The Radavist

Things don’t always go as planned. That’s what I have to tell myself all the time. Last winter, Clayton from WTB and I planned on doing the Tahoe Rim Trail, the week of Interbike, not with any political agenda in mind, just that it worked for both of our schedules. It was the only week where neither of us had anything penned in our calendars.

While you can do the TRT on a rigid bike, you’ll probably have more fun on at least a hardtail. Clayton’s route includes a lot of singletrack on the eastern side of the lake and like everything up there, it can be rowdy at times. I planned on bringing my Stinner Frameworks, with a few component upgrades, which would make the long days and high elevation gain a bit easier. All I needed were some bags.

I’ve been using Porcelain Rocket bags for quite a while now and while my trusty frame bag fits my road or cross bikes, even my 44 UTE quite well, it wouldn’t cram into my hardtail. Around the time I was planning for this, Scott from Porcelain Rocket launched his sealed waterproof bags, with the first special color offering being “Prolly Gold,” or Coyote as the rest of the world calls it. I was honored and slightly amused at the playful nod to my obsession with various shades of tan, so I reached out to Scott, with the emphasis on the byline: nothing special, just want to buy a bag.

Hello, my name is John and I’m a hardtail addict. I’m not sure when or where it began, but when framebuilders send me bikes to review, specifically hardtail mountain bikes, I tend to want to buy the framesets from them. Most recently, this Stinner Frameworks Tunnel 27.5+ bike, which I reviewed a little while back when it was built with Box Components and Magura products.

Coming from my stout and solid Retrotec, the Stinner offered a much lighter, zippier feel. It wasn’t necessarily a better ride, just a different one. One that I liked a lot, save for one major – to me at least – flaw: it only had one water bottle mount on the inside triangle.

When I first heard the news that Box Components had branched over from BMX racing products to mountain bike componentry, I was eager to get some hands-on experience with their shifter, derailleur, and big-range cassette. A few weeks later, the Box rep visited Golden Saddle Cyclery and I was able to see it. Albeit not on a bike, so when Stinner Frameworks offered to build a review bike for me, built with Box, for NAHBS, I was stoked. I love riding and reviewing hardtails and since Stinner is one of the local builders in the Los Angeles area, I like helping him out when I can, particularly when it comes to mountain bike design. Aaron Stinner had been working on their Tunnel hardtail design over the past year. Previous versions popped up here on the site and with some feedback, he had finally moved closer to nailing down the official Stinner Frameworks hardtail. The team had two bikes on display at NAHBS this year, Kyle’s Grateful Shred 27.5+ and this Fuck Yeah Desert Tan 27.5″. I was excited to try it out, but I was also looking forward to putting miles in on Box Component and Magura’s latest offerings.

The 70’s were the automotive paint design heyday, ATMO anyway. Earth tones and bright hues intersected along cars, vans and trucks via a network of chevrons and stripes. While many manufacturers embraced these trends, it was the niche hobby market who took it to the next level. A whole culture emerged with vans donning intricate designs, long before #VanLife, yet it was the off-road culture that has always piqued my interest, most notably the baja bugs and trucks. Jeremy from Stinner Frameworks has always had an affinity for the early 70’s Baja Bug paint designs, ultimately these became the inspiration for this two-wheeled off-road machine.

Tom’s Super Shreddy Stinner One-Off 26+ Hardtail
Photos by Kyle Kelley, words by John Watson

Working at Stinner Frameworks for the past few months, and other builders over the past few years, Tom LaMarche has learned a lot about frame fabrication. Riding BMX and MTBs for a majority of his life taught him about frame design. Tom’s a ripper. An ex-Hollywood movie professional stuntman and overall ripper. When he picked up a job at Stinner, he really wanted to build a new MTB for himself to shred on trails, random jibs and also rip on at bike parks. Not being a fan of 27.5 or 29+ platforms, he decided on a 26+ frameset with slack angles and a lot of standover clearance.

This frame is a one-off, labeled a Stinner because it happened under Aaron’s roof, with Aaron’s tools, but this bike is Tom’s brainchild that he built on his own. Bikes like this look mean, like they have their own agenda and I can’t wait to see more of that…

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Follow Kyle on Instagram and Tom on Instagram.

Where do I even begin here? Kyle from Golden Saddle Cyclery loves the Grateful Dead and the team at Stinner Frameworks loves a challenging paint scheme. After a few design emails were passed between the two, this is the final product. Built with all the t’s crossed and i’s dotted, this bike is ready for just about anything Kyle can throw at it or jump off of with it.

SRAM’s Eagle 1×12 drivetain will ca-cawww into the San Gabriel mountains with those plump 2.8″ ONZA tires and King bits all around. That rowdy Pike will make minced meat out of the granite babyheads and all the while, Kyle will be singing his favorite Dead tune. Yes, this is a delightfully absurd bike and I can’t wait to see it dirty!

We all have our favorite cyclists or teams from the 80’s and 90’s. For Sean of Team Dream Team, it was the early 90’s and Greg Lemond, specifically that slick Calfee-built Team Z bike. The red to yellow to blue tri-fade has long been a favorite of Sean’s and that became the precedent for this new Stinner Frameworks road bike.

Sean’s already got a race-fit road bike, but he wanted one with a bit more head tube, partially for a less aggressive fit, but also for longevity. He wants to be riding this bike for a long, long time, even after his flexibility has been reduced due to age. Mid-life crisis bike? Maybe, but I commend Sean looking at the long-term lifespan of this bike. It literally is all he could ever want in a road bike and more.

The bike was spec’d with Campagnolo Super Record 11, a NOS Flite saddle, with ENVE parts and Mavic Ksyrium R-SYS SLR wheels and built by the capable hands at Golden Saddle Cyclery. If you’re going to NAHBS, look for it there, and expect a photoshoot of this bike and the original Team Z Calfee in the near future.

Two purple bikes back to back? It must be Grinduro…

Some people have been wanting eTap WiFli hydro and for those people, the wait is over. SRAM announced eTap WiFLi hydro groupset this morning. Coincidentally, the group appeared on this flashy Stinner all-road, which is on display at Grinduro in Quincy, California starting today. The paint uses a subtle fleck, akin to what you’d find in finger nail polish that sparkles in the sun, yet is hardly noticeable in the shade. For those wanting specs on the SRAM group, eTap WiFLi weighs 243 grams with battery and will take up to a 32t cassette. Combined with a titanium tig welded frame made from Stinner select tubing and you’re looking at a light machine, perfect for Grinduro’s challenging course.

Who gets the reference? It’s from the following: “These go to 11” – the hilarious excerpt from Spinaltap? Why not just make ten louder?

When SRAM’s new Eagle drivetrain was announced, it received mixed impressions. 12 speed on a mountain bike seems excessive and the pricepoint is pretty alienating. Needless to say, “the internet’s” opinion was divided. Personally, I find new tech when it comes to drivetrains the most interesting and relevant. Anything that can bring more versatility to my current rides is ok by me and hopefully, as we’ve seen in SRAM’s other products over the years, the tech will trickle down into more affordable groups like GX and NX.

So what does it have to do with a Stinner Frameworks mountain bike?

These days, Stinners are everywhere, even all over the pages of this website and while it might feel like some kind of marketing conspiracy, with loads of money exchanged and bathtubs filled with gold coins, I can assure you it’s not. Since I moved to Los Angeles, I see more Stinners on the road and in the trails. Rightfully so, seeing as how their shop is located in Santa Barbara, just 90 miles north of LA and yeah, they make some pretty stellar bikes.