The Radavist

Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another. The Angeles National Forest is a magical place, where ex-pro road cyclists learn to summon their inner powers of levitation by smoking pipes filled with sun scorched Poodle Dog Bush while drinking fermented Untapped Maple Syrup packs. Or something…

Ted King is technically still a pro, until January 1st but yesterday the two of us took off on a ride into the ANF. The last time Ted got to experience Highway 2 was in a peloton during the Amgen Tour of California, which as Ted so gracefully put it, was very, very painful. Luckily pain wasn’t on our agenda yesterday. Instead, we took a super casual pedal up to Mount Wilson and back down to Mount Disappointment.

NorthEast coasters should know better than to not bring gloves on a ride in the mountains, yet the sunny and warm temps on the streets of Echo Park fooled Ted into thinking it’d be warm, even around 6,000′ elevation. Bottom line, Ted was cold. I was cold. We were kinda cold.

While we took a break to bask at a warm and sunny switchback, I took the time to check out Ted’s new, yet temporary bike: the Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod fit with Zipp 404s and SRAM’s new mountain magic eTap shifting system. Now, I didn’t see cables anywhere on those derailleurs, so I can only assume it’s more Poodle Dog Bush magic that makes it shift. Crazy huh? This bike just looks fast, sitting still. Yet, I know what you’re thinking: SLAM THAT STEM. Well, ya know what? When ex-pros leave the peloton, spacers magically appear under their stems, which also shrink in length, sometimes up to 3cm. I too was amazed at the transformation this bicycle seemed to go through. It’s like, life for Ted was about to get more fun.

There’s more to come here at some point, but for now enjoy some sleek, lightweight road bike photos with an epic backdrop straight out of a Lovecraft novella…

Leave it On the Road’s 2015 Crush the Coast Charity Ride
Words by Michael Tabtabai

Ride from the heart and anything is possible. In mid October a crew of seven riders departed Portland and headed for San Francisco on a quest to ride bikes, take photos, and raise money to fight cancer. Through the rolling hills of Oregon wine country, down the foggy coast, through the Redwoods and down the golden rollers beyond Mendocino. We were a little nervous about the weather, as this was the time of year where the wind shifts and the rains roll in. But we got lucky – just enough rain and fog to make it interesting and more than enough sun to keep spirits high. To live the life of a cyclist, that is, 100% of your days truly devoted to the sport, the preparation and the recovery, is an awesome thing. And it is even better when you get to help raise over $25k for a great cause – City of Hope. When we arrived in SF three riders continued on to Los Angeles, knocking out nearly 1400 miles in 14 days.

This was the third major Leave It On The Road ride, and we called it #crushthecoast.

Since relocating to Los Angeles, a land with endless dirt in both the fireroad and track variety, my preferences have shifted a lot in terms of what I want a bike to take on. Capabilities are often grown in the industry piecemeal, then once and a while, a bike comes along that asks a question: what if?

The Cannondale Slate is a what if bike. What if 650b or 27.5″ wheels with a 42mm tire makes more sense for “all-road” riding? What if a damn Lefty shock with just the right amount of travel can instill confidence in new riders while offering an added fun bonus to experienced athletes?

Last February, I got to take a prototype Slate out for a spin and recently, Cannondale sent me a production Slate Force CX1 build to try out. I’ve been spending the past week or so thrashin’ and crashin’ this machine. While many exceptional bikes pass through this website, both for review and for personal acquisition, I will say this is the most fun I’ve had on a bike review.

Look. I’m not a super über tech geek. I don’t really care about stiffness or compliance in terms of data or coefficients but I do like riding bikes and developing stories about them, in terms of my personal experiences. When Argonaut and Chris King asked if I wanted to come along for a very informal launch of a new bottom bracket standard, I had a few questions:
-Do we need another BB standard?
-Where is this launch?
-Will there be booze?

Two out of the three answers met my standards, so I agreed.

This year, the Leave it on the Road crew left their homes in Portland bound for Los Angeles, California to raise money for City of Hope, a non-profit organization that specializes in patient care, research and education for cancer.

Tara’s part of the Fireflies West, a group of riders based in California. This year, they met Leave it on the Road in SF and completed the ride to Los Angeles with the group. Once they hit Ventura, Woody from Golden Saddle Cyclery met the ride and finished the last leg to Los Angeles, which is where I photographed Tara’s bike.

These Horizon paint schemes have been updated with polka dots and Tara’s baby blue and magenta colors really pop! If you like this design, Speedvagen has opened a special order up for a Leave it on the Road Edition bike, so head over to read more.

Or if you just like completely dialed road machines, check out more in the Gallery.

Tyler’s Electric Mexican Blanket Sunday Driver Chromag Road Bike
Photos by Ross Measures, Words by Tyler Morland

The idea was simple: Create a “Sunday Driver” of sorts. I took inspiration from a bike I was currently riding and blended it with that taste I have for old Ritcheys. My dad has this old Ritchey Timberline comp and I always loved the Fillet brazing look and feel. So Ian Ritz at Chromag Bikes and I started the conversation and we talked about every detail. We used raw material that Chromag had in stock and used something that they have refined for a couple of years, like the drop outs and generally put it through the process that all Chromag frames go through. The head tube was machined in shop and follows the taper of the fork. A real pain in the ass to make. Then, we chose curved seat stays to give it that plush steel ride.

He had no idea it would be this long of a process and neither did I. We roped in Chris Dekerf for the internal routing and brazing. North Shore Billet for the machined parts and sent the completed frame in for a crazy paint job at Troy Lee Designs. I visit TLD once a year for various reasons and those guys are just a bunch of beauties. I’ve been part of the family over at TLD FOREVER and this was a great conversation with a legendary painter… Why not electric Mexican blanket?

The build kit was a no-brainer. That just goes with the territory – All SRAM everything. I still can’t decide if I go ZIPP 303 or 202.

Basically, its special and part of my weird collection… Forever.

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Follow Ross on Instagram and follow Tyler on Instagram and special thanks to Morgan Taylor for coordinating this post!