The Radavist

In the world of track crits, like Red Hook Crit and this weekend’s Wolf Pack Hustle’s Civic Center Crit, racers quickly realize that a standard track bike might have its limitations.

Let’s look at what a track bike is designed for: all left turns on a banked velodrome, with walls around 45º steep for a 250m track.

These crits however are completely different. For starters, the amount of people racing is almost three times what a miss-n-out or win-in-out would have competing. There are both right and left turns, yet no banked walls. In road criterium racing, you can coast through the corners and rail all the turns. With a track bike you need to pedal all the time.

That’s where Marc’s one-off comes into play. He and Andrew from Low Bicycles discussed options for a bike that was bred from the conditions of track crits. How is it different? Well, in all things related to bike design, a few millimeters here or there can make a huge difference. The bottom bracket is higher, to make for more crank clearance in the turns and the wheelbase is a bit longer to make it easier to hit those turns at speed.

So far Marc has raced three or four crits on it, as well as taking it to Hellyer, the local track to race.

Me, I just think it’s a beautiful fucking machine. Made in San Francisco by Andrew Low, fitted with Ritchey parts and with PAUL wheels made by Fresh Air Bicycles.

While we took a look at my own touring bike yesterday, I will say this with confidence: had I ridden the Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer prior to ordering my Woodville two years ago, I would have drastically changed my views on 650b, disc brakes and trail.

The National Forest Explorer is a low-trail, 650b bike with disc brakes and a decent, not copious amount of tire clearance. These NFE’s are made by Glen Copus in Spokane, WA and pack quite the wallop of versatility in a beautiful, forest service green package. They’re made from lightweight steel for just the amount of liveliness.

Slack and low, with bigger tire clearances this time. That’s the main difference between this bike and its predecessor. As noted in the previous bike’s gallery, the first version of this bike wasn’t what I wanted. Luckily, Seth Rosko is a good friend of mine and a very capable frame builder. He’s also human and humans make mistakes. What makes a human a great human and a great framebuilder is their ability to rectify those mistakes.

We had a miscommunication, and there was a fabrication error that resulted in a frame with clearance for 2.0 29’r tire in the rear. It’s something that happens from time to time. Framebuilders make mistakes. Chainring clearances, missing or incorrect cable stops, off-square rear triangles. You’re getting a functional piece of art and art has character. Right? Maybe not so much. It needs to function, above all.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s move onto what I’m calling my “Agave Slapper” hardtail. This version clears a 2.4 Ardent on the rear, has a 69º head tube angle, a mid-range BB drop and an option for a 2x or 3x front ring. It’s easy to get it low through corners and in Texas, that means the occasional run in with the blue agave plant, where its color was inspired.

Kenjitsu’s 2015 Cinelli MASH Parallax

Words by Morgan Taylor and photos by Stefan Feldmann

Some builds come together quickly, while others are more of a slow roast. This one falls into the latter category: a collection of carefully matched parts coming together over a few months. The wait was worth it, though, and Kenjitsu’s (known as 21 Ninjas on Instagram) Parallax project has finally come to fruition with everything in its place.

The simplicity of track bikes is no doubt what led many of us down the road of parts upgrades, but Kenjitsu’s bike goes beyond simply matching colors for the sake of it. The Campy Record Pista crankset and Izumi chain are classic track bling, but this build is firmly situated in the modern era with the Cadence x Ritchey C260 stem, Cinelli NEOS carbon bar and post, and MASH x San Marco Concor rounding out the contact points.

However, it’s the wheels that stand out here. The purple Phil Wood Tsunami Relief hubs – set #02 of five – feature artwork by Wakako from Blue Lug laser engraved by Grayson Yokota. The 90mm flanges are laced to H Plus Son Archetype 32 hole rims via Sapim CX-Ray bladed spokes, making for a truly drool-worthy wheelset.

Kenjitsu capped off the build with a purple Radavist top cap and a pair of NOS Time ATAC World Champion Carbon MTB pedals. Look for Kenjitsu and the Parallax on the streets of Vancouver this spring!

