The Radavist

Let me give you a background real quick: Oh my oh my. I’ve never had the opportunity to photograph an English before, so when I saw this one sitting in the ENVE booth, I had to snatch it up while I could. Let me tell you, getting this bike to stay put while I was setting it up in my photo studio was nerve-wracking. This bike was so well balanced that I couldn’t get it to sit still.

Anyway, onto the bike. English‘s bikes are some of the most beautiful machines to grace the halls of NAHBS each year and this one is no exception. With a clean ombré paint job, flat mount disc rear end, ENVE wheels, SRAM RED eTap and an elegant internal routing port at the head tube, this bike turned heads and sparked conversations as I wheeled it back to my studio.

Bravo, English on making my absolute favorite road bike of the show so far!

Chris King‘s in-house bike production label Cielo has really grown over the years, branching out from sportif road bikes to cross racing bikes and now, the Base Racer gravel machine. We took a look at this model late last year in Portland, when it was dubbed the “Stereo.” After some in-house tweaking, Cielo decided on Base Racer. The name wasn’t the only thing to change. The head tube got shorter across the six sizes and the chainstays were lengthened.

Look closely though, because this one sports the new olive drab Chris King 40th components, as well as the T47 bottom bracket standard. Also, check out the annodized Spurcycle bell ringer! So what’s my consensus? I gotta get my hands on that 40th group!

Ordering the 40th anniversary components will commence later this spring, so stay tuned to Chris King.

Over the years, NAHBS has become the launching platform for companies to release new products, utilizing custom frames as the backdrop. One of those new projects are the WTB Road Plus wheels and tires, finding themselves on this Hunter Cycles Disc All Road.

The concept is simple. Generally speaking, a 47mm 650b wheel has the diameter as 700 x 30mm tire. The tire they’re using for this system is the new Horizon Road Plus Tire. These new tires accompany WTB’s new 650b disc wheels.

Back to the bike. This Hunter Cycles really pops, with a wishbone rear, Shimano flat mount disc mount design and that elegant fork crown. The build is topped off with Praxis cranks and Sim Works cockpit. Enjou!

NAHBS is here and already on setup day, it’s evident what bike has dominated the show: the 27.5+ hardtail. While this bike isn’t currently built as one, it can be. Thanks to a new project… Sean from Soulcraft, Cameron from Falconer and a machine shop called E13 have developed a yoke that gives ample clearance for a 27.5+ tire, while still accommodating various crank setups. While you can run a frame such as this as a dedicated 27.5+ bike, Sean wanted people to be able to throw their 29r wheels on it as well.

This detail, along with a stealth dropper, curved seat tube, slack n low geometry provide more than enough opportunities for a highly shredable bike.

Oh and those White Industries cranks… More on those later!

Those of you who are Neil Young fans might have picked up on an underlying theme with the names No22 chooses for their bikes. In 1981, Young released Re-Ac-Tor an album that married his traditional sound with new wave synth. Much like the album itself, the No22 Reactor marries two very different materials in an overall package that is sure to deliver on both aesthetics and performance.

The frame itself is mostly titanium, with a carbon seat tube. The seat tube cluster is sleeved and the ISP utilizes a titanium seatmast topper, resulting in a light and stiff bike. How light? 13.1 lbs as shown with the Fabric ALM saddle, Hollowgram cranks, Reynolds RZR 46 SLG wheels.

The Reactor is available as a frame for $3,999 including the seatmast topper and hardware. Read more at No22…

Velocity Dually rims have been helping builders get a little plumper in the realm of rigid mountain bikes. One such builder is Curtis Inglis from Retrotec, who took advantage of the Dually platform with this rather gargantuan 29+ MTB.

Large frames tend to be on the gaudy side, but the Panaracer FatBNimble tires and seemingly-balanced proportions give this bike a rather pleasant stance. You almost don’t notice the gigantic head tube and massive standover.

If there is any pump worthy of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, it’s the Silca Superpista Ultimate Floor Pump. These puppies are hardly your standard-issue shop pump. For starters, they’re machined in Indianapolis, Indiana, using the highest quality materials including race car engine hosing. Silca then dumped the standard issue +/-5% industrial gauge for a +/-1% laboratory grade gauge that reads from 0-160 psi. There’s also a stainless chuck and a magnetic bed, keeping it in place when not in use. All this with a rosewood handle and weighing in at 7lbs.

Anyway, back to NAHBS and Silca’s presence there. New for 2015, Silca is offering their pumps at a paint-grade finish, along with various gauge and hose colors, allowing for customization. What you’re seeing here are a few examples they had on deck with them at NAHBS. From a Pegoretti-painted (center) to a classic Martini racing Silca (right) and even half of a his/hers pairing (right), you can see the options are endless.

I felt like giving these unique pumps a treatment on par with the unique bicycles I shot at NAHBS. Contact Silca for more information and I can’t wait to see what people come up with.

Long travel, hardtail 27.5 hardtails are by no means new to the world of mountain biking, or NAHBS for that matter. With brands like Chromag, Engin and Breadwinner swearing by this platform, it’s easy to see how their popularity is increasing.

Matter Cycles is a Colorado builder who makes tig welded bikes to get rad on. Collin builds bikes using mostly True Temper tubing, with a few bits of Columbus in the mix. The SlayRide is a 140mm to 150mm travel 27.5 hardtail with internal routing for a dropper, thru-axles and can be built for custom-sizing. I love the yoke, personally.

Head over to Matter Cycles to see their other offerings, if this bike is too rowdy for your taste…

Moots have been making moves over the past year to redefine some of their lineup. Their Psychlo X got an overhaul and inspired the Routt, which then spawned the Routt 45 and while that might be exactly what you want, or need, they also offer custom designs.

