August’s Recap!

Hello everyone,

Summer is still in full swing, and I hope you’ve all had a chance to ride, whether on adventures off the beaten path or just to your local coffee shop.

Great things are happening here at SSS: brands are increasingly trusting us with more interesting projects that we’re super excited about for 2027, and it’s been wonderful to see so many of you readers in different places around the globe.

This September, I’ll be touring around Germany, with an obvious stop at Bespoked Dresden. If you’re around on Saturday, you’ll find me at the Sim Works booth, don’t hesitate to come by and say hello.

— Paul

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As usual, I also want to take a moment to thank everyone who took out a membership or made a donation through Buy Me a Coffee. Thank you for keeping SSS alive!

If you enjoy what you see here, you can support SSS by Buying Me a Coffee. Click on that cup and help this project grow and thrive for the price of one cappuccino a month!

On Slow Spin Society This Month:

Blog

[Video] Leica SL (Typ 601) The Affordable Way Into Leica Full Frame

Now more than a decade old, the original Leica SL is a camera I’d wanted to put to the test for a long time. When the opportunity finally presented itself, I went hunting for a bargain…

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Happy International Fixed Gear Day!

Thanks for keeping the spirit of fixed gear alive, for making this community such a welcoming space, and for celebrating the simple beauty of these wonderfully stupid bikes. Here’s to another year of freedom, creativity, and endless riding. Cheers!

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Mini Bike Fest Berlin #3: Old Frames, New Concepts, and Cargo Potential

Part 3 and the final act of my favorite bikes from Mini Bike Fest 2026! You can catch the first two parts here: [Mini Bike Fest 2026]. In this final installment, we’re looking at…

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What Shanghai Is Riding Right Now #03: Barely Scratching the Surface

Here is the final article in the Shanghai series, and while writing it, I quickly realized that adding yet another triple bike check would not do justice to the incredible variety I experienced during…

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[Video] Cleverless

Fixed gear culture seems to be in good hands. At a time when most cycling content is compressed into quick, vertical clips, a group of teenagers in Tokyo chose a different path…

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Bike Check: Melo’s Mash Parallax

Sometimes, it just feels good to come back to the basics. Nothing like a good old Mash Parallax to remind us that this absolute weapon of a track bike remains undefeated when it comes to street cred…

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Bike Check: Erik’s Mini Folding Prototype (By Sycip)

Erik’s prototype started life as a very practical idea. After deciding to move to Amsterdam with his wife, he wanted a bike that would make sense in Europe: something easy to bring on the train…

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Mini Bike Fest Berlin #2: 20” Madness

Part 2 of my favorite bikes from Mini Bike Fest 2026! By now, you’ve probably seen the first chapter of this multi-part series, and if not, you can catch all the entries through this link…

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Bike Check: Tomo’s Nagasawa

Bike shows are great, working with brands is cool, and I’m usually out there taking an unhealthy amount of photos with my digital camera. I'm having to group builds together, or …

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I Love Japan’s Cargo Bikes, But I Still Want an Omnium…

Japan’s original cargo bike has been here all along, we just call it the mamachari. Everyone rides them: young and old, men and women, commuters, students, parents, and everyone…

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What’s Shanghai Riding Right Now #02

This is the second installment in a multi-part article series about my time in Shanghai earlier this year, as well as some of the incredible bikes I came across there…

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Mini Bike Fest Berlin #1: Small Bikes, Clever Cargos

The Mini Bike Fest rolled back into Berlin for its second edition, and what a feast for tiny-bike lovers! I made it there just in time to photograph some incredible mini creations…

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Our Monthly Top Picks:

Mini Bike Fest #1, 2, and 3

Mini Bike Fest 2026 brought an unusually deep field of small-wheel customs and restomods. The quality was so high that a single article wouldn’t do it justice, so we split the coverage into a three-part series. After seeing what builders brought this year, we’re already counting down to next edition.

Bike Check: Tomo’s Nagasawa

Going back to SSS roots with this classic Japanese bike check, shot on film for Tomo’s Nagasawa. A street‑track machine built from a clever mix of Italian and Japanese parts, with a few American details sprinkled on top, a recipe that just works!

[Video] Cleverless

Cleverless is probably my favorite edit of the year. Filmed by friends in the heart of Japan, it takes us back to simpler times. Inspired by Macaframa and Mash’s 2009 work, this is an edit that could easily have been shot 15 years ago, and you’d never guess. Available only here, on SSS!

[Video] Leica SL (Typ 601) The Affordable Way Into Leica Full Frame

This month’s video sticks to our now weirdly familiar format: camera review and bike check, all at once. This time, I’m sharing my thoughts on the camera I’ve probably used most this year, the first‑generation Leica SL. A brutalist block of aluminum that also happens to take pretty good pictures.

Of course, every article is up and live for you to enjoy wherever you are, coming back from your summer holiday, or at home, doing a healthy amount of doom scrolling.

Collective Take:

We’re really enjoying reviewing camera gear, after all, it’s the backbone of Slow Spin Society! Without pictures, this site would probably be a little sad…. So we’re asking our fellow photographers and camera friends out there: What gear, film, or camera would you like us to try or review? We’d love to know.