Rider: Kenjitsu
Build credit: Matt Braun / Skyland Cycles

Full build spec:

2015 Charcoal Cinelli MASH Parallax 54cm
H Plus Son 32h Archetype
Sapim CX-Ray bladed spokes
Continental Grand Prix 4 Season 23mm
Phil Wood & Co. purple anodized Limited Edition Tsunami Relief 90mm Track Hub Set #02/05
Phil Wood & Co. Track Cog 15t
Campagnolo Record Pista Track Crankset 49t
Campagnolo Record Pista cartridge BB
Izumi Track Chain
NOS Time ATAC World Champion Carbon MTB Pedals
Cinelli NEOS Carbon Seat Post
Selle San Marco MASH Concor Saddle
Ritchey x Cadence Airflow C260 Stem
Cinelli NEOS Carbon drop bars
Radavist purple anodized top cap

____

Entry Level Fun on the State Thunderbird ‘Cross
Words by Andre Chelliah, Photos by John Watson

I see it all the time at the bike shop I work at. A young, college-aged kid comes into the store and strolls the aisles. They take in the smells, sights, and sounds of cycling. They have just seen the newest Svenness video and are ready and stoked to dip their toes into the timeless obsession that is bike racing. Then, they flip over a price tag and that excitement quickly turns into a nearly impossible math problem- how can I afford to pay for school as well as buy a quality bike to race on? This sentiment resonates strongly with me.

Being a student at The University of Texas and racing bikes on the weekends, there are times when I have to pick between textbooks and race fees. In an area where collegiate teams are not extremely supported or competitive in disciplines other than road racing, the best thing to do is pay your own way through the cross or track season. When Mehdi from State Bicycle Co asked me to shred on The Thunderbird, their $1000 singlespeed ‘cross bike, I was ecstatic to have time with a bike that could be a buy for new racers looking for something with quality, style, and affordability.

To quote Tom Petty, “the waiting is the hardest part” and waiting for a custom frame isn’t easy by any means. Plenty of frame builders are so busy that their queue is up to over a year out. For Santa Barbara’s Stinner Frameworks, things have been slammed. New clients and a warm winter has kicked his queue into overdrive. Although, that’s not the only reason Aaron is busy. His bikes ain’t bad either!

David placed an order for a straight forward road bike 9 months ago and just picked it up. Since then, Aaron has hired extra help and reduced wait considerably.

I met David today and talked to him about his new bike a bit. Consensus: nothing but stoke! With Stinner’s Select Tubing, the bike will perform out in the hills surrounding the Pedalers Fork in Calabasas, where these photos were taken. David’s component choice round out the crazy sparkle olive paint: Force 22 and ENVE rims, matched with Thomson bits and Ritchey bars.

Ride safe, David!

No 22 Bicycles grew from a longstanding framebuilding tradition in Upstate New York. By keeping production of their frames Stateside, they’re able to tweak geometries easily and even develop new models. Their latest addition to the No 22 family is the Broken Arrow disc cyclocross bike.

Developed with the help of Wilis Johnson of Deluxe Cycles, the Broken Arrow was designed to be a racing frame, but as we all know, a cross bike’s versatility is quickly realized as the season comes to a close.

Wilis raced ‘Cross Nats on this bike, as well as shredded trails while he was in town. The subtle branding and black componentry really give this bike a beautiful silhouette and I can’t think of a more appropriate bike for that Cadence x Ritchey stem. Photographing titanium outdoors can be difficult, especially on an overcast day, but these photos came out great. Those who raced Crash Nationals will recognize the bamboo tunnel…

Sky at Velo Cult has the full scoop on how this bike came to be, but I’ll do my best at paraphrasing.

Back in 1988, Chris Kostman was in the throes of the Race Across America, when his mechanics stopped at a little shop called Sore Saddle Cyclery in Steamboat Springs, CO. Inside, there was a frame builder named Kent Eriksen who spent his time crafting Moots bicycles.

