The Radavist

This year’s Chris King Open House chose 18 builders from all over the world to display their new colors for 2020: Bourbon and Violet. Thanks to ENVE, Santa Cruz Reserve, SRAM, Brooks, and Spurcycle. these bikes were built out appropriately for such a showcase. Below is a gallery of half the bunch, in alphabetical order for your enjoyment, with each builder’s description of the bikes. Make sure you comment on your favorite because there is some gold in these galleries!

ENVE has been supporting frame builders, both in the US and internationally for years now and has developed a symbiotic relationship with these artisans, who choose to put their forks, bars, and wheels on customer’s build kit lists. With this catalog of talent at their fingertips, they decided to have an Open House to celebrate not only their factory and offices in Ogden, Utah but the frame builders who choose ENVE to build out their complete bikes.

Over the next two mornings, we’ll look at a list of 20 frame builders’ bikes, in galleries filled with so many Beautiful Bicycles it’ll leave your mouth watering. Up first is Prova, Holland, Alchemy, Salt Air, Mosaic, Pursuit, English, Speedvagen, Bingham, and Allied.

Carbon manufacturing is changing the way we envision bikes, and the creations are wild. Case in point: Allied Cycle Works’ new Able. When you first look at this bike, it’s impossible not to focus on the chainstay – but looking around the frameset, you see the possibilities that can come out of a carbon mold these days.

Richard Pool’s Allied Alfa Disc Allroad with Hypercolor!
Photos by Bob Huff, words by John Watson

How do you make a special bike extra special? For Richard Pool, aka Bicycle Crumbs, he was sold on the Allied Alfa Allroad but wanted to jazz it up a bit. Richard works at the Vanilla Workshop – in case you were wondering who is doing all those snazzy new graphics! – so he consulted Lucas Strain, one of the painters at Coat, Vanilla’s in-house paint shop, on what to do with this frame to make it extra, extra special.

The result is the by-product of including Thermocramatic paint, over a raw Alfa. What this paint does is react with temperature and the easiest way to see this is by either putting the frame in a freezer, or rubbing an ice cube over it, but when Richard pinged Bob Huff, Vanilla’s photographer, he suggested cold water, sprayed from a hose on a hot day. Luckily they found normal garden hose water on a hot, hot summer day in Portland did the trick.

Is is gimmicky? You bet but does it look awesome, you bet! Coupled with this awesome bike, I think it turned out great. If you’d like a more in-depth look at the Alfa, check out our review!

Richard built it up with Turquoise King bits, ENVE Ar 4.5 rims, a Zip post and cockpit, SRAM eTAP WiFli and a Fabric ALM saddle.

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Follow Richard on Instagram, Lucas on Instagram, Allied on Instagram, and follow Bob Huff on Instagram.

The Allied story is one that has been touched on briefly here on the Radavist. A brand that was formed through the foresight of one man; Tony Karklins and his ability to acquire a Canadian brand Guru’s assets at auction. This included the machinery, technology, everything; down to the paint booth. Upon winning the bid, Tony then moved this equipment to Arkansas, hired a few key players and began cranking on this new brand, dubbed Allied Cycle Works, which operates under the umbrella of HIA Velo. I could go more into this story, but people like Patrick at Red Kite Prayer have done an exceptional job covering the beginnings of Allied, so if the story of the brand is what you’re here for, head to RKP for an exceptional write up.

Now, when Patrick wrote his piece about Allied, they had but one model; the Alfa road bike. Later, the brand developed this beauty, the Alfa All-Road. While the Alfa road has all the lines and functionality of a proper carbon, rim brake road bike, the Alfa All-Road opens up the door a little wider to the sorts of rides we really enjoy over here at the Radavist; dirty and dusty fun!

In the next installment of a four-part series, our European correspondent Petor Georgallou joins Significant Other Bikes of Denver, Colorado. Petor recently took a gonzo-style roadtrip through North America to visit four framebuilders who have been awarded SRAM’s Inclusivity Scholarship to attend Bespoked in Dresden, Germany, on October 18–20. Take a peek behind the bikes made by Ashley King at Significant Other…

Cyclists and first-time film filmmakers Grace Williams and Emily Segura Maze release the film “ZANA,” an ode to what it means to be a woman in sport. The film documents the history of the historic singlespeed bike race, the Little 500, as women went from racing on tricycles to bicycles. Williams, alumni of team Melanzana, found a story worth sharing within the camaraderie of her old team as they attempted a third win in a row – as a result, and with the support from State Bicycle Co., the film “ZANA” was born. Below, check out the “ZANA” film premiere, in addition to Grace’s behind-the-scenes account of the project with images from Sarah Qu!

The Little 500

The Little 500 is a historic, single-speed bike race in Bloomington, Indiana that takes place on a quarter mile cinder track. Teams of four riders compete one day in April for the famed Borg-Warner Trophy (a miniature replica of the Indianapolis 500 trophy) but the true purpose of the race is to raise money for Indiana University student scholarships. All riders are Indiana University undergraduates, but over 25,000 dedicated fans come from all over the world to watch.

For many, it is known as “the World’s Greatest College Weekend”. The women race 100 laps, and the men race 200. Tactics are up to each team, but the teams must each complete at least five exchanges between teammates during the entirety of the race for the women, and ten for the men.

