No Hints, no regrets. That’s the Surprise Me motto. This bike was no exception. Three Shades of Alpers two shades of a Sage green.

2018 Speedvagen Surprise Me Road Disc W/ Enve Road Disc Fork

• Groupset: Shimano Dura Ace Di2 9020

• Wheelset: Enve SES 3.4 DT Swiss 240.

• Tires: Schwalbe G One Speed

• Headset: Chris King

• Bar Tape: Fizik

• Bar/Stem: Enve

• Seat Post Head: Carbon Fiber made by Enve

• Saddle: Fabric Scoop Carbon

• Bottom Bracket: Kogel

• Frame Pump: Silca Impero Ultimate

• Upgrades: Carbon Fiber Seat Tube

Paint - Custom Surprise Me.

Questions? Comments? High Fives? Send them to info@speedvagen.com 

By the numbers 

Jan 4. 2019

Commuters: 

4 bike (26 miles combined) 

6 car

Dogs in Attendance

1 Anna

Coffee:

Pots Made: 4

Pour Overs Made: 0

Music 

Spotify - Harry Nilsson

Whats fab building? 

Custom bikes (all week)

Sneak Peek

Speedvagen Surprise Me Skateboard Decks

Launching Tuesday limited numbers available.

Questions? Comments? High Fives? Send them to info@speedvagen.com 

The day in 4 photos.

By the numbers 

Jan 3. 2019

Commuters: 

4 bike ( 14 miles combined) 

6 car

Dogs in Attendance

2 Anna & Stella

Coffee:

Pots Made: 2

Pour Overs Made: 1

Music 

Spotify - Daily Mix 6

Whats fab building? 

Custom bikes

Number of naps taken:

1 Woody in his car

Whats New?

Speedvagen Painted In House Opinel knives.

Heading out!

2018 Speedvagen Surprise Me Disc Road. Dura Ace Mech Hydro, with enve 3.4s and painted to match Silca Frame Pump

Questions? Comments? High Fives? Send them to info@speedvagen.com 

The day in 4 photos.

By the numbers 

Jan 2. 2019

Commuters: 

5 bike ( 19 miles combined) 

5 car

Dogs in Attendance

1 Anna

Coffee:

Pots Made: 4

Pour Overs Made: 3

Beers: 9 (We had a shop meeting)

Music 

Spotify - Genere Radio : Indie 

Whats fab building? 

Custom bikes

Whats Happening in Paint: 

Two Custom Surprise Me’s

Freshly built:

Speedvagen Ready Made CX in Gloss army, with Sram force 1 and Easton EC90SL cranks, and Chris King headset.

Questions? Comments? High Fives? Send them to info@speedvagen.com 

The day in 4 photos.

Leaving the Nebraska farm, I had few expectations of Grinduro and my new Speedvagen rugged road. I'd seen pictures from previous events, I'd ridden another Speedvagen, so how much better could it get? I learned a few tricks for anyone thinking about going next year. (P.S. You definitely should)

1. Northern California is amazing. I'm lucky enough to have been to Arran as well (not for Grinduro) and Quincy was just as scenic. Seriously, parts of the roads looked straight out of Lord of the Rings. The trees were huge, the vistas were scenic, and there were great things to look at around every turn. It's a limited cell service level of remote, and totally worth not being able to upload to instagram. 

2. In addition to the big trees, there were big pine cones. You wouldn't think this is remarkable enough to make a top five list, but they were HUGE. I thought I knew a lot about trees, but damn. I took one home, and its rad. Go to Grinduro for the pine cones.

3. In what is likely the harshest burn I've ever received, my wife ridiculed me (correctly) about not being able to turn my handlebars past 10 degrees. Even on a sweet new custom steel racing machine, that's basically true. I was acceptably close on the uphill and flat segments (even the TTT one that I solo'd), but did really bad on the descents. I mean, BAD. Given that 2 of the 4 segments were downhill and I can't turn, I considered it a success that I kept it upright. 

4. Like most time trialists, I don't really care for anything other than riding fast over a given course. If someone puts a rock in the middle of the course, I'm trying not to crash, and slightly annoyed. Spoiler alert, MTB courses have a lot of rocks. Some on the side of the trail, some in the middle of the trail, and sometimes the whole trail is rocks. As someone who doesn't get along well with rocks, I find MTB super hard. *mumble positively about the view* MTB is hard, but the climbing makes up for it. 

5. In one sense, I didn't properly focus on enjoying Grinduro. Along the course I took approximately 2 pictures, had 0 shots of jameson, 2 SIS gels, and 1 beer. In another sense, my goals were to enjoy the view, get a good training ride in (World Cups are almost here!) and not crash, of which I did all 3. Fortunately, the gravel community is awesome, and no one cared how I decided to do the race! I met a lot of amazing cyclists, saw lots of cool bikes, and drank at least some whiskey (after the ride, of course). It was a great event, and I look forward to attending year! 

