Rackless Mini-Rando Bags Are Your New Go-To For All Day Riding

by Igor

Our new Mini-Rando will be your favorite go-to for all day, fun, mixed-terrain rides. It's the perfect size for easy access to your compact camera, cell phone, keys, wallet, snacks, and light jacket.

The main body of the bag uses a plastic liner for rigidity, and the zippered top is soft for easier cramming, overstuffing, and retrieval of awkwardly shaped items.

The "trouser" pockets on either side of the bag make for quick access and storage of energy gels as well as their respective carcasses.

Attaching the Mini-Rando to your drop handlebars is a cinch. Use the pair of webbing and cam-locks to secure the bag to your tops, and use the length of paracord and cord-locks to the drops. You can rotate the position of the cord-locks so that it feels good in the drops.

While the Mini-Rando is designed to work best on drop bars, we have discovered several other applications that also rock:

• Loop and secure the bag to a Wald 137 Basket for added capacity for things you may need to access frequently.
• The upper support bar on the Klunkers makes for the perfect lashing position.
• For three-piece bars like the Crazy Bars, you can use the upper loops to secure the bag to the forward extensions.
• Off bike bike, using the included shoulder strap makes for a very fashionable and easy to use day-bag for walking and hiking excursions.
• Size: 10 x 5.5 x 5.5 inches (25.4 x 14 x 14cm)
• Capable of storing 6-7 seltzers
• Weight: 300g

Entirely designed and manufactured in the USA as part of a collaborative effort between Velo Orange and Road Runner Bags of Los Angeles.

Neutrino Mini-Velo Presale is Live!

It's happening! We're excited to be offering this super-versatile, fun, and travel-worthy companion we're calling the Neutrino in both a frameset and well-appointed complete option.  Delivery is slated for October 2019 and the completes will be ready a couple weeks after as we need to assemble them.

If this is the first time you're hearing about this wonderful offering, here are the details: Whether you're a frequent traveler, apartment dweller, multi-modal commuter, or just enjoy a fun N+1 bike, the Neutrino Mini-Velo will fit perfectly into your heart.

For city and apartment dwellers, you'll get great acceleration for stoplight racing as the wheels spin up quite fast. When you've reached your destination, getting the bike into the building, walking up stairs, and parking it in your apartment is so much easier because the physical length of the bike is greatly reduced. You can much more nimbly negotiate stairwells and since it's warm and cozy inside, you don't have to worry about it getting ripped off overnight.

For multi-modal traveling, it's easier to take the bike in a train car without taking up a ton of room and attracting disdainful looks from fellow commuters. Oh and Rinko. Forget cutting fenders, removing handlebars, and wheels. Just loosen the stem, turn the handlebars 90 degrees, and put the whole thing into a Rinko bag!

Traveling with the Neutrino is also a breeze. Since we often travel to our cycling starting point by airplane, train, car, or bus, overage fees for checked bags, storage, and transportation add up quickly and are a real drag. To take full advantage of the traveling abilities of the Neutrino, the bike can be disassembled and inserted into the cardboard box that it comes with, or into the nylon travel bag we're working on. Details forthcoming on bags!

Simply put, the Neutrino is a blast to ride around. It'll put a smile on your face every time you throw your leg over.

For additional details about fit, geometry, and travel, check out Clint's Neutrino Build and Travel Tips!

Here's all the details about the frameset:

• 4130 double butted chromoly frame and fork that accepts fenders and rack
• Unicrown fork with accommodations for fenders, Randonneur Rack, and even a Mojave Cage or a bikepacking-style cage
• Seattube, downtube, and under-downtube bottle cage mounts
• 406 Bead Seat Diameter wheel size. That's BMX, so high-quality rims and tires are cheap, plentiful, and strong.
• Clearance for 2.3" tires WITH fenders. Holy cow!
• Sliding, 135mm QR dropouts for geared, single speed, or internally geared hubs
• Disc brake mounts (POST rear, IS front). We suggest 160mm rotors. 
• Full length, external cable routing
• 1 1/8" threadless steerer
• 31.6mm seatpost, compatible with external droppers
• Paint is Cool Gray with Galactic Glitter

Forever Bikes

by Scott

I've never been a collector of stuff. OK, I had a small stamp collection as a kid and I had some rocks, due to my uncle being in the mining industry up north, but nothing where I collected lots of something or anything of a specific interest. As a teenager, I got into cycling in a serious manner. I had two bikes - one for getting to high school on and one to race/train on. I raced semi seriously for a year as a 16 year old and then said, nope, that's not for me. I got more into touring and eventually, sold one of my bikes to raise money for my first overseas cycling trip. I worked in a bike shop while going to university and bought and sold a few bikes that I got through the shop. At most, I'd have two bikes on hand - a road bike and a mountain bike. Fast forward a few years and I reached the point where I just had the mountain bike with road tires on it. When my wife graduated from her Masters program in 2001, she promised me a bike, "one that you'd have forever" with the first pay check.  So I dug about, did some soul searching of what I wanted and got myself a proper touring bike with all the racks etc. I've had that bike ever since.

not a forever bike, but a "right now" bike

This comes up when I saw an article the other day on Outside Online about a forever bike. I think the author nails it right on the head in terms of changes in bike design and such being the reason your ideal bike at any one time won't be ideal in X number of years. My bike is a classic in the sense of a lot of VO customers bikes - 1 inch steerer tube, canti brakes, and 135mm spacing in the rear. There will always be parts out there for bikes like this. It's more I think a matter of being able to ride a "retro/vintage/classic" styled bike compared to what my fellow riders are riding. For me, who rides alone or with my wife mostly, comparisons to other bikes isn't an issue. Perhaps if you always rode with folks who swapped bikes around, had multiple bikes for different needs, or such, I'd have more issues.

Pretty close to perfect forever bike

Do you have one bike, that if the house/apartment/yurt was on fire you'd grab? Is it the one bike that you put above others, simply because you've had it forever or is it something else?