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Perhaps you remember Stefan’s coverage of last year’s Paris – Brest – Paris? That moody 35mm photo gallery that captured the event in a way so uniquely really struck me as beautiful documentation of one of the most intense endurance races. Well, this is the bike that Stefan pedaled during the event and as many of you expressed an interest in seeing better photos, we figured we’d feature it here at the site. So read on below for all the interesting tidbits, with words by Stefan…
Riding is fun. Racing should be fun. But it’s hard to remember that when focusing on wins and watts, podiums and purses. It becomes exhausting. So there’s a new breed of professional athletes choosing to transition away from the status quo. And though they possess the racing pedigree of their peers, they want to experience the joy of racing again. They’re forging a new Frontier in professional sport. With fresh legs, they’ll define success differently and apply a savvy entrepreneurial spirit to build a career on their terms. One based on performance, and most importantly, fun.
Bontrager announced a major change to its warranty program for carbon wheels recently, upgrading the program to include a lifetime warranty against defect while keeping the Carbon Care Wheel Loyalty Program, which offers free replacement or repair of any Bontrager carbon wheels that sustain damage from riding within the first two years of ownership. This new lifetime warranty covers all Bontrager carbon wheels for road and mountain bikes and comes at no additional cost to the purchaser. It includes all Bontrager carbon wheels purchased aftermarket as well as those that come stock on Trek bikes. This program applies to the original owner only.
My friends at Chumba Cycles have had a truly inspirational story since re-launching the brand in early 2014. While the name Chumba Cycles has been around for some time in the mountain bike world, this is an entirely different company when compared to the brand that launched in California during the early ’90s. Without going into the details too much, Vince and Mark purchased the brand a few years back and began making their tig-welded steel bikes in-house in Austin, TX. Around that same time, they moved shops, and on a recent trip to the Lonestar State, I swung through to check out their new digs and see some of the bikes they were building up for customers.
This is the second layout of the Radavist 2020 Calendar, entitled “Spring Sprint” shot with a Canon 1DX mkii and a 24-70 lens in Los Angeles, California.
“Even though it’s bone-chillingly cold outside, the warmer months are coming, so put your hands in the drops and hold on!”
For a high-res JPG, suitable for print and desktop wallpaper*, right-click and save link as – The Radavist 2020 – February. Please, this photo is for personal use only!
(*set background to white and center for optimal coverage)
The mobile background this month is from Mount Lowe Railway. Click here to download February’s Mobile Wallpaper.
State Bicycle Co’s newest model is a road bike, unlike anything they’ve produced before. The aluminum Undefeated Road Bike comes as a frameset for $649, or with an Apex 1 build ($1,299), and even a Force eTap AXS build ($2,899).
It features a carbon fork and a prism-inspired paint job. Check out more at State Bicycle Co.
Los Angeles’ Golden Saddle Cyclery is a hive for unique bicycles. From classic Miyatas to vintage MTBs and even work from framebuilders, if you hang out enough, you’ll see all kinds of bikes roll through. Blake’s Gretlein Cycles is a perfect example of some of the stunning beauties that roll through the shop.
For five years, Speedvagen has designed elaborate Surprise Me paint schemes, offering them for a short window before closing their orders for good. Starting this year each Surprise Me year will be available until the day the following year’s scheme is released. That widens the ordering window for everyone who would like one of these elaborate paint designs on their Speedvagen.
For this year’s design, the crew at Speedvagen looked to old hot rods, rat rods, and garage-built, patina racers. The new design offers up a Detroit Agate-inspired multi-layered paint marring as well as crisp and sharp graphics. Other upgrades people can order include painted to match hubs, a stainless chainstay protector, and ee Cycleworks brakes. Check out all the details at Speedvagen.
Hanford Cycles calls Philadelphia their home and as home town heros, at this year’s Philly Bike Expo, they brought a subtle and subdued fendered road bike, when compared their ornate and attention-grabbing classic randonneur bike from last year’s show. Simon of Hanford Cycles worked for Bilenky for 14 years, before leaving to launch his own enterprise, Hanford Cycles. As you can see from the lugwork on this and all of Simon’s bikes, it appears to be working out for him just fine.
The details on this long distance road bike are stunning! It’s equipped with a SON hub for a generator lamp eventually, fenders, cantilever brakes for extra clearance around the fenders, and a geometry tuned for the long road ahead.
