The Kona Band Wagon is perhaps one of the most iconic Kona drop bar bikes of all times (sorry Jake the Snake owners) and today we have Juoko‘s build, all the way from Finland, so let’s get to it.
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First Ride(s) Review: QUOC Lalashan Cycling Footwear Collection – Gran Tourer XC, Escape Off-Road, and Lala Slide
Named for the Lalashan Mountain Range in Northern Taiwan, Quoc‘s new Spring footwear capsule builds on their classic Grand Tourer series while introducing two new additions to the product line. Josh Weinberg and Hailey Moore have already logged some miles in the new models and offer first ride reviews of the UK-based designer-adjacent brand’s new Gran Tourer XC, Escape Off-Road, and the Lala Slide.
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Fork Yeah: John’s 1991 Team Fat Chance Yo Eddy!
Before we jump in, let’s take a look back: This has been such a fun process to undertake over the course of the past nine months. For those who are just tuning in, I bought a frame from Martin, owner of Second Spin Cycles, last year after he had acquired a substantial Fat City Cycles collection. Among his lucky haul was this Yo Eddy! in the team lavender livery with rack mounts, a pump peg, and some frame damage.
While the bike was in Rick’s care at D&D for some repairs and a paint respray, I began collecting period-correct parts from various sources. After re-finishing some of them and getting the bike back, I just finished the build this week. Monday night was the maiden voyage of the new and improved Yo Eddy! and I took some glamour shots here in Santa Fe, so let’s check this beaut out below!
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Vintage Bicycles: 1985 MCR Descender
The MCR Descender was a bicycle ahead of its time. It was the first suspended mountain bike and dreamed up by Brian Skinner whose contributions to mountain biking would go on to span the entire sport. On the technology side, Skinner started with the Descender but later led development on innovations such as index shifting, trigger shifters, SPDs, Onza porcupines and Answer taperlites. His first passion in the sport of mountain biking was as a race promoter though, and it was from that passion that the other half of this bike’s name MCR — Mountain Cross Racing —was born.
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Radar Roundup: Gravel Bikes Galore – Team Amani OSTRO, Canyon Grizl CF SL 7 Throwback, Hudski Doggler EVO, Waveform Colors, Recon ADV, Revel Rodeo, and Tour de France Women
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: Globe Haul ST, Backcountry MTB/Gravel Apparel, BTCHN Weird Ass Bars, LOOK X-Track Bronze, Ergon GXR Grips, Support Trails Win an Ibis, and Bike Across America 1965
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: 1983 Mantis XCR – A Rare Machine
A rare machine, this 1983 Mantis XCR tells the story of the then-nascent Southern California mountain bike scene. The movement that grew out of Marin would eventually bring radical and different ideas to mountain bike design the world over. In tandem with founding Mantis Bicycles in 1981, Richard Cunningham’s first production racing mountain bike would serve as a catalyst to the burgeoning mtb scene, and stand in contrast to more traditional Marin-born frame designs. For the next ten years he would relentlessly innovate, exploring geometry, materials and design along the way. Read on for more of Noah Gellner’s words with photos by Joey Schusler…
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All Caps: Testing the ION K-Lite Zip Zippered Knee Pads
For The Radavist’s first ever knee pad review, we had to pick something special. Zippers are pretty new to knee pad design, and Travis Engel’s favorite has been the K-Pact Zip from German brand, ION. But ION recently released the K-Lite Zip, and as the name suggests, it is lighter. But is it better?
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The Dirt is Your Oyster: A Longterm Review of the Otso Fenrir Ti
Over the past few months of riding Otso’s titanium version of their previously-released stainless steel Fenrir, I’ve strayed further into the morass of bike categorization than I ever thought I would, along the way asking myself such snake-eating-its-tail questions as: What is a gravel bike, what is a mountain bike, do modern ATBs even exist?
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Jerod and His Muddy Fox Pathfinder Basket Bike
With Mid South approaching, we were browsing our content from last year’s event when we realized we never posted this gallery. D’oh. At any rate, it’s never too late to share the stoke that District Bicycles brings to Stillwater. Let’s check out Jerod and his Muddy Fox Pathfinder below!
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Spring Ahead: Why Cane Creek’s New Smaller IL Shocks Are a Big Deal
About a month ago, we were fixin’ to publish a long-term review of the Coil IL shock Travis Engel has been running, problem-free, since 2021. But that model is six years old, and we got a whiff of something new on the horizon. And today, we finally get to look and whiff, because Cane Creek just dropped news of the updated Coil IL and Air IL. We’ll break down what’s new, what’s not, and why it matters.
