John&#8217;s Geekhouse Woodville Touring Bike: A Classic Redux Made Possible by Friends –

It’s spooky season, and while humans can’t return from the dead, bicycles can! Especially steel bikes. Longtime readers of The Radavist might recall John’s Geekhouse Woodville touring bike from 2013. Its history is sordid and includes theft, a recovery, some damage, and a brief hiatus. Well, thanks to a group of friends, John got it back, and the redux might be better than the original. Read on for the resurrection of this beloved and more beautiful than ever bicycle!

Photos by Emiliano Granado / Yonder Journal MSOJ

Geekhouse Woodville

It was 2013, I was living in Austin, and just took delivery of a new Geekhouse Woodville touring bike that replaced my 2010 Geekhouse Woodville that was stolen a few years prior. The replacement Woodville was sleek, with clean lines, a matte olive drab paint, and custom racks. It remains, to this day, one of the most iconic bikes to ever grace this lil’ bike nerd website.

The Woodville came with an homage to the segmented Fat City Yo Eddy forks, a nod to Fat City and Geekhouse’s Somerville roots.

These photos were taken from a classic Radavist story: Escaping Black Friday with Bicycle Camping…

Over the next several years, I’d do a series of big, hard dirt rides on it and countless fun camping trips. It was my fully loaded tourer, my S24O, my gravel bike, and brevet bike.

Photo by Spencer Harding

Photos by Emiliano Granado / Yonder Journal MSOJ

All those fun Austin bicycle camping trips, tours, and hard rides in California were done on this trusty steed. It solidified my love of bicycle camping. I think it was the Yonder Journey MSOJ ride that the Woodville and I really clicked. I was in tip-top shape and the bike seemingly floated through the entire 350 miles. It was the first time that a custom bike truly felt like an extension of me, amplifying my abilities and responding to input as if it were an appendage. Emiliano captured this symbiotic resonance in these photos.

Then in 2016, it got stolen from my house in Los Angeles. We had the guy on security camera and everything but it appeared the bike was gone for good. It eventually got recovered (thanks, Nick!) but it suffered a lot of abuse and damage. I felt like a part of me had suffered neglect and even writing about this experience, eight years later, is still hard as I search for the right words to describe how it felt to have my favorite bike abused like this.

Grab the image slider and see the before and after transformation…

Disc Change

Before the bike was stolen, I was riding a lot in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles, primarily on bike camping trips and overnighters. That terrain is steep and loose and pointing a loaded bike downhill with the Paul Touring Cantis required a lot of breaks as the pads and rims would heat up and lose their stopping power.

At the time, I thought I’d prefer disc brakes on the bike but had no reason to make such a request until after the bike was stolen and recovered. It needed some small repairs as it endured abuse during its time in captivity so I asked Marty from Geekhouse if he’d be into fixing the frame’s alignment and converting it to disc. I sent the frame off to him and awaited its transformation.

Shortly after, Geekhouse filed for bankruptcy, and the bike was stuck in limbo.

Almost eight years later, Bryan Hollingsworth from Royal H Cycles spoke with Marty about the bike. Eventually, he took possession of it. Marty still had the original notes I sent him, so Bryan took it upon himself to fix the frame and convert it to disc brakes. Plenty of disc brake bikes of this era used quick-release skewers, and if anything, it’s now a more striking indication of when the bike was originally made. At the time of the original commission, disc brakes were still relatively “new” for drop-bar bikes and thru-axles weren’t a thing either.

Cottonwood Paint

Jordan Low is an incredibly talented painter. He painted my Firefly back in 2015, and I’ve documented countless bikes he’s painted. Once he and Bryan had the frame, the two of them discussed their plans. After Bryan finished the frame conversion, Jordan began sketching ideas for the bike. Keep in mind that I had no idea any of this was happening.

For the Woodville redux, he chose a matte desert tan with dark brown flecks. I came to call the finish “cottonwood” and it inspired me to lace the Woodville with silver components and gold Chris King parts. Luckily, the whole thing came together just in time for our beautiful cottonwood trees here in Santa Fe to turn gold.

