PROLLY IS NOT PROBABLY

Beautiful Bicycle: Jesse’s Hufnagel Fire Road Racer

Ok, brace yourselves here. This bike is absolutely stunning. It’s no secret that Jordan Hufnagel made some Beautiful Bicycles in his days as a frame builder and I feel like in the last few months of his torch time, the bikes he built were so full of class and character. Ty’s cross, his own porteur and Jesse’s “Fire Road Racer”.

When you are from LA, you’re very familiar with the various fire roads and singletrack off-shoots. After spending time on his road bike, carefully descending down these rutted and rocky descents, Jesse decided it was time for a more fitting vehicle… See more in Gallery!

Afternoon Cup at Flat Track Coffee

I don’t need to write some clever dialoge about how people love their local coffee shops. Since moving to Austin, the coffee options have grown considerably and one of the first people I met in Austin who really got coffee was Matty B.

For the past few months, he and Sterling have been working on Flat Track Coffee. They went from delivering beans to businesses and selling to individuals directly, to opening a small shop in Austin’s East Side. It’s literally three blocks from my house and has become a post-ride staple, as well as an afternoon pick me up.

Follow these guys on Instagram for some rad bike photos and check out some photos I shot in the Gallery!

Flat Track Coffee
913 E Cesar Chavez
Austin, TX, 78702
Open daily…

Tools of the trade:
Leica M7
Zeiss T* f2.8 28mm
Fuji Neopan 400

Beautiful Bicycle: Woody’s All-City Thunderdome Track

Talk to anyone on the US Olympic track team and they’ll tell you that Woody’s one solid wrench. Not only that, but he holds down the repairs at Golden Saddle Cyclery and coaches in his part time. Bottom line, Woody’s one solid fella who knows his way around the velodrome.

After recovering from a MTB wreck, where he broke his femur and clavicle, Jeff from All-City set him up with an Thunderdome track frame to aid in his physical therapy. With a machine like this, no one would need any more encouragement to hit the boards. This was one of the first track bikes I’ve shot where the tires weren’t allowed to touch the ground, save for the photos…

Beautiful Bicycle: Raffy’s Stinner Cross

This has got to be one of my favorite cross bikes I’ve photographed since Ty’s Hufnagel. Raffy’s tale is a unique one, just like his Stinner. He works at Euro Asia and is arguably responsible for gumwall tires being distributed in the continental United States. While the specifics of that are still a but fuzzy, this bike is anything but. Clean, sharp lines mixed in with great paint and a pretty rad build list. See for yourself in the Gallery.

Recent Roll: Austin Randomness

As I travel more each month, the time I spend at home in Austin is really precious. I’ve been really enjoying the Mamiya, shooting portraits and some of the randomness that I come across. I was going to find some more meaningful way to display these photos, with some theme of “weekends” but I’m too tired from this weekend’s activities…

I hope your weekend was rad and I hope you enjoy!

Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Kodak Portra 400

Recent Roll: My FBM Sword is Summer Jammin’

Sometimes, the simplest changes in a bike’s setup can really enhance the ride. Take my Sword. Sure, it looked mean as hell with drops but I swapped them out for those Budnitz Ti sweep bars and plugged on a Cetma rack. It’s the perfect photo bike, with the aid of the Tanner Goods Field Camera Bag… Check out a few more photos below.

Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Kodak Portra 400

Recent Roll: The Lost New Road

Late last summer, a group of cyclists got together in Northern California with Giro to try out their New Road cycling line. While there, I was told to not worry about shooting photos but I still did. Some of which made it to their ad campaign, others made it into my hoard drive where they sat for months.

With the New Road line out now, I can post these and what better time than a Friday afternoon. I’m back in Cali on Monday and I can’t wait, especially after looking through these photos again.

Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4
Fuji Neopan 400 / Fuji 400 ProH

Product Review: Search and State S1-A Jersey and S1-S Bibs

This kit is as comfy on the bike as it is in the grass.

Without a doubt, green is a color of spring…

I’ve been a supporter of Search and State since I first caught wind of their operations in New York City. Their S1-A jersey is a staple in my daily rotation (see my older product review here) and now, the S1-S bibs have been providing me with comfortable rides on all my bikes. S&S’s line is minimally branded, made in New York City from technical fabrics and is far from your standard cycling apparel.

