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If you’re an aspiring framebuilder, buying all the proper equipment ain’t cheap. Luckily, the community is very supportive and in Finland, Konga Bicycles has offered up a number of free framebuilding jig files, all in DXF and STP format. Of course, this is a great resource, offered for free, but Konga is also taking donations, so be sure to help out if you have the means…
Steel is real. We all have personal paths when it comes to cycling and it’s serendipitous when our favorite bikes can adapt to align with these twists and turns within this cycling journey. My Retrotec has long been one of my favorite bikes. In the time I’ve owned it, I’ve swapped out the drivetrain, brakes, fork, wheel size, yet this latest permutation is easily the most drastic…
We previously featured Chris’ Caletti but he shot some updated photos of it in very eerie light cast due to the fires in California. We’re running this updated gallery with words by Chris himself below…
Bikes are an extension of the rider in every sense of the word. Not only do the wheels and bars act as our contact points to the terra firma, but everything becomes more than the sum of its parts. Those parts bin grips or meticulously color-matched fasteners all create a piece of rolling poetry. Found art, master-planned, functional, beautiful.
This morning Campagnolo announced their 13-speed gravel groupset dubbed Ekar and similarly, brands rolled out their build kit offerings with the new group. Sage Titanium is one of those brands and they now offer Ekar on their two gravel models, the Barlow race machine and the monster gravel machine, the Storm King. You can now build a Storm King as pictured with Ekar, a dropper, Shamal wheels, and the whole 9, err 13, for $9,500. It might not be for everyone’s budget but it sure is nice to look at! See this build in detail below and check out more at Sage Titanium.
The constant evolution of mountain bike technology over the past few years has been relentless. Mixed in with the breakneck progression comes fierce competition between the two powerhouses of component manufacturing; SRAM and Shimano. While Shimano was arguably a bit late to the 1x game when compared to SRAM’s early adoption of this technology, over the past few years they’ve proven they’re taking it seriously and have completely revamped one of their most beloved groups, Deore with trickle-down tech normally only found on the higher-priced tiers. I’ve been riding the entire M6100 kit for the past four months here in Santa Fe on my Mystic hardtail and I’m ready to talk about it, so let’s drop right in…
Firefly has really lead the way in terms of anodizing designs on their frames and in the past, we’ve seen many examples of their topography anodizing but never as expansive as this one! If you’d like to see more details of this wild piece of work, head to the Firefly Tumblr.
Most of you know I’m attracted to weirdos and eccentric people, so of course I love stopping by the BTCHN Bikes shop here in Chico to see what Tyler is welding on. He’s spent most of his life racing all types of motorcycles at insane speeds, and has been adapting the hyper-analytical engineering he’s learned in the motorized world into pedal-powered machines he pushes to equally scary speeds. He’s also one of the most enthusiastic people I’ve ever met, so imagine that he’s yelling and gesturing wildly with his hands as you read this interview about his latest prototype.
We often joke that Eagle GX killed the singlespeed MTB and by “we” I mean myself and Bailey Newbrey, someone who knows a lot about SSMTB riding and racing. Using Bailey in this opening sentence is relevant for a number of reasons and yes, it also legitimizes that statement in many ways. While this won’t be a history lesson in SSMTB riding, it does mull over the antithesis of that, SRAM’s Eagle GX drivetrain.
I’ve been riding the new Eagle GX with its massive 52t cassette for a few months now and have finally flogged it enough to be able to write an honest review of this system, so read on below.
No. 22 always dreamed of a better travel coupler system for their bikes and today, they’ve announced that dream has become a reality. This new design, combined with their “Brake Break”, which allows tools free, bleed-free disconnecting and reconnecting of the hydraulic brake line, makes No. 22 bikes even more desirable.
Watch this video for a break-down of this new system in its entirety.
This week really flew by and for today’s Readers’ Rides, we look at Sam’s Moné La Roca hardtail… Check out a full build list, with words by Sam below!
Today we dropped a big ol’ gallery of the Sierra Explorer thanks to California Travis and to compliment the photos, there’s even a video. Watch it here to give some more insight into this cool project. Remember, you can win this bike!
As with year’s past, we love featuring this Chico collaboration between Sierra Nevada, Paul Component, and a California-based frame builder. This year’s bike is stunning and with it comes a huge photo gallery documenting this beautiful build. Check the official press release below with all the juicy photos and read on to find out how you can win this bike!
Yesterday, we featured an Inside / Out piece on Moustache Cycles, a Flagstaff-based framebuilding operation headed by Richard May. Today, we’re checking our four of his bikes, with Richard describing each so enjoy!
Back in February of this year at Singlespeed Arizona in Bisbee, I had wanted to document the wild variety of funky, freaky, and beautiful bikes that had descended on the small town for the event. Unfortunately, the pace of that particular weekend didn’t lend itself to photographing individual bikes (something I certainly plan to do in 2021). Bike portraits, or not, it’s impossible to ignore the eclectic array of Mone, Oddity, Moonmen, and other eye-catching derailleur-less boutique fabrications and other unusual setups while in that environment. There were a handful of frames though – clean and somewhat understated with swoopy seat stays and moustache-shaped logo badges – that I didn’t recognize. While chatting with Nate from Absolute Bikes, I pointed to a member of Thee Deores (Northern Arizona’s premiere Mountain Biking band) cruising around on one of these swoopy-tubed moustachioed hardtails and asked if he knew anything about the bike. He responded by pointing to Richard May and informing me that Richard, based in Flagstaff, builds bike frames and other custom parts under the moniker Moustache Cycles.
The Sim Works Doppo is quite the versatile platform and today, the brand announced its newest addition to their touring lineup with the Doppo MTB. These frames are made in Japan by Shin Hattori and the frames come in two sizes, medium and large, but with their compact geometry, can fit a variety of riders. With a segmented Tange fork to complete the look, the Doppo is priced at $1,880 and yes, the fork can be purchased separately. Head to Sim Works to see more!
Uses Tange Chromoly Steel Tube Set
・44mm head tube
・Light weight and high strength TIG welding
・Recommended suspension stroke: 120mm stroke for 27.5″
・Can be used with up to 180mm disc rotor
・Rear 12mmx148mm BOOST
・Max tire clearance: 27.5 x 2.8″ / 29 x 2.4″
・73mm JIS Threaded BB Shell
・Seatpost size: 30.9mm
・Seat clamp size: 34.9mm
・Front chainring single up to 34T
・Seat tube has holes for internally routed dropper post
・Eyelets compatible with anything cage under the down tube
・Front and rear thru-axle included
In what I hope will be the first of many monthly(ish) articles, of varying lengths, Nikolai and I visited (in)famous bicycle designer Mike Burrows, who has been a constant in terms of support, inspiration and taking me down a peg or two when I need it (always). Nikolai filmed our trip on my Sony A7iii as part of an ongoing project, so I decided it would be especially fitting for Mike to document our trip on celluloid with my Mamiya C330, and a little Olympus rangefinder on Kodak Portra 800 film.
The work of John Slawta is a lifelong pursuit of not only creating wild paint jobs but of bicycle design and engineering. Landshark is one of the most iconic custom framebuilders and even though they have moved away from steel frames, the spirit is still out there. One of the great things about Facebook – yes, I just said that – is the way in which communities come together to show support for others and in this case, appreciation for the work of Landshark. This Facebook group is all about Landsharks and is well worth the click-through to see some truly unique and well-used bicycles.