Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
Our Reader’s Rig of the week comes from JACK the Bike Rack inventor Luke Cardew in Shangai, China, who shares a look at his lovingly built Tanglefoot Hardtack and some of his other creations. Learn more about Luke, his bike, and his travels around Asia aboard it here…
Words and photos by Luke Cardew
Hi, I’m Luke. I’m from the UK but have lived in Shanghai for the last 18 years, where I run a creative agency. Being a product designer by training and an inventor at heart, it’s an incredible place to live, having access to the world’s factories right at my fingertips.
The first successful product to come from me would be JACK the Bike Rack, (you can see the back story of the rack here), which would have stayed in a box had it not been for my mate and co-founder of Wholegrain Cycles Miles Gibbons. I’ve been obsessed with sewing since I was a kid, mainly making kites and bags for everything I owned. Two years ago, I started developing a large, versatile, front bikepacking bag called Duffel X 35 (DX35 for short). We are currently in the preproduction stage, which means a few months from launch, and I cannot wait to get this out there. Anyone who wants to get an email about when we launch can sign up at RekkiWorks.com or follow us on Instagram.
Adventuring over land on some sort of wheeled machine has always been my way to escape and experience new places and cultures. Back in 2005, my friend Sam and I drove a Fiat Panda from London to Ulaanbaatar as part of the first-ever Mongol rally (https://www.theadventurists.com/mongol-rally/).
In 2007, I built up a couple of Sanlunche’s (which literally translates to “three-wheel vehicle”) with a motor and headed out of Shanghai for two weeks. For the last 10 years, most of my adventures have been on two-wheeled, pedal-powered bikes.
Towards the end of last year, I put together the Tanglefoot Hardtack and didn’t hold back. For me, it’s the second of three dream builds I will put together in my lifetime. I have to rely on mates bringing parts over when they visit, so it took about six months to put the Monster (what I’ve ended up calling it) together. The Hardtack is designed as a drop-bar bike. However, I’m not a fan of the brake/shifter units and prefer the added control of wide flat/alt bars, which brings me to the Doom Bars Ti bars; they have so much squish, combined with big tires, and with the Brooks B67, I’m floating over the chunk.
I made the build choices with the idea to cycle the long way back to China from Turkey on it, hopefully next year. The first trip on it was to Chiang Mai for seven days earlier this year, where the hills broke me, but I will certainly be going back this winter to take them on again. The next trip was to Sri Lanka for two weeks through the mountains after a friend’s wedding just a couple of days after returning from Chiang Mai. It was a fantastic trip, so much so that I would be keen to put together a published route through the mountains sometime in the next couple of years.
- Frame/Fork: Tanglefoot Cycles Hardtack XL
- Rims: 27.5″ Velocity Blunt 35
- Hubs: SON28 (front) / White Industries XMR (rear)
- Tires: Ultradynamico Mars / Schwalbe G-One Speed
- Handlebars: Doom Bars Titanium Curve-Billed Thrasher
- Grips: Jones EVA H-Grips
- Headset: Rollcii EC34
- Crankset: White Industries M30, 32T chainring
- Pedals: OneUp Components Comp Platform Pedals
- Cassette: SRAM GX Eagle XG-1275
- Derailleur(s): X01 Eagle 12-speed
- Brakes: Paul Klamper
- Shifter(s): microSHIFT 12-speed thumb shifter
- Saddle: Brooks B67
- Seatpost: Thomson Masterpiece
- Stem: Uno
- Front bags: Rekki Works Duffel X 35
- Frame bags: Made by me made in Challenge Ultra 400
- Rear bags: Double-ended drybag made by me in 5oz Dynema
- Accessory bags: Specialized/Fjallraven toptube bag, Rekki Works Monstermunch feed bags
- Racks: Rekki Works prototype (front) / Tumbleweed Chromoly T Rack (rear)
- Lights: Sinewave Beacon (front) / Supernova E3 Tail Light 2 (rear)
- Other accessories: Blackburn Outpost Cargo Cage, straps remade with Velcro
The most exciting thing for me about a new bike is making the frame bag. I think I’ve nailed the ultimate frame bag for my intent and purposes, especially the curved zip for better access and non-drive side map pocket with dividers in stretch fabric in the main compartment to minimise the bulge, giving better clearance for the left leg. The Adventure Hydration system is on all my bikes as it means I can maximise the size of the frame bag, which really is the best place for storage. The bigger you can make it, the less you have everywhere else on the bike.
I travel a lot with my bike, so I always take the pedals off and on to fit the Monster into a flight bag. I never remember which way to undo each side, so I’ve engraved an arrow and “UNDO” on each crank and “L” & “R” on each pedal. This means I can commit with force when undoing them, knowing I’m going in the right direction, as too many times I’ve skinned my knuckles on the chainring.
The Monster is still new to me, so I haven’t committed to cutting the steerer tube or the wires on the Sinewave front light yet. I made a wire connector for the front light to the SON28 dynamo using a 3.5mm headphone jack and socket. It means if you forget to unplug it before taking the wheel out, it will come out without pulling any wires too hard, but it doesn’t come out on the rough stuff. I use these crimp wire terminals to route the wire from the light, through the frame bag, and down the seat stay to the rear light. I also made some aluminium arms for both the front and rear light, which puts the lights where I need them. Like I said, getting parts here is tricky, so I make what I can in the studio!
You can keep up with Luke and his projects on Instagram.
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