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2018 Philly Bike Expo: Fat Chance Yo Eddy
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk
With the frame and fork being produced in the USA, the next logical step was to ring White Industries for a Headset, Bottom bracket and Cranks with matching blue extractors, Which look great on this bike. It’s rolling on Praxis AL32 wheels, which are stopped by the revered Paul Component Klamper brakes. Nostalgia aside the Yo Eddy 2.2 checks all of the current MTB boxes, with a finish to make you swoon.
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2018 Philly Bike Expo: Groovy Cycleworks 26″ Homage Rigid Tourer
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk
In ’95 Rody of Groovy Cycleworks was commisioned to make a bike for this same customer, the customer loved the bike so much that 23 years later they commissioned this bike, a more modern version that’s still built around 26″ wheels but shod with a slightly updated geometry. A Groovy built bike wouldn’t be complete without their Hot Rod cranks with a 24mm spindle meticulously painted to match the 5-color fractured mosaic paint, that alludes to the customers love of architecture and stained glass. The fork is an homage to the old Grove Innovations Hardcore with a scalloped end and box crown, while the Luv Handlebars give the rider an updated posture that they hadn’t had prior.
This homage wouldn’t be complete without a more current 1x drivetrain, White Industries hubs and headset, as well as the limited gold, anodized Paul Components that can be found all over this bike and are proof that someone still believes in death before discs.
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2018 Philly Bike Expo: Winter Bicycles S&S 27.5 Dirt Tourer
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk
Versatility, that would be a word that would sum up this bike fairly well. It’s a Cerakote-coated S&S dirt rando touring machine from Winter Bicycles out of Nittany Pennsylvania. RuthWorks teamed up on the bags to complete a package that is totally integrated so that the Ultralight Randonneur bag is free of a decaleur. Along with beautiful handmade racks to distribute an even load this bike even has bolt-in frame bag compatibility along with three pack bosses on the fork legs to let this dirt rando bike switch between traditional bags as well as a more of a bikepacking setup. With 27.5 x 2.6″ clearance, this bike can tackle the road less traveled. Full internal dynamo wiring with quick disconnects, as well a Sinewave Cycles beacon make for a very clean setup that allows for plenty of off-grid touring.
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Bryan Hollingsworth started Royal H Cycles in 2008. It’s now his 10-year anniversary of the company and at the Philly Bike Expo, he brought just the bike to celebrate, a deep purple sparkle-painted disc all road with elegant lines and modern functionality.
While the SRAM Red eTap, Easton Wheels, Zipp components, a Columbus fork, and Cane Creek Headset make for a completely balleur build, the detail in the wishbone seat stay steals the show. What a way to celebrate 10 years of framebuilding!
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2018 Philly Bike Expo: Sim Works Doppo Off Road Tourer
Photos by Jarrod Bunk, words by John Watson
At the Philly Bike Expo this year, Sim Works shared a booth space with Crust Bikes and Swift Industries. On display was this Doppo touring bike, set up for some lightweight off-road touring, thanks to the Swift Industries XPac Hinterland Ozette Randonneur Bag, Hinterland Zeitgeist Saddle Bag, and the Porcelain Rocket partial frame bag, made for Circles Japan. The Doppo is rolling on Thunder Burts, a White Industries R30 cranks, Chris King Hubs, Velocity rims, and Shimano drivetrain, with Sim Works Klampers. Shifting is provided by Gevenalle.
This bike is made from a healthy mix of US-made and Japan-made components, ready to tour all over the world!
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2018 Philly Bike Expo: Bishop Samson Lugged Road
Photos by Jarrod Bunk, words by John Watson
For Chris Bishop, his end products are often about the assemblage of pieces that are artistic elements on their own. Take for instance this classic, 32mm tire, OS road bike. He utilized a NOS Samson lug kit, complete with fastback seat stays, and an aero fork crown lug. Then, he pinged Mitch from MAP Cycles for his dropouts, which paired nicely with the lug set. All these pieces were assembled in a painstaking way to form this beautifully-lined road bike, designed to roll on 32mm tires with the direct mount EE Cycleworks brakes. The icing on the cake was Bryan Myers from Fresh Frame’s paint detailing over PPG Pearl white Prismatic.
