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The Chromag Show & Shine
Words by Seb Kemp : Photo by Todd Hellinga
If you have ever spent time deep in the mountains then you know that the only sounds are the wind and the noise of your own tracks, but when that mountain speaks it speaks loudly. The roar of an avalanche or the bottomless rumbles of rock fall shatter the near silence with a exclamation mark of raw power. If you are in the mountains and you hear any of the sounds of the mountain cataclysm then you stop, you stop dead in your paces and pay attention.
Kevin Phelps is a man that has been described to be like the mountains. People revere Kevin Phelps because he is as solid as the granite peaks, and as determined as the glaciers that carved the granite. He doesn’t act flashy or speak unnecessarily of himself, he just acts, and when he acts everyone stops and listens. His style upon a bike is powerful and unyielding. He appears to bend cranks as he turns them up the hills then tries to choke hold the trail into submission when it points downwards.
He has achieved much but I doubt he has a resume, and he doesn’t blog or Tweet. More so, if you were to ask him to list his achievements then you would be met with a shrug of the shoulders.
Such a rider needs a bike that reflects his own attributes and attitudes. Phelps chooses to slay trail from aboard a steel hardtail crafted by Chromag. No nonsense, to the point, with zero gimmicks, just creations of care hewn from steel.
Handmade creations mostly built in Squamish and designed for Whistler riding, or as some riders refer to it, BCXC – a blend of back breaking, thigh tearing climbs, then steep, rocky, rooty descents that are like several downhill courses placed top to tail, and spiced with all kinds of Whisgnar (sic) that require power moves and finesse in equal measures.
It is not just Kevin Phelps that rides a Chromag. There is a guerilla army of loyalists who take the barebones of the beautiful steel frame and by hanging differing combinations of kits create something completely of their own that reflects their own style of riding, and personality. There is a die hard core of locals (and an increasingly international family) who choose to take to the trails aboard their Chromag, and they do so not out of a financial choice or a stylistic statement, but rather because they cherish and respect the heart and craft that runs through everything Chromag do.
The perfect time to really get a handle on how much people love their Chromag’s is at the annual show and shine. Chromag riders and lovers come together to show off their custom painted machines, to beam with pride at their only bikes adaptability, or to just dress their bike up in costume, just for laughs. It is here that you can spend a few beers time strolling between the amassed riders taking and appreciating what, for many, is something more than a bike.
But don’t be mistaken, no one showing their bike is a nuts and bolts geek, each bike has been ridden way past the point where the rubber still gleams and the cables are slick. Chromag owners are Chromag riders. Even though a cursory glance at the show and shine may leave you thinking it is a collection of bike nerds lusting over metal with sweaty hairy palms, a closer look would reveal that each bike has miles upon miles, and possibly years upon years of history. Upon each bike there is marked a colorful journal of the trails, journeys, missions, and times well misspent that are shared with its owner. The paint wear on the chainstay from a million hard fought rotations upon rugged British Columbian singletrack, the scratches in the top tube maybe from one time in the Chilcotins when they were float plane dropped into the wilderness, the grips and saddle chewed by the dog. Or was it a cougar? The tales get taller as the second keg gets opened.
It’s here where the bike is truly kept in perspective. Rather than an image of marketing perfection, the Chromag is seen as just a tool. A tool to go out and celebrate life from upon the saddle. The trail and the tales lived on the trail are nirvana, the bike a means to get there. Whereas there are people that live inside internet forums, or fed off numbers and charts of E-engineers, or become so obsessed with the machine that they never quite have time enough for the pure enjoyment on the trail, Chromag owners get it like no other band of bikers.
A wise man said, “Never mistake the pointing finger for the moon at which you are pointing”. I’m not pointing at your bike or a Chromag, but I have a feeling that there’s plenty Chromag riders shredding the moon.
