Made in Santa Fe: A Pair of Custom O’Leary Built Mountain Bikes with Evergreen Stitchworks Bags

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Made in Santa Fe: A Pair of Custom O’Leary Built Mountain Bikes with Evergreen Stitchworks Bags

I must say that I’m damn proud to live in New Mexico and I had no idea that such an awesome network of makers are blossoming here. We’ve looked at Moné’s operations down in Silver City, Baphomet Bicycles, checked in with Farewell Bags, looked at the framebag offerings from Buckhorn Bags, and today we’re featuring two local companies, starting with Evergreen Stitchworks and O’Leary Built Bikes, so let’s get to it.

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Gravel and Gratitude: Brooke Goudy

Salsa’s Gravel and Gratitude series continues, with Brooke Goudy starring in the latest video:

Cycling can take you on journeys, not all on the road or dirt. This summer, I will attempt to ride the entirety of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR). It’s a ride that claims not to be technically difficult, but a battle of endurance and the mind. My goal is to rekindle the joy of my childhood while reckoning with the emotions, hardships, and toils of being an adult. It will be a journey of the soul.

My bike has been taking me on adventures since I was kid. I’m flooded with memories of getting off the school bus, rushing through my homework, and getting on my bike. I would cruise the sidewalks of my neighborhood and find people to visit and places to explore.

Check out the video here and pop on over to Salsa to see the full piece.

The Esker Japhy Review: One Scrappy 29er Hardtail

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The Esker Japhy Review: One Scrappy 29er Hardtail

When one thinks of Esker Cycles, the Hayduke 27.5+ hardtail (reviewed here by Locke Hassett) quickly comes to mind – and in many ways, the Hayduke served as the launchpad for the design of Esker’s latest model, the Japhy.

While the Japhy looks like considerably “less bike” than the 140mm Hayduke with its 120mm fork and 29″ wheels, don’t count it out yet: the Japhy is scrappy and is willing to claw its way through just about anything!

Over the past few months I’ve been riding the Japhy all over our local trails here in Santa Fe and while at first I was hesitant about taking it out on some of the more technical terrain, I found it to be an exceptional climber and a surprisingly fun descender.

So, let’s get into it!

Bailey’s Rocky Mountain Hammer Basket Bike

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Bailey’s Rocky Mountain Hammer Basket Bike

The almighty basket bike. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Doesn’t need flashy components. Just build it out for practical uses… like wallrides!

Earlier this year, Bailey got the idea to convert this older Rocky Mountain Hammer frame into a basket bike. His intent with the bike was to have a no-nonsense, do-it-all beater that he could lock up anywhere and not worry about it. Yet, because it’s Bailey, there was a twist to this bike’s use…

Lama Packing the San Juan Mountains

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Lama Packing the San Juan Mountains

The latest story from Salsa is not to be missed:

“For years now, I have had an idea percolating in the deep recesses of my adventure mind. Living in the picturesque mountain town of Durango, Colorado, I am lucky to have access to one of the world’s most stunning mountain ranges, the San Juans. Encompassing more than 17,000 square miles, the range is a playground for all mountain enthusiasts. I have hiked, climbed, skied, kayaked, and biked much of the range. For most, an exploration of the range begins in the towns of Durango, Pagosa Springs, Telluride, Ouray, or Silverton. The scenic byways of 550 and 160 provide quick and easy access to high alpine lakes, trout streams, rocky summits, and deep gorges. Additionally, because of the bisection of the range from the Durango-Silverton railway and the presence of the famed Colorado Trail, a north-to-south (or vice versa) traverse of the area is common. Few ever think of crossing the range from the other cardinal points of east and west.”

Check out the full story at Salsa!

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Choosing to Live

Salsa‘s latest video follows Sarah Hornby, a rider in mourning for her late husband. She would attempt all 10 routes he created while researching his Bikepacking in the Canadian Rockies guidebook, in a single year. Like life, her plans changed along the way…

Bailey and His Custom Monē Bikes Singlespeed 29er Touring Bike

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Bailey and His Custom Monē Bikes Singlespeed 29er Touring Bike

A few years back in 2018, I shot Bailey’s Salsa Woodsmoke, just before he took off on the Tour Divide. The bike was dialed at the time, with all the kinks worked out and he pedaled it from Canada to Mexico. Now here we are, two years later, Bailey has a shop in Santa Fe called Sincere Cycles and one of the brands he carries is Monē Bikes, based out of Silver City. As soon as he opened his shop, he ordered a custom Monē to once again take on the Tour Divide.

Width Without the Waves: A Few Rides in on the 560mm Wide Crust x Nitto Shaka Bar

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Width Without the Waves: A Few Rides in on the 560mm Wide Crust x Nitto Shaka Bar

Crust Bikes gives the people what they want and that ranges from frames, to complete bikes, accessories, parts, and yeah, handlebars. Their small-time operation allows them to pivot easily to follow trends and in a lot of ways, set the trends themselves. With road bikes permuting into even more capable off-road machines, a lot of the ideologies of mountain bike design and technology have found its way onto drop-bar bicycles. Sure, the obvious moves are those shorter-travel suspension forks but something that not many people have touched on is bar width.

