The Radavist

FBM has been working on their Raconteur city bikes for a while now. As a small, independently owned, domestic production bicycle company, it’s hard to front all the money up front for a full size run, so they’re taking pre-orders via a Kickstarter campaign. Pricing is more than fair, at $750 for a frame and completes ranging from $1700 to $2,360 so if you want to place an order, do so now!

Expected delivery is March 2015. These look great guys!

Let’s face it, commuting wear has come a long way in the past few years and Rapha always delivers…

Yesterday, we took a look inside the workspace of Brian from Chapman Cycles and today, I see this gorgeous fendered commuter up on the Chapman Flickr. There are so many beautiful details on this frame, that you’ll have to go see them for yourself.

These videos are always simple ways of representing that new bike feeling… Also, dig through the archives and catch the Yamaguchi Experience by the same author.

Photo by Eric Baumann

A porteur bike is a great companion for city riding. Loaded or unloaded, it’s nestled in a sweet spot of trail and will quickly become your favorite all-arounder. I’m sure that’s what Ruth will find out soon enough with her new Royal H Cycles! See more at the Royal H Flickr.

Looking for a touring rig for under $1,300? Check out Fairdale’s new Drop Weekender. Like all of their 2015 bikes, they’ve written up an explanation on the Fairdale Blog. For a play by play of this bike’s bells and whistles (just kidding, it doesn’t come with a bell or a whistle), head over and check it out.

My favorite is still the Goodship!

Here’s yet another profile in the Levi’s Commuter series. It’s nice to see Levi’s stepping it up this year with these videos. If you missed Tyrone’s from the Scraper Bike Movement you should give that a watch!

Hey, every single vote counts. It appears that Teague x Sizemore won the 2014 Oregon Manifest Bike Design Project!

“Voters have spoken and declared Seattle’s Denny the winner of the Bike Design Project’s design/build competition!  The Denny wowed voters with its ingenious handlebar lock design, unique fender system, automatic shifting and modern styling.

What an amazing week!  We received over 136,000 visitors during our seven day voting period;  viewers from all over the world have seen our five entry bikes. (Hello Denmark!)

Thanks to everyone who voted and sent us enthusiastic comments – all five of the Bike Design Project bikes have received an avalanche of praise and admiration.  Watch their videos here to revisit their many features.

Our manufacturing partner Fuji Bikes will be taking the Denny into production – in the future, you can own a Denny!”

Congrats to Teague and Sizemore! I can’t wait to see these bikes rolling into production.

Admittingly, I was first drawn to the Teague x Sizemore because of the overall frame design, but after really looking at all the details, I’m sold. While the handlebars might not be the most comfortable (looking), the lockbar combination is brilliant, as are the fenders. Those two details alone sold me on the design, because that’s what the Oregon Manifest has always been about: innovation.

The rest of the bikes have some clever details, like the Pensa + Horse Cycles expanding rack, but the Sizemore developed a few details that I could see catching on in the industry.

Seriously Taylor, you should send a set of those fenders to Bicycle Quarterly… Cast YOUR vote at the Bike Design Contest site and see some more details of the Teague x Sizemore design below.

This year, the Oregon Manifest changed gears into the Bike Design Project. The idea was simple: five cities, five builders and five design offices would propose, construct and test a bicycle that was born from the DNA of their city’s unique demands.

Chicago’s MNML x Method Bicycle is pictured above, see the rest below and head over to the Bike Design Project to cast your vote. Which one do you think is my favorite?

While N+1 may be the theme around here these days (so many bikes!), I love seeing projects like this coming from the 44 Bikes workshop. Murdered-out cross bikes with disc brakes and SRAM Force 11-speed look great, especially with big tires for shredding, but let’s be honest, there’s no sense in forgetting that these bikes make great commuters as well.

See more photos below and thanks to Kris from 44 Bikes for sending this project over!

Levis is continuing their Commuter campaign by profiling people who commute by and use the bike in the city.