Today we are back with part two of Spencer Harding‘s ENVE Grodeo and Builder Round-up coverage. If you missed the builds featured in yesterday’s post, we’d recommend going back and giving them a gander—3D-printed parts (most ti but some steel, too!) seems to be the unofficial theme for the year but there’s plenty to see across the creative spectrum! Today, we finish up with the remaining frame builders in the showcase—with a few more overseas features—then we head out on the weekend’s main event, a 92-mile gravel ride on some of the best dirt in the northern Wasatch Mountains. Let’s dive in!
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2023 ENVE GRODEO and Builder Round-Up Part One: Sanitas, English, Viral, Mosaic, Chumba, Holland, Rizzo, Horse, Sage, Bridge, Salt Air, Pursuit, Ritte, Fifty One
Every summer, ENVE Composites hosts a massive open house at their HQ in Ogden, Utah with an accompanying gravel ride. The 2023 ENVE Grodeo, which went down just one week ago, featured an impressive list of 24 frame builders from around the world. Spencer Harding was on the ground documenting all of the beautiful bicycles and riding festivities and, below, he presents Part One of his event recap with a stacked gallery of bikes, some snapshots from the builder ride, and Trackline time trail at the Grodeo. Let’s get to it!
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TdF 2023 Stage 1 Recon of the Final Kilometres + Taylor’s Bike Check [TtTT #2]
We’re back with more 2023 Tour de France coverage from Safa. In this video, the team checks out the final kilometers of Stage 1’s finish and also takes a look at Taylor’s ultra-lightweight touring bike setup.
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Readers’ Rides: Harrison’s ‘Mostly Garbage’ Centurion
We love to see people re-using vintage bikes for modern exploits. It’s one of our absolute favorites. So when Harrison sent this into our Readers’ Rides inbox, we spent a good amount of time frothing over it. Let’s take a look!
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Readers’ Rides: Darvin’s Relstone “Project VA” Rollin’ Stone Custom Road Bike
We first met Guy Stone at the 2021 Philly Bike Expo where he was showing a personal New Trix singlespeed hardtail from his then-nascent custom framebuilding operation Relstone Cycles. Guy is a full-time accountant and part-time fabricator with an out-of-the-box approach to building bicycles. As a side project to his side project, he builds one bike per year for a veteran in collaboration with his local VA in Chillicothe, OH, and a list of generous brand sponsors. For this week’s reader’s ride, Guy shares his most recent Project VA build: a custom Rollin Stone road bike with a great backstory. Let’s check it out below!
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Readers’ Rides: Hoj Art’s DIY Custom Cannondale CAAD4
Is there a frameset with a bigger cult following than the Cannondale CAAD? Hoj Art says no and we agree. For this week’s Readers’ Rides, we get a look at an amazing DIY project that turned a bummer CAAD4 into a stunner track-inspired CAAD4. Let’s get to it…
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A Life of Custom Bicycle Fabrication: Fifty Years of Rob Roberson’s Personal Bike Collection
Yesterday, we shared a profile of Rob Roberson that traces his storied bicycle fabrication career from the 1970s to present day. Today, we’re taking a look at seven bikes Rob built during that impressive 50-year window, from early track bikes to road frames and his most recent personal all-road build. There’s a lot of intricate eye candy here, so let’s get to it!
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It’s a Lifestyle, Not a Career: The Legend of Rob Roberson
Rob Roberson is an enigma in the handmade bicycle world. Some would consider him “the greatest known unknown bike fabricator” of the American frame building movement. His career, which spans nearly 50 years, puts him among a very small pedigree of builders that have both mass-production experience and have also built custom bikes under their own name without giving up the ghost. Yet, with such a significant trajectory, Rob has remained largely unknown. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring bikes made by Rob and the stories about them. Today, however, Zach Small and Josh Weinberg are honored to introduce you to Rob Roberson.
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Chris King Goes Deep: A First Look at the ARD44 All-Road FusionFiber Wheelset
Today, with the launch of the ARD44 wheelset, Chris King adds an all-road offering to their FusionFiber wheelset lineup that previously catered to gravel cyclists with the GRD23 and mountain bikers with the MTN30. Laced to King’s R45D hubs, at 25mm internal width and 44mm deep, ARD44 wheels are designed for riders of all roads – from tarmac to dirt tracks. Josh got his hands on a set of these new aero wheels just a few days ago and shares a first look below…
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Readers’ Rides: Will’s Albatross RD-00 Builder’s Special Road Bike
We get many submissions for our weekly Readers’ Rides feature. Some range from parts bin basket bikes to framebuilders’ own creations. This week’s feature comes from the latter. Will from Albatross Bikes sent in his personal RD-00 Builder’s Special, along with some process imagery and the bike’s geometry, so let’s get to it!
