ISSUE 1 LOVE YOUR BIKE 5
Frame By Frame
Interview with Kyle Wein
13
Tom’s Commute
Day Care to Intensive Care
17
Mike Interview
Interview with Mike Perretin
19
1146 Union Street
A Look Inside our Flagship Store
23
Gravel Travels
The Rocky Road to Paradise
25
Pink Bar Tape
Interview with Travis Strebb
27
Two Triangles
Interview with George Bailey
LANDYACHTZ Founders Tom Edstrand Mike Perretin
Design Oleksiy Khmelov Duncan Dodgson
Creative Direction Ken Leigh-Smith
Contributors George Bailey Dylan Schutzie Blake Startup
Editorial Direction Nate Schumaker Photography Kevin Carlton Sterling Lorence Ken Leigh-Smith Dan Herzog
We ride to make our lives better. We cherish the moments spent zipping past rush hour traffic on our way home from work. We are happier because we ride. We are healthier because we choose our bikes over our vehicles whenever possible. We are chasing a feeling of independence and excitement every time we put our feet on the pedals. Riding is a part of our everyday lives — it’s a way to squeeze in a fun workout, avoid the chaos of gridlocked traffic, and take the scenic route. It’s a social act and a way to connect with like-minded people. It’s a club that has no entry fee, crazy initiation, or test to pass.
We’ve created Bikes that we are proud of and our hope is that you will be proud to ride one! We’ve taken the time to design bikes ideal for riding in all conditions, in any city. From Columbus steel tubing to hydraulic disc brakes, we’ve specced these bikes with high quality, reliable components that won’t let you down.
Tom’s commute From Day Care to Getting Air
My relationship with bikes was fairly typical for most of my life, that is, until I started commuting. It was Mike, my business partner, who first got me into it. I started on a steel frame commuter that another friend had recommended. It was okay, but once Mike introduced me to Strava, I knew I needed something faster. I had already spent nearly a decade competing around the world as a downhill skateboard racer. Strava satisfied my need for competition and worked with my commute, so win-win. I migrated to a carbon frame next and then tried a Landyachtz 1146 steel road bike. The steel was more comfortable but still super light and torsionally stiff, so I had good power transfer. I knew I had found my tool. I got faster and quickly became hooked. Although they are completely different activities, the closest thing I can compare my biking experience with is golf. I was drawn to both by a desire to improve and they both provide numbers I can improve on. Numbers! Simple, objective numbers that show my improvement.
and pretended to fly. The sound of Raven singing ‘Mary had a Little Lamb’ piercing through the rushing wind was an audio treat that put a smile on my face. Comparing that to sifting through radio station ads and pop music with terrible lyrics, I knew I had improved my life. The seat is removable so I was able to drop Raven and the seat at Daycare and continue on with a solo commuter setup.
Next—enter fatherhood and my amazing daughter Raven. Taking her to daycare would cut the days I could commute by bike in half, or so I initially thought. I mounted a Thule rear child seat on my Landyachtz CB1 for family weekend bike cruises. One day I had to go to the hardware store while my wife was out, so I decided to take Raven along for a ride. Needless to say, I was nervous. Biking on roads can be dangerous and I was going to be doing it with the most precious cargo imaginable. I mapped out a route along bike paths, sidewalks, and park trails. Raven had a blast and I got my errands done, so win-win. Suddenly a light bulb turned on. The hardware store was right down the street from Raven’s daycare. If I put a front rack on my CB1, I could take Raven to Daycare via bike. The maiden voyage was a complete success. Raven sang songs the whole ride
There is a great set of S turns on one stretch of my route. Skidding around those corners hits me with a wave of nostalgia, memories of tearing up my neighbourhood as a kid with my gang of BMX buddies. At the same time, it connects me with the feeling of sliding a skateboard sideways at high speed. Skidding on a bike and a skateboard is remarkably similar. You need to be ultra focused on your resistance with the pavement. The break, the lean, the turn, the pavement, the compound of your wheels or tires, they all play into the execution. When you hit it right, it feels sweet and when you don’t, you want to try again until you get it. As a 40-year-old man, perfecting my skids around the S turns of my daily commute is one of the most juvenile and thoroughly enjoyable challenges of my day.
The only problem was that the CB1 wasn’t as fast as my road bike, so I was never going to be able to compete with my alter ego ‘Road Bike Commuter Tom’. After I dropped Raven off, I had planned the rest of my ride to be a peaceful, relaxing cruise. That lasted one day. It wasn’t enough, I needed more. The beauty of the CB1 is that it’s burley, so rather than going for speed, I started seeking obstacles to jump off and corners to skid around. This quickly made the ride more recreation than commute.