2018 Speedvagen Rugged Road W/ Enve 2.0 Fork

• Groupset: Sram Red 22 Hydro Mechanical, with Quarq Zero Power Meter

• Wheelset: Zipp 303

• Tires: WTB Nano 700x40

• Headset: Chris King

• Bar Tape: Fabric

• Handlbars: Zipp Service Course SL-70

• Stem: Zipp SL Speed

• Seat Post Head: Enve

• Saddle: Fabric Scoop

• Bottom Bracket: Kogel

Paint -2018 Surprise Me

Give Ashton Lambie a follow on Instagram

Questions? Comments? High Fives? Send them to info@speedvagen.com 

It's been an unofficial tradition that when a customer goes with a custom mixed color and it knocks our socks off we name it after them. It's honestly pretty rare that this happens, we tend to have our own ideas on color. With that said, don't be surprised if you see "Gatens" Green show up more over the next few years. This custom Speedvagen Road Disc is a new contender for shop favorite this year, it has just the right amount of class, speed, and mean-ness built in. 

2018 Speedvagen Road Disc W/ Enve Road Disc Fork

• Groupset: Shimano Dura Ace Di2 9170

• Wheelset: Enve SES 4.5 AR w/ DT Swiss 240 painted to match hubs.

• Tires: Schwalbe Pro One

• Headset: Chris King

• Bar Tape: Brooks

• Bar/Stem: Pro

• Seat Post Head: Ritchey

• Saddle: Brooks Swallow

• Bottom Bracket: Kogel

• Skewers: Enve Ti

• Frame Pump: Silca Impero Ultimate

Paint - Ghost Scheme in custom Gatens Green

Questions? Comments? High Fives? Send them to info@speedvagen.com 

It's not everyday we get to showcase an employee build. Jim who's official title is "do-er of things" because he gets shit done, just completed his Custom Speedvagen Road build. 

Jim was sitting on the Ultegra group and built up the rest of the bike with a mix of parts he had on hand and a few new parts (those EE brakes). Putting together a smart build coming in at 16lbs 9oz. The full build list is below.

2018 Speedvagen Road Frame W/ Enve 2.0 Fork

• Groupset: Shimano Ultegra 6800 with Dura Ace 9001 Shifters

• Wheelset: Enve SES 3.4 w/ Enve Carbon Hubs

• Tires: Vittoria Corsa Control

• Headset: Cane Creek 110

• Bar Tape: Supacaz

• Stem: Ritchey C220

• Seat Post Head: Ritchey

• Saddle: Fizik Antares

• Bottom Bracket: Kogel

• Skewers: Enve Ti

• Frame Pump: Silca Impero Ultimate

• Brakes: EE

• Chain: KMC SL Gold

Paint - A-Team in Vermillion, Dark Vermillion and Gold. See the rest of our paint options in the 2018 Guidebook.

Questions? Comments? High Fives? Send them to info@speedvagen.com 

It's rare that a Vanilla comes up for sale and this one is very special. Here's a brief background:

Scott Ramsey has been one of my longest running employees. He started out as a mechanic doing assembly and that job evolved to be the main point person for customers, parts ordering, fabrication, running electrical in the shop for new machines, framing in new rooms, and damn near everything else at one point or another. 

He has also become one of my best friends. 

Back in2008 Scott (I call him Ramseys*)and and I built this Vanilla together for his lady. 

Now that they're moving with their young family, they want the bike to go to a good home and we're helping them sell it. 

Scott and I probably built about 1000 bikes together over the course of 7 years. Of those, around 100 bore the Vanilla name.  

Some details:

-Built as a single speed. Housing clamps on TT can be removed for the ultimate in non-brake tidiness

-Henry James brand lugs, BB and fork crown

- Vanilla stainless track drops. The brass reinforcements keep the wheel centered when you're giving it the goods

-Custom (made for this bike) Trucker brand front rack.**

-Phil Wood (the best) low flange hubs laced to Velocity rims, with DT competition spokes and Challenge Paris Roubaix tires. 

-Nitto (the best) handlebar, stem and seat post

-Brooks B17 Special saddle with titanium rails.

-Berthoud (pronounced "bear toe") stainless steel fenders.***

-Campagnolo Record Headset

-MKS pedals

-Dura Ace crank 170mm (old school 7100!)

This bike has all of the components that we love for a build like this and is both a piece of our history and a beautifully functional daily driver. It is basically brand new, with approximately 500 miles.

If we were to build this bike today, the retail price would cost close to 10k. Asking price for this cream dream is $6295.

The size is approximately 54.5cm and will accommodate a saddle height of 700mm to 770mm fitting a person from 5'5" to 5'10". 

