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We already saw the New Craft: 5 Continents 5 Frames show announcement last week, and now to promote this Wednesday’s (June 29th) event, Columbus just sent over a preview with photos of these unique frames. See the press release and full gallery below!
Building on the momentum of last fall’s Vancouver Frame Builders Show, Mathew Braun of Skyland Cycles is bringing the Vancouver cycling community together yet again. From morning group rides to the frame builder expo and a custom bike show and shine, it goes down all day Saturday, June 25th. Head over to Cycle Woodwards for all the details!
A Stelbel Nina All-Road Bike for South Africa
Photos by Tino Pohlmann, cover photo by Stan Engelbrecht and words by John Watson
After yesterday’s gallery, I received a number of emails requesting more photos of this bike!
Within yesterday’s epic gallery by Stan Engelbrecht, you might have spotted this blue beauty, albeit covered in a bit of dirt, dust, mud and Apidura bikepacking bags. This Stelbel Nina is something special. Made in Italy from one of the oldest tig welding builders in the world, the Nina is at home on the ‘cross course with 33mm tires as much as it is in the backcountry, rolling on 40mm rubber and unlike many of the frames on the market today, this one comes from a legacy.
Stelbel has arguably brought more to the tig-welding alignment table than anyone else. When Stelio Belletti first founded the company in 1973, there weren’t a lot of builders out there experimenting with tig welding and not just with bicycle frames. Belletti was responsible for improving the chassis for the Grand Prix monster machine, the Honda 500 GP as well as a fuselage for the P19 Scricciolo, a small plane and the vehicle of choice for the Aero Club d’Italia. This knowledge spilled over onto the Stelbel name and to this day, the workshop is creating impeccable examples of tig-welded steel. See more of this beaut in the gallery and for more information on the Nina, head to Stelbel!
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The Breadwinner Goodwater in Big Country
Photos and words by Gabe Tiller
Some friends and I had been scheming and dreaming up our Oregon Big Country route for an entire year, and this spring right as we were finalizing details Breadwinner Cycles launched their new Goodwater 27.5+ trail bike. I’ve known Tony since he moved to Portland from Salt Lake and watch him build bike after bike, each more lustworthy than the last. And they’ve pulled home award after award from NAHBS and the Oregon Manifest too. His meticulous craft building bicycles has become impeccably tuned, and the few times I’ve had the opportunity to ride bikes with him he’s whooped me soundly on the trail as well.
A few years ago when Surly launched their plus platform I took my first ride on the Krampus and instantly knew mountain bikes would be forever changed. Wider rims, more volume, and less pressure allowed me to clean technical lines I’d never come close to before. Rim, tire, and tubeless technology had brought high volume and large contact patches to the table without the weighing anywhere near as much as the motocross wheels they looked like. I was sold and thrashed my Krampus for a year before upgrading to a Ti Gnarvester. And now I really wanted to steal away on Tony’s fat-tired trail bike for our eight-day overland adventure through Oregon’s Big Country. Surprisingly when I asked, he agreed: “Sure, and ride it like I would—hard.”
He and Ira are often heard saying “We build the bikes we ride” and it shows in the Goodwater. Tony spends a fair amount of our rainy winter sessioning The Lumberyard and while the Goodwater is designed for an entirely different riding environment, he has maintained that nimble playfulness that make park bikes so fun. Giddily riding it home I could feel it begging to be flicked up curb banks and manualed through puddles. It’s got the shortest rear end (440mm) of any plus bikes I’ve ridden, and paired with the Fox Float 34 it cruises over rough terrain and still easily wheelies through desert stream crossings. At least the ones not filled with axle deep mud.
With internal routing, Shimano’s XTR Di2 1×11 drivetrain, Enve HV hoops, and a Thompson dropper it’s an incredibly clean build. It loaded up super well with my Porcelain Rocket Mr Fusion dropper hack, a Revelate framebag, and Limberlost’s DIY Handlebar Roll. It tackled the steep climbs and rocky descents over the Steens with ease, and the 2.8″ Schwalbe Nobby Nics held up well being pushed hard in loose corners or slogging through the Big Sand Gap on our way to Willow Hot Springs.
