The Radavist

After all the times “roadies” picked on “fixies” over their color-coordinated and sometimes all-white builds, it seems the tables have turned. Ritchey just announced their “Wet White” component build kit.

Ed Litton, a Bay Area framebuilder known for his impeccable lugwork, Rivendell paint, finishing for builders like Bruce Gordon, and period-correct Ritchey restorations, which included building biplane forks, was involved in a cycling accident in Point Richmond, near his workshop. He suffered a serious spinal cord injury. He was taken to Marin General Hospital, the nearest trauma center, and rushed to surgery. Currently, he doesn’t have any feeling from his mid-chest down. He is awake and able to move his arms, but only time will tell of any long-term spinal cord damage.

There’s a GoFundMe set up to help Ed recover his medical costs, so if you have any money you can spare for a living legend, check it out.

For this week’s Readers’ Rides, Jordan wrote an enthusiastic entry on his Surly Troll, a veritable all-rounder. Let’s check it out!

It’s Travis‘s turn to join the Radavist edit crew in sharing his favorites for 2024. His list includes a few products, a few podcasts, the adoption of a new habit, and the return of an old one. 

One tire dominated the market when it came to the mountain bikes of the early 1980s: the Snake Belly. House of Looptail just reissued this classic pattern with the original Japanese tire manufacturer, Panaracer. John bought a set at their launch and has a hands-on look at and review of them below…

Common sense says that dark cycling apparel will be hotter on sunny days. But what does science say? Unfortunately, not much. There’s very little concrete data on the role color plays in keeping you comfortable on a bike. So, Travis did some research, read some papers, and asked some brands to chime in. One of them actually did!

Tyler from BTCHN Bikes has a pre-order running for his titanium bullmoose bars ($480) he debuted at this year’s MADE Bike Show on his Geoshift hardtail. When John saw them, he had to have them and forked out some cash to take a pair home. We’ve got a review coming up next week but we wanted to alert our readership that they do indeed rule, offer just the right amount of flex, without being too springy, plus look the part, even mimicking Tom Ritchey’s OG Bullmoose with just the right amount of shaping/ovalizing on the twin struts.

Specs:

• Made in Chico, CA
• 800mm
• 13° of backsweep
• 50mm effective stem length
• Weight 493 grams
• Pre Order closes Oct 5th. Bars will ship Oct 21st

See more at BTCHN Bikes!

Inspired by the work of Tom Ritchey and the very first production mountain bikes in California, the Stayer Cycles stAyTB project is a collaborative effort with 2nd Life Bikes. The stAyTB project consists of a frame, fork, bullmoose bars, day rack, wheels, headbadge and other bits and bobs all beautifully and somewhat singularly fillet brazed and fashioned in Leytonstone, East London. Let’s check it out.

After riding the PNW Components Coast handlebar for almost a year, John’s got a lot of praise for them, along with a few notes. Let’s check out this short-reach drop-bar below…

Project VA is an annual project from Guy Stone of Relstone Cycles. Each year, Guy builds and donates a custom bike to a veteran, and this year, he fabricated a custom steel gravel bike for Matt. Check out the latest Project VA bike and all the amazing details below with photography from Scott Payne…