Another favorite spot of mine is a set of speed bumps along a nice downhill stretch. You build up a lot of speed so you can actually travel pretty far in the air. Those split seconds of flying, when there is no resistance from the ground, never fail to put a smile on my face. I don’t see others doing it and I imagine my fellow commuters probably raise their eyebrows at my display. I hope that one day they follow my example and try to get off the ground as they ride over the bumps. They’ll realize that fraction of a second of floating is pure bliss.
By no means is this type of riding extreme, but it’s fun in a very youthful way. Anything that makes me feel that way is sweet and if I can do that during my migration from home to work, then win-win. Through the diverse forms of bicycle riding, my life has become richer. I now have 3 go-to styles in my commuting quiver: racing, recreation and quality time with my daughter, all occupying the same space of time when I used to just sit in a car. My next challenge? Finding a way to bring my 145lb great dane to work with me.
boards to bikes Interview with Mike Perreten
Mike Perreten is one of the two Landyachtz founders, he sat down with me (VP Ryan Theobald) to discuss a little bit of the company’s history and what brought us to the bike industry. Ryan: Why don’t you start by telling me a little about your background? Mike: I grew up in West Van. My dad emigrated from Switzerland, my mom emigrated from Fiji. My parents still live in the same house I grew up in. It’s at the top of some super steep hills, basically at the base of Cypress Mountain. I rode my bicycle to elementary school, which is funny, because when I look at a map now, that’s a pretty long ride down some really steep hills for a kid in elementary school. I’d never let my kids do that now. Skiing was a huge part of my life, I started when I was 3 years old. I grew up skiing every weekend, then pursued very high-level ski racing from the age of 12. I had professional coaches and went to a special high school for ski racing. I was only going to school 3 days a week. That was a huge part of my life. Biking was really related to ski racing. During summer racing camp we’d have dryland activities. The ski coach was an avid mountain biker and he would take the kids mountain biking a few times a week. When mountain bikes came out, I think I was one of the first kids in my grade to get one. I saved up my paper route money for it. R: What kind of bike was it? M: That was the Nishiki Rock Hound. R: Do you still have it? M: Yeah, it’s been stripped down and rebuilt. I rode that bike down Blackcomb the first year they put racks on the chairlifts. Before that, the first Whistler mountain bike trails were fire roads or logging roads. We were riding them with mountain bikes that were no-suspension, super fun. It’s kind of gone full circle, it was almost exactly what people are doing now for adventure riding or gravel grinding. R: Where did you go from there? M: Before heading to university, I was living in this ultra-competitive, very regimented system for a very long time. Leaving that ski-racing world was a big change for me. I lived in my pickup truck tree planting for a summer and I made a longboard to cruise around on at night. I took that board to University of Victoria and it was part of my new identity. R: You and Tom (Edstrand, the other Landyachtz founder) met up there, how did Landyachtz come together?
M: It happened right away. Tom and I were friends in elementary school, then we re-met at UVic. He was going into third year, I was going into first, and he saw me getting around campus on my board. He was always really into skateboarding and wanted one. I was stoked! We bought some wood and made some boards together in his basement. People were stopping us all over campus asking where we bought our boards, so we knew there was an opportunity there. We decided to start a company making boards and selling them. By next summer, I was back in Whistler framing and Tom was working at a sign shop in North Van. This opportunity came up with the Blackcomb Ski Club cabin: If we improved the ventilation in the waxing room, we could use the workshop space rent-free for 6 weeks. I called Tom and said, “Hey man, we’ve got this opportunity here.” Tom said, “Sweet,” quit his job, loaded all his art supplies into his VW Squareback and rolled up to Whistler. We worked from 8am to 6pm everyday. Tom focused on the artwork, I focused on the physical construction. After working all these hours together we never had any issues, that’s when we knew that we worked well together and we could really make a go of it. R: When you incorporated, you didn’t do it under the name Landyachtz, what was the thinking behind that.
M: Even while starting a board company, I was still an avid cyclist and we thought that if we made Landyachtz the boards, that’s great, but what if we want to make other things, like bikes. So we wanted something more universal and incorporated as Versal Manufacturing. Funny thing is, when we eventually started making bikes we stuck with Landyachtz as the name, even though some people thought we shouldn’t. We just thought it was honest to use the same name instead of starting a separate brand. This is who we are and the bikes have a very similar function to the boards. R: Why did it take so long to bring bikes to the market? And why now? M: Simple answer is that time flies when you’re having fun. The idea that, that was 20 years ago is just so crazy. When we started, we were very ideological. We had this real lifehack thing in skating around campus and the city. Why don’t other people know about this? This is how you make your life better. We were developing products that could carve and ride the streets we grew up on, allowing us to have the kind of enjoyment you’d get from skiing or snowboarding. Bringing that to people has been our focus, developing this activity for people in a stage of their life. Now it’s less about creating that culture as it is about spreading the word. With young families, we don’t have the same opportunity to go enjoy our fun activities anymore. So our concept of recreation has changed.
