The Radavist

It’s tandemonium! Ritchey‘s Break-Away is an industry-leading travel system and this year, it made its way into a tandem, dubbed the TandM. Let’s check this unique offering out in detail below.

You all asked and Sim Works listened. Their popular Super Yummy tires are now available in 26″ x 2.22″. This latest addition rounds out the Super Yummy line to 29er, 27.5, and 26 options, all in a 2.22″ width. The 26″ tires weigh 788g and their robust construction virtually eliminates holes or flats. They’re in stock now at Sim Works USA but will probably sell out quick, so act fast!

In an effort to make their lineup feel more inclusive, All-City has made the move to rename their “Nature Boy” racing frames to “Nature Cross”. These two models will replace the Macho King A.C.E. and Nature Boy bikes. Both of these “new” models feature All-City’s proprietary air-hardened, custom-extruded A.C.E. steel tubing that we developed specifically for riding and racing.

With new paint designs, these stylish machines are rolling on one of the lightest steel production frames in the world and can be used for more than just racing laps. The Nature Cross Singlespeed comes in a blue fade, while the Nature Cross Geared comes in a red, white, and blue splatter fade.

We’re all about adaptive re-use over here and love vintage Wrangler shirts for riding but at the same time we can’t deny that modern fabrics might have an edge over those vintage poly blend shirts. The Club Ride drop this year features the best of both worlds with designs inspired by old Western shirts, made from fabric with four-way stretch built in, as well as UPF 50 protection. These shirts are a 85% Poly / 15% Spandex blend, offering comfort and stretch and the best part is you don’t have to cover your arms with sunblock each ride. I just wish this Gracie shirt (women’s) came in the same design as a men’s but the New West model ain’t bad either. See the entire 2020 drop at Club Ride.

With new pricing beginning at $2,250.00, the Chumba titanium Terlingua gravel bike is closer to reality than you might expect. Of course, as with any frame made by Chumba, you can select various options like pump pegs, Di2 routing, rack mounts, fender eyelets, and so on. These frames use oversized Aerospace Titanium 3/2.5 tubing, 6/4 on the yoke, and dropouts with Paragon Sliding Inserts. Singlespeed, geared, whatever. It just works. With post-mount, flat-mount options, cerakote finishing, and color customizations, you can literally get your dream bike made for less than you’d think, all on a chassis that clears up to a 700c x 50mm or 650b x 2.1” wheel/tire combo.

Specs:
-Made in USA quality
-Oversized Aerospace Titanium 3/2.5 Grade Tubing, 6/4 on the yoke and dropouts w/ Paragon Sliding Inserts
-Clean thoughtful cable routing
-Maximum tire and drivetrain clearances for a wide range of options and mud clearance
-All tubes are heat sunk and argon purged when welded to prevent distortion and material thinning

2020 Terlingua Titanium Model Refinements:
-removed Di2 ports standard (why pay for it unless you need it, we can add this on request.)
-removed lower rack mounts standard (why pay for it unless you need it, we can add this on request.)
-Lowered MSRP
-No other changes, this bike is dialed!

See more at Chumba.

While we’re on the subject, Mark from Chumba wrote a blog piece about framebuilding on their website, don’t miss this one!

While Restrap markets their new Adventure Musette as an accessory bag for bicycle touring, we can’t help but note that packable bags like this reduce paper and plastic bag use. When they’re this small, you can stuff them anywhere. These 70g bags are made in the UK, come in three colors (safety orange, olive drab, and black) and are available for ordering at Restrap for $37.49.

Droppers on gravel bikes aren’t anything new but one brand that has been supplying brands with OE product just went consumer direct. TranzX’s Hot Lap dropper has 50mm of travel and comes in 27.2, 30.9, and 31.6mm diameters. 50mm of travel might not seem like much, but shorter-travel posts are lighter than longer-travel posts, ensure a variety of riders will be able to use them and from personal experience is plenty of added room when descending.

The Hot Lap retails for $129 and is in stock at TranzX, along with their newly-designed dropper triggers.