The end result is unmistakenly Bishop, yet undeniably a combination of many talented artists’ handiwork.
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2017 Philly Bike Expo: 44 Bikes Titanium Marauder SSMTB
Photos by Jarrod Bunk, words by John Watson
Last year, we saw Kris from 44 Bikes‘ first super-boosted Ti Marauder SSMTB from our Philly Bike Expo coverage. This year, Kris brought a new Marauder to display, with some geometry tweaks, different components, and a slightly longer and slacker stance. The big difference this year is he used a super boost hub with a standard 73mm T47 bottom bracket mated with a custom 170mm i9 fatbike hub, built with a standard axle, wheras last year, he used a wider q-factor with a DH BB. Kris machined the bits needed to make this happen and the whole package results in a stiffer rear wheel.
Traditionally, single speed mountain bikes are heralded for their simplicity, yet this one has a lot going on!
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Grove Gathering: Rody’s Groovy Grove Innovations Hardcore
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk
We’ve all been there, the one bike we always wished we never had gotten rid of. The one bike that transported us to a place of freedom, or perhaps the bike that got us stoked on bikes, this is that bike. After 12 years without his trusty bike, Rody, of Groovy Cycleworks decided to try and find this hardcore, which he sold a long time ago.
With a flyer in hand, his local bike shops help, and some perfectly aligned stars he was able to find the bike, rebuild it, the owner even had the original HardCore fork and Hammerhead stem. I doubt Rody will ever make the mistake of getting rid of this bike again.
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Grove Gathering: Grove Innovations Assault Team Bike
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk
This assault was one of the first 10 assaults to roll out of production in Grove’s Pennsylvania factory and was ridden as a team race bike in the early 90s. I can’t imagine if I were in attendance back then, my mind would’ve melted as a ten-year-old. Just look at it! Fade, check, splatter, check, crackle, WHAT? This Grove has one of the wildest paint jobs I’ve seen on a bike. Sadly I’m told that this paint can’t be replicated because the chemicals don’t exist any longer.
Not only did Grove make frames, forks, stems, and handlebars, but perhaps the coolest of all of the Grove parts is the Hotrod cranks. At the time square taper was everywhere, but Bill Grove and his team looked to military applications and came up with an asymmetrical polygon, very similar looking to the interface that E13 uses in their cranks today some 25 years later. They thought if tanks used this design it should be strong enough for a bicycle application. These two-piece cranks used a row of four bearings (two per side) and some seals to keep the weather at bay. Aside from the cranks, this build features some pretty standard parts for a grove of the time, including the Hammerhead bar/stem, and some Shimano XT parts.
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Grove Gathering: Grove Innovations Prototype Hardcore
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk
Earlier this year, Martin from Second Spin and Justin from Freeze Thaw Cycles schemed about an event that would let them share their mutual love for Grove Innovations and get together some Grove owners for a ride and party or shred-n-show if you will, that event was the first Grove Innovations Gathering.
Grove Innovations might not be a household name if you live outside of Pennsylvania, but Bill Grove and his team were innovators that tried some new things that many others wouldn’t dare for the sake of creating a bombproof bike. The oversized 2″ 4130 downtube and straight blade fork made for an extremely precise steering bike with a stiff bottom bracket junction that allowed the pilot to put power into the ground and control it over all types of terrain. The hardcore, at its inception, was an east coast bike if there ever were one, playful, rugged and capable of hucking off a loading dock as well as ripping over log-laden single track. With a 13.5″ bottom bracket, and integrated bash guard that even protected all 44 teeth on the big ring, the hardcore could make short work of the rugged rocky terrain of which this bike was born. Most of the builds done on groves of this vintage ran durable parts in favor of early 90s anodized bling. Each frameset came with a set of Hammerhead bars as well, and bottle cages painted to match, albeit this proto isn’t running the latter. Proof of the concept in durability is that this prototype is still being ridden nearly 30 years later.
