The Radavist

October will be here before you know it and with it, comes Grinduro, a different kind of bike race. After my pre-ride photoshoot, one thing became evident: the best rig for this race is a cross bike. Don’t even try to ride a road bike, because you’ll be walking and if you ride a MTB, you might clock in a better time on the descents, but there’s a 25 mile climb.

When Giro announced the Grinduro, Santa Cruz framebuilder John Caletti of Caletti Cycles began working on a cyclocross bike for the event. With bent seat stays, clearances for a 40mm tire, disc brakes and no-rattle housing, this bike is the ideal weapon for a day filled with Sierra Nevada gravel and crag.

My favorite detail on this frame in particular however is the Geoff McFetridge artwork. The evil mountain awaits and Grinduro is coming… Best get your rig ready.

To commemorate their new ultralight Addict cyclocross bike, Scott Sports had Marcel Wildhaber’s special edition bike on display at their Sea Otter Classic booth. While the production Addict touts the same frame details, the paint job on this one was too good to pass up on… more. camo.

The Addict CX is being marketed as one of the lightest framesets on the market. Weighing in at a cool 1300g (frame and fork), it’s a claim that’s easily backed up. With internal routing for everything, including a dropper post, thru-axles and a removable front derailleur clamp, the Addict CX’s minimal profile is both appealing to those obsessive mechanics, as it is to racers.

While the production Addict comes with clinchers, Marcel’s bike had some juicy FMB tubies glued up, providing that last little bit of flair to an already sick race machine. There’s more information to come on the Addict CX at Scott Sports and more photos in the Gallery!

Since the beginning, Rick at D&D Cycles has painted the Ritchey frames that found their way to him, including the popular Commando mountain bikes. This irregular pattern was something that the Ritchey factory overseas couldn’t emulate, so the team brought this new Swiss Cross straight to D&D Cycles for the appropriate treatment.

For 2015, Ritchey will now offer up any steel frameset with this paint option. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got an older Swiss Cross or a new Break-away, any of their steel frames can be painted like the old Commandos. Simply contact them for more information.

See more photos of this beaut in the Gallery.

When you ride a 44cm cyclocross bike, there aren’t many options out there. In fact, a lot of riders will opt for a 26″ mountain frame, which limits tire selections for ‘cross. For Lori, she wanted a cyclocross frame that would fit a fat tire and most importantly, fit her, while keeping true to the 700c wheel.

Builder Nao Tomii of Tomii Cycles wanted to take advantage of the extreme sloping top tube by making this cross bike look like a drop bar 29r mountain bike. Since a lot of people prefer their cross frames a bit smaller than their road frames, this one comes in a tad under 44cm. With 150mm Rotor cranks and Shimano Ultegra hydro disc brakes, Lori has absolute control over her bike. In fact, she’s already started riding trails on it here in Austin.

Personally, this is where custom frames triumph and when they look this good, who can argue with that? Check out this testimonial on Lori’s Instagram account.

Props to the mechanics at Mellow Johnny’s for building such a stellar rig for Lori and a huge high five goes to Nao at Tomii Cycles for building such a rad frame.

Ian Stowe is a shredmeister. A true Radavist. He races cross for Rock Lobster, works for Santa Cruz Bicycles and spends some time as a model for Giro (that’s him at the top of the site). This past weekend, while on a super super secret outing, I got to spend a lot of time in the saddle with the dude (Like, 25 miles of high Sierra uphill saddle time) and a lot of time looking at this stunning Rock Lobster disc cross bike.

I don’t know what’s better, the bike by itself, or the complete package, paired with those House Industries bidons… At any rate, check out more photos in the Gallery and stay tuned for more information on our outing last weekend.

Mo, or “Meaux”, Bruno Roy was at the 2015 Cyclocross Nationals here in Austin, where I shot her Mudhoney Pro cross bike. Then, with all the madness that ensued after the postponement of the main event, I totally blanked on posting the photos.

That is until the news yesterday that Mo had retired from professional cyclocross racing. While she won’t be hanging up cross racing all together, her days of UCI events have come to a close. Now, I’ve only met Mo once but she seems like the type of person who is riding bikes for the love of the sport. Her and her husband Matt were so kind and generous, I can’t see her disappearing from their local New England scene. What I’m saying is, I doubt this is the last time you’ll be seeing this bike!

