It’s not every day that a cycling brand advertises their bike by saying “Owning a Speedvagen Urban Racer is not a responsible decision, and that’s sort of the point.” I suppose when you create a versatile, high-performance commuter bike with sprinting, popping wheelies, skidding tires and even jumping curbs in mind you’re aiming for customers who intend to have a little fun while riding A-B.
Bikerumor first checked out the Urban Racer when it was released in 2015. Just recently, Speedvagen added this model to their Ready Made program meaning customers can now buy one in stock frame sizes with standard tubing. While they’re still not cheap, buying a stock Urban Racer will cost about $2000 less than a full custom build…
The video above was made when the first Urban Racers were released in 2015, but it gives you a great impression of the character of this bike. Small batches of the stock Urban Racer frames are built the USA, with the same materials and to the same quality standards as Speedvagen’s full custom frames. The Urban Racer is based on Speedvagen’s road bike chassis, and they are built with light and strong Columbus and True Temper steel alloy tubing.
The frames include slick custom-designed stainless steel chain guards, and bottle cage mounts on the down tubes. This model uses Speedvagen’s Berzerker dropouts, which are made from alloy with stainless steel plates on both sides for added strength. As the dropouts do not provide any horizontal adjustment, the frame includes an eccentric PF30 bottom bracket.
Urban Racer frames include integrated seat masts which are cut to size for every buyer. Once cut, the seat post head still allows for 15mm of adjustment to fine-tune your saddle height. Stock frames will come in three sizes, with S/M/L roughly equivalent to 52, 56 and 60cm.
Like the frame, the Urban Racer’s fork is made from Chromoly. All the images show the fork with a built-in pannier rack on the right side, but be aware this is an optional $450 upgrade. If you opt against you get the same fork, they just don’t add on the rack before painting it.
The Urban Racer rolls on 650b wheels with a DT Swiss 350 hub up front and a SRAM Automatix hub out back. The hubs are laced to Velocity Blunt alloy clincher rims, which are wrapped with 42mm wide Schwalbe G-One tires. This mid-width tread should prove pretty versatile for exploring the concrete jungle.
The SRAM Automatix 2-speed internal hub shifts its own gears based on your speed- The hub provides an easy gear to get started or spin uphill, but at about 10mph the bigger gear is engaged for faster cruising. The hub is also equipped with a coaster brake, so you can lay down some serious skids (like a silly kid). Speedvagen even made their own custom coaster brake arm for added style points.
Many of the photos show the Urban Racer with Speedvagen’s color-matched flat bar and integrated stem, but like the fork rack this is also an optional $600 upgrade. At base price, the stock bikes come with a PRO PLT stem in your choice of sizes from 100-140mm (which is color-matched) and chrome Nitto Jitensha handlebars.
Other stock components include a Shimano FC RS500 crank with a 39t chainring, a Fabric Scoop saddle with Ti rails, Ritchey headsets and foam grips, and of course bolt-on axles to discourage wheel theft. Like the stem, the Ritchey seat post head is painted to match the frame.
As expected there are many custom component options like upgraded handlebars, fenders, integrated lights and carrier racks. Check out Vanilla Workshop’s website for all the details on available upgrades.
The Urban Racer’s stock color options are Matte Army Green or Hot Pink, and they incorporate Speevagen’s sleek-looking Ghost graphics with the 3-D lettering painted the same color as the frame. Complete builds start at $3495 USD without any upgrades or add-ons. Only 15 bikes were produced in the first batch (five of each size) so if you’re interested, don’t wait to put in an order!
