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As I mentioned in my Shop Visit to Royal H. Cycles earlier, I took some photos of two pristine bicycles while visiting Bryan. Luckily for me, a neighbor in their loft space has a photography studio that we could use. While Justin Keena didn’t leave his lights in the space, the seamless wall made a great backdrop for shooting this Royal H. Cycles time-trial bike.
Check out some more photos below.
Royal H. Cycles and Icarus both share a space in Somerville, Mass. Two frame builders, each with unique approaches and personalities united by their love of the custom bicycle.
Check out more photos from my shop visit below.
If you haven’t heard of Royal H. Cycles before, you’re missing out! Bryan’s work is some of the finest I’ve seen. From his wacky time-trial bikes to modern beauties like this track bike above, his work has carved a very distinct niche in the Boston area. Bryan went on our ride today and all my photos of him came out slightly blurry or out of focus. To make it up to him, I’m putting up these teaser photos from my shop visit tonight. I had a blast shooting this bike and this week, you’ll see why!
Amazing right?
TransRockies has become an institution in the stage racing world: they have been around since the beginning. In late August, the inaugural Gravel Royale was their first foray into the world of gravel racing. The edition of the truly off-tarmac event makes sense, as the main critique of TransRockies in years past has been riders complaining about too many gravel roads. Sounds like they’ve just been honing the course for a real gravel throw down! After the four stages, Rob Britton of Victoria, BA and Rach McBride of Vancouver, BC took the top step in the Elite Men’s and Women’s categories, respectively. What follows is Barry Wicks‘ rider journal from each of the four days which gives a stream of consciousness account, followed by his interviews with other competitors. Each interview maintained the same format and consisted of just three questions designed to skip the small talk: What is your favorite color? What are you reading right now? What is the meaning of life? Enjoy the ride!
Modern tech, bikes, and components were lost on me over the previous few years. Sure, I talk about all that here at “work,” but in my personal life, I have spent more time looking backward, not forward, with bikes. Maybe it was because all the major manufacturers wanted journalists (if I can even call myself that) to review new gear that wouldn’t hit consumers for another year or so. Or perhaps I felt like there was inherently more to learn from the past than new tech and its marginal gains mantra.
Having spent a lot of time curating a few vintage builds, re-evaluating my own stable, and pouring over old bike catalogs, there’s something about the aesthetic found in the 1980s and early 90s mountain bike components that hits the nail on the head. Be it the eeWings cranks, those nifty Cyber Cranks, or these Engin Cycles Port Royal cranks, what’s old is new again in terms of design silhouette.
When I first saw these cranks, I immediately felt like they were an homage to the first gen M700 Deore cranks by Shimano, which did in fact come in black. (Ritchey Commandos were specced with an all-black Deer Head group!) Yet, the thing I liked about them the most was the slim profile, 30mm spindle, and the fact that Engin Cycles, a framebuilder I hold in deep regard and respect for, machines these in Philly!
I’ve had the Engin Cycles Port Royal Cranks ($575) on my Starling Murmur for a while now and finally have some thoughts I can share with y’all, so read on below for a quick review…
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Oveja Negra’s Hip Packs feature a roll top construction, made from lightweight XPac and while the standard colors sold out super quick, there are a few of these in “Wack Pack” colors. What is Wack Pack? Wack Packs are constructed out of random colored fabrics and materials. They’re guaranteed to be one of a kind and are tastefully mixed and sewn from scraps and miss-matched cuts. Although scrappy, all Wack Pack’s are made from first quality fabric and materials.
See more at Oveja Negra!
Last year’s Battle Royale was such a successful event that Morvélo decided to bring it back for another round in April. Head over to Morvélo Battle Royale for more information.
This looks good!
Morvélo Battle Royale is a unique take on bicycle speedway, using a natural concrete oval in an abandoned old market in central Brighton. Pitching all types of riders and bikes against each other in a series of fast and furious knockout heats. Enter your ‘”gang” as a team of three, pack the ‘Warriors’ style outfit, and make sure you’re not last over the line.
For more details and online entry head to Morvélo.
