The Radavist

You gotta hand it to Mosaic Cycles out of Boulder, Colorado. They really do love their dealer shops. In fact, this year, each of their bikes were designed specifically for a different shop, around the world. My favorite happened to be for Crankstar in Brisbane, Australia.

Painted in a navy and baby blue rings, this road racer has an intimidating stance. Built with Dura Ace (yes! calipers!), Chris King Turquoise, ENVE wheels, custom painted Shimano Pro Stealth Evo bars, custom Busyman saddle and bartape, this bike caught my eye before the show even opened on Thursday night.

I had a lot of fun photographing this one. See for yourself in the Gallery!

“Step right up, come see the latest from Cielo / Chris King – this bike has it all: tapered head tube, ENVE wheels, Chris King e’rywhere, PF30 BB, Ultegra Di2, grippy, fast tires and even the latest in chartreuse technology.”

Kyle from Chris King is always peddling the latest from Cielo and Chris King. With good reason too. Made in the same facilities as their brightly-colored, or murdered out Sotte Voce headsets, these bikes bear the same precision as the rest of the Chris King line.

The newest model in their road line, the Ultegra Di2 Road Racer is a full-on production model – meaning from the time you place your order, till it arrives at your front door, you’re looking at 60 days. Maybe 61. But still.

One reason I’m so stoked on these bikes is that any Chris King dealer can carry the frames. That means – nudge, nudge – any shop employee with a Chris King account can order one. Retail price is $2,495 for the frame, fork, I8 headset and add $300 for the matching stem. Cielo’s Road Racer frameset is also available as a standard “cabled” option. Remember, there are always Stem options too…

This bike in particular came in around 16 lbs. It might be less than that, but I don’t want Kyle wacking my knuckles with a straight edge if I’m wrong… See more of this chartreuse beauty in the Gallery! I took extra time with this one…

One of my favorite builders this year at NAHBS were the Czech builders Festka. Their work with oversized Ti and stainless tubing is impeccable. While most of their paint jobs are pretty over the top, this Union Jack Di2 disc road was actually pretty subdued.

Built for Richard Hardy, this particular frame was constructed from Columbus XCR tubing and sported a British racing green coat of wet paint, overlaid with a pattern inspired by the Union Jack flag of the UK.

When people asked me what the overall theme of NAHBS was this year, my reply has been: Di2 and disc brakes. Staying true to that observation, Richard’s bike is equipped and ready to rip. The addition of Rocket Wheels and Tune hubs gave this bike some European flavor amongst the sea of Chris King and Enve.

Remember, if you are interested in carrying Festka, or ordering one for yourself, contact Cycleast in Austin, TX.

See more in the Gallery!

Going into NAHBS this year, one builder I was very interested in chatting with was Kris from 44 Bikes. I’ve enjoyed watching his brand gain so much notoriety over the past year and wanted to find out more about what made him tick.

We chatted a lot, went over all his bikes, talked about New Hampshire life, dirt, trails and what inspired his insane DIY workshop project. At the end of the show, I realized that I shot all three of his bike, essentially giving more coverage to him than any other builder.

There’s no real reason for that, other than since Kris was new to NAHBS, I really wanted to give him some exposure because I really admire his work.

Case in point: this 1×8 Retroshift Cross Bike. Kris used the Retroshift system on his TRP Hylex hydro disc brakes, Industry 9 wheels, along with the Retroshift BURD rear derailleur. Tech aside, this bike has stance. Bright red, crisp lines, no-nonsense language and yes, as I like to say, it’s utilitarian art. See more in the Gallery!

Don’t adjust your handheld or desktop computers, those are indeed indexed downtube shifters… This bike is a throwback to Ira Ryan’s personal history as a bicycle racer and frame builder. Ira is no stranger to gravel, or dirt road riding and racing. Years back, in the early years of the Rapha Continental, Ira was on 23c tires tackling some of the US’ most picturesque roads. Maybe that’s what inspired this ride? That and classic road frames, with an edge. Think of this B Road as an homage to the bikes of yesteryear, with modern upgrades.

Breadwinner‘s bikes this year absolutely slayed and this tangerine B Road “gravel” bike had so much zest. The project began with Ira and Tony modifying Dura Ace downtube shifters to fit 11-speed bar end internals (yes, it shifts like butter). From there, a tapered head tube with an ENVE CX fork and 32c Pasela tires provide more than adequate clearances for true all-road riding and racing. Then, Breadwinner added a third bottle cage and fender eyelets to the ENVE fork!

