Photos by Eric Baumann
Belt drive commuters make a lot of sense in cities like Boston and New York. Road grime, dirt, salt and other contaminates hardly effect the system and personally, it’s always interested in seeing this technology paired with a Rohloff on a custom steel bike.
Royal H Cycles keeps me tuned in and this recent project is maddeningly beautiful. See more of it at the Royal H Flickr!
Purple and teal go surprisingly well together, especially when there’s a slick fade happening like on the latest from Tomii Cycles in Austin. Annie’s Road is strikingly beautiful, but don’t say the word “girly”, because I know I’d take pleasure in riding it, as I’m sure you would too. Once again, JL Custom Paint knocked it out of the park.
Check out more at Tomii Cycles’ Flickr.
When it comes to custom titanium, few do it like Firefly, especially when it comes to their custom anodizing, specifically the anodized cells in this mountain dropout. So good! Keep on top of Firefly’s work at their Tumblr and Instagram.
I tell ya, these Mosaic XSS-1 cross bikes are unforgettable. Except, I kinda forgot about posting this one. Sorry guys! Aaron and the crew at Mosaic do a superb job on these bikes, which they make for some of their local racers on a team they’ve come to call Team Single Barrel. There’s also Team Small Batch, but Single Barrel is their SSCX team. It’s a pretty rad concept, which you can read up about at Mosaic.
Now onto this bike. Daimo is, from what I could gather anyway, quite a character. The first thing he said to me was something along the lines of, “don’t forget to photograph the best finishing tape job on the team.” All It needs is some shallac! Anyway, Daimo’s bike came together great but it wouldn’t have been possible without support from Shimano USA, Chris King and PRO Bike Gear… and yes, tying off the bar tape was a nice touch. It’s not too early to be thinking about a custom cross frame from Mosaic. Holler at the boyz. For more inspiration, check out Aaron’s own suped-up XSS-1.
If you’ve been waiting to pull the trigger on a new road bike, you might want to check out the 2015 Speedvagen Road Guide Book. It goes through the ordering process, pricing, standard and custom features, as well as timeline for delivery and how to order. This year, the new paint scheme is Ghost. An olive drab coat in matte finish with the graphics inlayed, creating a 3d effect on the frame. It’s something else. Read more about the paint at Speedvagen and while you’re there check out the 2015 Road Guide Book.
Photo by Kyle Kelley
Slawta has created some of the most unique and ostentatious frame designs under his moniker Land Shark. Every time I see one of his works of art, I’m completely mesmerized, especially when neon paint is involved. Kyle recently shot this unique triple triangle track and I don’t wanna give too much of it away, so you’ll have to head over to Trackosaurus Rex to see the rest.
In Seattle, a local staple has closed its doors. Back in September of last year, Elliott Bay Bicycles, home of Davidson Cycles, shut down. Luckily the in-house brand of frames, made by hand since 1973, by Bill Davidson lives on.
Even though Davidson is a Seattle-based framebuilder, his work can be seen from coast to coast, from vintage steel to modern composite. Although Bill only currently offers road frames, he makes them in a variety of materials. As a Davidson customer, you can chose between composite, steel or titanium, all of which are done in house. While the modern bikes have their own character, there’s something about a frame from the late 80’s and early 90’s. They all have a certain finesse that’s harder to achieve these days with modern materials.
This particular frame was most likely made in the mid to late 1980’s, if the 1″ threaded steerer and internally-lugged unicrown fork is any indication. Chris scored it off eBay as he was looking for a traditionally lugged frame to kick around town on. Fit with a mix of Campagnolo 10-speed, the bike looks like a classic road from the 80’s, yet has the technology from a modern road group.
Bottom line, she’s a looker. See more in the Gallery.
We’ve seen the road twin to this custom peace paint Baum Extensa before, but there’s something super rad about a pink mountain bike, especially with that build kit. See more at the Baum Flickr and even though I’m a metalhead, seeing peace signs on bikes is the best thing ever.
No 22 Bicycles grew from a longstanding framebuilding tradition in Upstate New York. By keeping production of their frames Stateside, they’re able to tweak geometries easily and even develop new models. Their latest addition to the No 22 family is the Broken Arrow disc cyclocross bike.
Developed with the help of Wilis Johnson of Deluxe Cycles, the Broken Arrow was designed to be a racing frame, but as we all know, a cross bike’s versatility is quickly realized as the season comes to a close.
Wilis raced ‘Cross Nats on this bike, as well as shredded trails while he was in town. The subtle branding and black componentry really give this bike a beautiful silhouette and I can’t think of a more appropriate bike for that Cadence x Ritchey stem. Photographing titanium outdoors can be difficult, especially on an overcast day, but these photos came out great. Those who raced Crash Nationals will recognize the bamboo tunnel…
Japan’s Sim Works has great taste when it comes to US framebuilders. This Seven Mudhoney frameset is a prime example. Check out that paint! See more at the Sim Works Flickr.
