The Radavist

Andrew Low has been building aluminum frames in San Francisco since 2010. While he’s best known for his track frames, in recent months, he’s branched out into cyclocross and now, road bikes. It’s been a long path for Andrew to get this point, but after many months of design, he felt ready to enter the road market.

This particular frame is a working prototype. The aluminum tube diameters, angles and measurements for production are still being worked out but you can expect a tapered fork and a GXP-style BB. This frame in particular is a 55cm.

SRAM Red 22 and ENVE’s made in the USA rims really vibe with the custom Cadence paint treatment, which was a collaboration between Dustin Klein of Cadence and Andrew himself. I have to say, while this bike wasn’t an official NAHBS bike (it was part of the Cadence clothing booth), it was one of my favorites at the show. Available this summer from LOW.

Orange and red are two colors that often clash, but sometimes they work. Case in point, Patrick’s LOW track bike. If this one looks familiar, it’s because Kyle shot photos of it at the black top in LA a few months back.

To Patrick, this bike is the result of intense financial planning. It took him almost a year to save up for this bike, but the end result is one of his favorite moments of the day. As he describes, when he hops on the bike “it rides like a razor blade of butter.” Super stiff, but smooth…

Campagnolo Record drivetrain, H+Son rims, Thomson and Chris King. This bike is laced with top of the line, yet durable components and it adds a bit of subtlety to the flashy paint job. As I was photographing this bike, a pedestrian walked by and said “damnnnn that’s like a Testarossa!”

I love Andrew Low’s bikes, they’re a testament that made in the USA aluminum track bikes will always have a place in the world, whether the street or the track. Enjoy the ride, Patrick!

Andrew Low has been working on a prototype track frame unlike any of his other bikes. These frames are simply put: team-edition racing machines. Some details are consistant with his other bikes, while others are not. Marc’s LOW is one of four in existence, being raced by Team Chica Sexy in SF. The geometry is true track, with steep angles, a short wheelbase and an aggressive saddle to bar drop. You can barely see the compact geometry in these photos but the top tube does indeed slope back.

Marc brought this bike out one of the last days I was in SF so I could shoot photos of it and from what I can tell over on the LOW Instagram, these are getting closer to production…

Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Kodak Portra 400

As I was backing up my photos from Interbike, I realized I never posted these. It’s a few photos I shot of Jason Clary’s new LOW track bike. He’s had the frame for a while but it’s good to see it built up. I’ve always liked the crazy custom paint and finishing schemes Andrew comes up with and this bike is no different.

After the 2011 NACCCs, Josh relocated to Austin from SF, where he worked at TCB Courier. Once settling in here in town, he took Andrew Low up on his offer for a track frame. Andrew went to town on this one with the finishing. This was the first frame that Andrew etched the owner’s name into the top tube. Other finishing notes include the TCB Courier logo etched in and Andrew’s signature on the non-drive chainstay.

Josh wanted this bike to ride fast and secure, so he went with some SRAM Omniums and a bullhorn on his cockpit. What better way to top off the build than with a Pentabike Muststash?

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It’s crazy to think that it’s been a year since Chas emailed me, asking me to post about Andrew Low‘s work, leading to a full queue for the SF-based frame builder. He’s been steady cranking away this year at frames, sending them worldwide.

In that time, he’s refined his shop, and over the past few weeks, he’s working on some frame refinements. Faced track ends and finished welds are just a few of the things Andrew’s been working on. I tell ya, if I raced at the track, I’d ride one of these bikes.

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About a year ago, a man named Andrew Low came onto the track bike scene. Based in SF, Andrew builds handmade aluminum track frames in a small and tidy workshop in the Mission. San Francisco is widely responsible for the aluminum track bike hype and LOW has the made in the USA market cornered. When Massan caught wind of Andrew, he had to support a builder from his home town…

Just recently, Andrew completed a low pro model in a MUNI livery for Massan and I had the chance to photograph it in the Embarcadero on Saturday. With Massan’s recent induction into the Chrome Familia, this bike will be getting a lot of press-love, but for now, here’s my lens-love.

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This weekend, the last thing I was thinking about was Tour of the Battenkill. Referred to as “America’s Queen of the Classics”, Battenkill is a grueling course, filled with dirt, gravel and any other excuse for a road covering found around Cambridge, New York. For those data-seekers, here’s the Pro Cat 1 / Cat 2 course and here’s the UCI course, where these photos were taken. Bottom line is: this is a grueling race and while I’ve yet to attend, Andrew Franciosa did a great job photographing the event. See for yourself below.

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