The Radavist

18 lbs? 17 lbs? 16 lbs? What is weight anyway? Weight doesn’t matter but it doesn’t hurt either. Especially when your golden locks and bronze tan lines float effortlessly across white gravel roads, coating the roadside flora in a light layer of sedimentary seasoning. Dust, baby. It’s good for you. Yes, Ronnie Romance knows how to build a bike from a fine assortment of vintage components, exotic, supple rubber, and a bit of suntan oil. Case in point, his Crust Bikes Lightning Bolt is lighter than a soft whisper.

Today is Labor Day in the US, so we’re taking the day easy, and catching up on life’s demands but we wanted to share this bike on Monday, because, you know, it’s Merckx Mondays. When I was at the Cub House a few weeks back, I met Jun, who was out on a ride with this bike. As you can imagine, this bike has quite the story…

Our buddy Cicli Pucci rolled into the shop the other day on this Holland Track Bike, and all of our jaws just dropped. Which is actually quite normal when Pucci rolls through. He’s been painting with Joe Bell for many years now and always has the most fly of bikes, always hand-painted by himself. You all probably remember his Azuki Pro that was featured here about a year ago.

Continuing our coverage from the third annual Cub House Bike Show and Swap…

Chuck is a lifelong cyclist. He runs and owns Velo-Retro but spent his life as a graphic designer who worked on many classic cycling logos, including the Eddy Merckx logo and others. That’s a whole different story altogether, hopefully, to be told another time. Right now let’s focus on this beautiful example of a pristine 1960’s Cinelli Super Corsa.

When All-City first developed the Mr. Pink, they wanted to deliver a classic steel road bike, made from Columbus ZONA tubing, with a Shimano kit for under $2,000. In fact, that number came in at $1,799. Last month, All-City lowered the MSRP on Mr. Pink completes to $1,499, with the framesets being reduced from $999 to $850, sparking me to finally shoot Mike’s “Kiwi Green” Mr. Pink with Campagnolo Chorus. This is not an advertisement, I just wanted to share the news and get you into your local shop to check one out.

When it comes to production steel road bikes, the Mr. Pink is one of the finer specimens. The model’s latest color grabbed Mike from Golden Saddle‘s attention, as it matched some components had had laying around including some green Chris King bits, as well as some PAUL skewers and a Turquoise King headset. The boys at the shop like to ride bikes that they sell, so when potential customers ask them questions, they can reply with honest answers.

The Ritchey Logic Road seems to be the obvious choice for those looking for a modern steel bike that utilizes rim brakes. Over the years, we’ve seen a number of these bikes, built up for various functions from all-day road rides to race bikes but there’s something about Victor‘s build that really grabbed my attention at the onset. The reason is obvious; Victor used Ritchey’s Heritage Paint option to get any of their frames painted a number of schemes, including “Commando” camo. Unfortunately, Ritchey discontinued this service, but before that happened, Victor got his Logic road frame painted by Rick Stefani of D&D cycles in this iconic finish.

He then built it with a combination of Sim Works, Ritchey, and Campagnolo Record Super Record 11. My favorite detail is the 100 Tacos sticker on the Sim Works Caroline stem!

When Jonny first rolled through the doors at Golden Saddle on this bike, I honed in on it. There was something familiar about the bike, yet I had never heard of the brand painted on the downtube. For some reason, it reminded me of an Eisentraut, or a Sachs. After talking to Jonny, he told me he works for Joe Bell, a literal living legend in the framebuilding world. Joe Bell, or JB as Jonny calls him, paints and has painted the frames of some of the most outstanding builders over the years.

I don’t know what it is about this bike, but throughout the weekend, it just caught my eye every time I walked past the Enigma Cycles booth. Maybe it was the paint – duh – but it well… I mean just look at this thing! It’s got paint-matched Campagnolo Record, down to the hubs and all the polished stainless bits poking out from under that blood-red paint. I can’t help but think this bike is sopping wet with 80’s horror movie prop blood. Mind. Blown.

Whatever Enigma is drinking over there in the UK, I like it.

