The Radavist

When I was in Brooklyn, this Surly Steamroller caught my eye one morning. The “battleship grey” models were my favorites and I always wanted one. This was before they got rid of the curvy stays and went onto the “poop brown” color that I had. Surly Steamrollers are still, to this day one of the best street fixed gears you can buy. Big tires, set up perfectly for SS CX and tough as hell.

This one however, was perfection. Gold Campagnolo BMX cranks, townie bars, big tires and from the looks of the empty Corona bottle, it’s an ideal party bike. Unfortunately, a rather surly truck driver parked in front of it before I could get a better shot of the pista cranks but so it goes.

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I met Khalil while I was in Sydney a few months ago but I met this bike at the 2011 Philly Bike Expo. When he found out I was in Australia, he wanted to meet up and I offered to shoot some more photos of his Bishop flatbar fixed gear. It’s still in immaculate condition. Khalil takes it out when he can and rides the coastal roads with. You already know how partial I am to Chris Bishop’s work and this bike shows a different side to his work.

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You might recognize this bike from the profile I did on Seth Rosko and Johnny Coast a few years back. The Atavistic Urge was a video Sara Kinney and I worked on, showcasing the two Brooklyn framebuilders. At the time, Seth had just gotten this bike back from paint and was anxious to build it up. Now, almost two years later, Seth’s been putting in miles on his bike. This simple street fixed setup is one to drool over, especially when it comes to that paint!

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Dan Chabanov has won the Red Hook Crit for the third time, meaning he now has three prize bikes. Each year, Cinelli donates a complete build to the winner and year after year, the bikes keep getting better. The 2012 trophy bike was already in King Kog‘s window when I went by on Sunday, so I took it out for some lens love.

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Yesterday was a blast. As I was getting my coffee in the morning, a young man came flying up the sidewalk yelling “Checkpoint!”. Immediately, I thought there was a race. Turns out, he was lost, so I followed him all over the city looking for the an alleycat. We stopped everywhere looking for fliers or information. Chari, Continuum, all the shops downtown. While we were in the city, I headed up to meet Daniel from Search and State and then we blasted 7th avenue with a group of guys from LA and SF before heading back to Brooklyn.

Riding a track bike in NYC is a buzz like none other and these photos came out sick.

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I rolled up to Affinity yesterday and came across this site: Hern and Steve’s Cinelli Mash Histograms, 69’ing with each other on a parking meter. Everyone knows these two: they’re #FixieFamous. I feel like this year’s Red Hook Crit attendance is off the walls.

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Yes, steel is real but traveling with a bike on some airlines is too rich for my budget. Knowing it would cost me over $100 to fly back and forth from NYC with my Icarus, I emailed Jason from Affinity and asked if he had a loaner bike. He replied, saying I could ride a Affinity Kissena Velo Fund bike. As he handed it over, I realized I could come under fire for riding, wait for it… aluminum! Truth be told, I raced a Felt TK2 at Kissena and while I prefer steel frames, I’m not gonna pass up riding a mean racing machine like a Kissena as a loaner in NYC.

I won’t get into why I don’t like aluminum here because the purpose of this post is to thank Affinity for all the support over the years. The Kissena is a racing machine and it’s fun to ride on the street, especially with a spinny gear and wide risers. How many of you own these bikes? What do you think of them?

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In the waining hours of daylight today, I met up with long-time friend Dan Chabanov. In the past few years, I’ve watched and admired Dan’s progress as he’s grown to what I’ll call a professional cyclist (read: PRO). While he competes actively in the road circuits, Dan’s most known for being an ATMO racer. His past season for Richard Sachs earned him much-deserved respect in the cross circuits and I felt like, the whole time, I was living through reading his race reports on Bonedeth.

A few months back, Adam of Stanridge Speed offered to send Dan a Highstreet Low Pro to race at the 2012 Red Hook Crit. Knowing that Dan is of “racer pedigree”, Adam knew if he got his bike under his, well, uhh, taint?, he’d receive some great PR&D, as well as exposure. Let’s face it, the Red Hook Crit is the premiere track bike crit and Dan is indeed #fixiefamous. I shot this bike in very little light and complete darkness, all handheld, at apertures I’ve learned to avoid, so please excuse the shallow depth of field.

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