The Radavist’s Top Ten Readers’ Rides of 2023

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The Radavist’s Top Ten Readers’ Rides of 2023

Our favorite posts each week come from you, the readers of this website! Back in 2011 we launched our Readers’ Rides feature and every year, we like to look back at twelve months of submissions and see what resonated with people the most. Well, this year we saw a huge uptick in vintage restomods being submitted and it says something that the number one entry on this list was just posted a few weeks ago! Let’s get to it…

The Radavist’s Top Ten Beautiful Bicycles of 2023

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The Radavist’s Top Ten Beautiful Bicycles of 2023

We’ve got over 17 years of Beautiful Bicycles in our archives and each year we like to look back at the previous twelve months of coverage and decipher what you, the audience, liked the most. To do this, we look at the page views for each and every Beautiful Bicycles gallery. Then we look at comments and internet chatter. Once we cull all this data, we’re left with a solid list of bikes. We love compiling this data as it helps us determine what bikes you like to see the most and thus, informs what bikes we document in the future.

Without further ado, let’s get to it!

Fat Tires in a Skinny Frame: John’s 2012 Bruce Gordon Monster Cross

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Fat Tires in a Skinny Frame: John’s 2012 Bruce Gordon Monster Cross

“It’s just a bike.” The late Bruce Gordon built bicycle frames to enhance his customers’ lives. Through all my interactions over the years, up until his passing in June of 2019, he would take praise for his work, but would always end the conversation with: “It’s just a bike.”

To talk about this bike in particular, you first have to know Bruce. Who he was, his ethos, the mythos, and what he brought to the “g” word: gravel. Bruce was making fat-tire road bikes for a long time. Long before many. He developed tires, toe clips, and helped foster an entire movement of makers in the Petaluma, California area and beyond.

But just like that, he was gone, and he left behind a legacy…

The Radavist Not So Serious but Kind of Serious 2023 MADE Bike Show Awards

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The Radavist Not So Serious but Kind of Serious 2023 MADE Bike Show Awards

Best. Best. Best. All the subjectivity, all the time. The era of the NAHBS awards is long gone. No more medals given out to the same four people, year after year. Instead, we’re looking at the most subjective, most obscure, and most ridiculous to dish out a playful, in jest best list from our 2023 MADE Bike Show coverage. Read on below for the best road, best gravel, best mountain, and more…

Archive Re-Up: Benedict’s (Ronnie Romance’s) Clockwork Dirt Droooop Tourer

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Archive Re-Up: Benedict’s (Ronnie Romance’s) Clockwork Dirt Droooop Tourer

When we lost our 2014-2015 image bucket back in 2018, it was a huge bummer, but over the past few months, I’ve been digging out hard drives and re-editing some photos, in the hopes of filling in the bigger holes.

2014. What a wild time. I was living in Austin, TX and connecting with individuals who would become some of my best friends. From Matt and his prototype Crust Bikes Evasion to Benedict, aka Ronnie Romance, and his Clockwork Dirt Drop Tourer, some of my favorite bike and personality moments came from that era. Today, in conjunction with Bené’s Blue Lug post, I wanted to re-up this classic photoset, so enjoy!

Benedict’s Romantical Clockwork Bikes Dirt Droop 29er

I should also note that my intent here is only to upload lost photos, keeping the text and formatting intact.

Dope Tubes: Jonny Pucci’s Custom Roberson 650b Gravel Bike

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Dope Tubes: Jonny Pucci’s Custom Roberson 650b Gravel Bike

Wrapping up our coverage (for now) that showcases the celebrated work and career of San Diego-based framebuilder Rob Roberson, today we take a look at one of Rob’s most recent builds – a custom gravel bike for his friend and co-worker Jon Pucci. Rob and Jon worked together for years in Joe Bell‘s storied paint shop and conspired together for a chunk of that time planning what would become Jon’s dream bike and one he could adorn with an equally fitting paint job. As with all of Rob’s builds (and Jon’s paint, too), there’s a lot to take in so let’s get to it!