The Radavist

While we all dream about gravel races, bikepacking trips, and riding our favorite trails during road trips, the bike releases keep rolling out for all of us to enjoy these days. At least from the comfort of our home and personal devices. Otso’s lineup is impressive and their flagship gravel bike, the Waheela C, received a new look with new paint colors and graphics, as well as upgraded build spec options for 2020.

The Waheela C is available as a frame, fork, and headset for $2,550, or as a complete bike with Shimano GRX for $3,600. Find it on OtsoCycles.com.

The Waheela C’s details:
-Adjustable wheelbase: our patented Tuning Chip rear dropout system allows the wheelbase to be lengthened or shortened by up to 20mm and the bottom bracket height to be raised or lowered by 4mm. This allows the Waheela C to transform from a confident, stabile gravel bike (in the rear Tuning Chip position) to a nimble, agile option for CX races or local trails with tight corners.
-Giant tire clearance: this bike can fit 700c x 53mm, 650b x 53mm, or 29” x 2.1” tires. It’s a quick bike for racing gravel with a 700c x 35mm setup, and it’s been SO much fun riding snowy townie trails with 27.5” x 2.2” tires over the winter.
-EPS-molded carbon frame: it’s a lightweight bike that’s ready for a quick climb up the next punchy hill or sprinting away from the lead group.
-Inspired geometry: the rider is centered over the wheels for extra confidence and stability, while the longer top tube adds an aggressive, racy feel. Meanwhile, bowed seat stays make for a compliant rear triangle that’ll absorb bumps in the road and give you comfort while you’re spending all day on the saddle.

It doesn’t matter if you want Enduro or XC wheels, Industry Nine’s newly designed MTB wheel catalog has the right wheelset for your staple bike. Each of these newly-engineered and re-designed carbon rims come paired with the new 6-pawl Hydra hub, direct thread straight-pull spokes, and a lifetime warranty. Customize your own design, like Spencer did for his Orbea Loki, or go with jet black at Industry Nine’s ano lab or through your local dealer.

For 2020, Rapha compiled an extensive guide for their men’s and women’s bib shorts, offering something for every rider. It doesn’t matter if you pine for twisting paved roads, or prefer to ride off the beaten path. From the Classic to the Pro to the Explore Cargo, these shorts are designed for every sort of drop bar riding. The women’s Detachable Bib Shots go one step further and add functionality to the age-old problem of nature breaks for women. Most of you are aware of these bib short models, but if you’re not, check it out at Rapha. Honestly, we really wanted to share this imagery from the product shoot more than anything, so check it out below.

With Fox’s announcement of their newly designed forks this morning, they also rang the dinner bell to feast upon these limited edition Heritage Collection forks. Rootbeer, Pistachio, and Battleship are the colors adorning the 36, 38, and 40 forks. These forks are only available in limited quantities and will most likely sell out today, so holler at your local dealer to order one.

For those looking for 32 and 34 news, the step-cast Float 32 received a new crown, but the 34 comes in a step-cast lightweight trail 34 and a 34 trail. The 34 trail seems to be the sweet spot for hardtail and bikepacking rigs, as it now features FIT4 or FIT GRIP dampers, with 130, 140, 150mm of travel options.

Check out this massive product drop at Fox.

Just as mountain bikes experienced a widening of their bars from the 1990’s 580mm widths to the 2020’s 820mm widths, gravel bikes are too in the midst of a widening trend. Think about it, why should you have to ride the same width bars on your rim brake road bike and your gravel bike. Both bikes operate under different conditions. While many are hesitant and there is a lot to consider with this conversation, a lot of people have caught onto this ergonomic trend. Ride Farr recently worked with Nitto to make a new drop bar, the SUPA-WIDE GRVL in three sizes. These bars will be in their stock in May, so stay tuned.

Specs:
-Heat-Treated Alloy
-Available in 3 Sizes – 650 / 700 / 750mm
-31.8mm Bar Diameter
-120mm Drop
-65mm Reach
-20 Degree Flare

Reference Weights:
-Medium ( 650 ) – 385g
-Large ( 700 ) – 400g
-X-Large ( 750 ) – 415g

Endo Customs, the makers of our very own jerseys, has released a “Quarantine Vibes” pack featuring a very real message, “Six Feet Please.” While their face mask three-pack has sold out, the neck gaiters, road and mountain jerseys are still for sale (jerseys ship in 3-4 weeks). Head on over to Endo to check them out.

Like most companies, Thesis Bike invested heavily in preparing for the riding season not expecting a pandemic to take hold of the world. To generate the sales they need to keep their wheels spinnin’ the company has just announced these limited-time offers on their custom builds:

-The OB1 now starts at just $2,799, or $3998 with both wheel packages, when you bring a friend.
-The OB1 AXS now starts at just $3999 (normally $4999)

Those interested can simply drop us an email at support@thesis.bike with your and your friend’s email addresses to get started. And if you’d like to support us in other ways, you can do so by sharing these offers with your gravel-curious friends and communities, on social, and wherever else bicycles are discussed.

