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The 2017 NAHBS coincided with the 25th anniversary of Sycip Designs. Jeremy knew he had to do something special for the showcase, so in the spirit of Sycip number one, which we saw in detail yesterday, he pinged his brother Jay Sycip, who works at Chris King, to come down to Santa Rosa and do something special…
While we tend to see a lot of experimentation with MTB geometry, specifically hardtails here on The Radavist, I feel like the good ol’ all-road and ‘cross bike geometries, for the most part, stay mostly the same. Sure, head tubes might steepen or slacken a half or so degree, and bottom bracket height can vary, along with seat tube angle, but for the most part, these bikes all look similar in profile. Is it a by-product of design perfection or longevity? Who knows but the bottom line is; I rarely see a road bike geometry that piques my interest and begs the question; I wonder how THAT rides.
Then Adam Sklar sent me an email, asking if I had any desire to review one of his “team” MX all road bikes. I glanced at the geometry, saw the top tube length and thought it was going to be too long for me, especially for how I’d use it. Adam informed me of this bike’s design philosophy, which is part ‘cross geo and part modern MTB. Paradoxically, in short, Adam lengthened the bike’s top tube, slackened the head tube and lowered the bottom bracket. The bike is designed to run a shorter stem, a 70mm, versus a 110mm and with a longer head tube, puts the riding position a bit more upright.
Photos by Dave Lehl
Josh Culbertson from Avery County Cycles recently completed a gorgeous 1×11 disc cross bike for a customer. Like a lot of Josh’s bikes, there’s a story behind this one. The client’s grandparents worked for and collected Viking Snowmobiles in northwestern Minnesota, so you’ll catch insignia from Viking on the bike, as well as a Viking-inspired paint job.
Made from True Temper with internal routing and painted by Jordan Low, this lightweight steel bike has a mean stance and will stop just fine in whatever conditions you throw at it. For wheels, King R45D to carbon hoops were spec’d and built by Magnetic Wheel Co.
See more below.
It’s wild out here. Ben from Argonaut has been developing a disc-version of his road frame, with a slightly different geometry suited for off-road / gravel riding. The Rouge Roubaix is the first testing ground for the bikes. More to come, including race coverage and a story about the design process that went into the disc bike.
Follow @Argonautcycles and myself on Instagram for more throughout the weekend.
