The Radavist

Has it really been a year already? A full year since Giro’s Grinduro debuted in Quincy, California. Grinduro is a 63 mile route through Sierra Nevada – you know, those rad mountains, not the beer – with four timed segments. There’s a fire road climb, a fire road descent, a road time trial and a ripping section of singletrack. The event takes place on Saturday, but many people make it a weekend endeavor. Mostly because if you’re going to drive all the way to Quincy, you might as well stay a while. It costs money to race, but all proceeds from the event go to support the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship. If it weren’t for their organization, or the volunteers, this event would have never taken off like it has.

Set in the Quincy Fairgrounds, the layout of the event stayed mostly the same. There were car camping spots, RV spots, a marketplace, food vendors and plenty of places to party.

Two purple bikes back to back? It must be Grinduro…

Some people have been wanting eTap WiFli hydro and for those people, the wait is over. SRAM announced eTap WiFLi hydro groupset this morning. Coincidentally, the group appeared on this flashy Stinner all-road, which is on display at Grinduro in Quincy, California starting today. The paint uses a subtle fleck, akin to what you’d find in finger nail polish that sparkles in the sun, yet is hardly noticeable in the shade. For those wanting specs on the SRAM group, eTap WiFLi weighs 243 grams with battery and will take up to a 32t cassette. Combined with a titanium tig welded frame made from Stinner select tubing and you’re looking at a light machine, perfect for Grinduro’s challenging course.

After a few days on the road hitting hot springs, camping and riding, we’re back here in Quincy, California for this weekend’s Grinduro. The event is literally twice the size as last year in terms of attendance, and there are a few new products to help support the Sierra Buttes Foundation. One of which is Charge, the UK bicycle company and this limited edition Plug ‘cross bike. This aluminum frameset comes built as a singlespeed with TRP Hylex and features Grinduro branding.

Unlike a lot of special edition products, this one’s available online for anyone to purchase for $999.99. Head to Competitive Cyclist now to see the full specs.

Tandemonium at Grinduro / Her Version of the Story
Words by Amanda Schaper, photos by John Watson

Editor’s intro: to commemorate both the 2016 Grinduro happening this weekend in Quincy, California and more importantly, Amanda’s birthday (happy birthdayyyyy!!!!), Kyle and I dug up an old Reportage that Amanda had written after last year’s event… Also, we’d all like to thank Salsa for throwing down a Powderkeg. It’s been one of my favorite photo-generators over the past year!

This whole hairbrained idea for tandem Grinduro came about because I royally busted my shoulder at the Downieville Classic in late July. Major dislocation, fractured humeral head, weeks of immobilization, the works. Initially I hoped I’d be good to go in time for Grinduro, but as the reality of my injury set in, I realized that doing such a big ride only a couple months later was going to be a no-go. But for me, not riding was simply not an option.

That’s when the wheels started turning. Riding my own bike might not work, but stoking a tandem would be totally doable since I wouldn’t have to use my shoulder/arm to control the bike. All I needed to do was pedal. And find a captain. And a tandem.

What’s this? Rim brakes? Yep. Steve Rex‘s submission to the Grinduro expo was the only bike that used traditional rim brakes and you know what? I like that. A lot. Especially when it comes to the stopping power of PAUL Minimotos. Steve chose White Industries T11 hubs to Pacenti rims, SRAM CX1 and even had some slick pinstriping added to the otherwise sleek and minimal frameset.

Void of ostentation, classic, timeless and ready to rip. Rex surely is king here…

The Soulcraft Dirtbomb is an incredibly versatile bike and a worthy tool to tackle an event like Grinduro. It’ll eat up dirt roads, singletrack and pavement alike but most importantly, it’s strong enough to withstand the after party. Which at events like last weekend, tend to go on ’til dawn.

Sean from Soulcraft knows a thing or two about handmade bikes. He learned the trade from legends like Bruce Gordon and Salsa Cycles, so it’s fitting to see his framesets carrying on many of these ideologies, just in an updated, modern form.

This bike in particular clears the Bruce Gordon RockNRoad tires, features PAUL Klampers, Chris King and WTB wheels and SRAM’s CX1 group, with a 10-42 cluster.

Like I said, it’ll take on anything you throw at it and still party ’til dawn.