I know I’ve got a super fun job, I love it, I’m in an incredible position. Even with that being the case, I can go through a day and deal with a lot of difficult challenges. That 15-minute ride to or from work ends up being a major highlight of the day. If other people knew about that, if they knew how nice that was, there would be more happiness on this planet, people would be happier. It’s that same thinking we had with the boards, cycling is a real life hack that improves your life. Cycling can improve people’s lives. You’re getting alone time, you’re getting some physical exercise, you’re saving money—There are so many huge benefits and I just felt like I wanted to share that with other people. I majored in Geography at Uni but I really enjoyed Sociology, Poly Sci and especially History. I really like that sort of stuff but sometimes you can get pretty bogged down reading about current affairs, environmental degradation, social political problems. You feel kind of helpless. How can you make the world a better place? How can you really make a positive difference? It’s a tough thing to do. But by riding a bike, even if it’s just one day a week, it’s better than driving every day. You’re making a positive improvement and that’s huge. R: We grew in the skate industry b/c of our attitude towards product design and innovation. How are we applying that same thinking to bikes? M: You hear that story about there being two patent office buildings in Chicago at the turn of the century, one for bikes and one for everything else. You naturally think, how can there be room for innovations? Well, I find it interesting that there is tons of room, and it’s exciting to be a part of.
When I got seriously into road cycling a few years ago, one of the things I liked was how high tech and how advanced the stuff was. The technology is incredible. At the same time, because there’s so much history, there is resistance to change, which provides an opportunity to innovate. Our saddle is a great example of that, when I was getting into it, I looked at the seat and I thought, this is pretty much the exact same saddle I had when I was 12 years old. I don’t get it, how can I be on carbon fiber wheels with a 20-year-old seat? Coming from the ski racing background, there’s some really cool high-tech stuff going on. The relationship between the human body and forces is really interesting. I was amazed that saddles didn’t have a moldable aspect to them like ski boots. Advancements in technology allow you to use thermal moldable plastics and electronics more effectively. It wasn’t very hard for us to develop a saddle that thermally molds to the individual’s anatomy. There are so many people thinking of ways to innovate bicycles and bicycle products. It’s a fun competition to be in. It could be a little intimidating going from the skateboard industry into an industry with gigantic companies with gigantic engineering departments but we are an innovative and creative group of people. You don’t need a hundred people to come up with a good idea, you just need good ideas and good execution of them.
1146 Union Landyachtz’s focus has always been to improve people’s quality of life with well-designed, built-to-last products. It’s all about enjoying the ride and their passion is obvious the moment you step through their front door. Located one block north of Landyachtz HQ, 1146 Union Street is the first standalone retail space the company has ever had. The 130+ year-old building is located in the Strathcona
neighbourhood of East Vancouver. It sits right on the Adanac bike route, making it an easy stop for riders commuting to and from their downtown jobs. The Landyachtz store experience has changed a lot over the last 20 years. From the trunk of a car, to a home garage, to the small front foyer of a manufacturing space next to the bathrooms, to a small building in the courtyard of our main headquarters—It
has always been important that people be able to come in and meet the faces behind the products and brand. More than just a store, the shop serves as a clubhouse where weekly rides are a gathering point for like-minded riders. Union Street offers a full-service bicycle repair shop, vintage arcade and pinball room, full mini ramp, and a frame building shop where all the bikes are designed and handmade.
The unique space is also an after hours location, where many Vancouver based brands and companies have hosted memorable events. Landyachtz makes a point of hosting several events a year, everything from all-out crazy ass Halloween parties to video releases. Keep an eye on social media for the next one.
TWO TRIANGLES We sat down with George Bailey, lead designer for Landyachtz Bikes, to learn more about what inspires his designs.
Nathan: Alright George. Who are you? Where are you from? And how long have you been designing bikes? George: I’m from Australia and I’ve lived in Canada for the last 11 years. I grew up in Australia though, surfing and doing the beachy things. My first dabble getting into bikes was actually in my grade 11/12 industrial design class. I designed a frame-building jig for building bikes initially. My final project was designing and building a steel mountain bike! N: Do you still have that Bike? G: It’s at home somewhere… Mom and Dad probably still have it. It was pretty rudimentary and basic. At that time the design of mountain bikes and road bikes was pretty basic, so it was just what I could envision while living in a small town in Australia. N: What year was that? G: That must have been 1998 or 99. So a few years ago! That was probably my first dabble in building bikes, but I’ve always been around bikes my whole life. N: So when did you get your first bike and what was it? G: My first bike, I still have at my Mom and Dads house. They kept it. It was a red Raleigh. It had 16” wheels, and I think it was called a BMX Racer. I’m pretty sure I actually have some photos of it somewhere. N: Oh cool! G: That kind of started my love for bikes. I grew up in a biking family. My Dad was and still is a Tri-athlete. Mom and Dad have always been into cyclo-touring. Dad used to race road bikes. N: So did you end up getting into racing?
G: My first race was in BMX. I started off on that little red bike riding around our local BMX track and then got into racing BMX on little 20” bikes, but as I got older I didn’t really like it anymore, so I ended up getting into Mountain bike racing. During my time getting into Mountain Biking, my younger brother started getting into DH Racing. I thought that looked liked more fun, so I started racing downhill with him. We where racing downhill nationally and, as brother are, we were very competitive with each other. He was actually a little more successful than me, so I did it more as a fun hobby and to try and beat my brother. During this time I also used to race cross-country. Having a triathlete Dad, I got into more adventure triathlons, which are trail running, mountain biking and kayaking…that sort of stuff. N: Right, so it sort of fit into a whole bigger picture. G: Right, I had my feet in many ponds! I always had a dirt jumping bike, a bmx bike and a mountain bike somewhere in the shed. I was always tinkering on all the bikes, modifying, building, hacking… all that sort of stuff. N: Cool, I guess you started designing bikes at a pretty young age. What goes into designing a bike? What’s the process? Is it like you sit down and draw on a napkin … How does that work? G: There’s many ways! In the beginning, if I wanted a specific type of bike, I’d start researching what’s out there to improve current designs. I’d want to make something better. Or sometimes it will come from a basic Idea that gets drawn on a piece of paper and then brought into bike CAD software. But it always starts with wanting to make something better or lighter or make sure that what we are doing is innovative. N: Taking the bikes you’ve designed for Landyachtz into account, what makes the CB1 or CB2 unique and Innovative? Let’s start with the CB1. G: The CB1 was definitely an idea that was given to me about
producing a commuter bike that’s perfect for Vancouver’s weather. We have year round wet, cold, rainy weather, but we had to make the bike simple and user friendly. So with that particular one, the frame actually came second to all the parts that needed to go on it. It needed to have hydraulic breaks and an internal-gear hub, so building a frame around those parts by adapting current geometry is what was put forward to me. Making it best suited to the bike and what it needed to do. It needed to be a pretty fast bike, but we also needed it to be robust and have internal gears. N: So function leads the design of that bike? G: Right, function led the design of that bike. With the CB2, I took a step back and wanted to focus on the design of the bike first. I wanted a bike with a frame geometry that was quick, comfortable and agile. After that I realized the internal gear system, which is worry free but heavy, had to go and instead specced a drive train that comes from the mountain bike and cyclocross world. Its simple, easy to use, you don’t drop your chain… it’s just easy.
Play Bike park build
N: So what makes that bike different from other bikes on the market? G: I think maybe because we are a smaller company we were able to adapt to running a 1X drive train as a commuter system before other people where. It’s now common to see a 1X on other bikes. So having access to component design, and coming maybe from my mountain bike background, I realized that these components are super hard and make perfect sense on an urban bike that you’re going to mash around a city.
Stainless Steel Road Bike
N: I’ve seen photos of you riding the CB2 down stairs. G: YES!... It can shred! (Laughs) N: With your background in BMX, you’ve also been toying with and designed a bike we call the Play Bike. What was the inspiration around that and why is that bike unique compared to the CB1 and CB2? G: The Play Bike is project of mine with a bit of direction from one of our founders, who remembers commuting on his old mountain bike and how much fun it was being able to jump off things, ride down stairs and bomb around town. The idea for that one came from another facet of bike riding that I used to be into. Fixed gear freestyle was a scene that always intrigued me, but I never got too heavily involved in. What I wanted was to blend my dirt jump experience with the fixed gear freestyle experience. This bike came from that idea. It has geometry that feels just like a BMX bike that’s been blown up to the scale of a 26” and 29” wheel bike. It runs fatter tires, a single drive train, and it has one rear break, so you can skid the hell out of it! You can jump it off things, you can take it to the BMX track or the skate park and it’ll handle all of that.
