The Radavist

Is it too early to be buying yourself Christmas presents? Rizzoli Press just announced this lovely book:

“The Competition Bicycle will inspire cyclists and design lovers alike. The evocative, detail-rich photographs display the history of the bicycle, from racing high-wheelers to modern racing bikes with carbon-fiber disc wheels. Exceptional handcrafted machines ridden by great champions illustrate milestones in the mechanics and craftsmanship of bicycle design.

This volume also features iconic bicycles that played an important role in the history of the sport, from the bicycle that sent Eddy Merckx over the finish line in his last world championship win, to those of tandem teams who tackled the hour record, motor-paced track racers that exceeded 80 mph on the wooden boards, to California’s mountain-bike pioneers.

Historic images complement the stunning new photography that illustrates each machine in exquisite detail while celebrating the evolution of the sport, object, and machine. The Competition Bicycle is sure to be treasured by all who appreciate magnificent masterpieces of vintage and contemporary design.”

I love the cover and I just pre-ordered one here!

Everyone wanted to know why I didn’t post the “Phil Wood track cranks” a few weeks back. My answer to them was that I already covered them in my 2011 NAHBS coverage and they aren’t track cranks. At least the ones they currently have aren’t. Bilenky included some single speed cranks on their Horton collection NAHBS bike. These cranks had a road q-factor, which were intended to clear a chain guard. While Phil Wood is currently developing a proper 144 bcd track crank, there’s no finite date on when they intend to launch it. Now enough of the track talk, one of the other items Phil Wood displayed was their Campy cassette for their road hubs. Simply unthread the Shimano splines and replace it with this elegant beauty. Neat huh?

Also, on a side note, I wanna thank Phil Wood for the killer road wheelset they sold me. It’ll look sick on my Eddy Merckx MX-L! More on that later.

Another shop that’s been a staple in my life here in NYC over the years is NYC Velo. Andrew and the guys do a great job in catering to the neighborhood commuters, PRO racers and the younger, hip crowd. NYC Velo has a great collection of interestingness, spanning the ages of cycling. From Fat Chances, to Richard Sachs cross bikes and Eddy Merckx 7-Eleven frames, the shop is littered with Beautiful Bicycles.

Check out more photos from my Farewell NYC Shop Visit to NYC Velo below!

Yesterday, I left the confines of East Austin to visit Lake Travis Cyclcery. Located about 20 miles southwest of Austin, the guys at LTC have just opened a new location. After moving from a massive warehouse, they’re still settling into their new space. I have been conversing with the Green Mamba, their pick-up and delivery van, on Twitter for a while and decided it was time to check out the shop.

Check out more photos below.

Back in November I mentioned that Marty and the Geekhouse crew are designing and building me a Woodville (huh huh he said wood) touring bike for this year’s NAHBS. Today we had a little Skype conference call and all the major decisions were made. Since it’s a show bike, we want it to be extra special so we took a bunch of old amulets and melted them down to form the tubing and stole the saddle from Eddy Merckx’s hour record bike.

This thing is going to be sick! Unfortunately, that’s all the news I have for you. But stay tuned for future updates as events warrant.

Maybe you remember me mentioning Eroica Cicli in a blog introduction? Well, I’ve been following their work and in a recent trip to Italy, Andrea visited the Vigorelli and the workshop of Masi. Inside his shop he was given a look at one of the rarest bicycles on Earth.

Check out this beauty below!

2010 brought an increase in cycling blogs, most specifically the fixed and track bike blogs. From fixed freestyle to track racing, these blogs provided all of us great content and context.

Check out who made the Prolly is Not Probably Top 10 New Fixed Blogs of 2010 below!

The crew over at Cycle EXIF have thrown together a rather nice surprise for us. With all the success of their site over the past few months, they selected 12 Beautiful Bicycles to represent each of the Roman gods whom our months are named after. There are some beauts in there, many of which I’ve posted about here before. Be sure you swoop one up since they’re only $14! Not bad at all!

I love that my Eddy Merckx pista made January!

Affinity Cycles is best known for their Low-Pro and Kissena framesets but this year, they’ve introduced a whole line of bikes, including this 212 road bike. Classic Italian geometry with a modern flair. I remember when they got the first samples in a year ago. At the time everyone was saying “no one wants a steel road bike anymore”. Now, a year later, all the major companies are doing it.

You can’t pry my Eddy Merckx MXL from my hands. I’ll never sell it and I absolutely love Dura Ace 7403. My road bike is hands down, my favorite bike in the stable. That being said, there’s a certain amount of apprehension traveling with it and riding it in less-than-favorable conditions. People experience this when buying a vintage frame: is it cracked? Is it rusted out? I’ve known that I wanted a modern bike for a while but never had the reason to acquire one. When Jason told me he’s planning on selling the 212 complete, with SRAM Apex, my interest was piqued.

