The Radavist

e r t z u i ° film make some spectacular videos and part of that lies in their love for the bike, while being able to document the importance of the ride. Over the years, I’ve fallen in love with their videos and it wasn’t until the Berliner Fahrradschau that I got to meet Martin, one half of Ertzui.

We actually first met on the King of Gravus ride, where he was pedaling his Indy Fab Planet X on Panaracer Pasela tires amongst a sea of cyclocross bikes. Now, you don’t see a whole lot of Indy Fabs in Europe, especially not well-used and loved rides like this. The bike has patina, character and functionality all over it. At the moment these photos were taken, it was built up as a light tourer, since Martin had just ridden it around 100 miles from his home town of Leipzig to the show in Berlin.

Some of my favorite details: the Tracko sticker, the tooth brush in his feed bag and his Edelux lamp mount (which was difficult to document.) Kristian and Martin from Ertzui have some exciting projects on the horizon and I for one can’t wait to see the final product.

The two-man team behind Fern Cycles really impressed me. Florian Haeussler and Phillip Zwanzig craft frames in Berlin, designed to handle their specific style of riding. In 2012 they toured throughout Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia and Turkey on two Chacha prototype frames. Their time on the road enabled them to dial in their preferences as to how a touring bike should handle and allowed them to design a line of bikepacking bags to compliment their custom racks.

This bike was built with Sugino cranks, Shutterworks generator hub, Supernova lights and Shimano Sora derailleurs but the standout products are the bags!

Gramm Bags are made in Fern’s shop and have some clever detailing, as well as minimal branding. Personally, I thought this was the best touring rig at the Berliner Fahrradschau and had a lot of fun documenting this bike.

Nice meeting you guys!

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.

When in Berlin, photograph German frame builders, right? Troica Cycles is a Berlin-based builder, specializing in tig-welded, steel cyclocross and road bikes. While their website’s offerings look beautiful, Florian‘s bike is a little different. This all-road, light tourer, randonneur, or what have you, features a beautiful segmented fork with a custom rack to boot. Its paint job is accented by the sour apple Chris King, ENVE M50 wheels and a bright turquoise Chris King headset. This bike is colorful, yet subdued at the same time…

Today I got to spend four hours with Florian and his Troica, admiring its subtle style and capabilities. Check out more for yourself in the Gallery!

Trackside ’85 at the Berlin Six Day Race – Staffan Jofjell
Words by Staffan Weigel, photos by Staffan Jofjell

Although it’s far from the spartan life of East Berlin, living in the west part of town is not always easy. The instability in world politics is constantly reminding the citizens of how vulnerable their city is. West Berliners stoically maintain a spirit of normality in their isolation. Their celebrations and manifestations of life before the wall serve as rituals that keep the absurdity of the surrounded city at bay…