The Radavist

I met Khalil while I was in Sydney a few months ago but I met this bike at the 2011 Philly Bike Expo. When he found out I was in Australia, he wanted to meet up and I offered to shoot some more photos of his Bishop flatbar fixed gear. It’s still in immaculate condition. Khalil takes it out when he can and rides the coastal roads with. You already know how partial I am to Chris Bishop’s work and this bike shows a different side to his work.

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Where do I even begin with this bike? At the 2011 NAHBS, I spent the afternoon with Chris Bishop, after all the madness of the show had subsided. We rode around Austin, soaked up the sun, got lunch and chatted bikes. That’s when he asked if I would want to have a road bike in the 2012 NAHBS. Of course I wanted a Bishop road bike but I was torn. Since Chris was mostly known for lugged frames, would he want to make a modern, light, fillet frame? Hell, I didn’t even know what I wanted to be honest.

But first thing’s first. I had to get fit by Chris. After the Philly Bike Expo, I headed to Baltimore with him and Tommy, where I stayed the night and got fit in the morning. We began with what I knew, my Merckx road bike and some standard body dimensions. These became our starting point. From there, we tweaked the fit based on what kind of riding I do. Everything was dialed in on the fit bike: head tube angle, fork rake, seat tube angle, etc. Chris asked what I liked and what I didn’t like.

After some back and forth, we had a geometry and finally, a tubing selection: the downtube and chain stays are Columbus Spirit. The head tube is True Temper OX Platinum, Seat tube NOS Columbus MAX, seat stays, top tube are Dedacciai Zero. I wanted the bike as light as possible but not getting into weight weenie status so we went with an ENVE cockpit and a ENVE 1.0 fork, along with an ENVE post, which was made in the States a week before the show! Other tidbits include a Chris King No-Threadset headset and a Fizik Kurve saddle.

Since I love SRAM, a mix of Force and Red was used (not showing the Red Cassette) but I’m most stoked on the wheels. I went with Pewter Chris King R45s laced with Sapim spokes to HED Belgium Rims. Tommy built the wheels with CX Rays up front and Race spokes on the rear. But the frame is what makes the bike. Chris went to town on every single detail here. The cable stops were machined, the replacable, 7075 Paragon drop outs were machined, the pressfit 30 BB shell was hand filed and the fillet construction is pristine. So pristine that it won best fillet construction at the 2012 NAHBS. To top it off, Bryan at Fresh Frame and Tommy concocted one killer paint job, using my logo colors and my love for chevrons as a precedent.

There, enough talking, check out the Gallery by clicking the above photo or click here to open a new tab.

Chris Bishop cleaned up shop at the 2012 NAHBS with a trinity of gorgeous frames. He won best fillet construction, best lugged construction and this frame brought home the best steel bike. That’s the second year in a row that he’s won that for a track bike and this one isn’t messing around. There’s nothing to hide here. Each builder was urged to bring an unpainted bike for this years show, prompting Chris to complete this frame rather quickly.

This haste doesn’t show in his craftsmanship however, as each 1970’s Prugnat pressed lug was painstakingly carved and reshaped with brass. The bottom bracket was hand carved, the track ends drilled, fork crown shaped and when he completed everything, nothing but classic track geometry was left. Steep angles, tight clearances and a complete Dura Ace 10-Pitch group set this apart from the rest. I had the pleasure of photographing it in an back alley on the final day of the show. See so yourself in the Gallery below, or perhaps you’d like to buy it? Check the details out below.

This bike has been floating around the Bishop Bikes Flickr for months. The amount of time that builders spend on randoneur bikes goes above and beyond the normal price for a frame. Not to mention the pain of getting Shimano Dura Ace to work with Suntour, Campagnolo and TA. All of this was precisely fused together in one complete Beautiful Bicycle, with more details than three or four frames combined. Did I mention it has a Campagnolo Portacatena? Talk about a show bike.

Each of Chris’ bikes at the 2012 NAHBS were painted by Bryan Myers in his wet paint shop, Fresh Frame and Ahmet’s 650b randonneur was the prize of the booth. It won best lugged construction bike and was in the running for the best in show. As I wheeled it out of the 2012 NAHBS, I could barely take photos without someone coming over to ogle it. This has to be Chris’ finest work yet. Shear beauty! Check out the gallery for more details.

Gallery