… it’s really good! And people really like the new Stumpy.
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Reportage
A 1,000-Mile Tarmac Ride
1000 Mile Tarmac Ride
Words by Lael Wilcox, photos by Rugile Kaladyte and Trevor Raab.
Laboring up Mount Lemmon this winter with roadies on light bikes with rim brakes, I started thinking, I want a road bike! It rarely rains in Tucson, almost never in the winter. In the sunshine, rim brakes on carbon rims work fine. But what really is the difference? I was riding around on a Specialized Diverge, a performance carbon gravel bike with disc brakes and 38mm tires. I love the Diverge. It rides great. But I still had questions. What would a true road bike feel like? How would it feel after 100 miles or 200 miles or 1,000 miles?
Radar
Our Buddy Erik Nohlin’s Bikes Were Stolen
… and I’m not trying to make a rhyme about it! Please, if you can head to Erik’s Instagram posts and keep an eye out for these unique bicycles. He is offering a healthy reward for their return. See each of these bikes in detail below.
Radar
Watch ERTZUI FILM’s Length of Sweden Film on VOD
Two years ago, I flew to Sweden to document the Sverigetempot, the longest randonneur event in the world. ERTZUI FILM was there too, covering the event with their pristine eye for video. Now, after a long, long wait, the film is live on VOD. Head to VOD to watch, check out some of my favorite photos below and see the coverage in the Related sidebar.
Reportage
A Death Valley Prospector’s Pack Mule: Erik’s Desert Sand Fatboy
On this expedition, Erik, Dylan and John were prospectors…
“For over a hundred years, Death Valley has had its minerals extracted by machine and mule. Not just for gold and silver, either. Prospectors scoured the mountains for antimony, copper, lead, zinc, and tungsten, packing out their load by mule. We are modern day Prospectors, however, we are not seeking riches, yet experiences, of which will be beaten into our soul by miles of washboarded and rocky roads. Our mules are our bicycles and we’ll take only photos, leaving no trace, taking nothing from this land. It’s given enough over the decades and its scars are still visible on the surface.”
Radar
Kriss Kyle on a 29er
Kriss Kyle is a household name in the land of BMX, and if he keeps riding mountain bikes, there will be good things to come!
Reportage
The Jim Merz Edition Specialized Sequoia
In its time, the Sequoia has had three authors. Three designers whose own vision of this bicycle’s intent would be realized as a large-scale production model. The Sequoia opened the doors for those with a love for touring. It was an off-the-shelf, do-it-yourself, vessel to the outdoors and freedom. You can wax poetic all day about the joys of touring and how in the 1980’s, it was all the rage in America. Touring forever changed the face of cycling.
Radar
Team Specialized Rocket Espresso Red Hook Crit Allez Allez Allez
Photos by Chris Riekert
The Red Hook Crit Brooklyn is coming this weekend, April 29th. Each year, the designers at Specialized look to outfit their racers with limited edition Allez track bikes. This year, the design was inspired by the process and design of the BMW art car series with a composition made by puzzle-pieced decals on top of the frame’s paint as a collaboration with Rocket Espresso, the team’s co-sponsor.
This process makes these uniquely-designed bikes production-ready, unlike previous versions of the RHC Allez race frames. If you’re looking to acquire one of these, the bad news is the track frames are for the athletes only, but there will be 300 road frames available in July. See the Allez track frames in action this weekend at the Red Hook Crit and check out more photos below. Thanks to Dylan Buffington for sending these over!
Reportage
Second Time Around: 74 Allez Road – Erik Nohlin
Second Time Around: 74 Allez Road
Photos and words by Erik Nohlin
In 2014, Specialized and Mark DiNucci released 74 numbered framesets as a celebration of its heritage of Specialized’s 40th anniversary. Each of these frames were auctioned to benefit the World Bicycle Relief. The red throwback frameset came with a custom designed kit including wool jersey, saddle, bar tape, bottle cages, bottles and a flask with the level of detail a company can only afford for something like its 40th anniversary. Mark DiNucci was rewarded Best Lugs and Best in Show at Nahbs for the work on this project. Nothing was saved to make this into a state of the art steel bike. Bryant Bainbridge, the other mastermind behind the 40th anniversary Allez, has described the project as “a black hole of cost” where both the tube set and lugs were designed and engineered from scratch.
Radar
Watch LENGTH OF SWEDEN Full Documentary for Free Here!
This is wonderful, Ertzui! Enjoy.
Radar
The Sverigetempot Teaser and This Weekend’s LA Group Ride Info
This weekend brings about the Sverigetempot premiere in Los Angeles. To give you a taste of what to expect, Ertzui has uploaded a teaser trailer. Check out all the information for the premiere at our archived post and info for the group ride on Saturday morning below.