Down on Rando Alley at NAHBS this year, a few booths from the J.P. Weigle randonneur and the Chapman randonneur, was this Johnny Coast. It’d been a while since I’ve seen Johnny, or his work but I began my Saturday morning documenting this bike before the crowds descended upon the show. Everything about this bike was a pleasure to photograph and it’s one of my favorite drive-side shots from the entire weekend.

Where do I even begin here? DiNucci is a damn living legend in the frame building world and anytime I can get my sweaty palms on one of his bikes, I take extra time documenting it. Case in point: this beautifully-lugged classic road bike with Campagnolo Super Record. I love everything about this build, from the lug work, to the Enduro headset, right down to the bright, sparkly arrow reminding you to keep pushing forward. With a bike like this, however, I doubt the owner will need any motivation. Mark, if you’re reading this, it’s always a pleasure to be in such great company.

Kyle’s 650b Cosmic Stallion Road with Campagnolo Chorus 11
Photos by John Watson and words by Kyle Kelley

Editor’s intro. I love Kyle’s All-City Cosmic Stallion. For me, the interchangeability of these bikes from 700c to 650b open up a door for riders to experience the plush cush of a 47mm tubeless road tire on a readily-available, production frame. It’s my belief that these 650b / 27.5″ wheeled bikes will alter the “road” industry to a place that proves you don’t need 23mm tires and 110 PSI to enjoy “all the roads.”

A while back I found myself riding my road bike less and less and my cyclocross bike more and more. I just wanted to get further and further from the hustle and bustle of the big city and closer to the epicenter of the San Gabriel Mountains, but I also understood that I would always have at least 15 miles on pavement before reaching the service roads and single track found in the Angeles Forest. No matter how much riding I was doing in the mountains, I was guaranteed 30 miles on the actual road, and no matter how much dirt the middle of the ride promised, road geometry made the most sense for these longer rides.

Raise your hand if you have ridden an actual cyclocross bike over 100 miles in one sitting. It is not fun and I’m not talking about type 2 fun. A road bike just works better for on and off-road riding. Hence the gravel craze.

For me, it’s just a road bike, and that’s why it has road pedals. It’s ridden on roads, paved and dusty. It’s a road bike, and for me, no road bike should be built with anything but Campagnolo. Now, thanks to Paul Component Engineering and their Klampagnolo brakes, with a Campy-specific pull and Chorus‘ new, 32-tooth cassette, why would you use anything but Campy?

I know this build isn’t for everyone, but I guarantee it’s for way more of you disbelievers than you think. The bike rolls fast on the 47c slicks, doesn’t weigh much because of the carbon bits, and will go just about anywhere! Can’t argue with that, right? Well…of course, you can, and that’s OK because that’s your right to have an opinion. I’m just saying, someday give it a try and then let’s talk.

Fat bottomed bikes you make the ripping world go round!

____

Follow Kyle on Instagram and follow Golden Saddle Cyclery on Instagram.

If you had the opportunity to have Dario Pegoretti paint one of your bikes, would you? When Jaybe originally contacted David Kirk about making him a classic road bike, he inquired about just that. At the time, Dario wasn’t interested. Perhaps he was too busy or just didn’t want to. For whatever reason, it didn’t happen, so Jaybe got his bike painted and began riding it every day. We even documented it here on the site. Months later, Dario finally expressed an interest in painting the frame, leaving Jaybe in a bind. Should he send it to him? Or just keep it as-is? I mean, it’d be a tough call for sure, especially with the uncertainty of how Dario would paint the bike. What if Jaybe didn’t like the final product? After much back and forth, Jaybe sent the frame to Pegoretti and a few weeks later, it arrived at his door. The crazy thing is, while Dario had the frame, Jaybe didn’t hear a peep from him.

It was a complete surprise and one that was well worth it, in my opinion…

I shoot a lot of road bikes and these days, it’s very rare you see one without a 44mm or tapered head tube. Whereas most people that want a steel frame with oversized tubes, Jaybe from Team Too Late wanted something more classic, something that would dance with him as he climbs and descend like a race bike from the 90’s. He spent a lot of time browsing NAHBS galleries, looking at various framebuilders and was attracted to the work of David Kirk, the Bozeman, Montana builder known for his impeccable fillet and lugged frames.

