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It’s winter here, Down Under and it’s been quite the shock to the system. I was just getting acclimated to the heat of Texas Summer and now I’m riding in nothing but cold weather and pissing rain.
Today Andy and I went riding a few local trails and after our ride, I shot a few photos. Nothing serious, just head shots, head tubes of our bikes (thanks to My Mountain Melbourne for the loaner Yeti SB95c!) and dirty butts. See a few more below.
It’s merely by coincidence that I’m in Australia when this kit was completed at Endo Customs in Los Angeles but it worked out perfectly. My original concept for doing the Radavist’s first kit was looking to nature for inspiration, particularly venomous animals you might encounter in the woods or while camping.
The Black Widow spider (USA), or in this case, the Redback spider (OZ) has a far worse reputation than its bite, yet the population fears it. An all-black spider, with a bright red marking on its abdomen will induce your fight or flight response. These kits were an homage to nature’s way of visual coding… The same marking makes it visible in the woods as you’re ripping trails, or on a road climb.
Marked with “Rubber Side Up” on the drive-side leg, the Radavist Jackal on the other, the script logo across the chest, on the lower back and the raidō r-rune from the Elder Futhark on the upper back of the bib, it’s a straight forward, yet classic kit that hopefully will become your staple.
Price is $270 + shipping for the bibs and jersey. I’m only selling this paired for this round. That means you get a medium jersey and medium bibs in each order, along with some stickers and a stem cap. This is not a pre-order, these kits are in stock and will ship this week.
SORRY SOLD OUT but thanks to FYXO for the photos!
There are enough competitive races, or rides that look like races in the world and the Melburn Roobaix is not one of those events. Instead, Andy and Melody White from FYXO aim to bring people together, from all “rolls of life” to take a leisurely spin around Melbourne’s many cobbled back-alleys and bike paths. I.e. off the beaten bike path…
With over 2,000 registrants this year, planning was essential. Rider registration the day of was streamlined, there were now two route options, with over 40 variations for completion and yes, plenty of prizes, all of which were drawn from a lottery. It didn’t matter how fast or slow you completed your manifest, as long as you did so, you were eligible for prizes.
So… what is the Melburn Roobaix all about? I don’t know how to answer that, other than it’s all about the participants. There’s no overwhelming demographic, not one specific type of bike reigned supreme. Rather, a broad sampling of the Melbourne cycling community attends each year. Commuters, ex-racers, current racers, weekend bike path warriors, enthusiasts, cool kids, kinda cool kids, first-timers, partygoers, costumed freaks, costumed geeks, and yes, even people on Melbourne’s rentable city bikes.
I have to say, after spending over six hours in the rain, following meandering packs of people wearing soaking wet costumes, looking for cobbled alleys, I’m convinced this is truly one of the most down to Earth events in the world. Everyone was more than stoked to ride around in the pissing rain, into headwinds and without a care in the world. The people are what make it so much fun and this Gallery is dedicated to just that: the people of the 2014 Melburn Roobaix.
Many, many, many thanks to the people of Melbourne (particularly the patient drivers), the crew from Brisbane / Queensland I rolled with, the volunteers, vendors, and FYXO for making this such an enjoyable event!
Now if I can just figure out why all “Roubaix-themed” events wreak havoc on my camera gear!
At the Melburn Roobaix yesterday (more to come on that), I bumped into my friend Ben Kamenjas from Sydney, who I met a few years back when he worked at Deus Ex Machina. Ben’s a wealth of cycling knowledge, especially the obscure / idiosyncratic world of French components and frames. At a certain point in your life, you tire of looking at others’ work and decide to start building for yourself.
What you see here is Ben’s first bike, under his moniker Cicli Spirito (no link yet). It’s a fendered porteur with a customized VO rack that mounts to the vintage center pull mounts and classic French parts with a classic geometry.
It’s always difficult to shoot a porteur with weight on the front, so I asked Ben to act as the kickstand while I snapped a few, very quick photos.
With this weather, I’m sure Ben was stoked on his Swift Industries Pelican bag, fenders and nice, plump tires during the Roobaix. That’s a great looking bicycle!
… for the Melburn Roobaix. That means I’ll be shooting the event and bikes, as well as doing some rides. I’ll be fairly busy while I’m in OZ, but am looking forward to the event.
Today, after landing at the airport, FYXO picked me up and we dropped off a customer’s vintage De Rosa road bike. Coincidentally, this will be ridden at the Roobaix. While Andy was shooting photos in a cobbled alleyway, I took a few of him doing his thing.
This is totally random but the bike looks great! See a few more below.
Tomorrow I’m heading out for another dose of Australia to document the Melburn Roobaix for FYXO. I know there are a bunch of events happening while I’m there, like this party and other rides, so if you’re planning on being in Melbourne, I’ll see ya there.
I’ll have plenty of products with me to hand out, so don’t be shy (of course you won’t be, you’re Australian)…
Having just come off of a successful CMWC in Mexico, the world now looks to Melbourne, Australia for the 2015 host city. This is going to be good! See more at CMWC 2015.
“Master of Skids”
Andy is going over the top with this year’s Melburn Roobaix. He’s making a Fauxnago track bike, just like this one, as one of the prizes. I’ll see you all there and I hope you can make it. It’s gonna be a fun weekend in Melbourne.