NOT THE LENGTH OF SWEDEN POST RIDE WITH THE SEQUOIA TEAM.
Meetup at Golden Saddle Saturday morning 1/21 7am. All welcome, no drop, 35 miles, mixed-terrain with over 4,000′ elevation. Be advised, these roads are steep and the terrain is rough at times. You can ride it on a road bike, but a fat tire ‘cross bike would be best. Complimentary breakfast stuff upon return to GSC.
For anyone that can’t make it to the premiere, you’ll be able to view it on Specialized.com over the weekend!
Radar
Sverigetempot: Length of Sweden Premiere in Los Angeles
After months of compiling and editing footage, the boys at Ertzui have finished their documentary on the Svertigotempot brevet we documented last year. If you’re in Los Angeles, please join us for the Length of Sweden Premiere at XIX Studios, along with a photo show from the brevet.
RSVP for this FREE event below.
Reportage
Ride the Snake… River – Ty Hathaway
Ride the Snake… River
Photos byTy Hathaway and Julia DeConcini, words by Ty Hathaway.
As we are heading towards Wyoming, Julia turns to me and says “this book says you can float the Snake River and it looks pretty cool.” Sounds good to me, let’s do that. This trip is all about this, this right here, we see something we are interested in and we do it. This is a luxury we are both very thankful for and are lucky to have in this moment.
We pulled into Jackson, worked our way through the hellish traffic, dodging National Park tourists, making the reality of where we were very apparent. A damn National Park town. Now don’t get me wrong, Jackson and Teton are very beautiful but shit, the crowds, and traffic are horrific and gave me flash backs of LA. This is not why we are here, this is enough to make me want to just keep driving, but alas I fought the urge, and well let’s face it, I wouldn’t make it too far in this traffic.
Radar
SOLD OUT AGAIN! Olive Drab and Desert Tan Radavist Bottles
We’ve restocked the Olive Drab and Desert Tan Radavist bottles and will be shipping these out next week. Be advised, however with the holiday season, these might take a while to get to you, especially if you live outside the US.
Olive drab is a timeless color and one that, as you can tell, is not going anywhere. It, paired with desert tan, are personally my two favorite tones. We kept it simple this round, with two bottles in two colors, with one design. In stock now in high numbers and shipping worldwide. Scoop up a pair of Radavist Olive Drab or a pair of Radavist Desert Tan bottles below for $20 a pair + shipping.
*Please note, if you order two sets, you have to pay for shipping twice because of the postage rate doubling when the package increases that much (over 12″ long) in size. I’ve tried to bring the rate down but it won’t work. Apologies.
**Also, we had some international orders returned from our local office, so if you’re still waiting on your previous order, they went out yesterday. Again, apologies.
SORRY SOLD OUT!
Radar
Feast your eyes upon the Dead Reckoning Year(s) Book
For the past two years, Yonder Journal has traveled the globe to investigate and report on bikepacking / ultra-lightweight bicycle touring. They called this project Dead Reckoning. The team at Yonder Journal felt that a project of this magnitude demanded a life outside of the internet, something you could hold in your hands, something with weight, a physical source of inspiration and contemplation, a book of pictures so exquisitely crafted that even a quick glance, a mere flip of the pages, would incite a riot of adventurous inspiration.
Introducing the Dead Reckoning Year(s) Book. A compendium of two years worth of dirt napping, bike pushing, and adventure voguing.
Stats? This is thing is 9″x12″, perfect bound, and 160 pages. It features nearly 200 color photographs and is printed in the USA.
The Year(s) Book is on pre-order sale through December 8th. Head over to their store for the full details.
Radar
Brian “Swiz” Szykowny and the Red Hook Crit Barcelona
The Swiz is the whiz when it comes to paint!
Radar
The New Specialized Sequoia in Montana
Here’s a quick short from Specialized, featuring the new Sequoia and some overnighting in Montana. Our gallery of the revamped Sequoia got quite a bit of discussion going. At the time we only had some catalog photos to look at, but all the details are now up at Specialized.
Reportage
Ride to the Beach with Your Board and Brews on the Poler Surf Jammer
While fatbikes might be at home in wintery environments and locales where it snows more than the sun shines each year, over time these strange bicycles began to migrate to sandy regions. From the Mojave to the Oregon coastal dunes, fatbikes have spent a fair amount of their short-lived existence on Earth shredding sand. With their high volume, low pressure tires, suddenly you can pedal for great distances through thick sand. Something not really possible on a bicycle prior. Visit any beach town, especially one with a high influx of tourists and you’ll find some janky fatbike sitting next to a beach cruiser and soft top surfboards in the rental fleet.
That’s not what’s going on here, I can assure you.
