Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
“Ritchey”
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Chris McNally’s Illustrated Nutmeg Nor’Easter
Sometimes, adventure comes calling.
For Chris McNally that call came from Ritchey when we asked him to tackle the Nutmeg Nor’Easter with nothing more than a rough outline of must-dos and our adventure-ready Ascent.
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Readers’ Rides: Joel’s Bridgestone MB-3 All-Rounder
The MB line from Bridgestone produced some of the most timeless bikes, still in use today. Whether as a basket bike or a drop bar tourer, such as Joel’s. Let’s look at how Joel built this beautiful classic up below!
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Vintage Bicycles: 1992 Retrotec Cool Toob Human Powered Dirt Craft Cycle
Readers of this site might be familiar with Retrotec but what about the brand’s Genesis, or its roots, rather? Bob Seals started Retrotec in the late 1980s after making the Cool Tool. Yet many aren’t aware of the brand’s most unique creation: the Cool Toob Human Powered Dirt Craft Cycle. Read on below for an in-depth look!
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Readers’ Rides: Luke’s Rivendell Atlantis
We LOVE Rivendell. Always have. Always will. And plenty of y’all feel the same. Take Luke, for instance, who just finished a 62cm Rivendell Atlantis build and was kind enough to send in a wonderfully-documented Readers’ Rides for us to enjoy!
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Radar Roundup: Tuloy Ang Laban Collection, 853 Cotic Escapade, Flat Top King Cage, ENVE Ride-Lifestyle, AirBell, Wizard Works and Raeburn, and Win Every Ride
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
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Vintage Bicycles: Ross Shafer’s 1984 Salsa Cycles Custom
I doubt the readers of this website need an introduction to the brand Salsa Cycles, but what about the brand’s genesis? Today’s Vintage Bicycles bike features Ross Shafer, the founder of Salsa’s 1984 Custom. This bike, much like Salsa itself, is riddled with lore, so we pinged the lore meister himself, Tasshi Dennis, to dish out the goods. Grab a bowl of chips and a dish of salsa, and get yourself a big scoop below…
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Radar Roundup: Farewell Atalaya Plus Plus Bag, Mosaic MT-2 Ti Hardtail, Swift Olliepack Seat Bag, PNW Pebble Tool Review, Wolf Tooth Lock On Grips, WTB 40mm Vulpine Grav Grav Tires, and Four Ladies on a Bikepacking Trip!
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
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Radar Roundup: New Otso Voytek Colors, Small Monsters Jersey, Dry Creek Merino Pocket Tee, Pumpkin Spice Latte Holder, Hvala Croatia and How Moots Are Made
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
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Restoring a Classic MTB Part 01: John’s 1991 Team Yo Eddy!
Vintage bikes have always had a home on The Radavist. From shooting Sky’s wonderful collection from Velo Cult, to showcasing stunners in Los Angeles, and basket bike/resto mod conversions in Austin, there’s something about these 26″ wheeled, friction shifting, hand-made beauts that have always caught my eye. Over the past year, there’s been an uptick in the number of vintage bikes we’ve showcased, in part because joining with The Pro’s Closet gave us access to TPC’s Museum bikes, a veritable treasure trove of exciting and influential builds to unpack. Each bike is an earmark in cycling history, each with its unique story to tell. Additionally, I have had the time and resources to work on such restoration projects for the first time in years.
This year, we’ve featured my 1982 Ritchey Tam and my 1984 Mountain Goat, representing what I love about the early 1980s mountain bike design. With flat top tubes, big tire clearance, friction shifting, and geometries still relevant today, the 1980s bikes were more geared toward exploration than the racing geometries the NORBA era brought about. I couldn’t buy one of these classics when I first started riding in the 90s (my first bike was a rigid Gary Fisher Tassajara), but I could always count of Mountain Bike Action and my local bike shop to keep the eye candy in steady supply. Since then, one elusive bike model has remained the apple of my eye: an early 90s Yo Eddy! When Mike Wilk wrote about TPC’s Grello Yo!, it made me nostalgic tailspin.