Later, Eriksen made Kostman this 1989 Moots Zerkel – originally in a zebra stripe paint, which Chris didn’t like, so he recoated it in a crazy “rasta” paint job. It was built for Chris to race Iditabike and later, to take a crack at the first-ever 24 Hour Mountain Bike World Record.

Built with full Ritchey Logic components and American Classic hubs, it’s like a specimen from an almost forgotten age. The double fork ends, “gator jaw” gussets, custom stem and insane chainstays make this a truly unique shred sled. Look, this thing is insane and if you’re into the full, in-depth story, you should head to Velo Cult to read it all!

I went over the top documenting this one…

Steel Wül is a club in Santa Cruz, founded by Jake Hess, a local fire chief. He started the club to give people a super chill platform to explore the many roads in the area. I got to ride with Jake during the Giro #SantaCruzEffect event and his Caletti steel road bike looked so damn good the whole time.

Some of my favorite details are the custom-painted Ritchey stem, his family’s names on the stem cap, his battalion number on the NDS top tube, Steel Wül branding and the paint. When we rolled out of the Giro offices, the morning light made the frame just pop.

Granted, it looked even better after descending down that gnar gnar gravel on Gazos Creek…

When I first saw Festka at NAHBS last year, their High Voltage track bike caught my eye. How could you miss it? It’s been a busy year for the Czech-based frame builders, as they began to ramp up fabrication and finally, their international presence. It just so happens that a local shop here in Austin is the official importer of the brand. Cycleast is beyond stoked to be working with Festka and already, they’re receiving orders.

Take Andrew’s Zero carbon road bike for example. With a bright blue custom paintjob and a build comprised of Fizik, SRAM Red, Ritchey and Rolf wheels, this Czech-born machine is rolling thanks to Russell and his staff right here in Austin. Coincidentally, this is the first Festka in the United States.

Interested in one of these beauts for yourself? Holler at Cycleast and Czech out more details in the gallery!

This bike has been in the works for a while now and I’m not talking about the weeks the frame sat in the box while I accumulated the parts. I’m talking about since I first saw one in person, at Post Bikes in Brooklyn. The original Sword wasn’t what I would consider a true track geometry. It was more of a fixed cruiser, marketed not only at the kids wanting a street bike to thrash, but also to the older BMXrs who wanted a quicker way around town.

Steve and John Paul began working on the Sword SQ. They talked to various people in the “industry”, including Josh “Big Red” Hayes and Kyle Kelley, who worked on the Sword’s geometry, making it what it is today. This Sword SQ represents a lot of things to me. Mostly, a company, who in the wake of Taiwanese fabrication, still make their bikes in America, for an affordable price and have never taken a penny from an outside investor.

While I’ve already got a kick-ass track bike, this Sword will go through many variations. I’m already planning on putting a Cetma on it to carry my photo bag in the summer and will probably throw risers on it at some point to encourage some throwback FGFS. It’s a little small, compared to what I’m used to riding, so the saddle to bar drop is much more race-fit than my Icarus. I’ve dialed in the fit now and it looks a lot more reasonable than the first Instagram photo I posted.

I tried to use as many American companies as possible. Profile Fix / Fix hubs laced to H+Son Archetype rims (fucking love these rims!) and a 18t Phil Wood SLR cog. Thomson stem, post, 1960’s Unicanitor Saddle, Ritchey Classic Curve bars and Newbaum’s tape. I was tempted to buy a set of the Phil Wood cranks, but went with the tried and true SRAM Omniums with an extremely rare, purple 44RN 144#47 ring. My White Industries pedals got a new life and the Toshi single straps are just right. Finally, a black KMC Cool Chain and 28c Continental Gatorskins finish off the build, with a 3/4″ mini Viking decal on the stem.

I’m very happy with this bike and it’s been nice to ride a track bike around, since my Icarus’ fork has been at the painter’s for a few weeks.

Many thanks to FBM for this beast and I can assure you, this won’t be the last time you see it here on the site!