Jaybe didn’t want your typical, straight-tubed frame however. He requested curvy stays and the result is one of the most beautiful road frames I’ve ever photographed. Built with Chris King’s 40th-anniversary olive drab hubs and Campy Record 11, Jaybe’s David Kirk is sure to perform and look damn good while riding in the hills and mountains of Los Angeles.

David from Kirk Frameworks will be at the 2017 NAHBS in Salt Lake City, Utah and personally, I can’t wait to see what he brings with him.

We all have our favorite cyclists or teams from the 80’s and 90’s. For Sean of Team Dream Team, it was the early 90’s and Greg Lemond, specifically that slick Calfee-built Team Z bike. The red to yellow to blue tri-fade has long been a favorite of Sean’s and that became the precedent for this new Stinner Frameworks road bike.

Sean’s already got a race-fit road bike, but he wanted one with a bit more head tube, partially for a less aggressive fit, but also for longevity. He wants to be riding this bike for a long, long time, even after his flexibility has been reduced due to age. Mid-life crisis bike? Maybe, but I commend Sean looking at the long-term lifespan of this bike. It literally is all he could ever want in a road bike and more.

The bike was spec’d with Campagnolo Super Record 11, a NOS Flite saddle, with ENVE parts and Mavic Ksyrium R-SYS SLR wheels and built by the capable hands at Golden Saddle Cyclery. If you’re going to NAHBS, look for it there, and expect a photoshoot of this bike and the original Team Z Calfee in the near future.

Golden Saddle Rides: With a Cherubim on Top Track Bike
Photos by Kyle Kelley, words by John Watson

A gilded ride deserves a few balleur upgrades. This Cherubim track bike was picked up from Tokyo’s Sexon Super Peace, one of my favorite shops in Japan. I visited this storefront back in 2009 and regrettably, didn’t make it back on my last trip to Tokyo. At any rate, that shop is known for having an incredible stock of track bikes and coincidentally, that’s where this golden Cherubim came from.

When Jeremy, the owner brought the frame and parts over to Golden Saddle Cyclery for a pro build, everyone was drooling over not only the frame, but the parts as well, right down to the Toshi bar tape. Berthoud saddle, EAI gold cog, vintage Campagnolo hubs laced to H+Son TB14 rims make for practical, vintage-inspired build kit.

There are few bicycles that are as well balanced aesthetically as a track bike. Their simplicity makes for a pure form that is not only easy on the eyes, but a balanced and proportioned ride quality.

____

If you want a custom build like this and live in Los Angeles, hit up Golden Saddle Cyclery.

For Lemond fans, few models hold the same cult-classic appeal like the 1990 Team Z TVT Carbone race bikes. Made in France by TVT these aluminum and carbon machines were made famous by their bright fluorescent paint jobs, Team Z insignia and Scott racing cockpit. Yes, these bikes are legendary. There are even Lemond fansites walking collectors through the process of building up this very bike.

Dan at Shifter Bikes took on this project for a customer, who sourced Campagnolo C-Record, the Scott bars, NOS hubs and hoops, allowing dan to assemble this bike over a two-year timeline. As you can imagine, projects like this are not cheap and are labor-intensive but like all good projects, they’re worth the wait.

The finished project is road-worthy, with latex filled tubies, allowing for peace of mind on a Sunday spin.

It’s been over years since I’ve been to Australia, so I made a point to connect with a few of my mates in Melbourne while en route to Tasmania. One of which being Dan Hale at Shifter Bikes, a bicycle studio in South Yarra. Two years ago I shot some photos of a rare gold plated Eddy Merckx Professional at Shifter Bikes and on this recent trip, I got to document the bike, built from the ground up with a Campagnolo 50th group.

While most bikes of this rarity would end up on the wall, the owner of this Merckx enjoys riding it , hence the modern pedals and non-period correct seat post. I suppose when you come across a frame like this, you’ve gotta do what you can to make it road-worthy (just ignore the front tire) and the result is a bike with a patina that comes from years of continued use.