Today I built up the 58cm 212 with just that. A stock build, minus my stem, pedals and saddle of choice. This is how the 212 will come, out of the box. Not bad. For around $1,400 (price is still to be determined), you get a solid bike that rides much like a classic italian racing bike but doesn’t have the same “vintage” rarities associated with it. Bottom line: this is a racing bike for those who want to ride the piss out of it and not worry. The complete will most likely come with different wheels; most likely H+Son rims. And will come with some signature components like an Affinity saddle and fillet-brazed stem.

The 212 surprised me. Aside from some obvious fit issues (57.5 ctc seat tube when I’m used to a 58.5 ctc), this bike is just what I was looking for. Now, I don’t want to call this a review since I’ve only been riding it for a day or so, but I’m impressed with the bang you get for the buck. Build it up with a vintage group, or go modern with SRAM (because they make baller shit). Either way, the 212 is a light, responsive and fun frame without the connotations of a carbon or aluminum frame being too racy for urban riding. Solid! Await a full-review later but for now, there’s a few more photos up on my Flickr. MSRP on the 212 frameset is $600.

Edit: I just saw Brian at Bicycle Revolution’s post on his 212. Check out his build!

Ever since I saw the samples of these shoes last summer, I’ve been anxiously-awaiting a pair. Having a bit of a Merckx fetish, I recognized the colorway almost immediately and knowing that I have this Merckx fetish, Joe from Brooklyn Machine Works promised me a promo pair. He assured me that they’d be in shortly and hopefully, in time for a Merckx Mondays post. Well, they were delivered late yesterday afternoon and there wasn’t enough time to put them up.

Today I swung by BMW to see the crew and pick up my pair. I gotta admit, I was a bit nervous seeing them. There’s a lot of cycling history behind all three names involved and the shoes have a lot to live up to. Eddy Merckx’s Adidas shoes are a thing of beauty and in all honesty, I’m pretty stoked on how these came out.

Check out more photos and a continuation of my first impression below:

Yep. You heard it. The Delco cover child of 700cmx and I talked for a long time yesterday about fixed freestyle and wheel size. At the end of the conversation, he said he was “over it”.

Check out his explanation below.

A Japanese reader of mine sent this in and requested that I include it in a Merckx Mondays post.

Dropout graphic by All-City

Funny how discussions and the internet overlap. I was just talking to Jeff from All-City about the Dropout‘s geometry. As I was finishing up my email to him, I hopped onto my RSS and caught today’s post on Tears for Gears; vintage catalogs? SURE!

NYC Velo tweeted at me about this last week right before I was heading to Tokyo so I didn’t get a chance to check it out. The Smile is a new coffee shop on Bond St. in NYC and they’ve got a bit of coffee and cycling history up in their shop.

Sure, the Holy Grail to most is a golden goblet from which Christ drank from at the Last Supper. Indiana Jones taught us that the grail was in fact, made from wood, since Christ was a carpenter. Well, this my friends is not about a goblet, this is about the Holy Grail for Eddy Merckx fans.

Karl, who I recently bought a jersey from on eBay, got ahold of this 7-Eleven team Merckx. This isn’t just any 7-Eleven Merckx, it’s the very frame that Axel Merckx, Eddy’s son rode and it’s made from Reynolds 753. 753 is the heat treated cousin of the famed 531. Not sure on the size, but it looks like a 62cm. Edit: here’s the auction, all the information is listed. Now bid away you fiends!

Karl will be listing this on eBay tomorrow, so keep your eyes peeled. I can’t wait to see how much this beauty goes for.

We like to look at the origins of cycling nomenclature occasionally, dissecting the etymology of certain nuanced terms and explaining their origins. Today, we’re looking at the term “clipless pedals.” Read on for a short but sweet rundown by John…

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be working on my Yo Eddy! restoration project I began last year. If you recall, I bought an early Yo Eddy! frame from my friend Martin at Second Spin Cycles and sent it off to Rick at D&D Cycles for a new paint job and a few minor repairs. Well, the frame is back in my hands, so it’s time to get crackin’ on this restoration project.

My vision for the build includes polishing a Syncros 29.4⌀ seatpost, as this build kit will have a mix of black and silver components. Most of these seat posts are pretty faded and scratched, so I thought polishing one up would be nice.

Back in 2009, I made a post on this website about polishing vintage seat posts. At the time, I was restoring various Merckx frames and had scored a few unique seat posts. But what if your seatpost, or other bike components, has a colored anodizing finish you’re just not into? Well, read on below for the full tutorial.

A lot of readers have asked for a guide to photographing their bikes. Be it for Readers’ Rides or for their Instagram. Here, John walks us through the process he uses, which we can all agree is ‘dialed.’

Over the past 15 years, I’ve documented hundreds of bikes both in situ and in my makeshift studio setup at events like the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, the ENVE Builder Roundup, and the Chris King Open House. While it might seem daunting at first, it really is easy and like everything photo-related, it’s all about the setup. Let’s look at my process in detail below…