It’s not quite fair to say that Schnozola is a new brand. Most new brands make a fairly big deal of their launch in the hopes of raising awareness and bringing in customers to get sales and start building long-term success. Schnozola did nothing of the sort.
New brands also generally don’t have folks like Bruce Gordon of Bruce Gordon Cycles in Petaluma, California, and Paul Sadoff of Rock Lobster Cycles in Santa Cruz, California, at the helm. But the duo is in fact the braintrust behind the seemingly oddly named Schnozola.
The two frame-building veterans, with a combined 90 years of expiernce weilding a torch, set out to make bkes that are one thing—fun. That goal, reflected in the brand’s name and graphics, both a play on the two men’s religious heritage, comes through in the bikes themselves.
Each of the bikes in the Schnozola line-up are meant to be ridden on nearly any surface and to accommodate tires up to 43c wide, including Gordon’s own Rock ‘n Road proprietary rubber. As the builders put it, the bikes are handmade and “individually crafted with a nod to both tradition and current construction techniques.”
There are four bikes in the Schnozola line. There’s the Schnozola Trail built for “off-road exploring” with a longer wheelbase and steel fork, there’s the Schnozola Grinduro, which features a carbon fork and is meant for gravel racing or light bike packing, the aluminum Schnozola 650b race, the lightest bike in the line up, and the Schnozola Tour, which, as you might guess, is a versatile machine with fittings for racks and fenders.
The Schnozola brand is something on the side for Gordon and Sadoff. So as they described it at NAHBS, “if you want one you will have to be patient. That said, these bikes are unique and worth waiting for, unless of course you are crazy. We cannot help you with that, but we can recommend a good therapist. Hey everybody has one. ”
You’ll have to contact Gordon or Sadoff to find out availability and pricing, and although they recommend keeping it simple, they’ll do anything your heart desires in creating your new Schnozola.
“If you want a bike for venturing out with confidence, even on the Sabbath, look no further. Schnozola – for those with a nose for a good deal.”
More info: bgcycles.com or rocklobstercycles.com
Paul Sadoff and Bruce Gordon’s Schnozola line of do-it-all bikes. NAHBS 2016. © Cyclocross Magazine