TRP’s Hylex hydro disc brakes (with custom drillium levers!) will provide the stopping power and modulation. The internal cable routing ensures the lines of the frame stay clean. I don’t know why I love this machine so much, maybe it’s a combination of it truly being unique or the color? For whatever the reason, I enjoyed photographing this in the morning light at this year’s NAHBS.

See more of this mind-boggling machine in the Gallery!

This NAHBS I learned two things about 44 Bikes. The first being Kris and I are the exact same size – which comes in handy for any planned trips to New Hampshire I might have to make. Second, Kris doesn’t build anything that he can’t or wouldn’t ride himself. Although, I suppose if someone really wanted a road bike, he’d make an exception.

Regionally, the roads surrounding Kris’ shop and home are quite shitty. Rutted, washboarded, washed-out and rocky, the tracks and trails take quite the beating throughout the winter, so his bikes are tailored to this terrain. For NAHBS this year, Kris brought all three of his own bikes to show off, because, well. It just makes sense.

Here’s the show favorite from his booth: a murdered out singlespeed 29’r with a nice, fat Whisky Parts fork, Industry 9 wheels and a rear end so tight that it’d be hard to… No, wait, it’s so black metal that… Anyway, I digress.

Check out more in the Gallery!

At NAHBS, themed bikes are usually hit or miss and by that I mean, people usually get it or they don’t. If you can’t see the theme in this bike, then you probably didn’t grow up on the 80’s watching reruns of Smokey and the Bandit… Or… You just don’t get it.

Josh from Avery County Cycles went way over the top with this homage bike. Built for himself, as his new touring rig, everything was thought out and executed with precision. Down to the choice in tire: Michelin’s Country Rock. The stem is custom and Josh even got Coors-themed water bottles for the show.

For the saddle, Mick Peel from Busyman hand-embossed the firebird logo from Bo Darville’s Trans Am. Other details include PAUL Racers, hand-made carbon fiber racks – with Paragon ends (Josh isn’t 100% sure the front rack is structurally sound, these were mostly for show) and the exquisite Trans Am-inspired wet paint by Jordan Low.

I can almost hear the theme song playing as I’m typing this! See more in the Gallery!

Alchemy has been through a lot over the past few years. Originally from Austin, the shop moved to Denver in 2013, prior to NAHBS. While they’ve gone through a few hiccups in the process, the shop is cranking out some incredibly nice steeds.

Cody’s cross bike is a prime example. There ain’t no ISP on that baby, the topper is welded onto the seat mast. The internal cable routing is clean, CX1 with custom painted Rotor cranks, and damn that paint job. This is one of my favorite bikes in the show and it doesn’t hurt that the owner is a damn great guy.

See more in the Gallery!

Two production bikes that I was rather keen on at this year’s NAHBS came from the Ritchey booth. The Swiss Cross received what seems to be an industry-wide upgrade for cross bikes: disc brakes and a new addition to the family: a carbon Breakaway road bike.

Both come in black paint (not safe for non-metal heads) and aren’t too far off for production. I don’t recall what the MSRP was on the Swiss Cross but the Breakaway will retail for $3,199 – frame, fork and headset included. For the weight-conscious, the Breakaway comes in at exactly 15.10 LBS as shown.

One note: the Breakaway was made by Tom Ritchey and production will have clearances for a 28c.

See more in the Gallery!

I know when I come to NAHBS, I can always count on Aaron at Six-Eleven to have a track bike on display. In years past, he’s had some of my favorite bikes at the show and out of his entire fleet (the dude brought like 12 bikes, seriously), this one was my favorite.

Built in Virginia, to be raced in Portland, this machine has some pretty jamming details. Personally, I love the color and the Chris King bits, but the seatpost topper and fork crown are next level!

See more in the Gallery!

After I got done shooting these photos of Erik Noren and his Peacock Groove Minneapolis Moline Cargo Bike, I realized that he’s the only builder I ever do portraits with at NAHBS. There’s just something about his playful execution and less-than-serious themes.

That’s not to say his craftsmanship isn’t serious. The dude is an artist. Each year he makes two-wheeled artwork that stands out from the rest of the crowd.

I’m not from the Midwest but when he told me this was a Minneapolis Moline tractor homage, even I had heard of that company. This bike is rolling a 29+ rear, 20″ front, has two generator lamps, custom racks, a “hand shifting” front 2x Wolf Tooth setup and best of all: chains.

I can’t get over how thoughtful Erik’s work is. Peacock Groovy, baby. See more in the Gallery!

Inspired by the Audi Group B rally machines from the 80’s, this Avery County Cycles Cross bike is for Eli Cox, owner of Berkeley Supply in Denver. Josh from Avery, Eli from Berkeley Supply and Tyler from Pearl Velo make up the Tennyson Collective. They’re all good friends who have found Denver as their home.

Eli is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, but that doesn’t mean he’s with the occasional heckling from Josh and Tyler. When he got serious about his health and wanting to ride a bike, he told Josh he wanted a cross bike with a wider gear range, that would be inspired by an Audi Rally car from the 80’s.

Josh usually does powder in-house, so for this one, he sent it off to Jordan Low, who in my opinion is killing it right now!

Aaron from Six-Eleven brought some incredible builds with him this year to NAHBS. Some of which fall under his new in-house line of production tig welded frames. Since fillet-brazed and lugged frames often take a lot of time to produce, and cost more, he wanted to offer his friends, local racers and essentially, impatient people a quick and easy option.

Hometown Manufacturing is just that. A quick and easy alternative to lugged or fillet brazed frames. These bikes are all OX Platinum, no nonsense machines ready to be raced or just plain out thrashed.

Inspired by his old Stumpjumper from his youth, this hardtail 29’r is a throwback to steel MTBs of the late 80’s and early 90’s. It’s a straight forward 1-tack machine, complete with Yoke is Easy cranks, machined in the USA. Before Aaron takes it into the woods however, he’ll be tossing a Paul chain keeper on there… My favorite detail however is the hand-painted head tube and downtube logo, done by Richmond’s Sure Hand Signs.

See more in the Gallery!

Yesterday after arriving in Charlotte, I made my way over to the convention center to see what the general vibe would be like for the next few days. After a quick pass through all the controlled chaos that is convention center setup day, one road bike really stood out.

This Mosaic Cycles road bike was built with True Temper’s S3 ultralight tubeset and painted by Spectrum, utilizing the new True Temper branding. While I’m not usually into red and white paint jobs, I absolutely love this bike.

SRAM, ENVE, Fizik and Chris King ain’t a bad way to finish it off either… the build comes in at 15.5 lbs. See more in the Gallery!

The thing I appreciate about Kristofer Henry’s work at 44 Bikes is that each model represents a different New Hampshire season and it just so happens that the New England winter is unforgiving (especially this year), which is why most of his bikes have big tires. Winter thrashes the roads, the tracks and trails, so over time, he’s designed his bikes to accommodate those conditions.

At the 2014 NAHBS, Kristofer brought his own personal bikes to display. Why? Because they’re all purpose-built and besides, he doesn’t want to make his clients wait any longer for a frame. If the bike was done pre-NAHBS, he sent it out.

This Big Boy Fatbike was an obvious first choice for photos from the brand but it won’t be the last. I really can’t wait to shoot his disc road and his rigid 29r. Using the 5″ platform and a 1 x 10 drivetrain, this thing will motor through snow with ease and the carbon components shed some weight off the total build, which comes in around 27 lbs.

See more in the Gallery!

Each year at NAHBS, I love how much Geekhouse steps their game up. From brightly-colored fixed gears and track bikes to classic tourers and race-ready cross bike. This year, Geekhouse is unveiling their new Hopedale Disc. By partnering with SRAM, Vittoria and Selle Italia to lace out the builds.

Since it is the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, Geekhouse chose 100% made in the USA tubing, with a mix of True Temper’s S3 and OX Platinum, along with Paragon Machine Works “Low Mount” disc dropouts.

For me, the most notable detail on the bikes are the paint jobs. The paint uses a two-step process. All three show-bikes have a powder-coated base, and then Jordan Low masterfully applied wet paint in geometric patterns. The artwork, done by Adria Klora, was inspired by the Geekhouse HQ (yellow), dazzle camo (blue), and the Zakim Bridge in Boston (red).

The yellow Hopedale Disc will be heading to the owner of Cooks Paint Works in Japan, via Blue Lug Bicycle Shop after the show. The red Hopedale Disc belongs to Kyle B., in Texas, which he gave as a 30th present to himself. The blue Mudville is an extra special bike though, aside from the paint and HED wheels, SRAM Force, and Thomson components, this machine is going to someone close to Geekhouse.

View these bikes this weekend – Geekhouse Bikes is exhibiting at the North American Handmade Bike Show at booth #400.

For those who won’t be in attendance at NAHBS, each bike is highlighted in details through the lens of Heather McGrath. See all three of Geekhouse’s offerings in the Gallery!