The Radavist

In the heart of Santa Cruz, California, John Caletti has spent over two decades honing his craft as a master frame builder at Caletti Cycles. From his early days of building steel frames to his current reputation for creating exceptional custom titanium bicycles, John’s journey is a testament to his dedication to the art and science of frame building.

A visit to Caletti Cycles reveals not just a workshop, but also a place where passion and precision intersect, where each bike reflects John’s commitment to quality and innovation. Join us below as we explore the inception of a unique builder/photographer relationship between John Caletti and Chris Corona, delving into John’s background, his perspectives on the cycling industry, and the vibrant community of makers that defines Caletti Cycles.

We’re here in Portland, covering the 2023 MADE Bike Show, looking for bikes that we thought you, the readers of The Radavist would appreciate. Josh and John have been scouring the halls of the show for bikes to document, and we’ve got Part 02 of our coverage for you to enjoy…

Thanks to 1-Up USA for sponsoring our continued 2023 MADE Bike Show coverage!

This past week, in the lead-up to the annual Sea Otter Classic event in Monterey, CA, Chris King Components held their second Guest House event across Monterey Bay in Santa Cruz. The festive event showcased a variety of unique builds – all featuring Chris King components – many of which were the recently re-released vibrant 3D Violet color. Below, let’s take a look at this eclectic mix of bikes that spans categories across road, gravel, touring, and MTB!

Santa Cruz, California, is home to many wonderful framebuilders and many of which we’ve documented here on The Radavist over the years. From Rock Lobster to Black Cat, and Hunter Cycles, there’s no shortage of Shop Visits from the area to browse. However, one shop I’ve long wanted to document is Caletti Cycles, so when the Chris King Guest House event happened earlier this month, based out of the Caletti Cycles shop, I made sure to photograph this wonderful space along with one of John Caletti’s recent personal builds.

Let’s check out what goes on Inside Caletti Cycles below!

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…

With Covid-19 throwing a wrench in the spokes of the traditional tradeshow schedule, even open houses have had to switch to an online, or virtual, format. We saw this earlier in the year with ENVE and now, the 2020 Chris King Open House. While it wasn’t safe to travel to Portland to document the bikes, Chris King’s in-house photographer Jacob Olsen did a stellar job at documenting all ten bikes, while videography team Modify Content knocked out some great, in-depth video profiles of these handmade marvels. We’ve got part one today, featuring Bingham, Breadwinner, Caletti, DeSalvo, and Mosaic, so let’s jump right in…

Caletti Ultra Light Rando Roadie
Photos and words by Chris Corona

Lately, I have been doing longer mixed distances with a camera, sandwich and a couple of extra layers of clothing. I have a couple bikes that are great for cross riding but nothing that really fits the bill for 80-120 mile (mostly road with some dirt) rides that I’ve grown accustomed to. In late July, I approached John Caletti with a concept to create a bike that is on the ultralight touring side of road bikes.

Ok, maybe you can call it a ‘cross bike, because that’s truly what it is at its roots. Before we get ahead of ourselves here, let’s take a step back. There are stigmas attached with the words “commuter” “city” “townie” and even “cross” bike. There are certain checklists that apply to each of those permutations. The most notable being fender and rack provisions. Even with the latter, “cross” purists want drop bars and 32mm tires for a bike to be true to its UCI roots. This bike has no provisions for racks or fenders, is sold with a 40mm tire, flat bars and a bell. It’s not as much as it is. It is whatever you want it to be.

John Caletti‘s custom titanium machines are always a pleasure to shoot and this road bike is the prize of his booth at NAHBS. He reached out to Jeremiah Kille to hand draw all over the frame, fork, stem, and even commissioned him to design matching bar tape. It didn’t end there. If you check out the Caletti Instagram, you’ll see the matching Giro shoes and helmet too!

At a show where over the top paint jobs reign supreme, it’s nice seeing someone take this approach to frame embellishment…