This bike is bound to sell quickly. If you want it, you can easily purchase through our store. 

Questions? Contact us at info@speedvagen.com

*Nacho Libre anyone?

** Made by Ben Leonard. Another original employee who went on to make the worlds most beautiful bike racks!

***French!!

If you have any questions shoot us an email any time. info@speedvagen.com

Have you ever wanted a more in-depth read about whats beneath the paint on a Speedvagen? Below, founder Sacha White writes about the technical details of our tubing, which gives our bikes that signature look and more importantly ride.

SEAT STAYS

Like all of the rest of our tubes at .5 mm our seatstays are ultralight. But wait, there’s more!

There’s a lot going on in our seatstays. First, the curves: they’re sexy, we admit it, but they’re also curved to soak up shock from the road. Imagine you’re holding a small tree branch in your hands. If it’s straight and you’re pushing on both ends, that branch won’t bend. If it has a little curve (like a bow) in will flex under pressure. The same science applies to the rear end of a Speedvagen. With that flex comes shock absorption, giving the bike a springy liveliness and smoothing out the rough stuff.

If you look at the bike from the side, you’ll notice that the seatstay looks a lot thinner down low. That’s because the stay is squashed in that plane. From the back, that lower portion of the stay looks quite wide. We do this to help the bike resist flex from side to side - part of what helps the Speedvagen put power to the pavé.

DOWN TUBE

Our down tube is ovalized vertically at the headtube to deal with the tremendous force that’s transmitted from the road, through the fork and into the frame. It’s then ovalized horizontally at the bottom bracket to help transfer your pedaling power directly to the rear wheel, instead of flexing the frame. These shapes also allow us to run a thinner tube, making it lighter and giving you a more lively ride.

TOP TUBE

The top tube is there to resist flex on the front end. Without it, the bike would be super floppy from side to side.

Our top tube is a larger diameter at front end and a larger diameter makes for stiffer, so it does an even better job of resisting the twisting forces on the front of the bike when you’re standing up and hammering. The top tube then tapers to a smaller diameter at the seat tube to give you more suppleness and comfort.

CHAINSTAYS

A typical chainstay has a long small diameter taper. A smaller diameter means more flex.

In addition to being 4-6 times stronger than a typical steel, our Chainstay retains a large 24mm diameter nearly all the way back to the rear dropouts. Larger diameter makes for a stiffer tube. This means the power is going directly to the rear wheel and the bike has a sensation of jumping forward when you stomp on the pedals and... you are going faster.

HEAD TUBE

The prime example of our form and function approach to design. We use very light material for the main body of the headtube and reinforce the ends to distribute stresses from the rider and the road. These reinforcements taper out to just the right diameter before meeting the headset, making for a beautiful transition. Each headtube is finished by hand and sized to the perfect length for it’s owner.

All in, this adds an hour or so to the process compared to a standard head tube. With the weight savings and the added sexualisimo, this is one of those details that take a Speedvagen frame to the next level.

If you have any questions shoot us an email any time. info@speedvagen.com

Part Four - Looking out for my mama and my day-one bitches. -Junglepussy

Words by Laura Winberry

 All Photos are shot on 35mm film by:

Campbell Steers.

Ian Stowe &

Laura Winberry

Thinking about it now, it almost makes me mist up a little. Not that misting up is out of the ordinary for me. But still. Looking through the photos taken by Campbell and myself, thinking about the rare specimens who convened in Beijing for seven humid nights, it makes something well in my chest. Which is to say: fuck, that was something special.

With one race left in our domestic cyclocross season, Nationals in Reno this coming Sunday, I find myself arriving at a similar sentiment. Different than the last, and then different again than the time before last, this year’s ‘cross season was something special. They kind of always are in their own weird, indirect, unexpected ways. This year, though, starting with getting to race ‘cross in Beijing, I began to feel a greater connection to and through the women with whom I toe the line. Locally, I’m fortunate enough to have a pack of ladies that I’ve grown close with over the years of riding in circles together. My wolf pack. Fuck, I’ve even written an entire book of poetry that, more or less, stems from this wolf pack, these women of ‘cross, and my animal experience as a human female racing bikes. It’s being published this March. 

But I digress, because what I’m getting at is this: though the women’s UCI ‘cross scene is a larger stage and, in my own introverted experience, a rather challenging one to initially find meaningful connection in and on… once you do, it’s fucking incredible. And it just keeps unfolding into something you never expected. Until you’re like, holy shit, I GET to go balls out with this dynamic group of babes almost every other weekend. And you realize that it’s about what it was always about, or at least what some of the most fulfilling things are rooted in—human connection.

all good things take time. I hate this cliché. Mostly because I hate clichés, however much truth we find in them, and because people ruin them by making dumb posters and GIFs and bookmarks out of them. It’s true, though, on the UCI ‘cross stage, the connecting took time. It took time to let one another in. Time to let ourselves be let in. Time to perform in these very public spaces and also be human and real with one another, regardless of the outcome. As for the stage of our Beijing summer camp for adults? The time factor in the equation was sped up. Friendships were stumbled upon, made, and cemented, all in a matter of days.

