Search Term – Change
It’s coming! June 22nd is rapidly approaching. Do you know where you’re going for the 2019 Swift Campout? Head to Swift Industries to see who is hosting a Summer Solstice Campout in your city. We’ll be in Bozeman with Alter Cycles and Sklar Bikes. We’ll be doing around 20 miles of dirt road climbing up to Mystic Lake to camp under the Big Sky!
Share your local ride details in the comments and check out some inspirational photos below!
Friday is payday! Spend $10 of your hard earned money for the chance to win a balleur custom bike from Mosaic Cycles, Stinner Frameworks, Argonaut Cycles, Sklar Bikes, and McGovern Cycles! Today is the last day – the fundraiser ends at Noon PST – so head on over to the Builders for Builders fundraiser for more information and check out these dream builds in our Reportage!
Once again, the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship is the beneficiary of Builders for Builders. Bicycle frame builders for bicycle trail builders. The formula is simple and effective! This year at the 2019 Lost and Found gravel race in Portola, California, the Builders for Builders raffle and fundraiser returned, bringing in the five builders offering up the winner of the raffle a decked-out, custom frame of their choice. You have from now until June 7th to donate $10. This donation enters you to win a custom bicycle from your pick of builder: Mosaic Cycles, Stinner Frameworks, Argonaut Cycles, Sklar Bikes, and McGovern Cycles.
Remember last year’s Builders for Builders fundraiser that launched at Lost & Found? Well, it’s back! With more builders this time. Stinner Frameworks, Sklar Bikes, Mosaic Cycles, McGovern Cycles and Argonaut are all building Beautiful Bicycles to be raffled off to raise money for the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship. Each of these bikes are stunning and are one of a kind, so head over to Sierra Trails to buy a raffle ticket and be on the lookout next week for photos of all the bikes to drop here on the Radavist.
Remember our coverage from last year’s Lost and Found? If you missed the Reportage, here’s a refresh. If you wanted to partake in the fun this year, make sure you register for the first of three events in the Sierra Buttes Triple Crown. The Lost and Found Registration opens tonight, Monday, February 18th at 8:00pm PST. The team at the Buttes have worked out a new route too!
Read on below on how you can win a custom gravel bike for $10 featuring ENVE parts and be sure to check out our Builders for Builders gallery on the Related column on the left.
We shoot a lot of bikes here on the Radavist. A lot. From my estimates, including tradeshows, and events like the Chris King Open House, or the Moots’ Employee Bikes, and even the Speedvagen Build Off, we shot 220 or so bikes in 2018. That’s a lot of bikes. A lot of details. A lot of component selection, build styles, and uses. From road, to mountain, and everything in between, noting the permutations that exist in this ever-so-special era in the cycling industry, I really feel like we’ve shown you just about everything you could see this year.
Out of those 220 bikes, I looked at the data in the form of traffic metrics, social chatter, and comments to pick the Top 10 Beautiful Bicycles of 2018. While many bikes had a lot of comments, some had higher traffic or social media shares. Compiling all the numbers, a very compelling list was formed. Not included in this lot are bike reviews, of which Morgan’s review of the Midnight Special and Kyle’s review of his Chubby Cosmic Stallion took the highest metrics from all others on this list. I guess they’re in a league of their own!
At any rate, check out the complete Top 10 Beautiful Bicycles of 2018, in no particular order, below!
“Come to Montana this summer, it doesn’t get too hot, there are no mosquitos, and the mountain biking is awesome!” At least one of those was true and luckily, that’s all that matters at the end of the day. This was Adam Sklar’s invite to a handful of frame builders and makers, welcoming us to ride bikes in Bozeman for a week in an event initially dubbed “Sklar Camp” but later was turned to “Builder’s Camp.” This idea stemmed from the disdain of trade shows and convention centers and a love of riding bikes, something many frame builders just don’t have a lot of free time for. It happens every year at NAHBS, usually Saturday evening after the show has closed and people get a few drinks in them. A lamentation of epic proportions take hold as someone blurps out “Why don’t we just skip NAHBS next year and ride bikes instead?” A few more drinks and a roundtable discussion ensues, resulting in “Ok, yeah we need to go to NAHBS, but let’s make plans to ride bikes this year!”
There are some bikes that deserve more than to be shot at NAHBS. THat’s what I told myself anyway with this bike. When Adam brought his “Sklunker” to Connecticut this year for the show, he asked if I wanted to shoot it. My answer was “hell no! we’ll shoot it in Bozeman instead.” His face lit up since we had only briefly talked about hanging out in Montana briefly and already I was committed. Fast forward a few months and here we are, amidst the green grass and high mountains of this quaint little mountain town.
Words by Adam Sklar, photos from Sklar Bikes, diagrams from Pinion
The Pinion Gearboxes have been around for a long while now but their popularity in Europe is just now starting to break its way into the US bike scene. Last Fall Sklar Bikes started receiving orders for frames built with the mounting system for these gearboxes and as someone who had eyed them for years, with only a little riding experience, I was pretty excited. Being that Sklar builds all custom bikes, it feels great to offer something that is really special and harder to get. These frames have mostly seen use as commuters, “bikepacking bikes” and everyday trail bikes for customers who are maybe less maintenance-inclined or just intrigued by this neat system. So far all of those customers have been psyched on their bikes and I am happy to build with Pinion, though there are certainly pluses and minuses that come with it. At the end of the day, it is pretty easy to overthink a bike, but of course, overthinking bikes is my job and so what follows are my thoughts on Pinion from the perspective of someone who builds bike frames for a living and also spends a whole lot of time riding them.
