The Radavist

Blending steel with stainless can yield marvelous results, especially when done so through the use of chevrons. To then carry those lines into a frame’s paint is whole ‘nother level of beauty. Ian Sutton of Icarus Frames‘ latest road machine was recently built up at Mellow Johnny’s.

The owner, Lucas, wanted a classic road with modern componentry and a 26.0 bar. Campagnolo Athena 11-speed with a Nitto M179 STI bar and a custom fillet stem delivered the perfect kit for this bike, resulting in an elegant road machine. White Industries T11 to H+Son Archetypes and Paul skewers offer one of the nicest wheelsets for those looking for a classic flair and modern tech.

There are so many details in this bike, that I might have gone overboard with the photos: Stainless stays, stainless fork blades, internal routing and that head tube cluster, all matched with a beautiful chevron design at the bottom bracket. Ben Falcon at the Horse Cycles delivered one hell of a paint job!

Enjoy this bike, Lucas!

Truthfully, when the Eroica California was announced, my hope was to find an older, California-made road bike. Something like an Eisentraut, or a Bruce Gordon. You know, classic American steel from the west coast. When all I could find were either in the 54cm or 64cm range, I began looking elsewhere. Which is where I came upon this frame on eBay.

I’ve always loved the Merckx Professionals, with their flat crown forks and Columbus SL tubing, yet this bike looked a bit strange. The seller claims it was from 1982 and raced at the European Championships in 1982 at Goodwood with the Belgian team. ’82… Giuseppe Saronni got first, Lemond got second and Sean Kelly, third. Sounds like a good year.

… but, that fork. I’ve never seen a sloping crown Merckx prior to 1985. Those seat stay caps point to a post-1985 bike. I’ve also never seen a single bottle cage Merckx before. The over-the-bottom-bracket-routing puts in the early 1980’s though. There’s a story there, somewhere. I just have to find it. The seller assured me it was unique and yes, custom.

Going Just Because: Three Months of the Sierra Nevada
Photos and words by Ryan Wilson

Every year fall rolls around and the itch hits me. I know the days of many of the high mountain passes throughout California’s Sierra Nevada mountains are numbered. If we’re lucky they’d be buried in feet of snow for almost half of the year. It turned out this year was yet another unlucky one, but still I feel that push to go and explore the roads in my favorite mountain range while I know I can…

“John, let’s just ride bikes, don’t bring your camera.”

I’ve heard it countless times and history has proven that no matter what, if I don’t bring my camera, I end up wishing I had. Especially when it comes to new trails. Extra especially when it comes to new trails in the Pacific Northwest.

On my last day in Portland, Ira and Tony from Breadwinner Cycles invited me on a Sunday afternoon trail ride, about an hour outside of Portland in the Brown’s Camp trail network. Up until that point, all I had ridden in the PDX area was Sandy Ridge and a few trails in Forest Park. Not exactly a sampling of the land.

The JB Racer may be Breadwinner’s flagship MTB but it’s far from anything new for Ira Ryan and Tony Pereira. When the two framebuilders decided to join forces to create the Breadwinner label, Ira Brought his knowledge of road and cross bikes to the table, while Tony weighed in on the MTB game.

Truthfully, the JB Racer is a continuation of the way Tony Pereira has been building cross-country mountain bikes for years. Named after Jeff Bates, one of Tony’s best friends who died from skin cancer, the JB Racer is a true to form XC race machine. Racing mountain bikes is where Pereira Cycles first made an appearance and Jeff Bates was one of the first to race under the brand.

When Breadwinner formed, Tony used his singlespeed MTB as inspiration for the JB Racer and here we are today. This and the Bad Otis offer two sides to the MTB coin. After we shredded Brown’s Camp last week, I shot some photos of Ira Ryan’s personal JB Racer. While there’s more to come from that day, I really wanted to showcase this bike on its own.

If you’re interested in one of these machines, the JB Racer starts at $1795 for a frame.

Check out more in the Gallery!

Joseph Ahearne‘s bikes, like Curtis Inglis’ bikes, have always piqued my interest. There’s something honest, yet artistic about his designs. He’s not afraid to use a 1″ threaded steerer, curvalicious racks, or yes, a kickstand (Hey, made my job easier!)

This Ahearne Cycles 27.5 dirt tourer is currently parked in Velo Cult and it’s a glimpse into the future for what’s to come from the two brands. Velo Cult loves this bike so much, that they’re going to work with Joseph to develop a 26+ and a 27.5 dirt tourer production version. It’ll have many of the same features, but be a bit simplified to bring the pricepoint down.

When a bike like this happens to be your size, you take it for a long ride around the block to photograph it… As stated, this particular model (which fits like a 58cm) is for sale at Velo Cult and a new production version is on the way. Holler at the guys if you’re interested in purchasing either.

John Slawta is as much an artist as he is a frame builder. It’s rare to see any one of his custom bikes from the late 80’s or early 90’s with the same paint job. Sure, he went on stints where he developed paint themes, but each Land Shark frame was truly unique. It’s for this reason that I’ve often found myself on a Land Shark kick, where I’ll scour ebay or Craigslist, hopeful of finding a bike that would fit me.

That’s how David, a Stumptown employee, found this bike in particular. Truthfully, he actually scored two bikes when he replied to a Craigslist ad in Los Angeles. This one in particular just happened to fit him a bit better. Turns out, this was Harrison Ford’s son’s bike. Oh SoCal…

Not needing an actual cyclocross racing bike, David converted it to more of a commuter. Since it lacks fender mounts, he has clip-on fenders that he’ll swap on and off depending on the unpredictable Portland weather. Wide, uncut riser bars and a 1x drivetrain, thanks to a Wolf Tooth, give this bike a rally-like feel as he zips around town going to and from various Stumptown locations.

