The Radavist

A little while back, All-City reached out to me to shoot their new Cosmic Stallion, with one request, it does not look like Los Angeles in the backdrop. Being a geological nerd, I have a list of weird zones surrounding LA’s sprawling megacity footprint that I’ve either found or have known about since moving there in 2015, one of which being Vasquez Rocks, a popular backdrop for Hollywood SciFi movies…

Holy Gaiole!!!
Photos and words by Kyle Kelley

l’Eroica Gaiole has always been a dream of mine. Since the early days of Tracko I would fantasize about traveling to Italy with only two things: a vintage Cinelli and a 35mm film camera. I hadn’t yet been outside of the United States and was young, dumb, and thought I could get anything done. Looking back, I probably would have forgotten to bring film. I was most definitely a bit naive back then.

Today was the Cub House’s third annual bike show and swap. While we’ll look at the show itself tomorrow, I couldn’t wait to share the winning bike from the show, this Medici-built Carnevale Road bike. Now, with all bikes like this, there is a backstory. Ralph Carnevale was a major dealer of Medici Bicycles in Southern California in the 70’s and 80’s. His shop sold so many Medici bikes that the Masi-spinoff builder made a whole line of Carnevale Bicycles for Ralph.

When All-City first developed the Mr. Pink, they wanted to deliver a classic steel road bike, made from Columbus ZONA tubing, with a Shimano kit for under $2,000. In fact, that number came in at $1,799. Last month, All-City lowered the MSRP on Mr. Pink completes to $1,499, with the framesets being reduced from $999 to $850, sparking me to finally shoot Mike’s “Kiwi Green” Mr. Pink with Campagnolo Chorus. This is not an advertisement, I just wanted to share the news and get you into your local shop to check one out.

When it comes to production steel road bikes, the Mr. Pink is one of the finer specimens. The model’s latest color grabbed Mike from Golden Saddle‘s attention, as it matched some components had had laying around including some green Chris King bits, as well as some PAUL skewers and a Turquoise King headset. The boys at the shop like to ride bikes that they sell, so when potential customers ask them questions, they can reply with honest answers.

Luciano’s Velo Playa Larga GIOS Torino
Photos and words by Sean Talkington

I’m often drawn to things that are just the right amount of “thrashed”. That includes old cars, buildings, and even people look a lot more interesting with some character brought on from age. Of all the old things that pique my interest, bicycles might be on the top of the list.

There is something really honest about an old, weathered bike, and steel bikes are probably the best suited for “patina.” They’re probably the ONLY bikes that can look just as appealing after a lot of use versus a spotless new version. I seriously doubt it will be cool to see banged up old carbon S-Works in 30 years, but I guess you never know. I mean, as a kid everyone told me to save my baseball cards, so I did, and now they are worth nearly nothing. I’ve been lugging these things around for my entire adult life for literally no reason. I haven’t cared about baseball cards since I was probably twelve years old, yet I continue to drag 10,000 of them around like a 300-pound ship anchor. On the other hand, the Walkman I thrashed as a kid and secondhand Oakley Frogskins my friend Travis gifted me for my birthday are collectible. WTF!?

Leave it on the Road’s Desert Bear: a Ride from Joshua Tree to LA

Words by Crystal Haggard and Bianca Pettinicchi, photos by Jordan Clark Haggard

On Saturday, November 10th, seven women embarked on an epic desert journey to help fund cutting edge cancer cell and gene therapy research. They navigated the arid landscape from Joshua Tree to Los Angeles, following a route, and more importantly, their hearts. A ride to remember, with a noble goal – help raise $100,000 to fund cancer cell gene therapy.

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: 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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It’s no secret that California is home to some exceptional bike riding. It doesn’t matter if you’re a roadie, a gravel grinder, or a mountain bike park rat, there’s something for everyone in the Golden State. My romping grounds of choice happen to be a quick, three-hour drive from my home in Los Angeles. After catching up on work Thursday morning, I left my home and headed north on the 395 to Lone Pine, California where I’d spend the next two days riding my newly retrofit Firefly. Kyle and I rode these roads last year and I spent the whole summer planning a return.