The Radavist

Photo by Blaine Davis

Just because the fair-weather cyclists in NYC stop riding, that doesn’t mean the builders stop building! Everyone knows the winter time is when builders get on top of their building queue and Thomas from Horse Cycles is doing just that. From revamping his website to building this single-speed cross, Thomas has been busy this winter.

Check out some more photos below!

Maybe you recall the winner of the 2010 NAHBS’ award for the Rookie Builder of the year, Six-Eleven Bicycle Co? I did a recap of Aaron’s work last year and he’s been very busy on this year’s NAHBS bikes as well as other client bicycles. Take Sage’s new cross bike for example. Buttery smooth welds! Check out more photos at Hipster Nascar!

If all goes as planned, I’ll be visiting Six-Eleven in the forthcoming weeks for a Shop Visit!

Royal H. Cycles and Icarus both share a space in Somerville, Mass. Two frame builders, each with unique approaches and personalities united by their love of the custom bicycle.

Check out more photos from my shop visit below.

Last year, at the NAHBS in Richmond, Marty from Geekhouse approached me about doing a custom Woodville touring bike for the NAHBS this year. After kicking around ideas all week, last night we sat down and sized me for a bike and began to work out some details. My freakishly-long inseam and long arms but short torso is usually a problem for me to find a good fit on a production bike which is one of the reasons I am so stoked on getting a custom!

So far, most of our ideas will have to remain a bit of a secret but let’s just say it’s gonna be an interesting bike that screams my personality and Geekhouse’s flair. I cannot wait to see how it turns out. I’ll post future updates as events warrant.

After riding down to Philly on my road bike, I ate a big dinner, got some drinks and passed out. The next morning, Fuzzy and I rode to the Philly Bike Expo (tired of hearing about this event yet?) and I went to work. When we rolled up at 10am, the place was already packed!

Check out nine more photos below.

The 2010 Philly Bike Expo brought out some beautiful show bikes. Included in the bunch was Ian from Icarus‘ creations. Ian’s a funny guy and this shirt is just the tip of the ice burg. While I’m sure Marty at Geekhouse appreciated the gesture, I can’t help but think of what he’s got in store for Ian at the NAHBS this year. Payback’s always fun right? Anyway, on to Icarus’ bikes…

Check out more photos below.

Frames with interesting owner stories are so rad. Case in point is Charlie’s new Geekhouse Rockcity:

“Charlie (affectionately Chachi) is a great friend of Geekhouse and helped us with our NAHBS tradeshow booth that we used for 2009 & 2010. Natch, we owed this feller a bike! He’s moved to Swissland and we’ll be shipping this bike out to him after it gets a fresh coat a local paint.

This Rockcity features a ton of add-ons including custom braze-on badges, ISP, integrated headset, Hay Martay fork, curved seat tube, GH exclusive drop outs, and extra love!”

Check out more photos of this frameset here. Solid! Stoked to come see you guys!

By now you’ve probably seen the Vuelo Velo bikes. Specifically, the number “1”. While I’m not a fan of the bicycle’s design language, this video is quite nice. But they’re known for that. I know I’m like 8 months late on this. Maybe you remember these NAHBS 2010 Videos?

This bike was my first introduction to Vanilla‘s master craftsmanship. I remember seeing photos of it at NAHBS years back and drooling all over it. Now it hangs in NYC Velo on 2nd Avenue in NYC. Small details, like this chain-hanger make it a very practical and still sexy bike. Practicality and vintage componentry might now be your forte, but for geeks like me, it’s what we live for. Especially when it comes to Campagnolo Super Record Pista groups.

Check out some more photos below.

Now, if you recall the history of 3Rensho, Yoshi Konno, in his first year of business called his company Cherubim Cycles, which later turned into 3Rensho. This was around 1978. Now, Yoshi hasn’t built frames in some time but as I was checking my Flickr contacts this morning, I came across this frame on Hugeblock’s stream. A company under the Cherubim guise has constructed this lovely Keirin-inspired frameset for Japanese track bike boutique Sexon Super Peace. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because I did a Tokyo Bike Shop profile on them last summer.

