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I’m a diehard fan of tough and playful hardtails. My affinity probably started with an invincible brick of a Schwinn BMX back when I was 13. It eventually evolved—I ditched my full suspension bike for the first generation of Surly’s infamous Krampus, morphed into the slacker front and tighter rear of a Carver Gnarvester, eloped with Tony’s personal Breadwinner Goodwater for a week, and then fell in love with Cjell Monē’s La Roca.
Summer is here and with it, road trips! On our recent romp throughout the American West, we found ourselves driving through the little town of Dolores, Colorado to refuel. Along the highway was a peculiar outpost, accompanied by an even more peculiar sign. A massive, handmade lizard, constructed from sprockets and other bicycle parts, commanding my attention as both a closet herp freak and an overt cycling freak. What on earth was this place?
Johnny Wikk, a YouTube channel with all kinds of DIY designs, just posted an informative video on how he built a cargo fork for his townie bike. What do you think of this design?
Tracklocross with Resistance Racing in the Bay Area
Photos and words by RJ Rabe
The Bay Area has long been a mecca for cycling. Road, trail, whatever. It’s here. Out your door, in any direction, and for as long as your legs can carry you. There’s a niche for everyone. A few niches probably. Enter Resistance Racing. A niche within a niche. Nick Keane and Jean Padilla, the founders of Resistance, combine their love for track bikes and the abundance of trails our city has to offer. Bummed on race fees, the travel time required for races, and the rarity of events, they decided to start hosting a series of their own in their backyard. Races take place in local parks and entry is donation-based. Courses are marked with lines drawn from bags of flour, fallen tree branches, and maybe a piece of trash or two.
This is amazing!
“If mountain bikers use saws and other tools, it’s often to create wood features in the forest. Julia Hofmann used them for a different reason, though: to finish her bachelor thesis. No, she didn’t assemble a series of wooden jumps and drops for school, but rather transformed a Series 2A Land Rover into her travelling bike caravan. Simply put, the German racer built her own dream vehicle, a two-wheeler’s four-wheeler that she’ll use to get to riding spots the world over. Below, she tells us the story of how it all came together.”
See more at Pinkbike!
Ok, this is pretty rad and while I still dig Alan’s Hail Satan Porteur, I’ll commend Tobias for keeping it DIY and letting that rack oxidize. Thanks for the heads up Alan!
Andy’s mantra “life is too short…” might be misinterpreted by those who take things at face value. It’s not a slogan for the rich, or the people who believe you can buy style, it’s the m.o. for the ones infected. A disease if you will. This disease causes you to tinker, to strip down, rebuild. To customize…
Like Andy, I myself get emails all the time from people wanting a $200 bike and occasionally, someone wanting to splurge $900 on a custom fixed gear. Now, don’t mistaken “custom” for hand-built and tailored. Custom can mean anything, really and for a perfect example, you really ought to head over to FYXO for the back story on how he built his ‘Nago for $935.
In some communities, a barn raising brings neighbors together and on the east side of Austin, it’s a mini ramp. Mike’s been going on and on about how he wants to build a mini in his backyard. Last week, he finally started it. Now, $600 into it and the mini is almost ridable. After my road ride yesterday, I went over to help him and Luke out. So far, so good!
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