BTCHN' Bikes: The Latest Chapter in Chico Framebuilding
MAY 2, 2019
BY: CALIFORNIA TRAVIS
Photos and words by California Travis
The small college town of Chico, California has been home to a few very notable framebuilders over the years. Jeff Lindsay starting out building road bikes is 1972, and was one of the first pioneers to create mountain bikes under the name Mountain Goat in 1981. Bob Seals (inventor of the Klean Kanteen and Cool Tool amongst other things) took modern geometry and quality materials, combined them with classic curvy steel cruiser aesthetics and founded Retrotec Bicycles in 1992. Mitch Pryor of MAP Bicycles took custom randonneuring frames to the next level of meticulous perfection in Chico and then Paradise.
Living in Butte County provides ample riding of every type available right out the front door. Low- traffic roads lead into a pretty agricultural valley in one direction, or up into the Sierra foothills and buttes in the other. Gravel roads run along riverbanks, rice fields, and orchards, and logging roads lead up into the Lassen National Forest area. A 20-minute ride from downtown Chico leads you into some chunky challenging singletrack in Bidwell Park, and epic Sierra Nevada mountain biking is nearby in Downieville and Quincy. There are plenty of testing grounds available and it’s no surprise Chico framebuilders have been prone to innovate.
…to continue reading, check out The Radavist for the rest of the story and a ton of photos: