Otso Cycles and The Radavist have joined forces to share a special new Voytek. This is a bike that blurs the line between mountain bike and fat bike. It handles snowy Minnesota trails just as well as arid New Mexico singletrack with its adjustable geometry, versatile carbon frame design, and agile handling. A small batch of frames and complete bikes are now available in this limited colorway, with a portion of proceeds going to the folks at Protect Our Winters to help ensure snowy trails for generations to come. Check out more on this limited edition drop below!
This collaboration has been in the works for two years. We reached out to John for a review of Voytek in 2020 – you can read that review here. It was a bike that he hadn’t ridden, and we felt that it could be fun for New Mexico trails. John obliged and verified our suspicion. The only frame we had in his size was unpainted. We saw it as a blank canvas. I asked John about his preference for paint. He chose the three colors from a thrift shop thermos from the 1970s. The colorway was (un)surprisingly perfect for this bike. We received lots of requests to produce Voytek with those colors, and this collaboration is our response.
Voytek is a bike that we created in 2016 to traverse Minnesota trails in all seasons. This is one of two bikes that began our company (with the Warakin Stainless being the other). We ride it with 26” x 4.0” tires during winter, then swap in 29” x 3.0” tires when the snow turns to dirt. It’s a versatile bike that we choose for afternoon rides, bikepacking, and racing alike. It’s been on Tour Divide, Iditabike, and atop Arrowhead 135 podiums a little closer to home.
The Voytek was designed to meet two very specific needs: it must embody qualities of our favorite hardtails and it must clear 4”+ tires for winter riding. We designed it this way because we didn’t want to compromise handling to run wider tires. A narrow Q-factor is integral in meeting those two needs. With an 83mm bottom bracket, it’s just 10mm wider than a typical mountain bike, while most fat bikes are 30-50mm wider. We also wanted routing for a dropper post, the ability to ride with a suspension fork, and extra mounts for cargo.
Like all Otso bikes, Voytek has adjustable geometry thanks to the Tuning Chip rear dropout. With a quick change in positions, the wheelbase can be extended or shortened by up to 20mm, which also changes bottom bracket height by up to 4mm and the head tube angle by 0.5º. In the forward position, it’s an aggressive, responsive, race-ready Voytek. In the rear position, it has that same intuitive XC-inspired handling, but with added stability to make it easier to ride in deep snow or adverse terrain. The Tuning Chip also has a center position that blends the benefits of the forward and rear spots.
Proceeds from each sale will be donated to Protect Our Winters. We do ride Voytek all year, but it is SO much fun to ride on snowy trails. Winters here in Minnesota, however, have been getting shorter and more unpredictable. The freeze-thaw cycle in recent years has meant that trails that were once covered in packed snow for 3-4 months now fluctuate between snow, slush, mud, and ice. Riding all winter is something that we love. Climate change puts this in jeopardy.
We selected Protect Our Winters to receive a donation because they are working hard to fight climate change. They are a group of athletes, scientists, business leaders, and creatives who are driving policies that are necessary to meet climate goals. The more we can help Protect Our Winters, the better chance we have to save winter fat biking for future generations.
The Radavist x Otso Cycles Collaboration Voytek is available now for pre-order as a frankset (frame, fork, cranks) for $2,930.00 or as a complete for $4,190 on OtsoCycles.com and with any bike shop that stocks Otso.