Dedacciai Zero tubes offer a unique silhouette, especially for a cyclocross bike. Check out the bi-oval, shaped, top tube’s flat profile for shouldering and the downtube’s diameter as it butts into the bottom bracket shell. A true custom selection for a bike that, at the time, was a ripping race machine. Hell, it would still roast a cyclocross course. For now, it’s pretty content as a commuter and David is stoked. Win/win if you ask me.

190 days. That’s over 6 months. For Doug D, that’s how long he’s been living in and on this bike: a custom Brooklyn Machine Works tourer. This frame is in fact the only custom bike the Brooklyn framebuilders have made over the years. Sure, there have been numerous prototypes and one-offs, but Doug’s touring bike is the only completely custom ride they’ve made.

For good reason. A touring bike like this weighs around 100 lbs and carries everything Doug needs to tour all over the east coast and northeast during the harsh winter months. It has specific engineering requirements and plenty of custom details.

It features custom-designed and laser cut dropouts, as well as an integrated cable sheath at the seat tube cluster. Doug specifically requested BMW’s signature double plate fork, with aero blades, specifically drawn to hold the weight of panniers. Then, to top it off, the decals are the first ever die-cut vinyl logos the brand has done.

All in all, it’s a rather straight forward build. Pieced together with whatever spare parts Doug had on him at the time. Take for instance the Dura Ace cranks and Ultegra front derailler. Yet the 48h Phil Wood touring wheels, Paul Touring Cantis, Brooks saddle, hand made front panniers and Arkel bar bag are very much touring specific.

So what’s Doug been doing for 6 months? He’s been visiting various factories and facilities where companies still make goods in the USA. Everything from Easton hockey sticks, to boot makers, military equipment, stand up paddle boards and yes, even bicycle frame builders.

I caught up with Doug briefly in Austin yesterday, shot his bike, took him to my favorite bar and heard stories about stealth camping, staying sane and most importantly, warm during the winter months. He has tons of film and digital photos, which he hopes to put into a book at some point.

Follow Doug on Instagram for more stories and photos. If you see this man on the road, say hello!

Mo, or “Meaux”, Bruno Roy was at the 2015 Cyclocross Nationals here in Austin, where I shot her Mudhoney Pro cross bike. Then, with all the madness that ensued after the postponement of the main event, I totally blanked on posting the photos.

That is until the news yesterday that Mo had retired from professional cyclocross racing. While she won’t be hanging up cross racing all together, her days of UCI events have come to a close. Now, I’ve only met Mo once but she seems like the type of person who is riding bikes for the love of the sport. Her and her husband Matt were so kind and generous, I can’t see her disappearing from their local New England scene. What I’m saying is, I doubt this is the last time you’ll be seeing this bike!

For more news on Mo’s retirement, head over to VeloNews and for more photos of this slick, titanium and carbon Mudhoney Pro, check out the Gallery.

One part inspired by the band Electric Wizard and six parts inspired by Erik’s Di2 Alfine 11 Peacock-Nuke AWOL.

While this customer may not be heading off to Europe to participate in The Transcontinental anytime soon, he is riding this thing through the urban jungle we call Los Angeles and participating in daily jaunts through the Santa Monica Mountains.

The new Soma Wolverine was our canvas and the picture which we would paint took longer than some of the most famous oil paintings. Most of the components were no-brainers. While questions like whether to use a belt or chain took a bit longer.

I hope you guys enjoy looking at this bike as much as we liked building it!

p.s. The Soma Wolverine was also reviewed in the latest issue of Bicycle Quarterly. So if you’d like to know more about the performance of this bike, I’d suggest heading to your local bike shop and picking up issue No. 51 of BQ.

While the Rouge Roubaix and coincidentally, the Rouge Roubaix Builder Challenge were both huge successes this year, there were a few things that I felt needed recognition. These can best be broken into a few groups: Chris Diminno’s hard work keeping us all fed, Mosaic’s team of ladies that crushed it, Will Jones’ dedication to the safety of racers and last but not least, the vernacular found in the Deep South.

Down and Dirty in Santa Cruz
Photos by Ryan Wilson and Sean Talkington. Words by Sean Talkington

Ty, Ryan, Jackie and myself were recently invited up to Santa Cruz to meet with some of our fellow Instagram bike brethren (aka nerds). We were brought up to test out the new Roubaix Di2 disk outerspace/starwars bikes by Specialized. I was getting over a cold so Ty and I decided to carpool up a day later. We showed up a little late but arrived just in time to partake in what we hoped to be four straight days of great riding with or without torrential rainfall. Regardless of the forecast, we were optimistic. Each day was scheduled to be wetter than the previous, but the terrain was going to be so good that the weather wouldn’t be a factor.

Everything was pretty awesome. Things couldn’t be better! That is, until the start of day 3. That’s when it happened. When I got the feeling in my stomach. You know the feeling?! The feeling when your stomach drops, like REALLY “droooooooops” (30 minutes into the ride) and you start sweating profusely (even though its 51 degrees outside). Then you realize you’ve caught the stomach bug that has been going around the house (Rudy from The 5th Floor had it the day before and a European journalist before him).

I would now like for you to put yourself in my shoes for a minute (or better yet my bibs). You are now officially going to turn your insides out. The probability of you holding it in for more than a single minute is extremely low and while the rest of the group keeps on riding, you start to fall off the back. Then you realize you left your phone at the house because you didn’t want it to get wet. So you have absolutely no idea where you are or how to get back to the house and of course you don’t know the address/location where you are staying.