Last week, Bombtrack announced their yearly Bilderbuch, a compilation of what to expect from the brand’s dense catalog of bicycles. Naturally, as a brand, they have diversified their line up to meet just about any preference. There are road bikes, disc road bikes, rigid MTB, hardtails, gravel bikes, and classic tourers. Check out preferences and why we have gravitated to them below.

We’ve officially relocated to Santa Fe, after living in Los Angeles for five years, so as you might imagine, it took a while to unload and unpack. Our new office fell through due to Covid 19, so for the time being, we’re operating out of our home, trying to cram it all into our house. Right now, it’s just Cari and I holding everything down, but we finally got the webshop product unloaded and organized so we opened its virtual doors late last night.

If you have emailed us in the past 20 days, or somehow purchased something before we closed it up, we’re sorry about the delay in response. As you might imagine, our hands were full, having to expedite our relocation three weeks earlier than anticipated. We’re packing orders and answering emails ASAP. There is also a bit of bad news, our Spring apparel launch is delayed, with shirts, socks, jerseys, and other products sitting in Covid 19 limbo. We’re not sure when we’ll be able to add new stock. We do however have two products we’ll add to the shop this week, so stay tuned.

To help us sell through stock, there’s an extension sale on all apparel. Use code “ClearOut” at checkout to get 65% off all apparel. This sale will help us keep our contributors getting paid for their contributions during these trying times. If you don’t have money, no worries! Your presence here on the site and in the comments section keeps the stoke alive.

As always, we cannot thank you enough for all of your support over the years. Thank you!

– John and Cari

If you’ve got a 2020 RLT 9 or MCR 9 Niner gravel bike and are looking for some integrated bag options for longer rides, then check out their new bolt-on bags, designed to specifically fit their new model gravel bikes. Included in this product drop are a one-size “bento” top tube bag and a front triangle bag, which is available in five sizes. All of these bags are made from durable, water-resistant canvas, and feature a sealed zipper with a padded interior.

These accessories are anticipated to land at Niner’s Fort Collins warehouse during the week of April 6. Retail pricing is as follows:

Front Triangle bag: $65
Top Tube bag: $25

With everyone being forced indoors, I’ve noticed a lot of traffic going to our older articles, as far back as 2010! I’m sure we’re not alone over here when I say people seem hungry to read about bikes and rides. For this very reason, Bicycle Quarterly has offered up a killer deal. Buy 8 past issues for $50. Head on over to Bicycle Quarterly to see all the details.

Writer Molly Hurford is pleased to announce the second book in her Shred Girls series titled “Ali’s Rocky Ride”, illustrated by Violet Lemay. Here’s a synopsis of this second book in the series:

“In the follow-up to LINDSAY’S JOYRIDE, the Shred Girls reunite at Ali’s home for a mountain-biking training trip that builds up to an elite competition! Even though Ali grew up on the mountain biking with her professional-biker older brothers, she’s anxious. Her brothers always make her feel like she’s not talented enough. Could they be right? She’ll just have to find out.”

If you, or a friend, or a daughter is looking for some riding inspiration, check out this series! You can now pre-order Ali’s Rocky Ride at the Outdoor Edit.

How big of a sale? So big that this Pure Road frame, which usually retails for $2,600 is now on sale for $1,300. That’s half off. The sale applies to complete bikes as well, which have thousands off. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to add titanium to your bike stable, and to help out a small brand keep their lights on during these hard times. To top it off, Why is offering free shipping worldwide. Head to Why Cycles for more.

This is the third layout of the Radavist 2020 Calendar, entitled “Shell Ridge” shot with a Olympus Stylus 35mm film camera in Walnut Creek, CA.

“April’s calendar photo features the cover shot from today’s gallery, captured by Bram De Martelaere. See Bram’s full gallery here.”

For a high-res JPG, suitable for print and desktop wallpaper*, right-click and save link as – The Radavist 2020 – April. Please, this photo is for personal use only!
(*set background to white and center for optimal coverage)

If you have one of Race Face’s Vault hubs on a wheelset and have been eyeing Shimano’s 12-speed system, then today is your day. Race Face announced Microspline cassette bodies for their Vault hubs. You can either buy the body for $95 or choose it as an option on your new hubs. See more at Race Face.

DZR, makers of casual clipless sneakers, just announced the S240 touring boots. These boots offer ankle support, added warmth, and a different look from the brand. The S240 come in mustard (pictured) and navy, retail for $149, and are in stock now at DZR Shoes.

Known for their high end, titanium moto exhausts, Japan’s Yoshimura’s USA branch announced the launch of Yoshimura Cycling and their first product available is their Chilao pedal, which you can now pre-order for $180.

As for what other kinds of products the brand will develop, we aren’t entirely sure but follow Yoshimura Cycling on Instagram for more updates as events warrant.

This one is out of control, as is the press release, and aren’t we a day early for April Fools? Are you ready for this one, penned by the maniacs over in Colorado at Guerrilla Gravity? Read on below.