“It never gets any easier, you just go faster” - Greg LeMond  “It never gets any easier, you just get slower and chunkier.” - Todd My path to the start line of the Rock Cobbler began at another one of California’s marquee endurance events.Last May, while attending San Diego’s Belgian Waffle Ride as a spectator, I crossed paths with a long lost buddy by the name of Big Ern who moved from LA up to the Bay Area over 15 years ago. It was the kind of chance meeting that had us doing double takes before picking up the conversation right where it left off. Over the course of catching up, a seed was planted that I’d come out of...

Little did Matt know that the journey towards his new Sycip began back in 2016.                                        Matt's new Sycip. Photo by The Radavist.  Seven years ago, he picked up a personal dream bike in the form of a mid-90s Eddy Merckx MX Leader frameset. As cyclists have a habit of doing, building it up was a project that remained on the back burner until 2020 when it was made road ready following a refurb, a respray, and being outfitted with modern components. (You can read all about it in this blog post.) Much to Matt’s delight, the Merckx turned out to be a...

Happy National Taco Day!  A few nights ahead of today’s momentous event, we sent Matt and his domestique Todd out on a special mission- to ride bikes and eat tacos.  We didn’t plan it when we moved in over a decade ago but swrve HQ is now surrounded by some of the finest taco stands and trucks in Los Angeles, so many in fact that it would truly be an exercise in human endurance to try them all over the course of a single ride so Matt and Todd kept their adventure to some of their personal favorites. Let’s go…  Stop #1: Angel’s Tijuana Tacos  Less than a mile from the front door of swrve HQ, you’ll find Angel’s Tijuana...

Remember those 'choose your own adventure' books? That's what life in Los Angeles is like when it comes to outdoor activities. The possibilities are virtually endless and with nearly 300 sunny days a year, there's ample opportunity to get out and explore. What follows is a list of some of our collective personal favorites when it comes to hikes and rides around Los Angeles. Whether you're local or planning an LA getaway, we thought you might enjoy seeing what we like to enjoy when it's time to go play.The Staircases of Los Angeles  Highlights from the Painted Stairways Tour. Staircases are hiding in plain (and not so plain) sight all over Los Angeles, many of which were built as neighborhood shortcuts around the...

A member of the swrve team recently picked up an electric cargo bike and is now convinced that e-bikes are the future.

There are three things that will lure me out of bed before dawn on a Sunday morning: the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, and a first ride on a new bike.  This year I’ll be getting all three out of the way on consecutive Sundays.  For the first ride on the new-to-me Colnago Tecnos, (you can catch up on its journey here, here, and here) I took it out for an early morning spin on what's become my go-to loop.  With the specialness of New Bike Day, I came to a new appreciation of how fortunate I am to have a perfect 22 mile ride that starts out the front door of swrve HQ.  Here’s how it shakes down.  It starts...

(See part one here.) The bicycle wheel and the pizza are two of the greatest round things ever invented. To break them down into simple terms, they both start with common ingredients and how they end up all depends on the wheelbuilder or chef.   After mulling enough wheel options to fill an Excel spreadsheet, Matt decided to stick to the familiar and try the new, while entering a deeper realm of bike geekery. “I enjoy comparative research, apparently,” says Matt. “I generally start with products (or companies) I’ve heard good things about, something I think looks really good, or someone that’s maybe pushing a new direction while leaning towards smaller companies. In the end, I try to strike the best...