The Radavist

When Ben from Argonaut Cycles designed and developed his first road frame, he was content, but that didn’t mean his desire to create the best made in the USA carbon fiber road frame was sated. Ben knew the market was changing and wanted to have even more options for his customers to select when purchasing a custom bike.

With the popularity of gravel / dirt rides and races, he knew that his current racing geometry would need some finessing and with the increasing demand for disc brakes, the opportunity arose to adapt.

A bike suited for off-road riding has a few tweaks to the geometry. The rear end will be slightly longer, the bottom bracket, just slightly lower and the head tube loses around half a degree. This enables the bike to still handle fast on sealed roads, but really be at home on dirt. Tire clearances are important as well. These bikes fit a 28mm tubeless road tire with ease, which is all you need for gravel. Remember, this isn’t a cross bike.

The Argonaut Disc Road bikes that the Rapha / River City Bicycles team rode during the Rouge Roubaix were developed for off-road conditions, while staying true to their race machine pedigree.

For those familiar with the Di2 hydro system, you’ll note the front plate of the shifters were painted black. Other than that, it’s pretty straight forward. 140mm disc rotors, Argonaut Made in the USA frameset, ENVE bars, ENVE stem, ENVE wheels with custom decals and dripping with Chris King’s precision components.

Tim from the team has the first production model. After an afternoon of shooting photos and video of the bike in action, I took it out for some portrait photos.

This bike ripped apart the dirt and stood out from the pack at the Rouge Roubaix. See more in the Gallery!

Hubert from Cycles d’Autremont has been in town for a few days now, en route back to Burlington, Vermont. He brought two bikes with him on his trip, one of which being this deep red road bike. The color is what really caught my eye, which coincidentally came from a reference in Rem Koolhaas’ book Colors – Hubert’s an ex-architect as well…

Some details, which will probably catch the eye of builders off the bat: To keep the proportions balanced on this 52cm road bike, Hubert machined in-house a 1.25″ taper head tube and ran a Chris King Devolution headset for proper stack.

He then used a tapered top tube from Deda so he could run a 27.2 post, 25mm Deda Chainstays and thinner seat stays.

Dura Ace, ENVE and Chris King, Challenge Strada tires… Yep. This thing is stylish! As described by Hubert “this thing for me was an exercise in doing a new-school bike”. Believe it or not, bikes like this are much cheaper for a builder like Hubert to make. The whole thing goes together much faster than a randonneur frame or a traditional lugged road.

See more in the Gallery!

The story with this bike in particular is a common tale. As a youngster, the owner used to race at the velodromes here in Melbourne. Like many kids growing up, he rode what he could afford to and when the time came, he sold off his bikes to buy new ones.

As adults, many people track down their distant memories and relive their youth. The owner of this gorgeous 531 Cecil Walker track just recently put it together to get back onto the boards and what a build. A brand new frame, complete with Dura Ace track parts, Zipp 1150 rear and a Zipp 3000 tri-spoke front would bring out the inner child in any track racer.

Another one of the Factory 5 track bikes that was on the bike tour was Tyler’s. This 61cm frame has quite the component kit on it. Most interestingly, one of five pairs of H+Son carbon fiber wrapped Formation Face rims. The aluminum rims were thinner, to compensate for the wrap, resulting in a lighter rim. They’ll never see full production, because they were a pain to fabricate, but they look great laced to Dura Ace 7600 36h single side track hubs. Tyler’s also riding Paul Royal Flush cranks, which he’s had for over four years in China with no issues.

This is the third prototype of the forthcoming Factory 5 aluminum low pro frame, with smoother welds. The final version will still have a few revisions. Factory 5 has been working on this particular model frame for over a year, revisiting the geometry before making the final version. It makes their motto “We Build. We Ride” even more fitting.

I wanted to photograph his bike after the tour, muddy and all, as a recording of how fucking dirty his bike got riding through China. I’m going to miss hanging out with Tyler. He’s like my metal brother in China…

Check out Factory 5’s current frame offerings here and more photos in the Gallery.

The guys at Alchemy began their operation here in Austin and last year the company relocated to Denver, the home of the 2013 NAHBS. Since relocating, the team has pulled together an empire of steel, carbon and titanium bikes all of which were displayed in their booth. My favorite was the stainless road with Dura Ace.

I didn’t get the chance to visit their facilities in Denver, but all the more reason to return to that awesome city in the spring.

It should be no surprise that Chris Bishop won an award at NAHBS with this bike. For the third year in a row, this full time framebuilder and part time bike messenger brought an incredible fleet of absolutely stunning bikes with him from Baltimore. I was able to shoot three out of the four bikes, the first of which being the Drillium Revival track and now, this reverse bi-lam road.

Originally conceived by Ian Sutton of Icarus Frames, the reverse bi-lam head tube was a show stopper. When the client requested the detail from Chris, he called Ian, asking permission to make it, something he didn’t have to do, but Chris is a true Southern gentlemen. The end result is a tri-color jade, emerald and turquoise road bike with a modern Dura Ace group and a custom 1″ quill stem. The stainless rear triangle and Bishop-standard thin lugwork set this apart from the playing field at NAHBS.

Michael from Brooks England is beyond stoked on his new ride and as a fellow Bishop owner, I can say for sure that this bike is a life-long companion. Yes, I am very partial to Chris’ work, so I took a little more time documenting this machine. Go on and let it marinate in the Gallery.

Andy Hampsten’s legacy is one that needs no introduction. Hampsten Cycles, however might. Columbus MAX is his first love and for the most part, all Hampstens are made from this legendary tubeset. My favorite piece at his booth was this 7-Eleven tribute track. It’s a beaut!

Chris Bishop cleaned up shop at the 2012 NAHBS with a trinity of gorgeous frames. He won best fillet construction, best lugged construction and this frame brought home the best steel bike. That’s the second year in a row that he’s won that for a track bike and this one isn’t messing around. There’s nothing to hide here. Each builder was urged to bring an unpainted bike for this years show, prompting Chris to complete this frame rather quickly.

This haste doesn’t show in his craftsmanship however, as each 1970’s Prugnat pressed lug was painstakingly carved and reshaped with brass. The bottom bracket was hand carved, the track ends drilled, fork crown shaped and when he completed everything, nothing but classic track geometry was left. Steep angles, tight clearances and a complete Dura Ace 10-Pitch group set this apart from the rest. I had the pleasure of photographing it in an back alley on the final day of the show. See so yourself in the Gallery below, or perhaps you’d like to buy it? Check the details out below.