Happy New Year

May the Revolution continue...

Hands up...and put that thing down

Beauty

French graffiti

Czech it out

I’m not quite sure why Krutor have only produced one of their flagship model, the Hrotor, but it’s right there on their website: “This bike is not for sale and we’re not going to produce another piece. Therefore we ignore any questions regarding the price.” Maybe they used up the Czech Republic’s entire supply of aluminium and carbon fiber in its manufacture. Or maybe there is only enough room in the world for one Hrotor.

Regardless, it’s an impressive machine. There’s a 4-speed internal Shimano Nexus rear hub tucked into that swing arm, above the bottom bracket, connected to the rear wheel via a left hand drive train. The shock is capable of almost a foot of rear wheel travel, which is almost excessive by today’s World Cup standards. While internal transmissions aren’t new to downhill bikes, Krutor have certainly produced a very tidy layout. They specialize in machining most of their own components, their hubs and stems are nothing short of incredible. The cranks, hubs and stem are all created in-house at their factory in Brno, the Czech Republic’s second largest city.

Obviously the mechanical infrastructure is enough to support being dropped from the side of a small building, I’m just hoping Avid mechanical disc brakes are enough to haul this beast up? Because if you apply a musical analogy to this bike, it would be a death metal aria. Check out the pedals: no hex key sprigs here, grip is maintained by overlapping sawn-off wood screws. Ouch.

Power

UF Odd

Around the World...awesome

Weird looking dick

Nice warm muff on a winters night...priceless

Merry Xmas

Sluts

Australia’s most renowned custom bike builders, Matt from Machine built this bike for his good friend Joe, and its styling takes a little “from all the bikes we’ve loved and owned between us.” The base was a 1950 panhead that Matt found on eBay in the USA, and as you might suspect, the bike wasn’t quite as described in the ad. “The frame was so full of cracks that I had to TIG over every single weld to repair it,” says Matt. “I have 40 hours in the frame alone.” The engine was in better shape, having already been rebuilt. “You could see the hone marks in the bore, it was all pretty new. I only had to fit new valves, guides and hardened seats… And repair one of the exhaust ports. Everything else was handmade or modified to fit, in Matt’s workshop in the rural New South Wales heritage town of Braidwood. The tank is a Kawasaki item, the fender is from a Yamaha, and the front end was taken from a Harley Sportster. The front brake is a Kawasaki twin leading shoe unit, and the fairing is a heavily modified aftermarket piece. Matt also made the bars and the pipes, plus the manifold for that crazy looking S&S Super E carb with the velocity stack.

Holiday cheer

Water crossings

Dazed

Holy Cow

Olmec at LACMA