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Eurobike is a massive convention that takes place annually in Frankfurt, Germany, and is described as “the central platform for the bike and future mobility world.” Petor Georgallou was on the ground at this year’s event and, below, uncovers the latest and greatest from the longest-travel downhill bikes to the smallest-wheeled folding bikes. But, first, he had to get in…
“A packraft is like a giant key that gets you into places. When the road ends and you can no longer ride your bike, you blow up your boat and continue down that river or lake, seeing things you’d never see if you only stuck to the trails and roads.” –Doom
Bikerafting—the combination of biking and packrafting—makes a lot of sense for the multi-sport enthusiast. But, since the first-documented bikerafting expedition in the late 80s, it has stayed a relatively niche sport. Lizzy Scully dives into the data with an overview of the history of bikerafting, the most avid participants of the sport today, and a breakdown of the April 2023 Bikeraft Guide Survey Results. Read on for inspiration and information about who and where to turn to get your feet wet in this creative genre of exploration.
This is a long story. It is a story of Blue Lug‘s influence on me, an interview with the co-founder, and hopefully it will lend some inspiration to American bike shops.
The photos you are seeing are of Blue Lug employee bikes that I shot one after another as we visited each location. We thought it would be cool to document the personal bikes of the build artists whose handiwork you see each day on the Blue Lug Instagram softcore porn for bike nerds.
We will begin with the story of my 650b leather and canvas activation as a lead in…
In many places, June is Pride Month, or simply “Pride”. What started as a series of civil rights riots in June of 1969 after a police raid of a gay bar in lower Manhattan called “The Stonewall Inn” has become much more. It is now a worldwide celebration of LGBTQ+ culture and the continued demands for basic human rights. For context, it was against the law in the ‘60s to serve alcohol to gays or lesbians in New York City. Legal or civil protections for any part of gay life were essentially non-existent worldwide. Being openly gay was an invitation for discrimination, abuse, or worse.
The first weekend of June saw another lap around the sun for the Handmade Bicycle Show Australia and while there was no blowing out of the candles, the show turned five this year. This edition was once again hosted in the incredible Seaworks building in Williamstown. Overlooking the city skyline, Melbourne looks close enough that you could touch it. Massive shipping vessels bring goods into the port, making a spectacular backdrop for a celebration of the craft and culture of the Handmade Bicycle. Andy White of FYXO share a gallery of beautiful bicycles and backstory about the builders at this beloved event.
Founded in the college town of Tempe, AZ, State Bicycle Company started out selling affordable fixed-gear bikes and geared townies for college students and commuters. In their ten years of mostly direct-to-consumer bike business since, State has grown exponentially and now occupies a large warehouse/office in downtown Phoenix where they store and ship hundreds of bikes each month. While the brand still focuses on affordability and accessibility, its product offerings have expanded to include: lightweight road bikes, steel gravel bikes, coaster brake cruisers, electric bikes, apparel, and accessories. One bike in their lineup caught my attention a while back, the 4130 All-Road. Positioned as a versatile and well-equipped steel adventure bike, the 4130 fits 700c or 650b wheels with ample tire clearance, accepts drop or flat bars, boasts plenty of accessory mounts, and is designed around a comfortable geometry—for only $899!
In early 2022, State launched the 4130 All-Road with a SRAM Rival XPLR eTap AXS build kit for $1,999 and, if you were a prospective customer watching State’s website, you’d have noticed they sold out fast and have seen limited restocks. During that fleeting window of availability, I got my hands on one for this review and, over the past six months, have been logging long gravel rides, some singletrack shreds, and daily commutes. Continue reading for my thoughts on this capable machine…
I love to tinker with bike components, as seen with my vintage bike restorations. In my Yo Eddy! resto documentation, I stripped the faded Syncros post and polished it up to a mirror-like finish. It matched the Suntour XC Pro parts kit perfectly. So when it came around to me building up my Black Cat rigid 29er, I wanted to do something different. An homage of sorts to my love of vintage mountain bikes. When I saw this post on the Kona blog, I knew it was time to try it out.
While I’m not quite ready to talk about the bike itself, my latest bike hack is something I thought you’d all enjoy. Black MTB components are so prevalent these days, and while that aesthetic works for this era of plastic motorcycles, what about modern steel bikes with a vintage aesthetic? I don’t vibe with all-black components and am always trying to mix it up with my modern projects.
My Black Cat has a mix of black and silver anodized parts, but this latest hack raised the bar for me. Read on below for how to strip your dropper stanchion to a lovely, polished silver.
Dennis Lastochkin walks, or rather rides, us through his win at the East Texas Showdown. Brainchild of Patrick Farnsworth from the Bikes or Death podcast, the early March event feels like a season opener of sorts for the multi-day endurance crowd and traverses 400 miles through southeastern Texas. Check out this from-the-saddle tale of bikepacking’s “Super Bowl.”
