The Radavist

There is something about mixing a classic steel bicycle with modern components that usually ends up looking either REALLY cool or REALLY “meh” for some reason. It’s a definite hit or miss thing that happens whenever mashing two different generations of anything together, but when done correctly it can be great. From an aesthetic standpoint, traditional steel bicycles are hands down the prettiest to look at and modern components offer a much more “civilized” choice of gear ratios. All of that steel beauty can easily be lost when paired with a build that is too busy with space-aged looking parts. if you disagree, then your opinion most likely sucks (in my personal and not so humble opinion.) Regardless of how it looks this trend of old with a touch of new is continuing to grow and understandably so. The idea of modern functionality on rolling piece of art/history does sound quite appealing.

The Ritchey Logic Road seems to be the obvious choice for those looking for a modern steel bike that utilizes rim brakes. Over the years, we’ve seen a number of these bikes, built up for various functions from all-day road rides to race bikes but there’s something about Victor‘s build that really grabbed my attention at the onset. The reason is obvious; Victor used Ritchey’s Heritage Paint option to get any of their frames painted a number of schemes, including “Commando” camo. Unfortunately, Ritchey discontinued this service, but before that happened, Victor got his Logic road frame painted by Rick Stefani of D&D cycles in this iconic finish.

He then built it with a combination of Sim Works, Ritchey, and Campagnolo Record Super Record 11. My favorite detail is the 100 Tacos sticker on the Sim Works Caroline stem!

The 2017 NAHBS coincided with the 25th anniversary of Sycip Designs. Jeremy knew he had to do something special for the showcase, so in the spirit of Sycip number one, which we saw in detail yesterday, he pinged his brother Jay Sycip, who works at Chris King, to come down to Santa Rosa and do something special…

While we tend to see a lot of experimentation with MTB geometry, specifically hardtails here on the Radavist, I feel like the good ol’ all-road and ‘cross bike geometries, for the most part, stay mostly the same. Sure, head tubes might steepen or slacken a half or so degree, and bottom bracket height can vary, along with seat tube angle, but for the most part, these bikes all look similar in profile. Is it a by-product of design perfection or longevity? Who knows but the bottom line is; I rarely see a road bike geometry that piques my interest and begs the question; I wonder how THAT rides.

Then Adam Sklar sent me an email, asking if I had any desire to review one of his “team” MX all road bikes. I glanced at the geometry, saw the top tube length and thought it was going to be too long for me, especially for how I’d use it. Adam informed me of this bike’s design philosophy, which is part ‘cross geo and part modern MTB. Paradoxically, in short, Adam lengthened the bike’s top tube, slackened the head tube and lowered the bottom bracket. The bike is designed to run a shorter stem, a 70mm, versus a 110mm and with a longer head tube, puts the riding position a bit more upright.

The Allied story is one that has been touched on briefly here on the Radavist. A brand that was formed through the foresight of one man; Tony Karklins and his ability to acquire a Canadian brand Guru’s assets at auction. This included the machinery, technology, everything; down to the paint booth. Upon winning the bid, Tony then moved this equipment to Arkansas, hired a few key players and began cranking on this new brand, dubbed Allied Cycle Works, which operates under the umbrella of HIA Velo. I could go more into this story, but people like Patrick at Red Kite Prayer have done an exceptional job covering the beginnings of Allied, so if the story of the brand is what you’re here for, head to RKP for an exceptional write up.

Now, when Patrick wrote his piece about Allied, they had but one model; the Alfa road bike. Later, the brand developed this beauty, the Alfa All-Road. While the Alfa road has all the lines and functionality of a proper carbon, rim brake road bike, the Alfa All-Road opens up the door a little wider to the sorts of rides we really enjoy over here at the Radavist; dirty and dusty fun!

Cannondale Track, ORNOT
Photos by Nich Barresi and words by Byron Anson

After breaking my fork, putting some deep scratches into the head tube paint, and getting a replacement fork from Cannondale that wasn’t going to match, I decided to get my Evo repainted. Choosing color is an agonizing process, but this idea fell into place really easily: early 90’s Cannondale Track’s are on of my all-time favorite bikes, Cannondale Track bike vinyl decals can be sourced from Britain, and the simple lines of the frame would really lend itself to this idea. Besides, ‘classics are classics for a reason.’