Today’s Readers’ Rides comes from Anchorage, Alaska. Adrian‘s 9zero7 Saber is built up to take on just about anything, so let’s check it out in detail below!
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Bailey and Erik are Riding the Full New Mexico CDT
On Saturday morning, bright and early, I dropped Bailey and Erik off at Cumbres Pass, on the Colorado/New Mexico border. These two are riding the length of New Mexico on the Continental Divide Trail, bypassing Wilderness areas along the way. Not many people have ridden the length of this segment of the CDT, as it traverses the most remote stretches of the New Mexico back country. I’m not sure how much these two will be updating their Instagram accounts along the way, but give them a follow if you’re into this kind of thing. Oh, and they’re riding it singlespeed (32x22t). Hopefully, we’ll have a story from them when they’re done.
Tailwinds and cold water, you two!
Check out their bikes in our Reportage Archives below…
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Readers’ Rides: Andrew’s Binary Bicycles Chuparosa Titanium Hardtail Build
This week’s Readers’ Rides comes from Andrew and his Binary Bicycles Chuparosa hardtail. Let’s check out photos and words from Andrew below…
Reportage
More Than Just a Fat Bike: John Reviews the Otso Voytek
Fat bikes. They’re the cycling industry’s lost children. The forgotten ones. Remember when every brand under the sun had a fat bike in their catalog? Now there are only a few brands still putting in the PR&D required to make these bikes less cumbersome, less heavy, and more like a true-to-form mountain bike. One of those brands is Otso, whose Voytek is all of the above and more. I’ve held onto this bike for probably longer than they anticipated, cycling through the winter months, into the spring, and well into the summer. I’ve ridden it in its thicc 26″+ setup and now in its chonk 29+ form and have pulled together a comprehensive argument for why I hope that bikes like the Voytek will stay around for a while…
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Honzo ESD: After Hours
Check out Leah Lind-White shredding the 2022 Kona ESD after work one afternoon…
Reportage
Dillen From Baphomet Bicycles’ “Left Hand Path” Singlespeed 29er
We took a look at Baphomet Bicycles earlier this year and in that post, we discussed the ideology surrounding the iconography of this unique framebuilding operation, nestled in the mountain town of Taos, New Mexico. If you haven’t read that piece, you really should check it out first.
Yesterday I caught up with Dillen from Baphomet Bicycles, as he came to town to ride the BFL, an event Sincere Cycles throws each year, offering a classic 55 mile loop with over 10,000′ elevation gain and a “B” loop with 38 miles and 6,400′ elevation. Both take you deep into the Sangre de Cristo mountains at the terminus of the mighty Rocky Mountains. Doing either singlespeed is quite the undertaking!
Dillen finished this build right before the event and drove in from Taos for the day. We pedaled together briefly and then his chain exploded about 10 miles into the ride, sending him back down to town. Later in the day, we caught up to shoot his new 29er hardtail, aptly named the “Left Hand Path”, so let’s check it out in detail below!
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Is This Firefly #1066 The Dreamiest Yet?
We’ve shared, photographed, and yeah, owned some pretty amazing Firefly builds over the years but this one, #1066, might take the cake in terms of a deep custom creation. There are so many hidden details, from the 44RN ring, to the ano-matched eeWings cranks, anodized stem, and more. Spend some time drooling over a few more choice details below and see the full spread at Firefly’s Flickr.
Reportage
John’s Moots Womble 29er Loaded for the San Juan Hut Telluride to Moab Route
The word supple gets thrown around a lot, mostly related to randonneur, road, or gravel bikes with a bi-plane steel fork and typically, rim brakes, yet I’m convinced I’ve built the most supple, modern mountain bike, just in time for our San Juan Hut trip this week. Check it out in detail below…
Reportage
Alexandera Houchin’s New Custom Chumba Sendero Titanium and Terlingua Titanium Bikes
Chumba Cycles has been supporting ultra-endurance and all-around badass athlete Alexandera Houchin for some time now, outfitting her with a variety of bikes for her endeavors. Yet with the announcement of Chumba’s in-house titanium manufacturing earlier this year, Mark and Vince, the owners of Chumba, wanted to get Alexandera on some new frames. You might recall our coverage of the Sendero Titanium from this year’s ENVE Builder Round Up. After the show, I reached out to Chumba to see if they’d share some photos of Alexandera’s new bikes, so let’s check them out below…
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The Chromag Surface Voyager Hardtail
The Chromag Surface has been in the brand’s 29er catalog for years but the Surface Voyager is something different entirely. With multiple cargo bosses, a 140mm travel fork, and sliding dropouts, perfect for converting the bike to a singlespeed, the Surface Voyager has versatility and capability built-in.
With a CNC’d headtube, custom sliding dropouts and a beautiful chainstay yoke, it’s not just your run of the mill hardtail. This frame is built by Chris Dekerf in Canada and retails for $2,121. See more at Chromag.