My only regret is that I didn’t get the chance to drop all the bags and really let this shreddy trail bike shine on some local singletrack before wearily giving Tony back his baby. I’m excited to see so many mountain bike builders embracing fatter tires, and Breadwinner is pushing the momentum of this movement with their Goodwater.
Follow along with the rest of our adventures at Limberlost.co.
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Follow Gabe and the Limberlost crew on Instagram and check out Breadwinner’s Instagram!
Visiting countries like Japan, you’re always drawn to hyper-modern cities like Tokyo, or classic, traditional places like Kyoto. While I’ve spent a lot of time here, I’d never spent much time in the countryside, much less the wilderness. I’ve always used a bicycle to explore an urban area. When Circles brought handful of US framebuilders and myself over to Nagoya for the Gourmet Century Asuke, they asked us to bring our own bikes. Not just to display at the Personal Bike Show, but to embark on a week-long bicycle tour with. This influenced what everyone brought greatly and ultimately, was a true test of each builder’s philosophy on touring.
For the past week, I’ve been on the road with Circles and a couple of US-framebuilders on a whirlwind tour around Mt. Fuji and the island of Oshima, home to an active volcano. It’s been wild and next week, I’ll be able to share the photos with you from all five days of our tour, as well as a few bicycles that were ridden on the road. For now, head to @TheRadavist on Instagram to see a few selects…
With the Gourmet Century Japan being hosted by Circles, the team at this great bike shop in Nagoya wanted to do something special for their visitors. The Personal Bike Show was a way to introduce the community in Nagoya to various framebuilders and individuals, all of which have found their way to town for the ride… Many of which were visiting Japan for the first time.
The format was simple. Each guest would display their bike they brought for the Gourmet Century, alongside two local builders. After finger foods by Chris DiMinno and plenty of booze, each personality took to the stage to answer a few questions, provided by the Circles team. Things like “what was the scariest moment on the bike?” and “What do you think of Curtis Inglis?”
The evening culminated with Shinya from Circles and Chris King expanding on their opinions about why cycling is so important to a community’s health and growth. It was one of those evenings that left you excited to be a part of a global community of cyclists.
Over the next few days, I’ll be featuring some of the frames that were displayed, along with other scenes from Nagoya and beyond! If you’re going to the Gourmet Century this weekend, I’ll see ya there!
Dobbat’s is one of the local Japanese builders who displayed their handywork at the Circles Japan Personal Bike Show. While this small builder might not be known in the Western world, he’s been building bicycle frames since the late 80’s and man, let me tell you, his experience shows. This Succeed fillet road has some of the cleanest lines I’ve seen. Everything just lines up elegantly and nothing feels forced. Not even that fastback seat stay cluster, with its top cut precisely along the seat stay line. While the seat cluster initially caught my eye, it was the stem that really made me appreciate his work. It’s like a delicate flower petal embracing the bar like some wild orchid. I couldn’t get enough of it!
Check out more DIY framebuilding goodness at the Dobbat’s blog and wait til you see his other bike!
I’m in Nagoya, Japan visiting Circles, a local bike shop and quintessential bicycle mecca. I’ll dive into that more in the near future, but for now, I wanted to feature this unique bike…
California framebuilders have found a home at Circles. In turn, lot of the family, friends and community surrounding the shop have found California framebuilders. DeSalvo, Sycip, Retrotec, Hunter and Black Cat frames hang from the rafters and line the bike racks outside the shop. One of which being Keita’s Black Cat disc road. Keita runs Early Birds, the breakfast cafe attached to Circles and it was the first bike of the day that really caught my eye due to its loud, reptilian-inspired paint job.
There’s something very Weedian-inspired about this frame with its hand-painted scales and color blocking. Todd paints each frame he builds with unique patterns and designs, leaving the owner more than enough inspiration to decide how to kit their bikes out. With this paint job, Keita upped the ante with a painted Sim Works stem and green King bits.
As I said, this is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of Circles coverage… so stay tuned!
Richard Sachs is one of the most unique frame builders of all time. His approach to everything from frame design to branding has withstood time in terms of relevance and his opinions of the cycling industry are always worth the read, ATMO. Being a maker, he is drawn to other makers inside this little world we’ve carved a niche in, resulting in a collaboration with New York’s Search and State. Available now are three items: a jersey and two t-shirts, both complete with SAS / Sachs branding.