I remember the first night well. Beyond tired and beyond in awe and beyond ready to shower the film of airplane from my skin, I extracted two gold bikes one by one from a

massive Pika bag and rebuilt them. I was several stories up and half-naked in an upscale hotel room, and Frank Ocean was slinking from my iPhone and I was all yesss to have not been given a roommate while seemingly everyone else had. Then a knock hit the door and I was scrambling to make myself less naked while feeling a twinge of fuck, I have a roommate.

Enter Campbell Steers, the chick who took most of the dank images accompanying these essays, donning dingy red Chuck Taylors, a faded tank top, and worn shorts. The gal who several minutes later I am gushing with about the subtle intricacies of hip hop and Frank Ocean and Kendrick Lamar. The woman with whom I most recently collaborated on a photo/poetry piece for the final issue of Boneshaker. And the Rock Lobsterette with whom I can discuss art and writing and music, and not get a blank stare in return.

Enter Emily and Sammi, the women of Squid whose style precedes them. Whom I knew prior to Beijing, but got to know a little more over the course of six days of dining halls and Great Walls and hall wandering and strange evening strolls through abandoned wonders. A duo that speaks for itself, and two individuals who bring it like whoa in their own diamondesque ways.

Enter SBG, my girl from Oregon and all-around solid human. Podium-snatcher, focused warrioress, fierce light. Someone with whom I trade tattered yet very capable wings back and forth, whenever one of us needs them more than the other. A grounded presence and forever-complementary counter to my aerial ways.  

Enter Sarah, the lady who first contacted me about flying across the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan and North Korea to subsequently touch ground in Beijing. The one who got me on board to race bikes and make friends and eat brined food whose translation placards bore titles like Very Beautiful Shrimp or Miscellaneous Bacterium Soup or Potatoes Burn the Flank. Yeah, for real. The gal-pal with abundant energy and kindness and without whom Beijing would have been quite different. The third unsuspecting victim, alongside Campbell and myself, in an evening massage gone very wrong. Or right, depending on how you look at. 

Enter Rebecca. Bold impetus who catches you off guard in the best ways possible. Very real human and badass, no-bullshit veteran. A staunch advocate for women in racing, no matter what level. One of the ones whom I don’t know well, but that I get to see a little more into, and appreciate, at each intersection. And, straight from the source herself: 

There’s a lot to be said about surrounding yourself with a group of passionate, hard charging, fierce, determined women: willing to take risks, test their abilities, and push each other’s limits each and every weekend. Bike racing is one minuscule piece of a very large puzzle, but my wish would be for everyone to experience it at least once in their lifetime. There is a world of opportunity out there that racing can help you to see, alongside a no-holds-barred open invitation to a sisterhood of strength. I would love the sport to grow for the sake of growing the sport, but even more meaningful is what [bike racing does] for the individuals who give it a try.

Preach.  

Enter Kate. Committed and all in, yet fully aware there’s more to life than racing bikes. A woman dwelling in the motherland of Jersey, who also happens to share the same sensitive (adventurous-food-averse) stomach as I have. The one that rejects large portions of the Chinese palate with vigor. Someone with a beam of a smile that can’t stop won't stop, and with whom I’ve shared a laugh on and off the start line more than once. Kate… Kate is great.

And there are more. Many more. Including the women OF Beijing itself. The female photographers, cyclists, and super-fans. The women hocking shit on every street corner, the ones that exist on a plane hovering somewhere above the meaning of no. The high-heeled dames pedaling through spills of traffic like what. The podium beauties and the beauties collecting the excesses of our post-race water bottle plastic. So many. 

Here, these are but a few from Beijing, and a few from the whole of the ‘cross scene. But these women, they're fucking Bad Ass. Indelicate with their ferocity and unapologetic in their swagger, their vulnerability, their strength. Y’all should have your own trading cards, for real. 

So… until “night five” comes through next in this seven-part photo essay, I want to leave you with some real talk from Vanilla’s one and only Jenn Levo…

"I’m proud to work for a bike company that doesn’t see women as a weaker sex that can’t “keep up” with the dudes… In fact, in a world where most brands are looking for ways to appeal to more women riders, we’ve always been super proud to feature our fast women, who don’t need a motor in their bike to drop your ass." 

Yes, queen. Yes.

Stay tuned for part 5 coming next week. Like what you read? Get in touch with Laura Winberry