I’ve got so many questions about this project but the biggest one is who is Cherubim Cycles? Maybe you recall the Urban Velo 2009 NAHBS set? Shin-ichi Konno is Yoshi Konno’s brother. Hitoshi Konno was Shin-ichi’s and Yoshi’s father. He started Cherubim in 1965 and built pistas for the 1968 Olympics. Later, Yoshi picked up the Cherubim name in 1978 and switched to 3Rensho shortly thereafter. Leaving the Cherubim name to his family.

Bottom line is, Cherubim is alive and well and the name lives on with Hitoshi’s spirit through the hands of Shin-ichi. If you need an example of this, check out the rest of the photos on Hugeblock’s Flickr. Based on Cherubim’s standard custom price of about $1,500, I’m going to guess this frameset will go for a little more than that. It’s a stellar deal for sure! Assuming it is for sale.

Hot damn! Marty and the crew at Geekhouse are just killing it with the Woodville bikes. Like Rivendell for the new generation, the Boston-based builders will not stop! Just wait till you see what’s in store for this year’s NAHBS. Hint hint. Check out more photos right here at the Geekhouse Flickr!

Spencer from Traffic Bikes hit me up out of the blue last year and since then, we got the chance to meet at the NAHBS and maintain a steady line of communication. Last week, he offered to send me a small package. Inside was this shirt and some stickers. He’s got a solid operation going on over in Long Island and his bikes are on-par with many other framebuilder’s work. To see more of what he offers through Traffic, hit up his site and to order one of these shirts, check it out right here!

Until Mosher sends me studio shots of the new YNOT bag, the Cobra, these spy photos from Villains & Co will have to do! Mosher came up with an interesting way for bag closure. As you can see, three large flaps open up to reveal a massive, expandable pocket. Pretty clever. I saw it at the NAHBS last year and it’s been getting refined ever since.

Check out more photos here at the Villains blog.

Aaron from Six-Eleven Bicycle Co. put together a rather nice prize for next weekend’s VeloCity tour in Chicago. If you recall Aaron’s NAHBS bike, you’ll recognize some of the same details on these ergo bars. Head on over to Hipster Nascar to see more information. Bars look awesome Aaron! Good job man!

Previously:
NAHBS 2010: Six-Eleven Bicycle Co.

Burro Bags have freaking blown the hell up over the past few weeks! I feel like after the NAHBS, the guys really stepped their game up. The epitome of success is when you can open a retail shop as a small-time bag and clothing brand. That’s exactly what the Jacksonville, Florida guys are doing! Along with the 3rd Bury Your Bike event, Burro’s got it going on!

Check out more information here, at Burro Bags.

Is it time for issue 19 already? The guys at Urban Velo have been keeping busy with new content for their newest issue. The cover story is about Asheville North Carolina’s growing cycling scene. Being from NC, you know I gotta plug that! Other content is the 2010 NAHBS coverage and the Red Hook Crit featuring photos from Ed Glazar.

Check the whole issue out right here and if your LBS doesn’t get Urban Velo, ask them why not?

When I was in Richmond at the NAHBS, hanging out in IF‘s booth, someone said “There are no framebuilders in the South. I quickly spoke up and referenced Bishop Bikes out of Baltimore (yes, Bmore is the South). The guy quickly said something along the lines of “track bikes don’t count”. Ouch! Well, this goes to show that Bishop can really craft some beautiful bikes, including Tourers. Here’s a shot from a recently completed Tourer / Commuter for a customer. I love fastback seatclamps. Check out the rest of the detail shots here.

Photo by S. Kelly

You just HAD to do it dude didn’t ya? Steppin up the tallbike game with the Trackolantern‘s wheelset. I wanna see a photoshoot with this thing ASAP!

Previously:
Cycling WMD’s Freakbike at the NAHBS
Trackolantern Friday the 13th
Trackolantern 2
Trackolantern