One day I would love to do Battenkill:
“Jayson Jacobs and Dylan Nord preview The Tour of the Battenkill. Featuring Focus Bikes, Rapha, Zipp and SRAM.”
#road-bike
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Merckx Mondays
The Eddy Merckx Motorola livery might just be the most famous paint scheme in American cycling. I bumped into this bike while In Sydney a few weeks back. Gorgeous huh? But it’s not so peachy for Mr. Merckx these days. He’s facing charges in a Belgian police graft case… Yikes!
Check out more Merckx Mondays below!
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Sizemore Bicycle: Matt’s Patinaed Road
Before everyone freaks out, there is a difference between surface rust and deep pitting. Sure, over time, surface rust leads to pitting and structural failure but a little steel wool, some furniture polish or wax to seal it and you’re good as new. Patina is the best paint job nature can provide with you, as long as you do it right. This Sizemore is a perfect example. Matt’s training bike has seen some miles and it shows.
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Recent Roll: Damn, it’s Hot Already
It’s been spring all winter long in Texas and the heat has already picked up. Every day is a sweat-filled adventure and helmet pads are sponges.
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Manual For Speed: Arrival
Photos by Emiliano Granado
A new chapter of Manual For Speed means a new photoset of inspiration. You don’t have to race to appreciate photos like this. The MFS crew was at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Golden, Colorado. See the rest of the set here!
Reportage
Joshua’s 650c Landshark Road
This is a bit of a strange bird. Usually, when you see 650c road bikes, they’re used on small frames, not a 56cm. Like Strawberry and Serotta, Landshark also dabbled in the niche trend of 650c wheels on their road bikes in the early 90’s. Joshua’s road bike has some interesting details, akin to Slawta’s work but the wheels just take this bike over the top. Such funky proportions and yet, it works. Unfortunately, it’s not working for Joshua, so he’s selling it. Hit him up in the comments if you’re interested.
Check out more by clicking the photo above or here to open in a new tab.
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Tokyo Fixed Gear’s 2012 Frame Lineup
Max from Tokyo Fixed Gear let me know that there would be a sneak peek of their 2012 bikes dropping today but I was not expecting this. I love the TFG frames. Lauren loves her Dream Machine Cargo and now, for 2012, two new models are out: the DART and the Wide Open. Check out more of their 100% steel line below!
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Merckx Mondays
This Eddy Merckx Panasonic road frame was crashed in a criterium race this year. Its mangled stays are hanging in Affinity Cycles in Brooklyn. How’s that for a Merckx Mondays post? Be careful out there guys
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Stoepid Week Volume 02
The Stoepidity continues and I spy Jupiler!
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Milk Money: Shawn on River Road
Photo by Wilis Johnson
Damn dude, this one’s nice! If you’ve spent any time in NYC on a road bike, you know right where this is. Wilis has been out on the road bike all winter with Shawn and this was taken during one of their rides. Check out more at Milk Money and Wilis’ Flickr.
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My Bishop Road Bike
Where do I even begin with this bike? At the 2011 NAHBS, I spent the afternoon with Chris Bishop, after all the madness of the show had subsided. We rode around Austin, soaked up the sun, got lunch and chatted bikes. That’s when he asked if I would want to have a road bike in the 2012 NAHBS. Of course I wanted a Bishop road bike but I was torn. Since Chris was mostly known for lugged frames, would he want to make a modern, light, fillet frame? Hell, I didn’t even know what I wanted to be honest.
But first thing’s first. I had to get fit by Chris. After the Philly Bike Expo, I headed to Baltimore with him and Tommy, where I stayed the night and got fit in the morning. We began with what I knew, my Merckx road bike and some standard body dimensions. These became our starting point. From there, we tweaked the fit based on what kind of riding I do. Everything was dialed in on the fit bike: head tube angle, fork rake, seat tube angle, etc. Chris asked what I liked and what I didn’t like.
