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Greggy’s Cherubim Racer Road with Campagnolo EPS

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Greggy’s Cherubim Racer Road with Campagnolo EPS

Greggy’s Cherubim Racer Road with Campagnolo EPS
Photos by Kyle Kelley, words by Greggy San Pablo

When Kyle reached out to Greggy for the back-story on how this gorgeous Cherubim Racer Road came to be, he answered in such a manner that was just too good to chop up or paraphrase, so here it is, albeit slightly edited down for content.

So… Why a Cherubim and what inspired this bike?

“Well, the choice took a forever for many reasons, but I’ll condense it for you…The Cinelli Laser and several NJS frames are my favorite frames to gawk at. If a Cinelli Laser and a 3Rensho had a baby, that was the style of frame I wanted built. I started looking for frame builders in 2012 and came across Shin-Ichi Konno’s builds on the NAHBS 2013 webpage. The Cherubim racer prototype at the 2013 NAHBS was almost exactly what I imagined. Through emails I communicated with Keigo at Cherubim to have one built. I sent my measurements, the geometries of the bicycles I ride most and find most comfortable before being confirmed for a build in December 2013. Hopefully, on my birthday.

The frame was designed to have a sloping top tube with an integrated stem but my frame size would be too small for an integrated stem. I elected for the traditional top tube without the integrated stem and to have the frame built specifically for the Version 2 Campagnolo EPS group. The most difficult decision was choosing a paint scheme. After three months of being indecisive I decided to have them chose it for me. Then a few weeks later I came across this iridescent purple and blue Bridgestone. I sent the pictures to Keigo and I was told Bridgestone possesses that color, so the frame was sent to their facility for paint.

I got the frame December 2014 and finished the build May 2015. The final product looks more like the child of a Cinelli Laser and Bridgestone Anchor, which isn’t a bad thing, right??”

Greggy, that is definitely not a bad thing!

____

Follow Kyle on Instagram and Greggy on Instagram

Building Culture at the Vancouver Frame Builders Show

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Building Culture at the Vancouver Frame Builders Show

Building Culture at the Vancouver Frame Builders Show

Words by Mathew Braun
Photos by Stefan Feldmann

Vancouver has a significant place within the world of North American hand built bicycles. There is much debate surrounding the origins of the mountain bike, but few will argue that the frames built in Vancouver during the late ’80s and early ’90s didn’t direct the state of downhill mountain biking significantly.

Once again the city’s frame builders are demonstrating their ability to craft intentional and beautiful bicycles. My desire to organize this show was in part driven by curiosity: I wanted to know who else was building frames in the area. I firmly believe that the growth of culture starts with a strong community, and for that community to take root you gotta make shit happen.

On Thursday, September 10th, a group of nine frame builders local to the Vancouver area gathered at Musette Caffé for the first annual Vancouver Frame Builders Show. A collection of lugged, fillet brazed, and tig welded frames donned the floor as master, young, and new builders demonstrated their craft.

Field Cycles and ENVE

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Field Cycles and ENVE

This year for Eurobike, ENVE contacted one of their favorite British frame builders to design a bike for their booth. Harry from Field Cycles is best known (over here in the US anyway) for bright paint and his unique tubing selection. Both of which were turned a few notches for this unique bike.

Check out more photos and full tubing specs below!

Barry and His Stinner Disc All-Road with Ultegra Di2

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Barry and His Stinner Disc All-Road with Ultegra Di2

“Il Faut Toujours Souffrir.”

That’s what’s painted on the top tube of Barry’s Stinner disc all-road frame. Roughly translating to “we must always suffer,” this saying acts as not only a motivation for Barry on rides, but as a reminder as to what cycling means to him in relation to life. Nothing good comes easy.

Barry‘s an illustrator, a typographer, a graphic designer and in Los Angeles, that means freelance. It takes a certain soul to be a freelancer in LA. You’ve got to hustle, be on your game at all times and yes, sometimes suffer the ups and downs of the creative economy. That means some weeks, months, years, you’re on your game and others you’re not. It all takes sacrifice.

Eric’s Gilded Speedvagen Rugged Road

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Eric’s Gilded Speedvagen Rugged Road

“The unicorn is a legendary animal that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. The unicorn was depicted in ancient seals of the Indus Valley Civilization and was mentioned by the ancient Greeks in accounts of natural history by various writers, including Ctesias, Strabo, Pliny the Younger, and Aelian. The Bible also describes an animal, the re’em, which some translations have erroneously rendered with the word unicorn.” Wikipedia

While this bike isn’t as rare as a unicorn (my uncle saw one once in West Virginia on a bootleggin’ run), it’s safe to say that we’d all rather ride atop this bicycle, over a smelly horse with a horn.

Eric is a lucky sonofagun. After having his bike taken from him, he used his insurance money, along with money he had saved up for a custom bike to put a deposit down on a Speedvagen Rugged Road.

Low Bicycles: MK1 Road in Stock Now

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Low Bicycles: MK1 Road in Stock Now

San Francisco’s Low Bicycles is finally hitting full-on production on their aluminum MK1 road frames. Each frame is made by hand in SF and is available in three color options: orange paint with black decals, black paint with raw decals and black paint with orange decals.

As an introductory offer, Andrew is selling the first 20 frames at a 20% discount – that’s $1,600 for a frame. If you’re looking for a new road frame, you should check these frames out. See more at Low Bicycles.

