The Radavist

Enter day 05 of nothing but Alpine mountain biking with Mission Workshop. My body is still sore, almost a week later and all I can think about is how much fun we all had. The morning was cold, damp and silent, save for the cow bells that somehow echoed through the valley all night, barely being muted by the drunken Swiss wine-tasting party that erupted outside my open hotel window.

Lyle and I awoke at 7am and ate breakfast with Stefan (owner of Stilrad Zurich) and Alberto. 7:30am we rolled out into the misty mountains. From the onset, today was supposed to be quite easy, with a few technical sections and one nasty, nasty climb. At this point, the extra rain clothes and merino base layers I brought became a burden. Every ounce of extra weight in my backpack seemed to pull me back down each climb. Not to mention the 5Dmkii and 24-70mm lens… But hey, that’s my job right?

We made it out just fine, save for a few spills, a few flats and loose legs. All I could think of was drinking a sparkling water and a Radler… 30 miles and 4,000′ of climbing at altitude, on a MTB is no joke.

Check out more narrated photos in the Gallery!

Side note: I want to thank everyone who made this trip possible. Stefan, Alberto, Mission Workshop, Santa Cruz Bicycles and anyone else who helped us out along the way. THANK YOU!

The Swiss Alps. When those words first crossed over from my mouth and finally registered with my brain, all I could think was “can I really do this?” It wasn’t the physical challenge I was worried about, because like most people, riding like that is a mental game for me. Confidence yields zero constraints.

After hitting the mountains hard the few days leading up to our journey (don’t say adventure), I began to loosen up, but riding the Blur TRC didn’t fit in the confidence > constraints equation. I’ve always been more comfortable on a 29’r… Luckily, Rudy from Santa Cruz Switzerland hooked it up with an XL Tallboy LTC – now we’re talking.

We began our day with the most expensive cup of coffee I’ve ever had (Zurich is pricey), before heading out to the general vicinity of Klosters and eventually, Davos. This section of the Alps is steep, very rocky and very technical. Well, once you traverse the easy hiking trails and climb out of the valley up a 22% grade road. Yeah…

I went over the bars twice, which was to be expected and managed to double flat but surprisingly I made it out in one piece.

I’ll do my best to shift through the linguistic cassette in the Gallery, which, I might add, was one of the hardest to edit down in the history of the site. See for yourself why!

For the past seven years, Scott and Dickon from Santa Cruz have spent their post-Eurobike recovery in the hills and mountains of the Black Forest, just outside of Freiburg, Germany. Coincidentally, when Lyle from Mission Workshop and myself had a few extra days laying around before our Alps tour began, they invited us to join them.

That meant traveling from Glarus to Freiburg, before heading back to Zurich on Wednesday. That meant a lot of driving but surely it would be worth it. All the details and accommodations were made. Scott and Dickon knew were to stay, where to eat and were mostly familiar with the trails… What other reasons did we need? Back to Germany we go!

Yesterday morning, we engorged ourselves with one of the best hotel breakfasts I’ve had before beginning our journey. I suited up in the new Acre gear, tuned my bike and hopped off through town before we all found ourselves in a tower of switchbacks up and out of the valley.

The Black Forest is a sacred place, filled with lore and mythology. While we saw no Slender Man, or nymphs, I could feel the presence of something the whole day and it wasn’t the eggs from breakfast… Nature still owns the forest. The trees hummed and resonated with the wind. If you break yourself off here, there’s no telling what would happen to you once the sun settled in for the evening.

After a mild case of “lostness” and bordering on bonking, the whim to “take the other trail” turned our planned 3-hour jaunt into an 8-hour expedition through the absolutely stunning trail system. Some were extremely technical and steep, while others were fast and smooth. Then we hit the backside of Kandel with its fast, steep and rocky descents. We all wished we had pads…

We got a taste of everything and for me, the technical, rocky terrain was just a teaser for what awaits in the Alps. The total for the day was about 35 miles and 4,900′ and today, my legs are thanking me.

Check out some narrated photos in the Gallery!

Since I was one of the first people to try out the new Mission Workshop / Acre gear in China, the guys felt that it might make sense to give it a go in the Alps, where Lyle and James have spent the summer shredding. Part of this is also to familiarize myself with the new Acre Hauser pack.

Once Eurobike was over, we left Germany to spend a day in Switzerland. So, after a week of travel and tradeshows, we decided to take to a local trail system here in Glarus. Man, it felt amazing to get the heart pumping and the legs warmed up.

Even though it was only a 10 mile ride with 2,400′ or so of climbing, it was some of the steepest trails I’ve ridden and to think, the best has yet to come. Tomorrow, we head to Freiburg, Germany to ride with the Santa Cruz crew.

Check out more from the first day of the Mission Workshop Acre Alps Trip in the Gallery!

Navigating the Lost in the French Maritime Alps – Ty Hathaway
Words by John Watson photos by Ty Hathaway

The French Maritime Alps are riddled with the remnants of man’s conflict of bygone eras. With the most recent being the Italian invasion of France in WWII. The Battle of France took Italian troops over these very mountains as they lay claim to Benito Mussolini’s demands for a ‘surplus population’. Or, in short, simply expanding the Italian empire.

