What's this all about?
Howie and friends invest a lot of time browsing the Internet:
We're sharing some fairly substantial lists of stuff that is complimentary to mixed surface riding- including some less obvious brands. All of the major brands are also probably in here somewhere, and we try to highlight Canadian (CDN) products where we can.
After browsing through here you can say stuff to your friends like, "that Allied Able that Colin Strickland won Dirty Kanza on has that wild raised chain-stay" or "man, I think I want Search and State bib-shorts but they're always sold out!"
If you see a broken link anywhere, or have suggestions of stuff we should add, let us know and we'll get on it.
Note: at time of launch, there is no monetization of links on this site, so we are not using you as a human click farm. If that ever changes, we will let you know here.
- for parts for our projects,
- for new gear (like Howie's new shoes shown here),
- just to dream about new bikes- so many to look at!
We're sharing some fairly substantial lists of stuff that is complimentary to mixed surface riding- including some less obvious brands. All of the major brands are also probably in here somewhere, and we try to highlight Canadian (CDN) products where we can.
After browsing through here you can say stuff to your friends like, "that Allied Able that Colin Strickland won Dirty Kanza on has that wild raised chain-stay" or "man, I think I want Search and State bib-shorts but they're always sold out!"
If you see a broken link anywhere, or have suggestions of stuff we should add, let us know and we'll get on it.
Note: at time of launch, there is no monetization of links on this site, so we are not using you as a human click farm. If that ever changes, we will let you know here.
Gravel and CX Bikes
Altruiste: a small builder from New Brunswick that is so exclusive they don't even have a website to link to. You can find them on Facebook.
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A Canadian designed, No.22 titanium bike custom painted by VeloColour in Toronto. This bike matches Howie's new shoes pretty nicely. Maybe it will come up for sale on Pinkbike at some point.
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N+1 for Anyroad |
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Rocky Mountain (CDN) |
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Cycles Golem (CDN) |
LT Wiens (CDN) |
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Aquila (CDN) |
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Argon 18 (CDN) |
Marinoni (CDN) |
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Dekerf (CDN) |
Mariposa (CDN) |
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Ascari (not gravel, just odd) |
Devinci (CDN) |
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Soma (CDN) |
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Naked (CDN) |
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Norco (CDN) |
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T-Lab (CDN) |
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Brodie (CDN) |
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True North (CDN) |
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Cannondale (CDN) |
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Canyon (now in Canada) |
Panorama (CDN) |
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Kona (CDN) |
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Circa (CDN) |
Apparel
Ostroy Resort Shirts $109 US. Made of jersey material.
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The Vandal, Belgian Cycling Le Tricolore
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We can have nice things! |
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Transition (CDN) |
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Katusha |
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Maap |
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Spiuk |
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Other Parts/Accessories
The world of parts and accessories is just so huge, it doesn't make sense for us to try to break it down in any significant way by category, so we are providing a list of a limited number of specialty component makers and specialty retailers with a short description. We are also providing links to other curated lists and reviews of products. I particularly like the breakdown of Gravel bar options for instance.
Below is a brief slideshow with some of the parts I used to rebuild Frankenbike. Source in captions.
Below is a brief slideshow with some of the parts I used to rebuild Frankenbike. Source in captions.
Category |
Description |
An importer of elegant parts and accessories, many of which fit retro bikes. A great resource for re-building, or up-styling a bike |
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Founded by Grant Petersen, the former head of Bridgestone USA, Rivendell offers a wide range of quality parts for your retro-inspired rebuild. I asked their mechanics a whole bunch of questions about Tange bottom brackets and the "Sheldon Brown 9 of 10 maneuver" to get a 9 speed, triple drivetrain on Frankenbike. Honestly an amazing source of advice and parts. |
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A Montreal shop that sells both Velo Orange and Rivendell type products that was highlighted to me by my friend Toddy. I found them too late for building Frankenbike 3.0, but will be buying from them for sure in the future. |
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The Bike Dump (Ottawa) |
Per the Frankenbike blog, a really good source of used bikes, parts and advice. Amazing mechanics that can make anything work. Many high-end vintage frames inside that they will show you if you ask nicely. Please Note: They don't have your stolen bike and they don't work for free. |
When David Slingshot- who has the highest standards for quality of any bike enthusiast on the planet- says that a product is good, it's very good indeed. This is the source of the Bridgestone livery for my rebuild and they look amazing. Plan a little extra time for them to ship, but the quality is there for replacing rare decals. |
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re-Cycles will rent you work space and tools to overhaul your bike and will sell you parts, or even an entire re-cycled bike. |
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After asking Rodd (then of The Cyclery) for advice on tires before the 2015 Ride of the Damned, he hooked me up with some Chinook Pass 28mm, which was as big as I could go at the time. It was my first tutorial in tire pressure and how much of an impact tires can make on not just comfort, but performance. Quality tires that last. |
