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Bike Laws Every State Should Adopt

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Bike Laws Every State Should Adopt

Illustration by Josh Cochran

This past year, we’ve seen more and more people getting on bikes — to commute, to recreate, and to get some exercise. More people riding bikes is great, but it means more interactions with car traffic and city infrastructure. So what laws are in place that help make cyclists safer? Here’s a breakdown of some laws recently enacted in Colorado and elsewhere that aim to keep cyclists (and everyone else) safe. Also, here’s a great resource from The League of American Bicyclists that lists all bike laws by state.

Check out this full article at our parent company, The Pro’s Closet.

Cannondale Pings Palace Skateboards to Celebrate its 50th Anniversary with the Mad Boy

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Cannondale Pings Palace Skateboards to Celebrate its 50th Anniversary with the Mad Boy

Veering from the open road and into the city streets, Cannondale connects with Palace Skateboards to create the MAD BOY, pumping energy into Cannondale’s signature urban bike to celebrate its 50th anniversary. A complete alloy frame with Lefty fork brings a one-of-a-kind appearance into the city streets and marks the pinnacle of high-performance smiling.

Taking inspiration from racing heritage, zany rave-flyers, ‘00s motocross, classic video games, and skateboarding, the MAD BOY was made possible. Designed to excite, inspire and reimagine the world of cycling through a unique lens. Alongside Palace’s first-ever bike, there’s a range of clothing and accessories, featuring hoodies, t-shirts, caps and gore-tex technical jackets & trousers.

While the apparel stands on its own for this release, the bike itself is something to behold. Check out full photos of the Mad Boy below…

Brompton Announces the Superlight Titanium Folder in a New Color

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Brompton Announces the Superlight Titanium Folder in a New Color

Shaving an impressive 1kg off the total build weight when compared to their traditional steel framesets, Brompton announced today the Superlight, a made from titanium. These frames feature a titanium fork, rear swingarm, while keeping the steel main frame for stability and frame stiffness. The Superlight come in three build kits, including a 2-speed build kit in their new “Cloud Blue” color and topped off with a Brooks saddle ($2,330). Other build kits come in with 6-speed drivetrains at $2,490. Check out all the details at Brompton.

Brompton’s New B75 Folding Bike Retails for $1,095.00

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Brompton’s New B75 Folding Bike Retails for $1,095.00

For city dwellers and short-on-space living situations alike, it doesn’t get better than a Brompton as an everyday commuter or city bike. The problem is, with prices up to $4,000 these folding bikes have always felt out of reach for many. Today Brompton introduced their most affordable folding bike yet, the B75, with a pricepoint build kit but the same frame construction you’ve come to love, at a pricepoint of $1,095.00.

Specs:
Edition: Brompton B75
Handlebar Type: Classic M type (1015mm)
Gears: 3-speed
Mudguards type: E type (no mudguards, no rack)
Frame Material: Steel
Main Frame Color: Water Blue
Extremities Color: Water Blue
Gear Ratio: -12% gearing as standard
Saddle: B75 saddle
Seatpost: Extended (inside leg up to 35 inches)
Lighting: Reflectors only
Tyres: Schwalbe Marathon Racer without reflective tape
Pedals: non-folding pedals
Folded dimensions: 645mm (H) x 585mm (W) x 270mm (D) (22.2” x 23” x 10.6”)
Weight (approx.): 25 lbs
Note: B75 is compatible with Mudguards, battery lights, folding pedal, front carrier block and a telescopic seatpost which can be purchased separately.

See more of these beautiful, efficient, and space-saving bikes at Brompton. By the way, we love this color so much…

A Look at the New Agave Products Handlebar Bag: the Arroyo Backpack

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A Look at the New Agave Products Handlebar Bag: the Arroyo Backpack

One of the joys this website has brought me over the years is helping out small companies jettison their products into the world. From component manufacturers, apparel brands, frame builders, and yes, bag makers, there’s something special about watching a brand bloom over time and having been a part of that process. Last week, I met this fella named Jeff at Sincere Cycles where he showed me a new prototype bag he’s developing under the moniker Agave Products called the Arroyo Backpack.