This all-road is one of those custom designs and it features one hell of a build kit. That super tricked out ENVE GRD fork made its first appearance on this bike, as well as those new 12mm thru-axle King hubs (more to come on those). One other detail worth noting is the prototype ENVE seat post, with a double clamp mechanism – a vast improvement over the current design.

Overall, this was my favorite titanium bike at the show because it not only looks capable, it looks confident.

Shouts to Mike Cherney for making every. single. one. of those Moots head badges by hand!

You don’t often see track bikes like this at NAHBS. Fixed gears, sure. Street-track bikes, yeah, you bet. But a Czech national track star’s personal race machine? That’s a first for me. Repete Cycles brought this stealthy beast to NAHBS and it won me over.

AX Lightness bar, stem and post, along with Mavic Comete track wheels and an SRM system. This isn’t your typical track bike. Raced by Jan Kraus for Repete, the 21 year old Czech Team Representative has quite the number of accomplishments under his belt. Do they wear belts with skinsuits? See Jan’s track record at the Repete Cycles Facebook.

Casey Sussman from Mars Cycles‘ work has been featured here on the site before. Coincidentally, it was during last year’s NAHBS that I bumped into him on the street and shot his track bike. This year, he had a booth in the “rookie” hall and brought this icy cross bike.

With paint by Jordan Low, leather work by Mark Christian Bolick of Suture Saddles and a mix of Columbus tubing, including a stainless downtube with stainless blades, Casey’s work really stood out in the hall. Maybe that’s what landed him the People’s Choice award?

Now, I’ll admit that the Yo Eddy! 29’r had me pretty stoked but I was more drawn to the 27.5″ version. Not that the 29’r doesn’t look like a great bike, it was just missing something… Something signature and iconically Chris Chance.

Segmented forks made the older Yo Eddy! frames in my opinion and after seeing the rigid 27.5 version at NAHBS, I knew what was missing with the 29r. My rigid Indy Fab was modeled after the old Yo Eddy! frames and it’s long been my favorite MTB. It has an iconic look that feels very Somerville.

Personally, if I were to buy a new Yo Eddy! frame, I would spring for the rigid fork option. Just look at that damn bike! It’s a perfect balance of modern components with just the right amount of throwback style. The build kit rounds out functionality nicely with XTR, a dropper post, brand spankin’ new WTB carbon rims, White Industries hubs and those nice n plump WTB 2.25″ Trail Boss tires.

While the 29r could tackle my local trails with ease, this rigid would make things a lot more interesting. Then, when your wrists and back start hurting, throw a Rock Shox on it and jam on.

Like the big brother of this frame, this one’s a prototype. Custom drawn stays are on the way and the geometry might take a bit of tweaking. Hopefully, me and Mr Yo Eddy! can spend some quality trail time together soon. Keep up to date on all things at Fat Chance Bicycles.

For Mosaic Cycles, they don’t grind gravel, they just go on road rides. Roads that are mostly dirt, so when Aaron decided to make a bike for ‘all-road’ conditions, he didn’t have to change much, aside from tire clearances. He did however add a few braze-ons for versatility reasons. Fender and light rack mounts are the most obvious additions. This particular frameset includes the new Ethic Industries fork. The GS1 is offered both as a steel bike, built from True Temper S3 tubing, or a titanium frame, with a geometry slightly tweaked for off-road or all-road riding.

The GS1 is designed to ride better on those long days in the saddle on dirt. This is one bike that has intrigued me and I’ll be able to actually ride it in the near future as part of a long-term review. Stay tuned…

If you’re intrigued, holler at Mosaic, where they’ll be more than happy to answer your questions or build you a bike of your own.

Sean “Burnsey” Burns builds Oddity Cycles in Fort Collins, CO. He’s an architect, an artist and a furniture designer. His bikes, along with the likes of Black Sheep Bikes, stand out from a lot of traditional lines found in the MTB world. Coincidentally, Sean used a Black Sheep fork and bars on his personal 29+ rigid MTB. The word rigid here is italicized because it’s anything but that. Even with a high volume, low-pressure tire, you can still pick up on the bike flex from the lines and fork. It gives in just the right amount, in the right places.

A few wheelies, hops and manuals post-photo shoot had me digging what Sean has created here: a highly shredable piece of art. Please note that this is Sean’s personal bike, it has dings, dirt and yeah, crochet cozies in it with empty beer cans. I didn’t remove them intentionally. Bikes like this at NAHBS are highly successful tools in showcasing a brand’s intent and I respect that.

This bike is a wedding gift for a woman named Sarah from her husband Josh, who coincidentally bought a Shamrock cross a few years back. Sarah and Josh met at a cross race, and there were exactly 585 days from the time they met, until the day they got married.

Individually painted paper airplanes each represent a day and you guessed it, there are 585 of them on the bike. Sarah wanted a bike that was a race machine during the season and a commuter the rest of the year. Throw some race wheels, swap out a few parts and you’ve got a bike ready for mud.

One of the best new products I saw at NAHBS this year were these Enduro Bearings 24mm outboard pista cranks. You might ask why these somewhat simple looking cranks would have piqued my interest and guys like Trackosaurus Rex so much and the answer is easy: why not!?

Made in the USA, with 144bcd chainrings in the works as well, these outboard bearings and cranks will retail for approximately $800. Guess what? Road cranks are on the way! What’s old is new again, just way, way better.

In the meanwhile, follow Enduro Bearings‘ Facebook.