Hasta La Ideas

Rapha partners with renowned bike-makers to produce a limited run of four classic models

As purveyors of some of today’s top cycling gear and accessories, it’s completely logical that Rapha would foray into the world of bike building. What makes the move interesting is how they chose to do it. Like all their products, diehard cyclists helped conceive the newly-launched bicycle collection, and they partnered “with four masters of framebuilding to offer four distinct, hand-made bicycles.” While each of the models have been made by their respective brands before, this limited edition run of customizable, Rapha-approved bikes will only be available for the next two years.

The commuter of the bunch, dreamed up by Cycle Works Oregon and built by the legendary Chris King, is the highly-functional Beloved Every Day bike. Modeled after bicycles built during the 1930s by French constructeurs (artisans who handbuilt bikes for specific purposes from start to finish), the nod to history makes for beautifully clean lines that have a slight Deco feel. Specs on the Rapha edition include a Sturmey-Archer five-speed internal rear hub with downtube shifters, Nitto aluminum “Priest” handlebars, Berthoud fenders and more. Made in Portland, OR, the bike will take eight weeks for completion and sells for $5,195.

Even more exclusive than the others, the XCR Criterium Racer is a bike so strong it’s limited to only 30 frames/fork per year due to scarcity of materials. It’s also the joint work of two Milan-based powerhouses, Cinelli (founded in 1948 and known for progressively-designed professional road racers) and Columbus Steel, who acquired Cinelli in ’78. For Rapha, they designed a bike for the “aggressive racer,” which takes four months to complete and starts at €3,500.

Independent Fabrication blends carbon fiber and titanium to make their XS frame, designed to go the distance and provide greater comfort with upright positioning. Two-time winner of Bicycle Magazine’s “Best Dream Road Bicycle” award, the version for Rapha, the IF XS comes with a choice of either Campagnolo Super Record, SRAM Red, Shimano DuraAce or internally routed Di2 packages, as well as wheel set options from Enve Composites and Mavic. The bikes will take eight to ten weeks for completion and start at $6,795.

To build the Continental frame, Tony Pereira and Ira Ryan hand-selected two types of tubing from Columbus Steel, which they combined using both the lugged technique, as well as the less common and more labor-intensive fillet-brazed method. The resulting all-terrain bike features parts carefully picked by the two Rapha team members, whose insider bike knowledge shows with components like a SRAM Force drivetrain, DT Swiss wheels with Chris King hubs (and headset), Tektro long-reach brakes and topped off with handlebars, a seatpost and stem from Full Speed Ahead. The Continental will be produced twice a year in two batches of 50, sells for $5,000 each and takes four months for completion.

America’s biggest antiques show, handmade instruments plus artisan cars, beds and chocolate from our favorite videos of 2010

Another great year for Cool Hunting Video, 2010 saw a cast of fantastic characters from Brooklyn to Bristol. While each video is its own compelling story, some of our personal favorites are highlighted below.

Micachu and the Shapes

We got an inside look at how British musician Micachu makes her instruments and her music with The Shapes. Their hands-on approach and experimental nature brought this piece to life, not to mention their irresistible charm.

Hästens

The quality and process of the Hästens mattress production was fantastic enough in itself to merit a video, but we quickly discovered that the dedicated group of people behind the scenes are as equally intriguing as their product.

Mast Brothers

Friends and now chocolate collaborators, the Mast Brothers gave us a walk-through of their delectable factory. Their unique process and philosophy make these siblings stand out in the chocolate world and we hope to work on more delicious projects with them in 2011.

Bristol Cars

We went to London’s Kensington area to check out where and how Bristol makes their luxurious cars. The experience made it clear why driving a hand-built custom car has its perks—the beauty in the design and thought that goes into each instant classic was a reminder of how much work it takes to stay classy.

Brimfield Dealers

At Brimfield we found a perfect slice of Americana. The items varied as widely as the people, but both were definitely worth getting to know. In our video about the dealers we met a couple who had been selling collectibles for most of their adult lives, offering valuable insight on the market while expressing true love for what they do and serving as an inspiration to the eccentric in all of us.

