#track-bike

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The Cub House Bike Show and Swap: Sleek and Minimal Makino Fixed Gear

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The Cub House Bike Show and Swap: Sleek and Minimal Makino Fixed Gear

I thought these three bikes, the Carnevale, the Cinelli, and now this Makino all brought something interesting to the table at the Cub House’s Bike Show and Swap. While the previous two bikes are examples of the 60’s and 80’s, this Makino reminds me of the mid-2000’s so much. The time when track bikes were the biggest thing in cycling since mountain bikes. ATMO, anyway. I never owned an NJS bike. Mostly because it was always hard to find one in my size. Not too many Keirin racers ride 58cm or 60cm frames. Yet I always loved the work that left Makino’s shop. With their sparkly, iridescent paint, beautiful lug work and tucked and mean stances, the Makino track frames always looked like they were in the process of pouncing. While purists will scoff at the flat bars and sparkle grips, riding drops for the sake of drops never made much sense to me. Especially when riding brakeless.

Richie, the owner of the bike has pieced together quite the build. It’s classy without being hung up on that coveted NJS stamp and for me, it was a joy to photograph.

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Follow the Cub House on Instagram and follow Richie on Instagram.

Love Letter to a Velodrome – Brenda Croell

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Love Letter to a Velodrome – Brenda Croell

Love Letter to a Velodrome

Words and photos (black and white) by Brenda Croell,  Introduction and photos (color) by Spencer Harding

I had heard much lore about the NSC velodrome over the years leading up to me spending last summer in Minneapolis.  It is truly a spectacle in physicality and community alike. Until you have taken a lap on those old boards you don’t truly understand what it takes to drop into those turns every Thursday night.  After just a few months in this community, I was brought to tears as we left the velodrome to move to Arizona, Brenda and I literally drove our fully packed truck to the velodrome for one last night of racing. I lack the words to describe my sorrow imagining how everyone in this community will feel when this place is torn down next summer.

We met on a cold Saturday in April. Winter had worn on you, rotted your core. My job, along with other volunteers, was to strengthen your weak points; a job you would reciprocate months later. You creaked and moaned as we pulled up your boards to expose your insides. Afzalia had become endangered and so we patched you with lesser wood. Rotten next to the new, but “well-loved” was the word I chose to use when talking about you to friends and family.

Summer meant I spent every Thursday I could spare with you. My body leading up to that day reacted as it does before a first date: sleepless nights, unbridled giddiness, overthinking, and trying on my skinsuit countless times. Instead of butterflies in my stomach, my lower region decided to nervously poop for 24 hours leading up to our meeting. Was this love?

Once a week for three months, my weaknesses were unapologetically put on display. Dark truths of my life that I had done well to ignore were spoken so clearly from an inanimate and seemingly voiceless object. “Eat more. Or you will not be able to ride.” And so I ate because being away from you meant my body would wither. “Leave him and be free.” And so I left because the three hours I spent with you were more joyful than the past three years of my life. I always thought it was a cliche when I overheard folks saying bicycles changed their life. But there I was, truly living on two wheels without brakes and without fear, speaking a sentence over and over that had never felt comfortable coming from my mouth: “I am strong.” What was supposed to be a casual hobby quickly turned into therapy while my competition soon became family.

Unfortunately, your time is coming to an end. And I can’t save you the way you have saved me and countless others. The space you occupied, which was dedicated to bikes and their humans, will ironically become a place for cars to park. Your soft green grass once littered with grandma quilts that were occupied by sweaty bodies of exhaustion and elation will turn to hard concrete. Silence will replace the sounds of rumbling boards, cheers from dedicated fans, and ridiculous infield dance parties. The bright lights will go dark and no longer illuminate faces of determination and defeat. We’ve seen this finale before. Dorais. Olympic. Stone Mountain. Fallowfield. Meadowbank. Dieppe. Your name will be added to the long list on a Wikipedia page titled “Velodromes No Longer in Use,” followed by a short description that does your story no justice.

I started this relationship knowing there was an expiration date, and that awareness has not softened the heartbreak. I refuse to accept that the only narrative told of you will be two sentences, one of them including the word “demolished.” You deserve better than that because you are magic incarnate. Each board possessing the ability to not just call out my fragileness, but also my strengths. The pieces of you that will stay with myself and others, outside of the literal splinters under our skin, are in the form of lifelong friends and a passion to preserve the freedom and power we all felt pedaling in circles at the NSC Velodrome.