CB2 Gravel Bike
N: It’s kind of like your fun everyday bike that you’re going to take out to bomb around on. G: Exactly, it’s the bike that makes you relive your childhood of ripping around on your first bike… yup. (Aussie chuckle) N: How do you spec the bikes? When you’re picking components, why have you chosen what you’ve gone with?
CB2 Stock
G: One of the big ideas we focus on is biking in Vancouver, so hard wearing is a really key component. Running all sealed bearing, because we have such wet winters here. Having simplified components that won’t require too much work because these are, at their core, commuter bikes. Some people just want to know that when they grab their bike, it’s not going to fail them. So hard wearing components, simple components, and components that are perfect for wet weather riding, like hydraulic disc brakes. For the CB1, running an internal geared system, all the gear are hidden inside a rear hub shell. There is a bit of a weight penalty but you’ve got everything sealed away from the elements and all you need to do is give it a little oil once a year and it’ll keep running!
G: The culture around biking is a really good culture to be a part of. At its core, we are all riding bikes and bikes are healthy. It gets people involved in a healthy activity and it’s addictive in a way too. One of the things that I see every day from our location on Union street, which is a major bike route to downtown Vancouver, is when anyone hits a red light there are like 2 dozen people that roll up behind them and they’re all stoked because they are on their bike. There is a sense of community. If it’s a fixed gear alley cat, everyone is out having fun and supporting each other. If it’s a dirt jumping event, people are pumped when someone lands a really sweet trick. Within every scene and style of biking there is a family and a respect for each other and it can only get better as more people get on bikes.
N: So what’s next for Landyachtz bikes? What’s coming down the pipeline?
N: It becomes a part of your social life, a part of how you exercise, a part of your everyday, and it fits in with what you do.
G: We’ve got a few ideas. We’re still dabbling with my previous experiences and also considering the direction that the company is going and the riders that ride for us. We are toying with the idea of developing some bikes in the cyclocross world and the track world that are also city friendly. N: Okay and I guess these are for spring next year? G: Yeah, a spring launch for some bikes and a fall launch for some of the others. The cyclocross season is generally October to December so those will be a later season launch. N: You’ve got a lot of experience on different bikes and in different bike cultures. You also started riding in different scenes in Australia and eventually in Canada. Biking has been a mainstay in your life. What’s the draw to bike culture? Can you talk a bit more about the culture around biking?
G: Its one of those healthy things that grows on you. Like when people realize that you own a bunch of bikes, they want to know more about it and then you can potentially get them on one and then they get pumped and realize that this is a really healthy thing and its good for them. N: And then they want a different bike because they have a different thing they want to do or try and then another bike and another bike and… G: There’s always another bike! N: What’s the formula? G: N + 1 :)
We woke up super early to catch the 8am Ferry to Galeano Island. Cam forced us to take group photos when we were still half-asleep. Note, drink more coffee. Alege was stoked, but he’s always stoked!
A hill-climb break, about 20km into our island ride. Locals warned us that the island was hilly, they weren’t kidding. This is Lover’s Leap lookout, the perfect spot for a beer re-fuel. We watched boats sail by and discussed our financial plans to a co-own Mega Yacht.
Gravel
Travels
After an hour of getting lost we found the ‘secret route’ down Bodega Beach Road. This took us straight to Dionisio Point Provincial Park. We gave the bikes a break and explored the crazy rock formations.
Our morning ride out of Dionisio was wet (still raining!), foggy, and pretty damn surreal. The weather made for a really cool ride, both figuratively and literally.
We had the whole park to ourselves, probably because it’s so hard to find. Obviously we picked the camping spot with the best view! Just as we finished setting everything up it started to rain and it didn’t stop until the next day. But we had booze, plenty of space, food, and great company… That’s really all that matters!
At this point the fog had lost its appeal and the rain was getting annoying. We were slightly delusional from cold and hunger and got way too excited when we saw a sign for warm food and beer. We hauled ass but ended up at Montague Provincial Park, completely missing the turnoff. Still a pretty cool detour though. It was a learning experience trying to navigate our loaded bikves through heavy mud (and watching Gilbert fall at least twice). We eventually made our way to The Crane and Robin right by Montague Harbour, where we filled up on more beer and actual food. Andrea pigged out on gluten free tacos. Back in Vancouver at last! This daisy actually found its way onto Cam’s bike and made it through the entire trip. A pretty reminder of a weekend well spent.
