Backyard Blam returns with the Hole Shot event at the new Portland Design Works space!

Not bad at all! Aaron at Hipster Nascar just posted Jerome Daksiewicz's awesome 2010 Tour de France infographics. The one on the left is killer.

Well it's been a whirlwind of a week since I've gotten back from Los Angeles. LA Brakeless' Summer Fix event was one hell of a time. It was hands down the biggest fixed freestyle comp, trumping all others in many aspects and in others, adding a new perspective to the sport. These photos are way past due, so without anymore beating around the bush, here they are. It's great to see Slaylor back on a bike and acting like his usual self!

Check out nine more photos below!

It's not often that I get photographed while photographing. It's a little nerve-wracking because most of the time I'm making some weird face or drooling on a bike. That was the case while I was in Velo Cult last week. Anthony was following me around with his insanely-pricey Leica while I was tooling with my plastic body SLR. I had lens envy, amongst other things and he caught it all.

Check out some more photos below!

Doug's a clever guy and so is the team at Milwaukee. If you pair those two groups together, innovative and clever products will arise. Take this Milwaukee Bicycle Co Polo Fork. Now, if you're as confused as I was here, take note. Here's Doug's original intent:

"I was thinking about the convenience of having one spare wheel to replace the front or rear, especially in tournament situations. A 120mm spaced fork made specifically for polo would mean more interchangeability, less spare parts, more gearing options for us single speed and fixed riders. And it would mean that any bike with this fork would breathe polo."

Pretty fucking clever. Loving the new stainless badge too!

More info below:

Totally diggin these new Tokyo Fixed Gear posters! Next I wanna see a Hedorah version! Kaiju and bikes...

While I have a hard time getting their clothing to fit me, I can wear the hell out of their backpacks. Rapha's first backpack was a success but people felt like it could be a little bit bigger. Not wanting to alienate its clientele who liked the original just fine, the crew at Rapha developed a larger counterpart to their original backpack. Calling upon Velodramatic for a photo shoot, the Rapha Large Backpack was released today. Check out more photos here!

One of my favorite artists made it into IDN's new book entitled "The New Twenties". Like a good cyclist, Chris Piascik selected his Major Taylor posters and a few other cycling-specific pieces for the book that's main focus is:

The New Twenties: A scintillating survey of the work of today’s 20-somethings, who were all brought up in the technological boom years of the late 20th Century – and whose concepts of self-promotion and networking are radically different from those of their predecessors. In this third IdN Special Edition, we have collaborated with Society6, one of the largest online platforms for up-and-coming designers, to showcase the talent of 58 brilliant young artists with a contemporary outlook on creativity and communicating.

Congrats man!

What the hell is this thing you ask? Just part of the process Mavic goes through to produce just one of their rims. Wanna see the rest? Head over to Tears for Gears!

Bike Polo has gained incredible momentum over the past few months. With each tournament, the sport looks more and more legit with multiple officials, mega-sponsors and serious competition. Here's a piece that WISC-TV did on the recent Madison-hosted Bike Polo National Championships.

For his Friday audience, Andy at Fyxomatosis unleashed his newest photoshoot entitled Hors Categorie. It features a gorgeous Somec laced with C-Record and a rather cute redhead. Check the entire set out here!

Well, I'm prolly gonna get yelled at for posting these but who cares! I can't tell you how stoked I am over something so simple. For the past few months, I've been waiting on these to come in and as fate would have it, they arrive the day I get back from LA. Like the good friends they are, my family at Mishka decided to put out some D.A.R.T. sticker packs. Included in each is a Viking sticker in Molteni orange and Prolly purple.

They'll be available soon and in the meanwhile, I'm going to try to set up a store to sell them online. It's been a long time coming and these mark the first of a few products that I'll be putting out in the coming months. In the meantime, if you see me on the streets, holler and I'll get you one. No mailorder just yet!

One of the highlights of my Summer Fix LA experience was seeing new people ride in person. The Slum Worm crew was there in full-effect and all the dudes straight killed it. Molten hot style for days, as seen in their newest Wheel Talk edit. Keep em coming guys!

Super powerful and clean riding from Stockholm's Mårten. Killing it man! He's straight blastin out of the bowl towards the end. The new Butterbean looks real clean too homie!

While I was in town for the Summer Fix LA event, I got a car and drove down to San Diego to see one of my all-time-favorite shops in person. Velo Cult has always been a bit of a mystery to me living on the east coast. It's one of those shops that actually takes the time to cultivate an online catalog of all (well, most) their inventory. Their blog posts are truly amazing and their graphic designer and photographer just kills it consistently. So with high hopes and my SLR, I headed through the front door of Velo Cult.

Step inside with me...

I think this guy wins the internet today. Another smash hit from MC Spand-X.

Previously:
MC Spand-X "Performance"

If you're like me, a transplant to NYC, then you probably never got to see the old Williamsburg Bridge. This thing was a mess back in the day; hardly the show-boating fixed raceway it is today. A crippling staircase awaited you at the bottom where kids would try to rope you off your bike so they could steal it. Many thanks to Alan for posting it on the NYC boards!

In an continuing effort to support grassroots companies, Open Bicycle has commissioned Seagull Bags to produce a small run of Open-themed messenger backpacks. Here's a teaser photo with some words from Open:

The bags will be available for purchase from OPEN, we will also be taking custom bag orders. They take about 4 weeks to be made, but that time is minuscule in-terms of how long this bag will last.

More information to come as events warrant.

Brenton Salo is another cycling photographer who's work I've long admired. This photo recently popped up on his Flickr with the title "Portland Design Works", alluding to an ad campaign of some sorts for the Portland-based company. PDW makes solid products and Brenton, as always takes solid photos.

It's summer and that means one thing: road trips. The Géométrick crew are doing just that this summer. This first teaser shows Gusse and Felix riding in Monaco. More to come!