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Rapha: Cross Shoes in Stock

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Rapha: Cross Shoes in Stock

Rapha’s always had a way of making something so simple look so good. I’ll admit that I was surprised to see their new Cross Shoes bring in such subtle detailing. Made by Giro, with blue and pink accents throughout, these shoes are now in stock at Rapha for $350 and free shipping.

See more photos below.

Confidence with the Wraith Fabrication Paycheck – Andre Chelliah

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Confidence with the Wraith Fabrication Paycheck – Andre Chelliah

Confidence with the Wraith Fabrication Paycheck
Words by Andre Chelliah, photos by John Watson

This is a continuation of a series of reviews, beginning with the Initial Reaction to the Wraith Fabrication Paycheck

Now, I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m not the best off-road rider, but the Wraith Fabrication Paycheck had me feeling steezy. John says “Confidence is everything” when it comes to riding off-road, and I can now attest to that. Riding a bike you’re comfortable on, brings confidence. That makes it easy to go fast and take chances.

The Radavist Labs and Product Testing

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The Radavist Labs and Product Testing

One of the things I’m trying to do here at the Radavist is get more people’s voices in the day to day content. That includes product testing, specifically bikes. This afternoon, I pulled my intern Andre out to some trails to rip on the Wraith Paycheck disc cyclocross bike.

Let’s just say, he didn’t complain! More to come…

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CX Hairs: Your Moment of SVENNESS 1.1

I wasn’t expecting this from CX Hairs:

“While we put together the next full-on SVENNESS episode, here is a bit of a return to the SVENNESS roots. For “Your Moment of SVENNESS” the idea is to take one feature on a course or one specific skill and concentrate on just that. No race recap, just an analysis of one feature.This is similar to the first six episodes of SVENNEsS from two years ago.

Your Moment of SVENNESS (YMOS) 1.1 is taken from the Super Prestige Ruddervoorde race. It looks at one of the two sets of steps on the course and the off-camber turns directly after. The discussion includes a look at different carrying techniques and then a breakdown of the run vs. ride decision.”

Blue Lug: Rew10 Works Singlespeed Cross Bike

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Blue Lug: Rew10 Works Singlespeed Cross Bike

I’ve been digging what Blue Lug has been doing with their Rew10 Works framesets and Cook paintworks, but this singlespeed cross bike is my favorite thus far. Subtle splatter paint over the tan base color and a classy steel fork really do it for me. The disc front and canti rear is clever as well.

See more from Rew 10 Works at the Blue Lug Flickr.

Wednesday Night ‘Cross Practice on Randall’s Island – Chris Lee

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Wednesday Night ‘Cross Practice on Randall’s Island – Chris Lee

Wednesday Night ‘Cross Practice on Randall’s Island, New York City
Photos and interview by Chris Lee

Ride over to soccer field 70 on Randall’s Island in New York City around 7 pm on a Wednesday and you’ll be met with bikes rolling around in grass and dirt, someone yelling “come on you can do it!” and a group of 15 or so racers running drills around cones and trees. This is the home of the weekly ‘cross practices in New York City.

Evan Murphy, a cat 2 cyclocross racer, runs these weekly practices with his teammate, Kyle Murphy, a cat 1 racer, every Wednesday on Randall’s Island. The Murphy “Brothers” bring cones and homemade barriers to run drills and mock races. These practices not only build the skills needed to become a better racer but also helps build a community of racers in a city and in a sport where stepping out of your comfort zone is the name of the game.

Now I Know Why the Industry Loves Disc Brakes on Cross Bikes

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Now I Know Why the Industry Loves Disc Brakes on Cross Bikes

So precision products like the Takara Genkai can grace the shelves of Walmart. Hey, the wheels don’t have to be even remotely true with discs, the brakes don’t need to be toe’d in and the rear triangle doesn’t have to be square, at all. They’re also cheaper to produce.

For $399, who can argue? Is it bad that I want to buy one and see how long it lasts?

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Pain is Beauty

Professional cyclists are attractive, male or female. This video focuses on the latter. Pain is beauty. Also, there’s gonna be a lot of ‘cross content this week…

We Wait All Year for This, Right?

