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We’re probably beating a dead horse over here by promoting the restoration of vintage mountain bikes into resto mod beauts. Even a run of the mill frame can become something extraordinary, with the right amount of time, parts, and money. Today, Lucas from Tune Germany shares just that, an überlight resto mod of a 1995 Rockrider 520 that weighs a scant 9,7KG with pedals! Let’s check it out below!
Back in March, as part of the Kolektif Bike Fair in Berlin, the team behind Rad Race put on the 9th annual Last Wo/Man Standing fixed gear race at the winding indoor Mobikart go-kart circuit track. Additionally, the bike fair featured a handful of stunning custom builds on display from an array of framebuilders including Drust, Omnium, Rossman, Morassi, Trout, ten:07, and Vetra. Petor Georgallou was there for it all and shares a full report and massive image gallery below.
Schwalbe is the world’s first and (so far) only manufacturer that not only takes back used tires but also uses them to produce new tires. Back in 2022 at Eurobike, the German tire brand announced the “Schwalbe Recycling Program,” an initiative to collect used tires, recycle them, and manufacture new tires with recycled material. This program, which won Eurobike’s “Innovators Prize,” is underway and scaling rapidly, as Schwalbe has received an initial shipment of recycled carbon black (rCB) to begin making the first batch of recycled tires. We thought this sounded exciting, so reached out to Felix Jahn, Schwalbe’s Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, to learn more about the recycling program and where it’s headed.
A few weekends ago I found myself at Eurobike in its new Frankfurt übervenue. Eurobike has always been huge, but this year I was made acutely aware of the distances involved by the cab driver who dropped me off at the wrong entrance, and then charged an additional nine Euros for the 10-minute cab ride to the correct entrance. I bumped into another journalist who showed me her step count for the day, which prompted me to check mine, showing that I’d walked almost 60km or 40 miles of Shimano blue carpets over the space of two days. Shocking!
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
People love their Kona Units and with good reason! Marcel breaks down his build for us in today’s Readers’ Rides…
Sour Bicycles, the company that made the Pasta Party John reviewed last month, has just dropped a big bomb of an announcement. The brand will be producing all of its mountain bike frames in Germany, beginning in January 2022. That means if you pre-order any frame right now, it’ll be made in Germany, including its newest model the Big Fun, an enduro/trail/all-mountain hardtail. Check out the geo numbers and details on the Big Fun below and read Sour Bicycles’ full press release at their blog…
Today’s Readers’ Rides comes from Bavaria, Germany. Benjamin walks us through his lovely SOMA Rush in detail below, in all its fixed gear elegance…
Suspension stems aren’t anything new. The 80s and 90s brought about many versions of a damping cockpit and in modern times, we’ve seen quite a few roll across our email with the latest being the Vecnum freeQENCE. This stem comes in 90mm, 105mm, and 120mm lengths and provides maximum suspension travel of 30mm, which is split into 20mm positive travel and 10mm negative travel – similar to the sag of a suspension fork. This stem retails at €299.00 direct from Vecnum and there is a lot more to its design, which you can read all about at Vecnum.
In some form of intergalactic serendipity, this review coincides with the 2021 International Singlespeed Day, so hopefully, this article inspires you to dust off the ol’ Cruiser or SSMTB and get out for a sunset shred with your friends.
I’ve had the Sour Bicycles Pasta Party for longer than I’d like to admit for a review period but with supply chain shortages, I decided to scrap my original plans for the build as a geared hardtail and assembled it with various spare parts and some new fancy BERD wheels which ended up resulting in one very unique rigid singlespeed 29er.
The Pasta Party is a strange bird with a few clever details and a few quirks, so read on below for my review of this unique chassis offering from the German brand Sour Bicycles…
Ortlieb has been making bicycle touring bags for what seems like an eternity but over the past few years, they’ve begun to make bikepacking bags, always offering a few clever details and their legendary waterproof construction. Newest to this lineup is the Handlebar Pack QR, or quick-release. These bags lash to your handlebars in seconds, perfect for big, expedition rides, long gravel trips, and S24O alike.
Specs:
-$160 MSRP
-11-liter capacity, plus two small exterior mesh pockets
-IP64 – dustproof & waterproof to 1-meter for 30min
-Sustainably made in Germany
See more at Ortlieb.
These days, gravel bike designs can be very redundant, something German manufacturers like Nicolai Bikes are looking to overcome. Their newest design, the Argon GX, is as much a gravel bike as it is a touring bike but look closely for some clever manufacturing detailing.
Through 3D modeling and engineering, Nicolai is able to construct durable and lightweight 7020-T6 frame components. Each of these pieces are made on modern 5-axis CNC machines and allows for the construction of so-called “Hollow Mill” assemblages. The bottom bracket and chainstay yoke in the Argon CX use this technology to both shed weight and set their offerings apart from their competitors.
Other details include the option for a Pinion gear box, fender/rack mounts, flat mount disc calipers, internal routing, and designed geometries to fit just about any body type. Head to Nicolai to see more!
A reader from Leipzig sent this short video over for us to enjoy on this Friday morning:
“My name is Jacob and I’ve been a cycle messenger in Germany for more than 10 years now.
This week we had an unusual and unexpected outbreak of winter here in Leipzig with strong winds and heavy snow for multiple days. The city was totally unprepared, I saw snow plows getting stuck in snow and all public transportation was off for multiple days. Since I needed to send out some letters and therefore had to go outside anyway, I decided to take my track bike and camera and try to get some nice videos of the snow-cycling-chaos.”
Thanks, Jacob!
‘Grenzerfahrungen’ (Borderline Experiences) documents a self-supported cycling journey along the European Green Belt. Born and bred in Germany, Markus Stitz traveled 700km along the former Iron Curtain on a gravel bike through the federal states of Thuringia, Lower Saxony, Hesse, Bavaria, and Saxony in October 2020, shortly after the 30th anniversary of the German reunification. The film launches the Iron Curtain Gravel Trail, a new bikepacking route mapped by the round the world cyclist, which is available to download for free at Bikepacking Germany.
The mid of March is usually a time where you think about the upcoming season and what kind of adventures you are going to tackle during springtime. Suddenly, the world is closing down, throwing everyone into the status of the unknown. Leaving us with restless and raving minds. Diving into the world of bikes has always been a great way of escaping reality for me. Let it be physically or virtually – if you don´t have the chance for some saddle time.
I was blessed to have the chance of getting my first taste of ultra-cycling at the Atlas Mountain Race last February. The harsh brutality of the Morrocan rock fields brought up the first ideas for this project. Rocks and smaller stones hitting my frame and rims for hours let me think about how I would repaint my bike after the race.
With build kits ranging from €1890 through €2690, the new Vasco Gravel Bike by German company Tout Terrain offers up a fully-steel frame with lots of options for riding or touring. The Vasco features 435mm chainstays, 71º head angle, 73º seat angle (size medium), and clearance for 700x40mm or 650x47mm tires. While there are many options in this already packed market, Tout Terrain knows how to design versatile bikes and the Vasco fits right into their catalog. See more information and the entire Vasco family at Tout Terrain.
Gravel? What is gravel? If you live in the US, you instantly think about the big gravel rollers which you can find out in the mid west. Gravel roads where you can ride a 100 miles before turning, well at times they definitely feel like a 100 miles. Those brutal headwinds!