Chas and His Cinelli Rider Collection Cap

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Chas and His Cinelli Rider Collection Cap

One of the true hustlers in the urban cycling scene is Chas from TCB Courier. Also a Mash / Cinelli rider, Chas was approached by the Italian brand to design a cycling cap for their Rider Collection Cap lineup. Check out this interview as Chas talks about what got him into bikes and the stigma associated with cycling caps!

I’ve got one and it’s one of the more unique caps out these days. You can pick one up at Cinelli’s Winged Store!

Wolf Tooth Components: Made in the USA – 30t Single Ring Precision

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Wolf Tooth Components: Made in the USA – 30t Single Ring Precision

One of the reasons why I’m going XX1 on my new Rosko mountain bike is the simplicity of running a single ring up front. When you lose the front derailleur, it lightens the bike up, while freeing up your trigger location for a dropper post or front fork control. XX1 runs a 32 or 34 up front and up to a 42t cog in the back, which is an incredibly wide range.

But what if I want to run a single ring up front with my XT setup? Before, you’d have to have a chain keep, which isn’t an issue, but it certainly doesn’t look as sharp without anything holding your chain to the ring. One of the first things I noticed on Tim’s Yeti SB95c that I rode was the Wolf Tooth Components 30t 104BCD ring.

Check out more below!

Andy’s Euro Track with Campagnolo Pista

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Andy’s Euro Track with Campagnolo Pista

I first met this bike back when FYXO was Fyxomatosis, in Japan and if I recall correctly, it had a little more white and a little more red paint covering its tight angles. There is no shame in a respray – although I did like the original paint – especially when you’re looking to give your favorite bike a facelift. Or in this case, make it a minimal race machine.

Last weekend, as I was hanging around Maison de Blanc, I asked Andy if I could shoot his Euro track bike. Maybe it was the bright white tape, or the supple and soft white Rolls saddle (which, by the way is pain to photograph without a polarizing filter), but it was just begging for some clever placement photos against his father’s tractor.

Modern, mixed with vintage Campagnolo, a FYXO track ring, impeccable paint and classic wheels… what else would you expect? Check out more in the Gallery!

Review: Yeti’s SB95c 29’r Carbon MTB

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Review: Yeti’s SB95c 29’r Carbon MTB

Over the past few years, the mountain bike industry has been gradually dialing up the pricepoints on their carbon full suspension offerings. It’s relatively easy to walk into a shop and see complete rigs toppling the $5k mark with an XT kit, or $10k with XX1 and ENVE. That or coming in a hair shy.

For what it’s worth, the technology you’re given at the high end is a lot more merited than the high end road market. Or at least in my opinion. In short: you get a bigger bang for your buck dropping $5k on a MTB than you do on a road bike (custom market excluded). There are more moving parts, more technology and both help achieve the ultimate squish.

XT, XTR, XX1 are all worthy groups for a rig like the Yeti SB95c. Topped off with your choice of Rock Shox or Fox forks and shocks, you could come pretty damn close to the ever-elusive perfect ride.

Recently, I was loaned a top of the line Yeti SB95c 29’r to rip through some local trails here in Melbourne, thanks to My Mountain. While the terrain wasn’t as nearly as gnarly as my last outing in the Alps, they proved to be ideal testing grounds.

Now, what on Earth would I have to say about this bike? Keep in mind, this was one of many high-end 29’r I’ve gotten to put a few hours on in the past year… Giving me a bit of perspective as I shop for one of my own full sus rigs.

Check out my full review below and more photos in the Gallery!

The Lever+ Bike Tool by Townie Syndicate

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The Lever+ Bike Tool by Townie Syndicate

For a while, I refused to post Kickstarter campaigns. Mostly because the products seemed chintzy or a little too hastily designed. Until recently, I’ve been coming across some products that are so simple that I want to share them. That’s what I thought about the Lever+ Bike Tool.

It’s a tire lever, something most people carry when they ride, combined with a 4 mm, 5 mm hex, Phillips head driver and a T-25 Torx head driver. Basically everything you’d need in a multi-tool, stuffed into the plastic gut of a tire lever.

Check out more information on the Lever+ at its Kickstarter campaign.