Frame by Frame Interview with Kyle Wein
Landyachtz team rider Kyle Wein worked for nearly a year renovating and restoring our Union Street building before we opened the doors. It wasn’t long before Kyle had half a dozen bikes in the shop, waiting to be restored, tuned up, or transformed completely. His love of building and riding bikes started to influence his daily commute. His beloved motorcycle, an ‘85 GPZ550, started to show up at the office less and less. Kyle found a new avenue for his passion when Paul Brodie of Brodie Cycles taught him how to build frames. Kyle is now developing his craft and embarking on a new and exciting career. Kyle’s immense passion for bikes makes it easy to forget that he’s also a talented skater. We rode out to Leeside for a skate and to chat about his role with LY Bikes. It wasn’t long into the session before he was clearing the new door gap with room to spare. Nate: When did you get your first bike? Kyle: No idea. I’m going to say young. It’s funny I can remember my first skateboard. N: When did you learn to ride a bike? K: Probably the same time I got that first bike. N: [Laughs] Okay. Have you always ridden bikes? K: Yeah. Since I was a kid. But I only really, really got into cycling about a year ago. I always used bikes, but only as tools for leisure or fun. Never as a sport. N: What’s the difference now?
K: Now I aim to perfect my bike. I’m super OCD. I make frames now, so I want a super fast and light bike. It’s also about pushing myself, athletically and as a person. N: What do you like right now about building frames? K: I like that I’m over the hurdle. Over the learning curve. I’m just perfecting everything now. Getting everything tighter and tighter. More beautiful. I notice it in every cut, every braise. It’s great, I’m just making everything better. N: Tell me about your current bike. K: I’m riding the bike I built with Paul. It was two sessions from start to finish. It’s pretty racy. It’s got Columbus tubes, dropouts. It’s very classic road. Yeah, it’s super sweet. It’s nostalgic for me because I made it with Paul. I’d like to hang it on the wall, but it’s more fun to ride. “Ride it, don’t hide it!” [Laughs] That’s a vintage motorcycle club slogan, I think. Ride it, don’t hide it. N: What makes Landyachtz frames special? K: The fact that we use an Anvil jig is really cool. A lot of reputable builders use this type of set up. It’s a benchmark in the industry. A standard. I think it puts us in a really great category. We’re using steel. We also use traditional fillet braise technique, which takes more time and care than a tig frame, but there’s an attention to detail that comes with that. N: Where do you see yourself in the future? K: Here! I want Landyachtz to become a well-respected bike brand. A great bike brand. I want to see people riding bikes made in Vancouver. Made in Strathcona. By me. [Laughs] Sick.
CB1 If you drew a 6 mile radius around your home or work place, and said “I’m going to drive as little as possible in this circle, I want the perfect bike for that. I don’t have time to maintain a bike and want something that won’t let me down” you’d be thinking how we think. If you’ve been commuting by bike for years, you know how great it feels. The CB1 is designed to maximize the joy of that ride. If you’re thinking about bike commuting, we know the challenges. The CB1 is there to get you excited to grab your bike from the garage and hit the road.
The frame uses Columbus Cromor tubing, designed to stand up to years of hard city abuse. The geometry is based around the idea of moving fast, while staying comfortable. The Shimano Alfine S7000 drive train is simple and virtually maintenance free. Stopping in all weather conditions is important as hell, so no cutting corners; we use Shimano M445 hydraulic disc brakes. The CB1 was created for your 6 mile radius. With attention to detail yet maintaining ease of use, comfort, efficiency, quality, and style; it’s clean, simple and reliable. Equipped with everything you need to hit the streets and have a blast in your urban jungle.
Frameset FRAME
Columbus Cromor
FRONT FORK
LY 4130 cromo
Wheels RIMS
Jetset JS-190
HUBS
Shimano Alfine 8 speed
TIRES
Maxxis overdrive 700-32c Geometry of size M frame
Drivetrain SHIFTERS
Shimano Alfine S7000, 8 Spd
CRANKS
Shimano Alfine
Size
S - 50cm
M - 54cm
L - 58cm
PEDALS
VP Flat Alloy Sealed
Seat tube C-T
500mm
540mm
580mm
CASSETTE
Shimano Alfine 19t
Head Tube angle (degrees)
70
70
70
FRONT DERAILLEUR
N/A
Head Tube length
100
115
130
REAR DERAILLEUR
N/A
Seat Tube angle (degrees)
74.5
74.5
74.5
Top Tube Length (Horizontal)
507mm
513mm
525mm
Stack
541mm
555mm
569mm
Ritchey Comp
Reach
356mm
359mm
367mm
STEM
Ritchey Comp
Chainstay Length
424mm
424mm
424mm
BRAKES
Shimano M445
BB Drop
68mm
68mm
68mm
SADDLE
Ritchey Comp
Wheelbase
994mm
1001mm
1015mm
SEATPOST
Ritchey Comp
Components HANDLE BAR
CB2 I really wish there was a hidden camera in our product development meetings. The design team is in there for hours regaling one another with their ride stories and commute details, all in pursuit of putting together a bike that will enrich people’s lives as much as it does theirs.