Custom bikes with custom paint are one thing but the work of Richard Diebenkorn is on another level. Scarab Cycles is based in the Andes Mountains of Colombia, where cycling is taken very seriously! I found this story behind their RAUCH paint job on the Santa Rosa road model very interesting.
SC: What did you want the paint scheme to be based on? Why?
JR: …I had been kicking around the idea of a bike interpretation of “Ocean Park #79” by Richard Diebenkorn, and once I floated the idea by the team some additional inspiration started to bubble up, namely Omar Rayo’s geometric work. For a Colombian-made frame that was going to live in the California hills, the conversation around incorporating elements around these two artists seemed a natural fit.
Check out the full bike and interview at Scarab Cycles.
Wow! What a year it’s been. In the past twelve months, we’ve shot roughly 300 bikes. From gravel races, to NAHBS, the Philly Bike Expo and our normal travels, we really captured some unique builds and we’ve got a good handle on the bikes the readers of the Radavist enjoy checking out based on some key metrics.
Every year we try to do our best to sort through twelve months of archives to narrow down to this list. The first filter is the comment count, which we start at 50 comments. Then comes page views, with the minimum number being 20,000 views. Finally, we look at the social media chatter; including Instagram comments and how many times was the post shared across various platforms.
What we end up with is a list that is filled with a plethora of interesting, versatile, and quirky bikes. The only editorial decision I myself made was to omit reviews of stock bikes. So no Santa Cruz Stigmata or Cannondale Topstone this round!
Check out the full Top Ten Beautiful Bicycles of 2019 below, in no particular order…
Bryan Hollingsworth from Royal H Bikes has attended every Philly Bike Expo since its inception to display his works of art under the Royal H brand. For the 10th anniversary, he knew he had to make something special, so with that goal in mind he built and displayed this beautiful lugged road bike. Some of the finer details include top-eyes with windows built-in and a very special bottom bracket, that was filed to perfection, but everywhere you look on this bike there’s something special going on.
With a build kit based around Campagnolo Chorus mostly, some nods to the past include the Stronglight Headset, quill stem, Turbo saddle, but Bryan chose to use White Industries hubs for a reliable handbuilt wheelset. Check out more of the images above, and if you got any other questions for Bryan, drop them in the comments.
Yesterday we took a deep dive into the shop of Tomii Cycles. Typically, builders use their own bikes to experiment and explore ideas, concepts, and construction techniques they’ll later use on their client’s bikes. This reasoning is why I always gravitate towards a builder’s own bike when I’m visiting a shop.
The Czech-based framebuilder company Festka is always pushing the envelope of frame design and their latest build does just that. The Spectre Porcelain was created for a bike collector from Bangkok who is a lover of vintage porcelain. With the help of Czech artist Michal Bačák, Festka has created a finish, unlike anything they’ve made before. Michal hand-painted this frame to emulate a vintage porcelain heirloom piece, yet unlike fragile porcelain, this bike can be used quite rigorously…
Soma, known for their city and touring tires, have entered the world of crit and road racing with their Crit King gum tread race tire. Unlike Soma’s other offerings, this is a “race day” only tire, not a training or daily ride tire.
– Proprietary gum tread compound
– Superfine cord in a high TPI weave creates a supple casing that is also cut resistant
– Anti-puncture belt under the tread
– Wt.: 200g (25c, Kevlar bead)
– Sizes: 700c x 25c, 28c
– Made in Japan
Ritchey stirred up quite the storm when they unveiled the Road Logic Disc this year at Eurobike. We teased the bike last week and today, Ritchey announced the Road Logic Disc is now available in the EU, with US stock arriving January 2020. Check out more photos and specifications below.
Late August 2019, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Schicke Mütze, a bike shop, and cafe in Düsseldorf organized a visit of Tom Ritchey and a gravel ride together with local cyclists and enthusiasts. they let me in on that beautiful day, the following is the account of a conversation and video interview with Tom Ritchey.
Chris Bishop. Chrisssss Bishop. Seeing his creations year after year at the Philly Bike Expo brings all the warm feels. This year he brought an Item 4 Velo Classique road bike to display clean and elegant detailing Bishop Bikes is known for…