This week’s Reader’s Rig comes from our friend Jon Woodroof in Amsterdam, who shares the custom Sour Pasta Party hardtail he built for the inaugural Taurus Mountain Race in Türkiye, which started earlier this week. Meet Jon and check out his Dresden-made race rig here…

Words and photos by Jon Woodroof

Hi, I’m Jon, and I’m originally a fixie hipster from Atlanta, Georgia, USA. In college, I volunteered at Decatur Yellow Bikes (a local bike co-op) and later got involved with SOPO (another bike co-op) and ultimately opened my own bike shop, No Brakes, in 2007. I was with the shop until 2010, and during those years (~2005-2013) I raced alleycats, crits, and on the velodrome.

Sour Pasta Party

I didn’t start racing cyclocross or really riding gravel until I moved to Amsterdam in 2014, though I did my share of off-road road riding in Atlanta, too. In 2014, I started Twotone Consulting, a name I coined from my college nickname for always matching my clothes to my bike. Now, 12 years later, we’ve been doing bicycle marketing, PR, and other creative and commercial work in the cycling industry for brands big and small. Lucky for me, bikepacking, gravel, cargo, and even urban e-bike rides are typically the perfect mix of business and pleasure.

  • Sour Pasta Party
  • Sour Pasta Party

I’ve participated in all of the Mountain Races: Silk Road in 2018, Atlas in 2020, and Hellenic in 2023. Even in other races (like Further and the Bohemian Border Bash Race), I was sorely underbiked, except for Hellenic, where I had a Quirk hardtail but loaded most of the luggage on the front. It was okay, but certainly not common for a reason.

  • Sour Pasta Party
  • Sour Pasta Party
  • Sour Pasta Party

Fast-forward to 2025, and Nelson announces the Taurus Mountain Race. I’ve gotta be there. It’s like a religion at this point. A few friends of mine were on Sours, and I’ve gotten to know Christoph, the founder, over the years, at the Bespoked show in Dresden. We even judged together at this year’s Mini-Bike Fest in Berlin. So, when I decided to step up to an XC hardtail, the Pasta Party was simply the best choice.

  • Frame: Dresden-made Sour Pasta Party
  • Fork: Manitou Mattoc Pro (I love the chrome crown!)
  • Rims: Astral Serpentine 29’er rims, uniquely hi-polished
  • Hubs: SON Dynamo (front) / Wolf Tooth (rear), laced by Jorrit at Munro Wheels
  • Tires: Ultra Dynamico Mars Rozzo
  • Handlebars: Ritchey Kyote w/ Ritchey barends and SQlab inner barends
  • Headset: White Industries
  • Crankset: Square taper Cyber Cycles (167.5mm) and a 28T AARN chainring
  • Pedals: Ritchey Comp XC
  • Cassette: SRAM 10-52T
  • Derailleur(s): INGRID
  • Brakes: Hayes Dominion A2
  • Shifter(s): SRAM
  • Saddle: Custom Essax w/ Twotone branding
  • Seatpost: Manitou
  • Stem: Ritchey
  • Front bags: Amateur Hour
  • Frame bags: Amateur Hour
  • Rear bags: Amateur Hour
  • Accessory bags: I wish I remember who made this! It was ordered by our intern Rei Miyoshi years ago.
  • Electronics: Exposure Revo 5 light, Wahoo Elemnt Ace
  • Hauling: Old Man Mountain Elkhorn and Manzanita Bar Cradle

I opted for parts Christoph endorsed: the Dominion brakes, plus the Manitou fork and dropper. For cockpit bits, I went with Ritchey and aspired for a Made-in-EU undertone with the Made-in-Italy Ingrid rear mech, Made-in-Germany Cyber Cycles cranks, and custom Essax saddle from my colleague Kike (pronounced keykeh), made in Alicante, Spain!

Sour Pasta Party
  • Sour Pasta Party
  • Sour Pasta Party
  • Sour Pasta Party

My good friend Jorrit at Munro Wheels was the perfect partner for the wheels, and I’m stoked to be rolling on the new Wolf Tooth rear hub and some eye-catching polished Astral Serpentine rims! The silver-and-black mix is so sick and a theme throughout the whole build!

  • Sour Pasta Party
  • Sour Pasta Party

Amy of Amateur Hour made the bags; her atelier is in my coworking space, Workspace 6, in Amsterdam. The chainring is from my friend Aaron of AARN. I’ll be wearing AARN sunglasses, too! Shout out to Myles at Wheelrunner for assembling this dream build. The cranks are square taper, so they require an adapter for the T47 BB. Konstantin at Drust Cycles gifted me the adapter, and maybe someday I’ll upgrade to a T47 square BB from Liminal.

You can keep up with Jon on Instagram.

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