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Beautiful Builds with John and His Rad Rod Firefly

The second video in our Beautiful Builds series showcases John Watson, the founder of The Radavist’s “Rad Rod” Firefly gravel/all-road bike. Back in 2014, he commissioned Firefly to make him a “gravel” bike before there were gravel bikes. This bike has a road geometry with ‘cross bike clearances and cable routing.

Don’t forget to Like and Subscribe for more Radavist videos to come at The Pro’s Closet YouTube

Music: Bongripper – Endless

The Cub House Builds: Sheldon and His Custom Firefly Road Bike

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The Cub House Builds: Sheldon and His Custom Firefly Road Bike

What would your dream bike look like? For the team at The Cub House in San Marino, California, just outside of Pasadena, they specialize in curated, custom dream bike builds ranging from Firefly road bikes like this one to basket bikes and everything in between. One of The Cub House‘s most recent builds was for a customer named Sheldon who wanted to put a bit of himself into this custom machine. We’re lucky to host Sheldon‘s words below, so read on to see what he did and why with this specific build…

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Homelands

This project has all the feels:

“Velocio Ambassador, Gregg Deal, found cycling first as a mountain bike racer growing up in Park City, Utah during the mountain bike boom of the 1990s. Today, the 46 year old father, husband, artist and activist lives in Colorado Springs and uses riding to inform and infuse his professional life.

To that end, we’re proud to collaborate with Gregg on a custom benefit jersey bearing his art and benefiting The Sovereign Bodies Institute for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2 Spirit and Illuminative, which aims to increase Indigenous representation in media. 100% of the profits from this jersey will be donated to these organizations.

We followed Gregg on a ride from Truckee, California to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, a 742 square mile plot roughly 35 miles northeast of Reno, Nevada. What we saw was the unique connection to place, an intimate look at Indigenous culture and a tie to bike that is rarely seen.”

Check out the limited edition jersey and more photos from Greg’s ride at Velocio!

The 2021 ENVE Builder Round Up: Chumba, Falconer, Firefly, Mariposa, Scarab, Sklar, Tomii

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The 2021 ENVE Builder Round Up: Chumba, Falconer, Firefly, Mariposa, Scarab, Sklar, Tomii

It’s that time of year again! ENVE’s Open House, aka the Builder Round-Up and Grodeo event is this weekend in Ogden, Utah, so I packed up my bike portrait kit and drove up through beautiful summer monsoons to document a selection of bikes from this year’s event. Check out a thoroughly documented stable from the Round Up below, beginning with Chumba, Falconer, Firefly, Mariposa, Scarab, Sklar, and Tomii…

Graphic Artist Iancu Designed a Very Special Ginko Firefly for a Japanese Friend

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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.

Firefly Bicycles: Put Mondrian on It

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Firefly Bicycles: Put Mondrian on It

Do you think the Dutch abstract painter Piet Mondrian would have ever expected to see his unique form of Neoplasticism art used so wildly in pop culture? To the point where a bicycle frame – hell, multiple bicycle frames! – would be adorned with his unique form of abstract art? Firefly Bicycles is working on documenting a beauty of a frame. See more at their Tumblr.

A Rad Rod Retrofit: John’s Firefly 2.0 Chubby Road

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A Rad Rod Retrofit: John’s Firefly 2.0 Chubby Road

When I began working with the team at Firefly on my first disc brake road bike back in 2014, I wanted it to be perfect. The problem was at the time, the industry was very imperfect when it came to disc brakes on road bikes and all the accompanying standards. That was three or four years ago. Flat mount wasn’t on the table, many road forks used a 15mm thru-axle, and SRAM’s 1x XD driver had just switched to the road market after a successful introduction into the MTB market years prior. Trying to figure out the specs on this bike took a lot of back and forth for both me and Firefly. I wanted this bike to be perfect… this is, after all, a dream bike!

Since getting the Rad Rod in 2015, I’ve had this bike built up a number of different ways, traveled the globe with it, toured on it, and came to the conclusion that I truly do love it. So when Tyler emailed me, asking what I’d think about sending it back for a retrofit, I was intrigued.

His proposal was a rear-end retrofit, with a new Firefly thru-axle dropout but most importantly, a new 3D-printed titanium yoke that would allow for a large tire and the use of a 2x drivetrain. By this point, I’d ridden a number of other drop bar “all road” bikes, but really wanted a straight up “chubby road,” or a disc brake, 650b, 2x road bike.

Firefly Announces New Technology

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Firefly Announces New Technology

It might not look like much in its raw form with no context but to Firefly and their future customers who’d like to increase their tire size, while running a double crankset and maintaining correct chainline, this is the only way to do it. Above is Tyler from Firefly’s personal bike. This all-road was sent off to test their new yoke design, which will clear either a 700x42mm or 27.5x53mm tire with a compact road crankset. The team at Firefly have been working on this for some time now and it’s finally an option for those looking to optimize their drivetrain. Check out the technology section at their website for more information and see more photos of Tyler’s bike at the Firefly Flickr.

Land Run 100 Rides: Dani and Her Firefly All-Road SHRED SL3D

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Land Run 100 Rides: Dani and Her Firefly All-Road SHRED SL3D

I last saw this kick-ass woman at the first Grinduro. That’s over three years ago and in that time, she’s continued to crush races with what always seems to be such finesse. Hell, even at the start of this year’s Land Run 100, I hooped and hollered at her in the first few miles, to which she returned a smile and pedaled off into the dusty abyss.

Dani‘s endeavors in the cycling industry are proudly supported by Tenspeed Hero and Firefly. This year, she’s upping the ante by starting a team of all-female dirt road racers. These ladies are looking to travel to events like Land Run 100 and others, in search of competition and glory. The team is dubbed Bitch ‘n’ Grit, and is sponsored by BitchStix, a company that makes lip balms and sunblock, while donating all net proceeds to organizations that raise awareness for domestic abuse and sexual assault prevention programs.

This is the bike Dani will pedal as she joins her teammates in races. It’s Firefly number three for her, hence the SHRED SL3D and is the bike that’s dedicated to dirt road racing. I could go on for a bit longer about the bike, its integrated seat post, and her perspective, but I’d rather send you to her blog to read all about it.

Oh, and she got third place in the women’s category on this bike… Dani, we’ll see you again soon – sooner than three years! – and good luck this season!

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Follow LandRun 100 on Instagram

No Compromises: A Firefly Super Commuter

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No Compromises: A Firefly Super Commuter

For some people, commuting by bicycle to work each day is the only time they’re assured time on the bike, so making those rides as enjoyable as possible is an added bonus. When it comes to Firefly, I can’t think of a better ride experience, so starting your day on something like this must be an extra special treat. Check out more at the Firefly Tumblr.