9-Speed and Silver Build Kit

For the past several years, I’ve taken a step back from the pursuit and documentation of the “new” bike industry and have reflected on the “old” bike industry, landing somewhere in the middle for my personal exploits and builds. My love of vintage bikes was re-ignited after years of stagnation, and I’ve spent a lot of time riding both friction 5-speed and indexed 8 and 9-speed bikes. Right now, I own more friction than indexed bikes.

For a lightweight gravel tourer like this – the fit and function of this bike is now what we’d call a “gravel bike” these days – I felt like 9-speed Shimano 105 and a mid-range cassette would be adequate, especially when paired with a triple crankset. To shift that triple crankset, I found a NOS XTR top pull mech at BikeRecyclery.com. Dang! The Woodville used ‘cross inspired routing to keep the housing out of mud and muck.

I wanted to incorporate parts from brands I respect on the build. That includes Paul Component Engineering Klampers and a Tall and Handsome post. Velo Orange Voyager rims and Retro Stainless housing. Bruce Gordon’s Rock n Road tires were what the original bike was designed around since they were some of the only 45 mm tires available at the time. Crust Bikes Shaka bars and Shimano 9-speed indexed barcons, bought from Rivendell. I’ve had these Ritchey compact cranks for what feels like an eternity and they’ve finally found a home. I know these cranks mostly cracked and failed, but I’ll be keeping an eye on them for stress risers. The last gold nugget is the Wolf Tooth seatpost clamp.

A real maestro, Bailey of Sincere Cycles, built it up for me because when the frame arrived, I swelled with emotion and knew that if I had to build it, it’d never be completed. Luckily, Bailey is always down to help out with my projects, and the final product is superb. The shifting is precise and clean, and the bike seemingly floats over hardpack and pavement alike. The Rock ‘n’ Road tires are really some of the best in class, and I wish more people would be tuned into them because I want them to stick around.

Riding and Reflection

What’s most interesting about the fit philosophy of this bike is how it relies on a seatpost with a lot of setback and a long, 120 mm stem to get my proper reach extension. On paper, it looks small, with its top tube measuring only 56 cm but it fits perfectly thanks to the seatpost setback and longer stem, stretching my long and lanky body out — my most current “modern” fit calls for a 60 cm top tube with a 100 mm stem.

Compared to my current preference, I would opt for a shorter stem and a bigger frame overall. Maybe even a dropper post. Kind of like my Meriwether Ponderosa. But I suppose I already have that bike. The Woodville’s fit and function definitely feel more like a road bike than a touring bike to me, but it’s indicative of a time and a place in my life where I was spending more time on gravel and paved roads versus mountainous double track. I guess this is my “road” bike now? For dirt and pavement roads around Santa Fe, it’s perfect.

This bike’s story goes deeper than mixed-terrain touring, though…

Riding the Woodville redux bike brings about all the feels. It reminds me of life-changing rides, camaraderie, and challenges that shaped who I am today. I had to push myself to get healthy in order to be able to hang with very fit cyclists like Hahn Rossman on those Yonder Journal rides. In 2014, the Woodville and I were inseparable. It was a catalyst for me to emerge from a chrysalis and realize my riding potential.

This current version is an example of how “old” tech is just as fast (feeling) as “new” tech, yet it looks better (right?) and is designed to last. All of these components, save for the cranks, are still available NOS and work just as well as anything produced today. Most importantly, the Woodville is a love letter to friendship, written in steel and lovely paint. It reflects the environment I chose to live in now and is symbolic of my favorite time of year here in Santa Fe, autumn.

Thanks to each and every person who made this Woodville redux possible. Marty, Bryan, and Jordan, I cannot express how grateful I am to have this bike back. It means the world to me. xo

One note: PLEASE, if you know where the racks are for this bike, holler at me. I’d love to have them back! I’ll gladly buy them. :-)