At this point, we should all be paying attention to what we consume and these days it’s hard to tell what is a good product versus what is good marketing. Make things people want instead of making people want things, right? Companies taking the stand and pushing for sustainable production and also recycling is important. I for one, want products with environmental considerations, that push progression of product design. That’s why the PEMBREE R1V pedals caught my eye. Here’s why:

They are carbon Neutral, including transport to customers.
Materials: All individual components of the R1V are fully recyclable.
Recycling aluminium reduces energy consumption by 95% compared to producing new.
Energy: The Pembree factory solely uses renewable energy from Ecotricity
Manufacturing: All swarf is 100% recycled. No waste to landfill.
Packaging: All Pembree packaging is recycled, can be recycled and is 100% plastic free
Trade In: At the end of life all of your Pembree products will be welcomed back for recycling and you will get a credit on future Pembree products.

These pedals retail for $218 but come with a 5-year warranty. Even if you balked at that price – like I did – it’s good to see the environmental considerations motivating production. See more at PEMBREE.

Long and slack gravel bikes are popping up everywhere. John’s Sklar is a good example, as is the Evil Chamois Hagar, even as polarizing as that bike is, it brought the long and slack ideology to the mainstream. Nordest just announced their Super Albarda Ti gravel bike and it looks like a beast. With a 68º head angle and a longer reach, designed for 50mm to 70mm stems, it’s onto something. Plus, it’s titanium, THE best material for all-terrain riding. Hands down. These frames retail for 1.156,20 € – 1.280,17 € and have a 10-week lead time. See more at Nordest.

Specs:
-Frame TITANIUM Ti3AL2.5V double butted tubing
-Long reach for use 50mm to 70mm stem
-Nordest 50mm stem,include with frame
-Wheels up to 650b 2.10 or 700x50c
-Interchangable dropouts, include with frame
-For 12x142mm thru axle rear hub
-Thru axle 12×1.75mm, include with frame
-For 27.2mm seatpost
-Seatclamp 31.8mm, include with frame
-46T max chainring in 1x or 50T/34/ in 2x
-TR44 head tube
-Weight for M/L size: 1.845 g
-Design for 400mm taper fork with 52mm Rake

Wolf Tooth’s newest innovative product design is its CAMO system bashspider and chainrings. These bashspiders attach to the splined interface of MTB cranks and are paired with a CAMO chainring. This bash guard protects your chainring while maintaining an optimum chainline. Available for a number of crank spline interfaces and in stock now at Wolf Tooth.

The Synchwire-constructed shoes Giro has been developing lately are really looking great. This construction is stitchless, vented, and reinforced. The Rincon is the latest in this new family of footwear. It’s a shoe for MTB riding, gravel riding, bicycle touring, and anything dirty. The Rincon features BOA closure and lots of rubber reinforcement areas for protection. Best of all, these high tech shoes only carry a $150 pricetag and yes, they come in black. See more at your local Giro dealer.

Our summer drop shirts sold out in only a few hours and the same for a few of our sock designs. For that, we can’t thank you enough, so we decided to restock those products plus a lot more. In lieu of the black Eternal Jackal shirt, we chose a Cobalt blue shirt with a bone-white natural ink. The Chamisa and tan Shred Lightly shirt designs are also back in stock.

We also added grey Voile straps, more Yucca and Cloud socks, and finally, those beautiful Buffalo Turquoise Ringtail desert hats!

We also restocked our Nalgene bottles and a few other cycling bottle designs, including the OGOD Radavist shorties, Golden Sunrise Roadrunner, and Big Deserted bottles. Everything is in stock now and shipping this week in our new eco-friendly packaging materials from EcoEnclose.

From everyone involved with the Radavist, we thank you.

Teased last week, announced today, and shipping on October 15th, the newest fork from ENVE is a do-it-all gravel and touring fork. The Adventure Fork features cargo cage mounts, internal dynamo routing, fits up to a 58mm 700c tire, or a 2.6″ 27.5 with adjustable rake and A-T-C measurements. This is the fork everyone’s been asking for and ENVE has listened. What’s the most interesting about the fork is the flip-chip, which adds or removes 8mm of A-T-C measurement and almost 7mm of rake. This is the fork that will break the carbon mold for adventure bikes!

