2024 Bespoked Dresden Part 01: Atherton, Ballern, Black Sheep, Curve, Good Grief, Ingrid, Parsec Objects, Quokka, Rossman, and Sturdy

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2024 Bespoked Dresden Part 01: Atherton, Ballern, Black Sheep, Curve, Good Grief, Ingrid, Parsec Objects, Quokka, Rossman, and Sturdy

This weekend, we’re in Dresden, Germany for the Bespoked artisan frame builder and maker showcase! Below, our 2024 Bespoked Dresden Part 01 reportage features some amazing bicycles and products from Atherton, Ballern, Black Sheep, Curve, Good Grief, Ingrid, Parsec Objects, Quokka, Rossman, and Sturdy. Scroll on down to take it all in!

2025 Rocky Mountain Element: First Ride Review

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2025 Rocky Mountain Element: First Ride Review

The Rocky Mountain Element has been updated for 2025 with a new flexstay suspension design, shaving 350 grams from the frame weight while increasing rear-end stiffness. Despite the lighter weight, the Element remains a progressive cross-country platform that balances efficiency and capability. Read on for Morgan’s initial impressions and photos of the new Element.

Tumbleweed Sunliner Review: A Timeless Mountain Touring Bike

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Tumbleweed Sunliner Review: A Timeless Mountain Touring Bike

The Tumbleweed Sunliner ($3775 complete) continues a long-held tradition of equipping a mountain bike with touring accoutrements. Since the mountain bike’s inception, people have been bolting racks and strapping bags to them, taking advantage of its beefy chassis and wide gearing to pedal deeper into rugged terrain than ever before. John has been riding the Sunliner all year in the Southern Rockies, both unloaded as a trail bike and loaded on camping trips. Read on for his thorough assessment of this timeless touring bike…

Berd Spokes: The Unsung Hero of Olympic Mountain Biking

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Berd Spokes: The Unsung Hero of Olympic Mountain Biking

Half of the medals for the 2024 Olympic mountain biking events were won on Berd Spokes, which is pretty wild for a small company. From a college apartment idea to a company producing a revolutionary type of bike spoke, Berd has climbed up the ranks. Recently, Renee Hoffman and Nick Noethe visited Berd’s factory in Minnesota and, below, dig into the brand’s Olympic success and how they got started.

Bedrock Sandals Release Three New Mountain Clog Color Options

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Bedrock Sandals Release Three New Mountain Clog Color Options

Today Bedrock Sandals releases three new colorways in their Mountain Clog. For those too timid for full-on sandals or those in need of a cozy fall shoe, the Mountain Clog is ideal. 

Bedrock Mountain Clogs feel like an old friend but surprisingly are still young enough to fly free in the continental US. In less than two years they’ve become a staple for many – typically a piece in their footwear kit they didn’t know they were missing but now can’t live without. They are the cozy campshoe of choice, a sturdy hiker for nearly any trail, and even more surprising, a head turner in the current gorpcore fashion moment.

Bedrock Sandals is excited to release 3 new colorways of the Mountain Clog bringing the option count up to seven for diehard Bedrockers and clog curious alike. We’ve added a second nubuck leather option in Driftwood Gray and two new suede leather options in Deep Plum and Ponderosa Brown.

Hike up a steep mountain trail and keep those tootsies protected, find rest beside a crackling campfire and be quite cozy, get a shout-out from that one barista, and feel your ego boost tenfold. Whatever your pursuit or pipe dream, Mountain Clogs are equipped to rip in.

Nubuck Leather Clogs are $175 and Leather Suede Clogs are $160.

Check out Spencer’s long term review if you are clog curious!

Thornhill Bike Launches With the Kitloader 70 Mountain Bike Gear Bag

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Thornhill Bike Launches With the Kitloader 70 Mountain Bike Gear Bag

Thornhill Bike is launching with a presale of the Kitloader 70, a semi-rigid, collapsible mountain bike gear bag made with adjustable dividers and premium materials in Asheville, North Carolina. Read on for a closer look at all of the Kitloader 70’s organizational details and to learn more about founder James Leath’s obsessive quest to craft products that will keep his (and your) rides more dialed.

From Beretta to Bicycles: Tom Ritchey on Investment Casting and 1990 Eisentraut Mountain Bike

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From Beretta to Bicycles: Tom Ritchey on Investment Casting and 1990 Eisentraut Mountain Bike

We’re in a seemingly new era of bicycle framebuilding with the proliferation of 3D-printed components. While this movement might feel “unprecedented,” a similar thing happened with framebuilders in the mid-1980s and into the 1990s with technology borrowed from the Beretta gun manufacturer in Italy.

In what has to be one of our most intriguing Vintage Bicycles articles to date, John hops on a phone call with Tom Ritchey to discuss a rare 1990 Eisentraut mountain bike that Tom had recently acquired and the technology that made it possible.

Morocco’s Highest Peaks By Bike: A Bikepacking Traverse Through the Atlas Mountains

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Morocco’s Highest Peaks By Bike: A Bikepacking Traverse Through the Atlas Mountains

After crossing Spain and climbing the highest mountains in the Al-Ándalus area, the Toubkal mountain presented itself as a challenge but also as an excuse to explore a country in which Sonia and Eloi had not cycled before. They knew that the next step was to change continents, and Morocco’s Highest Peaks were just on the other side of the harbor. What they didn’t know was that they were about to cross a land that would surprise them to an extent that, at the time, they couldn’t even imagine…

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*Feature Film and Photobook Announcement* Camera Corner: Wende Cragg Documents the Birth of Mountain Biking

Photographer Wende Cragg has been a pillar of the cycling community since she began documenting road, cyclocross, and the early days of mountain biking in Marin County, California, and throughout the United States over 50 years ago. We are delighted to launch the trailer for our first feature-length documentary film, Camera Corner: Wende Cragg Documents the Birth of Mountain Biking. It profiles Wende’s work and its lasting impact on the cycling industry.

We’re also unveiling a book and merch pre-order, as well as the beginning of a growing list of film screenings, which kicks off with the world premiere at the Marin Museum of Bicycling on August 16th & 17th and another at MADE’s movie night on August 23rd. There’s exclusive early viewing access, pre-orders for an epic photobook featuring Wende’s work, and an associated throwback merchandise run.

Continue reading below for all the details!

Crust Bikes Scapebot Review: The Yes Man

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Crust Bikes Scapebot Review: The Yes Man

The Crust Bikes “Scapebot” is the third iteration of the original Scapegoat. The frame fits a wide variety of tire sizes and has a unique geometry that is both modern and harks back to the golden age of ATBs. True to form, Spencer has been using this bike as his touring rig for years and decided to put the most outlandish tire clearance claims to the test. Check out his long-term review of the Crust Scapebot below…

2024 Rocky Mountain Instinct Review: A Cosmic Trigger

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2024 Rocky Mountain Instinct Review: A Cosmic Trigger

John likes to review a carbon full-suspension bike at least once a year to challenge his opinions on his preference of chassis material, and this summer’s bike is the 2024 Rocky Mountain Instinct. Thanks to new geometry, details, and a simplified RIDE-4 adjustment, the Instinct proved to be a very capable 140/150 trail bike. Perhaps the bigger picture of this review is John’s ever-questioning of his quasi-religious, cult-like zealotry for metal bikes…