You heard the fun. You’ve seen the gnar, the fun, the party.
The hype is real and Grinduro, a combination of gravel road race and mountain bike enduro, is coming back for 2018!
Two venues will be available: July 14 at the Isle of Arran in Scotland and on September 29 at Grinduro’s birthplace Quincy, California.
Both venues will follow similar formats featuring live music, a handmade bicycle and art show, camping, plus of course, a mixed terrain course with a bit of pavement, gravel, and dirt combined in one giant loop featuring four timed segments (five to seven minutes each) for the race.
Grinduro Scotland. Photo: Satchel Cronk
It’s much more than a race, though. It’s the Super Bowl of bike parties or perhaps even the bike-specific version of Burningman.
Photo: Colin Meagher
Registration will open at www.grinduro.com at 9am PST on January 2, 2018 for Grinduro Scotland and at 8pm PST on April 22, 2018 for Grinduro Quincy. Be warned, Grinduro Scotland sold out in 12 hours last year so mark your calendars!
Yes, it’s entirely possible to make a bicycle frame out of whisky casks.
I can count a handful of collaborations between bike manufacturers their automative counterparts (Colnago/Ferrari, Specialized/McLaren, Pinarello/Jaguar…)
Photo: Renovo
But this is the first time I have ever heard of a bike made of whisky glass. I mean, I saw the email subject line right after I made it to Apple Park for the iPhone 8/X launch event and I kept wondering what’s up with this wooden Renovo whisky bike.
American white oak staves ready to be shaped. Photo: Renovo
Named the Glenmorangie Original after Renovo’s partnership with Scotland’s Glenmorangie (and one of their popular Scotches, the Glenmorangie 10 Year Old – The Original.) Each limited edition frame uses roughly 15 staves from twice-filled American white oak casks which are shipped to Portland, Oregon where they are then shaped and put together into a hollow trapezoidal-shaped top and downtube that traces the curvy shape of the staves while a curvy thin seat mimics the shape of a longbow to soak up all the unpleasant bumps.
A Glenmorangie Original in the making. Photo: Renovo
Just as wood has its own characteristics from growth and well, being aged in some fine Highland scotch, each frame will be one-of-a-kind so you can be certain that no one in your weekend riding group will share the same frame even if he/she decides to order one.
Even the head badge says Glenmorangie. Photo: Renovo
Renovo bills this as an all-around adventure machine so the disc only frame will have plenty of clearance to fit up to 700x40mm tires. A tapered headtube, PF30 bottom bracket and thru-axles are also employed to further boost the frame’s stiffness. Front and rear fender mounts come standard and is rear-rack compatible with a rackmount seat collar.
The Glenmorangie Original by Renovo. Photo: Renovo
The Glenmorangie Original launch edition built with Shimano Ultegra R8000 and hydraulic brakes will be available for a cool $6,950 while the Prestige edition with Dura-Ace 9170 Di2 will be $11,450. It’s not exactly cheap and the bike won’t smell like whisky, but it’s definitely something different from your typical carbon fiber titanium steed and is still capable to go just as fast.