Taking design elements from our 1146 custom steel road bikes, the CB2 is a commuting rocket. It features road bike inspired geometry with flat bars for stability, a carbon fork for stiffness, precision steering and a 1 x 11 drive train to supply all the gears you need and none you don’t.
The city can be tough; our bike needs to be tougher. The CB2 needs to be fast, way faster than brutal stop and go traffic. It needs to be smart, so it’s easy to ride and leaves people wanting more. It needs to be sleek and low key so it’s the best looking bike out there. It needs to be adaptable and scalable so people can grow with it as they discover new ways to turn their commute into a daily adventure.
We realize that you want to enjoy your commute but know that you need to enjoy your weekends as well. We’ve designed this bike as a high speed commuter, but have purposefully left room to adapt the CB2 for other types of riding. It’s got clearance for wider tires and mounts for racking so you can adventure on it. Its geometry will allow you to put drop bars on and chase Strava times. That’s what at the core of the CB2.
Frameset FRAME
Columbus Cromor
FRONT FORK
LY Carbon
Wheels RIMS
Jetset HC-353
HUBS
Novatech D781SB, D782SB
TIRES
Maxxis overdrive 700-32c
Drivetrain
Geometry of size M frame
SHIFTERS
Sram Apex 1
CRANKS
Sram Apex 1
Size
XS - 49cm S - 51cm
M - 54cm L - 57cm XL - 60cm
PEDALS
VP Flat Alloy Sealed
Seat tube C-T
490mm
510mm
540mm
570mm
600mm
CASSETTE
Sram PG-1130 11-42t
Head Tube angle (degrees)
72.5
73
73
73
74
FRONT DERAILLEUR
N/A
Head Tube length
100mm
120mm
140mm
160mm
180mm
REAR DERAILLEUR
Sram Apex 1
Seat Tube angle (degrees)
74.5
74
73.5
73
72.5
Top Tube Length (Horizontal)
527mm
540mm
550mm
565mm
590mm
Stack
521mm
542mm
563mm
580mm
603mm
Ritchey Comp
Reach
411mm
419mm
424mm
424mm
451mm
STEM
Ritchey Comp
Chainstay Length
420mm
420mm
420mm
420mm
420mm
BRAKES
Sram Level T
BB Drop
70mm
70mm
70mm
70mm
70mm
SADDLE
Ritchey Comp
Wheelbase
985mm
989mm
995mm
1005mm 1015mm
SEATPOST
Ritchey Comp
Components HANDLE BAR
Play bike Frameset available now
Remember that feeling you had as a kid when you first jumped off a curb or left the big black marks on the road from skidding your tires? The Play Bike will bring those memories screaming back. We created this bike to be a super playful urban ripper. It’s been designed to run on one gear and a single rear brake, just like your old BMX! The frame’s geometry is short in the rear end for doing wheelies, but relaxed enough to work as a short distance commuter. Using 4130 chromoly, it’s light-weight and super strong. Built around two wheel size options, 26” or 29”, you can build it up however you want.
Geometry of the 26-er frame
Size
26-er
29-er
Seat tube C-T
420mm
510mm
Head Tube angle (degrees)
72.5
72.5
Head Tube length
120
133
Seat Tube angle (degrees)
73
73
Top Tube Length (Horizontal)
595mm
615mm
Chainstay Length
380mm
410mm
BB Drop
50mm
50mm
Wheelbase
1002mm
1053mm
1146 custom Frameset available on request
When we first started building these custom steel road bikes, we quickly realised that they could do more that just tear up the streets. With only a few small tweaks, we’ve built the 1146s up as track frames, cyclocross, gravel and even high-end commuters. That’s why the 1146 isn’t just a bike, it’s anything you can dream up. We use only the finest metals in our frames. The tubes come from Columbus using a mix of HHS, Life and Zona. Our headtubes, BB and dropouts come from Paragon Machine Works. We sell this as a framesets with an Enve fork and Chris King headset—then we let your imagination take over. You can build the 1146 up any way you like. Weighing in at just over 6lbs, you can easily turn it into a lightweight steel dream bike that will last you a lifetime.
