The Radavist

I love getting emails from Richard Sachs. Especially when it’s something like this. Dude is stoked on his new Sax Max lugs and I can see why!

“it was nearly 10 years ago that my Richie-Issimo lug sets came on to the market. it was my humble attempt at becoming my own supplier as well as a source for other effbuilders to tap for what was then a shrinking pool of raw material. since that time, i’ve done another 18 or so mold tools for cast lugs, fork crowns, b.b. shells, and braze-ons. this past autumn i decided to grow the original parts and make them available for OS2 frame dimensions atmo. i call the updated version Sax Max because – just because – and the first samples arrived yesterday. in typical OCD style, i took about 600 pictures of them before lunch today and, what with country livin’ n shit, it took four hours to load them on flickr. the gallery is at this link and i will prolly add some more still. but that won’t be until after i do a few smuttynose IPAs bro. i’ll paste in some images below for those who don’t wanna click over to the picture pages.

the short of it these are for 36mm head tubes, 34.9mm down tubes, and 31.8mm top and seat tubes. the complementary (that’s complement with an E…) 1 1/8″ fork crown is past the napkin stage and over in the solidworks cubicle à ce moment-ci.”

I wanna see that 1 1/8″ fork crown. Maybe I’ll use that on a forthcoming bike project! Check out more of these beautiful lugs at the ATMO Flickr.

Adam from Stanridge Speed Bicycles shot over his newest project, the Grey Flash. There’s quite the back-story behind this one and its little nuances make it one unique bicycle.

Check out the explanation and more photos below!

Chris Bishop in 35mm

One of my favorite framebuilders is Chris Bishop and this weekend, unlike previous events, I actually got to spend some time with Chris. While I really wanted to interview him while we sat at Whole Foods drinking a bottle of Tripel Karmeleit, I figured he was probably enjoying the afternoon and didn’t want to bother him with it. When we did chat, it was mostly about his years as a messenger (he actually still messengers in Bmore every day) and how much he loves to ride a track bike in Manhattan.

Columbus MS in 35mm

Then I came across this interview on Embrocation the other day and I was glad that someone caught Chris’ stories on tape. Here’s an excerpt:

“Chris clearly thinks that a track bike is the best for city riding. “Manhattan is great for a track bike; that’s traffic slalom all day long.” I have to agree that, especially in bad conditions like rain, snow, and ice, a fixed gear is much more communicative than a bike with a freewheel and brakes—“like driving a stick instead of an auto.” But what about the steep angles and incredibly narrow wheelbase? He described a method of changing a line in which he “pops” the entire bike from one course to another—it reminded me somewhat of the kind of thing one might do on a pump track. “

Man. Is he ever right! In fact, I’m going to go tear through Manhattan now on my Merckx Pista. Read the rest of Chris’ interview on Embrocation here. I added a few more photos from my Recent Roll to the NAHBS in 35mm Flickr set.

With the NAHBS approaching, a friend of mine cornered me at a party and told me what I needed to do to really cover the event. He suggested a team of people, all covering different aspects of the weekend. So I sat and thought about who could possibly help me out. That’s when I remembered my buddy Andrew Franciosa ( @Mastodon ) who runs Keep Albany Boring. I had set him up with my friend Ellen Stagg (NSFW) this summer to be her photo intern. We hung out a lot this summer and I got to know him pretty well.

So I hit him up and flew him down to help me cover the 2011 NAHBS. We each had a list of builders to cover and day by day, we documented them all. Without him, it would have been nearly impossible to shoot all these photos myself. It was a lot of work but also a lot of play.

After the NAHBS, we went out on a ride. To show him a little bit of Austin’s hills, I took him and Chris Bishop up this starter hill to my daily ride. When we got to the top, I shot photos of Andrew’s Brooklyn Machine Works Gangsta Track.

Check out more photos below!

Erik Noren from Peacock Groove is one of my favorite framebuilders. He’s all about having bikes that are fun and full of character and this is a huge by-product of Erik’s personality. I enjoyed hanging with him and shooting his beautifully unique bicycles during the 2011 NAHBS, especially his own Columbus MAX road bike.

Check out more photos and a slideshow from my coverage of the 2011 NAHBS Peacock Groove booth below.

Anderson Custom Bicycles was one of my favorite builders at the NAHBS. While stainless seems like too much of a luxury item for me, I could see myself one day riding one. The reason I liked Anderson’s bikes so much was the story behind this Reynolds 953 road bike.

Check out more photos and a slideshow from my coverage of the 2011 NAHBS Anderson Custom Bicycles booth below.

Chris Bishop has completely murdered the competition in the 2011 NAHBS. His track, road and rando bikes stand out from many other builders and once again, I did my best to document his lovely bicycles.

Check out more photos of Bishop Bikes’s 2011 NAHBS offerings below!

Today I snuck into the 2011 NAHBS to grab a few teaser from everybody’s favorite builders. First up is Chris Bishop from Bishop Bikes. Chris’ work is covered here extensively and he’s one of my favorite builders in the US. I love Bishop and his bikes at the 2011 NAHBS are ridiculous!

Check out a Teaser of Bishop Bike’s 2011 NAHBS offerings below!

Just because Portland framebuilders have forgotten about the track bike, doesn’t mean it needs saving. Chris Bishop‘s work is hands down, some of the nicest work to come out of the States in recent years. I know I jock him all the time but damn, this guy has the entire package down to an art!

