Los Angeles has no shortage of inspirational athletes. Skate legend Eric Koston and Justin Williams of L39ION of Los Angeles recently worked on this video for Specialized in Silverlake while talking bikes and sneakers…
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Radar
Readers’ Rides: Quinn’s Wraith Fabrications Paycheck
Wraith Fabrication made some really slick bikes in the years they were building frames. It’s not too often we see them, so when Quinn sent his over for a Readers’ Rides feature, we dropped everything. Check out a short write up by Quinn below, along with many more photos…
Radar
Readers’ Rides: Sepie’s Breadwinner B-Road
For today’s Readers’ Rides, we look at Sepie’s beautiful Breadwinner B-Road. Read on below for words and photos by Sepie!
Radar
OG Rock Combo Commercial
A reader posted this video in the comments of yesterday’s Reportage on Liam’s Rock Combo and it’s too good to not share here on our Radar. Enjoy!
Reportage
Big in All the Right Ways: a Review of the Kona Sutra LTD 29er Touring Bike
I’m going to nerd out here. Fair warning. When I see a bike like the Kona Sutra LTD hit the internet, I feel mixed emotions. Part of that has to do with my love of the now-dead “adventure” category Specialized launched a few years back, beginning with the AWOL. I had some good memories on that bike and it feels like eons ago. If you remember, this was around the time people started calling bicycle touring “bikepacking”.
The AWOL was a touring bike in the sense that it had rack mounts, clearances for, at the time, big tires and it came specced in both its Poler and Trans-Continental limited-edition build kits with racks and panniers. Sounds like a touring bike to me! While this isn’t an article about the AWOL, I can’t help but see the face-value similarities between it and the Sutra Unlimited, or LTD for short.
Now, the AWOL came out in 2014, and in these past six years, a lot has changed in the touring or bikepacking world for me but one thing remains constant: I love fat tire tourers, and the Sutra LTD really impressed me. It pulled at all the heartstrings…
Radar
Readers’ Rides: Matt’s Drop Bar Disc Converted 1993 Stumpjumper
We’re very stoked to kick off 2021 with this very unique build from Matt for our first Readers’ Rides of the year. Read on below for Matt’s words and a full build list!
Radar
Lael Rides Alaska 2021 Femme-Trans-Women’s Scholarship
In the summer of 2017, Lael Wilcox rode all of the major roads in Alaska, totaling 4,500 miles on mixed pavement and gravel. Lael is fourth-generation Alaskan. This is where she began endurance riding and her goal to get to know her home state.
In 2020, Lael went back to Alaska with her girlfriend Rue, a photojournalist, to ride together and document her project of riding all of the roads.
This scholarship is intended to enable another woman to design and ride her own 1,000 mile Alaskan adventure in the summer of 2021. This scholarship is open to a woman (including femme, trans and non-binary) of any age with any level of bicycle touring experience. We are looking for positive energy and a strong desire to experience the remote roads of Alaska and have some fun.
The recipient of the scholarship will receive a Specialized Diverge bicycle, Revelate Designs bikepacking bags, PEARL iZUMi apparel, a premium subscription to Komoot, Easton wheels, a Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM GPS, Big Agnes camping equipment, Rene Herse tires, a year subscription to Bicycle Quarterly, Trail Butter, and a $1,500 travel stipend provided by Easton.
Prepare a digital application based upon the questions on the following page and send to Lael Wilcox and the selection team at laelridesalaska@gmail.com no later than February 6, 2021. Provide your responses as the text of an email. The recipient of the scholarship will be announced April 5, 2021.
The scholarship selection team includes Lael Wilcox, previous scholarship recipients Kailey Kornhauser and Brooke Larsen, Abigale Wilson from PEARL iZUMi, Cari Carmean from The Radavist, and Natsuko Hirose from Bicycle Quarterly.
Head to LaelWilcox.com to apply for this scholarship!
Radar
Readers’ Rides: Michael’s Granville Burly Road Sunset Fade
This week’s Readers’ Rides comes from Michael in Vancouver, BC. His Granville Burtly Road with a beautiful Sunset Fade graces our website this Friday morning. Enjoy!
Reportage
Bailey’s Rocky Mountain Hammer Basket Bike
The almighty basket bike. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Doesn’t need flashy components. Just build it out for practical uses… like wallrides!
