Ronnie and His R-Werks Bloo EVOO 29er –

Read on for Ronnie’s romancing and John’s photos of this stunning R-Werks Bloo EVOO 29er. As a snowbird tradition, Ronnie and Johnnie’s paths criss-crossed like cattle trails in the Sonoran Desert for some hangs, pleasantries, and hawttt photos. No, not that kind of hawttt, just the 85º in February kinda hot. Check out a nice and thick gallery below with words by Ronnie. Don’t worry, we kept it PG this round…

Somewhere out there, a perpetual ribbon of single track basks, begging to be tread upon, pining to be made complete by a strategically placed singing set of tires.

The pilot, the conductor of single track ceremonies, a multilingual reader of terrain. Trillions of grains of dirt read every millisecond. Well-studied and well-practiced, this trail scholar reaches a flow state. An acceleration, a brake feather, a bend of an elbow, a bow of the hip; the dirt ribbon unravels to become every cell of said scholar in a consecrated expression of soil knowledge.

There is nothing else but the immediate, nothing more than bliss. The trail has no name, it has no face, it is, just is — and now it is also you. The only word you can muster to describe this moment of complete two-wheeled mastery of physical physics is …. “WOOO!”

I trust that many of us have been there in so many words or less. Some taste it, some only chase it. Regardless, I feel it is important to be accompanied by a bicycle that already brings me halfway there due to its simplicity and pedigree, but mostly cool looks. This bike design, to me, represents the closest I have come to a most adept partner in the dance of trail scholastics.

It is both my dream and pleasure to offer bikes like this made by someone (Frank the Welder) who made bikes for the 90s MTB pros (Tomac, Furtado, Missy, etc.) that have inspired veracious schooling over the decades of my studies at Single Track University. I hope these frames represent an extension of this legacy, true to the builder, riders, and aesthetic, yet futuristic by the numbers.

The R-Works EVOO Build

This build is a turquoise paint blemish from the last batch of EVOO frames we did. Despite the dropper routing, I wanted to try out this Ergon leaf spring seat post. I have tried droppers in the past, but I find my thighs searching for the saddle on rough stuff for a point of reference, and my body has no trouble getting well behind the saddle when it needs to. I’d rather have a lighter, more flexible post for pedaling. Plus, it makes this Flite Ti nearly bearable!

Moving to the other touch points, you may notice the stem is set to negative rise and slammed to counter the ample stack in the frame design that allows for a comfortable drop bar position if desired. That said, I have seen a lot of Evoos set up with riser bars. Personally, I like to lean into the front end for better front wheel traction in the corners, and for a more aggressive climbing position. This bike is a climbing savant with its leaf spring suspended 75º ST angle, grippy tires, and waify-weight that can be achieved with high-end aluminum and steel when reinforcements for disc brakes are taken out of the equation.

Do not adjust your screens, both the seat post and the handlebars are made from an exciting new exotic material called “carbon fibre”. I think we might even see complete bikes made from it someday, but likely not any time soon. You saw it here first, folks!

The Paul levers matched with the single-digit ultimate brakes synthesize stopping power and modulation at the peak of form and function, moments before “big disc” changed everything. Even if I only had half a finger, I could do a stoppie with these brakes. The drivetrain is a friction double 2×10, and the chain is made of waxed gold, of course.

The Ultradynamico Mars 29er Robustos are nice and light, while offering enough sidewall protection for the cheese grater volcanic trails of Southern Arizona. The Crust rims are very light, but rigid bikes are meant to artfully dance around rocks, not roll into them. They have worked great for my 175 lb body on several off-road builds over the years, but many may opt for Velocity Cliffhangers.

XTR M900 hubs last forever. XTR M950 rear der needs no introduction, and the Campy Chorus front der is one of the best universal double der designs out there, be-it 9, 10, 11, or 12 speed. The Top Line cranks are another part that are not recommended for people who tend to be rough on components.