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Day 3 of our Adventure In A Box starts with our travelers waking up in a cave in Maui. Noah heads off back to work and Ryan picks up the trip solo. There is also a bow and arrow involved in todays story… Day Three Day three started with Noah fixing another flat before making an early morning departure to leave the trip and go work. We had supplies to fix the tire but if you are ever in a really big bind, flatted out and have a pump but no tubes or patches one way that can work is to take the tube, cut it where the hole is, tie it in a good knot, and stretch it over the rim and re-inflate.  I’ve once seen this work so well that the person rode it for three days. I really liked the area I was in, and planned on spending the morning enjoying it.  I set up to cook my breakfast by placing the cook pot (painted black) on top of three rocks for air circulation, inside an oven bag and the windshield reflector I’d been sleeping on folded into a conical shape to reflect the sun.  I’ve built solar ovens in the past but this one was an experiment.  It ended up working very well, and breakfast was served! While things were heating up with breakfast, I wanted to play around with shooting the bow I had with me but I needed a target.  I ended up grabbing a pallet frame left over from the fire, finding an old tattered sheet that was laying around the area, stuffing that with tall grass I compacted inside the pallet frame to make an improvised hay bale and drawing a target on the sheet with a piece of charcoal from last nights fire.  Spent some time working on my aim, and then snapped a couple tourist memory photos of the setting. After a quick swim in the ocean, I topped off my water bottle then switched out caps on the water bladder I’d brought to use the remaining water for a solar shower before getting back on the bike.  Once on the road, the route transitioned to fresh pavement, almost zero traffic, and expansive vistas.  You need to bad to appreciate the good, and after the road I was on last night, it felt great to be on smooth auto-pilot road conditions making it able to go fast and let your gaze wander at the same time. The route begins a slow, steady, arduous climb thousands of feet towards Kula.  Approaching Kula, the elevation gain affects the weather, and as things started to get greener as I approached Ulupalakua, It started to rain.  After Kula heading towards Makawao it started to really rain, and before I know it I’m in a torrential rainstorm, the kind of storm that you’ve seen before but still makes you think “holy shit it’s raining hard.”  Given the supplies I had with me, and the weather […]

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Day Two We took a quick cruise to Wainapanapa state park and I went for an early morning ocean swim out to a sea stack, which I could climb up the chossy volcanic rock to reach the top before jumping into the ocean below. A great way to start the day, and even better after we went for another swim in the freshwater caves close by. Back on the road and what a road it was.  Winding through some beautiful scenery, my focus was at times directed towards fallen mangos littering the road.  There isn’t much in the way of amenities along this route, but are a fair number of fruit stands and a couple eating options.  Thai food sounded great so it didn’t take our arms being twisted to get us to pull over.  Ten dollars well spent later, we were back on our way.  Hana is one of those small town hamlets that has a time capsule general store that has managed to eschew the modern, homogenized, chain store façade that it sometimes seems tough to get away from.  The bulletin board acts as a community hub, and their retail selection runs the gamut from ice cream to machetes. And what a machete selection.  Part of the joy of traveling is the people and perspectives you meet along the way, and in the store I ran into a gentleman wearing a leather apron.  When asked what he had the apron on for, his smirked response of “what don’t I have it on for” served as a segue for a great conversation about his life in the area, and was an insight to the product-of-your-environment self-reliance often seen in people living on the outskirts.  I don’t know what it is, but the paradox of some small communities seems that even though it seems people gravitate towards these places or stay there after growing up to get away from or avoid the hustle and bustle, and quite frankly all the people of cities.  Yet these people often seem the most open to talk, and to listen. The road straightened out for a stretch, and the sun was starting to get to us.  Noah decided to start wearing his jacket hood, with the jacket becoming a de facto cape to protect his body from the sun.  Barefoot.  Brilliant. Great views and great weather, with too many sights to make great time.  The phrase great time has never made much sense to me.  You can’t make time; you can only spend it wisely. From here I did a pit stop to do a quick run up the Pipiwai trail which is managed by Haleakala National park, and is a very nice trail leading a couple miles through well built stone stairs, past a couple massive Banyon tress, and through board walked stands of bamboo leading towards a waterfall.  Obviously doing something like this means leaving your bike for a bit, and I didn’t have a lock with me.  Out of sight out […]