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We Wait All Year for This, Right?

“Cross is coming” “Cross is coming”.

All year, we wait for cross reason. Truthfully, it’s the only racing I actively seek out. Sure, if there’s a MTB race nearby, I’m not going to say no, but cross is the only form of racing I truly love.

Good Luck Racing this Weekend!

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Good Luck Racing this Weekend!

Photo by Jeff Frane

Jeff has been shooting a ton of cross races this year and posting them up on Bike Jerks (yes, I pay attention to you, Jeff!) and this one photo struck me as such a rad ‘cross photo. Handups are not a crime!

I hope everyone has a blast racing this weekend.

Radar

Charge Bikes and the Velodux

What an interesting concept for a cross race. Charge Bikes recently attended the Red Bull Velodux cross race, an event that took place in Switzerland. This race ran through a town that’s probably older than the USA, up and down stairs, and through its back-alleys.

David’s Zanconato Cross Bike

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David’s Zanconato Cross Bike

David, or as many refer to him as “the Wilcox”, is a bit of a legend in the Boston-area, much like Mike Zanconato, the builder of his trusty cross bike. Since 1998, Zanconato has been building custom bicycles in Massachusetts, which is where David got this matte-black beauty.

While Tim and David were in town this week with the Rapha mobile cycle club Tillie – after a grueling drive straight from Louisville – I shot photos of his race bike, still caked with Kentucky mud. His build is steller with Chris King, CX1, Wolf Tooth and yes, a Quarq power meter.

See more in the Gallery!

Spectral Shred Machine: The Wraith Fabrication Paycheck Disc Cyclocross Bike

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Spectral Shred Machine: The Wraith Fabrication Paycheck Disc Cyclocross Bike

There’s something special happening right now within the US framebuilding industry. Something that ought not to be overlooked, no matter how too good to be true it might seem. Before we go any further however, I must make one note: a production frame is not a custom frame. There’s a misconception that everything made by a framebuilder is custom. A production run is a series of sizes, made in an assembly-line process, which drastically reduces cost on both the builder’s end and the consumer’s end.

With that come a few issues: one of which being fit and others include – often times – paint choice, or adding extras like braze-ons, pump pegs, chain holders, etc. The most important factor however is fit. Many people are driven to a framebuilder due to fit issues, but a majority of the population can be fit on a stock geometry with a series of tweaks. That said, the geometry for these stock sizes has to be able to accommodate.

Enter Wraith Fabrication, one of these new US-made production companies, headed by an existing framebuilder, Adam Eldridge of Stanridge Speed. Now, why would a framebuilder make another brand to sell bikes? Because of their construction: Wraith is tig-welded, Stanridge is fillet brazed. Adam isn’t the first fillet-braze builder to move onto a brand reliant on tig welding, either.

There exist a series of tig-only framebuilders who build production bikes for various brands, including Wraith Fabrication. Wraith now offers a disc cyclocross bike, the Paycheck and a road bike, the Hustle. These frames are built from Columbus Life tubing, with Ohio-manufactured head tube cups in Oregon and then painted or powder coated in Ohio.

Adam designed the geometries, specs and brought the project to life… using magic? Nope. Just a solid production. I got to take one of these bikes, the Paycheck disc cross bike for a series of rides over the past week. Check out an initial reaction below…

Those TCB Cyclocross Kits Look Awesome!

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Those TCB Cyclocross Kits Look Awesome!

Photos by John Daniel Reiss

In the world of cyclocross team kits, you can go a few directions. First of which being the standard issue (and most common), three or four colored panels and a bunch of sponsor logos with a pixelated team graphic. Second, you can go just plain crazy. All-over animals, cupcakes, donuts, cats, pandas, whatever. The brighter the better, more is more, instead of less is more.

From the looks of the new TCB Cyclocross kit, they went the third route: classy, with just the right amount of logos and clearly inspired by Cali surf style of the 1980’s. Now, if they only all piled into a Datsun to get to the races. Ok, or a YOTA.

See more at JDR’s Flickr!