The Radavist

This Friday, we have a very special Readers’ Rides, supplied by our friends at The Cub House in San Marino, California. This is a good one so let’s get to it!

We Are One Composites fabricates carbon bike frames, rims, and handlebars in North Kamloops, British Columbia. In this immersive shop visit and tour, Pat Valade delves into the brand’s inner workings, looking under the metaphorical hood, to learn about their origins, inspirations, meticulous manufacturing approaches, and quite literally, what makes the wheels go around…

In Chapter 2 of The Witches Cycle it’s October for Vera and Mary. The days are getting shorter and the leaves are turning red as the two witches continue their mission of using their powers to protect the natural world by bike. Find the complete pages of the manga in the gallery and read more from the author, Tony Concrete, on his intention behind creating the series below…

Sun and planet gears, proprietary internals, electronic signals, and precise shifting under load. Those are just some of the topics that John will walk us through in his Classified Powershift Hub for mountain bikes review below…

In this Stooge Speedbomb review, Jason Fuller reflects on our collective obsession with ever-more-complicated bicycle technologies, and what led him to give up suspension for the simplicity of a rigid mountain bike. Beyond the retro-grouches and technophobes, can a rigid mountain bike be more fulfilling than one with suspension?

Following up on “Groove Chronicles” which recently introduced the PAL x SMITH “Crossing Paths” Group Art Show, Matthew Mata-Aguilar is back with the custom Retrotec he built for the show.

The stunning “Always & Forever” truss fork Retrotec is a collaboration with PAUL Components and Ultradynamico, in addition to Jaime of Fabrica de Rosas who helped with the build.

Continue reading below for Matthew’s rundown of this special project!

Last fall Cristina Maristany joined 70 other riders from all over the world in the Sonoran Desert for the Komoot Women’s Arizona Rally designed and hosted by Lael Wilcox and Rue Kaladyte. Over eight days, the self-supported group camped under the stars and overcame the challenge of traveling through remote zones with limited food and water. The total route was over 400 miles (650km) and 25,000ft (7,600m) of elevation through breathtaking Southern Arizona landscapes.

Below, Cristina recaps this spectacular ride with her own wonderful photos, in addition to a gallery from event photographer Ashley Gruber, and a video she produced about the rally….

Iterating on the modern-day classic of bikes and coffee, Hello Bicycle & Cafe offers denizens of Tucson, Arizona, a lovely place to land right off the popular Loop bike path. The cozy cafe is stocked with local pastries and it sits right next to a well-organized shop, offering everything from factory-level suspension service, to complete bikes for purchase. It’s become one of Spencer Harding‘s favorite hangs and he shares a shop visit below…

Announced today, the Revel Bikes Tirade is a 29er, 140-millimeter travel titanium hardtail, unlike anything the brand has offered in the past. With generous tire clearance, beautiful cable routing, and more, it’s clear Revel has used merged its own design prowess, learned through making phenomenal full-suspension bikes, and the re-labeling of its titanium brand, Why Cycles, to force an evolution of the almighty hardtail. Read on for John’s nerdy science talk intertwined with commentary on how hardtails are still having a moment in 2024 below!

After extensive touring through Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Argentina, the only remaining “missing link” in Ryan Wilson‘s Andean traverse was Ecuador. Last year, he met up with fellow cyclo-tourist Joe Sasada to share miles on the dirt-road variation of the Trans Ecuador Mountain Bike Route, an 850-mile mountainous traverse through the country’s volcanic corridor. Read on for Ryan’s introduction to Ecuador…

As much as The Radavist is about bikes, it is also intrinsically linked to cameras and film photography. There is even a whole category of strictly film galleries called Recent Roll that dates back to 2010! We take pride in our photography so it makes sense for us to feature some of our favorite cameras in a series we’re calling Obscura.

This is a reference to the first-ever photographic device, the camera obscura.

Kicking off this series is Kyle Klain, who has a review of his Fuji GW690ii. Fans of film photography will know of this quirky system, so read on to hear Kyle’s take on what makes the Fuji so unique and so maddening at the same time…

Bicycles and coffee go together hand-in-hand. We’ve covered countless shops that seamlessly pair the two and today, Andy Karr takes us inside Gravelo Workshop in Asheville, North Carolina…

Single Speed Arizona (SSAZ) is an annual gathering that takes place every year during the first weekend of February. Part family reunion and part celebration of bikes running on one gear, it moves around to a different hosting location annually and takes advantage of southern Arizona’s favorable weather and exemplary singletrack riding. Josh Weinberg and Chris “Dirty” Reichel were in attendance at this year’s event, which saw a solid turnout of riders and volunteers descend on West Tuscon for a weekend of stout trail riding and (for some) even stouter partying…

Everyone loves dogs and bikes so of course hauling them together just seems right. Spencer Harding recently documented Jesse’s classy vintage Stumpjumper frame, equipped with a Crust Bikes Clydesdale fork, and full cantilever brakes that’s an adept doggo transporter and so much more. Let’s dive into all the fun details and gawk at a cute pupper below!

Nick McIntyre takes us on a mosey through Ireland’s southernmost county on some choice cuts from the Golden Age of 26-inch MTBs. Sharing company with a small group of friends, Nick writes about rolling past stashed-off coves, winding back roads, and an unexpected day making petty bets at the Ballabuidhe Horse Fair after one of the wettest Irish summers on record. It was a given that there would be some downpours to deal with along the way, but these only made the odd break in the clouds all the sweeter. Read on for Nick’s retelling of bike touring in Cork and don’t miss his 35 mm gallery. 

In part two of her Reportage from bike touring in Italy, Hailey Moore writes about arriving in Rome and feeling the weight of history in the Eternal City. She and Anton Krupicka also tack on a three-day multi-sport tour in the Dolomite mountains.

On a recent Radavist Retreat, John and Hailey left their wintery homes to ride the various trails and gravelly terrain down in Phoenix with Josh. While there, John rode the Knolly Tyaughton Steel he’d procured from the brand earlier this winter and spent time riding amongst the Stone Eaters of South Mountain Park. Find out what he thought about this wild hardtail 29er with an even wilder price point ($2,449 complete) below!

During a month-long tour, Sònia Colomo and Eloi Miquel trace singletrack and rough roads en route to summiting the highest peaks in the Iberian Peninsula. Come along for the ride through the backcountry of Spain!