After some back and forth, we had a geometry and finally, a tubing selection: the downtube and chain stays are Columbus Spirit. The head tube is True Temper OX Platinum, Seat tube NOS Columbus MAX, seat stays, top tube are Dedacciai Zero. I wanted the bike as light as possible but not getting into weight weenie status so we went with an ENVE cockpit and a ENVE 1.0 fork, along with an ENVE post, which was made in the States a week before the show! Other tidbits include a Chris King No-Threadset headset and a Fizik Kurve saddle.
Since I love SRAM, a mix of Force and Red was used (not showing the Red Cassette) but I’m most stoked on the wheels. I went with Pewter Chris King R45s laced with Sapim spokes to HED Belgium Rims. Tommy built the wheels with CX Rays up front and Race spokes on the rear. But the frame is what makes the bike. Chris went to town on every single detail here. The cable stops were machined, the replacable, 7075 Paragon drop outs were machined, the pressfit 30 BB shell was hand filed and the fillet construction is pristine. So pristine that it won best fillet construction at the 2012 NAHBS. To top it off, Bryan at Fresh Frame and Tommy concocted one killer paint job, using my logo colors and my love for chevrons as a precedent.
There, enough talking, check out the Gallery by clicking the above photo or click here to open a new tab.
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Merckx Mondays
A few weeks back, I received this email out of the blue. Having sold all of my Eddy Merckx bikes, it made me a little sad. I wish I could keep every bike that I’ve owned but it’s not financially possible for me. Knowing that this frame went to a good home, I’m left with all the rides I did on it and the photos I took. Both of which are good enough for me. Putting in miles on an Eddy Merckx influenced how I wanted my Bishop to ride. I admire the Belgian geometry and even the chevrons and colors of the Eddy Merckx frames.
This bike and my Eddy Merckx pista in a lot of ways, made this blog into what it is today. They’re icons…
Check out more below.
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Reader’s Rides: Guilherme’s De Rosa SLX Professional
Photos by Guilherme Rosa
As you might have guessed, the Reader’s Rides posts are hard to stay on top of. I get so many emails from people showing me their latest rides and I can’t conceivably post them all (yet). For now, I’m relying on people like Guilherme who posses a great eye for composition, as well as a Beautiful Bicycle. His De Rosa SLX Professional caught my eye. Perhaps it’ll catch yours too.
Check out more below.
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Brother Cycles: Road Frames
Road bikes are fun, really fun. Will from Brother Cycles just emailed me this video, showcasing their new road frames. This spring, you’ll be able to acquire one..
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Tokyo Fixed Gear: Custom Nagasawa Road Frame
Man, that’s one classy road bike. A recent customer from Tokyo Fixed Gear got himself a custom Nagasawa frameset. You don’t see many of these around do you? Check out more are TFG’s Flickr.
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The SxSW Loose Legs Was a Blast!
Thanks to everyone who came out to the Loose Legs ride today. It was great meeting Brian from Denton and being able to hang with Dan from Austin and Erik from Sweden. It was a lot of climbing but everyone did great. After Jon, Dan and Erik split off, Ross, Brian and I went on to Lost Creek. At the end of the day, my Garmin pulled in 48 miles and 4,400′ of climbing. More to come once I get some film developed and I have the time to pull a Shots from the Road post together.
It’s beautiful here in Austin today, I hope everyone’s out riding!
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Firefly Bicycles: EECycle Works
Everyone loves the eeCycle Works brakes. They’re made in the USA and deliver incredible stopping power. The first time I got to see a pair on a bike in person, it was when I was in Melbourne. Justin’s Firefly had them and I couldn’t get over how rad they were and they better be for that pricepoint!
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Happy Friday
What a week! I feel like I’ve been burning the candle at both ends and it’s finally Friday afternoon. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Spend some time in the saddle and with your friends. When the sun goes down, pour it neat and ride the streets.
REMINDER: If you’re in Austin and you brought a road bike, don’t forget the Loose Legs SxSW Ride tomorrow. Swing through and hang for a bit, or the whole haul. It’s an early one, with a 9am roll-out from Frank. A road bike is encouraged, but it’s possible on fixed.
