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We love vintage bikes but our parent company The Pro’s Closet knows vintage bikes… and modern bikes for that matter. Spencer Powlison takes a look at the 2020 Yeti ARC limited edition hardtail and compares it to the 1992 Yeti ARC in this blog piece and what he finds will surprise you. In terms of tech, gearing, weight, price (believe it or not), and accouterment, these two bikes are closer than you’d think. If you’re into this kind of bike nerdery, give this one a read.
If you’re looking for a non-custom and more affordable version of John’s Sklar that we posted today, then check out the newly-released Kona Unit and Unit X. For 2022, these popular models return with the Unit ($1,399) offered as a singlespeed and the Unit X ($1,599) comes with Deore 12-speed. You can even buy a frameset for $699. See all the details at Kona and throw your leg over one at your local dealer.
Today we’ve got something special from our lad Dillen at Baphomet Bicycles and Molly Cameron‘s Ride Group. We’re stoked to host a fundraiser in hopes of raising money for Ride Group so read on below for how you can win this bike, built up with lots of MUSA components and accessorized with New Mexico bag makers…
Santa Fe has long been a hub for travelers and this year, we’ve seen a good amount of cyclists roll through town while on their vacations and holidays. Most people just want to go out for a pedal and some bring a special bike. Simon is the latter, bringing along with him a really beautiful titanium 29+ rigid MTB, built by a company with a small internet presence called Haley Cycles. Let’s take a look at this beaut below.
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!
We are Manivelle, a framebuilder based in Strasbourg, France. Here is our build for the “Concours de Machine” 2021.
“Concours de Machine“, WHAT’S THAT?
The “CDM” is a historical event of the small French framebuilding world, born early in the 1900s, the golden age happened between 1934 and 1949 including Jo Routens and Rene Herse’s work. The Concours disappeared for a long time after the industrialization but is back to life since 2016.
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 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″+ form and now in its chonk 29+ form and have pulled together a comprehensive argument for why bikes like the Voytek hopefully stay around for a while…
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…
Concept: A mountain biker’s gravel bike.
With gravel biking being all the rage these days, most brands have a model or five in their portfolio and they’re widely popular because of their adventurous versatility. Of course, they come in many shapes, from retro single-speed steel works of art to full-on aero bikes. But with their drop bars, most modern gravel bikes in general clearly take on a road cyclist approach.
This weekend brings about Unbound Gravel, in Emporia, Kansas and I managed to catch up with a few friends who are taking on the 200-mile route… on a tandem. It’s not just any tandem though, so let’s check it out in detail below.
Brother Cycles’ Big Bro rigid mountain bike is a favorite among trail riders as well as bikepackers and for 2021, it got a bit of a refresh. The obvious change is this new yellow paint job, while the drivetrain has gone boost-spacing.
Now the Big Bro comes in 12x148mm rear spacing and 15x110mm front. The rest of the specs remain the same as the 2020 model.
You can now pre-order the new Big Bro at Brother Cycles.
Ben from Heath Creek Cycles shares with us his customized Surly Karate Monkey with some details we think the singlespeed readership will really appreciate. You don’t have to go full-custom to have a customized bike! Check out a few quick words from Ben below, along with more photos from Josh Kowalski, who manages Continental Bikes in Duluth, MN…
When I decided I wanted a custom bike there was only one person I really wanted to make it a reality. I’ve worked with Mike DeSalvo before, back when I was living in Portland, painting the first run of Speedvagen cyclocross bikes. I knew since this bike would be a once in a lifetime bike I wanted to go with titanium, and Mike is one of the best in the industry.
It’s a solution for cyclists who have a hardtail designed around a 120-130MM fork. Was it a problem worth tackling? Isn’t it stiff? Why not just get a steel fork? I thought about a lot of this when Ben from Whisky Parts Co was handing off a pre-production sample for me to ride, test and beat on. How’d it fare on some east coast haunts?
Read on to find out.
The newest fork to hit the shelves over at Whisky Parts Co will interest you 29r riders, particularly those who love the ride of a singlespeed rigid or just a rigid bike. The Boost MTB LT fork is 500mm long, clears a 3″ x 29″ or 27.5″ tire, has just the right amount of cargo cages, weighs 680g, uses IS disc mounts, and retails for $549.99. See more specs below and head to your local Whisky dealer for ordering!
Everything Trevor does seems to be dripping in story and lore as he comes from the homeland of mountain biking, Marin. He is the kind of person you just find stumbling out of the woods, shoeless, with the biggest grin on his face. In fact, recently he finally gained the attention of the owner of Black Mountain Cycles, after years of visiting the shop, because Ted King ran into Trevor out on the trails and regaled the shop owner about his encounter with the barefoot forest nymph.
There aren’t a whole lot of options on the market for those seeking a rigid MTB for shredding trail or bikepacking on. So when a brand like Kona, with their expansive dealer network, puts out something like the Unit X, it piques our interest. With a 29 x 2.6″ wheel platform, multiple bottle bosses, including on the fork, a compact geometry for easier mounting, and SRAM Eagle gearing, it seems like a no-brainer for those looking to make their home trails a little more engaging, or for someone trying to tackle singletrack touring. See more information at Kona.
Before we jump into the world of Retrotec Bikes and Curtis Inglis, let’s look at one of Curtis’ personal rigs; this 29+ rigid mountain bike, what I like to call the “Trail Cruiser.” Now, calling this a cruiser has nothing to do with the speed at which Curtis rides trails while on this rig and has everything to do with the history of Retrotec; a company that began modifying actual cruisers into off-road machines.