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Tall bikes were spawned by bike punk cultures like NYC’s Bike Kill and other DIY groups and have been used in everything from bike jousting tournaments to full-on cross-country tours. When I see a tall bike, there’s this atavistic urge to jump on board and take it for a spin. So as you can imagine when I feasted my eyes upon Brendan’s Onko Rinkus tall bike while visiting Rock Lobster Cycles, I had to document it…
International bikepacking duo Tristen Bogaard and Belén Castelló have a special talent for looking at destinations through the lens of bikepackers. On their exploration of the Balearic Islands they sniffed out hidden gems and immersed themselves in the local culture, history, and landscape of the islands to ‘bikepackify’ them for future explorers.
Lobsters don’t have a home, per se. Rather, they move across the rocky ocean floors searching for a cobble or den. In many ways, Paul Sadoff of Rock Lobster Cycles has been looking for a new cobble for the past few years, bouncing to and fro various shop spaces, all within a mile of each other. His new space, however, might just be the best yet.
On my recent trip out to Sea Otter, I swung through to catch up with Paul. It’d been over two years since the last time I saw him and as he’s one of my favorite builders to hang out with, I was looking forward to spending some time talkin’ tubes with him. Read on below for a Shop Visit as well as a look at the Rock Lobster singlespeed 29er from the Chris King Guest House event…
We’re here en route to the 2022 Sea Otter Classic after what feels like eons, and on our way to the event, we have been hanging out in Santa Cruz, California, at Caletti Cycles and the Chris King Guest House. This unique showcase features several framebuilders’ creations, all donning the new Chris King Wheelsets in road, gravel, and MTB. There’s a great mix of bikes from steel full suspensions, road bikes, a few tasty 29ers and a few surprises, so let’s check out the offerings below and a hefty gallery of the bikes and the hangs from the event…
Anytime a reader sends in their self-built frame to our Readers’ Rides email box, we drop everything and check it out. So far we haven’t been disappointed! Adam sent in this gorgeous road bike that he built at the Metal Guru Framebuilding Workshop, along with a story and parts breakdown, so let’s get to it!
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
There is a particular sensation of Austin on a bicycle. Meandering down hills with the backdrop of limestone cliffs and steel bridges bathed by violet sunsets. Traffic accompanied by the symphony of splashing springs, live music, and bike bells. Gently humid evenings with wafts of cedar trees, whiskey, tacos, and brisket. Scenic Route celebrates Austin’s unique overlaps of culture and nature, artistry and athleticism – dichotomies exquisitely experienced on our bikes. Scenic Route is a collaborative Art show between Will Bryant, Gideon Tsang, Rapha that celebrates Austin Texas’ vibrant cycling and creative communities.
For our final feature from the 2021 Philly Bike Expo, we’re taking a look at this beautiful Town & Country all-road from LaMarche Bike Co. Tom LaMarche (yes, that Tom LaMarche) has been on and around bikes for a good chunk of his life. In addition to being a sponsored fixed-gear freestyle rider and professional stuntman, Tom recently added framebuilder to his resume. He’s currently offering two framesets – one is a rowdy-looking 27.5″ hardtail and the other is the uber-capable Town & Country. Continue reading below for details on the Town & Country Tom had exquisitely built up for the Expo, as documented by Jarrod Bunk‘s luxe photoset.
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Act One: We Can’t Stop Here, This is Nats Country!
In which our anti-hero-TeamLifeLOL-genderwhatever sets the stage with cold takes on Chicago-lite.
What a December it was for The Cyclocross in Chicago. I’ve seen a few different versions of this: rain and sleet off Lake Michigan for Montrose; 60 degrees (and a hot tub at both!), bitter cold and wind at Afterglow; and for USAC CX Nationals in Wheaton, IL, there was a complete fall-to-winter seasonal transition.
We’re rolling out some new things for 2022 and that includes our Radar Roundup where we take some of the news items to come across our inboxes into an easy-to-digest dump of sorts, culling down the clutter from our homepage and making it easier to stay on top of what’s going on in our little corner of the cycling industry. This will come particularly in handy when it comes to spring/summer product drops from our favorite brands.