Head to House Industries for more.
How is this the first I’m hearing of True Temper ceasing production on tubing?!
“True Temper stunned the North American custom bicycle frame building industry recently with the announcement it will discontinue bicycle tubing manufacture within the next 12 months. The May 9 announcement will have far reaching consequences for builders as well as the exclusive True Temper bicycle tubing supplier, Henry James, which had come to rely on the high quality US-manufactured tubing over the past 30 years.”
Read more at Hand Built Bicycle News.
Eroica Rolls to South African Soil
Words by Stan Engelbrecht and photos by Tyrone Bradey
When Giancarlo Brocci imagined what would become the now world famous L’Eroica vintage bicycle homage in 1997, he surely never thought that rubber would crunch on gravel all the way at the Southern tip of Africa, in honour of his humble concept. Giancarlo saw the first L’Eroica rides as a way to bring attention to, and thus encourage the preservation of, the beautiful ‘strade bianche’, or white marble gravel roads of the area around Gaiole in Tuscany. At the same time it was a way for him to honour and remind others of the perfect peak of the sport he loves so dearly – the heady, fiery days of Anquetil, Poulidor, Coppi, Bartali, Merckx…
No, this isn’t a espionage episode, it’s a look inside one of the world’s top titanium frame builders, located in Geelong, Australia. Above Category’s feature on Baum Cycles is worth the read and if you missed our own previous galleries, check those out on the left…
This sounds incredible!
“17 frame builders racing home hacked Klunkers over a rain & fire filled weekend in Somerset. The Hack Bike Derby is an annual event held over 2 days with a different type of bike and series of races proposed for each year. This year, the first year, the theme is klunkers; the original Mountain Bikes as raced from around 1976 in California, USA.”
See more details below. Anyone have photos of the bikes?
Bespoked brings us yet another UK framebuilder profile with Saffron Frameworks. I particularly like this series because it gives you an inside look into the minds of custom frame builders and when it comes to UK companies, I rarely get that glimpse.
Man oh man. I had no idea what to expect these past few days. I’ve always heard the Berliner Fahrradschau was a good time, and I’ve always loved Berlin. So when Ken from ENVE invited me on a two-part trip in Europe, including Barcelona and Berlin, I couldn’t say no. So, what is the Berliner Fahrradschau all about? Well, it’s part of Berlin Bike Week, 7 days of events, races, rides, ultimately culminating with a three day expo in Station-Berlin, an old train depot in a post-industrial neighborhood.
Ever since the first day of the Berliner Fahrradschau, I’ve wanted to photograph this Field Cycles road. Built for a customer in San Francisco, this bike just pops against the dreary Berlin weather and will undoubtably do the same in SF’s foggy environment. The owner wanted a zippy race-worthy machine with Dura Ace and ENVE, which is coincidentally why this bike is in Berlin to begin with. It’s on display at ENVE’s European builder booth, where builders from all over the EU were selected to showcase their talents.
Talent is exactly what Field possesses. This two-man team is nestled in the hills of Sheffield, a steel city with a long heritage of handcrafting beautiful works from metals of all sorts. Yet with every metal masterpiece, paint needs to accompany it, which is why Field uses their in-house painter, Cromaworks to design flashy, yet complimentary designs. While talking to Harry about Field’s bikes, he made a special point to note their custom dropouts and investment cast headbadges, two details he’s very proud of, coming from a metal fabrication background…
See more of this beauty in the Gallery!
Trade shows aren’t the easiest to digest, especially coming off of NAHBS, where I got to photograph the literal cream of the crop in terms of custom framebuilders. So when I was invited to attend the Berliner Fahrradschau, I had no idea what to expect. Well, that’s not entirely true. I knew a few things about the European market. First off, professional cycling pedigree. Racing made its roots in Europe. Infrastructure’s another huge plus. Cities were laid out, in the most part anyway, for the bicycle. A lot of the European brands reflect that in their offerings.
Back to that first point: pro cycling pedigree. While the US has a lot of builders who have supplied Olympic and professional athletes frames for various occasions, it’s hard to come close to Europe. Case in point: Jaegher.
