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Photos by John Watson, words by Sean Talkington of Team Dream Team
Almost exactly a year ago, I flew out to Connecticut to take a tour of Cannondale’s headquarters, grab quick lunch with Lebron James, and discuss the possibility of doing a collaborative bike for Team Dream. To say I’m a cycling fanboy is a massive understatement. This is the kind of idea I have pined over for years.
This line has been in the works for a long time. ENVE’s new Gravel line features a new fork, which will fit a 50mm tire, has a 50mm rake and features a 395mm axle to crown. The new handlebars measure 54 cm, 56 cm, 58 cm, 60 cm at the drops and at the hoods 42 cm, 44 cm, 46 cm, 48 cm, with an 80mm reach. Check out all the details of the new Gravel line at ENVE.
You can tell a lot about a cycling brand based on what the owner or proprietor rides. In this case, we take a look at Mosaic Cycles‘ owner and builder, Aaron Barcheck’s own RT1 disc road built with ENVE, Zipp, and SRAM. This weekend, the brand is coming to Los Angeles, to kick-off the Cub House as being a new dealer for Mosaic and with it, Aaron himself, along with his bike will be here to ride in the endless summer heat.
Speaking of heat, will you just look at that thing! Propped up against the backdrop that is the San Gabriel mountains, surrounded by Chaparral, with its Spectrum powder coat glistening in the sun, and raw titanium “braggers triangle” showing off its frame material. Bikes like this need very little description since they stand on their own.
Stay tuned for details of the Cub House party this weekend!
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Follow Mosaic on Instagram and follow the Cub House on Instagram.
This year, I’ll be covering the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship’s Triple Crown events: Lost & Found, Grinduro, and the Downieville Classic. My intent with this is to grow the Stweardship’s presence, help them raise money and spread the stoke for the Lost Sierra. Jumping on board with this project is just the icing on the dirt cake!
“Custom frame makers Sklar, Stinner, Mosaic, and McGovern have teamed up with world-class component makers ENVE, Chris King, SRAM and WTB to create four unique and beautiful custom bicycles that will be raffled after the gun goes off for the Lost and Found Gravel race. All proceeds will benefit the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship.
Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship is a non-profit organization that builds and maintains multi-use trails in the Sierra Buttes, Tahoe, Plumas and Lassen national forests. Their mission is building sustainable recreation-based communities through stewardship, job creation and hosting world-class events. SBTS has donated an estimated 72,000 hours of volunteer labor, maintained over 800 miles of shared use trails and created nearly 80 miles of new trails since 2003.
The bikes will be exhibited at the Lost and Found gravel race and the raffle will be live, with $20 tickets, from June 2nd through June 15th, hosted by The Pro’s Closet. All donations and raffle ticket purchases are tax deductible.”
Check out more details on these bikes and how to buy a raffle ticket below!
Trail work is tough and that is a massive understatement. For the crew that runs Trans Cascadia each year, it means loading up chainsaws, fuel, and other tools, usually on their back, as they pedal into the great unknown that is the wild Oregon backcountry. Usually, the singletrack is overgrown, with felled trees, and other obstacles the crew needs to clear. In years past, the team has utilized motos when possible, but they can be large and cumbersome, so this year, the team at Trans Cascadia worked with Jeremy at Sycip Designs to make something extra special, just in time for Sea Otter…
Last year, ENVE relaunched their M Series mountain wheels, with wider profiles, enhanced ride quality, and anti-flat protection. This year, to follow up on this redesign, the brand looked at their mountain cockpits, revising the profiles and clamp diameters. After testing and refinement, ENVE has established two base handlebar constructions; One construction rated for trail and another for gravity. These new M Series handlebars now come in four base models; M5, M6, M7 and M9. The M5 and M6 handlebar models are Trail-Rated, designed for XC and trail riding or racing, while the M7 and M9 handlebar models are Gravity-Rated, and refined for the specific needs of enduro and downhill racing.
Check out profile and pricing information below and expect all other information to drop soon at ENVE.
A fabled, ripping descent in Moab, Utah is the testing grounds for ENVE’s new M-series rims, which are still made in the USA and come with a 5 year warranty. Now, let’s talk about picking up a wet burrito with your gloves…
This sounds rad!
“We have teamed up with the leading handmade bike builders of our time to create a contest that will not only decide the ENVE Builder of the Year, but also give you, the voter, a chance to win a custom built dream bike of your own. These frame builders have come from around the globe to showcase their works of art at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show and at ENVE HQ for our grand opening celebration. By voting for your favorite bike from the entrants below, you will be entered into the giveaway.