Jeff and Agave are based in Austin, Texas, my old stomping grounds, and so this project plucked at my heartstrings a bit. Read on for a more in-depth look at the Arroyo Backpack…

Hybrid Moments with Commencal’s Fast City Bike or FCB

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Hybrid Moments with Commencal’s Fast City Bike or FCB

What makes a bike an appropriate city bike? Commencal, known for their mountain bikes, just announced a flat bar “Fast City Bike”, built around SRAM’s Apex group, disc brakes, and rolling on an 6061 T6 aluminum frame. The FCB will fit 50mm tires too! So what makes this a city bike and not a gravel bike or a touring bike? That’s up for you to decide. At $1,099, the FCB is an interesting option for all three options! Check out more info at Commencal.

The Velo Orange Neutrino Mini Velo is Available for Pre-Order

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The Velo Orange Neutrino Mini Velo is Available for Pre-Order

Remember that big-tire, mini-velo that Spencer Harding took on a packrafting trip in NYC with? The Velo Orange Neutrino is a mini bike with big possibilities and these frames are arriving to Velo Orange mid-February, so they opened up the pre-order today. For $695, you get the frameset, which features:

-4130 double butted chromoly frame and fork that accepts fenders and rack.
-Unicrown fork with accommodations for FendersRandonneur Rack, and even a Mojave Cage or a bikepacking-style cage.
-Seattube, downtube, and under-downtube bottle cage mounts.
-406 Bead Seat Diameter wheel size. That’s BMX, so high-quality rims and tires are cheap, plentiful, and strong.
-Clearance for 2.3″ tires WITH fenders. Holy cow!
-Sliding, 135mm QR dropouts for geared, single speed, or internally geared hubs.
-Disc brake mounts (POST rear, IS front). We suggest 160mm rotors.
-Full length, external cable routing.
-1 1/8″ threadless steerer.
-31.6mm seatpost, compatible with external droppers.
-Paint is Cool Gray with Galactic Glitter.

Philly Bike Expo: Zukas Cycles City Singlespeed

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Philly Bike Expo: Zukas Cycles City Singlespeed

Nate from Augusta, Georgia’s Zukas Cycles brought this stunning city singlespeed to the Philly Bike Expo this year, with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a show bike, but with durability for actual wear and tear in mind. Disc brakes, fenders and all the accouterment a gnarly North Eastern all-weather cyclist would demand but with looks and style in mind.

Rawson’s Schwinn Le Tour Gateway Bike

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Rawson’s Schwinn Le Tour Gateway Bike

Gateway bikes. We’ve all had one. You know, that first bike that got you hooked on riding bikes and expanded your horizon into the world of cycling. When the fixed gear craze was sweeping cities all over the world, Rawson bought this Schwinn Le Tour while he was living in Ohio. He immediately converted it to a fixed gear, stripping the bike of all the necessary components, as per the norm at the time and rode it like that for a few years before eventually buying a road bike, then a gravel bike, and a mountain bike.

Curtis Inglis’ 2010 Oregon Manifest Retrotec City Bike

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Curtis Inglis’ 2010 Oregon Manifest Retrotec City Bike

Way back in 2010, an event called the Oregon Manifest pinged a selection of frame builders to solve common usage problems with bikes. This included cargo carrying specifications ranging from the large and out of the ordinary, to the simple task of carrying a change of clothes. It just so happened that in 2010, the Oregon Manifest’s task was to carry just that. For Retrotec and Inglis Cycles‘ Curtis Inglis, he approached this challenge by first looking for inspiration within his own shop.

