Rawland Ulv 650B+ Dirt Drop

Sean over at Rawland Cycles finally loaned us the prototype Ulv 650B+ trekking bike.

The frame is a little on the small size, so I swapped out the cockpit and the seatpost to approximate a slightly longer frame.

Normally with the Gator bars I would go with an even shorter stem, but for this bike an 80mm feels about right.

This frameset is designed around large volume 650b tires, and comes stock with the Panaracer Fat B Nimble.

Since the Ulv is a low trail bike, it works great with a loaded mini rack. We mounted the Ostrich F-702 handlebar bag to the Rawland Raido Verks rack.

The bag straps directly to the bars and rack tombstone and since the bars have such a generous amount of sweep there's no clearance issue on the hoods or in the drops.

We went with the Ostrich S-2 seatbag for a bit of extra storage space, since I'm running bottle cages in lieu of a frame pack.

This bike comes standard with wide range 1x11 Sram Rival components. We've used this kit for a number of Wolverines, so it was a welcome sight for this adventure focused build.

Rawland uses solid steel plates to keep the Q-factor very low without resorting to Boost specific cranks or a heavy chainstay yoke. The Panaracers have a decent amout of clearance mounted to WTB Scraper rims.

Although it's built up as a 1x11, it does have a cable stop should you ever want to run a wide range double or a MTB triple crankset.

Rawland specced their own Raido Verks 12mm thru axle hubs for these builds. The updated graphics were inspired by Runes, and carry the tradition of Norse mythology that has been a theme of Rawland's models since the original Sogn was announced in 2007.

The Sram Rival disc brakes are unbelievable. They offer so much control with a fraction of the hand strength required to stop mechanical discs. While not an aftermarket option, Rawland used post mount brake mounting to ensure backwards compatibility with mechanical calipers like the Paul Klamper should you ever need to swap them out.

Rawland plans to release 100 complete bikes this year, but we can expect framesets to be available through shops after the first run is delivered.

Tanaka Fujikoma Demi Porteur Rack

Here's a neat rack prototype we've been playing around with. Meet the Tanaka Fujikoma rack. These look very similar to our Champs Elysees stainless steel mini rack, but in fact it's aluminum.

The main difference is the platform is about twice as large as most traditional rando racks. The struts mount to standard mini rack eyelets, but p-clamps are also included for forks that lack them.

We expect these will work better with some of the larger Ostrich bags or the Swift Industries x Ocean Air Docena bag.

Used together with the Tanaka Decaleur, they will handle smaller bags like this Ostrich F-104 too. We should have these in stock in a few months if all goes according to plan. Stay tuned.

Hands On Wheels x Rivendell Appaloosa

The world renowned Rich of Hands On Wheels and Riv fame dropped by to pick up some dynamo hubs an let us snap a few pictures of his excellent Appaloosa build.

For those of you who don't subscribe to the RBW list, the Appaloosa is a newer model from Riv. Featuring extra long chain-stays and a slack seat tube, these bikes are definitely designed to handle a substantial load.

The Sugino XD is a staple of most Rivendell builds. Seen here in the wide/low double configuration with complimentary bash ring.

It looks like some miniature ponies pranced up and down the tube at some point.

Bucking the trend of reinventing classic lug designs, the fork crown for this model is distinctly industrial. Braze ons at the tops of the fork legs offer more front rack mounting options.

Clearly this bike belongs to a collector of classic Japanese components.

Give me platform pedals any day.

What happens when your customer bails on their custom wheelset? New wheels day.

Classic Riv cockpit: Nitto Albatross x Technomic

The legendary Suntour Command shifters. Way way ahead of their time.

The classic Riv trunk bag never goes out of style.

;-3

One does not simply use any old rear derailleur with Suntour shifters. Not if you're into indexing anyway.

Taken from a classic illustration apparently.

The Nigel Smythe fender flaps with a healthy amount of buse.

If you see this sticker on your rim you can rest assured that you are in good hands... yeah, I'm sorry too.

But seriously, this guy knows wheels. Hit him up if you need somthing special built up (cuz we don't do that) and he'll sort you right out. Thanks Rich!

http://handsonwheels.com/

Lovely Bike's 650b Tire Test Party

Our distributor, Merry Sales, sent a few sets of Soma and Panaracer 650b tires to Lovely Bicycle! all the way in Ireland. She found some fellow 650b riders to help her review them and posted her first report on the tires.

Coming Soon! The Fog Cutter

You may have a seen a social media photo of a new model we've been testing  earlier this year. We weren't too forthcoming with details, but we are ready now.

We call this new project the Fog Cutter.
The idea behind the name (besides that we get a lot of fog where we are) is how after getting up at the crack of dawn to do some miles your mind feels like it's in this fog, this thick fog made of eye gunk, but then you start to turn those pedals and your face gets that first blast of cold air, and you pedal some more, get into your rhythm, and you feel the stiffness in your knees melt away and as your bike and your body is cutting through that dewy morning air you feel that fog leave your body, too and you begin feel pretty good again... Yeah that's kind of what we had in mind.

New bike smell mixed with sea breeze.

Pre-production sample shown. Actual fork will sport matching paint and straight carbon blades. The sample build is sporting New Xpress 700x35c. Production design will fit slightly larger tires.

The frame roughly follows the geometry of our ES road sport / endurance frame, but it is designed with disc brakes. We could've just left it at that, because that's basically what some customers have been asking for. Since we were leaving the confines of the mid-reach caliper brake, we decided to increase tire clearance where we can. We ended up adopting the fork length and chainstay design of our Double Cross frame, but have kept the angles and lower bottom bracket of a true road frame. Because it is design around a CX disc fork, it opens up a few more options for aftermarket forks than the ES ever had. Our optional matching fork will be carbon; lighter than steel, but our spec is definitely beefy enough to commute on daily.

We think the Fog Cutter is near perfect for bike for fondos and credit card touring. It's also killer for all weather commuting, because it fits disc brakes and tires up to 38c with fenders, and is welded with Tange Prestige heat-treated Chromoly tubes to soak up asphalt chatter day after day.  As with almost all our frames there are mounts for a rear rack and fenders. MSRP: $479.99 (frame) $219.99(carbon fork with alloy steerer) Available in about 4 months.

The seat tube decal is insprired by the Pigeon Point Lighthouse.
Stay at the hostel if you are ever in the neighborhood.