The NSC Velodrome in Blaine, Minnesota is being torn down after the 2019 season. It has hosted countless Thursday Night Light competitions, Fixed Gear Classic, Track Cycling Championships, and Olympic Trials. One of the largest WTF fields in the country called the boards home, and numerous racers from around the country were able to experience riding what can only be described as a wooden roller coaster. The track community in Minneapolis is currently working hard to contact legislators to find a location and funding for an indoor cycling center that will not only benefit athletes but the community as well through youth job training programs and a variety of learn-to-ride cycling classes for children and adults.   

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Follow Brenda on Instagram and follow Spencer on Instagram

 

Jack’s Ground Up Speed Shop Track Bike – Spencer Harding

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Jack’s Ground Up Speed Shop Track Bike – Spencer Harding

Jack’s Ground Up Speed Shop Track Bike

Words and photos by Spencer Harding

At this year’s annual Fixed Gear Classic at the NSC velodrome near Minneapolis there was a whole field, literally, of the fastest, meanest, slickest bikes from all of our forgotten fixed gear dreams. Although, one truly shone out, like a beacon, and to say this bike sparkles is an understatement.  Jack Lindquist’s track bike is without comparison. 

Eric Baar of Ground Up Speed Shop is  known for his outlandish bikes combining multiple frame materials as well as exquisite pinstriping done by the man himself, and this bike does all his skills justice. After being introduced to Eric’s work by a fellow sprinter, Jack wound up crashing with Eric after a race in Colorado back in 2012. A few years later Jack was looking for a new bike and Eric was just the builder to call on for such a machine.  It needed to be the stiffest bike possible with geometry to give someone of Jack’s proportions a low position while sprinting.

The frame started out as a tandem tube set, with the massive 3-piece seat mast acting as the backbone of the bike. The top tube is made from rare Easton Rad tubing, possibly the only appropriate tubing for such a frame.  The custom CNC machined Ti dropouts are permanently bonded to the bmx chainstays with a second set of mini chainstays just to make sure no efficiency is lost.  In the end, there is over 25 feet of welding stitching the frame together.

The finish is a combination layers upon layers of 13 colors of large flakes over a dark red base which was then covered by enough clear coat for 4 tandem frames. With the multiple layers of metal flake the bike gives the illusion that you could almost reach into the clear coat and stir the flakes around.  The logos and racing number were hand painted in gold leaf and 1 shot by Eric. 

It is amazing to see this much fun being had with the finish of such a purpose-built racing machine.  While the mechanics of the frame are purely and seriously speed-focused, the finish is flamboyant and ostentatious. To quote Eric, the frame is, “part weight lifting equipment, part race car, part welding challenge, party crazy custom paint challenge, and part social experiment.”

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Follow Jack on Instagram and follow Eric at Ground Up Speed Shop on Instagram

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Jonah

The newest HRDWRKER video features Jonah, a small business owner, and Los Angeleno who used his bicycle to discover his true identity.

Mash SF x Izumi Blackened Track Chains

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Mash SF x Izumi Blackened Track Chains

If you’re lookin’ to blacken out your track bike’s drivetrain, check out the newest collaboration with San Francisco’s Mash, who teamed up with Japan’s Izumi on three new chains. Offered in all black (pictured,) black with silver bushings, or black with gold bushings. Check out more at Mash SF.

The Demon Frameworks KS200 Track Frameset

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The Demon Frameworks KS200 Track Frameset


Photos and words by Tom Warmerdam

I saw a Rossin Olympic for the first time in 2016 and was instantly in love. This was a whole new bicycle shaped canvas to play with and I was eager to see what I could come up with. I’d already been exploring lines and slots on my other frames but this new canvas could take that to a whole new level.

I wanted my version to be visually brutal but elegant. So after designing many variations of the webbed plates I sat down and selected my favorite. Then it was time to start. I do all my own work, I don’t outsource anything. So I programmed my old CNC machine and made the plates first. Then the dropouts. I then made a frame to fit and put it all together. I didn’t like how the old Rossin was put together… lots of filler, that’s just not my style. So I brazed in the plates with silver to reduce the chance of heat distortion on the thin-walled tubes. This is a lot more work but also much more satisfying.

