The Radavist

Our friend Paul Kalifatidi went to MADE and all he bought were keychains. Yep, keychains at a bike show. Continue reading below about these special finds and how they all stack up… 

Earlier this year I was able to spend some time on the Chris King GRD23 wheelset. It was during the tail end of Portland, Oregon’s rainy season and I rode the wheels, photographed them, and started typing, yet I kept thinking about the wheels and have revisited this “short and quick” review many times over. I was just trying to figure out what I was hung up on or why this particular review was so difficult. Even though I had almost nothing but good things to say. Sometimes it turns out that great products are simply hard to talk about.

The GRD23 is Chris King’s first foray into their own “house” wheels. Featuring a FusionFiber rim (we will get to that) with, you guessed it, a 23mm internal width paired to their legendary center lock R45D hubs. King’s design intent for these was for an all-road wheelset or a perfect wheelset for someone who wants to swap between their slightly-plump-road bike and their gravel bike.

Note: since I did the testing and took forever to wrap this up they have followed up with the deeper more road oriented ARD44.

Created by two climbers turned Physical Therapists, Wave Tools Therapy offers two portable soft tissue massage and myofascial release tools that lower the barrier to entry for routine bodywork. Hailey Moore has been using the original Wave Tool for years and, below, shares a brief review on why it and its successor, the Arete Scraper, should be essential for every cyclist.

The new 2023 Fox Float rear shock is not any flashier than its predecessor. In fact, it’s less flashy. Fox abandoned the blue lever’s not-too-hard, not-too-soft “Middle” setting, leaving riders the simple, classic choice between “Open” and “Firm.” Travis Engel loved the idea, and could gush all day about its implications for the future of trail bikes, and how it relates to their past. Now, he’s finally ridden the new Float so he could make sure of it. And he’s talked to some folks at Fox so he could make sense of it.

We like to look at the origins of cycling nomenclature occasionally, dissecting the etymology of certain nuanced terms and explaining their origins. Today, we’re looking at the term “clipless pedals.” Read on for a short but sweet rundown by John…

In our current climate of cycling innovation, where maximizing gear range and number of cogs is top priority for many, singlespeeders are often left out. Teased earlier this year at Sea Otter Classic and available for sale today, Wheels Manufacturing flips the script with the SOLO-XD Single Speed Conversion Kit, which offers a reliable solution for converting both XD and XDR driver-equipped hubs to carrying a single gear. Josh recently received a SOLO-XD kit and, below, outlines the installation process and a review after riding with a “dinglespeed” setup for a couple of weeks.

We love the products Austere Manufacturing is producing in Northwest Washington state. Uriel Eisen’s clever designs have taken a critical look at items you can buy from hardware stores and injected real engineering into the design process, resulting in more robust, longer-lasting products that operate as well as they look.

We’ve been using the Cam straps for a while now on our bike tours and even in our 4×4 buildouts, but today, we’re checking out Uriel’s latest creation: a 1″ Pin Ladder Lock buckle (stainless pins $16.95 / ti pins $19.85). These are meant to replace the plastic ladder buckles found on your bags and packs that can break out in the backcountry.

John took delivery of some early production 1″ Pin Ladder Lock buckles and put them to work on his trusty Realm Crossbody Pack. Let’s check out the process below!

There’s a classic, time-honored technique to help you evenly position your drop-bar brake levers by using a ruler or straightedge. If you know, you know. But handlebars have changed, and the ruler method sometimes won’t apply. So, Travis Engel is here to share a bike hack to help keep the brake lever positions symmetrical on today’s shallow or oddly shaped gravel bars. There’s no ruler involved, but you will make use of some items you may already have in your home office.

A faint kiss of cool air blows across the Southern Rockies here in Santa Fe. That means summer is almost over. This season shift has led me to reflect upon my ERC, or Every Ride Carry, that I’ve been using all summer here on MTB and gravel rides in the foothills and deep into our Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Let’s check it out below…

Today, Shimano released the long-awaited mechanical 12-speed versions of their popular GRX gravel-focused drivetrain. With three 12-speed varieties to choose from (two 1x configurations and one 2x) and a list of desirable accouterments (optional dropper lever, interchangeable derailleur cages, refined wheelsets, updated ergonomics, and more), Shimano is covering a lot of ground in this new generation of gravel components. Josh recently had a chance to click through and pedal the wide range GRX RX820 groupset and, below, details the full product launch along with his first ride review…

This isn’t as much a product review as it is a public service announcement: Every cyclist should have an assortment of 3M Nexcare waterproof bandages at home, and maybe even a couple in your pack. They’re pretty special. If you know, you know. And if you don’t, Travis Engel is here to explain why they’re nothing like the band-aids you used as a kid.

MicroSHIFT’s new Sword group came into Travis Engel’s life at the perfect moment. He had been noticing that his Ratio-12-speed-converted SRAM Force shift quality would degrade quickly, as the cable housing wore and friction increased. It’s a sad side-effect of the Ratio conversion’s decreased cable pull per-shift. Also, the hydraulic brakes had too much dead stroke for Travis’ discerning index fingers. He was looking for something new. That’s when, like the sexy stranger disrupting a rom-com protagonist’s unhappy European vacation, microSHIFT Sword bumped into Travis with a very timely meet-cute.