We rolled back into Kayenta from an overnighter with Jon Yazzie from Dzil Ta’ah Adventures and I reminded him that I wanted to shoot his bike. “Yeah! Leave the bags on it. As is…” I said to him. Jon took a few moments to tidy up the straps and make sure the bags were tight and neat before handing it off to me. He loves this bike and so I took it as an honor to photograph it. For me, there’s nothing better than riding with the person whose bike you’re documenting. It feels less transactional and more personal. You get to see how they treat their ride. Are they crashers or thrashers? In doing so, there’s a real connection that’s established. For Jon and I, we’ve spent a few years communicating over email when projects arise. Josh has done an exceptional job documenting Dzil Ta’ah Adventures’ trips in Arizona in the past and this trip was the first time I met Jon in person. It felt like a no-brainer to shoot his titanium Vassago Optimus 29+ tourer, so check it out in detail below.
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Radar
Cotic’s Tonic Titanium Gravel Bike
Cotic, the makers of steel mountain frames, just announced their new Tonic, a titanium gravel bike, compatible with 650bx50 or 700cx44 wheels, built with multiple cable management options, and in a variety of build kits (GRX shown). With pricing starting at £3449 for SRAM Apex 1, the Tonic’s pricing is competitive with similarly-specced carbon frames. Each Tonic comes with a 5 year warranty for the original owner and if you don’t like it when you receive it, Cotic will take it back, no questions. See more at Cotic.
Radar
Thomson Announces New Ti MTB Frame: the Hooch
Thomson is launching a Titanium hardtail MTB called the Hooch in conjunction with their brand new website. The “Hooch” is the namesake of the Chattahoochee in north Georgia, home to some of the most epic trails in the country.
This limited Ti frame is equipped with a Thomson Dropper post (your choice of travel), then the customer selects from Thomson’s entire collection of Thomson components, starting at $3,295.00.
From their Elite or Masterpiece series, Ti or carbon fiber, the customer can pick and choose from all of Thomson’s parts, for the ultimate build kit. Then, to sweeten the deal, customers receive a generous discount on upgrade parts as a perk of buying the frameset.
The Hooch is a backwoods hardtail, built from 3al 2.5v aircraft grade Titanium, custom formed stays, Boost (148×12) through axle, internal routing with an extra line for your Thomson dropper, 150mm fork travel, 30.9 seat tube diameter, and clearance for 27.5 x 2.4 tires.
See the full specs at Thomson and poke around on their new website!
Reportage
Erik’s Hawk SS 29er Hardtail
With the pandemic causing severe delays and stock shortages, building up a new bike in 2020 and into 2021 is proving to be quite the ordeal. Erik is a local here in Santa Fe and a customer at Sincere Cycles. I first rode with him a few years back when we shuttled Winsor while I was visiting. At the time, he had a Santa Cruz Chameleon, which proved to be a capable ally in our mountains. Jump forward a few years and Erik was looking for a new bike. The aforementioned delays due to the pandemic had him looking at other options outside of the brands offering titanium frame models. He had his sights set on a custom titanium hardtail from Waltly in China…
Radar
The Why Cycles El Jefe
The El Jefe is the latest model to land in the Why Cycles titanium catalog. Think of it as the more serious sibling to the S7 and the Wayward. It’s less swoopy, more serious, lighter, and faster-pedaling, yet it has clearance for a 29×2.6″ tire.
This bike is Why’s first “pro-model”, akin to skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding. Jefe Branham is an ultra-endurance legend based in Gunnison, CO, and has been a friend and team rider for Why for two seasons. His feedback as to what his dream bike would be for going fast in the backcountry informed every decision in the El Jefe design. Jefe’s personal mantra is “Fast or Slow Just Go,” so with his input, Why turned it into a sandblasted graphic on the raw titanium. The lily flower in the graphics is a nod to his two-year-old daughter, Lillian.
With a 73.3º seat angle, a 67.5º head angle, and a 120mm fork, the El Jefe is a nimble, fast, and capable hardtail with pricing beginning at $2,349 for a frame only at Why Cycles.
Radar
The Litespeed Pinhoti III Has Longer Travel, Bigger Tires, and More Clearance
Named after the Pinhoti Trail, which extends between Snake Creek Gap and Dug Gap within the Chattahoochee Forest into north Georgia, Litspeed’s newest iteration of their hardtail, the Pinhoti III, received some modern updates. Now optimized for a 130mm suspension fork, the Pinhoti III also fits a 29×2.6″ or a 27.5×3″ tire, thanks to an asymmetric dropped chainstay and a new CNC-machined titanium chainstay yoke.
