Dustin Klein was at Sea Otter this year, searching for wild custom bike builds and hearing directly from the riders about what makes their rigs so special…
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The Latest
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Rivendell: Jimmy’s Hunqapillar
Rivendell most likely won’t be producing the Hunqapillar again but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a soft spot for these klunkers. One of their customers, Jimmy, had his frame resprayed by Rick at D&D and the outcome is marvelous. See for yourself at Rivendell’s Blog…
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VIDEO: PEdALED – Yama MTB Collection
PEdALED just announced its Yama MTB collection featuring soft tones and hues in short and long sleeve jerseys, pants and shorts, and a riding jacket. Peep the collection video above and see the full Yama line at PEdALED.
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Revelate Designs Nook Frame Bag Review: Cram and Jam
Ever intrigued by various ways to get stuff off his back and onto his bikes, John has been using the Nook frame bag from Revelate Designs on some full-suspension bikes this spring and has a quick review for us today. These little bags are an easy way to shift goods from your back to your bike. Let’s check out more below.
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Saturday Rad Bazaar Finds
Today, we’ve got a fine selection of used goods from the Rad Bazaar, our Group Ride subscribers‘ selling platform, featuring some unique offerings. Let’s check it all out!
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VIDEO: The Slow Lane
Dedicated to slowly exploring the world on two wheels, Pierre Bouchard and Janick Lemieux have covered more than 250,000 KM by bike and spent 14 years in the saddle since 1990…
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Restrap Race Hydration Vest
Hydration vests have been used in ultra-endurance running circles for some time now, but only recently have they been introduced into cycling, specifically bikepacking races. Restrap announced its first foray into vest design with the Race Hydration Vest. Let’s check it out below.
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Inside Line Equipment Shogun Shido Collaboration II
ILE just announced the second collaboration featuring Oakland-based artist Shogun Shido. This line of bags features hand-painted X50 XPAC, which started out as one continuous roll of fabric before being laser cut into panels for each product. The panels were placed at random while maintaining the orientation of the original painting, with drips and splatters cascading down the bags. Each piece is one of a kind, and includes a sewn-in artist label signed by Shido.
Check out the full collection at Inside Line Equipment.
Radar
Gravel Adventure Field Guide: Appalachian Mountain Club Maine Woods Edition
Gravel Adventure Field Guide is excited to announce the release of its first New England guidebook. The adventure guide book company partnered with the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Maine Office of Outdoor Recreation to produce the AMC Maine Woods edition…
Radar
Amidst Speculation About Brand, Kona Posts on Instagram this Morning
Lots of websites are speculating about the future or fate of Kona when its struggles were made very public after the company set up its Sea Otter Classic booth and then broke it down the evening before the show. This led to posts from media outlets, who made bold claims about the brand’s demise. Because we couldn’t contact anyone at the company, we thought we’d leave it be, knowing how the VC-backed cycling world works from personal experience, and then this morning, Kona posted on Instagram.
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Bikepacking Roots: Lost Sierra Route
Photo: Jason Fitzgibbon from his Lost Sierra trip years back here on The Radavist
Bikepacking Roots just announced a bike touring route through one of our favorite locales in California: the Lost Sierra. This area is incredibly remote with only a few small towns sprinkled throughout the valleys found between craggy peaks. You’ll encounter steep double track and ripping singletrack, with alpine lakes and plentiful wildflowers.
Check out the full route at Bikepacking Roots.
Radar
Hydrapak Disrupts Bottle Filtration with Breakaway+
We’ve seen the concept before, but never at this level of execution. Hydrapak’s new Breakaway+ bottle plus water filter comes in two sizes, 30 oz and 20 oz, and looks to have covered all the issues we had about these sorts of bottle filters. Let’s check it out.
Radar
Bike Hacks: How I Made My Custom 85 mm Suspension Fork
Travis‘s Otso Fenrir shows up a lot in his reviews. So does the 85mm-travel Fox Step-Cast 34 he customized for it. We’ve gotten some questions about how he finagled this hack. He’s here to give answers, but not to recommend you try it.
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Race Metal Video Series with Miguel | All About the Beach Club Al Dente Gravel Bike
For the fourth installment in our Race Metal Video Series, Miguel Ovalles gives his first impressions of the Beach Club Al Dente gravel bike and sits down with Teebow from Beach Club…
Beach Club Al Dente Geometry:
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REMINDER! April’s Group Ride Giveaway: A Microshift Sword Kit!
We’re pinging this post back up to the top to remind you to support our independent Reportage by signing up for our Group Ride subscription plan. In doing so, you support this website’s staff and gain access to our Rad Bazaar!
Check this post out for all the information on how to join Group Ride for $6.66/month or $69.69/year.
SIGN UP HERE.
We’ve partnered up with MicroShift to give away a Sword gravel groupset for your bike in either 1 x 10 or 2 x 10 setup for our April Group Ride giveaway! Sign up by April 30th for your chance to win!
Congrats to John from St. George, Utah! You’ve won the Sim Works kit!
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Framework Designs: The Haul All Wald Basket Bag Pre-Order
Australian bag maker Framework Designs just opened a new pre-order for the updated Haul All Wald 139 basket bag ($238). Let’s check it out…
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VIDEO: Esker Cycles Bitesized Bikepacking with Transit Cycles: Tucson, AZ
In the second installment of “Bitesized Bikepacking”, Esker Cycles meets up with Transit Cycles in Tucson, AZ for another mid-week bikepacking mini-adventure. The goal of Bitesized Bikepacking is to highlight just how simple a night away can be.
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VIDEO: Rivendell – The String Test for Bike Flex
“It’s interesting in theory, but when you hit bumps in the road you go up with the bike, and there aren’t any normal riding instances I can think of where you’d naturally mimic what Antonio is doing to this extent and feel the frame flex. Maybe the Clem is slightly more comfortable over rough stuff, but the tires still make way more of a difference in comfort than the flex of the tubing, so don’t read into this too much. If I were choosing between a flex-less Clem with soft tires and a flexy Clem with hard tires, I’d choose the flex-less, soft-tired Clem every time.”
Rivendell‘s Friday newsletter included this nifty video. What do you think about this experiment?
Our take: frame flex is mostly discernible in cornering through rough stuff or powering up a climb.