-Molded one-piece design from steerer to drop-outs weighs 575 grams
-Tire Clearance
29×2.1 (700×53) / 27.5 x 2.4
29×2.3 (700×58) / 27.5 x 2.6
-Axle Flip-Chips
55.5mm Rake with 406mm Axle-To-Crown
49mm Rake with 398mm Axle-To-Crown
-Three-Pack Accessory Mounts
-Dynamo Routing for Lights and Electronics Charging
-Lifetime Incident Protection and 5 Year Factory Warranty
-$625 retail

See more at ENVE.

Photo by Bailey Newbrey

… and I’ve been riding one for the past week. The short consensus: it’s gooooood!

Anyone that’s a fan of the legacy of Yeti will know what the ARC represents. The original ARC were lightweight aluminum racebikes and was the epitome of framebuilding tech at the time. Resurrecting the model this year, Yeti took the model and modernized it, building it from their lightweight carbon. Built around 29er wheels and a 130mm fork, the ARC holds its own on trails.

Yes, I’m reviewing the turquoise model… it’s very SouthWestern.

For now, head to Yeti to read all about the new ARC and expect my review next week.

Finally! Kona hinted to us that a “new Honzo” was on its way a little while ago but this is not what we were expecting. The Honzo ESD hit the internet today with a 150mm fork, a 63º head angle and a 77.5º seat angle with 62.5mm bottom bracket drop and 417mm seat stays, the Honzo ESD looks to be a very modern hardtail. The complete will set you back $2699 and the frame just $665, one dollar off from really raising hell.

Specs:
-Frame Material: Kona Cromoly Butted
-Wheels: Race Face AR 30 on Shimano SLX Hubs
-Front Suspension: 150mm
-Fork: Marzocchi Bomber Z1 Grip Damper 150mm
-Crankset: Race Face Aeffect R
-Drivetrain: Shimano XT/SLX 12spd
-Brakes: Shimano Deore with 203mm front/180mm rear rotor
-Seat Post: Trans-X Dropper +RAD Internal w/ Shimano Lever 31.6mm
-Cockpit: Race Face Aeffect R 35 Bar & Stem with Kona Lock-on Key Grip
-Front Tire: Maxxis Assegai EXO TR 3C 29×2.5″ WT
-Rear tire: Maxxis Minion DHR II EXO TR 3C 29×2.4″ WT
-Saddle: WTB Volt

See more at Kona.

This is the eighth layout of the Radavist 2020 Calendar, entitled “Monsoon Skies” shot with a Canon 5Dmkiv and a 70-200mm lens in the Carson National Forest.

“Monsoon skies ascend upon the Taos Valley, painting a picture of what the Pueblo de Taos once gazed upon hundreds of years ago in these sacred mountains.”

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

The mobile background this month is a vertical-oriented version of this photo. Click here to download Augusts’s Mobile Wallpaper.

The second collaboration between René Herse tires and Lael Wilcox has hit the stock shelves. The Oracle Ridge is road-centric knobby and a dirt-ready road tire, it’s up to you to decide. At 48 mm wide, the Oracle Ridge is between a gravel race tire (38 mm) and mountain bike volume (55 mm). If your gravel bike just barely won’t fit a 55mm tire, chances are it’ll fit a 48mm. There are three casings available now at René Herse.

The Standard casing is a more affordable option that also offers extra protection against sidewall cuts on sharp rocks. The Extralight casing takes the performance, comfort and feel of your bike to an entirely new level. The Endurance casing is reinforced for extra sidewall protection and puncture resistance, while retaining most of the speed and comfort for which Rene Herse tires are famous. See more at René Herse.

All City’s newest road model, the Zig Zag has two new build kits this year, a 105 with blue fade paint and this insane “Sunset Glow” model, laced with Ultegra and Whisky Parts. The geometry remains the same but with an upgrade like that, we’re not complaining. Head to All-City to see more.