The Radavist

There are so many options on the market now for dedicated bikepacking rigs, so I’m glad to see some still being made by smaller companies! Check out more at Tumbleweed Bicycle Co. Nice yoke, Anna!

Photo by Kyle Kelley

Since reviewing the Speedvagen OG1, I really wanted to own one, but as a frame. As of now, if you recall, the OG1 only comes as a complete. Yet after a few emails, I was able to finagle one out of the Vanilla Workshop and two weeks later, it arrived. Not sure if this will be something Vanilla offers in the future, yet their comment on Instagram leads me to believe it might be an option in 2017. Or you could holler at them and beg like I did.

The guys at Golden Saddle will be building this up in the next week, with SRAM Rival and some Chris King special bits…

VYNL made a splash with its made in the USA aluminum road bikes last year and now, they’re ready for dirt. These new CX frames are made by Frank the Welder from 7005 butted aluminum, feature a threaded BB, 135mm rear spacing, thru axles, 44mm head tube, and fit 40mm tires. You also have an option to include a ENVE Disc CX Fork, and can chose from six colors. For more information and to put down a deposit, head to VYNL. If you’re a local dealer, leave your information in the comments.

With the world of ‘cross bikes taken almost completely over by 44mm head tubes, oversized tubing and thru-axles, it’s nice seeing a 1 1/8″ steel fork, 135mm option out there, made from Columbus Zona. Factory Five’s new ‘cross frames are looking good and they only cost $525 USD for a frameset. They’ve got a few sizes in stock now, so head over to check them out.

Dutch artist, Piet Parra has teamed up with Sander and Jan from Colossi to paint a limited run of classic Columbus SL tubed road frames. These frames are available only as a custom geometry and are priced for a price of $1,365. Head over to Parra’s site for more photos and information.

You can never have too many options for a steel disc ‘cross frameset in my opinion, especially when they come in affordable completes like the new Brother Cycles Kepler. Head over to Brother Cycles for more information!

While Chris Chance and Fat City might be known best for their MTB, segmented forks and revolutionizing the tig-welding process for frame building, they also had a very successful road bike, dubbed the Slim Chance 2.0. Well, with the relaunch of the brand and its hardtail MTBs, Fat City has just announces their new Slim Chance frames… Check out these details and head over to Fat Chance to see more!

-Available as a frame, ENVE carbon fork and Chris King headset package for $2295.
-Segmented steel Yo Road Fork will be available as an option in the coming weeks.
-Painted stem upgrade options; Carbon (ENVE) for $355, Alloy for $250.
-Choice of mechanical or electronic shifting options at no extra charge.
-4 colors inspired some of our favorite Slim’s from the past; Blue, Pearl White, Pale Yellow and Red.
-Framesets ship in 4-6 weeks, complete bikes in 6-8 weeks.

This project came out great! Check out all the information in the video above, more details and photos below and ordering information at Affinity!

(models shown are pre-production prototypes from 2015 NAHBS – changes were made to production models)

Fat Chance has a few extra frames from the 2015 pre-order up for sale with large / xlarge sizing in the 29’r and medium in the 27.5. Unfortunately there are no rigid forks in stock, but all the colors are available for now. Price is $1,699 and frames will ship mid February once the Kickstarter and pre-order frames are shipped. Head to Fat Chance now to see the 29’r and 27.5 hardtails.

The FBM Sword track frame is back this year and ready for pre-order. Available in clear, trans red or raw, with sizing from 48cm – 58cm and now with integrated headset cups as a standard option. The Sword is made in the USA by the same guys who make FBM BMX frames, so it’ll take a thrashing. Head over to FBM now for more information.

I’m always stoked to see more domestically-produced bike frames popping up, especially in aluminum. VYNL Bikes are a relatively new company out of San Jose, California offering road “racing” frames for $1900 with a standard powdercoat and a wait time of a week, or you can go custom colors and tack on a few more weeks. While there’s no information where exactly they’re made or who is making them, with the number of sub-contracting frame building companies around, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s frame building pedigree producing them. Expect the same large-diameter tubing you’ve come to love from US-made aluminum frames. If you’d like to see them in person, head over to Sugar Cycles in Missouri City, Texas or Red Lantern Cycles in Menlo Park, California.

Check out more at VYNL Bikes.

Velo Orange’s newest frames really have it all figured out and the Pass Hunter disc framesets are no exception. Disc brakes, braze-ons, clearances, all with a classy 1 1/8″ threadless steel fork. Head over to Velo Orange to see more details and ordering.

Long-travel hard tails, especially when coupled with a dropper can be super fun. Add in clearances for a 2.4″ tire and suddenly you’ve got a very capable steel frame from a company that knows a thing or two about steel. The Ritchey Timberwolf has piqued my interest and I can’t wait to try one of these bad boys out…

Check out more at Ritchey!

This past weekend brought about a ten year anniversary for Mash and to commemorate this event, Garrett Chow’s newly-designed 10 Year Parallax Frame went up for pre-order. Inspired by “X”, the Roman Numeral for ten, this intricately detailed paint job is made from thousands of intersecting and overlapping lines in three dimensions. It’s by far the most complex paint design I’ve seen on a production frame.

Head over to Mash to read more and pre-order a 10 Year Parallax Frame.

Factory Five’s latest addition to their track bike line is the Stream, a performance minded machine made from 6061 aluminum and shaped to their custom specifications. The Stream comes in four colors and three sizes. Head over to Factory Five to see pricing and availability.

The Going-To-The-Sun Road in Glacier National Park becomes the backdrop for an American cycling. Andy Hampsten won the 1988 Giro and these two new frames represent that legacy. The Maglia Rosa comes in either a Superissimo steel frame or an il Carbonario carbon frame.

Great video, guys!

Niner now offers their Ros 9+ as a frame and fork, allowing you to build yours as you see fit. There’s been a lot of buzz around this frame and after spending a lot of time around one in Los Angeles over the past few weeks, I gotta say that I’m impressed. It looks great and comes from a company like Niner that knows a thing or two about making highly shredable 29rs…

Check out specs for the Ros 9+ frameset at Niner Bikes.