The latest entry into the Rodeo MTB project lineage is another geometry study and prototype made in collaboration with @wearespooky, @srsuntour_inc, and @fsa_mtb. We started my baking up some fresh geo to ride and evaluate. Next, Spooky got to work fabbing the raw frame and integrating our Lockjaw dropouts. Next we hand polished and hand masked the absurdly detailed and absurdly unserious graphics just to remind ourselves that mountain bikes are first and foremost fun. The @srsuntour_inc Axon Werx fork brings silky smooth travel, remote lockout, lightweight carbon crown and magnesium construction - along with Olympic gold medal winning pedigree to the build. @fsa_mtb KFX Carbon componentey throughout will keep the ride light, nimble, and in control. Pack Rabbit’s goal is to be as nimble as a jackrabbit on the trails and as sturdy and reliable as a pack animal for multi day loaded adventures. Hat tip to @pnwcomponents for the limited edition dropper, @sellerepente for the hand made saddle, and @vittoriatires for the ever versatile Peyotes. @zenobicycle hydraulic couplers hint at the fact that this bike will also see quick swap drop bars before long. See this build in person at the SR Suntour booth at Sea Otter. Booth M64.

Gravel bikes and rally cars are definitely kindred spirits. Rally cars have some of the most iconic liveries of all time, and there are few things that we like more than a proper homage. This TD4.2 build is a nod to the vintage multiple World Rally Championship winning Lancia Stratos, draped in its green, red, and white Alitalia livery. We found the gold wheels of the rally car to be some of the most iconic features, so we couldn’t resist custom painting the @vision_tech_usa SC48 i25 wheels in a similar color. Sometimes painted rims can be too much, but this time it’s just *chefs kiss*. @campagnolosrl Super Record Wireless shifting with Super Record X rear mech was also a perfect pairing for this build, with its bottomless Italian heritage and mixed terrain pedigree. @vittoriatires 70x2.25 Peyote tires supply the grip, without the need for a co-driver to call out course hazards. @fsa_road componentry rounds out the build, with our favorite K-Force AGX bars and tidy integrated routing. Some things are best seen in person, and you can check this rally bike out in the flesh in the FSA / Vision booth at the Sea Otter Classic and Unbound expos this year. #rideexplorecreate #gravelbike #traildonkey

Alena’s custom TD4.2 does not lack for great colors and positive vibes. So much so that we just had to add some lasers to this gallery to match the mood. Happy New Donkey Day Alena! Thanks for the support! 💜💙🩵 #traildonkey #rideexplorecreate

No single person uses every design feature that we plan into our frames. When someone uses one of the more obscure ones, it makes us smile. Flaanimal 6 Titanium + @supernova__design seatpost collar dynamo tail light. #rideexplorecreate

Flaanimal 6.0 steel is live. It’s the most capable Rodeo Labs yet. www.rodeo-labs.com #flaanimal #rodeospork #rideexplorecreate

This happens every time. Something new is on the horizon. Something new debuts. Instantly, so many people are hit with a stab of intrigue and anxiety. “Do I need it?” “Is it better?” “Is mine bad now?” “Am I being left behind?” Our economy runs on these questions, and fomo. The constant churn of buy, buy, buy. New. New. New. Our value and self worth get tied to consumption, to things. This is not a good thing. It’s a cog in our collective undoing. We do not, as a brand, believe in obsolescence. We do not believe in manipulating our customers. We do not believe that the act of buying a bike is the true source of the joy that cycling promises. We believe that every bike we’ve developed and sold is a good bike. The bike that you are riding is a good bike. Any sturdy, reliable bike is a good bike. When we design a bike we put everything we know at the time into it. We try to make it massively functional and adaptable. Then we release it and hope that people respond to it and support our vision. As time moves on we learn more about what makes bikes functional, adaptable, and fun to ride. We learn this from our own relentless riding. We learn this from the feedback that you gift us with. Then we sharpen our pencils and put our ideas into the next evolution of our products. We don’t do this to “obsolete” what already exists. We do it because we’re accountable to ourselves and our customers to build the best bikes that we know how. We build plenty of jaw dropping showpiece bikes around here. Creativity is in our DNA. But even more bikes leave with standard graphics and no special paint. Those bikes are just as good. Our customers ride their bikes very hard. Sometimes they come home, like Ramsey’s bike here. It’s a TD3, not the current model. He’s ridden it all over the world. It shows the wear of a life well lived. Ramsey wants to refresh the bike so it’s back in for paint. He didn’t ask for a TD4. His 3.2 isn’t obsolete. It’s functional and beautiful. Your bike is as well. We will never stop learning how to improve our bikes. We won’t stop updating them. When that happens your bike will still be as awesome as ever. Need proof? Just take it outside for a ride.

For 6.0 years our current steel frame has opened the doors to countless adventures, across genres, worldwide. In 6.0 days we will show you its next form. It’s more capable, more adaptable, more progressive, and more steel. It may have taken six years, but we’ve finally managed to outdo ourselves. #rideexplorecreate

The Rodeo MTB project continues! Yes we know what day it is. No, we aren’t fooling around. For our latest round of prototyping and testing ideas, we collaborated with @wearespooky on some custom aluminum frames based on our designs, geometry, and dropouts. The frames are, per our MTB project core values, made in the USA, here in Colorado. We’ve built three frames to test different geometries and they are all being built differently, per the preferences of their primary rider. We collaborated with @fsa_road / @fsa_mtb / @vision_tech_usa and had fun diving into their exquisite parts libraries! @vankrampen built this first test steed into a drop bar MTB. Because rage bait? No. Just because he likes drops an is comfortable on them. He will also fit flat bars for testing later. Drew went with an eye catching gold FX fade, and manually marked up his frame with design notes and various engineering gibberish just to send up the idea that these are most definitely prototypes. Plot twist: We didn’t make these frames in house, so we didn’t give them the Show Pony nameplate. Instead, these three bikes are called Pack Rabbits. Part pack animals, part jack rabbits. Best of both worlds? Time will tell! What’s your ideal material for a Rodeo MTB? - Steel is less expensive and heavier. Still performs well - Aluminum is lighter and also less expensive. - Titanium is light and expensive - Carbon? Stay tuned for more! #packrabbit #riderxplorecreate

There are few colors that we offer that are as striking and impossible to photograph as Northern Lights. In some settings it’s steely and blue. Others grey. When light hits at just the right angle it warms up into a series of greens and even tan highlights. Our camera is always confused by it, never sure where to set the white point, but our eyes know exactly what they’re seeing. Happy New Bike Day, Scott! #traildonkey #gravelbike #newbikeday #rodeowheels #rodeospork