Saturday 6th December 2014 , Circus Street Old Market, Brighton, BN2 9QF
I was just talking on Twitter about how music can sometimes make or break an edit. Anytime someone uses Wu, I can’t help but post it. That music resonated through my Saturday skate and surf sessions growing up and to see it motivating the new generation of thrashers says a lot. Here’s the latest from Royal HC. Check it as Johnathan Ball. Kendall Cooper, Elliott Milner, Jacob Santos,Cole Ruffing and Yerson Varela throw down.
You might remember this video’s teaser from when I posted it a little while ago. Erik Noren just emailed me the full version of Deep Custom.
“Deep Custom” is a short documentary about custom bicycle framebuilder, Eric Noren and his company, Peacock Groove Cycles.
This short film is the creation of Director: Tony Franklin, Photographer: T.C. Worley, and Editor: Nick Gumm. Filmed over the summer of 2011, the film was the first motion project for Franklin and Worley. They have since launched a production company, Royal Anlter. Look for more films coming soon.
Looks great man! Check out more here.
Look at that meathead! Just kidding Andrew… don’t hurt me bro.
Affinity Cycles posted up the winners of this year’s Kissena Royale series. There are some great portraits of the winning racers on the blog, so head over and check them out!
Jason just shot me over an update on the Kissena Royale events this weekend:
“Here’s the updated race formats for this weekend for Kissena Royale. $50.00 cash prime to the winners of the A & B features, and prize giveaways in all categories! Register online at Bikereg and get a limited edition Kissena Royale Tee Shirt. See you Saturday!”
Be there NYC!
The Kissena Royale series is still going!
“Kissena Royale 2011 kicked off this past Saturday and though it was a less than favorable gloomy day, we managed to get several rounds of racing in and awarded leaders jerseys in all categories. After race 1, we have a tight race with both the Cat 4 and Masters groups in a tie for 1st place. In the Cat 5 race, 1st and 2nd place are separated by just 3 points.”
Check out more details below, including how you can participate in racing at T-Town with the crew!
Jason from Affinity just upped the newest on the Kissena Royale event. Head over to Affinity’s blog to find out more.
Affinity Cycles is throwing a Facebook give-away. Simple “Like” their Facebook page to be entered. Read all the rules by clicking the above photo. Also be sure to check out an update to the Kissena Royale training sessions. The fastest 4/5 Kilo will win some H+Son TB14 box section rims!
This just in from Affinity:
“Affinity Cycles is proud to present Kissena Royale 2011! We’ve got a full racing and training series with great racing formats, leaders jerseys by Champion System and a season finale after party sponsored by the Brooklyn Brewery. Other sponsors will be providing a ton of product including 5 Bling gloves, H Plus Son rims, Mighty Healthy, PROLLY, Holdfast and Fyxation!
Prizes will be given away at every race and for erach category and we’ll also be giving cash primes for every category!! All proceeds will help fund Affinity’s Elite team, and to support our Olympic hopefuls for 2012.
Our training camps will be held by national champions and olympic medalists, so you’ll get some of the best training tips and one on one advice from top pros.
Join us at the Kissena velodrome and special training camps at T-Town form April to June with a Summer series starting in July til September. For more info go to affinitycycles.com, to register go to bikereg.com or register the day of each event.”
NYC, you better be there!
This just in from Affinity:
“Affinity Cycles is proud to present Kissena Royale 2011. Kissena Royale is a training a racing series which will take place from April to September at the Kissena Velodrome and The Valley Preffered Cycling center aka T-Town. The first training event is April 2nd, with the Kissena opening race on the 16th of April. Training sessions will be held by current National Champions, Olympic coaches and gold medalists. Our racing formats will go back to traditional track races such as Keirins, Chariots, Scratch races and Kilos. All categories will have a leaders jersey, cash primes and a ton of prizes from our many sponsors on board for the events. This flyer is just a teaser so more info to come very soon. For more info email us at info@affinitycycles.com and to pre-reg go to bikereg.com“
Now all you guys who are riding $4k track bikes on the street can actually put them to real use!
;-)