So far, I’ve logged about 10 rides in the shorts, washed them, hung them out to dry and even dried them on medium heat. They still look brand new and they hold their black dye. I know the price might seem a little steep, but bibs are something you’ll wear much more than a jersey. Plus, they’re each made by hand in NYC and domestic production is a little more expensive for a reason.

As far as fit is concerned, I’d rate their sizing a bit like a club cut. If you’re unsure which size to get, go down. I usually wear an medium or large in club bibs and XL in race cut. Here, I’m wearing a large and the fit is comfortable, without being restricting. What I’m most impressed with though is the detailing and how soft the fabric feels. That and they look great with any jersey…

While this particular color-pairing looks great on the road, it also beckons for the ‘wood, so I took to the trails yesterday afternoon before shooting these photos. Check out my thoughts on these two garments in the narrated Gallery.

Search and State S1-A Riding Jersey $125
Search and State S1-S Riding Short $210

Beautiful Bicycle: Columbus MS Lemond Road

I can really appreciate builds like this: vintage steel with a mix of modern componentry, especially when you add a tubeset like Columbus MS into the equation. This bike rolled into Shifter Bikes while I was in Melbourne and it was one of those bikes that didn’t like to sit still. It kept wanting to roll. Was it the legacy of Greg Lemond that was trying to establish a forward momentum? Who knows… but the Campagnolo Centaur 10, Zipp wheels, Thomson cockpit and Rolls saddle probably have something to do with it.

Beautiful Bicycle: Lauren’s Icarus Commuter

Any guy will tell you that putting a bike together for his lady can be an emotionally taxing event. Luckily for me, Lauren knew exactly what she wanted when I proposed the idea of buying her a new bike for her birthday. She loved my Icarus and Ian’s work but wanted something practical to commute on here in Austin. I was pushing for a full-on touring bike but she doesn’t like the idea of bigger tires and wanted something zippier.

What we agreed on is a mashup of a few things: primarily a long-reach caliper, lower trail road bike. It’ll fit 28c tires and fenders or 32c without, it has rack mounts on the front and the rear for any sort of light touring or camping we’d do but most importantly, the front cockpit is by no means racey…

She liked the riding position of her Tokyo Fixed Dream Machine build but wanted the bars a little wider and better stopping power than her cantis. After finally wrapping my head around figuring out what she wanted, we met up with Ian of Icarus Frames, who measured her and went through the new frame procedure.

In the meanwhile, I started looking for parts. Rather than going all budget, I splurged a bit and went with a lot of American-manufactured products. Ian was making a stem to accomodate the back sweep of Nitto Albatross bars to which we’d run barcon shifters on. Chris King had these “ox-blood” Sotto Voce headsets at NAHBS, so I picked one up. Then, I consulted my friend PAUL and kinda went all out. Soon, I had purchased Canti Levers, polished Medium Racers, Moon Units, Polished Tall & Handsome seat post, Funky Money cable hanger and it didn’t stop there…

As with any commuter, gearing is a key factor. Lauren had been riding a single speed to work consistently but some of the hills en route to her teaching job were a bit tough. We also want to be able to do longer rides out to the hill country, so I chose the White Industries VBC cranks (46/30) with a mid-cage Shimano 105 rear derailleur and a 12-32 cassette. Shimano 105 hubs to H+Son TB 14s are bomb-proof, budget wheels. Topping the build off are Panaracer Paselas 32c, Brooks B 17 S saddle and tape.

The paint would be from Fresh Frame and the color we chose is an elusive one. Was it blue? Or green? It changes with the light. In the shade, it’s sort of jade but in the sun, it sparkles blue. Whatever it is, the final product is stunning.

While the bike is shown here, sans racks, we’re in the process of tracking down a good front basket and a rear rack for panniers. The bike is light, coming in at just a hair over 19 lbs and it “rides like a dream”. If it were my bike, I would have done a few things differently but that’s the beauty of a custom bike, you get what YOU want and trust me, there are few arguments I’m willing to engage in with this lady. She always gets what SHE wants… who can blame her? Further down the road, I’ll look into new panniers and maybe a porteur bag but for now, I’ve spent enough money on this thing!

Many thanks to Austin Bikes for the build, Bens Cycle for the assistance in the components, Ian Sutton of Icarus Frames and Bryan Myers at Fresh Frame.