Beginnings of “ZANA”

The men’s race started in 1951, but the women’s race didn’t start until 1988. This gap in time? We found it far too interesting to brush past. This is where we come in. Meet your directors: Emily Segura Maze and Grace Williams. We met at a media internship in Flagstaff in 2022, where we spent the summer camping, photographing athletes, and learning how to be in the media industry with a crew of amazing mentors.

Fast-forward a few years, and we found ourselves navigating the freelance industry on opposite sides of the country. In October of 2023, I sent an email to State Bicycle Co, (SBC) pitching a film to them on the Women’s Little 500. I didn’t know how to articulate the specifics of the film, but I knew the feeling and emotions I wanted to create. Incredibly, SBC said yes. I didn’t even own a video camera, so I called Emily, the one person I knew who might be down to figure this out with me. She was in.

In Production

After some brainstorming, we decided that my old team, Melanzana (Zana for short), would be the team to film. I am an alumni of the 2022 winning team, and we wanted to take advantage of the authentic stories and friendships I still have with my old teammates. The storyline checked out, too – they were about to attempt their third win in a row, a would-be a historic feat. So, we figured out how to get trademark approval through Indiana University, and we emailed with IU board members. We bought insurance, rented cameras, and booked plane tickets.

We found ourselves filming in March for race day qualifications, and in April; the race. Imposter syndrome was rampant, and we felt as though we were just barely making it; that we had somehow fooled everyone into believing that we were filmmakers. In fact, we still barely knew what the storyline of the film would become; what was the message? Were we accurately portraying the feelings we wanted to portray? Despite being unsure of how the film would develop, we decided to start, trusting that the process would take us there. We followed the feelings, we followed our guts, and the story slowly began to appear.

The Little 500 & Mini 500

ZANA initially takes the audience on a journey through the history of the Little 500. Although the men’s race started in 1951, the women were barred from the race and relegated to tricycles instead. They were used more as advertisements, trophies, and newspaper images than anything else.

In the article “The Mini 500: The Gendered History of a Forgotten Tradition”, the author writes, “By sewing uniforms, cheering on the men and decorating the pits, the Little 500 in the 1950s was another way for women to practice their domestic duties.” Yet, women still rallied to race on bikes. Starting in 1973, women’s bike teams began to come together and try to qualify for the men’s race after finally obtaining the right to even attempt qualifications in the first place.

Even so, no female teams were able to qualify. “The message is clear,” a sports columnist for the Indiana Daily Student wrote. “The big boys ride the bicycles in the Little 500. The little girls get to ride the tricycles in the Mini 500.”[11] He called for the “degrading, insulting and patronizing event” to be abolished. After years of pushing, the women were finally allowed to have their own race in 1988. The Mini 500 ended a few years later.

Then and Now

Since then, the women have continued to push the boundaries of sport and make history. Theta Cycling now has a historic total of 9 wins since 1988. Melanzana Cycling boldly attempted their third consecutive win in 2024. Not to mention so many other strong, incredible leaders, athletes, and women within Little 500. We wanted to document this power of community and support within the entirety of the women’s field.

As we interviewed and talked to Little 500 staff, as we surrounded ourselves with the words and experiences of the riders, we began to piece together the complexities that might intertwine to explain what we had felt and learned from being part of the Little 500 community. As we filmed, we learned. We learned how to ask better questions; we learned how to light a scene, we learned how to edit and produce, and review. We learned an immense amount during this past year, enough to proudly say: we’re filmmakers now.

“Sisterhood and Competition”

This film is both a documentation of women in sport, of sisterhood and competition – as well as an exploration into the unknown as first-time filmmakers. We found that as we told the story of women pushing the boundaries in the historically male-dominated space of cycling, we mirrored their story as female filmmakers in the similarly intimidating and male-dominated space of media.

We set out to do something we weren’t sure we could do, just like Zana, and whether or not we achieve it isn’t quite the point. What is it really about? The camaraderie, the joy, the lessons, the shared experiences. Perhaps most importantly, it’s about attempting things you are passionate about, things that scare you, because you might be the reason someone else is inspired to do the same.

The Little 500 community is special. Yet, this film is not just about Zana. This is not just about bikes. It’s about everything we feel when we come together to create something, push towards something, and inspire something. It’s sisterhood, it’s fierce competition, and it’s everything in between.

Works Cited: Harriet April 21st. (2017, April 17). The mini 500: The gendered history of a forgotten tradition:
Part 1. Voices from the IU Bicentennial.
https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2017/04/17/the-mini-500-the-gendered-history-of-a-forgotten-traditio
n-part-1/

ZANA is Presented by State Bicycle Co and directed by Emily Segura Maze and Grace Williams with Signature Squash Studios.

Today, we present a recap of the 2024 LA Invitational put on by all the lovely folks over at The Cub House in Los Angeles, CA. In a slightly different format than our typical event Reportage, the team gathered stories from various participants, who recounted harrowing and ecstatic experiences while out riding the event routes. Then, they conclude with a gallery of drool-worthy two- and four-wheeled machines from the bike and car show portion. Let’s check it out below!

In the 20 years since his track-bike touring roots, Matt Churchill has established HMPL as a distinctive made-in-Vancouver bike-bag brand. But before you try to say “HMPL” five times fast, the name predates the disemvoweled brand-name trend and is actually an acronym. On a recent visit to HMPL HQ, Pat Valade gets to the bottom of those four letters and talks with Matt about his cycling background, views on the ‘Industry’ and why a neighborhood is only as thriving as the small makers in it.