As it goes with war, many souls are lost, leaving nothing but the roads, paths and man’s ruin…

The founders of Mission Workshop began their love affair with the bicycle on mountain bikes in NorCal, so naturally a hydration-compatible trail pack was bound to sneak its way on their already diversified line. As part of the new Acre sub-label, the Hauser trail pack doubles as a pack and a small backpack for urban riding / commuting.

For it being relatively small, the Hauser packs a lot of detailing. Expandable compression straps will hold a helmet, pads or jackets and the expandable roll top increases capacity. The bag itself is actually separate from the harness, allowing for air circulation through the perforated shoulder straps and back pad.

Dual hydration reservoir access points allow nozzles to be routed either way, or you can run two. Unzip the center to find a removable tool roll that doubles as a travel case for just anything you can stuff into it. Two side pockets fit gloves, flasks, tools, pump and other on-the-run necessities.

Top it all off with a Made in the USA, lifetime warranty and you’ve got one solid contender for trail packs.

I’ll be testing this bag in the Swiss Alps next week and will return with more field photos!

Available colors:
Grey, black, blue and Multicam (limited)

Sizes:
Large 750-800 cu in (12L) – $225
Small 600-700 cu in (9.8L) – $200 – shown

Check out more detail photos in the Gallery!

Over the past few years, the mountain bike industry has been gradually dialing up the pricepoints on their carbon full suspension offerings. It’s relatively easy to walk into a shop and see complete rigs toppling the $5k mark with an XT kit, or $10k with XX1 and ENVE. That or coming in a hair shy.

For what it’s worth, the technology you’re given at the high end is a lot more merited than the high end road market. Or at least in my opinion. In short: you get a bigger bang for your buck dropping $5k on a MTB than you do on a road bike (custom market excluded). There are more moving parts, more technology and both help achieve the ultimate squish.

XT, XTR, XX1 are all worthy groups for a rig like the Yeti SB95c. Topped off with your choice of Rock Shox or Fox forks and shocks, you could come pretty damn close to the ever-elusive perfect ride.

Recently, I was loaned a top of the line Yeti SB95c 29’r to rip through some local trails here in Melbourne, thanks to My Mountain. While the terrain wasn’t as nearly as gnarly as my last outing in the Alps, they proved to be ideal testing grounds.

Now, what on Earth would I have to say about this bike? Keep in mind, this was one of many high-end 29’r I’ve gotten to put a few hours on in the past year… Giving me a bit of perspective as I shop for one of my own full sus rigs.

Check out my full review below and more photos in the Gallery!

In the world of high-end, performance mountain bikes, Santa Cruz wears a crown. Maybe not as a ruler of all, but most certainly the world of the 29’r. When the Tallboy was first released, it was widely praised as the first 29’r that actually exceeded expectations.

I’m not a jealous person, but I must say, Lyle’s Tallboy LTC is one balleur bicycle. With a component list like Chris King, SRAM XX1, Rock Shox 150mm Pike and even that stubby Thomson MTB stem, this bike has seen it all. Well, as far as the Trans-Provence, Swiss Alps, Chamonix and riding in Åre, Sweden for the whole summer shooting the Acre line is concerned. The dude and this bike are living the dream.

After quite a few emails, requesting detail shots of this bike, I took a few minutes to shoot some photos prior to our ride in Glarus… Check out more in the Gallery!

The Kosciuszko Alpine Classic is just a name I came up with for a ride I did with my two good mates, Ben and James. We had organised a week off work in late October to go and spend some time in the Australian Alps. The route would see us riding primarily through the Kosciuszko National Park, taking in the wild brumby infested Long Plain, then going up and over the highest rideable trail in Australia, and also along some of the newest and flowiest single track built in the region. It was going to be classic!

No Reception in Northern California
Photos by Michael Armenta, words by Brian Larson

There’s never a perfect time to escape. Chores, obligations, monetary deficits, or priorities—it seems the doldrums of the day to day too often take hold with gripping force. We can’t always hop on plane to the backcountry of the Chilcotins or ride ribbons of trails through the Alps; sometimes planning a trip can seem more complicated than landing a rover on Mars.

And in some instances even more so.

But on the rare occasion a trip can manifest itself without a formalized plan or strategy. The right players show up with the right gear and seem to have a rare abundance of time to spare. It’s like watching ripples forming from the wind blasting a sand dune. From a seemingly chaotic environment comes a perfectly organized pattern: from entropy emerges order. We’re not going to pretend to understand it, but that is what happened with this trip. A few emails were sent to a handful of folks and almost magically we were standing speechless in awe of Northern California coastal viewshed. No itinerary, no schedule, no obligations, and no reception.

Look, none of us are exactly stoked on how consumer driven our world is. It should be about the ride, or the experience you get from being on a bike with friends, not who has the newest product or component. Yet, unfortunately to some, it is. To some extent anyway. Over here at the Radavist, we’re aware of this conundrum, but we’ll always try to steer you in the right direction when it comes to products. Remember, buy local when you can! You’re local bike shop needs you.

Check out some of our favorite products of 2014 below. Just try not to end up with an empty wallet, ok?