For more news on Mo’s retirement, head over to VeloNews and for more photos of this slick, titanium and carbon Mudhoney Pro, check out the Gallery.

Moots have been making moves over the past year to redefine some of their lineup. Their Psychlo X got an overhaul and inspired the Routt, which then spawned the Routt 45 and while that might be exactly what you want, or need, they also offer custom designs.

This all-road is one of those custom designs and it features one hell of a build kit. That super tricked out ENVE GRD fork made its first appearance on this bike, as well as those new 12mm thru-axle King hubs (more to come on those). One other detail worth noting is the prototype ENVE seat post, with a double clamp mechanism – a vast improvement over the current design.

Overall, this was my favorite titanium bike at the show because it not only looks capable, it looks confident.

Shouts to Mike Cherney for making every. single. one. of those Moots head badges by hand!

Casey Sussman from Mars Cycles‘ work has been featured here on the site before. Coincidentally, it was during last year’s NAHBS that I bumped into him on the street and shot his track bike. This year, he had a booth in the “rookie” hall and brought this icy cross bike.

With paint by Jordan Low, leather work by Mark Christian Bolick of Suture Saddles and a mix of Columbus tubing, including a stainless downtube with stainless blades, Casey’s work really stood out in the hall. Maybe that’s what landed him the People’s Choice award?

Max Lundbeck brought a rather unique bike to NAHBS this year. A cross bike for himself, this vibrant rig represents his Swedish heritage. His family has a tradition, a heritage box, which represents each male in their family that has had a son. This box dates back to 1797 and its latest entry is Max’s own son.

These names are painted on the seat tube and the frame itself is adorned in the Swedish flag’s colors. For the build itself, Max wanted a cross bike that he could commute on. Hence the fender stand-offs, eating up some of that extra clearance.

Campagnolo Chorus with a Shimano top pull, Brooks Cambium saddle and bar wrap, along with Ruffy Tuffy tires mean this race-ready rig will be rolling smooth year round.

Say, for argument’s sake, that you’re the owner of Henry James Bicycles, the main supplier of True Temper tubing, various lugs and tools. You know just about every framebuilder in the USA and have seen their work in great detail. So when it comes to select a builder to construct your dream bike, who do you call?

For Hank from Henry James, he looked to Santa Barbara’s Stinner Frameworks. When he found out about the beloved Mudfoot cyclocross bikes, he wanted in, but not being on the team, Aaron and painter Jordan Low designed Hank his own paint job.

Arguably my favorite from Low, this bike has pizzaz. With matte and glossy notes, a pearl top coat and yes, stripes with fades, Hank’s bike is a show stopper. SRAM Red 22, Chris King, ENVE and cyclocross tires with minimal tread will take on the fire roads, trails and tracks surrounding Henry James’ facilities in SoCal.

In fact, this bike looks so damn good, I might have to visit them to see it in the wild… If you’re at NAHBS, swing by the Henry James booth at #636 to see it in person.

Entry Level Fun on the State Thunderbird ‘Cross
Words by Andre Chelliah, Photos by John Watson

I see it all the time at the bike shop I work at. A young, college-aged kid comes into the store and strolls the aisles. They take in the smells, sights, and sounds of cycling. They have just seen the newest Svenness video and are ready and stoked to dip their toes into the timeless obsession that is bike racing. Then, they flip over a price tag and that excitement quickly turns into a nearly impossible math problem- how can I afford to pay for school as well as buy a quality bike to race on? This sentiment resonates strongly with me.

Being a student at The University of Texas and racing bikes on the weekends, there are times when I have to pick between textbooks and race fees. In an area where collegiate teams are not extremely supported or competitive in disciplines other than road racing, the best thing to do is pay your own way through the cross or track season. When Mehdi from State Bicycle Co asked me to shred on The Thunderbird, their $1000 singlespeed ‘cross bike, I was ecstatic to have time with a bike that could be a buy for new racers looking for something with quality, style, and affordability.