handmade in vancouver
Geometry of size M frame
Size
XS - 49cm
S - 51cm
M - 54cm
L - 57cm
XL - 60cm
Seat tube C-T
490mm
510mm
540mm
570mm
600mm
Head Tube angle (degrees)
72.5
73
73
73
74
Head Tube length
100mm
120mm
140mm
160mm
180mm
Seat Tube angle (degrees)
74.5
74
73.5
73
72.5
Top Tube Length (Horizontal)
527mm
540mm
550mm
565mm
590mm
Stack
521mm
542mm
563mm
580mm
603mm
Reach
411mm
419mm
424mm
424mm
451mm
Chainstay Length
420mm
420mm
420mm
420mm
420mm
BB Drop
70mm
70mm
70mm
70mm
70mm
Wheelbase
985mm
989mm
995mm
1005mm
1015mm
heat it, mold it, ride it. The Reform saddle uses your sit bones and unique riding position to create an amazingly comfortable fit specifically for you. The saddle can be molded at your local certified shop in under half an hour.
Before
After
you’re a perfect fit Saddle pressure exists when the your sitting position is not matched by your saddles form, causing discomfort in your ride. Having a saddle that conforms to the contours of your sit bones reduces those pressures, enabling a more comfortable seated riding position. Above shows the pressure point analysis taken during a fitting of a Reform Saddle, Red displaying high pressure areas. The Reform saddle by Landyachtz is one of the best upgrades for any bicycle. Experience custom comfort that can only be designed with first-hand knowledge of your body and unique riding style.
beeswax finish From the apiary on the roof of the Landyachtz Head Office in Vancouver.
Genuine Leather Cover This durable natural material provides excellent feel and ages beautifully over time.
high density foam A thin layer of our premium foam provides superior comfort without adding extra bulk or weight to your bike.
integrated heating unit Heats the thermo-moldable aspects of the saddle so that the shell can form to the individuals anatomy during the fitting process.
carbon shell Ultra-light durable framework for the saddle.
carbon rails Ultra-light, extremely strong, and flexible where needed.
Pink Bar Tape Travis Strebb Climbs to the Top
He began his ascent as a teenager on a ’95 Kona Explosive, but it wasn’t until his 20s that Travis Streb found his true calling on a road bicycle. Like most people, it was the joy of cycling and a desire to keep fit that first led him to road biking. But unlike most, Travis was naturally gifted at climbing hills and burning rubber for long stretches of road. In no time, Travis found his way into competitions. He even won his first race, which only served to sink the hook further. Since then and for the past ten years, Travis has been racing on the Glotman Simpson team. He is currently one of the board members helping the team thrive and grow. Travis’ passion and talent for climbing has made the Glotman Simpson Cypress Challenge a big part of his cycling career. The Cypress Challenge is the largest fundraiser for pancreatic cancer research in Canada. The event has raised over $2.4 million dollars since 2006. The funds raised at this event have helped the BC Cancer Foundation to build the Pancreas Center BC in Vancouver. 2017 marks the 10th Anniversary of the event and this year, Travis wanted to do something a bit different to raise awareness and funds. He has set the goal of climbing 1 million vertical feet in a period of one year¬—that’s the equivalent of ascending Mt. Everest 34 times. His Million Foot Challenge begins now.
With a family at home and a full time job that requires constant travel, Travis will need to get creative with his cycling schedule. This means hours in the saddle at very awkward times, balancing family, work and biking. On top of all this, there is the challenge of finding a bike that can handle being ridden hard, constantly, and for long distances. This is where Landyachtz comes in. With their shared mantra of making the most of your commute and their new built-to-last modern steel bike, Landyachtz is the perfect partner to help Travis fit in some serious vertical on his way to and from work. Travis knows that racing can be elitist, as you need money and fitness to really be competitive. He also knows it’s far too easy to get caught up spending money on latex tubes, carbon fiber and professional leg waxing. By adding a steel bike to his fleet that will see the lion’s share of his riding he hopes to return to the modest, pure essence of cycling. He says the new Landyachtz bike fits perfectly, feels great and, knowing that it will last a lifetime, he takes great pride in riding it. Looking ahead to 2018, Landyachtz and @pinkbartape will be presenting the Seymour Challenge to further Travis’s cause. Rumor has it there will be a steel bike category.
Travis will climb over 1,000,000 vertical feet over a year. That’s the equivalent of ascending Mt. Everest 34 times.
landyachtzbikes.com