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You may have noticed some changes on The Radavist over the past few weeks. Well, it’s because we’ve parted ways with TPC. Read on for TPC’s official press release announcement on the split and what this means for the future of The Radavist with a letter from John Watson below…
Before you even hit the parking lot to test ride a suspension bike, most shops will walk you through a careful sag and damping adjustment. But few of them will tell you that there is a whole other dimension of control inside your fork or shock’s air spring. By inserting or removing volume spacers, you can make your suspension more or less resistant to bottom-out. In turn, that may allow you to run more or less preload. This deceptively simple adjustment has gotten a reputation for being only for racers, or nerds, or nerdy racers. But Travis Engel believes everyone can benefit from volume tuning. So, he has this quick explainer on what it can do for you, and how you can try it for yourself.
After Nic Morales ditched indexed shifters for a friction system, he hasn’t looked back. Below, Nic breaks down the differences between index and friction and explains why he’s excited about bucking mainstream shifting trends towards a life of friction...
Five years ago, I penned a post about abstaining from alcohol for six months. Then, eighteen months later, I followed up with a two-year anniversary piece that outlined my perspective on putting down the bottle… for good.
It’s now been six years since I had any alcohol. In that time, I’ve witnessed more discussions about cycling’s alcohol problem, so I wanted to write again about this subject where I’ll offer guidance on transitioning out of alcohol dependency, non-alcoholic drinks I’ve found to be helpful, and resources you can use to help on this journey…
A few shops have sent this into our editorial team today and we felt like the cat’s out of the bag after months of whispers. This news is sad, as The Radavist has featured so many of All-City‘s products over the years via custom builds and product launches. We’ve long been a fan of the company and as always, it’s a big bummer to see a steel-focused company shutter its doors.
The brand will no longer develop products after 2024 and will be retired in a few years. Check out the full email that QBP, All-City’s parent company, just sent to its dealer network below, edited for public visibility…
Like many towns along the Rocky Mountain corridor, Santa Fe has easy access to endless singletrack that spans many mountainous ecotones. You can pedal from town at 7000′ all the way above tree line to where our bike-legal trails top out at 12,500′, on almost exclusively singletrack.
This dense network of trails is stewarded by our local organization, the Santa Fe Fat Tire Society, and over the years, they’ve been putting in work adding new, legal trails, keeping the current trails running smoothly, cutting deadfall, fixing blown corners, and adding signage in a hope to bridge the various trail users in this community…
No, we haven’t devolved into publishing clickbait articles. And no, we’re not saying a hip pack can be made into a reasonable replacement for a handlebar bag. But Travis Engel has a very clever, very temporary way to get the weight off his back for long boring climbs, and then easily put it back on for quick fun descents. The trick is kinda just for the uphill, it’s a little ugly, and it won’t work on every pack or every bike. But what do you want from us? That’s why they call it a hack.
Our very own Hailey Moore finished the North-South Colorado 2023 race in 9th overall and first place women. She rolled into the 608th mile finish at 1 AM this morning after averaging 160 miles a day. Way to go, Hailey! Rest up and nurse that knee!
With all the talk of Cavendish a few feet from breaking the outright TDF stage win record, then failing, and then crashing out, artist Richard Pool found inspiration in the G.O.A.T. and drew this up. It seems the outright stage win record, will now never be broken. Read on below for an op-ed on why Eddy Merckx will always be the king.
Hope Cyclery, run by our good friends Jarrod and David, in Johnstown, PA, recently had their shop broken into. Everyone knows it’s not easy being an independent bike shop these days, yet Hope Cyclery has been building community and increasing cycling awareness in an area that is struggling.
Hope Cyclery has brought cycling tourism to local businesses through the Higher Ground event and increased awareness of outdoor recreation potential in this post-steel industry setting.
Today, they were broken into and lost inventory while leading a group ride. Already on a shoestring budget, this might break them. We know money is tight right now, but if you’ve been wanting a new, custom build, Hope has a deposit web page set up to take deposits. Or you can browse their in-stock inventory. If you’re curious about what kind of builds Hope offers and what Jarrod has done for The Radavist over the years, check out our Related Archives below.