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Shop Visit: Freeze Thaw Cycles
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk
Since 05 Freeze Thaw Cycles has been providing great service work and community to State College, from their weekly rides to their mini bicycle museum, they’ve got the best vibe around them for sure. Justin and some friends started recycling bikes to create alternate transportation, and a lot of their core values hold true today, some 13 years later. With assembly being of utmost importance every bike built gets stripped to nothing and rebuilt, faced, chased, and ready to roll, which is atypical from most shops today. Over the years, Justin has procured one of the largest collections of Grove Innovations as well as some other builders. Those bikes now line the walls above the main floor, just out of reach, but not far enough away that I didn’t stare for hours, no really! It’s wild to think that this rad of a space is nestled between some of the best MTB trails in Pennsylvania, that’s a good 2 for 1 deal. If you roll through the area anytime soon, stop by and say hi, you won’t be sorry!
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Joe’ DKXL Prototype Salsa Cycles Warbird Carbon
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk
Joe’s proto Warbird has taken what Salsa has learned from their athletes and staff to refine what was already a fast gravel bike and give it some new features. The fork/frame is all new but with added versatility like dynamo routing in the fork, fender mounts, and a much cleaner Di2 setup.
Joe has already raced the DKXL aboard the new bird, proof that the new bike is ready to rip some gravel. This bike doesn’t just look fast, it is, but stays comfy over the roughest of b-roads thanks to the 2nd generation updated vibration reduction system. Aside from the entire suite of SRAM parts, including Zipp wheels, and SRAM Drivetrain and Brakes, the left lever can operate his dropper mid-race if needed making this, the most capable Warbird yet.
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Saddle Drive Is The Best … Time For All
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk
Saddle Drive is a dealers only event in which QBP invites bicycle retailers from all over the country to take part in what is usually two days of seminars, stoke, and shredding, yes there’s a whole bunch of product in there too, unfortunately, I can’t share much as most of it is under embargo. This year some forthcoming thunderstorms (PSYCH) condensed the shred/expo time to just one day. The morning before the demo, QBP held a women’s only ride and 97% of the attendees traversed some of the best forest-service roads near Seven Springs, PA . Even with the condensed timetable, I was able to take some familiar bikes down some familiar terrain and even venture further off route.
Thanks to a little Google Earth logistics we were able to take some singletrack over the road to visit some cutty spots at the top, ALWAYS TAKE THE SINGLETRACK! There were some rad new products including Ketl’s revamped women’s line, Teravail’s answer to the industry that the world needs more gumwalls! (Twenty-nine X 2.6″ Kennebec PLEASE) and some revamped Whisky Rims just to name a few. It was All City’s Tenth Anniversary and let me tell you that 10TH Anniversary Mr. Pink is wild in person! Finishing out the demo day I was able to shoot some of Salsa’s new line of bikes which will be featured here once the embargo is lifted, thanks to Lindsey Beltchenko, Salsa’s Marketing Manager. I wanted to cram every bit of time we could into the day and we dipped to a natural rock slide just outside of the resort and visited a cafe that had Kyle stoked the whole way back. We made it back in time for All City’s 10TH Anniversary Party, here’s to 100 more, as a bonus check out Jeff’s rad Gorilla Monsoon. Thanks to everyone at QBP who makes this event a success, and everyone who made this event a blast! This was definitely a Saddle Drive to remember.
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Anna’s Gunnar Hyper X Covered in Paul Comp
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk
I’ve seen a lot of bikes built around a theme, one where you wonder where the mind of the person wanders. This bike is one of those. Initially, an Ocean Air Cycles Stem Top sparked this build which then turned into one of the best uses for gold and blue ano on a bike. The mash-up is so good, I had to double take. Anna’s Gunnar is covered with matching Paul Component from top to bottom, but my favorite pieces are definitely the Klampers. From there its built with a wild set of Gevanalle shfiters, White Industries headset and a mix of SRAM components.