Curtis had this Salsa quill stem, back when they were made in California in the shop of Ross Shafer, whos shop, and employees, like Sean Walling influenced Curtis’ own frame building operations. We’ll look at that more in-depth tomorrow. For now, let’s focus on this bike. So there he was, with this stem that needed a home. He had an idea of what the frame was supposed to look like and pinged his buddy Jeff Hantman to make some half wheel fenders with the Retrotec “guy,” smiling on the back and a halftone fade.

As for the frame, well, that’s the easy part for Curtis. He got to work, knowing the design challenges of the frame including the need to carry a spare change of clothes for the party after the show, perhaps harkening to the need for commuters to have nice “work” clothing once they’ve rolled into their office job. Curtis brought white loafers, a pair of plaid pants that he converted into nickers. He then had Travis at Freight Baggage to include the scraps of plaid into the rack bag still being used on the bike today. Curtis even painted the Pass and Stow rack to match! Chuey even made a cycling cap of this material. Bottom line: Curtis thought out all the details for this bike, including many of his friend’s work in his final product.

This bike has a new use now; Curtis carries their dog Coco around town with his wife on their city cruises. I wish I could have gotten a photo of that during my stay, but Curtis had his hands full with unexpected life events.

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Follow Retrotec on Instagram.

Carlos’ Spectre Fab Commuter with Sim Works Fun 3 Bars

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Carlos’ Spectre Fab Commuter with Sim Works Fun 3 Bars

Sometimes, you come across a part and literally imagine a bike that would best suit it. This mindset seems backwards but it happens all the time. People justify a complete bicycle over a vintage French chainguard or a set of fenders, I’ve even seen people obsess over a crankset, yet in this case, it was the Sim Works Fun 3 bars that got Carlos‘ brain ticking over a bike. Having extensive experience fabricating bicycle frames, he found himself in the unique position to begin making his own bikes. It’s one of those things where if he had more free time, it probably would have already happened, but having to work full-time as a fabricator has put a damper on his plans of launching a company. For now, all he has is a name, a direction, and this bike.

Spectre Fab will eventually be a no-nonsense, tig-welded, custom and stock frame company specializing in bikes that like to get thrashed and used, not abused. This bike, in particular, is meant to handle like a fun, zippy track bike but with gears, bigger tires and yeah, the unique and fun riding position of the Fun 3 bars.

Carlos has taken this bike all over the dirt roads in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and then some. It’s his go-to commuter, cutty singletrack machine, with plenty of details to make even someone like me spend extensive time investigating it, piece by piece. I love bikes like this because ultimately, it’s their owners who have the idea, but it’s the bike that does all the talking.

Keep an eye on the Radavist for future updates as events warrant on Spectre Fab.

Don’t Call it a Cross Bike: the Caletti Scrambler Flat Bar City Shredder

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Don’t Call it a Cross Bike: the Caletti Scrambler Flat Bar City Shredder

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.

Rick Hunter’s Trusty Rusty Singlespeed Cruiser

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Rick Hunter’s Trusty Rusty Singlespeed Cruiser

Bumping into Rick Hunter in Santa Cruz, you never know what you’re going to get. In terms of his bike anyway. You’ll always get a smile, a handshake, an offer of a beer or a piece of fruit. Rick’s full of surprises and sometimes, that means he’s riding a beast you’ve never seen before. One made from steel, in his shop, where he painstakingly hand mitered the tubes and milled out random bits of hardware. This rusty singlespeed cruiser has been around the block over the years, first being handed off to Cameron Falconer and eventually it rolled back into Rick’s possession where he recently just rebuilt new wheels for it.

It looks like a hunk of metal from afar, but upon further inspection you can really see the thoughtfulness that went into its design. My first thoughts were how even though this was one of Rick’s early bikes, it still looks strikingly similar to the Bushmaster we saw last year around this time. Ok, maybe it’s not that similar, but the lines of these two bikes are undeniably a Hunter Cycles creation.

Thanks for the nectarine and chats Rick! See ya again soon.

Edit: the gallery is fixed. Sorry about that!