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Long, Slack and Steep Review: Is the Chromag Darco 29er the Best Steel Full Suspension Yet?
Coming off of the REEB SST and having ridden the piss out of my Starling Murmur 29er over the past three years, when Chromag announced its new full-suspension bike, the Darco 29er, my interest was piqued. It’s no secret to readers here that I love how steel full-suspension bikes ride, and it’s been great seeing small brands put in the PR&D on these niche bikes. After some pleading, the fine folks at Chromag shipped me out a stock build of the Darco in size XL, for me to womp around on down in Phoenix while I escaped the ice-capades of Northern New Mexico for a week. Was it love at first flight? Find out below…
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First Look: Crankbrothers Mallet Trail Pedals with Mallet BOA Shoes
Launched today, the Mallet Trail pedals from Crankbrothers are the brand’s most recent entry into the clipless trail pedal category. Situated between the XC/gravel-oriented Candy pedals and their enduro offering, the Mallet E, the Mallet Trail features a lightweight yet substantial platform and boasts features that make it super versatile for a range of disciplines. Josh has been using a pair, along with the Mallet BOA shoe, for a couple of months and provides an overview along with some initial thoughts below…
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Vintage Bicycles: 1987 Doug Bradbury’s Own Manitou
Many different forms of cycling contributed to the development of the mountain bike, including balloon tire bikes, touring bikes, and BMX bikes. Separate from that was the influence of motorcycles, and more specifically off-road motocross bikes. The early suspension fork pioneers — Paul Turner (Rock Shox), Mert Lawwill (Lawwill), Horst Leitner (AMP), and Doug Bradbury (Manitou) — all came from motorcycle backgrounds and knew the benefits of suspension. But before that innovation came about, Doug Bradbury began by building fully rigid mountain bikes. In this edition of our Vintage Bicycles series, we look at Doug’s personal 1987 Manitou…
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Space Race: Why the OneUp EDC Lite and Bontrager BITS Are the Only In-Bike Multi-Tools I’ll Use
The field of on-bike and steerer-tube tool storage hasn’t quite delivered on its promise to finally rid us of our packs and pockets. There are dozens of options out there, and all involve some level of compromise. But maybe it’s time we just accept that. Travis Engel sure has, so he’s here to review the least-bad in-frame tools on the market. We swear, it’s better than it sounds.
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Creative Exposure Pt 2: A WTF-NB Database of Photographers and Videographers
First off, wow, wow wow! The response to our initial release of this list and exposure highlight of the first few creatives was profound and I truly, from the depths of my heart, appreciate it. I built this list with the hopes of it being an outlet used for bringing new creatives opportunities within the industry, a reference point for those who have hopes and dreams of entering into the photography/videography side of the industry and to provide the exposure that these talented individuals deserve.
For those of you who are new here, I started compiling this list back in 2019 after photographing Crankworx and realizing that there weren’t many (if any) other female-identifying photographers/videographers shooting the event. I had known of just one who had attended a conference at the event, but she wasn’t present, at the time, on the field. In the last 4.5 years, I have managed to compile a list of 90 (and growing) women, trans, femme, and non-binary creatives who shoot either photo or video within the cycling industries. And while I am sure there are plenty of names that you are familiar with, it is my hope that this list opens your eyes to at least a few more. And with thanks to The Radavist, there is now a platform that is helping me bring even more awareness to these creatives by highlighting eight individuals each quarter. This list is ever-growing and I will continue to update it as I discover new identifying creatives, however, if you’d like to apply to be on the list, there will be a form at the bottom of this article. Please share this list, print it and pin it to your desk, forward it to a friend, and follow everyone on it! It is up to us as fans of the cycling industry to help spread the word about the talent that helps it function.
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Radar Roundup: Cassette Club Seattle, Sour Made in Germany Pre-Order, 100 Tacos Spicy Stem Decals, Wolf Tooth Echo Grips Colors, Road to Trieste, A Year on Film, and Undertaking
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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Last Call: Renovating the Surly Corner Bar
Released in 2021, the Surly Corner Bar was designed to reorient flat-bar controls into a drop-bar-style configuration. It’s decidedly low tech, with its steel construction and somewhat unrefined ergonomics, but it was too clever for Travis Engel to pass up. He’s owned a pair since they launched, and has a few suggestions if you’re considering dropping in.
