Kogswell 650b

Pictures from last weekend's campout are in the works. In the meantime, check out this classic Kogswell build submitted by Greg in Seattle. 38mm Soma New Xpress tires FTW.

For the uninitiated, the Kogswell P/R was one of the first modern low trail production frames built around 650b wheels. Based on experimentation by Bicycle Quarterly using vintage French touring bikes, it offered an affordable way for people to experiment with the then "obsolete" wheels size, and it's flexible configuration allowed it to be set up for touring, randonneuring, or commuting with an internal gear hub or as a single speed.

Like most Kogwells, Greg's wife's P/R is built up with a mix of classic MTB parts and modern throwbacks like the mammered Honjos, IRD Defiant triple crankset and the Nitto M-12 mini canti front rack. The untimely demise of Kogswell was what originally inspired us to develop our own 650b frame set, the Soma Grand Randonneur. These days the options are plentiful in 650b land, but we still appreciate what Kogswell did to kickstart the low trail market way back in '06.

Double Cross Disc Build by Rosebud

Another tidy Soma build from Rosebud in Seattle.

http://www.rosebudbicyclebuilds.com/

More Rosebud Builds

Some more build pictures from Rosebud.

This one was build up for Cheryl Waters (incidentally my favorite DJ). If you don't listen to the Mid Day Show on KEXP you probably have horrible taste in music.

Another classy white and gold build with some serious color coordination.

Sram bar end shifters on thumbie mounts.

Reinforced fender bridge.

BQ style Honjo Daruma install.

M.A.P. light bracket.

Another Grand Randonneur from Seattle

Chris @ Rosebud sent us this excellent build he put together.

It strikes a nice balance between old and new style components. I especially like the Nitto Craft quill stem, Nitto Campee mini rack, fluted Honjo fenders, Green Mercia saddle and Grand Bois Hetre extra leger tires. Should be a sporty and fun little bike!

Tanaka Brass Fenders

A few months ago we said we were working on getting Honjo Brass Fenders. We still haven't gotten them, but we did find these beauties from another Japanese outfit named Tanaka. They only offer smooth finish....no hammered or beveled. They require custom fitting...meaning you get to drill the holes exactly where you want them to go.

Stainless steel and aluminum versions available as well. Not badly priced at $59.99. The brass will set you back about $100.

Brass Honjos

We recently got a look at some pre-production brass Honjo fenders. Don't know when they will be available to U.S. distributors, but they sure look sweet. These are in the fluted style.