This past Saturday morning, Austin Killips reached the Arizona/Utah border, setting a new overall record for the Arizona Trail 800. Her time was an astonishing 8 days 23 hours 27 minutes, besting Alex Schultz’s previous record of 9 days, 5 hours, and 43 minutes!
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A Custom Bike Journey with Caletti Cycles: Crafting the Ultimate Ride
In the heart of Santa Cruz, California, John Caletti has spent over two decades honing his craft as a master frame builder at Caletti Cycles. From his early days of building steel frames to his current reputation for creating exceptional custom titanium bicycles, John’s journey is a testament to his dedication to the art and science of frame building.
A visit to Caletti Cycles reveals not just a workshop, but also a place where passion and precision intersect, where each bike reflects John’s commitment to quality and innovation. Join us below as we explore the inception of a unique builder/photographer relationship between John Caletti and Chris Corona, delving into John’s background, his perspectives on the cycling industry, and the vibrant community of makers that defines Caletti Cycles.
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Mock Orange Bikes: 20 Years in Winston-Salem, NC
The last 20 years have seen seismic changes to brick-and-mortar businesses of all kinds, especially bike shops, yet Mock Orange Bikes endures. Mock Orange and its owner, Charles Van Isenburg, have remained a pillar of Winston-Salem, NC’s bike community for two decades with a relationship-driven, neighborhood-oriented, very much offline, and old-school way of conducting retail business.
On one of his frequent swings through his native North Carolina, Andy Karr stopped by his favorite hometown bike shop to chat with Charles about what’s changed in 20 years of owning a shop and what hasn’t.
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Wolf Tooth GeoShift Angleset Headset Review: The Future is Now
Is your bike getting old? Are you having trouble keeping up with yearly geometry inflation? Has your bike’s lack of low and slack geometry got you down? Well, if so, Wolf Tooth’s engineers have just the product you need: a 2º GeoShift Performance Angleset Headset.
Spencer decided to install a GeoShift Angleset in his 2021 Ibis Ripley AF, hoping to catapult it into the future. Will his tinkering in this review portent the arrival of an updated Ripley AF? Or is he barking up the wrong tree? Read on to find out…
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Riding Han Film: A GDMBR Journey of Healing
In 2021, Pak Eugene set out with his younger brother and childhood friend to ride the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Frustrated by a lack of storytelling and content he could resonate with, he decided to make his own film. Below, he shares the film Riding Han, along with a full image gallery and narrative about the trip…
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Rez Gravel 2024: Beautiful Dirt, No Dogs, A Lot of History
The inaugural Rez Gravel was held in February of 2024. Founded by tribal member Elisha Bishop, the event consisted of 68, 26, and 13-mile courses through O’Odham tribal land near Casa Grande, Arizona. The event weekend also included a pre-ride dinner, campfire, and sharing of culture and history by Akimel O’Odham leader, singer, artist, farmer, and teacher Robert “Bobby” Stone. Don’t miss Erik Mathy’s unique photos and background on this new event below…
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Fyxo’s “Trail Breaker” Surly Krampus For Melburn Roobaix
Seeds of inspiration come from many places, people, and times in your life. Fyxo’s latest project was a trinity of such influences fused into one. Combining inspiration from Speedvagen, an old Shogun MTB, and MAD MAX to create his custom rusty Surly Krampus for Melburn Roobaix.
