The Radavist

This bike is so Japanese. Well, it’s a Hunter Cycles frame, so technically it’s American but the build, the character, the colors and the size are very indicative of the scene at Circles. Sim Works parts, Chris King and that bag, which believe it or not, was the reason I wanted to shoot the bike.

Akiyoshi is an architect who makes bags in his spare time. Like the tensile structure from an Olympic stadium, this bag relies on a chord’s tension to maintain its stability. The most interesting detail for me however is the tie-down bottle boss bolt. When the bag is loaded and the chord is pulled tight, the bag doesn’t sway at all. It’s a pretty impressive design and it’s a bit of added character to an already beautiful frame.

Thanks for letting me shoot your bike!

I’ve documented a lot of bicycles in my day and I’ll be honest here when I say, it’s been a long, long time since I’ve seen something as clever or unique as this bike.

At first glance, this Dobbat’s commuter looks like you’re run of the mill 1x road bike. Then you notice the flat, stand-off headbadge, which leads your eyes to the asymmetric brake routing in the top tube, which you then notice is actually quite confusing in terms of construction. Stepping back from that detail, you begin to notice the light support rack simply dies into the fork blades and it takes a moment to find the set screws.

Details like this are NAHBS-level in terms of concept and execution, yet Takayoshi has never been to NAHBS and he doesn’t spend time on the internet looking at other bikes. In fact, when we asked him what inspired these details, he said “it just popped into my head.”

If Japan keeps rolling out bikes like this, my shutter finger is going to get tired!

It has been scientifically proven that if you add a Death Spray Custom fork to any bike, it’s destined to get even more attention, even when it comes to a slick bike like this. Morgan’s Stinner Frameworks is brushed stainless, kitted with Jones wheels, PAUL Skewers, Chris King, Dura Ace and ENVE. A completely tricked out road bike by all accounts, yet he wanted to do something to spice up a completely mono-tone build so he contacted David at Death Spray Custom to do something special.

Visibility doesn’t have to end with your apparel, as evident by this 80’s geometric-inspired fluorescent disruptive pattern coated fork.

Suddenly this bike went from being a 10 to an 11! Nicely done fellas and great meeting you, Morgan!

You’d be surprised how big of a tire you can squeeze into some of the older road bikes. My Merckx fits a plumb 28mm tire with ease and those Campagnolo NR mid-reach brakes can wrap their arms around, reaching the braking surface. Now what happened between the 1980’s and modern bike design is up to anyone to debate. Clearances got tighter, more aero, stiffer and a mentality that a smaller tire is faster took over the pro peloton. Like it always has, the trickle down effect hit store shelves and consumers did what they do best: consume. I know this is a bleak picture of tire clearance on road bikes, but it’s mostly unexaggerated. Mostly…

It seems that now with the whole “adventure / gravel grind / blah blah” trend, companies are designing bikes that fit big tires with the aid of disc brakes. Now we’ve got “all road, road plus” and various other terms to describe these machines, designed for riding off-road.

But what about the classic steel race bikes from back “in the day?”

Enter the All-City Mr. Pink. We’ve reviewed one before here on the site and while I stuck with a moderate 28mm tire, I could clearly see this bike was made for more rubber. With a caveat though. Putting bigger tires on the Mr. Pink means you’ve gotta go for a mid-reach brake, like the Paul Racer, or in this case, the Velo Orange Grand Cru long reach brakes. With those, you can fit a 30mm tire, with ease, making this one capable chubby road bike.

Trade shows aren’t the easiest to digest, especially coming off of NAHBS, where I got to photograph the literal cream of the crop in terms of custom framebuilders. So when I was invited to attend the Berliner Fahrradschau, I had no idea what to expect. Well, that’s not entirely true. I knew a few things about the European market. First off, professional cycling pedigree. Racing made its roots in Europe. Infrastructure’s another huge plus. Cities were laid out, in the most part anyway, for the bicycle. A lot of the European brands reflect that in their offerings.

Back to that first point: pro cycling pedigree. While the US has a lot of builders who have supplied Olympic and professional athletes frames for various occasions, it’s hard to come close to Europe. Case in point: Jaegher.

Looks like we figured out why the original post wasn’t displaying for you during our initial NAHBS coverage, so without further ado…

Let me give you a background real quick: Oh my oh my. I’ve never had the opportunity to photograph an English before, so when I saw this one sitting in the ENVE booth, I had to snatch it up while I could. Let me tell you, getting this bike to stay put while I was setting it up in my photo studio was nerve-wracking. This bike was so well balanced that I couldn’t get it to sit still.

Anyway, onto the bike. English‘s bikes are some of the most beautiful machines to grace the halls of NAHBS each year and this one is no exception. With a clean ombré paint job, flat mount disc rear end, ENVE wheels, SRAM RED eTap and an elegant internal routing port at the head tube, this bike turned heads and sparked conversations as I wheeled it back to my studio.

Bravo, English on making my absolute favorite road bike of the show so far!