The Radavist

My buddy Chris just completed this build and since I can’t really post portrait-oriented photos in the galleries, I figured I’d give this one some love on its own. Expect the full set tomorrow…

So… you think you’re fast? Start at the 4 minute mark to see Chris Hoy eat everyone alive. Damn.

Chris Piascik has a tee design in the new Odyssey BMX line. Check his and the others out here. Looking good man!

Chris Fonseca announced that this will be his last fixed freestyle video. The footage is a bit old but it’s worth the watch to see Boothby, Santos and even Torey ride NYC. Some of Josh’s lines are fucking dialed. I love the Williamsburg bridge plaza clips.

It’s a rainy day here in Austin, which has me browsing the internet more than usual. I just came across this post on Chris’ Tumblr, linking to an Art Battle LA contest. Head over right now and vote for Chris! It only takes a second.

Ian at Icarus is a man of many talents. When you are a master at fillet brazing, making the switch from small-diameter, vintage-inspired bikes to modern, lightweight race machines is easy. When Chris hit up Ian about building him a race bike for the 2011 Philly Bike Expo, he had one thing in mind: performance. After selecting the right tubeset, the bike was under way. This thing is 16lbs complete, has some of the smoothest fillets and sports one bitchin’ paint job.

Check out more from Ian from Icarus’ 2011 Philly Bike Expo road bike for Chris below!

I’ve been watching this video for a full day now and have decided that although some of the moves are a bit sketchy, it’s one of the more creative fixed freestyle videos in recent weeks. A lot of the skid and slide tricks can be utilized in everyday riding and no one really seems to pick up on it. When I think of fixed freestyle skid riding, I think of Matt Spencer’s tire slides and skid stair gaps, Torey’s edgers, Wonka’s whip to half cab and Tom’s massive tire slides. Aside from the peg tricks, this is how I like to mess around on the fixed gear. Solid video dude! More skids please.

I’ve got a few things I’ve been working on that hopefully I’ll be able to pull into a new edit soon!

Photo by Keith Teket

Leave it to the Bmore Fixed crew to session a single spot all day and it’s not necessarily a great spot either. Keith, Sam, Christina and the Bmore Fixed crew spent their Sunday shredding Applebaum Alley where Christina got some levitator pedal grinds. Pretty freaking sick! Check out more here.

Remember Mac’s Chris Chance Pista I posted a little while ago? Well, Mac recently acquired another one and this one’s got quite the back-story:

“This pink Chance is a bit of cycling history. When Chris Chance started making mountainbikes in the eighties under the name “Fat Chance”, this frame was kept somewhere in the workshop. It was used at a certain point to try a new paint and left and forgotten. That is, until Ron from King Cage (an ex-Fat Chance worker) asked if he could have the frame. Chris agreed and Ron applied the high gloss pink coat, as well as the last set of Chris Chance decals around. The fork was rubbed on the left side and was touched up with fluorescent orange and yellow. I recently obtained the frame and built it up with a NOS Superbe Pro 7-speed group, Mavic MA4 tubeless wheels, Vittoria tubulars, Modolo Speedy front end, Selle Italia Superleggere seat and Look World ARC pedals (matching world cup stripes on the rear).”

Man, that’s one hell of a bike. Check out more photos at Mac Spikes’ Flickr.

Previously:
Beautiful Bicycle: Mac Spikes’ Chris Chance Pista

Chris Bishop in 35mm

One of my favorite framebuilders is Chris Bishop and this weekend, unlike previous events, I actually got to spend some time with Chris. While I really wanted to interview him while we sat at Whole Foods drinking a bottle of Tripel Karmeleit, I figured he was probably enjoying the afternoon and didn’t want to bother him with it. When we did chat, it was mostly about his years as a messenger (he actually still messengers in Bmore every day) and how much he loves to ride a track bike in Manhattan.