All you have to do is peruse the bikes below and cast your vote.
Prize: One Custom Built Bicycle By One of the Contest Builders of Your Choice Completely ENVE’d Out and Ready to Ride
WINNER ANNOUNCED: April 30th 2017”
Head over to ENVE to enter!
When it comes to downhill mountain biking, Steve Peat’s name is legendary. To commemorate their athlete and the only carbon wheelset to win a UCI downhill championship, ENVE has issued a limited edition Steve Peat M90 collection. Head to ENVE to see more!
Holy. Shit. This. Bike.
HSTB. The Crema Duo changed Los Angeles’ riding for me. In fact, it changed how I feel about the potential for ‘cross bikes to be the most versatile bike in your stable. Take everything you love about your bike and turn it up to 11. Big tires, disc brakes, lightweight, snappy geometry and the ability to hold your own in a pace-line, while still being able to crush singletrack and fire roads all in a tight package.
The Vanilla Workshop has multiple tiers in terms of frameset design and production. At the highest tier is a Vanilla. These are 100% custom, lugged beauties made entirely by Sacha White. Their wait list is so long, it’s not even worth mentioning. Then on the more readily-available tier is a Speedvagen frameset. These used to be only available as a 100% custom geometry with multiple options from paint, ranging from a simple, single color with detail hits to complex, “Surprise Me” paint jobs that are so wild, they’ve inspired how other builders tackle paint design.
Now, Speedvagen has a third option in its pricing catalog: the OG1 road frameset. These are stock frames, already painted and in stock now, ready to ship to you in days or weeks, not months. The OG1 also carries a pricetag that won’t make you choke on your morning breakfast, when it comes to a made in the USA frame anyway.
The OG1 is still made 100% by hand in the Vanilla Workshop and it’s painted in house with a custom Speedvagen design, usually two per year with the first year’s designs being limited to a matte lavender or a burly-looking matte olive drab! It’s obvious which color you’re seeing here.
These frames are a deal, but there’s a catch…
Enve continues their limited-edition wheelsets in June with a collaboration kit and wheel package designed by those auteurs over at Manual for Speed. The kit is designed by graphic artist Rob Lowe aka Supermundane and is a visual interpretation of Light Speed. This design is then followed through on a set of Enve SES 5.6 disc rims with Chris King ceramic R45 disc hubs. Personally, this is my favorite MFS design yet! Head over to Enve for complete pricing.
You can also pre-order the kit-only at Manual for Speed and be entered into a raffle for a free wheelset!
… and I’ll be telling you all about it next week. It’d been a while since I’ve ridden steel on the road. Man, what a great feeling.
Barcelona, at least as far as I’m concerned, is Los Angeles’ European sister city. Not so much in terms of its urbanism, or gracious public plazas, or the seemingly lack of vehicular congestion, but in terms of the riding. Mediterranean climates make for photogenic trails and even in the winter months, this city is a joy to ride in. When we arrived in Barcelona, I had no idea what to expect. Mattia from Legor Cicli and Ken from ENVE told us (meaning myself and photographer Jeff Curtis, who came along to document the trip for ENVE) we’d be riding dirt roads and trails all within the city limits.
It’s been real fun! I can’t help but be impressed with all this city has to offer and we barely scratched the surface. Over the past few days we’ve spent the afternoons climbing dirt roads and bombing down singletrack with Legor Cicli, all within in the city limits. I can’t help but be reminded of Los Angeles, either! But like all good things, even trips to Barcelona must come to an end…
Today I’m hopping in the ENVE van and driving to Germany for the Berliner Fahrradschau with Crema Cycles. If you’re going to be at the show, track me down and say hello! Oh and bring me some Schnapps!
Whether you hit the road or the trails!
With a 382mm axle to crown, a 47mm rake and an integrated fender, the GRD is a road fork with just a bit more room for a bigger tire (35mm), without going all the way with a ‘cross fork. These details, along with the security of a 12 mm thru-axle make the GRD perfect for dirt roads.
See more at ENVE.
What can I possibly say about LOW‘s track bikes that hasn’t already been said? They’re sleek, made in San Francisco race machines with plenty of both street and track experience, a clean profile and killer, almost race car-inspired graphics. Hell, even as I’m typing this, you’ve probably already moved onto the photos!