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Ryan’s trip starts here… Day One. Plans change.  I’d made plans and preparations for this to be a 5 day solo trip, but at the last minute I ran into Noah DeLea, whom conveyed that he had a couple days off and was down for a pedal.  Scramble mode.  We took another seat post bike rack that was sitting around  ($20 if they aren’t), and zip tied a milk crate to the rack.  Supplies inside a trash bag, cargo was set.  Noah is a Maine to Maui transplant, and has a certain ability to suffer with a smile that is a great quality in a travel partner.  Turns out Noah didn’t really want to ride in the boots he had so he made the decision to ride barefoot.  Possibly not the best idea in the world, but that’s probably why it sounded like such a good one.  A couple rounds of duct tape over the pedals to not meat cleave his feet, and we had a pedal solution at a weight much less than a carbon soled/clipless combo.  Shorts circuit.   And it was go time. The pedal started in the town of Paia, which is about 7 miles from the airport.  Paia is a once sugarcane town turned into one quirky small towns magnetized for eccentric energy, and a lot of good people.  After a quick pit stop at Paia Bay, we started heading east on the Hana highway.  Passing the famous Ho’okipa surf break and the open pastures in the area, the switch instantly flipped from the pre-trip plan scramble to simply riding a bike down the road on a beautiful day.  The focus of the trip if you haven’t gathered is fun over miles, and we were treating it as such.  Cruising down the road on a beautiful day, nice road, scenic sights, good bike.  Lucky to be alive. Heading east on the Hana highway, past the signs to Haiku and the hiking trails accessible as you pass Twin Falls, a couple things happen.  The development starts to ebb, the road gets narrower, and it starts to get greener. Due to a lot of factors such as location, trade winds, and topography, there is a lot of diversity in landscape on Maui.  after pausing at some large Rainbow Eucalyptus trees (Noah works as an arborist and was a great source of tree info), we continued east, before pulling off the road to explore an area off the side of the road. Starting off as a trail cut as a swath through the brush, it came to a series of ropes we came to a series of ropes to aid the decent to the rugged shoreline below.  With the Azure waves acting as a powerful crashing contrast to the rocks and cliffs surrounding us, it was a view worth taking in, and was worth the effort it took to get to.  Tourist shots were taken, then we started the climb back up to the road.  Back on the Bikes […]

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We’re very pleased to bring you a new Field Trip installment from beautiful Maui.  We sent Ryan Worcester a Weekender and he will be taking us along on his adventure around the island. He’ll be handling both the typing and camera work. We would be stoked if you read this and got inspired to buy a Fairdale, but to be entirely honest, we’d be even happier if we inspired you to get out there and take your own adventure. Ryan is a master of making do with what’s available and he’ll show us all how to travel without the stress of overthinking and over planning. Read on and enjoy the amazing images… Adventure In a Box by Ryan Worcester Day Zero. Everything starts somewhere, especially something that in hindsight you’d call an adventure.  This particular journey started with a box.  Two of them to be exact.  The first one came in the form of a cardboard box (with the graphic of an animal that had the desire to say something important).  Inside this box from Fairdale was a drop bar Weekender, and coupled with it came an opportunity to spend five days pedaling around Maui, Hawaii.  An endeavor like this requires some supplies, hence the second box. Adventure in a box (well two). First things first, the bike had to be built.  Pretty simple procedure, and gives you some time to get to know the bike.  I was impressed with how well suited this bike was for what I was about to do, looked great, fit great and had really nice geometry for this kind of bike.  After the obligatory first ride with some wrenches in your pocket to adjust this, tighten that etc. it was time to focus on the cargo. Every trip, however short, has with it a unique set of challenges, and supplies needed.  As for the supplies, I think that living in today’s bright lights and flashing advertisement fear driven marketing escapade, it’s easy to think there are a million things that you absolutely need to have to go on an adventure.  So we buy a bunch of things to do whatever it is that you want to do, then head out to do it stuffed to the gills with whatever they convince us that we absolutely need to do xyz, or we will suffer, or die, or we won’t fit in, or whatever angle it is they use, to make you think you can’t do something unless it is this way.  Some of these things you buy can be incredibly useful.  To go on a bike trip like this, a bike is obviously needed, and you could do a lot worse than the Fairdale Weekender in that department.  As much as it would have been comforting to have high end waterproof saddlebags, and all the latest gear, gadgets and gizmos for a ride like this it would have probably cost me a couple thousand dollars I don’t have.  So I was back to the “make […]

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Starting tomorrow Ryan Worcester will be taking us along for a 5 day bicycle field trip around Maui. Can’t wait to see the places he ends up and photos he takes.   

