The Rodeo Journal – Page 23 – Rodeo Adventure Labs, LLC

Flaanimal 3.0 custom build gallery

This 3.0 frameset started life the same way all Flaanimals do: With a full dip of anti-rust coating inside and out. Instead of painting this frame after the dip we set it aside for a special project and its day finally came. We added a layer of matte clear coat over the ED to protect the coating then applied the blue graphics with custom cut vinyl decals. We also took the time to match our 2.0 carbon wheels, putting the decals into the debossed graphics that are molded into the surface of the rim. The end result is an incredibly unique look and build, and if the new owner ever gets bored with his colors he can completely redo the graphics with very little effort. How’s that for flexibility?

Mount Evans in November

Words by @kaizergilroy, Photos by @denvercx & @kaizergilroy

I was pulled out of my morning reverie by a text from Peder – “Evans today. Interested?”

After a week of Thanksgiving gluttony, some singletrack shred, soaking in hot springs and live music, my palette was satiated, but I felt guilty at my weekly mileage total of 15.5. With no group ride intel for Sunday, I figured maybe I’d do some solo adventure. I would find more singletrack and laugh while descending something that would greatly benefit from a dropper post.

Adventure Castelli Colorado Cycling Exploring Photography Photos Road Trip Rocky Mountains Rodeo Adventure Labs Rodeo Labs Snow Trail Donkey traildonkey Wanderlust

Better than shopping – The Black Friday Rally – GA edition

Black Friday Rodeo Rally

Hosted by: Rodeo Adventure Labs – https://www.rodeo-labs.com/

11/24/17 @ 8:30am

Start/Parking Location: Jake Mountain Parking Lot

Ride:

Black Friday Rodeo Rally welcomes you to ride 47.3 miles with us amid North Georgia’s Blue Ridge WMA dirt roads, forests, streams and mountains instead of hordes of pushy shoppers, fake mall Santa’s and cheeseballs and summer sausages. The route is a good mix of gravel/pave (70/30) ranging from flat and smooth to remote forest service roads. Oh, and don’t mind the little climbs up Nimblewill and Noontoola they will give you plenty of time to look within….

Adventure Bike Exploring Flaanimal Gravel Rodeo Labs Rodeo Rally traildonkey

Flaanimal 4.0 update

We’re getting quite a few inquiries about Flaanimal 4.0 so we thought we’d give an update. We actually were trying not to really announce 4.0 very loudly because we didn’t want to create a situation where the bikes would be considered late and everyone would flood our inboxes for updates. But you know… word leaks out.

4.0 Adventure Bike Flaanimal road plus steel Steel Is Real

Every ride is a good ride.

We’re always looking for another reason to throw around the word “epic”.

But most rides are not epic. Some rides are merely good, or great, or fun, or “I’m glad I got outside today”.

If everything is exceptional then nothing is exceptional.

So three cheers for good rides with friends both old and new, on roads both old and new.

Hat tip to Rocky Mountain Road Club. They know how to put together a good ride.

Denver DIA fall Gravel bikes Gravel roads Wildlife Refuge

Best adventure bike? Run what ya brung!

It is happening.

The adventue bike segment is getting bigger, exploding. The offerings are more vast with each passing week.

You know how they say that the universe isn’t just expanding, but that the rate of expansion is accelerating? Well, that’s “Adventure” bikes too.

When we build Traildonkey 1.0 in 2014 the pickings were slim, and in our opinion nobody had really nailed the sweet spot for a multi surface, multi terrain bike capable of properly ignoring traditional bike categories – which is why we decided to go for it ourselves. Now almost four years later the industry has caught up. Almost every major brand (with a few notable exceptions) has a super legit gravel adventure bike. And here’s the thing: They are pretty much all great bikes. I can’t think of a single company that has made something awful and my money says that the genre is going to keep getting more interesting, more capable, and more fun.

adventure bikes Breismeister Gravel Riding Open U.P. Singletrack traildonkey

A Year In The Life of A Donkey

Today my Trail Donkey turned one year old. Not sure how many Donkey years that is, but it’s about 3,748.3 miles of adventures. Lots of people ask me what kind of bike the Trail Donkey is. I’m still not sure what to tell them, other than it’s a cyclocross-adventure-commuter-criterium-dirt-gravel-grinder-group-ride-fendered-fat-tire-road-racer-kind of jobby. Jack of All Trades, Master of Fun might be a better way to sum it up. Here’s what my Donkey’s First Year looked like.

Fall.

Fall tricks you into welcoming it with a fleeting bouquet, then unceremoniously hands you off to winter before you know what happened. Its the world’s best bait and switch.

Colorado Fall Color Flaanimal

Das Boot Cup (Gravel Ride), Oct 15th Helen, GA

Rodeoer Mike Smith aka “Donkeyslayer” has put together a geat open invite ride in his native territory and we are helping to spread the word.

(questions should go to mike at wwmd (at) comcast.net)

October 15, 2017

Ride Time 8am

Helen, GA –

All Road Cycling Das Boot Georgia Gravel Grinder Gravel Ride Oktober Fest

Interdonkey

Traildonkey build of the day: Interdonkey.

This bike is heading to the SRAM booth at Interbike for display next week, but we don’t just build display bikes, we ride the pants off of them then display them.Continue reading

Adventure Bike Black Bear Pass Brooks C13 Cinnamon Pass Engineer Pass Gravel Bike Gravel Grinder Gravel Grinding Imogen Pass Owl Creek Pass Sram Eagle Sram Force 1 Traildonkey 2.0 Zipp 650b 303 Zipp SL