The Radavist

As an anchor for the NorCal cyclocross scene, the Rock Lobster team and their eclectic band of racers, builders, horn players, writers, photographers, and dreamers are here to take you on a journey into the heart of Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships 2023. From riding the tiger to fording the pool of plunder, this story captures cyclocross glory and heartbreak at its finest. From the desk of the award winning SSCXWCTV investigative news team, please enjoy “You Can’t Buy Money With Happiness,” a mixed-media Reportage with weekend narration from Matt Miller, along with photos and video from Josh Becker and Mike Thomas. 

Yesterday, we shared a profile of Rob Roberson that traces his storied bicycle fabrication career from the 1970s to present day. Today, we’re taking a look at seven bikes Rob built during that impressive 50-year window, from early track bikes to road frames and his most recent personal all-road build. There’s a lot of intricate eye candy here, so let’s get to it!

Rob Roberson is an enigma in the handmade bicycle world. Some would consider him “the greatest known unknown bike fabricator” of the American frame building movement. His career, which spans nearly 50 years, puts him among a very small pedigree of builders that have both mass-production experience and have also built custom bikes under their own name without giving up the ghost. Yet, with such a significant trajectory, Rob has remained largely unknown. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring bikes made by Rob and the stories about them. Today, however, Zach Small and Josh Weinberg are honored to introduce you to Rob Roberson. 

Sometimes the most gratifying journeys aren’t a product of being perfectly prepared; rather, they occur when you’re in the shit, working with the wrong tool for the job, and in spite of overwhelming odds, you scrape by. That’s precisely what took place this summer on a supremely challenging bike trip across the great Golden State.

These days, I rarely put up A Day in 10 Photos posts anymore and to be completely honest, it’s not intentional. The way I choose to document for the site has changed in the past few years, focusing more on Shop Visits, Beautiful Bicycles and other randomness. Today however just fit right in perfectly with the old ADi10P format.

The stage: a fraction of the many trails in Santa Cruz. With the idea of an early start out the window, we settled for an early afternoon shred fest. The people, Ibis Cycles, Strawfoot and Brian Vernor. Check out 10 narrated photos below and don’t worry, I shot plenty of photos of that Hunter…

Over a decade ago, Kona helped spark The Mountain Bike Geometry Revolution. Their Process line of aggressive full-suspension models were some of the first to get the “longer, lower, slacker” treatment that is so ubiquitous today. And although the 2024 Kona Process 134 harbors the same rebellious spirit as its ancestors, Travis found it was uniquely approachable.

When Esker Cycles released their new Smokey hardtail, initially in titanium then shortly after in steel, they proclaimed it a hardtail with “big travel for big days.” With a 160mm travel fork and aggressive geometry, is the Smokey a wildfire or does the spark not catch? Find out in Spencer’s review below…

We’ve got a wonderful Readers’ Rides today, that doubles as a review, sent in from our buddy Jason Fitzgibbon, who submitted his UNpaved Cycles Vertigo single pivot steel full suspension. Read on as he supplies a beautifully documented review of this bike…

Whenever we veer into the mainstream by covering a bike from The Big Three, we do it because that bike has something special going on. And the Giant Trance 29 2 certainly is special. Travis spent a month aboard the moderate-travel, moderate-price trail bike. He praised its modern features, sophisticated suspension, and thoughtful spec. It does need bigger brake rotors, but that’s kind of a compliment if you think about it.

On his way to last month’s MADE bike show in Portland, OR, following a weekend in Fairfax, CA, for our premier of the Camera Corner documentary, Josh spent an afternoon with long-time friends of the site – artist Chris McNally and designer Jessica Chan of Tunitas Creative – and documented their collaboration on this month’s Group Ride giveaway item.

Below, get to know the San Francisco-based artist/designers and take a detailed look at making one-of-a-kind Day Totes up for grabs this month for Group Ride subscribers, as well as $150 gift cards from our friends at Ripton.

Today Spencer is digging into the downcountry offering from Spot Bikes, the Ryve. Spot Bikes had a major makeover some years ago and since then have brought to market a number of full-suspension mountain bikes that utilize their intriguing Living Link suspension design. Living Link incorporates a small titanium leaf spring into the lower linkage, imbuing some rather enjoyable riding attributes. To sum it up succinctly, the Spot Ryve has pop – lotsa pop. Combine that with lightweight construction and thoughtful details, and you get one hell of a trail bike, even at only 115 mm travel. Let’s take a closer look…