I cannot wait to see what Bishop is bringing to the 2011 NAHBS. Check out some more photos of Montagne’s stainless track bike below!

Tyler Evans from the “old” IF shot me this press release announcing the birth of Firefly Bicycles and all I can say is that I’m stoked for him and Jamie for building their dream company out of the shift in ownership of IF. Check out the press release:

“Tyler Evans and Jamie Medeiros Declare Independence, Launch New Handmade Bike Company.

Boston,MA– February 16, 2011 — Firefly Bicycles is now crafting custom bicycle frames out of their 2000 square-foot shop in Boston, Massachusetts. The company’s founders, Tyler Evans and Jamie Medeiros, have designed, built and fit high-end Ti, steel, stainless steel and carbon frames for a combined 30-plus years at some of the world’s most revered names in handmade frames.

“We’re taking everything that was great about where we came from, where we’ve been, our history together, our deep roots in the international cycling community, our collective skills, and we’re using that as a starting point,” indicated Jamie Medeiros, Firefly Bicycles’ Director of R&D. “The fundamentals of making great bike frames haven’t changed dramatically, but there is so much room for improvement in attention to detail, dialing in ride quality, finish quality, customer service and making bikes that are truly unique to each rider.”

Firefly Bicycles‘ press release is continued below.

Framebuilders take note. This is some Weigle shit right here:

“I was going to do a fillet stem originally then Brett sent me a pic of a Rene Herse stem and asked if I could do one like it. I have had a block of 6061 around that I was planning on using for a stem some day. Well It is a LOT more work than I ever thought. Especially on my little Linely Jig mill. Making this stem reminded me of a three pitch rock climbing trip I took with a friend to Seneca rocks. The farther you went up the higher the stakes were and the more careful you had to be.

By day four of the machining I knew one wrong move would set me back that much further. I had another stem ahead of it that I would use to test each set up with, but early on I messed up the drop angle, so it was like a track stem. After the machining I hand filed all the edges to give it a more organic handmade feel, which definitely transformed it from the downhill stem it was looking like during the machining process.”

Bishop Bikes is going to be huge in 2011. Chris’ work just keeps getting better and better! I can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store for NAHBS dude! Check out the entire process, from billet to beauty here at the Bishop Flickr!

Eisentraut is quite simply “the man”. He learned the craft of building handmade bicycles alongside Paramount maker Oscar Wastyn in Chicago. Many regard him as is the father of USA custom frame builders. Known for his “Model A” frames of the 60s and 70s, Eisentraut’s work stood heads above other US builders, who looked to Europe for their precedents.

There’s a great article from Bicycle Guide on Eisentraut below, so check it out!

Photo by Taylor Sizemore

Damn Tyler, you’re doing some great work. I’m always a huge fan of frame builders who document their work with great photographs. Taylor at Sizemore does just that. I’m pretty keen on these process photos for a recent fender support he mocked up. He’s also posted a slew of new background images for his website and they’re quite nice. Check the rest out here.

Here’s the trailer for the short film entitled Ant Mike Makes an A.N.T. Bike. The film showcases Mike Flanigan‘s work inside his shop as he builds a bike from start to finish. Mike’s shop was one of my favorites in my coverage of the Boston-area builders. If you missed my Shop Visit, check it out here!

I love hearing how companies started out. Especially when it comes to awesome, mustache-sporting framebuilders like Geekhouse. Wanna know how it all went down and how many times Marty threw danceparties to relieve his stress? Check out the thread he started on Velocipede Salon.

As the 2011 North American Hand-Built Bicycle Show approaches, all the builders are scrambling to not only pull together their bicycles but also to pull together their PR. Luckily Geekhouse has Gregory pushing full steam in that department. So much so that I think Geekhouse are one of the builders on the list right now that has all their social media links up. Crazy! Those tech nerdz! Anyway, I’m pleased to have one of my photos included in their profile page.

Check out the Geekhouse NAHBS Profile Page right here!

I love it when I’m already a fan of something and I get an email from its creators describing their project. The Ride Journal has been a staple in my cycling publications. I’ve enjoyed each issue and it’s now time for Issue 05’s launch. For those who aren’t familiar:

“Continuing where the previous issues have left off we turn away from the race reports, route guides and bike reviews. Instead we’re still focusing on the riders themselves and the passion that pumps through their veins. Covering all aspects of cycling there is everything from Scottish track racing, French BMX, Alpine freeriding, Spring Classics road races, commuting in Kampala, Japanese framebuilders, Canadian mountain biking and even a postman lamenting the sad loss of the post-bike.

As ever it’s not about the big names inside but we are very happy to have Graeme Obree, Michael Barry, Jamie Bestwick, David Millar and even djing legend Norman Jay joining us in this issue. As well as the eclectic selection of articles we’ve also got a whole host of illustrators who once again bring a new dimension to the pieces with their illustrations. As ever, all profits which aren’t used in creating the journal will be donated to a number of charities.”

Check out the launch party flier and download links to issues 01 and 02 below!

Photo by Blaine Davis

Just because the fair-weather cyclists in NYC stop riding, that doesn’t mean the builders stop building! Everyone knows the winter time is when builders get on top of their building queue and Thomas from Horse Cycles is doing just that. From revamping his website to building this single-speed cross, Thomas has been busy this winter.

Check out some more photos below!