Singlespeed ‘cross bikes on a course like Grinduro are no joke. For Lucas, the painter at Stoemper, the pain is part of the fun. The way he sees it, you’re grinning no matter what. Whether you’re spinning on the downhill or hiking up a steep kicker like China Grade, you might as well be enjoying the ride.

This SSCX was easily the wildest bike I saw the entire weekend. So. Much. Character. As I’m setting up the bike to photograph it, Lucas interrupted me, asking if he wanted me to remove the beer holster. “You’re riding it like that right?” “Yeah” “Then leave it!”

Races like Grinduro are best kept light and energetic in spirit. There’s no point in tearing yourself apart on a singlespeed, because you still have to make it to the finish!

I hope you’re ready for a complete overload of awesome rides from this past weekend’s Grinduro event in Quincy, California. We’ll start this avalanche of unique bikes with Adam from Sklar Bikes‘ own singlespeed disc ‘cross. But before we dive in, let me put this out there: this was Adam’s first tig-welded bike and there’s a reason it’s his personal rig. The welds on anyone’s first tig bike ain’t gonna be pretty.

While the welds might not be delicately overlapped beads of perfection, I can’t get over how clean and elegant this frame is. Even with what Adam refers to as a “parts bin build” with mis-matched rotors, this singlespeed has so much character and yeah, he completed Grinduro on it.

Run what you brung…

When Joe Parkin approached Giro’s Dain Zaffke about a new race format a few years back, the initial reaction the two had was more than a chuckle, rather than any degree of seriousness but the seed had been planted…

Why not make a new race format? Part gravel grind and part enduro. Grinduro. You get the best of both worlds, competition and socializing on bicycles. A few segments would be timed: a fire road climb, a fire road descent, a road time trail and a singletrack descent. The event would prove to bring about a rather interesting dialog: what is the most diverse bicycle in your stable?

Mark’s Black Cat Gatto Disc All-Road
Photos by Derek Yarra, words by John Watson

Grinduro, the timed segment gravel race in the Sierra Nevada mountains approaches (10.10.2015) and for people like Mark Riedy, it’s the perfect opportunity to get a California builder to construct a dream bike for the event. An race like Grinduro will bring about polarizing opinions regarding what the ideal equipment might be. Some would say a hardtail or a rigid mountain bike, since the descents are technical and the last 12 miles of the course is singletrack.

Others would say a disc “all-road” or ‘cross bike because of the timed road segments and the 20-mile climb. Mark Riedy, Giro’s longtime PR guy, is clearly in the drop bar camp, so he looked to Santa Cruz’s Black Cat Bicycles to build him a bike.

Now, for those of you who know Mark, you can attest to his love of the Gios Torino road frames. They’re classics and Mark is always on the lookout for one in his size. Perhaps this was his motivation when contacting frame painter Keith Anderson, or perhaps he just wanted to have the word “Gato” on his head tube.

I reached out to Mark and asked him what he was trying to accomplish on Grinduro weekend. To which he replied, “I’m riding Grindruo just for fun and to be able to get in a weekend of camping with my family, so it doesn’t matter to me if I win or finish last, but I do want to have the most fun.”

SRAM 1x, Zipp and yes, white bar tape with a white saddle topped off this very modern bike inspired by an iconic classic. A guy who spends most days riding the dry, gravel fire roads of Marin County, Riedy wanted a bike that handled exactly like a performance road bike, but featured clearance for up to 38c tires and disc brakes. For most rides, Riedy runs Continental 28C Gatorskin Hardshell rubber, but for Grinduro he’ll definitely go with something bigger, like a Conti CycloXKing.

See you at Grinduro, Mark! I’ll be on my rigid…

Grinduro still has spots available, so head over to check it out.

Thanks to Above Category‘s Derek Yarra for the photos!

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October will be here before you know it and with it, comes Grinduro, a different kind of bike race. After my pre-ride photoshoot, one thing became evident: the best rig for this race is a cross bike. Don’t even try to ride a road bike, because you’ll be walking and if you ride a MTB, you might clock in a better time on the descents, but there’s a 25 mile climb.

When Giro announced the Grinduro, Santa Cruz framebuilder John Caletti of Caletti Cycles began working on a cyclocross bike for the event. With bent seat stays, clearances for a 40mm tire, disc brakes and no-rattle housing, this bike is the ideal weapon for a day filled with Sierra Nevada gravel and crag.

My favorite detail on this frame in particular however is the Geoff McFetridge artwork. The evil mountain awaits and Grinduro is coming… Best get your rig ready.