We’re running with an alternative format for this week’s Vintage Bicycles feature! It’s one we hope you enjoy as it was penned by the original owner of this stunning singlespeed WTB Phoenix, Jacquie Phelan. Jacquie was an early MTB pioneer in the Marin constituency and along with her racing accolades is, perhaps, most known for starting the Women’s Mountain Bike & Tea Society (WOMBATS). In her own words, she hasn’t retired from racing and still loves to mix it up on two wheels. Read on for her retelling of how this bike faired at the 2008 Napa Single Speed World Championships (SSWC)…
As riders prepare for the 2023 Tour Divide Grand Depart, Mitchell Connell reflects on his time riding a section of the Divide with Baker Donahue and Will Reynolds, who were headed north from Antelope Wells, NM to Banff, Alberta. In this clever piece, Mitchell intersperses his retelling of the trip with the riders’ “top five” responses to a variety of prompts and, in doing so, distills down the meaningful aspects of a lengthy bike tour. What top five questions would you ask?
Founded in 2016 by Jon Yazzie and Nadine Johnson, DziłTa’ah Adventures runs bike and packraft tours from their home base in the town of Kayenta inside the Navajo Nation. While we’ve documented multiple experiences with the nascent outfitter – including Hunt’s Mesa, John’s Canyon, Yellow Dirt routes, and others – getting the business off the ground hasn’t been easy for John and Nadine. Last winter, Josh Weinberg reconnected with Jon, along with a group of photographers including Chris Burkard, Jeremy Bishop, and Murray Smith for an unforgettable tour along one of DziłTa’ah Adventures’ most popular routes to learn about what’s next for their guiding operation…
When a new standard arrives, there’s usually a backlash lasting months or even years. But the 55mm chainline got in under the radar. Though not a “standard” in the traditional sense, 55 does impact cranks, chainrings, cassettes, and frames. So, it counts. The goal is to offer more room for wider tires, sturdier frames, and bigger chainrings by bumping that (single) chainring outboard to sit 55mm from the bike’s center line. That’s 3mm further than the 52mm chainline most brands have been using since Boost 148 dropout spacing took hold. This issue may seem pretty inside-baseball, but when we learned SRAM Transmission was designed specifically around a 55mm chainline, Travis Engel figured it was a good time to take a closer look.
Happenstance saw Hailey Moore traveling through Knoxville, Tennessee over the weekend of the second annual Southeastern Appalachian Bike Swap (SABS), hosted by the local shop, non-profit and community hub, Two Bikes. Scroll on for her photo-heavy recap of the gear swap, Goldsprint roller-bike race bracket, and bike show good times that went down last weekend at YeeHaw Brewing Co.—good things comin’ out of the Southeast right now!
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Bike touring gives you a closer look at the land you’re traversing, but that’s not always an inspiring aspect to this way of travel. We’ve all seen the trash-choked road shoulders and littered stream banks as we pass. After learning to fly fish on the Gallatin River and enjoying its waters in southwestern Montana for some 23 years, Sean Jansen decided this time would be different. With a trailer, a few trash bags, and plenty of patience in tow, he sets out on a bikefishing, trash-packing trip in an effort to give back to this river.
We’re back with our second eclectic mix of findings from the 2023 Sea Otter Classic. Yesterday’s post just wasn’t enough to tell you about all the new bikes, old bikes, products, and people Josh and Travis encountered this year. In fact, we reckon even two posts won’t be enough. There’s a lot to cover, so settle in with your morning coffee and enjoy.
Before we jump in, let’s take a look back: This has been such a fun process to undertake over the course of the past nine months. For those who are just tuning in, I bought a frame from Martin, owner of Second Spin Cycles, last year after he had acquired a substantial Fat City Cycles collection. Among his lucky haul was this Yo Eddy! in the team lavender livery with rack mounts, a pump peg, and some frame damage.
While the bike was in Rick’s care at D&D for some repairs and a paint respray, I began collecting period-correct parts from various sources. After re-finishing some of them and getting the bike back, I just finished the build this week. Monday night was the maiden voyage of the new and improved Yo Eddy! and I took some glamour shots here in Santa Fe, so let’s check this beaut out below!
Sanitas Cycles is the titanium framebuilding operation co-led by David and John Siegrist. With his father’s work at DEAN Bicycles acting as the backdrop of his childhood in Boulder, Colorado, Dave decided to start working in bikes upon graduating from Fort Lewis College in Durango, convincing his dad to join him in his new titanium label. Read on to learn how John and Dave are merging the classic and the modern in their stock frame offerings and custom builds, and check out a short video from Colt Fetter’s time at the shop!