Columbus MS in 35mm

Then I came across this interview on Embrocation the other day and I was glad that someone caught Chris’ stories on tape. Here’s an excerpt:

“Chris clearly thinks that a track bike is the best for city riding. “Manhattan is great for a track bike; that’s traffic slalom all day long.” I have to agree that, especially in bad conditions like rain, snow, and ice, a fixed gear is much more communicative than a bike with a freewheel and brakes—“like driving a stick instead of an auto.” But what about the steep angles and incredibly narrow wheelbase? He described a method of changing a line in which he “pops” the entire bike from one course to another—it reminded me somewhat of the kind of thing one might do on a pump track. “

Man. Is he ever right! In fact, I’m going to go tear through Manhattan now on my Merckx Pista. Read the rest of Chris’ interview on Embrocation here. I added a few more photos from my Recent Roll to the NAHBS in 35mm Flickr set.

Maybe you recall a man by the name Christopher Robin that I’d posted about before? During the long winter months, he spends his free time making bicycles in what most would consider sub-standard conditions using implemented tools and techniques. For his latest endeavor, he decided to construct a replica of Graham Obree‘s hour-record breaking track bike. In a word, the outcome is immaculate!

You have to check out the rest of the photos and a video below. It’s insane!

Christian and I have been chatting about his new edit and last night, he emailed it to me. I think it’s pretty freaking solid and on par with my kinda riding. What do you think?

A few weeks ago, I shot this photo of my speedometer after riding some of the hills in Austin with my buddy Chris Gomez. Then, the other day, Tracko posts this hella blurry photo of his “Fisher Price my first speedometer” computer reading 48 mph. I just hope my next photo comes out and dude, get a new computer. Those suck!

See ya at the NAHBS. We’ve got a bull for you to ride.

Speaking of classics, as promised in today’s Merckx Mondays post, here’s Chris’ Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra pista in all its glory. Chris has been an avid reader on the blog for a while now and we’ve shot emails back and forth throughout the past year. For some people, it might be a little strange to meet up with a reader from their blog but I love doing it. Nothing gives you perspective on your readership than putting a face with an email address!

Last Saturday I met up with Chris and shot his lovely Merckx Pista, a truly Beautiful Bicycle. Check out more photos below!

The first time I got to see the work of Chris Kvale in person was during the Mid-West Mayhem last year. Mark Sirek let us stay with him in Milwaukee and lurking in his basement was a wonderland (scroll to 3/4s the way down the post) filled with Beautiful Bicycles. In the mix was his custom Chris Kvale road bike. I was amazed at the lugwork, particularly the seat tube cluster. It was so incredibly thin! So thin that they had to use the thinnest paint possible when coating it or the lugs would disappear.

Since posting the McLean earlier this week, I’ve had many correspondence with a group of gentlemen who own quite a few McLean road bikes. One of which is Neil “Gunnar” Berg who runs a blog called 1410 OakWood. Aside from calling this blog the “dark side“, Neil wrote a nice little piece about his thoughts on the McLean’s paint job. Originally being a skeptic of the paint’s color, Neil and I exchanged some emails with the last correspondence ending in a photo of this Chris Kvale seat tube cluster.

Have you ever seen a lug that thin? Amazing! Oh, I mean Minneapolis NICE! Thanks Neil!

I know what you’re thinking “enough already!”. Chris’ list of All My Bikes keeps growing and growing. His latest (and my favorite) entry is his custom-painted MKE Bruiser. Ben’s Cycle and Open Bicycle hooked him up with it last year. Remember? This bike came out so proper. Nicely done Chris. I hope you miss that thing!

Previously:
Chris Piascik: All My Bikes 21
Chris Piascik’s Bruiser

I think we’re getting close to Chris’ ( @ChrisPiascik ) All My Bikes series. If memory serves me correctly, there’s maybe 3 more ahead of this one but I could be wrong. A few years ago, the guys at Milwaukee Bicycle Co. approached me to help design the first proper fixed freestyle frameset. There weren’t other framesets available where the frame and fork were designed together, not as an aftermarket afterthought. We came up with the Bruiser. I remember building mine up and being thrilled. It was exactly what we wanted! Soon after, I had some prototypes and since this thing wasn’t breaking, I hooked Chris up with one. This became his first Bruiser and he felt the same way about it as I did. Check out Chris’ recollection here!

Previously:
Chris Piascik: All My Bikes 19