Top Rodeo Bikes of 2024

It’s been a year, hasn’t it? In the middle of one of the most challenging periods of the bike industry in recent memory, I’m proud to say that Rodeo didn’t stand idly by and “wait it out”, we leaned into the headwinds and continued to up our game in terms of the bikes and other products that we’ve brought to life. Our customer service people listened intently as new owners described their dream steeds, then worked with our in-house paint and build departments to turn those dreams into reality. Quite a large percentage of the bikes that ship from HQ go out with black frames and standard decals, and those bikes ride as well as any other bike we build, but the team here takes extra pride in the wild custom creations that we turn out. So, with that in mind, let’s dig into a cross-section of some of our favorite builds of 2024, in no particular order.

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The Tour Divide, Day by Day

In June 2024, Edyn Teitge became, at 15, the youngest solo rider of the Tour Divide. This is his story via his own words, day by day through the ride. Images throughout by Edyn and Eddie Clark Media.

The Tour Divide is one of the world’s longest and most well-known off-road bikepacking races. Stretching nearly 2,700 miles from Banff, Alberta, Canada to the US-Mexico border at Antelope Wells, New Mexico, it closely follows the Great Divide Mountain Bike route along the spine of the continent. The route gains around 150,000 feet of elevation with conditions ranging from unkept narrow single-track sections of the CDT, to smooth gravel and dirt roads, to death mud, and to long stretches of pavement. And somehow I got it in my mind that it would be a “fun” thing to do. 

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Adrian’s Story

Hi there. This is Stephen here with an intro to this piece. Back in Covid times, 2021, the bike space was as crazy as it will ever be. Some of the business was good, and a lot of it was, honestly, bad. One thing that cannot be argued, the stress and anxiety of it all left everything a blur. I can’t remember a lot of what happened in those 2-3 years. This story, I had forgotten about this one mostly. I remember there was this guy, Adrian, and he ordered a bike. I was running operations and didn’t talk to most customers at that point, Isaac was customer service and sales, so he did. Despite the chaos during his time at working here, Isaac did a great job taking care of people, and he built out a great bike spec for Adrian. Adrian had ordered this bike, and then because of the trickle down effects of Covid, it turned out that his funds for buying the bike had to be funneled on just staying afloat during that difficult era. So, Adrian got in touch to cancel the order. Once a build is underway, we do charge a restocking fee to cancel it, because we have to order all those parts on a per-bike basis. In Adrian’s case, it seemed like a good idea to waive that fee. But then Isaac said “what if we just give him the bike?”. I really don’t remember much from that moment, but in that moment I think it was strangely obvious to us that the right thing to do was to just give him the bike for free. So we did. Adrian was so awesome and grateful. He never hinted at getting the bike for free, and wasn’t trying to guilt us into giving him a bike. I think all of us, Adrian, Isaac, and myself were all equally surprised this whole thing was happening. We finished the build, we boxed it up, we shipped it, and then, more or less, the bike disappeared.

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Tracklo-Bikepacking: Escapada al Alto del Sifón

Editors Note: This Journal entry was published by Rodeo athlete Juan Camilo Cobos Cardozo, who resides in Bogotá, Colombia. We hope to add more Spanish language stories as time goes on. Enjoy!

El Alto del Sifón alcanza los 4.149 msnm y atraviesa el Parque Nacional de los Nevados, es considerado un puerto de fuera de categoría. Inicia en el peaje de Armero, en el Tolima y termina en el alto el Sifón en el Parque Natural de los Nevados, cuenta con 89 km de longitud con una pendiente promedio de 4,3%, es considerada la carretera pavimentada de más altura sobre el nivel del mar en Colombia, por esta razón me pareció perfecto para darle la bienvenida mi Rodeo Labs TD4 adaptada para hacer tracklocross.

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Foreign – Luke’s Traka Adventure

2 AM, on Sunday Morning and I’m in a Boeing at over 35,000 ft in the air. Sorry, over 11,000m in the air. When competing outside of these United States, we will use the metric system, like the rest of the civilized world. But I refuse to be some proselytizing Metric Snob just because I have been to Europe once. As soon as I cross that border, that Wahoo returns to miles and I’ll be referring to my beverages in “fluid ounces” and calling French fries by their true name, freedom fries.

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The Rodeo Newsletter, Chapter 4

I’m not sure how it’s April 2024 already, but here we are. Newsletters are tricky! Each month I intend to write one, but they are probably the single most difficult thing for me to stop what I’m doing and work on. There is so much to catch you up on though! Rodeo Labs has been non-stop on so many levels through the end of last year and into this year, and I’d love to bring everyone up to speed.

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Donkeys Fly South: Southern Migration recap

Once upon a time, exactly ten years ago, when Rodeo started, it was 100% about community. There were no products, no ambitions, no balance sheets. We started a team, we invited anyone who wanted to join the team, and we had no plan from there. Whatever happened, happened, and a lot happened. In the following months an entire community sprang to life not just locally in Denver, but throughout the state, throughout the region, and throughout Colorado.

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