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Like Lauf and Salsa, Whisky is a manufacturer that is all in on gravel and has a great range of options for bars in particular. I don't own any of their stuff- not a great fit cost-wise for my bike, but consider acquiring their product an aspirational, future goal. |
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Aesthetically beautiful parts. Water bottle cage bolts are purchase number 1 for me, with a pair of quick-link pliers on the wish list. It's the little things that count. |
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A California based manufacturer of brakes, seatposts and other parts. They are often sold out right now, which speaks to the quality. |
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Deciding to put gravel bars on Frankenbike consumed a lot of time and I ultimately went with the Dajia Far-Bar from Velo Orange, because it simply made economic sense. Great reviews though and a good list of options. |
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HLC Bike (CDN) |
Hawley Cycles Lambert is a Canadian-owned distributor of bike products. It's an interesting story- the Barrett family of Woodstock NB acquired Cycles Lambert, then merged with Hawley to create North America's largest distributor of bike products. You can look in their catalogues, and then ask local stores like the Cyclery to order you products by providing the exact SKU. Like the seatpost binder bolt I put on Frankenbike. |
You need a bottom bracket cable guide, or a particular sized shim, or a barrel adjuster. Where does that stuff come from? Here! |
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VeloColour (CDN) |
I paid RLD of Ottawa $275 to blast and powder coat my 30 year old bike and honestly I was very happy. But if I wanted to repaint my vintage Merckx 7-11, this is the only place I would go. |
Along the lines of Wolf Tooth bottle cage bolts, sometimes you just want to colour match your cap and bar-ends, or get some novel design to stare at instead of your bike computer. I own a pair and they're beautiful quality. |
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What's this, a kooky looking bell/computer mount combo? Let's face it, if you are riding the Greenbelt trails or bike paths in Ottawa- especially during COVID- you need a bell. These won't make a bike snob cringe. Look for a Hide My Bell on Frankenbike later in the year. |
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After reading reviews of a bunch of bike mountable speakers I went with this one. Fits in a bottle holder, so that's cool. Sounds great in my basement, looking forward to on-bike DJ battle with Deki in the spring. |
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Lot of parts. They get my mention here for being the only place in North America in 2020 that had Panaracer Gravel Kings in 26". |
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Link to their list of brands. Take a deep breath before you click. Maybe hit the washroom first because you may be a while. |
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Primeau Velo (CDN) |
I try to buy local, but these folks are reliable and cost effective and often have what I am looking for in stock |
Pretty self explanatory. |
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Another great source of parts. If Ritchey and Paul are sold out on their own sites, it may still be in stock here. Also many Problem Solver items and other loose ends that you may have trouble sourcing elsewhere. |
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"In the Know Cycling" ranking of major online cycling retailers |
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Toddy is sharing Rogue Mechanic (mavicparts.com), a source for replacement parts and tools for Mavic products, mostly wheels. I own 3 sets of Mavic wheels, one of which requires Exalith pads, so pretty happy to know about these cats. |
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Yet another Toddy highlight is Tufo North America of Nelson BC, distributor for Tufo Tires of the Czech Republic, along with a myriad of other parts. I have to say I'm intrigued by the site as it looks like you could build an entire Token bike with parts from manufacturers I have never heard of before, like Driveline cranks, Zero Gravity brakes and Token's own line of Accura derailleurs. I also love that they have a .biz website address. |
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BikeIndex.org is similar to 529 Garage in that it's a database to register your bike in an effort to mitigate theft. They also have one hell of a manufacturers database to help people identify their bikes and parts, which is what we are linking to here. |
Some Exploro Stuff Howie Owns
Howie's! favorite lightweight merino cycling t-shirt from Patagonia
Long sleeve Santa Cruz Tech Tee. Perfect weight with an undershirt for spring/fall rides. Layers well under a vest.
I like these Rapha Brevet socks. Have many pairs of Rapha socks, they keep their shape. Mine are kind of a gray-brown, but these are this year's colour.
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Back view of Isadore Merino Cycling T- Howie's other favorite!
Isadore Utility Bib-Shorts: Large pocket on the back, so you can bring your phone and snacks.
Rapha Classic Winter Tights with Pad. Super warm and water resistant.
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You still haven't wasted enough time deciding whether Camo shoes are cool (have you seen these?). In that case, here are a few more sites that offer endless amounts of cycling content to keep you entertained.
Site Name |
Description |
MTB news and Buy/Sell of all kinds of awesome bikes |
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Multi-Media calendar of cycling events and results |
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Expert Race Commentary |
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Bike and bike product reviews |
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"The world's largest cycling tech blog" |
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What it says- news about cycling |
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People obsessed with high performance bikes |
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A streaming service for bike races |
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It's a shit-ton of new bike related content, all the time |
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The super black hole of cycling: Top 100 cycling blogs |