Cool Hunting marries bean-to-bar chocolate and artisanally-processed fruit in a delicious collaborative bar

We admit to a serious weakness for the mind-altering tastes of the artisinal chocolates crafted by the Mast Brothers. Intent on bringing out the heavenly natural flavor of cacao, primarily sourced from Venezuela and Ecuador, the brotherly duo of Rick and Michael Mast developed a process for producing the finest in small-batch, bean-to-bar chocolate. Their signature flavors, running the gamut from single origin Dominican and Madagascarian bars to chocolate sprinkled with roasted Stumptown coffee beans, range from the deliciously rich to the downright sublime.

We’ve previously featured the Brooklyn-based Brothers in our Cool Hunting video series, so it seemed only natural that we would pair these chocolatiers with stem-to-fruit guru June Taylor, another video subject. Taylor, a longtime favorite of Cool Hunting, uses traditional preserving methods to make positively ambrosial jams, preserves, syrups and marmalades. Her creatively paired concoctions include Oro Blanco Grapefruit and Rose Geranium marmalade as well as Wild Fennel Syrup; everything she whips up in her Berkeley kitchen is yummy, natural and inventive.

The Mast Brothers bar that utilizes June Taylor’s fruit combines the best of each purveyor’s specialties; the CH Edition 72% bar features sumptuous Madagascar chocolate as well as Taylor’s candied blood orange peels and candied oro blanco grapefruit peels. Of his collaborator, Rick Mast gushes, “June Taylor is the greatest woman on Earth who is pioneering amazing fruit confections. She is also a babe.” We can’t imagine a sweet treat (from two sweeter companies) that we’d rather find in our stocking than this delightful concoction.

Find the Mast Brothers and June Taylor chocolate bar exclusively at our Cool Hunting for Gap holiday pop up shop.

Our limited-edition water pipe by one of Portland’s most clever glass studios

The unexpected glass forms—bulbous, sinister and shiny—produced at Portland’s Esque Studio by design duo Andi Kovel and Justin Parker first caught our eye back in 2007.

Renowned for giant “water drop” jugs, skulls created from re-purposed beer bottles and other works that have graced the pages from Architectural Digest to Surface Magazine, the artists focus on continuing to push the limits of the glass medium to come up with pieces that are as surprising as they are aesthetically pleasing.

When we teamed up with some of our favorite brands this year to create limited-edition products, Esque was a no-brainer for the series of collaborations. For Cool Hunting, Esque turned their classic honey bear vase into a beautiful water pipe—a terrific companion to another CH Edition, Good Fight’s herbal Smoking Blend.

Find the honey bear water pipe for $360 in Cool Hunting’s shop along with the full line of our CH Editions.

Bunnies and black magic in a bi-coastal illustrator’s new line of home furnishings

While brands making up stories is nothing new, it’s increasingly more common to see products like W/Heart, which founder Jacqueline Bos conceived around the very idea of “things that have a story behind them, things that you can see the care put into making them.” While the collection of textile housewares builds on the past five years that Bos has worked as a printmaker, she’s no stranger to the commercial world, having worked clients as varied as independent fashion designers AIRA to MySpace, for which she designed the recently-launched new theme.

Bos has also found success by selling her print work through Urban Outfitters’ collaborative print shop with Society6, and a recent illustration of hers for M. Ward’s album The Transfiguration of Vincent ended up in Uppercase Magazine. “I heard he lives in Portland now,” said Bos, who splits her time between the City of Roses and Brooklyn. “Matt! If you’re reading this, you should totally come over for coffee, drawing and music time.”

Anchoring W/Heart’s laid-back sensibility, the napkins, pillow cases and stuffed animals shows the same rigorous attention to detail as her print work. Bos prints each item by hand with water-based inks on organic cotton, hand-sewing each so as not to waste any fabric. While the craftsmanship of each piece is unmistakable, Bos admits that producing W/Heart is pretty hard work. “I haven’t decided yet about a follow-up collection. This ended up being a much larger undertaking than I had initially anticipated.”

W/Heart sells online, with prices spanning $35 to $60. For Bos’ illustrations and other works, check out her website and Etsy shop.