The Geometry has been tweaked as well, with a slacker head angle, longer reach, and a few other tweaks. Litespeed offers various builds (XTR shown here at a retail of $6,699) and finishing kits, and with all these new updates, the size medium frame comes in at just 1,649 grams (size medium)—a savings of 95 grams over our previous version of the Pinhoti. As with all Litespeed bikes, these are made in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
See more at Litespeed.
Reportage
Patrick from the Bikes or Death Podcast and His Chumba Stella Ti Drop Bar 29er
A little while back, Patrick from Bikes or Death reached out, saying he was going to be in Santa Fe and was hoping we could sit down for a podcast interview. Naturally, I obliged, and last night we hung out at our office here in Santa Fe and talked about bikes, photography, other randomness related to this website. I won’t give too much away but I was really stoked on how it went. Doing interviews is a great way to bond with a person and afterward, I just had to shoot Patrick’s Chumba Cycles Stella Ti. While the podcast episode won’t be out for a few weeks, I wanted to feature this rad build while it was all still fresh on my mind, so enjoy!
Radar
UK Brand Ribble Launches Gravel Bike Line Including Titanium Model
Ribble, the UK bicycle manufacturer, just announced their new gravel lineup which includes aluminum builds, carbon builds, and this titanium model. Each material comes in a few build tiers, ranging from GRX 400 to GRX 810 and Campagnolo Ekar on the higher end models.
The model shown here is the Titanium frame with GRX 600 and retails for $2,985.38. See the full gravel lineup at Ribble.
Reportage
Kevin’s Bearclaw Beaux Jaxon Titanium Touring Bike
That feller up at Bearclaw Bicycle Co is doing some really amazing things. The whole catalog is composed of some paradigm-shifting designs and a crowd favorite is the Beaux Jaxon. If you dig drop bars and chonk tires, that’s the frame for you. Throw in a titanium segmented fork and you’ve got a dream machine. Kevin Hinton is a tattoo artist here in Santa Fe. He also runs his Adventure Bikepacking Instagram account as a side project, which hosts overnighters, and tours in the area.
Originally from Los Angeles, Kevin cut his chops touring all over California, specifically in the desert, taking on the Stagecoach 400 multiple times. This particular loop goes from high pine country down through Anza Borrego and into San Diego before climbing back up to the pines. The Anza section is particularly sandy, so when Kevin built up this dream bike, he had some specific requirements and took that list to Sincere Cycles for the build…
Reportage
Sturdy Cycles ‘Fiadh’ Disc All-Road
Last year, we posted Petor’s Shop Visit to UK-based Sturdy Cycles, and to supplement that coverage, we’re re-visiting their Fiadh disc all road bike, shot in a studio environment. These bikes blend modern tech with very subtle and classic proportions. Read on below for words by Tom Sturdy and more photos of these stunning 3D printed assemblage frames!
Radar
A Beautiful Ombré Array Firefly
Wow. The titanium anodizing wizards at Firefly Bicycles just popped this beautiful ti and carbon road bike on their Tumblr and we had to share a glimpse. See much, much, more at the Firefly Tumblr.
Reportage
Jonah and His Kokopelli Warthog Ti Hardtail 29er
A bike can be a liberating tool for a youngster. I got the first bike that I could travel distances on when I was 14. Granted it was a beach cruiser but hey, we lived at the beach. I’d carry my skateboard and even a surfboard to spots after school and on the weekends. It was a vessel of adolescent liberation.
For Jonah, a local of Santa Fe, and an employee at Mellow Velo, the bicycle has helped develop his independence as well as a vehicle to meander around his homeland. His family is one of the deeply embedded heritage households and have been in the area for hundreds of years. Just north of Santa Fe is the town of Chimayo where his family has been weaving for generations under the brand Ortega.
Reportage
Curtis Inglis’ Titanium Retrotec with ENVE Foundation AG25 Gravel Wheels
I don’t know about you all but personally, I miss seeing off-the-wall crazy custom bikes at the various tradeshows. With the pandemic canceling the 2020 and most likely 2021 dates for various open houses and NAHBS, I’ve just accepted the fact that those balleur bicycle gallery shoots will have to wait. That said, when projects like this fall into my lap, I’m more than excited to take some extra time documenting them.
ENVE launched their Foundation Gravel wheels last week and in a perfect world, a press-camp was supposed to happen in Arizona to test out those wheels. ENVE planned on pinging various builders to fabricate the chassis for their full gravel lineup. One of those builders was Retrotec and Curtis went overboard for the event, building a handful of titanium frames alongside Oscar Camarena of Simple Bike Company. When the press camp wasn’t happening, Curtis decided he’d send this bike out for me to document. He needed photos for his website and I won’t say no to content like this…
Radar
Behold the All-City Cosmic Stallion… in Titanium (Ti)!
