The Radavist

The Atavistic Urge from Sara Kinney on Vimeo.

The Atavistic Urge is the first in a series of profiles on local talent. I teamed up with Sara Kinney and headed out to Bushwick to catch up with Johnny Coast and Seth Rosko. After two days of watching them work, photographing their workspace and interviewing the two, we came up with an in-depth look into their art: custom bicycle frames.

The tig-welder and the brazer; Coast and Rosko work closely together in their small workshop down a dead end street in Bushwick. The one thing that brings them together is the Atavistic Urge.

Check out more photos below!

Last night was NYC Velo‘s ( @NYCVelo ) PreSpoke event. Uptown, a few miles away at the Museum of Art and Design, the opening reception to Bespoke had just finished. The crowds of people who were ‘in the know’ made it down to NYC Velo to look at some of the featured framebuilder’s previous works.

Check out more photos and a full review below.

Velo Cult‘s one of those shops. You know the kind. The shops with oodles of vintage cycles, from all eras, just hanging around. They’re into fixed gears and touring too (oh my!); one of those shops that hits on everything cycling related and supports the communities by documenting each with beautiful photographs on their blog. They just get it. Even their branding and website is spot-fucking-on.

Case in point; their wool jerseys. I’ve posted about them before and I’ve finally got my hands on one.

Check out more below.

Tom Mosher on dual 26″ / Photo via Richmond Fixed

With all the rapid changes going on in the fixed freestyle world over the past year, you’ve got to ask yourself, “when will the bikes stop evolving?”. First it was the forks. Everyone was snapping their steel forks. People upgraded to either a Brooklyn Machine Works Gangsta Track fork or a rigid 26″ unicrown. Shortly after, new framesets were designed specifically for fixed freestyle. Then came the bigger tires. A year ago, 35c was considered big and people argued relentlessly on Trick Track that bigger tires slowed them down. Now everyone’s on at least 38c tires and some have gone up to 50c.

A few weeks ago, a thread started on Trick Track that addressed what everyone’s been wondering for months; why not 26″?

There’s more below.

At first when Jeremy and I were discussing the history and controversy over Eddy Merckx’s hour record bike I wanted to make a post that took a stab at laying out the facts. Then I realized how massive a feat this would be. There were guys who spent their entire adulthood painstakingly researching the subject and studying every subtle nuance in historical records. Was I even close to achieving a level of documentation worthy of even citing their work? Sure. Why not. So here we go, a very special Merckx Mondays.

Freeman Transport‘s got a new project on the horizon. Entitled the Gravel Racer, this single speed touring bike comes in two models, the basic and the delux. The patinae on the fork is amazing. It looks like copper, but they used gun bluing and ferric browns to achieve the same rich coloration.

You can also purchase the waxed canvas and leather saddle bag for $75 from Freeman directly.

Text via Freeman Transport:

Nathaniel’s great-great-grandfather was an inventor during the Industrial Revolution. His contributions include many but perhaps his most controversial – the sites for the Colt .45.
In his honor we’ve built a bicycle with a finish similar to that gun, richly patinaed with gun bluing and ferric browns, sealed with tree wax and ready to age. It comes with or without couplings, stainless steel lugged rack, chain guard and fenders, and can be built fixed or coaster braked and is perfect for commuting or general transport.

Head over to Arkitip to see more shots of this beauty.

If you’re free from June 25th through August 21st, love touring and are aching to ride from NYC to LA, then this is for you! The Bicycle Film Festival and 42 Below Vodka are seeking 42 cyclists to do just that!

Oh yeah, read the fine print at the bottom… Getting paid to ride your bike for two months. Sounds awesome.