It’s that time of year again! The Chris King Open House returned to Portland this past weekend and, with it, a showcase of seventeen custom bikes. Let’s check them out in detail below!

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It’s that time of year again! The Chris King Open House returned to Portland this past weekend and, with it, a showcase of seventeen custom bikes. Let’s check them out in detail below!
At this year’s Unbound, Shimano will be unveiling its new GRX Limited group, which offers silver components for drop bar and flat bar GRX kits. It’s been a while since a big brand offered up a brand new, high-end group in silver, so as you might have guessed, we’re stoked to share this news with you.
To commemorate this special moment, Shimano pinged ten framebuilders to showcase this new kit, so let’s look at each of the builders’ creations below…
It has been a little over a year since we relocated Chumba Bikes to our new, bigger, and brighter shop space in South Austin. We have yet to host an open house here due to COVID and trying to keep our staff as safe as possible. I approached Vince about doing a 35mm photography project to share our new shop space along with the hands that have moved Chumba forward. To showcase our new shop I shot a month’s worth of photos and compiled this gallery. I’m excited to give you a peep into our world at Chumba!
The beauty of bikes is in the people who ride them—and how they all have a story. I have little doubt that everyone—serious riders, aeroed and grimaced, and carefree cruisers alike—have experienced that epiphanous fresh-air feeling of freedom that accompanies spinning your legs astride two wheels. Sometimes we just enjoy it at the moment—letting the short-lived wave of release and clarity wash over us during a weeknight burrito run, or a trip to the coffee shop. Other times we chase that feeling down with the hope that, somehow, it might change our life.
What first intrigued me about Josh Uhl was, however, not his history with bikes but his podcast Here For Now, which he started in February of 2021. Josh uses this platform to have intentional and intimate conversations with his guests about motivation, struggle, and the big whys of life. Listening to an early episode with Peter Hogan, where the recovering addict asserts that “Bikes aren’t God,” and to a later episode where the writer Zoe Röm reflects on the delusion of “authenticity” on social media, I found myself frequently nodding along. Yes, exactly.
Chumba Cycles has been supporting ultra-endurance and all-around badass athlete Alexandera Houchin for some time now, outfitting her with a variety of bikes for her endeavors. Yet with the announcement of Chumba’s in-house titanium manufacturing earlier this year, Mark and Vince, the owners of Chumba, wanted to get Alexandera on some new frames. You might recall our coverage of the Sendero Titanium from this year’s ENVE Builder Round Up. After the show, I reached out to Chumba to see if they’d share some photos of Alexandera’s new bikes, so let’s check them out below…
A little while back, Patrick from Bikes or Death reached out, saying he was going to be in Santa Fe and was hoping we could sit down for a podcast interview. Naturally, I obliged, and last night we hung out at our office here in Santa Fe and talked about bikes, photography, other randomness related to this website. I won’t give too much away but I was really stoked on how it went. Doing interviews is a great way to bond with a person and afterward, I just had to shoot Patrick’s Chumba Cycles Stella Ti. While the podcast episode won’t be out for a few weeks, I wanted to feature this rad build while it was all still fresh on my mind, so enjoy!
With new pricing beginning at $2,250.00, the Chumba titanium Terlingua gravel bike is closer to reality than you might expect. Of course, as with any frame made by Chumba, you can select various options like pump pegs, Di2 routing, rack mounts, fender eyelets, and so on. These frames use oversized Aerospace Titanium 3/2.5 tubing, 6/4 on the yoke, and dropouts with Paragon Sliding Inserts. Singlespeed, geared, whatever. It just works. With post-mount, flat-mount options, cerakote finishing, and color customizations, you can literally get your dream bike made for less than you’d think, all on a chassis that clears up to a 700c x 50mm or 650b x 2.1” wheel/tire combo.
Specs:
-Made in USA quality
-Oversized Aerospace Titanium 3/2.5 Grade Tubing, 6/4 on the yoke and dropouts w/ Paragon Sliding Inserts
-Clean thoughtful cable routing
-Maximum tire and drivetrain clearances for a wide range of options and mud clearance
-All tubes are heat sunk and argon purged when welded to prevent distortion and material thinning
2020 Terlingua Titanium Model Refinements:
-removed Di2 ports standard (why pay for it unless you need it, we can add this on request.)
-removed lower rack mounts standard (why pay for it unless you need it, we can add this on request.)
-Lowered MSRP
-No other changes, this bike is dialed!
See more at Chumba.
While we’re on the subject, Mark from Chumba wrote a blog piece about framebuilding on their website, don’t miss this one!
This build was made possible by Sincere Cycles. Bailey took Slade‘s idea and made it a reality. From a rolling chassis of frame, fork, and wheels, came this complete bike which has got to be one of the most clever builds I’ve documented this year. Slade’s an energetic soul who jumped right into the world of bikepacking with this Chumba Ursa…
Thanks to Chumba, Industry Nine, Kogel Bearings, Wanderlust Gear and MRP, Alexandera is outfitted properly for a season of ultra-endurance racing this year. After an amazing DKXL story, she’s on her Stella Titanium in the throes of the Tour Divide. Perhaps you’ve recognized her in Spencer and Rue’s galleries? At any rate, Vince from Chumba sent over some photos of Alexandera’s bike, which you can check out below and please, if you have time, give her blog a visit and read her DKXL story. Personally, I can’t wait to read her Tour Divide tale!