But then there was a long pause… partly because I had to focus on my customer’s frames but also because I wanted to use my own fork design based on Max ( I actually based it on Reynolds Speed Stream fork blades as they don’t change shape when you cut them to length) style aero blades. My friend Anna Schwinn had already helped me to translate my 2D drawings and sketches of a fork crown into a usable 3D model (I could not have done this part without her, she was awesome). Then it was a long wait for the molds and castings to be made. They arrived last month so it was time to finally finish it.

Check out more photos of this unique frame below and follow Demon Frameworks on Instagram!

Radar

Terry at Monster Track 2018

Terry’s ability to capture dense urban riding on track bikes is unmatched these days and in his latest cut, he takes to the streets of New York City for Monster Track XIX. If you wanna see more, he’s got a rough cut posted as well.

2018 NAHBS: Nelson Vails’ Raleigh Tribute Track by Don Walker Cycles

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2018 NAHBS: Nelson Vails’ Raleigh Tribute Track by Don Walker Cycles

The man. The myth. The Cheetah. Nelson Vails‘ career at the track is one filled with gold and his post-professional track cycling career is only getting better. With tons of appearances at various events all over the globe, the man is on his A game constantly and consistently. To commemorate his track cycling career, last March, Raleigh announced a collaborative effort between Nelson and Don Walker Cycles on these Raleigh Team Tribute track bikes. Why this bike? Well, during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Nelson rode a Raleigh track just like this to a silver medal.

Raleigh and Don Walker made two of these models: the Cheetah, a modernized version of Vails’ 1984 race bike, and the Cheetah Race, a lighter, more aggressive and aerodynamic version.

It was great finally seeing this bike in person and once again, I’d like to give Raleigh a high-five for using a US builder on these replica models.

2018 NAHBS: Weis Manufacturing Splatter Track

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2018 NAHBS: Weis Manufacturing Splatter Track

Brookyln’s Weis Manufacturing first made an appearance here on the Radavist not too long ago. With their asymmetrical seat stays and robust dropout design, the look and feel of their framesets felt very unique to me. After seeing their bikes in person, it further solidified this. While their construction is top-notch, I couldn’t help but be drawn into their Splatter Track finish, which was executed perfectly, in my opinion anyway, by the paint shop at Horse Cycles.

2018 NAHBS: Sketchy but Safe Squid Bikes Tracklocross

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2018 NAHBS: Sketchy but Safe Squid Bikes Tracklocross

NAHBS isn’t always about $3,000 paint jobs, expensive carbon components, and electronic shifting. For Squid Bikes, their paint jobs cost more in time than they do in materials and the sky’s the limit for their designs. This year at NAHBS, the bike that jumped out at me was this tracklocross fixed gear built with Paul Components and White Industries, using their ‘cross bike frameset. There’s even a nifty little stash container built-in to the handlebar end to keep things even sketchier… but still safe. This bike beckons for some #RubberSideUp action.

2018 NAHBS: Stanridge 3Rensho Homage Track

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2018 NAHBS: Stanridge 3Rensho Homage Track

We’re kicking off NAHBS this year with a unique build by Kentucky’s Stanridge Speed. A client in New York City contacted Adam about building a him a unique track bike, prompting Adam to design and construct an homage to the 3Rensho Broad Axe, a frame from cycling’s heyday of experimental design. For the build, Adam used various tubing specs and construction techniques, a custom-manufactured Phil Wood left hand hub, ENVE hoops, FSA Olympic-spec Vision Metron cranks, FSA Metron 5d bars, and paint by Jordan Low. As far as track bikes here at the show, this one takes the cake…

My Mercer Buitelander Track Bike – Stan Engelbrecht

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My Mercer Buitelander Track Bike – Stan Engelbrecht

My Mercer ‘Buitelander’ (translated from Afrikaans – ‘foreigner’)
Words and photos by Stan Engelbrecht

I have a handful of track bikes. Almost all local South African-built in the 1980s. I love these bikes, all weird and wonderful and collectible. For some years my Hansom pursuit-style 700c was my day-to-day ride, but this constant use was starting to take its toll on the frame and the beautiful pink to seafoam fade paintwork. And the front wheel / downtube clearance is so tight that normal road use would sometimes push the tyre into the frame, resulting in long black rubber streaks under the downtube. It was obvious – I needed a bike I could use every day, without having to worry about destroying a bit of South Africa cycling heritage in the process.