PROLLY IS NOT PROBABLY

Posts Tagged ‘touring bike’

Jeff from All-City Showcasing Urban #CampVibes

It’s been real fun hanging out with Jeff from All-City. We raced together, we partied together and even got sick together. Jeff knows how to live the life as the manager of a party brand. But sometimes it gets too much for him to handle. We were supposed to go touring but the urban #campvibes got the best of him.

Don’t worry Salsa, this is an urban adventure. Thanks to Grandpasaurus Rex for the photo.

Beautiful Bicycle: J.P. Weigle Randonneur Bike

Details, oh the details. This magnificant J.P. Weigle randonneur bike was propped up in the Bicycle Quarterly / Compass Bicycles booth at the Philly Bike Expo this year. And yet, for the life of me, I couldn’t make my way through the crowd to reach Jan Heine or Peter in order to photograph it the first day of the show.

Once I got their attention, I rolled this beauty out into the overcast skies for some lens love. Where do I begin? Herse cranks, SON hub, Mafac brakes, NOT Reynolds 531 decal. It’s impeccable. Even though I’m indifferent about 650B wheels on larger frames, I can surely confess my love for this piece of work. Somehow, the proportions work and this bike just pops. See for yourself in the gallery!

About to #GoYonder

Today, before the sun is up, a small group of friends and I are going to embark on a 600k brevet-style ride out of Pittsburgh, over the Appalachian mountains and into DC. Loosely termed a “brovet”, this ride is part of a project that’s come to be called Go Yonder. I can’t say anything more than that but we’ll be posting photos on Instagram ( @JohnProlly @moi_is_moi @tytanium @no_ralphy @quesofrito @coelmaness @yonderjournal ) of all the randomness we encounter for the next 36 hours.

The Mudville will be my work horse and since we have no idea what to expect on the road, it’s set up with a SON hub, an Edelux lamp (mounted to a Cronometro Nob, via a R&M mount) and a Viscacha saddle bag by Revelate Designs. We’re all hobo-camping, probably only clocking in 2 hours of sleep, so I’ve got a bag liner, a tarp and a merino hoodie. Fingers crossed, loose legs and Scrapple!

See you on the other side of the mountains and check out more photos below.

#GoYonder

Beautiful Bicycle: Jamie Swan Light Tourer

During our ride to Philly from Brooklyn, I had the pleasure of staring down this beauty. My friend Harry Swartzman is close friends with Jamie Swan, a frame builder residing on Long Island, NY. Jamie’s work is very precise, clean, classy and yet, Harry’s bike falls into his atypical character.

Harry wanted a light tourer, with modern lines. A long, slammed stem, with a sloping top tube and fits much more like a road bike than a tourer. Just look at the drive-side elevation. It’s mean! Jamie often prefers more traditional road, randonneur and tourers but I think this frame is exquisite.

Beautiful Bicycle: Chapman Cycles Townie

One of my favorite bikes at the Philly Bike Expo was this Chapman Cycles townie. At first glance, it may look like a pretty standard parts build but when you look closely, you’ll notice a lot of vintage parts in a dark black anodized finish. Brian Chapman really took his time with this one and it shows. The custom anodized Honjo fenders did it for me but don’t overlook all the frame details!

Beautiful Bicycle: Jordan Hufnagel’s 650b Dirt Porteur

I’ve already featured this Beautiful Bicycle once, but it was fully decked out in “city mode” during my Shop Visit to Hufnagel Cycles.

When Giro began making their selections for who would get to preview and review their New Road line, I was surprised to see Hufnagel‘s name on the list. He’s a huge advocate of environmentally responsible construction and sustainability. Sure enough though, the merino in the New Road line is from New Zealand, not China and it’s made in San Francisco… Sounds like a perfect match.

But what would Jordan ride? His city bike of course. Stripped of the porteur accoutrement, it became a lively gravel machine. Even the 420mm chainstays with 650b wheels didn’t hold Mr. Hufnagel back from getting rad on this bike. Here I was, thinking a cross bike was the ideal travel bike and yet, this thing looked pretty freaking rad.

The 2012 Beloved Imperial Works Morton Concept

The Beloved Imperial Works Morton 2012 Concept

When Steve Blick first told me he was going to London for the 2012 Olympics, I asked something along the lines of “are you excited?”. Being someone who travels all over the world for Oakley‘s “two wheels division”, I can imagine that being at the Olympics might be daunting. But not for Steve. In fact, he said he was most excited about riding around his new Beloved Imperial Works Morton Concept. Here’s a back story:

“It started with monsieur @blick wanting to have a great ride in London for three weeks, so we approached Slate at Rapha for a taker, not wanting to send it back across the pond. He eventually said they would support the project, the only brief: just make it feel like Rapha.

Well, @blick is about black, stealth, and we (Beloved) don’t usually do black, staying classic silver with components, but with Rapha, the games in London, we got the idea / concept for an Imperial Works Morton, the common thought = gold. So in our interpretation, we figured out the small gold bits per IW: plate our steel downtube bands and the badge; next what was to be black: the Paul bits (crank/brakes/rev.levers), ano the Nitto bits (stem/bar/post), Conti all black tires, Brooks saddle (of course an “Imperial” classic B-17) & leather tape, fenders, and of course black powdercoat; and lastly what was to stay classic silver: bolts, rails, spokes, nipples, headset – a stainless King, stainless Phil BB cups, and pedals found that nice balance. A little magic was born on doing build.

It will live in the new Rapha London Cycle Club post the games, perhaps used as the
store’s special “work bike” here and there.”

See more of this beauty below in a full photo gallery and a video that Steve made while in London.

Paved Mag: Fairdale and the Pacific Northwest

Sandy Carson posted up this awesome article from the Fairdale pacific northwest tour that he and Taj embarked on earlier this year. The entire story made it to Paved Magazine, with words by Taj Mihelich and photos by Sandy Carson. Either pick up a copy of Paved or check out the article at Sandy’s blog.

Pereira Cycles: Kristin’s Ultimate City Bike

I’ve seen this in person and let me tell you, it rules just as much in the street as it does in the photo studio. In fact, I think I’m super bummed I didn’t get to photograph this bike while in Portland. Gah. See more at the Pereira Cycles Flickr.

Tony, you really killed this one. Amazing.