That’s where Crust Bikes and Ultra Romance have really influenced and inspired the question: what is the appropriate width for a drop-bar bicycle? We already looked at my Sklar with the Towel Rack Bars but after much demand – and my own curiosity – I decided to try out the Made in Japan by Nitto Shaka Bar.

Disconnecting with a SRAM AXS Equipped Moots Baxter

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Disconnecting with a SRAM AXS Equipped Moots Baxter

Let’s rewind a bit, back to the Steamboat Ramble Ride, where I rode this very frame, fully loaded from Steamboat Springs to Fort Collins along with a whole crew of people from all over the country. The whole time I was on the ride, I kept thinking about how much I love drop bar 29ers for tours like that. It’s the best of both worlds – drops for different riding positions and MTB gearing for slogging a loaded bike up mountain passes. In the back of my mind, I began playing out how I could use a bike like this for some of my more ambitious rides in the Death Valley or Inyo Mountains area. Then SRAM contacted me about working on a project with their new AXS components. Initially, their thoughts were to build a custom bike around the interchangeability of the eTap AXS road with the new Eagle AXS system and do a project with this new bike. The subject matter was entirely up to me. Meanwhile, my mind was still on the Moots Baxter and how it would be perfect for this loop I had scouted a year or so ago…

Spending New Years Sonoran Soaking in Tucson!

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Spending New Years Sonoran Soaking in Tucson!

The Holiday season is my favorite time of year. It gives me a chance to reconnect with friends, to travel, and to ride without feeling the need to take a camera with me each time. After a relaxing Christmas in Santa Fe, we headed South to the city of Tucson, where we spent five days Sonoran soaking! This gallery showcases a few of the places we rode and visited during our stay.

Small Package but Big Fun with the Santa Cruz 5010

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Small Package but Big Fun with the Santa Cruz 5010

In a world dominated by big hitters and in a lineup celebrated by names like the Bronson and Nomad, the 5010 is often overlooked as being a capable all-mountain trail bike. When it was first released, five years ago, the SOLO, as it was called, was marketed as the little-wheeled brother of the Tallboy, which many people regarded as an XC bike. There’s no denying the allure of the almighty enduro bike, which has largely dominated the mountain bike industry over the past many years.

There was always something about the 5010 that has been attractive to me but for whatever reason, I never got to throw my leg around one until we rode them here in the mountains of Los Angeles with a few of Santa Cruz’s employees. People have said the current 5010 is the best yet and since I have no benchmark for comparison, I’m going to have to agree.

So what changed? Other than the standard approach of lengthening, lowering, and slackening? Seriously, how many years can the “industry” state those three geometry adjustments as a reason for the upgrade and most importantly, your money?

Saddle Drive is the Best … Time for all – Jarrod Bunk

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Saddle Drive is the Best … Time for all – Jarrod Bunk

Saddle Drive Is The Best … Time For All
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

Saddle Drive is a dealers only event in which QBP invites bicycle retailers from all over the country to take part in what is usually two days of seminars, stoke, and shredding, yes there’s a whole bunch of product in there too, unfortunately, I can’t share much as most of it is under embargo. This year some forthcoming thunderstorms (PSYCH) condensed the shred/expo time to just one day. The morning before the demo, QBP held a women’s only ride and 97% of the attendees traversed some of the best forest-service roads near Seven Springs, PA .   Even with the condensed timetable, I was able to take some familiar bikes down some familiar terrain and even venture further off route.

Thanks to a little Google Earth logistics we were able to take some singletrack over the road to visit some cutty spots at the top, ALWAYS TAKE THE SINGLETRACK!  There were some rad new products including Ketl’s revamped women’s line, Teravail’s answer to the industry that the world needs more gumwalls!  (Twenty-nine X 2.6″  Kennebec PLEASE) and some revamped Whisky Rims just to name a few.  It was All City’s Tenth Anniversary and let me tell you that 10TH Anniversary Mr. Pink is wild in person! Finishing out the demo day I was able to shoot some of Salsa’s new line of bikes which will be featured here once the embargo is lifted, thanks to Lindsey Beltchenko, Salsa’s Marketing Manager. I wanted to cram every bit of time we could into the day and we dipped to a natural rock slide just outside of the resort and visited a cafe that had Kyle stoked the whole way back.  We made it back in time for All City’s 10TH Anniversary Party, here’s to 100 more, as a bonus check out Jeff’s rad Gorilla Monsoon.  Thanks to everyone at QBP who makes this event a success, and everyone who made this event a blast!  This was definitely a Saddle Drive to remember.

 

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Follow Jarrod on Instagram.  QBP on Instagram and All-City on Instagram

Inside / Out at Sycip Design in Santa Rosa, California

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Inside / Out at Sycip Design in Santa Rosa, California

Northern California has spawned many frame builders since the 1960’s, beginning in many ways with Albert Eisentraut, whose influence sparked a new wave of American frame builders. One of these apprentices is Jeremy Sycip, who learned under Eisentraut’s careful eye at UBI. Prior to that, however, Eisentraut had taught many other builders including; Bruce Gordon, Joe Breeze, Skip Hujsak, Mark Nobilette, and Bill Stevenson. The history of those individuals solidified the US frame building scene, and eventually paved the way for guys like Jeremy Sycip to go out on their own.