he works full time, so riding is always a last minute, unplanned endeavor. He was looking for a little inspiration to sneak in an hour or two when he could and Ian built him just that. With a Zipp cockpit, seatpost, Chris King R45 to HED Belgium, Fizik Kurve saddle, Campy Chorus 11 speed and King Cage bottle cages, it’s up there in the “dream bike” category…

San Francisco is out of control and not in a good way. Bike theft is at an all time high as the city continues to cope with a massive drug problem. Basically, your bike’s not safe unless it’s under your ass, being pedaled. Natalia had her race bag, shoes and this Igleheart singlespeed MTB “secured” within her car as it was parked in Noe Valley. Within minutes, her windows were smashed out and her bike was gone.

The next morning, Rai from Mission Workshop was riding past the BART station on 16th when he spotted it being pedaled by some random dude. He put out a call and had some friends go steal it back from some unsuspecting schmo who had bought it from the crackhead that stole it.

Now it’s safe and sound in Natalia’s possession, who races it for Chica Sexy in the Bay Area mountain bike circuits. It’s not everyday you see some Boston-area steel in SF, so I had to get some photos of it…

Rai loves Bianchi track bikes. After buying various models like his old RCD2 Pista and his 2006 Concept, all he really wanted was a black 2004 Concept. When Kyle from Tracko / GSC posted this frame for sale on his Instagram, Rai jumped on it, built it up with his parts and began riding it immediately. For dudes like Rai, the black Concept represents the track bike’s heyday in SF. It’s iconic and while this bike certainly has street cred, it is going to start seeing some time at Hellyer in the near future. Of course, he’ll have to replace his booted tire first… Check out more shots of Rai and his 2004 Bianchi Concept in the Gallery!

During my last trip in SF, I was asked by Bike Mag to document Mission Workshop‘s newest “Ask a Founder” event. The guest? Keith Bontrager, one of the forefathers of American mountain biking. I really enjoy shooting events like this and it’s not everyday that I become a gun for hire, so I had fun with it.

Listening to a guy like Keith speak about the early days of mountain biking and the inevitable sale of his name to Trek was extremely insightful. Back then, knowledge was gained through experience and that experience was a powerful tool. No one was sitting on Keith’s shoulder telling him what to do. He went with what he knew and that was the motorcycle.

An ex-motocross racer, Keith was the first to reappropriate many technologies to cycling. He designed the first Rock Shox fork, something that still, to this day is not a well-known fact. Keith also developed one of the, if not the first full-suspension bikes with Kestrel, which also used one of the first v-brakes. All derived from motocross technologies.

At some point during the talk, Keith said something along the lines of “if it worked for moto, it’ll work for a bicycle” and it’s true. While the engineering of each component was a new challenge, Keith always worked with what he knew. From dumpster diving 700c rims, to chop and re-roll them to a new MTB standard, to building tig-welded frames with gussets in his shed down in Santa Cruz, Keith’s entrepreneurship paved the way for cycling in the US and beyond.

He continues to work for Bontrager, mostly developing wheels and saddles and spends all of his free time either riding the trails in Santa Cruz, or cooking fresh food from his garden. The Ask a Founder event once again exceeded everyone’s expectations… See more in the Gallery!