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Canyon’s Grand Canyon 7 is a $1,299.00 Hardtail
Canyon’s most popular hardtail in the European market has finally made it to the USA. The Grand Canyon 7 is an aluminum chassis hardtail, built with a SRAM kit, a RockShox Judy Silver 120mm fork, and comes in either turquoise or black. With a 67.5º head angle and a 74º seat angle, it’s by no means a hyper-progressive geometry but it is a great all-rounder, in an affordable package. Check out more info at Canyon.
Shop new & used Canyon bikes with our partner TPC – The Pro’s Closet.
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The 2022 Kona Honzo Review: Bringing the Heat with Updated Geometry
For 2022 the beloved Honzo got a geometry overhaul, with slacker headtubes (from 67º to 66.5º), steeper seat tube angle (from 74º to 76º) longer reach (by 5mm per size), shorter seat tubes, which allow for the use of longer dropper posts and more standover, as well as 42mm offset on the RockShox Recon RL Solo Air 120mm fork.
This might not seem like a complete overhaul but in hardtail design, a few degrees can drastically improve a bike’s handling. The best thing about the Honzo still remains its price, which is only $1699 USD. Holler at your local dealer for availability and see all the changes in detail at Kona.
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Kona’s Big Honzo Returns in 2022 with Two Shimano Deore-Specced Models
The Big Honzo is the Honzo’s big sibling. It’s a Honzo with bigger tires (27.5×2.8″) and a nice build kit featuring hydraulic disc brakes and 130mm of suspension. You’ll have all the benefits of bigger, 2.8” tires such as increased traction and control in a variety of terrains while softening the ride along the way.
For 2022, the Big Honzo DL ($1799 – in mint) is a 12-speed hardtail with Shimano Deore while the Big Honzo ($1499 – in black) is specced with Deore 11-speed. The Honzo platform is perfect for someone that’s curious about getting into mountain biking without breaking the bank. See more at Kona…
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Hardtails in the 6th Dimension
Joe Barnes takes his Orange Crush hardtail out to slop hill for some sideway steezin’ in his latest video…
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Did You Enjoy Our Slingshot Reportage Last Week? Check out this Slingshot Meriwether!
Photo by Mike Curiak
We don’t want to spoil too much about this project, because Mike has documented it so thoroughly, but we’d thought y’all would get a kick out of this Meriwether after last week’s Slingshot gallery. Tukt rear end, 110mm travel fork, 29×2.8″ tires, and just the kind of kooky beauty we’re missing from all the bike trade shows. Check out the full spread at Mike’s Exposure page and see some process photos at the Meriwether Cycles Instagram…
Reportage
Ally’s Hoefer Cycles Custom 29er Hardtail Bikepacking Rig
This one is gonna be a simple write-up. Ally had a really amazing looking custom bike from a builder, Hoefer Cycles, I had never come across before. I asked Ally about the story behind the bike and she just responded, “I told him I wanted a sweet bikepacking rig that I could ride anywhere.” I reached out to Donald, the man behind Hoefer Cycles, and he corroborated the story and adding that “It’s really fun when someone comes to me with a request as open-ended as hers was and trusts me to deliver.” While handcrafting a detailed and intentional build such as this is nothing simple, the joy it produces is. Just look at that smile, Donald still remembered seeing Ally’s huge smile as she came back from the first test ride. After Ally had trouble finding something that truly fit, it seemed Donald had hit the bullseye.
Reportage
Baphomet Cycles: Jenn’s 27.5+ Hardtail
Circling back to our Shop Visit at Baphomet Bicycles from earlier this year, we’re finally featuring Jenn’s hardtail. Jenn runs Wild Coast Photo and specializes in photographing elopements all over the world. With singletrack out their front door, a good, versatile hardtail is perfect for the trails around Taos, New Mexico, where Baphomet is based. Let’s look at this beaut below in detail…
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Thomson Announces New Ti MTB Frame: the Hooch
Thomson is launching a Titanium hardtail MTB called the Hooch in conjunction with their brand new website. The “Hooch” is the namesake of the Chattahoochee in north Georgia, home to some of the most epic trails in the country.
This limited Ti frame is equipped with a Thomson Dropper post (your choice of travel), then the customer selects from Thomson’s entire collection of Thomson components, starting at $3,295.00.
From their Elite or Masterpiece series, Ti or carbon fiber, the customer can pick and choose from all of Thomson’s parts, for the ultimate build kit. Then, to sweeten the deal, customers receive a generous discount on upgrade parts as a perk of buying the frameset.
The Hooch is a backwoods hardtail, built from 3al 2.5v aircraft grade Titanium, custom formed stays, Boost (148×12) through axle, internal routing with an extra line for your Thomson dropper, 150mm fork travel, 30.9 seat tube diameter, and clearance for 27.5 x 2.4 tires.
See the full specs at Thomson and poke around on their new website!