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Granite Designs Stash RT and RCX Multi-Tool Review
Granite Designs has some pretty slick options for stashing a multi-tool inside your bike’s steerer. The Stash System comes in a few flavors depending on how the tool housing clings to the inside of your steerer. Spencer has been using both the Stash Ratchet Tool and the Stash RCX and, below, reviews the tools along with the Stash system…
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Riding Every Street in the London Postal Code: First Impressions and a Ride with a Local Legend
Photographer Conor Courtney recently moved to the UK and decided to set off on an unusual two-wheeled adventure: riding every street in London. This led to him meeting up with explorer Jonathan France. Read on for Conor’s account of what unfolded next…
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Sour Bicycles SRD Steel Full Suspension Review: A Rolling Prototype
Peter Georgallou might be the last person ’round these parts you’d expect to test an all-mountain/enduro full-suspension mountain bike like the steel single-pivot SRD prototype from Sour Bicycles but that’s what makes his review so interesting. Continue reading below as Petor dives head-first and in-depth into a new-to-him world of riding in addition to a preview of some exciting things to come from our friends at Sour…
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Veronica’s Custom Painted Specialized Aethos
Down in Tucson, AZ Spencer met up with local artist and mechanic John “Cookie” Sands to photograph the bike he custom-painted for his partner Veronica. It started as a Specialized Aethos but after it got a few paint chips, Cookie decided to give the bike a truly one-of-a-kind custom paint job. Make sure to check out the gallery of all the hand-painted details…
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Brad Quartuccio’s Frigid Bitch Film Portraits
The Frigid Bitch has become a rallying point for Pittsburgh’s womens+ riding and racing community. The annual alleycat party is more than just another rip around town with friends, it’s an unapologetic creation of space and agency in the scene. Today Brad Quartuccio presents his photo booth portraits of the many participants…
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Velo Orange Rando Review: An Unencumbered Pursuit
With the re-release of their ‘Rando’ offering, Velo Orange takes a stab at the slim, albeit existing, market of all-road bikes while adding their own, classically inspired twist. Floridian Nic Morales looked at where this gold-flecked bike shines and what pavement-centric dreams a thin-tubed modern randonneur inspires.
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Dropper Post Seat Bag Review Roundup
The most fun addition to any bike? Ask Colt Fetters and the answer is unquestionably a dropper post. He’d argue that droppers are more fun than suspension, fancy wheels, and wireless shifting, because getting the saddle out of the way is key to maneuvering a mountain bike to its fullest potential. But for multi-day riding, running a dropper can present logistical challenges. In the following roundup, Colt reviews seven dropper-post compatible seat bags to ensure that you don’t have to compromise carrying capacity in exchange for confident descending on multi-day mountain biking missions.
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HMPL Shop Visit: Making Bags for People and Bikes in Vancouver
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.
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Pivot Cycles Vault Review: Hidden Treasure
Pivot Cycles’ Vault gravel bike has plenty of amazing tech securely (wink wink) stashed in the frame making for a comfortable and uncompromising riding experience. Spencer is ever chasing something other than geometry inflation to review and Pivot’s patented ISO FLEX technology caught his eye. Make sure you take a peek inside the Vault for all the hidden treasure below…
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The Witches Cycle – Chapter 3: Step By Step
Tony Concrete is back with Chapter Three of his bikepacking manga The Witches Cycle. In addition to the latest installment in the lives of Vera and Mary, Tony breaks down how he makes his illustrations in a step-by-step process, from inspiration to finished drawing. Don’t miss this exciting new chapter…
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藝術 (Art), 手工藝 (Craftsmanship), 製造 (Manufacture): Taichung Taiwan is a Bicycling Manufacturing Mecca
Coming off our Dust-Up article on (Most) All Bikes are Handmade is a deeper dive… It is easy to take for granted how products from around the globe end up in our hands. When it comes to bicycles, many of us have no idea how they are made. Our Instagram feeds are filled with romanticized images of artisans building intricate frames one at a time, but what about the production bicycles that the vast majority ride? Much less information is available, leaving our imaginations to conjure up images of robotic welders and dirty, fast-paced production. This often leads to uninformed debates on where, who, and how products are made.
The authors of this article offer a unique perspective on bicycle manufacturing. Daniel Yang, a talented engineer working with Neuhaus Metalworks and his own brand ARTEFACT, is changing how artisan framebuilders build bikes through 3D printing and 3D modeling innovations. Adam Sklar has over a decade of experience building high-end custom bikes by hand. He recently brought his production to Taiwan, working together with factories to produce his signature designs. The factories and people you see in this article produce Sklar Bikes, which is why we were given the opportunity to share this experience with you all.