The Radavist

TPU inner tubes are light, compact, and expensive. So, Travis compared knock-off, RideNow, to OG, Tubolito. It didn’t go well, but why does he still carry one?

Weighing less than 57 grams, the Flextail Zero Pump is the sort of bike camping luxury that’s easy to live with. It cuts the hyperventilation out of sleeping-pad inflation, though a temperamental deflation function had Travis leaving it at home on trips where every ounce counts.

In this Dust-Up, Travis claims 27.2 mm seatposts are symptoms of the gravel industry’s refusal to evolve. Turns out there’s more to it, but he’s still upset.

Travis has been clamoring for a more powerful SRAM brake, and the new Maven is definitely that. But one issue in his first-ride review left him uncertain.

Dropper posts range from 75 to 240 mm, but what if you’re right between sizes? These are our favorite posts that allow you to fine-tune your travel.

This may be the most promising step forward yet in the potential of U.S.-made thermoplastic-style carbon components. We’ve talked a lot about FUSIONFIBER, the carbon rim material used on wheels from Revel and Chris King. And when the engineering team behind FUSIONFIBER launched their own brand, FORGE+BOND, it was positioned essentially as the tip of the spear. It’s who would be exploring what’s possible with this unique material and process. And not surprisingly, their debut wheels were aimed at the high-end carbon wheel market, including models laced U.S.-made hubs from Industry Nine starting at $1,900. But pricing in the carbon wheel game has gotten extremely competitive, so FORGE+BOND has now introduced the much more affordable Shift series to their wheel lineup, offering wheels with U.S.-made FUSIONFIBER rims for $1,250.

Now that Wolf Tooth released the ReMote Drop-Bar dropper lever, Travis compared it to its one good (and three not-so-good) direct competitors.

The bike industry sure thinks electronic components are cool right now. But Travis doesn’t care if the TranzX EDP01 is cool. He cares if it actually works.

In the 17th century, pockets were standalone accessories. So, Travis’s Evoc Race Belt review is technically retro.

The new OneUp V3 dropper post is not wireless! But there’s lots to talk about. So, Travis took it apart, put it together, and even rode it.

As gravel and touring bikes begin to adopt features like bigger tires and dropper posts, it seems that handlebars have been slow to keep up.

Sure, bars are getting wider. But there’s only so much you can do to make them taller. Unless, like the new Ritchey Corralitos handlebar, you build them with a subtle rise and shallow drop. That’s what got Travis Engel interested in trying them out. The hard part would be abandoning the very similar Ritchey Beacon that he’s been using for over a year. So, he weighed the pros and cons of both, and shares his findings.

If you own a car, you change your oil. And not just because it’s part of adulting. Even if you know nothing about engines, you probably know what can happen if you push it too far. Debris will eventually build up, viscosity will eventually break down, and the more miles your car travels in that condition, the fewer miles it will last. But if you own bicycle suspension, the specific reasons for performing regular service may not be quite so clear.

Travis Engel knows a lot more about shocks and forks than he does about rods and pistons, but he doesn’t know exactly what happens when he blows past the manufacturer-recommended 50- and 200-hour service intervals. And like many riders, he pretty much always blows past them. So, he did some research and is here to tell us what we are (and aren’t) risking when we ignore the proverbial sticker in the upper left corner of our suspension’s proverbial windshield.

For those of us who have (or choose) to drive to our rides, there’s always a risk that we’ll leave something important at home. And usually, we don’t realize it until we park the truck, unload the bike, reach over to the passenger seat, and … well, shit. Travis Engel knows this feeling all too well, so he’s got a hack to make sure he always has what he needs, as long as he always has his truck.

After the bike industry woke up from its fever dream of futuristic mag wheels, Spinergy held on for one more go with their fiber-spoked SPOX lineup. Unfortunately, those first-generation SPOX would join the rest of those early carbon wheels to be remembered as educational, innovative, but ultimately failed experiments. But a lot has changed since then. Fiber technology has made huge leaps, and it’s now possible to weave a spoke that is stronger and lighter than steel. Berd spokes have been twisting our expectations for the past year, but Travis Engel was more curious about what Spinergy has learned in the past decades. Their MXX 30 mountain bike wheels, laced with their unique PBO spokes, make some bold claims. Travis spent a couple months on them to see if they delivered.