Let’s give them some love on their Instagram too!
Welcome to the second installment of The Dust-Up. This will be a semi-regular platform for Radavist editors and contributors to make bold, sometimes controversial claims about cycling. A way to challenge long-held assumptions that deserve a second look. Sometimes they will be global issues with important far-reaching consequences; other times, they will shed light on little nerdy corners of our world that don’t get enough attention. This week, John looks at a divisive topic through a historical lens to lay it all out in a column called: “Bike Touring is Not Bikepacking No Matter the Bags Used or Terrain Traversed.”
Read our latest edition of The Dust Up below…
Bike touring gives you a closer look at the land you’re traversing, but that’s not always an inspiring aspect to this way of travel. We’ve all seen the trash-choked road shoulders and littered stream banks as we pass. After learning to fly fish on the Gallatin River and enjoying its waters in southwestern Montana for some 23 years, Sean Jansen decided this time would be different. With a trailer, a few trash bags, and plenty of patience in tow, he sets out on a bikefishing, trash-packing trip in an effort to give back to this river.
Brian Blomerth’s graphic novel Bicycle Day tells the story of the first LSD trip: a psychedelic ride made in 1943 by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann as he sampled the first-ever LSD. Each year, on April 19th, the world celebrates Bicycle Day as an homage to Hofmann’s chemical mixture that forever changed the world of psychedelics.
If you’d like to see an in-depth look at Blomerth’s book, check out this article at The Guardian.
BRB, we’re going on a ride…
When we lost our 2015 image bucket back in 2018, it was a huge bummer but over the past few months, I’ve been digging out hard drives and re-editing some photos, in the hopes of filling in the bigger holes. With this real winter we’ve been having, I’ve had a bit more free time to take a deep dive into the archives and today, I’m sharing one of the most iconic bike finishes we’ve ever hosted…
Check out the most recent Archive Re-Up: Rust Never Sleeps on Sofia’s AWOL Touring Bike.
I should also note that my intent here is only to upload lost photos, keeping the text and formatting intact.
It doesn’t take long to understand why Leo Rodgers is such an inspirational figure in the cycling world, and beyond. After losing his leg to a motorcycle accident nearly a decade ago, Leo found bicycles as a positive outlet and has been spreading good vibes in communities across the world ever since. He’s always cracking jokes and makes riding bikes look the most fun you’ll ever have. Leo was excited about the upcoming release of his most recent collaboration project with BMXer Julian Molina when, the week before Christmas, he was involved in another accident that resulted in a broken neck and paralysis. Continue reading below for a recap of Leo and Julian’s project by James Luedde, video by Stew Johnson, and Jeff Zielinski‘s excellent photoset. There’s also a link to a fundraiser, which will help support Leo and his family during these difficult and uncertain times.
This has been spinning in the rumor mill for a week or so, but today, Specialized emailed all of its ambassadors, announcing their contracts had been canceled. One of the people affected by this was Sarah Swallow, the director of Ruta Del Jefe and all-around bad-ass community organizer. Read on below for what she has to say about it.
After the apocalypse, I’m pretty sure society could learn to rebuild if we just get the Youtube servers back online. When I needed to install a new starter in my Tacoma, Youtube was there. When I needed to safely remove some stitches after knee surgery, Youtube was there. And when I couldn’t wait the six weeks or spend the $200 to have a custom frame bag made, Youtube was there.
Taylor Doyle (she/her) is an ultra racer and founder of the Ultra Distance Scholarship, an initiative increasing diversity and representation within ultra distance cycling and racing. She is a self-proclaimed ‘make-things-happen’ person at the socially conscious bike-builder Stayer Cycles, and always riding her beloved UG. Taylor is passionate about sharing the joys of ultra distance cycling with as many folks as humanly possible and is particularly invested in encouraging and supporting more women/non-binary folks and people of colour to try the sport. Taylor is a Canadian writer and photographer currently loose in the UK, living nomadically and turning up at most UK-based bikepacking events and happenings. After getting frustrated by the amount of single-use plastic she was generating during her first ultra race, she decided to come back the following year and try things differently…
