The Radavist

Here’s the second chapter to the Cold Rolled series:

“Chapter Two of the five-part short film Cold Rolled: Marquette Michigan’s Snow Bike Route, an action documentary from Clear & Cold Cinema, Salsa Cycles and TravelMarquetteMichigan.com. Chapter Two explores the history and progression of winter cycling culture in the adventure-loving Lake Superior harbor town of Marquette, Michigan.

Marquette’s Noquemanon Trails Network has nearly perfected equipment and techniques used to launch its Snow Bike Route, a 15-mile winter singletrack developed for fat tire bikes. The fast narrow trail features flowy terrain, steep descents and large bermed turns. It’s believed to be the first trail of its kind–but more importantly, it’s pretty fun.

Chapter Two features an interview with Marquette, Michigan native and Noquemanon Trails Network volunteer Mike Brunet who led development of the new Snow Bike Route. Archival newscasts, photos and home video demonstrate the long history of winter riding in Marquette that led to development of the new SBR.”

So rad!

And to think, here I was stoked on doing a shallow river crossing this morning and finding a dead deer while out on the fatty. I can’t let my Pugsley see this!

“Chapter One of the five-part short film Cold Rolled: Marquette Michigan’s Snow Bike Route, an action documentary from Clear & Cold Cinema, Salsa Cycles and TravelMarquetteMichigan.com that will explore the history and progression of winter cycling culture in the adventure-loving Lake Superior harbor town of Marquette, Michigan.

Marquette’s Noquemanon Trails Network has nearly perfected equipment and techniques used to launch its Snow Bike Route, a 15-mile winter singletrack developed for fat tire bikes. The fast narrow trail features flowy terrain, steep descents and large bermed turns. It’s believed to be the first trail of its kind–but more importantly, it’s pretty fun.

Chapter One features riding along an ungroomed section of trail that is often packed by foot traffic from Marquette’s active population. This section of trail follows the Dead River and passes under a leaky water pipe that forms curtains of ice in the winter months.”

Today, Tumbleweed Bicycle Co launched a revamp to its Mini Pannier and T-Racks.  The CroMo racks (T-Rack $140 Mini Pannier $150) are lighter and stronger than the previous versions and have improved features. Today, we’re discussing the all-new Mini Pannier Titanium. Weighing in at only 258 grams (confirmed), Tumbleweed’s Titanium Mini Pannier Rack ($400) is a new option, now available, for those looking for an ultralight rear carrier option. John got one ahead of its release and has a First-Look Review below…

All of us here at the Radavist have been on a bike tour at some point. With the proliferation of bicycle touring and bikepacking in the modern bike zeitgeist, many options exist for a “touring bike.” This also means it can be hard to sift through all those options. With bikes that span from the “skinny tire” gravel bikes to the monster truck fat bikes, touring bikes can be whatever you need of them.

We compiled a list of touring bikes and rigid MTBs under or around $2000 to help you find your first or next tourin’ rig… 

We’ll continue to update this list for 2024

Hardtails make the world go round. Especially here at The Radavist. We’ve been long-time supporters of these capable yet simple mountain bikes and as people decide on the “next bike” after reaching the limitations on their gravel bikes, we thought it’d be nice to compile a list of current hardtail models we dig, all under or around $2,000 so let’s get to it!

Following up on the epic Stridsland Beachcomber Origin Story Matias penned for us earlier this month, pre-orders for Beachcomber framesets in both steel and titanium are going live on the Stridsland site Thursday, February 1, at 16:00 CET (07:00 PST).

Matias sent through some fresh photos of his Ti Beachcomber with the custom-sized partial Wit Slingers frame bags he’s offering with the framesets and DANG does it look good.

As gravel and touring bikes begin to adopt features like bigger tires and dropper posts, it seems that handlebars have been slow to keep up.

Sure, bars are getting wider. But there’s only so much you can do to make them taller. Unless, like the new Ritchey Corralitos handlebar, you build them with a subtle rise and shallow drop. That’s what got Travis Engel interested in trying them out. The hard part would be abandoning the very similar Ritchey Beacon that he’s been using for over a year. So, he weighed the pros and cons of both, and shares his findings.

Finding affordable bikes that cost under and around $2000 can be challenging, so we compiled a list with a twist… We’re big fans of metal over here. Metal gravel bikes can be superior to their carbon cousins in many ways, especially if you’re planning on strapping bags to them and taking them out on longer rides, overnighters, and tours.

We get requests all day long for more affordable bikes, and following up with our 2024 Under and Around $2000 Hardtails article, we present our Metal Gravel Bikes Under and Around $2000 post, so let’s get to it!

Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…