Archives: Art

HOTNESS!!! That’s one word to describe it. I couldn’t be MORE. AMPED! on the State Bicycle Co. & DKlein collaboration Pulsar SS 29er. As soon as I got the Pulsar out of the box I couldn’t rip the packaging off fast enough to check out Dustin’s design brought to mountain bike. It’s so rad on so many levels, not really sure how to put it all into words.

Dustin Klein has personally inspired me for years, like many of you, to ride x create. Not letting perceived limitations get you down, and to push past the fear of the unknown… well, that’s how he has inspired me at least. To ride with THAT vibe in tact will bring a smile to my face for many pedal strokes to come. Stoked!

Now… this entry level ripper isn’t going to have all the bells and whistles, and it shouldn’t for the price tag of $649 delivered; but it does have what you need to get out, have a killer time, and look good while doing so. Some of the things I did / noticed immediately when building it up:

• Flipped / dropped the stem (personal preference / will cut steer tube asap)
• Super comfy but solid fork flex
• GREAT grips that will grip heavily
• Bike weight lighter than expected

The entry level Pulsar SS is the perfect place to start for those that don’t know what direction they really want to go with their build, OR that just want a GREAT looking entry level ridged single speed. You can upgrade with better components and suspension fork if you would prefer. State Bicycle Co. has a couple different build options on their site. I recommend checking that out. Something I will never change on my personal Pulsar is the ridged fork. Dustin’s design is just too plain good to discard.

Some things I will change out immediately (aka this week): Brakes, chain, pedals, and cog. It’s not that I’m not ok with them as they came, I just have some extra goodies laying around waiting to be used.

I haven’t spent a lot of time on the Pulsar yet… but from my initial exploratory back woods gutter sessions, I’m really into it!! Great ride all around!!

I hope you enjoyed my initial take on the State Bicycle Co. & DKlein Pulsar SS 29er collaboration thus far. Make sure to follow along on our Instagram (@createfolly) for daily inside looks with my interaction on the Pulsar. I will be posting updates and exploration recaps on this two wheeled shred sled via the blog and the GRAM for many summer months to come. In the meantime, head over to State Bicycle Co. and check out more details on the Pulsar along with all the options you have when building your own.

RIDE x CREATE

In love with these new pieces from Kyle. I hope you are to. If so, feel free to contact Mr. Steed for pricing inquiries.

What’s more American than handcrafted steel shred sleds!?

I had the absolute please of meeting up with Justin Shipp, Founder of Silent Cycles, during yesterdays Chattanooga, TN invasion. REALLY loving everything about his two wheeled creations! Although I only got to dive into Silent’s vibe for a handful of minutes, I began to fall in love with some of the small details that set Silent Cycles apart from the rest.

I hope you enjoy as much as I do. DEFINITLY go check out more info on Silent Cycles site. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Always a pleasure to feature Matt Blease’s creative mind.

Also… I started to title this post “HOTHO”, but that wasn’t gonna work out…

RIDE x CREATE

Had a killer mid week ride yesterday with Team Infinity rider Timo Stark. His slow is my fast, but that’s besides the point. Being a lone wolf rider can be fun and all but gets old quick. I mean… cycling should be spent with pals, pushing each other, celebrating the road/mtn/gravel together. During the beginning of Fall last year I attempted to train with Timo to race this summer. Really it was just the tip of the iceberg and I was already feeling the pressure and missing training rides due to other priorities in life. Road racing is an entirely different animal all together. I was intrigued to see what it was like. Got a taste and decided I just don’t have the desire needed to push it to the next level. What does that mean? It means I love where I’m at with riding! Making pals along the way and staying strong enough to keep up with stronger riders when needed. To me, that’s my personal happy place.

Anyways… per the previous posts bellow, I’ve been shooting at f/11 primarily lately and found some limitations when shooting while riding with that small of an aperture. Well, really it just presents an image I wasn’t shooting for but turned out “Full Nuke” and interesting to look at.

I hope you can relate to my blabbering. It’s fun to explore and find out new things in places I’ve frequently been with photography and riding. Cheers!

RIDE x CREATE

I have neglected my double digit F-Stops for far too long. I’ve been shooting at f/11 the last few days and loving it. The clarity of fujinon glass never disappoints.

I hope you all had a great weekend filled with good times. I battled intense headwinds all weekend which brought me to a realization. Once you accept the pain and struggle of moving like a snail but giving effort that would push you up into the high 20mph range… you can slow you mind, accept the struggle, and start to have fun; focusing on technique to get through it. At least that’s my experience.

