Steve Stickel is a name that many of you probably don’t know…but should. His custom frames are hand made out of Asheville, NC and have incredible craftsmanship. For those of you local to the Atlanta area, you can see Lonestar’s white 26″ singlespeed made by Steve at the local trial head. LS will be the first to tell you how great the frame really is. Custom touches, like brake rotors used as gusseting, really set his frames apart from others I have seen.
Say hello to the new component group from Shimano…SLX. Set to replace the Hone and LX line for mountain biking, the SLX is marketed as a heavier duty all mountain group for the Shimano line. So far from the pictures, it appears that Shimano mixed the previous LX and Hone together and added a new look along with the some features that were added to the XTR line. The rear derailleur shows some XTR-like characteristics. This line will still fall below the XT line in price and is designed around the growing popularity of 5″ and 6″ trail bikes.
That’s right…I finally said it. I really do miss my singlespeed. Now, to clarify, I don’t particularly miss the Curtlo as much as singlespeeding itself. The Curtlo was an incredible bike built by Doug Curtis. It rode beautifully and one of the best rides I have ever been on was a ss ride on this bike at Tsali with Jason. It was just one of those days where everything was on. I think we did somewhere around 33 miles that day if I remember correctly.
The Sultan is one of the most lusted after 29er full suspension bikes. With 4″ of travel, this bike feels like it has 5″. Made out of 5 Spot tubing, this bike is a great all around machine. With the introduction of the 20mm 29er Reba coming soon, there should be some great AM styled Sultan’s in the near future.
Honestly…how many different wheels sizes do we need? With the introduction of the 650B (27.5″) wheel size, we are now up to 3 different available wheel sizes for mountain bikes if you don’t include the 24″ variety. The idea is that you get the same rolling power seen in 29″ wheels with the agility of 26″. I am not jumping on the bandwagon that fast for several reasons.
Another incredible ss 29er. This Independent Fab belongs to Jason up in Asheville, NC. The component list ranges from Phil Wood, Eno, Fox, Brooks and Chris King. Independent Fabrication makes some of the best steel hardtails on the market and this one is no exception. The midnight blue against the white of the Fox F29 is a perfect mix.
What a ride! Fred Cuthbert makes a killer ride. By far the best 29er I have ever been on. The geometry is a close resemblance of what you see out of Jeff Jone’s stable. It eems to put you in the perfect stand and hammer climbing position that you are often forced into with rigid singlespeeding. The bike almost felt like it had suspension with the large volume tires and compliant rear end. Nothing quite beats the feeling of a custom steel ride.