It’s the debate for the new millennia: carbon or steel for a mountain bike. But what about both? Sure, others have ventured into putting rigid carbon forks on a steel hardtail before, but you don’t catch sight of the reverse too often. Since signing with Specialized to produce his latest hair metal band’s new album on minidisc, Poppi acquired an S-Works Fuse 6Fattie to take on the Baja Divide route. While this was by far the lightest bike he’s ever owned, Bene decided early on that the Öhlins fork wouldn’t cut it for the desert rampage that awaited. As hard as it was to part ways with such a sweet bit of suspension technology, Poppi knew it’d be an issue hauling the amount of water needed for the Divide on a squishy fork with no braze-ons.
Not knowing what to do, he sent psychedelic waves through the internet, where they were received at Sklar Bikes‘ HQ in Montana. From there, Adam and Bene began chatting about a rigid steel fork for what would ultimately become one Romantical Baja Buggie.
With braze-ons for days, US currency as the fork ends and a thrü axle, Popi would be able to haul his extra stuff and still have the compliance offered by steel on washboard roads. The King Cage Many Things Cage and Andrew the Maker bags provided the extra cargo capacity needed. Even though many on the Divide ran into problems with their racks and cargo cages breaking, Bene found the extra time to reinforce his the best he could on the trail with pipe clamps and zip ties. Whatever works for his S-Works! These bags, in combination with his downtube storage solution, Swift Industries Fabio’s Chest front and rear bags on Crust Bikes Leather 66.6cm drop bars, Benedict was able to stuff as many bags of Baja cookies and chips into his bikes’ every crevice.
Now for the biggest bit of technological advancement: His friction shifting SRAM Eagle 12-speed drivetrain. By grinding down the lip on his barcon, he was able to flawlessly shift through all screamin’ twelve gears, making this one of the most unique rigid mountain bike tourers I’ve ever photographed.
So what’s next for Poppi? Well, Nam and he are about to embark on a journey through the Los Padres mountains up to San Francisco for some Rice A Roni before heading back down south to begin his secret training for the Dirty Kanza. If you’re on the road and you see Poppi and Nam pedaling their rigs, be sure to offer up some chocolate – the darker the better – and a high five.
The updated Singular Cycles Kite Titanium is an evolution of the original steel Kite, one of the first gravel bikes to accommodate large tires. Like, really large tires. While the titanium frameset has remained a popular option in Singular’s catalog, the UK-based brand just launched a revised version that features an entirely new titanium fork with 3D-printed crown and UDH-compatible rear dropouts.
Josh, who is consistently interested in testing chubby tire gravel bikes in his home turf of southern Arizona, spotted a prototype Kite Titanium earlier this year at the MADE show. That particular Kite happened to be Singular owner Sam Alison’s personal build, and he let Josh keep it in the U.S. for a couple of months before sending it back across the Atlantic. Read on below for Josh’s impressions of the quick and capable Singular Kite.
Next up in our year-end recaps, Josh shares a list of his favorite products that span an eclectic range from cycling components and apparel to car camping creature comforts and even laundry detergent. He also reflects on a career-defining project, his approach to reigniting creative sparks in response to waning social media interest, and shares some pivotal music and books that inspired him along the way. Read on below for Josh’s favorites…
Next up in our year-end recaps, Nicholas shares a short list of his favorite products for life on and off the bike, as well as a few recommendations for reading and listening…
Sean T. Randolph takes a close look at the Tout Terrain Outback Xplore II hardtail ($6,279), a rugged gearbox- and belt-drive-equipped bicycle featuring the Pinion C1.12 system. If you’re gearbox-curious (and we know you are), read on to find out if this touring mountain bike from Tout Terrain is the derailleur-killer…
Zach Weiss of Zabrina Cycles shares the story of how his apprenticeship at Caletti Cycles grew into a deep professional and personal mentorship after John Caletti suffered a life-altering bike accident. As the torch is passed, both figuratively and literally, the student reflects on how his teacher’s influence shaped his path as a framebuilder and as a person. Take a look behind the welding helmet with Zach…
US-made carbon rim manufacturer ENVE just announced the fifth generation of its M Series wheel line, solving a major Achilles’ heel for people who enjoy backcountry travel. Read on for all the M Series updates and a quick review from John below…
Yesterday we looked Inside and Out of Meriwether Cycles via an in-depth Shop Visit. In that post, we offered a sneak peek at Whit’s production adventure gravel bike, the Ponderosa. John has been riding a prototype all year, providing Whit feedback for the final production model, which we’ll look at it in detail today. Read on for a full review of this tall and sturdy dream bike platform…
Whit Johnson’s handmade bike company, Meriwether Cycles, has been featured here at The Radavist periodically over the years. Recently, John spent a day at Whit’s small garage shop in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains of California and got out on a sunset pedal with him. Read on for a look inside and out of Meriwether Cycles, in addition to a preview of Whit’s new adventure gravel bike, the Ponderosa…
