The Radavist

This NAHBS I learned two things about 44 Bikes. The first being Kris and I are the exact same size – which comes in handy for any planned trips to New Hampshire I might have to make. Second, Kris doesn’t build anything that he can’t or wouldn’t ride himself. Although, I suppose if someone really wanted a road bike, he’d make an exception.

Regionally, the roads surrounding Kris’ shop and home are quite shitty. Rutted, washboarded, washed-out and rocky, the tracks and trails take quite the beating throughout the winter, so his bikes are tailored to this terrain. For NAHBS this year, Kris brought all three of his own bikes to show off, because, well. It just makes sense.

Here’s the show favorite from his booth: a murdered out singlespeed 29’r with a nice, fat Whisky Parts fork, Industry 9 wheels and a rear end so tight that it’d be hard to… No, wait, it’s so black metal that… Anyway, I digress.

Check out more in the Gallery!

It’s kind of nice living two miles from Icarus Frames‘ shop in South Austin. When Ian gets in a frame from paint, I can just cruise on over and shoot a few photos. When he gets a frame in like this singlespeed road however, I spend a little more time documenting it.

This is a custom bicycle. It’s a NAHBS-worthy bike, although Ian has never shown at NAHBS. The detailing is above and beyond your average frame. Everything is shaped, carved and sculpted to perfection. Stainless rear, stainless lugs, internal routing, polished everything, immaculate shorelines, covered by a wild wet paint job, courtesy of Fresh Frame.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so dialed come out of Ian’s shop and to think, his queue has a quick turnaround. I just wish I could have photographed the complete bike!

Check out more insane details in the Gallery.

Earlier last week, I showcased that red Cycles d’Autremont road bike and now, his 27.5 hardtail takes the stage. Much like the last bike, Hubert wanted to experiment with a simple, clean fillet-brazed frame.

Since it’s his own personal bike, he felt that it’d be the perfect platform to test out his geometry and construction. While he was in Arizona visiting family, he got to ride this thing on all his favorite trails. From what I gather, he’s pretty stoked on it.

After we shredded Pace Bend park while he was in town, I took some photos of this beaut on a crisp and clear Texas winter day. See more in the Gallery!

I’ve known Crihs for a very long time and each time I see him, he’s got a new bike. Not a new, new bike, just a different bike. I don’t think anything Crihs owns stays new, or at least looks new. His rides are all street-ridden and thrashed. Basically, his bikes are very, very happy.

This Legor Cicli singlespeed cross bike is an incredible machine. Vintage Shimano levers, PAUL cantis, vintage ATAC, a thrashed Flite and the rest of the components don’t distract from the impeccable fillets and halftone paint job. I even love the mis-matched black Thomson with a silver face plate!

See more in the Gallery!

Year after year, one race promises a good time and delivers. The SSCXWC is often riddled with controversy and inclement weather, luckily this year, the latter only applied. After a successful qualifier at the Bilenky Junkyard Cross course, the racers took to the main event at another location. This year’s course was part taped, part off-road through hobo trails and singletrack. To top it off, it started snowing at the onset of the chaos. Out came the kegs, the grills and the party hats. When the dust settled, two champions reigned supreme, Adam Craig and Vicki Barclay. That’s two in a row for Craig…

Chris King’s Dylan VanWeelden is quite handy with his camera. From shooting for the Chris King blog and various products, to covering events, Dylan has his lens tuned into the Buzz. Check out a selection of his photos in the Gallery!

Year after year, Bilenky‘s Junkyard Cross brings in a varying crowd of cyclists from the party-racers to the pros. This year however, Steve and the gang played their cards a little differently, embracing the SSCXWC in Philly and throwing Junkyard Cross as the qualifier for the main event. Things got weird for sure…

Photographer Chris Lee was on the scene with his 35mm SLR and DSLR to catch all the action. Check out some selects in the Gallery!

I don’t know if you know this but camouflage is “in” right now and so is cyclocross. A few months ago, Kyle from Tracko got his ENVE fork painted by Death Spray Custom, for a new bike coming in time for cross season. When Ty didn’t have a fork for Cross Vegas, Kyle let him borrow it. Enough of a backstory? The fork looks great on the black Nature Boy Zona, especially with the Easton camo tape. Let’s just say Ty is living the dream…

Over the past few years, the crew at Geekhouse Bikes have slowly grown apart from their brightly-colored, low-pro, bent seat tube, triple triangle track bikes that they became so well known for. This slow and steady move towards class, with a bit of sass has culminated in their 2013 NAHBS offerings in Denver. New this year are the Brentwood Porteur and Hopedale Light Tourer. Both bikes would make ideal vehicles for a weekend camping trip, or around town jaunts. These models will be available in conjunction with Geekhouses’ already established models. Let me just say the brightly-colored Mudville singlespeed disk cross looks so dialed. Even the Adria Klora-designed graphics are top notch. Well done guys!

Check out some more photos, by the lovely Heather McGrath in the gallery!

In the spirit of Veteran’s Day, I thought I’d share with you one of my favorite bikes from yesterday’s Cross Crusade here in Portland. Tom is a close friend of the Vanilla / Speedvagen family. He puts on the Kiddie Kross races at the ‘Crusade series and races in the singlespeed category on his lovely 2008 Speedvagen Cross Machine.

Opting for the more eccentric “Surprise Me” paint job, his metal steed is covered in a red, white and blue livery, all brought together by a line of stars. It’s really something else! See for yourself in the Gallery.

Since meeting the owner of Defiance custom cycles at the Philly Bike Show, I cannot find information about his company for the life of me. All I know is that he’s based out of Long Island and he makes gorgeous frames. Case in point is this ice blue singlespeed. Sure, it looks like a track bike, but the freewheel on the rear even threw me off. Throw a track cog on it and you’ve got a great winter trainer.

The build is lovely (Campagnolo GS cranks really set it off), the color is spot on and I even like the super graphic on the head tube. This one’s a winner. But one question: does anyone know a URL or a contact email for Defiance? In the mean while, check out more photos below.