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An Early Look at the Monē Bikes Hachita Prototype All-Rounder: A Sincere Cycles Build
Cjell here with a quick report from the field on my latest prototype bike model, the Monē Hachita. I’m still dialing in the details but have released a few protos into the wild. The new/forthcoming frame featured here was just built up by my friend Bailey Newbrey. For those unfamiliar, Bailey is the owner/operator/janitor/DJ of Sincere Cycles in Santa Fe.
The new bike is one we’re working on over here at Monē. The current Monē line-up has a slack/playful hardtail with very big tire clearance, a drop bar with very big tire clearance, and a gravel bike with just big tire clearance. In many ways, these thru-axle, disc-braked bikes are superior to this new bike. In all ways, really, save one: ultimate retro compatibility.
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Mike From Black Mountain Cycles’ Cunningham #E5 GH Road
While in Marin for a few photoshoots, John swung by to see Mike at Black Mountain Cycles in Point Reyes Station. It had been several years (maybe you recall his Shop Visit post) since he’d been in the area and was long overdue for some catching up.
Mike is an industry veteran, having raced bikes and worked for various brands over the years before launching his own in-house brand of bikes under the banner of Black Mountain Cycles. We’ve featured several Black Mountain builds over the years and are big fans of what Mike designs. Mike owns several unique vintage bikes that have helped inform his own designs, yet the crème de la crème is his personal Cunningham road.
We pinged Mike to write about this rare machine, showcasing its origins and unique details found only on a Cunningham, so read on for more!
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Don’t Tell Me You Like It: An Extended Review of The Argonaut GR3 Gravel Bike
Argonaut’s GR3 gravel bike combines the trademarked GravelFirst geometry with a custom rider-specific carbon layup to create what the Bend, Oregon-based frame and component builder claim to be a “rip-capable gravel bike unlike any other.” So, what does Petor Georgallou‘s time as a high schooler working at a video rental shop have to do with the Argonaut GR3? And, if he tells you he likes the bike, will you even believe him? Read on to find out…
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Archive Re-Up: Gideon’s Rivendell Rambouillet S&S Road Bike
When we lost our 2015 image bucket back in 2018, it was a huge bummer, but over the past few months, I’ve been digging out hard drives and re-editing some photos, in the hopes of filling in the bigger holes. With this real winter we’ve been having, I’ve had a bit more free time to take a deep dive into the archives, and today, I’m sharing one of my favorite Rivendell builds I shot while living in Austin: Gideon’s Rivendell Rambouillet Road Bike
Check it out in all its S&S coupled, lugged glory: Gideon’s Rivendell Rambouillet Road Bike
I should also note that my intent here is only to upload lost photos, keeping the text and formatting intact.
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Materialism is Dead; Long Live Materialism: A Workshop Visit with Saffron Frameworks
In this shop visit with Saffron Frameworks in London, UK, Sam Rice traces a line from Matthew Sowter’s previous life as a chef to his current trade as one of the most awarded frame builders in the world. Matthew’s skill in transforming basic ingredients into magnificent dishes transfers over into his ability to turn a box of tubes into a frame deserving of the word “perfection.” Materialism may be a concept of the past, but it is very much alive in Matthew Sowter’s craft.
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Archive Re-Up: Chris’ Icarus Race Bike
When we lost our 2015 image bucket back in 2018, it was a huge bummer, but over the past few months, I’ve been digging out hard drives and re-editing some photos, in the hopes of filling in the bigger holes. With this real winter we’ve been having, I’ve had a bit more free time to take a deep dive into the archives, and today, I’m sharing an iconic bike from Icarus that shook the internet when I posted it: Chris’ Icarus Race Bike
Check it out in all its fluoro glory here: Chris’ Icarus Race Bike
I should also note that my intent here is only to upload lost photos, keeping the text and formatting intact.
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Readers’ Rides: Tom’s Vintage Lotus Odyssey Gravel
1980s road bikes make for pretty alright gravel bikes, as evidenced by Tom’s Lotus Odyssey, the bike he shared with us for Readers’ Rides today! Let’s check out what Tom did to make this bike more capable below…
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Finding an Ideal Low Trail Road Bike: Soma Grand Randonneur Review
After spending years swapping the same worn-out parts between vintage steel frames, I was ready to build my ideal “road” bike in 2020. I wanted something that was comfortable, versatile, and beautiful, and after much deliberation, I settled on the Soma Grand Randonneur. Read on to learn why I chose the Grand Randonneur and my thoughts on the bike after two tours, a gravel race, and many long days on country roads.