Chumba, makers of true to form steel bikes in Texas, just announced their Del Amo steel road bike. The Del Amo comes in 6 sizes, a compact geometry, made from OS Columbus Spirit tubing with Paragon bits. The tubing spec allows for compliance in the seat stays and top tube, making the bike ride smoothly, while offering fast acceleration that Spirit is known for. These bikes are offered with a plethora of options and start at $1,625.00. Head to Chumba for more information and see more photos below.
We shoot a lot of bikes here on the Radavist. A lot. From my estimates, including tradeshows, and events like the Chris King Open House, or the Moots’ Employee Bikes, and even the Speedvagen Build Off, we shot 220 or so bikes in 2018. That’s a lot of bikes. A lot of details. A lot of component selection, build styles, and uses. From road, to mountain, and everything in between, noting the permutations that exist in this ever-so-special era in the cycling industry, I really feel like we’ve shown you just about everything you could see this year.
Out of those 220 bikes, I looked at the data in the form of traffic metrics, social chatter, and comments to pick the Top 10 Beautiful Bicycles of 2018. While many bikes had a lot of comments, some had higher traffic or social media shares. Compiling all the numbers, a very compelling list was formed. Not included in this lot are bike reviews, of which Morgan’s review of the Midnight Special and Kyle’s review of his Chubby Cosmic Stallion took the highest metrics from all others on this list. I guess they’re in a league of their own!
At any rate, check out the complete Top 10 Beautiful Bicycles of 2018, in no particular order, below!
With its roots in the mountain bike industry, the Terlingua Steel set the stage for Chumba’s entry into the drop bar category. Consequently, the Terlingua has quickly become one of their best selling models. We’ve seen a handful of builds over the years, including Austin’s single speed at the Land Run 100. Well, the Texas brand is excited to announce the Terlingua is now available in Titanium as well as in Steel and all Chumba frames are Made in USA.
Check out the press release below!
The Land Run 100 draws people from all over the world, including Texas. Austin drove in from Austin, with his brand new Chumba Terlingua, ready to roll 100+ miles single speed. With no rain in the forecast – #RIPmud – he packed in a big tire and got ready to ride the rolling hills, through the red dirt countryside.
While there were many exceptional builds at the event, I have to say, this was one of the most original I saw. With Onyx Racing Hubs, an Absolute Black ring, Paul Klampers, Hope Rotors, WTB Riddler tires, matching spoke nipples and a mean, race fit, this bike looked as good in motion as it does sitting here.
Austin, great to meet you, pardna’, tell the grackles I said I miss them!
____
Follow LandRun 100 on Instagram
With a geometry tuned for a 140mm or 150mm fork and build kits ranging from $2995 to $3595 for a complete, the Chumba Rastro long travel 27.5+ hardtail looks to be a strong competitor for those looking at buying a new hardtail. Chumba makes all their frames outside of Austin, Texas and works with Fox and Shimano components. These complete prices reflect various modes: Trail, Enduro, and All-Trail but you can request a build spec of your own and even buy just the frame. Bottom line is; the build options are endless on a more than capable frame.
Check out more specs at Chumba and I hope to get to review one of these bikes!
Named after a West Texas ghost town, the Terlingua, gets its namesake for the ability to traverse multiple road surface in this rugged part of the American West. Home of the Chihuahuan Desert Dirt Fest, the team at Chumba have fallen in love with riding there and wanted to design a bike that would be capable enough to handle the terrain, without compromising ride quality, or functionality. The Terlingua is a road bike, with large clearances, fit for dirt road riding, bikepacking and even ‘cross races. These frames are made outside of Austin, Texas and have all the boxes checked in terms of adaptability, they’ll fit a 700x50mm or 27.5″ equivalent, come in a variety of colors and pricing begins at $1450 for a frame. Check out all the details below and see more photos at Chumba!
Nils, aka #PartyNils has been getting a lot of social media love these days and it’s easy to see why. When he’s not bringing a camp stove to LA River Camp Coffee, he’s racing ‘cross on his cargo bike or this Chumba Ursa 29+ rigid mountain bike.
The Ursa 29+ frames are a killer deal for anyone looking for a 29+ bikepacking rig or even a rigid MTB and Nils has his set up with all the creature comforts you’d expect from a guy who lives life on the bike with a smile.
A bent Brooks saddle with just the right amount of sag, solid platform pedals, comfy grips with a little extra twine on the side and a shellac’d chainstay to muffle any slap that might occur. If you see Nils partying away on this thing, give him a shout!
Want to save on a titanium, made in the USA hardtail XC racing 29’r? Chumba’s new Ti Stella might be what you’re looking for. As an introductory pre-order Chumba is pricing their new XC machine at $1,799, which is a steal for a made in the USA titanium hardtail.
Check out more information below or just head to Chumba for the details…
As you can probably tell, I’ve been really stoked on what Chumba is doing here in Austin, Texas. During MTB season earlier this year, I caught up with Vince, who was riding the first prototype Ursa 29+ MTBs. At the time, Chumba’s production was in Oregon, but in recent months, they’ve moved all production in house, using USA-made tubing…