Matt Blease is a man after my own heart. LOVE his illustrations. REALLY love this collaboration.

“DEAL WITH IT. A collaborative three pack with Matt Blease is our first deck series of 2016. To celebrate the launch, Matt will be at our London pop up store on Saturday 12th March to create a live large scale collection of illustrations in the store. It’s kinda like the closing party for W1. The three graphics are Manufactured in the USA by Schmitt Stix. £40 each inc grip and hype DEAL WITH IT pin badge.”

Go to Flatspot to check out more on this goodness!!

OFFICIAL Park Ragers from OFFICIAL on Vimeo.

Sincerely love this. Perfect stoke builder for this season of riding and camping.

“This past spring Official was honored to participate in one of John Cardiel’s long time aspirations of riding bikes from our homes in Sacramento, CA to Yosemite National Forest (around 180 miles in 3 days). The bike tour was inspired by John’s childhood trips to Yosemite with his father and his ever inspirational need to challenge and push himself. Official Park Ragers is a fun play on the original Yosemite Rangers, birthed completely by John and as a way to commemorate the epic three days of riding and camping with our bros and also to poke a little fun at the time honored rangers. This collection celebrates everything that is classic, perseverant and awesome about John Cardiel and we couldn’t be prouder to have gone on a small piece of the journey with him.”

I use to think shooting film required a focal hit to miss ratio. This always made me nervous to shoot important things (paying gigs, personally interesting people/places/things) since I really wanted my shots to nail it. I had the right composition, light, vibe, subject, etc. but always found myself in a position of missing shots due to focus issues. If I shot digital I would nail the photograph every time; so why should this be any different with shooting film?

After exploring several different styles of film cameras I’ve come to the conclusion that in some cases, what I’m shooting with (camera/lens/film) will affect the quality of the photograph that I’m trying to achieve. Now… I know this may seem very obvious but I love finding the underdog in cameras to present great shots without having to invest in high dollar equipment, I mean… shooting film is already expensive enough as it is.

These were all shot with my Yashica FX-3 Super and Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.4 lens with Kodak’s Tri-X 400. Absolutely amazing lens! Not so great camera body. Killer film! The camera body doesn’t really let me shoot any faster than f/4 if I want to actually hit the right focus. Although the focus hit on these shots pretty solid, I’m going to switch over to my reciently revived Canon ELAN using the same lens utilizing manual focus as well as the Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM lens that’s really killer.

Lets talk about good ol’ Canon for a minute. The Canon ELAN is so underutilized in the film shooting community. I mean, it’s large and plastic, but light weight and super effective. You can easily pick one up for $100, throw a solid lens on it and be confident you’ll capture some amazing images.

When I first started shooting film I shot with the ELAN. The first time I took it on a ride (like I said, it’s surprisingly light) I was hit by a car and thus the Canon was no more… so I thought. Really the crappy lens that was on it was no more. The body survived the impact while I went through a cars window; so although the camera body is plastic, it can take a punch.

OK… now lets talk about the best kept secret in Canon’s arsenal of lenses… the 50mm f/1.8 STM. SO. GOOD!!! And can easily be found for about $100. If you can put aside the build quality of both the Canon ELAN and the 50mm f/1.8 STM, and focus on the precision and quality glass you’d be shooting with, then you’ll have a VERY nice film shooting combo you can be confident in. I know I am and super excited to have discovered it.

Thanks for reading my take on some fun topics. Here are some of my favorite photographs from my recently developed roll of Kodak Tri-X 400. Cheers!

Well… like, 98% American. Sometimes you work with what you’ve got; thus encompassing Squid Bikes intention, I believe.

I kinda love how punk rock this is. I first got a glimpse of Squid Bikes about 2 months ago. Then to find out they paired with Gevenalle and a couple other rad homegrown folks to display their “BANANAS” CX build at NAHBS, I was pumped. To level up further, I find out that Matt (owner of Blevins Bicycle Co.) just completed his “All American” garage paint job Squid build; I txt Matt “Photos ASAP” and here we are today.

I was excited to get my hands on this build. To be honest… I’m more impressed than I thought I would be. Light, strong, solid; it just felt good. Even outside the lore of creating your own paint job for a truly aesthetically custom build, Squid Bikes can rip, I’m assuming from my first impression. Only time will tell after this summer and hearing about Matt’s experience. I’m predicting the results will be outstanding.

Follow along on @BlevinsBicycleCo and/or @SquidBikes Instagram to catch Matt’s riding review in the coming days.

RIDE x CREATE