Category: Articles
Mike and Mary’s (Continuing) Awesome Adventure
When last we checked in on our erstwhile heroes, they were at MTB nationals in Pennsylvania. Since then they’ve been to race the World Cup at Mont Ste. Anne in Quebec on their custom IMX 29 SLs and are now, briefly, at home for a week of rest before heading to South Africa for more World Cup at Pietermaritzburg. Part of really appreciating the effort these guys put in to compete at the elite level is understanding that most of their exploits are based from an RV. They rarely sleep in their own beds, and have elevated mobile mechanic/office/home living to an art form.
Mike and Mary have also been selected to the US National Team for XC World Championships again, so we can look forward to more amazing stories from Team Kenda/Seven/NoTubes. We are proud, as always, to be represented by such amazing athletes (and people).
Read their full report here.
Mark S’s Cafe Racer S
This is the Cafe Racer S we built for Mark, our friend from Calgary’s Bow Cycle. Though conceived as a simple machine, a fixed-gear with a stripped down look, he took the time to personalize it in a way that makes it one of our favorite bikes of the season. And he also sent us these awesome pictures of it on the streets of Calgary (courtesy of Kevin Kwan), including this one of him getting just a little bit rad.
In Season
The bike industry does not circle the sun and measure its progress in years, but rather plants its fields, like a farmer, and thinks of time in seasons. And we are in the thick of that season now, building bikes with a drive and focus similar to our riders, out in the world, making use of the summer sunlight to get more time on the bike.
In season, we have to be very careful not to work too much (we always fail at this) and to make sure we are taking the time to ride our own bikes and to stay in touch with why we do what we do (we always succeed at this).
But now a month has passed since our last post…here are just a few of the things we’ve been working on.
A 622 SLX with SRAM’s new Red integrated hydraulic brakes for our good friend Matt Roy. This one left the shop floor and headed straight for the Green Mountain Double Century, where Matt rode it to victory, along with his Ride Studio Cafe Endurance Team, in a time just over 17 hours. For an encore, Matt took it on a post-grad (Ph.D.!!) trip from Portland, OR to Boulder, CO. Just a quick spin then…
And, this is John Bayley’s Axiom SL super randonneur, also with SRAM Red hydro and a very special paint job. John rode it to a third place finish at Dirty Kanza. This bike will also feature in an upcoming ad in Rouleur. Keep an eye out for it.
Jay L’s Steel Resolute SLX
This is Jay’s new steel, Resolute SLX in Electric Blueberry. This is a collaboration with our good friend Tony at Velosmith Bicycle Studio in Wilmette, IL, north of Chicago. We love the classic lines and subtle style of this one.
