I had to swing by Icarus Frames ( @IcarusFrames ) today to pick up a few things and while I was there, I got to see some of his latest handywork. This cross frame is heading up to Boston and while the customer didn’t want anything too fancy, Ian added some clean detailing. The fork will be an ENVE cross and it’ll be heading out to paint shortly. Part of me really loves seeing a frame in this state but a good coat of paint always brings out the details.
Check out a few more shots below.
Photos by Jacob Rader
This past weekend, I spent my time hanging out with some great people at what is best described as a “luxury cabin in the middle of nowhere”. Texas is like that: a thirty minute drive south and you’re surrounded by nothing. One of the people who spent the weekend with us, surrounded by cacti was Jacob Rader. He’s been a friend for a while but it’s not until you have nothing else to do but talk (and drink), that you really make a connection with someone. As someone who also can’t leave the house without a camera, I can appreciate his lovely work.
Follow his Flickr, for what it’s like to live and ride in Austin, Texas.
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
I’m even surprised I had the time to walk around SxSW for an afternoon but I did anyway. Something about the shitshow that descends upon this sleepy little town is very alluring for a person who likes shooting photos. The freaks mix in with the locals and the homeless cope with it the best way they know how. I lost one roll of exposed film somehow, so you’ll have to make due with these…
Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / f4 80mm
Kodak Portra 400
Red and yellow, kill a fellow, red and black, venom lack. Growing up in Southeastern North Carolina (what snake hunters call the tin fields) and spending a lot of time collecting pet snakes, you quickly became familiarized with this saying. While the exact wording differs from place to place, the message is clear. If a snake has red bands, touching yellow bands, steer clear.
I didn’t have much of an option to “steer” anywhere last week on the Greenbelt. Instead, I hopped off my bike like my excited 15 year old self would have done and contemplated picking up this gorgeous Texas Coral snake. Instead, I pulled out my Yashica and took this photo. Handling venomous snakes isn’t anything new to me but disturbing the wildlife on a trail is something I try to avoid, even if it’s a beautiful creature like this.
The Texas Coral is closely related to the Eastern Coral, the snake that I grew up catching in NC and these rear-fanged snakes pack a powerful neurotoxin, akin to cobra venom. Corals are nocturnal hunters who usually feed on other snakes like earth or worm snakes (it’s very rare to see one during the day). They’ll also feed on lizards, frogs and even baby Coral Snakes. There hasn’t been a reported death from a Coral Snake bike in the US for over 100 years, but there are dozens of bites reported.
Unfortunately, the rest of my riding buddies weren’t as enthralled with “that fucking snake” as I was, so I let it be.
Today I let Lauren test ride the Shinola Runwell I was sent to review. We rode out along the gravel trail down the street from our house to a park where during the summer, is always filled to capacity. In the dead of winter however, it was empty, even though we’re in shorts and t-shirts. Winter in Texas is funny like that.
I’ve got this bike for a while and I’ll do a more formal write up later this week but sometimes it’s nice to get someone else’s perspective.
This one’s a bit off topic but I really wanted to share it anyway. While I don’t see PiNP covering content of this nature frequently, I do like to share it from time to time.
Over the years, I’ve met some truly inspiring individuals, especially since moving to Austin. The affordable living, great weather and creative energy harbors some incredible talent (but don’t move here). One of these minds that I’ve gotten to know is Maura Ambrose. I watched her go from working on a farm (literally), to taking a leap into self-employment, ultimately making a name for herself and her company, Folk Fibers.
She works right in her East Austin home and is quickly outgrowing her available space. Her hand-stitched quilts and pillows use natural dyes, drawn from native flora but you’d swear the colors and vibrancy were synthetic. Check out a few photos in the Gallery and see the latest offerings from Folk Fibers here.
