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!
“Old Man Mountain”
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Reportage
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.
Reportage
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…
Radar
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.
Radar
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!
Radar
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.
Reportage
Prova Cycles: Lean Manufacturing
John and Cari were in Melbourne for a few days following the 2024 MADE Australia showcase, which gave them some free time to visit a couple of shops, one of which was Prova Cycles.
Nestled inside this compact factory, siblings Mark and Kelly Hester build some of the most advanced bikes in the world. This two-person team has optimized production over the past four years, and it’s something to behold…
Reportage
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.
Radar
Hyperlite Mountain Gear Splash Bivy Review
In her review of the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Splash Bivy, Hailey Moore writes about why she prefers bivies over tents and offers her assessment of this featherweight dyneema bikepacking, or backpacking, sleeping kit companion.
Reportage
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…
Radar
Fizik Team Amani and Black Mamba Ferox Carbon and Atlas Gravel Shoes
Fizik has launched limited-edition versions of its popular Ferox Carbon and Atlas gravel shoes in bold, new Team Amani and Black Mamba colorways. To celebrate the achievements of Team Amani, fizik has unveiled two new designs, both inspired by the wildlife of Kenya…
Radar
*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!
Reportage
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…
Radar
Readers’ Rides: Yann from Cycles Khelonys Folding 27.5+ Touring Bike
Yann from Cycles Khelonys sent in the folding 27.5+ touring bike the team displayed at this year’s Concours de Machines, winning them third place. Let’s check out the process and final build below…
Reportage
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…
Radar
Ritchey Introduces the Redesigned P-29er XC Mountain Bike
Previewed in our Sea Otter Classic coverage earlier this year, the new Ritchey P-29er is finally available. After perfecting his concept for a new mountain bike, Tom introduced the first P-29er in 2012. Now, Ritchey announces the latest updated version of the P-29er, the latest manifestation of Ritchey’s deep heritage of mountain bike history.
Radar
The 2024 Rough Stuff Rally Non-Competitive Mountain Bike Festival in Copper Harbor
The Rough Stuff Rally is back in 2024 in Copper Harbor, Michigan and we’ve got all the info you need! Let’s check it out.
Reportage
Switchback Nostalgia: Tracing Old Tracks in the Cordillera Blanca
After seven years, Ryan Wilson returns to the Peruvian Cordillera Blanca to re-ride some of the roads that inspired him to take up bike touring in the first place and explore some new roads around the tourist hub of Huaraz. Come along for a ride in one of the most spectacular regions of the world.