I casually reached out to Martin at Second Spin Cycles, who had just bought a big Fat Chance collection from out West. I asked if he had a Yo Eddy that would fit me and, as luck would have it, he did. But it needed some work…
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Radar Roundup: Ortlieb Bikepacking Limited Edition Colors, What It Takes to Race the Colorado Trail, Cane Creek el Platino 2 Brakes, MAAP Alt Road, and In Memory of Sule Kangangi
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
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#crossneverleft: How to Throw a Cyclocross Race
Are you missing cyclocross? Maybe it’s February and you haven’t reached your quota of mud in your eye, or maybe it’s June and doing a gravel race is just 7 hours too long – do they even know what a cowbell is in Kansas? Why rely on your local promoter to line the local park with caution tape when you can easily do the same yourself? Organizing your own race is not only more simple than you think, but a great way to get people together and build community!
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Radar Roundup: MKS BM-7 70th Anniversary Re-issue, New Pedal Mafia, Velo Orange Utility Bars, Updated Santa Cruz 5010, Tour de Force, Gravel Ride des 13 Terrils, and a Riv Appaloosa Video!
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
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Readers’ Rides: Michael’s 1991 Ibis SS Drop Bar MTB
The Ibis SS, or “setting sun” was a dirt drop mountain bike offered by the brand. These bikes were built by Ibis as a “semi custom” platform and featured the “LD” stem Scot Nicol designed in the 1980s. Thanks to Michael for sending this one in! Let’s check it out below.
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Engin Cycles Port Royal Crankset Review: A Modern Crank With a Vintage Silhouette
Modern tech, bikes, and components were lost on me over the previous few years. Sure, I talk about all that here at “work,” but in my personal life, I have spent more time looking backward, not forward, with bikes. Maybe it was because all the major manufacturers wanted journalists (if I can even call myself that) to review new gear that wouldn’t hit consumers for another year or so. Or perhaps I felt like there was inherently more to learn from the past than new tech and its marginal gains mantra.
Having spent a lot of time curating a few vintage builds, re-evaluating my own stable, and pouring over old bike catalogs, there’s something about the aesthetic found in the 1980s and early 90s mountain bike components that hits the nail on the head. Be it the eeWings cranks, those nifty Cyber Cranks, or these Engin Cycles Port Royal cranks, what’s old is new again in terms of design silhouette.
When I first saw these cranks, I immediately felt like they were an homage to the first gen M700 Deore cranks by Shimano, which did in fact come in black. (Ritchey Commandos were specced with an all-black Deer Head group!) Yet, the thing I liked about them the most was the slim profile, 30mm spindle, and the fact that Engin Cycles, a framebuilder I hold in deep regard and respect for, machines these in Philly!
I’ve had the Engin Cycles Port Royal Cranks ($575) on my Starling Murmur for a while now and finally have some thoughts I can share with y’all, so read on below for a quick review…
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Alex and His 1987 Bridgestone MB-1 Basket Bike
While we’re huge fans of restored, period-correct, catalog spec vintage mountain bikes over here at The Radavist, there’s something special about basket bikes made from 1980s and 1990s mountain bikes. Hell, it’s not that long ago that we saw Bailey send it on his Rocky Mountain or any of the countless basket bikes we’ve featured over the past fifteen years we’ve been publishing. I’ll always drool over a minty Potts, or my build projects like my Ritchey Tam or Mountain Goat, but there’s something immortal, heroic, and even godlike when it comes to a shreddy basket bike built upon a classic chassis. These bikes continuously live on…
When Alex came to town with his Bridgestone MB-1, we went on a ride here in town, and then, the following day, I photographed his bike. Let’s check it out in detail below!
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John’s 1984 Mountain Goat Whiskeytown Racer: A Fillet Brazed Beauty with Lots of Patina
Last year, while building up a Ritchey frame, I reached out to Martin at Second Spin Cycles, asking if he had any early Ritchey-brazed bullmoose bars. He responded “no,” prompting me to ask if he had any large bikes he was looking to sell. He responded with “actually… yes.”
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Radar Roundup: Chater-Lea Builds, the Swift Industries Olliepack Seat Bag, Duty Now For the Future, Post to Flat Mount, TDR Kit, and Crust TV Episode 1
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…