I visited town a little while ago, granted it’s still snowy in some parts of the world, but I’m sure this will be ripping the River Bottoms shortly, probably with some different rubber. I love this bike!
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Land Run 100 Rides: Addison’s Stripped State Single Speed
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk
Thirty-hours, nope that’s not the travel time from Quebec to Land Run 100. It is the amount of time it took Addison to hand strip his State Bicycle Single speed and leave behind some beautiful layers.
Devoid of paint, and the tensioner that caused him some issues last year, Addison is ready for a rowdy and dry time. Built with one goal in mind, going fast, Addison’s bike is built with a mix of Zipp, Quarq and SRAM road parts, this eccentric bottom bracket bike can be run as a single speed or a geared bike for any situation.
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The Northern Frameworks Process
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk
While Minneapolis might not be on everyone’s list for travel plans in the middle of winter, mine was a little bit different. You see, I wanted to finalize some stuff for an upcoming build of mine. I took the opportunity while in the fridged midwest to spend some time getting a fit at Angry Catfish catching up with friends, and documenting some of the build processes that go into a custom Northern Frameworks.
Alex Cook started building bike under the name A-Train a few years ago now and honed his craft to the point at which the collaboration with Angry Catfish was born, which is Northern Frameworks. Each Northern Frameworks is built around custom geometry for the rider and comes in a stock color palette to simplify the process and allow Alex to make his bikes the best they can be. Tight miters, sharp tungsten and a steady hand are apparent in his welds and a meticulous work ethic which I watched first hand. I have to admit it was great to watch someone who cares so much about their craft, work. Inside of Alex’s shop, he has a backlog of builds but keeps the lead times small thanks to the process he’s developed with his time behind the torch. If you’re interested in your own bike, give him a shout.
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Chris Kvale Minneapolis Studio Visit
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk
Chris Kvale is a humble perfectionist, every stroke of his file and pass of his torch honed the last forty years. When I walked into Kvale’s studio, I couldn’t hold my focus, everywhere I looked there was something that snapped my attention away from what I was gazing at moments prior.
2017 Philly Bike Expo: Stanridge Speed
Photos by Jarrod Bunk, Intro by John Watson and Words by Adam from Stanridge Speed
When modern builders utilize NOS tubing from the late 80’s, the results are more often than not, mind-blowing. Take this Stanridge Speed road bike from this year’s Philly Bike Expo. As soon as I saw it, I knew Adam had selected Gilco tubing (or is it?), yet there’s much more to the story, of which I’ll let Adam do the talking.
Adam, can you tell me about the Philly Bike Expo road bike? I’m suspecting there’s more than meets the eye here…
“I built the bike in conjunction with 7th and Park in Brownsville. It’s part of a larger project consisting of six available tubesets we’re making into frames. Three track and Three road. All the sets are NOS from the tail end of the golden era of steel in 1986. Most of the tubes are date coded. Columbus etched the iconic Dove and born on dates in the tubes in an effort to reduce false advertising by unscrupulous builders during this era. The story goes, builders in the 1980’s masked the imprinted doves on the tubing only to reveal the mark after the painting process.
One half of the Fabrica framebuilding team in Milano is a self-admitted nerd when it comes to NOS componentry including tubing. He scored the motherload of these NOS tubes a few years back. I met the guys at Fabrica through the RHC 5 years ago.. which ultimately led to the remaining tubing cache on the shelf within arms reach. What you see with the Columbus SLX tubing modified by Silva was an attempt to increase rigidity by adding surface area while remaining braze-able into a lug.
It was nice to work with the team at FSA to build a frame around their wireless WE group. Visually revisiting the smaller diameters feels refreshing in contrast to the current double oversize shaped modern steel offerings. It’s the Juxtaposition. These tubes remind me of how steel has constantly been Johnny Hustle over the years – the hardest worker – in this case – to stay competitive against aluminum in the eyes of a broad consumer base.
I like underdogs and I’ve never waivered from Steel.
How does this tubeset feel? Do you think it ever had the slightest idea these components would be hung from its bones… Ha. Too much time alone at the workbench I guess.”
Now that’s a story!
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