Photo by Andy White
This is by far, my most favorite FYXO photo ever and this is one of Andy’s greatest long tales:
“Many have tried to replicate this ride, some with success, some with failure, none without awe of the surrounds of this part of the world and the challenges it presents when it’s just you and your bike.
I look back and think ‘did I really do that?’. Particularly day one’s 200km+ on dirt, sand, rock on a singlespeed CX one gear without an iPhone – yes, this post is that old.
These posts have inspired many to get out on there bikes and push limits and find new roads, surely helped popularise ‘gravel grinding’, yondering and whatever the hashtag of the moment is, but in truth it’s just #ridingabikewithmates.
The words of this story remain unchanged, though I’ve stitched the three day / three post report from 2009 into one. Lily Allen still puts me right back in the Eildon pub every time I hear it.”
If you could hear and smell this post, it would be the complete experience. Instead, you have to rely on words and photos. See more at FYXO.
I’m going to try my hardest to get back out to Melbourne and this might be the event for it! The 2014 Melburn Roobaix is nearing…
Man, I haven’t done a Shop Visit in some time. Thinking back at a few local bike shops I’ve been to in the past few months, two of my favorites were MTB shops. One of which was Topanga Creek Bicycles (which FYXO shot some great photos of) – I didn’t have my cameras and another, very different shop was My Mountain Melbourne.
As someone who’s recently rediscovered his love for XC and trail ripping, My Mountain was an all-you-can-eat buffet of radness. Well, as long as your wallet has enough clout. The owner, Tim, is not messing around. It was his Yeti SB95c that I was riding and that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the kinds of builds leaving his shop.
Tallboy LTC with full ENVE? Sure thing. Coming right up. Trek ProjectOne SuperFly with XX-1? You got it.
The world of high-end MTBs is just out of most of our grasps, but that’s not what makes a shop rad. My Mountain sponsors local racers, events and has an extensive demo fleet. They’re a new shop, so infill is coming in slowly, but right now, it looks like there’s a lot of potential in this space.
Check out more in the Gallery!
Photo by Andy White
… Literally. Just walked in the door after 24+ hours of traveling and all I can think is how for the first time all year, I finally felt like this last trip to Australia was truly a vacation. I rode four times total, aside from pedaling around town each day, ate without guilt, drank without worry, my camera barely left my bag, I shot maybe half a roll of 35mm film and we didn’t do one of those big big rides. Oh and I ate a lot of meat pies.
It’s weird how a place across the globe can feel like home, and in a lot of ways, can make travel there somewhat lazy. The weather was shit 95% of the days, cold, windy, rainy. We had two sunny days, luckily, both of which were spent on good rides. I just felt, kind of like doing nothing. This year’s been really tough and before you chastise me with some “boo hoo, I have to travel all the time and ride my bike” remark, trust me, it gets exhausting!
Luckily, I’ve got some good friends down in Melbourne and I was perfectly content keeping Dan and Malachi company all day. Maybe it’s the jetlag talking but this trip down under was a sobering one and yet, I kinda wanna go back once it warms up…
“Red and yellow, kill a fellow…”
Maybe that’s why I love these old Team Raleigh track bikes? There’s something venomous about them. Like some predatory beast, I loved looking at the old photos of British steel eating their competition alive on the boards. The last time I was in Melbourne, I shot another Northside Wheelers in-store display, classic racing track machine, that bright red Cecil Walker. They’re both the same owner, with an impeccable taste for steel race machines.
This one’s a keeper! See more for yourself in the Gallery!
Spooky Cross. For most of the world, it’s a segue into a long and arduous cross season. But for the Dirty Deeds CX league, it’s the end of series party. Unlike most spooky cross races, each race was one or two laps max, coming in under 10 minutes per heat.
Since this was my first DDCX event, I don’t have much to gauge from it other than I saw a lot of people, in exceptional costumes, having fun on bikes. That’s good enough for me. Oh and there was a streaker…
See more in he Gallery!
This is the eleventh layout of the 2013 PiNP Calendar, entitled “Team Raleigh Track”. The camera and location are noted on the bottom left of the document.
The Team Raleigh track bikes might be one of the most iconic liveries in cycling. The classic yellow, red and black paint, mixed with a straight forward, no nonsense British craftsmanship lands these bikes in the grail category for collectors and enthusiasts alike. This bike in particular is built with Campagnolo pista, Cinelli and was raced in Victoria. Don’t worry, more photos of this beaut are coming!
Right Click and Save Link As – 2013 PiNP Calendar: November
When I’m in Melbourne, I usually set up my desk at Shifter Bikes and it’s not just because I enjoy shooting all of the Beautiful Bicycles that come through the door. I really enjoy Dan’s company and being able to rant with someone about life’s little difficulties… Blah blah blah bicycles.
With the Melbourne Cup coming this weekend he’s closing shop, so today will be the last day I’ll be there working. If you’re out and about, or you’ve got a bike to share, swing by!
What better way to celebrate Halloween than with a Spooky road? Ok, I can think of plenty of “better” ways, but I felt this bike in particular fit with All Hallows. When I was at the road crits in Melbourne the other night, looking at the sea of Giants and Treks, this Spooky jumped out at me. Matte black, raw stays, SRAM Red and that recessed cable stop detail!
See for yourself in the Gallery!
This weekend is Spookycross here in Melbourne, thrown by none other than Dirty Deeds, the local ‘cross organization. Come out, bring beer, costumes, cross bikes and your heckling A game. I’ll be out shooting photos, so say hello.
Pre-registration is open, so get on that!
