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Photos by Derek Yarra
Above Category continues to visit the places where their utmost talented suppliers build their frame. First with Pegoretti and now with Mosaic Cycles in Boulder, Colorado. Derek continues to document the space with beautiful simplicity, so if you’ve ever wondered what Mosaic looks like from the inside out, be sure to check out this feature over at the Above Category blog!
Words and photos by Morgan Taylor
Pristine. That’s how every bike starts out. Every build has its moment of perfection before it succumbs to a life of abuse – cross bikes especially so.
When I walked into Kelowna, BC’s The Lions Cyclery, recently opened by former Vancouverites Meshkat Javid and Ryan Lidstone, that moment of perfection was oh-so-apparent. These two are building the shop’s reputation on “a higher standard of fit and function” – and having worked with both of them in the past, I know that means an obsessive attention for detail during the bike building process.
Last year’s Rouge Roubaix coverage was a huge success, so this year, we’re heading back with even bigger plans. A group of American framebuilders have assembled teams to compete in the event and to make things interesting, each company chose one lucky individual to be on their team via an application process.
These wild cards each have a custom bike waiting for them in Baton Rouge where they will compete alongside their new teammates. The teams are: Team Argonaut, Team Breadwinner, and Team Mosaic. This has been aptly dubbed the Rouge Roubaix Builder Challenge. Last but not least, we’re all lucky enough to have Chris Diminno from Chris King Gourmet Century on hand to provide nutrition. We’re gonna need it!
The Radavist will be on hand, documenting the bikes, the teams, the main event and some of the vernacular found in this truly unique part of the United States. If you’re going to be at the Rouge Roubaix, say hello and if you’re racing this weekend, best of luck!
For Mosaic Cycles, they don’t grind gravel, they just go on road rides. Roads that are mostly dirt, so when Aaron decided to make a bike for ‘all-road’ conditions, he didn’t have to change much, aside from tire clearances. He did however add a few braze-ons for versatility reasons. Fender and light rack mounts are the most obvious additions. This particular frameset includes the new Ethic Industries fork. The GS1 is offered both as a steel bike, built from True Temper S3 tubing, or a titanium frame, with a geometry slightly tweaked for off-road or all-road riding.
The GS1 is designed to ride better on those long days in the saddle on dirt. This is one bike that has intrigued me and I’ll be able to actually ride it in the near future as part of a long-term review. Stay tuned…
If you’re intrigued, holler at Mosaic, where they’ll be more than happy to answer your questions or build you a bike of your own.
I tell ya, these Mosaic XSS-1 cross bikes are unforgettable. Except, I kinda forgot about posting this one. Sorry guys! Aaron and the crew at Mosaic do a superb job on these bikes, which they make for some of their local racers on a team they’ve come to call Team Single Barrel. There’s also Team Small Batch, but Single Barrel is their SSCX team. It’s a pretty rad concept, which you can read up about at Mosaic.
Now onto this bike. Daimo is, from what I could gather anyway, quite a character. The first thing he said to me was something along the lines of, “don’t forget to photograph the best finishing tape job on the team.” All It needs is some shallac! Anyway, Daimo’s bike came together great but it wouldn’t have been possible without support from Shimano USA, Chris King and PRO Bike Gear… and yes, tying off the bar tape was a nice touch. It’s not too early to be thinking about a custom cross frame from Mosaic. Holler at the boyz. For more inspiration, check out Aaron’s own suped-up XSS-1.
Over the weekend, team Mosaic, Breadwinner and Argonaut selected their winners for the 2015 Rouge Roubaix Builder Challenge. Below are the final selections, with a short description as to why they were selected.
As you can imagine, the 2015 Cyclocross Nationals brought all kinds of custom frame eye candy to town. Hidden in the fleets of Rock Lobsters and Stoempers are these blue “Singlebarrel” Mosaic XSS-1 singlespeed cross bikes. Built from True Temper tubing with Chris King, Shimano and ENVE rims, it’s not hard to spot one in the crowd of buzzing freewheels.
I bumped into Aaron from Mosaic and managed to get a few photos of his bike before the massive SSCX race took place yesterday. These bikes are lightweight, precision race machines and you can find out more about them by visiting Mosaic Cycles.
The newest bike of the week from Above Category has racing pedigree written all over it. Red and white will always look well balanced, especially with Campagnolo Record. See more of this Mosaic RS-1 at Above Category’s blog.
The Mavic 125ans Project came about to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the company. After the release of the Ksyrium 125 wheel in France earlier this spring, Chad Moore of Mavic USA reached out to a select group of frame builders who they felt were standouts in the industry.
Argonaut Cycles – working with designer Garrett Chow, Lynskey Performance, Mosaic Cycles – working with designer Zach Lee on their paint design, Ritte Cycles and Seven Cycles were contacted directly by Mavic.
Each builder was given a timeline and other than that, full artistic reign over their project bike. Looking to the Ksyrium 125 wheel for inspiration, each builder approached this unique collaboration in a way that represented what Mavic means to them and their brands.
These bikes will be released at Mavic’s brand communications center and Service Course in Los Angeles on 10 July, but I got a special sneak peek at the bikes yesterday, as I shot each in detail within the Mavic mechanics area. Both the Ritte and the Seven 125ans bikes will be auctioned off at the Pros Closet later this fall.
See this project in its entirety in the Gallery and there will be more to come, including interviews from some of the builders and an extensive look at Garrett Chow’s inspiration for the Argonaut Cycles road.
You gotta hand it to Mosaic Cycles out of Boulder, Colorado. They really do love their dealer shops. In fact, this year, each of their bikes were designed specifically for a different shop, around the world. My favorite happened to be for Crankstar in Brisbane, Australia.
Painted in a navy and baby blue rings, this road racer has an intimidating stance. Built with Dura Ace (yes! calipers!), Chris King Turquoise, ENVE wheels, custom painted Shimano Pro Stealth Evo bars, custom Busyman saddle and bartape, this bike caught my eye before the show even opened on Thursday night.
I had a lot of fun photographing this one. See for yourself in the Gallery!
Yesterday after arriving in Charlotte, I made my way over to the convention center to see what the general vibe would be like for the next few days. After a quick pass through all the controlled chaos that is convention center setup day, one road bike really stood out.
This Mosaic Cycles road bike was built with True Temper’s S3 ultralight tubeset and painted by Spectrum, utilizing the new True Temper branding. While I’m not usually into red and white paint jobs, I absolutely love this bike.
SRAM, ENVE, Fizik and Chris King ain’t a bad way to finish it off either… the build comes in at 15.5 lbs. See more in the Gallery!