Pretty in Grimy Pink Stinner Roadie

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Pretty in Grimy Pink Stinner Roadie

Pretty in Grimy Pink Stinner Roadie
Photos by Kyle Kelley, words by John Watson

Ride Jah Bike!

Custom frames aren’t to be babied, or coddled, no matter how pretty they may be. Pink bikes especially. Now, the common misconception about pink bikes is that they don’t get thrashed; they’re too delicate. Like a flower. Or an orchid. Or a rare flower orchid that only blooms once every 20 years like that one in Dennis the Menace. Andrew, (@Moon_Raccoon) doesn’t care about babying anything. He bought a custom road bike from Aaron Stinner because when the rowdiness is happening, he wants it to fit like a glove.

Built with the usual suspects round these parts: a casual mix of SRAM, Thomson, King, Brooks and some nice, hand built wheels. While you might think this bike is a fashion statement, I can assure you this one is all about thrashin.

Less fashion, more thrashin.

____

Follow Kyle on Instagram and Andrew on Instagram.

Chris’ Dark Horse Icarus Commuter

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Chris’ Dark Horse Icarus Commuter

Part commuter, part touring bike, beautiful functionality with that Icarus flair.

Chris wanted a bike that did all of the above. Having already commissioned Ian to build him a matte black road bike, he knew exactly what he wanted in a commuter. Tubus titanium racks, SON hub, Edelux lamp, Chris King, Paul components, custom painted Berthoud fenders, Swift Industries panniers, Jack Brown Blues and White Industries cranks, all being operated by SRAM’s XO long cage rear derailleur and barcons.

A lot of the parts selection was informed by my Geekhouse when Chris was selecting his kit. Dependability was the most important issue yet as we said earlier, it needed to be beautifully functional.

Maybe he’ll have time to get out on a tour? Or maybe it’ll just serve him as it has for the past year as a commuter for Austin, TX.

The poll is in and we have a winner… Get Ian from Icarus Frames to build you a winner by contacting him.

44 Bikes Looks at XTR and XX1 in Detail

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44 Bikes Looks at XTR and XX1 in Detail

Rivalries between component manufacturers are ongoing. When SRAM introduced XX1 a few years back, they made quite the stir yet die hard Shimano loyalists were still uninterested. For people like Kris at 44 Bikes, riding as many different setups as possible helps him better understand his client’s needs, which is why he took a look at XX1 versus XTR on his site. Head over to 44 Bikes to check it out.

Saila Titanium Road

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Saila Titanium Road

It’s happened. The locals of Austin, Texas have embraced Lauren from Saila, the woman who welded for Seven Cycles in Boston for years, laying down tight weld lines over even tighter mitres.

Saila makes performance steel and titanium bikes ranging from “all-road” to cross and road. This bike in particular is a perfect example of a guy who wanted something special, yet didn’t want to splurge on componentry. Rather than dropping a couple grand on new parts, he built this race bike up with old parts left over from previous bikes.

Titanium is a medium that yields classic beauty without the need of expensive paint, or even expensive parts. Holler at Lauren if you’d like her to create a piece of work like this!

Ti is Forever: Zach’s Litespeed Road

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Ti is Forever: Zach’s Litespeed Road

Ok, mayyybe not forever, but at least a couple of generations.

Not everyone has the budget for a titanium road bike and not every titanium road bike needs to have thru-axles, discs, a 44mm headtube, internal Di2 wiring and other, what many would consider, modern essentials. For Zach, he desired the durability, liveliness and overall feel of titanium to tackle the climbs found in the hills and mountains of Los Angeles.

Originally, this bike had a garish paint job, with a LOOK fork and a mix of components, which Zach slowly replaced over time before stripping the paint to the frame’s bare metal. After ditching the fork, he swapped in a Chris King Ti headset and a Wound Up, one of the better riding 1 1/8″ carbon forks on the market.

This bike is a total sleeper. It’s got a little bit of flash where it matters and for a production bike from Litespeed, has a great deal of frame details including that seat tube cutout.

Titanium road bikes are beautiful, but Zach’s has a story and a process as evident in the final product.

Geekhouse Bikes: Deb’s Woodville Rohloff Tourer

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Geekhouse Bikes: Deb’s Woodville Rohloff Tourer


Photos by Heather McGrath

Being a returning Geekhouse customer myself, I can identify with this bike. Deb wanted the ultimate city/touring bike, sparing no details. She already has a Geekhouse Mudville ‘cross bike, but wanted a dedicated tourer for the long haul and around town commuting.

This one’s got it all. Racks, fenders, generator lamps and a mean parts list. Not to mention paint designed by Adria Klora, and then painted by Rudi at Gold Coast Cycles. It’s one of the most complicated bikes I’ve ever seen come from the Geekhouse shop.

Check out the full build kit and more photos below.

Chris Bishop’s Personal Road Bike

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Chris Bishop’s Personal Road Bike



Photos by Keith Trotta

For those who like insightful information from the world of frame building need to check this out…

“My personal bikes are always a testing ground for me, not only for parts but also frame tubing, forks, and frame building components. This bike has modern carbon bars, seat post, which I have not ridden before, and a modern 1.0 ENVE fork, so I wanted to see how they felt compared to the aluminum bars/post and steel (fork) that I have been riding recently.

The frame is also much stiffer than my traditional road bike with a 35 mm double oversized down tube and custom-tapered 28.6-31.7 mm seat and top tube. This allows for a standard 27.2 seat post, which is more common and comfortable than the odd 30.6 post the 31.7 seat tube requires.”

Continue reading and see more photos at the Bishop Bikes Flickr.