Nick’s titanium Sycip hardtail has been on our list to document for some time. On his April road trip to Sea Otter, John crashed in the driveway at his buddy Nick‘s house while he visited shops and builders in the area. After a particularly epic afternoon of riding in Annadel State Park, he grabbed Nick’s beautiful Sycip for some photos. This bike isn’t your ordinary Sycip and Nick ain’t your ordinary guy. Let’s see why below…
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Sea Otter Classic 2024: Steve from Hardtail Party’s Stanton Sedona 29er
The Radavist thanks 1-Up USA for sponsoring our Sea Otter Classic 2024 coverage!
Josh and John were out at Sea Otter this week, covering people, products, and bikes on display. One bike in particular that caught our eye was this Stanton Sedona 29er, on display at the 5Dev booth. We love a good hardtail and much like Steve from the Hardtail Party YouTube and Instagram account, we’ve been lauding their merits for a long time! So we know a good bike when we see one. Let’s take a look at this shreddy 29er below!
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History of Mountain Bike Evolution Show: Bicycle Taxonomy
John spent last weekend in Santa Cruz catching up with friends, riding some tacky dirt and checking out the History of Mountain Bike Evolution Show at Santa Cruz Bicycles, put on by Doug Hatfield, Velo Cosmos with Team Old Soil. The show spanned the evolution of the mountain bike from the 1940s through the Syndicate Racing Team’s World Cup DH machines.
Below, John hones in on the evolution of cruiser bikes to klunkers and the genesis of the Marin County “Mountain Bike” and shares a jam-packed gallery of bikes and hangs…
Reportage
Sea Otter Classic 2024: Neuhaus Metalworks – HBSL Titanium XC Race 29er Hardtail
The Radavist thanks 1-Up USA for sponsoring our Sea Otter Classic 2024 coverage!
Josh and John are out at Sea Otter this week, covering people, products, and bikes on display. We’re starting the show coverage off a little differently this year with a feature on Neuhaus Metalworks’ newest offering: the HBSL Titanium XC Race 29er. Read on for a look at this new titanium Superleggera chassis and a comparison to the steel Hummingbird hardtail 29er…
Radar
Main St. Brewing Honors Paul Brodie with a Paul’s Workshop Pacific Ale
Main St. Brewing is raising a glass to a true legend by collaborating on a beer with mountain biking icon Paul Brodie and hosting a Vintage Mountain Bike Show and Shine at the Mount Pleasant Brewery (261 East 7th Avenue) on Saturday, May 4…
Reportage
藝術 (Art), 手工藝 (Craftsmanship), 製造 (Manufacture): Taichung Taiwan is a Bicycling Manufacturing Mecca
Coming off our Dust-Up article on (Most) All Bikes are Handmade is a deeper dive… It is easy to take for granted how products from around the globe end up in our hands. When it comes to bicycles, many of us have no idea how they are made. Our Instagram feeds are filled with romanticized images of artisans building intricate frames one at a time, but what about the production bicycles that the vast majority ride? Much less information is available, leaving our imaginations to conjure up images of robotic welders and dirty, fast-paced production. This often leads to uninformed debates on where, who, and how products are made.
The authors of this article offer a unique perspective on bicycle manufacturing. Daniel Yang, a talented engineer working with Neuhaus Metalworks and his own brand ARTEFACT, is changing how artisan framebuilders build bikes through 3D printing and 3D modeling innovations. Adam Sklar has over a decade of experience building high-end custom bikes by hand. He recently brought his production to Taiwan, working together with factories to produce his signature designs. The factories and people you see in this article produce Sklar Bikes, which is why we were given the opportunity to share this experience with you all.
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From Paul Component Engineering and HotSalad Bicycles: The Wild and Weird Sierra Roamer
It’s become a tradition for Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and Paul Component Engineering to collaborate on an off-the-wall bike to showcase at Sea Otter Classic and then raffle off to raise money for a select non-profit. An enigmatic headturner, this year’s collective build will benefit The Roam Collective and came together around a custom titanium frame made by HotSalad Bikes. Dedicated to women past and present in cycling, the Wild and Weird Sierra Roamer pays tribute to legendary mountain biker Jacquie Phelan and her Cunningham race bike, “Otto.” Take a closer look below and consider contributing to the raffle!