Leica M7
Zeiss 28mm f2.8 T* ZM / Leica 50mm f2 Summicron
Ilford 3200 delta / Fuji Neopan / Fuji PRO 400h
“I just wanted something simple and white.” That was Ryan’s reply when I mentioned how much I loved his Hufnagel road bike on our ride. I get a lot of people asking to go on rides here in Austin when they visit and I usually take them on a quick 20-30 mile route. The day starts out with “is that all we’re doing?” and ends with “holy shit, these climbs are steep!”. That’s what we did on Monday. 25 miles, 3,100′ of climbing.
Ryan’s Hufnagel is as far as I know, one of three in Texas. Jordan isn’t building bicycles anymore but he made a few for people in Texas when he was and they’re just as nice as his later bikes. With the signature seatstay treatment and his fondness for deep stays, the bikes just scream personality, without being too ostentatious. They’re just tastefully done. An elegant paint job and Campy 11 was exactly what Ryan requested: something simple and white.
This bike has been in the works for a while now and I’m not talking about the weeks the frame sat in the box while I accumulated the parts. I’m talking about since I first saw one in person, at Post Bikes in Brooklyn. The original Sword wasn’t what I would consider a true track geometry. It was more of a fixed cruiser, marketed not only at the kids wanting a street bike to thrash, but also to the older BMXrs who wanted a quicker way around town.
Steve and John Paul began working on the Sword SQ. They talked to various people in the “industry”, including Josh “Big Red” Hayes and Kyle Kelley, who worked on the Sword’s geometry, making it what it is today. This Sword SQ represents a lot of things to me. Mostly, a company, who in the wake of Taiwanese fabrication, still make their bikes in America, for an affordable price and have never taken a penny from an outside investor.
While I’ve already got a kick-ass track bike, this Sword will go through many variations. I’m already planning on putting a Cetma on it to carry my photo bag in the summer and will probably throw risers on it at some point to encourage some throwback FGFS. It’s a little small, compared to what I’m used to riding, so the saddle to bar drop is much more race-fit than my Icarus. I’ve dialed in the fit now and it looks a lot more reasonable than the first Instagram photo I posted.
I tried to use as many American companies as possible. Profile Fix / Fix hubs laced to H+Son Archetype rims (fucking love these rims!) and a 18t Phil Wood SLR cog. Thomson stem, post, 1960′s Unicanitor Saddle, Ritchey Classic Curve bars and Newbaum’s tape. I was tempted to buy a set of the Phil Wood cranks, but went with the tried and true SRAM Omniums with an extremely rare, purple 44RN 144#47 ring. My White Industries pedals got a new life and the Toshi single straps are just right. Finally, a black KMC Cool Chain and 28c Continental Gatorskins finish off the build, with a 3/4″ mini Viking decal on the stem.
I’m very happy with this bike and it’s been nice to ride a track bike around, since my Icarus’ fork has been at the painter’s for a few weeks.
Many thanks to FBM for this beast and I can assure you, this won’t be the last time you see it here on the site!
“Yeah, I’ve got a route planned, but we might dip off and take this one trail”. No matter how organized you try to make a friendly, chill ride, sometimes the best thing you can do is take that trail. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you end up walking a hobo path over a twelve foot drop onto limestone but more often than not, you can make due.
Most of the trails here in Austin are very cross-bike friendly. Some are not, but we avoid those for the most part. People say, “get a MTB”, but they’re also the ones driving their cars to do a piece of 5 mile singletrack. You don’t want to ride a MTB out 15 miles on the road, then up a 18% sealed climb before you bomb down a scenic descent. But a cross bike…
When Kyle was in town, I pulled together a little ride with some friends. We spent about 40% of the time on sealed road and 50% on gravel, singletrack or dirt. That missing 10% was on this one “oh shit” hiking trail we poached on a piece of government land. We made it out alive, save for Chris flipping over his bars and one flat tire. John even rode a stock Nature Boy up some very steep faces. It was impressive.
Beers were had and stories were made. Bottom line is, we had a fucking blast and all lived to tell the tale / Instagram it but no Strava for this route. I wanna keep some of it a secret. We ended up doing +/- 40 miles and about 3,500′.
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