Rodeo Labs Flaanimal 4.0
We recently caught up with the crew from Rodeo Adventure Labs who were visiting us from Denver for a gravel event. It turns out that they were not only here to race, but to connect with a few local "Rodeoers" who had purchased their bikes in the past and part of the small but growing Rodeo community. We reached out to Stephen to see if he would be up for connecting, and decided to meet up at Rouleur Brewing Co for an evening of bikes and beer.
There is certainly something special about what this small bicycle brand is doing, and that's what attracted us to them in the first place. A unique dedication to the community and craft of adventure cycling, building impressive, great looking multi-use steel and carbon framesets. We took a closer look at the Flaanimal 4.0, their latest steel adventure bike offering, in the Pine Cone colorway. This particular model is the XT Di2 / TRP Hylex RS / 1x build.
The Flaanimal 4's interchangable sliding dropouts allow for a huge range of gearing, axle, drive types, and braking options. The frameset comes standard with sliders for the most common build configurations.
- Standard 9 – 10 – 11 speed road and MTB derailleurs
- 12mm through axles
- Flat mount disc brakes
Rodeo has developed a highly versatile fork called the Spork, developed for both the Traildonkey and Flaanimal bikes. It’s features a stout design, generous clearance, internal dynamo routing, and plenty of rack mounts that allow it to be adapted to a variety of uses.
“The Spork isn’t a delicate utensil to be used only for carving up pavement. First and foremost it’s a sturdy instrument built for surviving the use and abuse of trail riding. At 515 grams (average) we didn’t milk every bit of weight in search of gossamer heights, we left meat on the bone and tested the fork to mountain bike standards, not pavement standards. The result is all carbon main fork and steer tube that will go where you take it, and we hope that you take it some crazy places. Can you take it on the road? Of course! Our layup assures great handling and road manners on anything from slow cruises to fast descents.”
EC90 SL crank and Panaracer Pasela 700x35c tires shown below. The frame allows for tire clearances up to 700 x 45 and 650b x 47.
The Flaanimal 4.0 allows for Di2 wires to be run fully internal on the frame to further streamline the appearance of the complete bike and to protect Di2 wires from the elements, a feature we loved.
We encourage you to follow along on their journey at @rodeolabs on Insta, and if you happen to be in Denver this Spring they have a pretty rad, open-invite ride once a week you should check out. #tabletoptuesday
Hope to see you gents again soon!
“Rodeo believes that everyone approaches cycling for their own reasons and that no single approach is right for everyone. We believe that individuals can grow tremendously through athletic endeavor, and we seek to support our members in those endeavors through friendship and camaraderie. ”