Reportage
Framework Bicycles Review: Thoughts on Balance
Framework Bicycles turns blocks of aluminum and spools of carbon into one-off custom bikes where obsessive precision and iteration becomes rideable art. In this long-term, long form Framework Bicycles review, Morgan Taylor details the experience of designing and riding their custom road bike. Did they strike the perfect balance, or produce their own Homer car?
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Radical Rigs 01: Dillen Maurer’s “Fall Risk” Custom Full Suspension and “Lil Jim” 1992 Suzuki
Many bike tinkerers often have an overlapping interest in cars. For those of you in this sliver of the Venn Diagram, Paul Kalifatidi presents the Radical Rigs series. Like the bikes you’ve seen on The Radavist, these cars might be perfect. They also might be so far from perfection that they go full circle and become that which they meant to eschew. They might be dented and dinged, they might be muddy and mad, they might even just be rad. In part one of Radical Rigs, Paul juxtaposes Dillen Maurer‘s Baphomet Bikes “Fall Risk” custom full suspension and his “Lil Jim” 1992 Suzuki…
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Monē Bikes SB2 Review: Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’
We talk a lot about the early klunkers, from Breezers to Cunninghams and Ritcheys, but what about the very first MTBs in the US, the coaster cruisers, aka mountain cruisers? These esoteric singlespeeds rely on a coaster brake hub to control their speed and were adapted from old Schwinn newspaper bikes.
Read on as John reviews his coaster cruiser, a Monē Bikes Small Batch Straight Bar, aka the SB2. These bikes are the simplest mountain bike you can ride: No hand brakes. No gears. Big bars. Balloon tires. This is peak coaster cruiser!
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Mid South 2024: Ben’s Not-a-Sklar, Not-a-Tall Bike
Tall as this bike may be it’s not a traditional tall bike, and although it was made by Adam Sklar, it’s not a traditional Sklar. Jarrod Bunk couldn’t resist getting a few snaps of Ben and his quirky not-tall bike at this year’s Mid South. Let’s take a closer look…
Radar
Readers’ Rides: Mike From Brave New Wheel and His Integrated Bender Gravel Bike
This week, we’ve got a well-documented and thorough account from Mike at Brave New Wheel in Fort Collins, Colorado about his new integrated Bender Bicycle Company Gravel Bike. Let’s check it out!
Reportage
Forever Bike: Josh’s Custom Oddity Singlespeed With Ignite Components
Nearly three years ago this week, Josh picked up a custom titanium singlespeed Oddity hardtail that was originally Burnsey‘s show bike for the 2021 Philly Bike Expo. It’s become his most-ridden bike and has been subject to plenty of component swaps over the years, yet it hasn’t been fully documented with a dedicated article here on this site. Josh recently outfitted the bike with Ignite Components and (finally) shares a review and breakdown of the build below, including an interview with Ian Colquhoun of Ignite…
Radar
Take My Mone: The Monē Step Through Cycle Truck
Cjell Mone from Mone Bikes is having fun. Case in point: he just posted up this prototype Step Through Cycle Truck and is curious if he should offer these to the public. Check out the full 411 below from Cjell himself.
Reportage
2024 Philly Bike Expo: Artefact, Básica Estudio, Shovel Research, and Significant Other
Rounding out our 2024 2024 Philly Bike Expo coverage by Brad Quartuccio, we have four phenomenal bikes from the Diversity Scholarship winners, ARTEFACT, Básica Estudio, Shovel Research, and Significant Other, all of which brought very unique and awe-inspiring work. We’re elated to feature some high res images of these on the web! Let’s check them out.
Reportage
Mid South 2024: Eva’s Liberation Fab(ulous) Gravel Ripper
Following up on his 2024 Mid South coverage, Jarrod Bunk is sharing a couple of the bikes from the event that most caught his eye. First up: Eva Kloiber’s Liberation Fab(ulous) Gravel Ripper.
Reportage
Readers’ Rides: Laura and Tree’s Retrotec Tandem Mountain Bike Named “Joy”
Apologies for the delay in delivering this week’s Readers’ Rides, but as you can see, it’s a special one. Tandems are often called “relationship accelerators,” particularly when it comes to tandem mountain bikes! Laura and Tree had Curtis from Retrotec Cycles build them something special… so let’s get to it.
Radar
Chumba Cycles SOCO SL Titanium All Road
As seen in our Philly Bike Expo Reportage today, Chumba Cycles just announced an all-new SOCO SL titanium all-road…