Check out our first Radar Roundup below with products, videos, and a Radavision entry…
I tell ya what, it’s been a real honor to see so many of my photographs inspire artists to render those vignettes in their own hand style. Jason Pawley dropped this beautiful drawing of Bailey sending his basket bike (again) on his Instagram this morning and it was the first thing I saw when I got out of bed. It’s from our Caja Overnighter post from a few weeks ago. Follow Jason and his work on his Instagram…
Into the Lion’s Den was a criterium race event held in Sacramento, CA this past October over Halloween weekend. It represented L39ion of Los Angeles‘ vision for the future of crit racing in America. Four members of the Bay Area creative collective, Photo Pace, were there to document the event. Read on below for Christopher Stricklen’s experiential reportage accompanied by immersive photography from Rj Agcamaran, Emily Bei Cheng, and Kyle Thornhill.
To put the new Old Man Mountain Divide Racks to the test, OMM strapped a bunch of water to them and made some hero dirt, in the high desert, in the middle of summer.
Built on Old Man Mountain Divide racks mounted to a crash test dummy painted Santa Cruz Bronson, the Dust Zamboni has two sprayer tanks that hold 14L of water and are linked together to balance pressure and water levels. To save the water for where we need it, they are solenoid actuated by an electronic switch on the handlebar. Don’t forget about the safety lights and hi-vis uniform!
See more at Old Man Mountain!
Trans Cascadia explored a new region this year in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. This land is the traditional indigenous territory of the Wenatchi and Syilx people. As a blind enduro, racers are given each day’s map the night before, with no chance to explore the trail prior. Race Director Nick Gibson was excited to get started. “I’m stoked to get people on course after a year’s delay. We’re excited to show people this area, this is the first-ever bike race on these trails.”
With a full volunteer staff, spending countless hours in preparation, racers shuttled into Foggy Dew Campsite, their home for the next 5 days. A remote backcountry experience with all the amenities save cell service, racers are treated to a camp that feels more like a living village. After Covid testing and orientation, participants devoured a stunning southern-inspired meal prepared by Hannah Carlos of The Bayou Catfish under the stars…
I met Chris Orr when I was fresh out of high school, smoking dope and working as a mechanic at VeloPro in Santa Barbara, California. Working at that shop was a truly memorable time in my life and Chris was one of the shop locals who was friends with all the employees and a regular shredder on our after-work shuttles to the top of Camino Cielo for a ripping sunset run down Tunnel Trail.
It’s worth noting that Blake, Vincent, and Tom mentioned in this interview were also employees of VeloPro at this time. For me it was an unforgettable time in a very magical place. But the years pass, and people fall out of touch. I moved from California to Portland in 2005 and it would take 10 plus years and social media for me and Chris to reconnect.
This past summer, Chris was up in Portland to work on the Adaptive trail system at Gateway Green and I was fortunate enough to have him over to my backyard for a safely distanced dinner. He has been a passionate supporter of people and community throughout his life and has a long and inspiring history of building trail systems and communities. Chris is no-bullshit.
It’s my experience that incredible people like Chris are not anomalies, that their goodwill and good deeds build the places and spaces where we find solace, safety, community, and honest enjoyment. That there are more of them in the world than we are aware and that’s a problem. It’s my belief that awareness is the mechanism for inspiration, growth, creation, community, prosperity, and peace. So please meet Chris Orr.
We took a look at Baphomet Bicycles earlier this year and in that post, we discussed the ideology surrounding the iconography of this unique framebuilding operation, nestled in the mountain town of Taos, New Mexico. If you haven’t read that piece, you really should check it out first.
Yesterday I caught up with Dillen from Baphomet Bicycles, as he came to town to ride the BFL, an event Sincere Cycles throws each year, offering a classic 55 mile loop with over 10,000′ elevation gain and a “B” loop with 38 miles and 6,400′ elevation. Both take you deep into the Sangre de Cristo mountains at the terminus of the mighty Rocky Mountains. Doing either singlespeed is quite the undertaking!
Dillen finished this build right before the event and drove in from Taos for the day. We pedaled together briefly and then his chain exploded about 10 miles into the ride, sending him back down to town. Later in the day, we caught up to shoot his new 29er hardtail, aptly named the “Left Hand Path”, so let’s check it out in detail below!