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Fairdale is excited to announce that the first bike from our 2015 lineup has arrived early. The Stud is exactly what it sounds like it would be, the toughest and most bad ass bike we have ever made. Wind tunnel tested for the maximum aerodynamic rider position and designed to be equally at home on the streets or off road. We’ve all heard of the “so-called” benefits of Carbon Fiber frames, but our 100% pure Pine stud main frame advances bike building to the next level. Compliant in all the best ways, 100% made and grown in the USA our elegant weld-less frame construction looks as good as it performs. Our test riders were able to reach top speeds of over 19 kilometers an hour, which we are told converts to over 85MPH! To compliment this masterpiece of design The Stud comes with the finest quality components. Our custom designed memory foam seat cushion will keep you happy on even the longest rides, and the comfortable prone riding position is very similar to lying in a plush feather bed. The Stud frame has infinite mounting points for water bottle cages and touring racks. Pre-order today and be the first in your area to be seen riding The Stud! Complete Bike: $999 Frame Only: $6 Frame Only (Di2 Compatible): $6.10 Coming Soon: Auto Roof rack adapter: $1599 Special Edition Chrome The Stud Frame: $999 The Lil’ Stud (for BMX racing and trick jumping) arrives in fall of 2014. Full specs and geometry here: The Stud Learn how The Stud was created in our R+D video:

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Music by Popsicle TRACK: I Want You to Believe WRITTEN BY: Todd Campopiano PERFORMED BY: Todd Dunnigan + Leta Neustaedter Fairdale Bikes presents a little insight into its highly advanced R & D department. Aerodynamic 2×4 bikes and Fender Bass Bicycle are all put to the test. TEST RIDERS: Taj + Leif STUNT DOG: Monty CAMERA + EDIT: Francis

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Urban Cyclist magazine reviewed our UK Spec Coaster and previewed our Goodship road bike. Thanks very much guys, we appreciate it very much! Click on to read their write up or better yet go subscribe to the mag here. PDF: Coaster in Urban Cyclist PDF: Goodship in Urban Cyclist

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Thanks to Wahoo’s ATX and 365 Things to Do in Austin we are giving away a beautiful chrome Coaster during SXSW. To win is EASY, though it’s a bit of mouthful… visit the Wahoo’s in Austin at 509 Rio Grande St and see the Coaster on display there. Take a photo of the bike and instagram it with the hashtag #wahoos365fairdale. We’ll pick a winner from the tagged photos on saturday. Good luck!

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Anthony over at Sanctuary Printshop took one of our Coasters and made it into something really special. I can’t think if anything more flattering then someone customizing a bike we made. Since it looks so badass Nuno snapped some photos and got the story about this fine machine. -taj Tony, we’re digging your custom Coaster colorway. The split chrome and black looks cool. Tell us how this came about. Thanks! When I bought my Coaster, one of my favorite aspects were the stickers and how the colors popped off the chrome, but I also knew that it would only be a certain amount of time before I’d get the itch to personalize my ride and really make it mine. When I finally took the step in removing the factory graphics I knew that I wanted to do something cool that no other Fairdale would look like but still stay within what I think Taj and the brand would approve of. Coming from a strong BMX background, flat black has always been a go-to for a default color choice and I knew that using a particular styling in combination with the chrome would look really sick. The idea of the horizontal split came from a tool that the company that I work for (Sanctuary Printshop) purchased for a project, a self leveling laser level. The inspiration came from some Cinelli frames with angular paint jobs I’d seen through the Fast Folks Instagram. So, I set up the level to the height I wanted, marked and taped off the lines, then went to work with my trusty rattle can and after a few coats and some clean up, I was stoked! There are a few parts on my bike that would qualify it as a BMX hybrid, considering it technically isn’t a coaster. Adding a set of profile cranks, Eclat rear cassette hub and brake was a progression that I thought would be beneficial to my personal commute. I was able to dial in my gear ratio to be heavy enough to maintain a steady pace with traffic (which I feel is important as a mindful cyclist) and also invite the familiarity of BMX into my commute as well. Did you have any other ideas before settling on this one? I’m pretty sure that if I hadn’t taken the step to peel the first sticker from the frame, the original graphics would still be rocking on the frame…they look dope! How did you make the custom black downtube sticker? A few month after I bought my Coaster I found out that Sanctuary would be involved in an awesome Sunday Funday party at Easy Tiger with Fairdale called Easy Sunday. Sanctuary is a design studio and printshop with everyday production and workflow but we also specialize in mobile onsite screen printing activations. Taj with Fairdale was kind enough to send over the branding kit and some suggestions of which designs he might like to print for the day. At this point my creative mind kicked […]

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