BAUM Cycles Corretto Road

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BAUM Cycles Corretto Road

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that I’ve got a hard-on for BAUM’s work. Ever since visiting their shop a year ago, I’ve been paying very close attention to the torrent of work that flows into their Flickr stream.

Maybe when I strike it big in the “industry” and move to OZ, I’ll have one of my own, but the likelihood of that happening is slim. Until that day comes, I’ll just enjoy shooting photos of beauts like this Corretto road bike and hastily take it for spins around the block from Shifter Bikes in South Yarra until I find the perfect wall to shoot it against. In this case, I opted for brick, instead of this black wall.

Side note: people ask me why I use walls for bikes like this. The answer is simple: I can’t afford to replace anything on this bike if it were to fall over…

Bicycling Magazine: Makers’ Marks by Jeremy Dunn and John Watson

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Bicycling Magazine: Makers’ Marks by Jeremy Dunn and John Watson

You probably remember this post from last year’s NAHBS. I called it Head Shots and Head Tubes. It still, to this day, gets constant traffic and while I’m very happy with the execution, what the post lacked was a story, or a background to the faces and crown races you’re looking at.

That’s where Jeremy Dunn and Bicycling Magazine come into play. With the aid of Jeremy, we made the Head Shots and Head Tubes post a story, fit for Bicycling Magazine and their iPad App. They dubbed it Makers’ Marks (clever!)…

Check out a preview at Bicycling Magazine and download the app here!

Yonder Journal: Brovet 02

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Yonder Journal: Brovet 02

Bonking. Everybody bonks bro. We’ve all been there and if you haven’t, then you’re not challenging yourself. Not that I’m proud of myself, or particularly happy to have dealt with the year or so of heckling from co-riders on this Brovet, but hey, that’s life.

After almost a year to date, Yonder Journal just posted the Guide to Brovet 02 and it’s a great read. Not to mention the great photos! Also, if you’ve ever wanted to read someone really dig into my failed efforts, don’t miss it.

See the full Guide for Brovet 02 at Yonder Journal and have a laugh.

P.S. I look hella fat in these photos!

Merckx Mondays

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Merckx Mondays

Molteni sausages were onto something when they sponsored a young bicycle racer by the name of Eddy Merckx in 1971. Not only were they to see a huge jump in sales from his many victories (someone give me a source!), but little did they know, their brand was to be embodied in one of the most iconic colors in cycling history.

While this frame in particular is not an original Molteni, it still looks mighty nice sitting atop this Kubota.

I have been dangerously low on Merckx Mondays content, so when I was over at Maison de Blanc over the weekend, I asked FYXO to shoot one of his many Merckx frames. “Which one?” he asked, to which I replied, the one that’ll look the best on your dad’s mower.

Granted, this is by no means the “nicest” Merckx frame in Andy’s man cave, it just looked so quant… See for yourself in the Gallery!

This, like everything in the world of FYXO, is for sale. Interested? Shoot him an email.

Smith’s Gully Trail Session

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Smith’s Gully Trail Session

Since the first time riding in the ‘wood here in Australia, I’ve always wanted to shred some MTBs. Problem is, it’s usually a pain in the ass digging up a bike, or there’s just not enough time to spend fucking around on the tracks and trails.

This go ’round, I’ve been taking it easy, so when a Sunday afternoon opened up, we were able to find the time for plenty of fucking around. But what about a bike? Luckily for me, Andy set me up with Tim at My Mountain, a shop in Melbourne specializing in bicycles designed for dirt riding: i.e. a MTB shop.

So, I had a bike (which I’ll be doing a bit of a write-up on at a later date), I had a guide (or three) and plenty of time. Andy knew of some mates who loved to ride Smith’s Gully, a “local’s only” trail system. He wouldn’t tell me where it was, or let me use my Garmin, he just tossed me into his van and about 30 minutes later, I was in a parking lot putting on my kit and nursing a hangover from getting “trollied” the night before.

The four of us all gave each other’s bikes the once over (only to know what to look for in case one of us crashed into the bush) and took off for the trails. Now, let me apologize in advanced, these photos didn’t quite fit into the product reviews I’m in the process of writing, they’re merely left-overs that were too rad to just pitch. Especially this one of Barnie getting rad…

See a few more in the Gallery!