The Radavist

His and Hers Jerome Cycles Townies
Photos by Kyle Kelley, words by John Watson

Being able to ride with your partner can be one of the most cherished experiences in any relationship. Now, whether or not it’s on the road, or a trail, or even just around town is contingent upon that couple’s own experiences on the bike, naturally. When this couple in particular decided they wanted new townie bikes, they contacted Southern California frame builder Jerome Cycles, who gladly took on the project. These bikes are traditional porteurs, with a large, flat rack platform and a geometry designed to accommodate a decent load like a bag of groceries. This functionality is only increased with Son hubs and Edelux II lamps, custom stems, PAUL Brakes, White Industries cranks and pedals with T11 hubs, laced to Velocity Synergy rims.

The most striking thing about this project are the colors. A dark, midnight blue for him and a burnt mustard for her, these two colors, matched with the Jerome Cycles headbadges really make these frames pop with character. I can’t wait to see how these bikes patina over time!

Follow Kyle on Instagram and Jerome Cycles on Instagram.

As fate, or at least the press circuit would have it, I’m back in Santa Cruz for the Blackburn Ranger Camp. I drove up from Los Angeles a night early and crashed with my friend Garrett, from Strawfoot Handmade.

The last time I was in town, I got to spend a lot of time with him, photographing his shop, his bikes and even he and his daughter Olive’s daily routine.

This round, time was precious, but I managed to get a few photos of his new bikes, the first being this Team Fresh Air Hunter Cycles ‘cross with a carbon seat tube. Garrett built this bike up as a strictly race machine. SRAM Force CX1 and PAUL Mini Motos with a DT / Pacenti wheelset will deliver all the reliability needed for racing in Santa Cruz, while a Sim Works’ cockpit and WTB saddle on a Sim Works post top the build off.

Balance is key for a ‘cross bike and this bike has it, both aesthetically and in terms of weight. Oh and I love the Fresh Air Cycles blue!

Taking a more “mountain bike” approach to fitting in terms of reach and fit has been a successful design characteristic of bikes like the AWOL. Shorter stems mean the top tube can be longer, giving the rider less overlap and the sensation of sitting “in” the bike, rather than “on” it. When Peter first contacted Geekhouse, he wanted a straight up ‘cross bike. Then he talked to a few people and he realized he wouldn’t be racing a whole lot. Rather, he wanted to take this bike up into the mountains of Los Angeles and disappear for hours on end. The triangle would be big to fit a frame bag and the bottom bracket a little lower to make it more predictable on descents.

It’s funny how the desire for a custom race bike is quickly quelled by the necessity for a vehicle to inspire escapism.

Fast forward to the bike’s completion. It just took a leap across the country to follow its owner as he relocated from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas. Essentially he and I swapped places… His relocation came at such a moment that the frame was shipped to Los Angeles first, before being packed back up and delivered to Mellow Johnny’s, where I photographed it this afternoon on a brief visit.

It’s great seeing a bike like this alive and well in a new and exciting city for its owner to explore. Enjoy this thing, Peter!

The two-man team behind Fern Cycles really impressed me. Florian Haeussler and Phillip Zwanzig craft frames in Berlin, designed to handle their specific style of riding. In 2012 they toured throughout Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia and Turkey on two Chacha prototype frames. Their time on the road enabled them to dial in their preferences as to how a touring bike should handle and allowed them to design a line of bikepacking bags to compliment their custom racks.

This bike was built with Sugino cranks, Shutterworks generator hub, Supernova lights and Shimano Sora derailleurs but the standout products are the bags!

Gramm Bags are made in Fern’s shop and have some clever detailing, as well as minimal branding. Personally, I thought this was the best touring rig at the Berliner Fahrradschau and had a lot of fun documenting this bike.

Nice meeting you guys!

Ever since the first day of the Berliner Fahrradschau, I’ve wanted to photograph this Field Cycles road. Built for a customer in San Francisco, this bike just pops against the dreary Berlin weather and will undoubtably do the same in SF’s foggy environment. The owner wanted a zippy race-worthy machine with Dura Ace and ENVE, which is coincidentally why this bike is in Berlin to begin with. It’s on display at ENVE’s European builder booth, where builders from all over the EU were selected to showcase their talents.

Talent is exactly what Field possesses. This two-man team is nestled in the hills of Sheffield, a steel city with a long heritage of handcrafting beautiful works from metals of all sorts. Yet with every metal masterpiece, paint needs to accompany it, which is why Field uses their in-house painter, Cromaworks to design flashy, yet complimentary designs. While talking to Harry about Field’s bikes, he made a special point to note their custom dropouts and investment cast headbadges, two details he’s very proud of, coming from a metal fabrication background…

See more of this beauty in the Gallery!

When in Berlin, photograph German frame builders, right? Troica Cycles is a Berlin-based builder, specializing in tig-welded, steel cyclocross and road bikes. While their website’s offerings look beautiful, Florian‘s bike is a little different. This all-road, light tourer, randonneur, or what have you, features a beautiful segmented fork with a custom rack to boot. Its paint job is accented by the sour apple Chris King, ENVE M50 wheels and a bright turquoise Chris King headset. This bike is colorful, yet subdued at the same time…

Today I got to spend four hours with Florian and his Troica, admiring its subtle style and capabilities. Check out more for yourself in the Gallery!

Barcelona, at least as far as I’m concerned, is Los Angeles’ European sister city. Not so much in terms of its urbanism, or gracious public plazas, or the seemingly lack of vehicular congestion, but in terms of the riding. Mediterranean climates make for photogenic trails and even in the winter months, this city is a joy to ride in. When we arrived in Barcelona, I had no idea what to expect. Mattia from Legor Cicli and Ken from ENVE told us (meaning myself and photographer Jeff Curtis, who came along to document the trip for ENVE) we’d be riding dirt roads and trails all within the city limits.

The drive side photo, when composed correctly, can tell you a lot about a bike’s geometry. Head angle, wheelbase, chainstay length and other measurements or angles suddenly become apparent when observed at a flat, side profile. At a show like NAHBS, the various idiosyncrasies found in custom frame design can be overwhelming, especially as a photographer and a self-admitted bike geek. Each year, I like to look at the bikes documented in a Gallery… If you look closely, you’ll see some new models from No22 Bicycles that have yet to be posted.

To see all the entries, check out the 2016 NAHBS Category.