Everyone’s favorite pony from All-City just got a lot better. The ride quality of titanium is second to none. It’ll outlive carbon and won’t rust out like steel, plus it magically smooths out bumpy roads. Perfect for a bike like the Cosmic Stallion! This beautiful ti tubing is a new thing for All-City so they had to develop their own tubing, dubbed Oberon Titanium Tubing.
This frame also comes with the All-City Signature Details you’ve come to love with custom dropouts, reinforced bottle bosses, custom-designed Shot Collar. All-City paired this titanium chassis with a Columbus Futura Cross carbon fork, which comes with Di2 routing. The frame also has a rear rack and fender mounts.
To stick with the versatility of the steel Cosmic Stallion, All-City equipped the ti pony to fit either a 700x45mm or 650bx42mm (both with or without fenders).
Offered as a frameset only; $3,199 MSRP. Head over to All-City to see more and your local dealer for ordering.
Radar
Graphic Artist Iancu Designed a Very Special Ginko Firefly for a Japanese Friend
As a designer, sometimes you get a commission that really jives with your hobbies. Graphic artist Iancu met a Japanese Cyclist through the Rapha Cycle Club and designed him a dream bike with Firefly Cycles.
“One of the benefits of being part of an international club, the Rapha Cycling Club, is getting to know great people from all over the world. One of them is Haj, who lives in Miami, US, but was born in Tokyo, Japan.
We’ve been talking about our cycling and Japan interests over the years, and he’s always been very kind and appreciative of my work. He really liked the Quirk bike design I had done before, so he asked if I could help design a bike for him as well. The world-renowned Firefly Bicycles team from Boston were building it. This had all the markings of a dream project, so I said yes, of course.”
Head to Iancu’s Portfolio Site to see the full bike.
Reportage
Brewed in Oregon: A Long-Term Review of the Sage Titanium Powerline 29er Hardtail
Over the past few years, I’ve noticed a lot of negative internet chatter when bike brands release hardtail trail bikes that are not overly slack, steep, or otherwise geometrically boundary-pushing in some way. My suspicion is that many of these comments come from riders that prefer lifts over pedaling uphill but nonetheless cast a shadow on mid-travel hardtails that are intended for folks that aren’t spending their days in terrain parks.
Radar
Bombtrack’s Hook EXT Ti All Road
Here’s some fresh produce for 2021: Bombtrack’s new Hook EXT Ti all road. This titanium frame gets paired with the Bombtrack EXT V2 fork with cargo bosses and beefy construction. Like other Hook models, the Hook EXT TI can accommodate various wheel and tire sizes, multiple bags, no matter the ride, and is globally limited to 50 pieces in its first year, so expect supplies to be extremely limited.
Delivery for the Hook EXT Ti will be between February and March. Head to Bombtrack to see more.
Specs:
-Titanium 3Al-2.5V frame with T47 BB shell fender mounts and through axles.
-Full carbon tapered fork with internal light cable routing, through axles and triple cage mounts.
-Sram UDH derailleur hanger.
-Toptube bag direct mounts, triple cage mount on downtube and seattube for optimized bottle position, bottle cage mounts underneath the downtube and rear rack mounts.
-CNC yoke for maximum tire and chainring clearance.
-Ovalized toptube for supreme steering precision and comfort.
-Biaxially ovalized downtube for optimized power transfer and steering precision.
-Front derailleur compatible.
-12 mm through axles front and rear.
Radar
Twin Six: Standard Ti Rando 2.0 Pre-Order
Twin Six’s ever-popular Standard Ti Rando is back! To commemorate its return, Twin Six is offering it as a complete for the low pre-order price of $3,300, or as a frame for $1,950, with delivery starting in April. The 2.0 comes with T6’s Middle Finger dropout system, flat mount brake compatibility, front and rear 12mm thru-axles, 44mm headtube, optional triple mount thru-axle carbon fork, cargo mounts, and more. Head to Twin Six to see more and check out Kevin’s review in the 2015 archives.
Specs:
-T6 Standard 3.25 titanium tubing
-Carbon flat mount, thru axle, triple mount fork
-Brass plated head badge
-Collared 44mm inner diameter headtube
-Collared 46mm x 68mm PF30 bottom bracket
-Wishbone seat stay design
-T6 Middle Finger dropout system
-Replaceable derailleur hanger
-Flat mount disc brake compatible
-Front and rear thru axles included
-12mm x 142mm rear spacing
-12mm x 100mm front spacing
-Frame clearance for up to 700c x 45mm and 27.5 x 2.25″ Tires
-Fender clearance for 700c x 35mm or 650b x 47mm slicks and 700c x 33mm or 650b x 44mm knobby tires
-T6 Standard low profile black anodized downtube cable clips
-Frame uses full length, external cable housing
-Compatible with 140mm and 160mm rotors
-31.6mm diameter seat post