Earlier this year, Bailey got the idea to convert this older Rocky Mountain Hammer frame into a basket bike. His intent with the bike was to have a no-nonsense, do-it-all beater that he could lock up anywhere and not worry about it. Yet, because it’s Bailey, there was a twist to this bike’s use…
Reportage
Sturdy Progress: Inside / Out at Sturdy Cycles
Andrew stops mid-sentence, pauses, “ooooooh!…….. Oooooh…. oooooh!” his pitch rises to a maniacal school child giggle of surprise and wild childlike delight, like a two-year-olds first taste of cake. Visceral and uncontrollable joy. “Tom!?! Is this a prototype or is this a FUCKING!…. ok…. That’ll do it!” a long pause of wild-eyed observation glancing desperately around the room, eyes hungry for an affirming reaction but forced to settle for Tom’s grinning but nonchalant response of “yea, they’ve gotten lighter as well”. Another longer pause as dust from Tom’s stoic “yogi bear” response settles, a mumbled and affectionate “asshole.” The recording tapers off into minor expletives, mumblings, and the low noises people make to indicate affection for bits of metal when they’re together in sheds.
Radar
Soil Searching: Dillon Osleger
Fires aren’t going anywhere in California. Soil Searching founder, Fanie Kok, shares this intimate profile of Dillon Osleger, a man building a conservation movement that has us all thinking about how to protect what we have now instead of rebuilding once it’s already gone.
Radar
The 2020 Chris King ‘Not So’ Open House Video!
The 2020 Chris King ‘Not So’ Open House brings together a group of the very best bike builders and bike brands to showcase the brand’s new colors and products for 2021. Each of the ten builders being featured stepped up to produce an amazing bike that showcases the new additions to their new color offering (black with gold infill text and gold!) There are also some great edits from brands like Yeti and Specialized, so see those below!
CKPC had a lot of fun putting the video edit together, so enjoy!
Radar
Speaking of Thru-Axle Rack Mounts: Robert Axle Project’s Cargo Thru Axle
Riding a hardtail on a bicycle tour requires some problem solving, particularly if your bike doesn’t have rack mounts. Like the Specialized thru-axle we posted yesterday, which uses a Syntace thread pitch, the Rober Axle Project’s Cargo thru-axles solve this problem, yet RAP offers various thread pitches and axle widths. They also make various axles for hauling trailers. Head on over to Robert Axle Project to see more!
Radar
Welcome to the Golden Age of Mountain Biking
Specialized launched their new Stumpjumper EVO line today and with it, another banger of a product video.
Reportage
Readers’ Rides: RJ Rabe’s Sequoia Basket Bike Build
For this week’s Readers’ Rides, our friend RJ Rabe shares his vintage Sequoia townie build in a high res gallery…
I don’t know much about this particular Sequoia before it came into my life. Beyond that, it lived in the rafters of my friend Austin Horse’s New York apartment before I brought it back to California some years ago. You can see the sticker from the shop that originally sold it on the seat tube, with the protective film somewhat intact.
Reportage
Yeti ARC 29er Hardtail Review
We’re big into hardtails here at the Radavist. While my personal bikes are all steel, riding carbon bikes can be a real treat, especially when the company has put so much thought into the design.
Yeti has a long history of designing capable and attractive bikes. The original ARC was a collaboration with Easton and the intent was to make a truly lightweight machine in that era. The OG ARC’s aluminum frameset weighed a mere 3.2lbs, which was a groundbreaking accomplishment for 1991 and those bikes are still iconic, even today.
You could say Yeti had a lot riding on this new ARC design and there were a few decisions that set this new model on a different trajectory from its predecessor. After riding this bike for a month here in Santa Fe, I’ve finally wrapped my head around how to review it, pointing out its accomplishments and my own personal critiques of this entirely new model, so read on for more…
Radar
The Roval Alpinist CL: Performance to the People
Roval’s newest wheels are an ultra-light 1365 gram wheelset, which is even lighter on your wallet. The Alpinist CL pairs the lightweight climber’s Alpinist rim with the bombproof DT Swiss 350-series hubs and gossamer DT Swiss Aerolite spokes.
Alpinist CL Highlights:
-Carbon, Clincher (tube-type) / Rim Depth: 33mm / Rim Width: 21mm internal
-Hubs: DT Swiss 350, CenterLock, Sealed Cartridge bearings, DT Swiss Star Ratchet internals, 12mm thru-axle compatible, convertible to Quick Release. Shimano HG freehub.
-Spoke Count: 24 front, 24 rear
-Spokes: DT Swiss Aerolite T-head
-Nipples: DT Swiss Alloy Pro Lock Hexagonal
-Front Spoke Pattern: Two-cross/Radial (2:1) Rear Spoke Pattern: One-cross/Two-cross (2:1)
-Hand-built
-Weight: 601g (f) 764 (r) 1365g (set)
-MSRP: $1600
-Extras: Roval padded wheelbag. No-Fault crash replacement policy. Lifetime warranty.
Available at Rovalcomponents.com and Roval/Specialized Retailers
Radar
A Living Legend of Cycling Has Lost his Home and Workshop: Let’s Give Him a Hand
Chuck Teixeira’s lifelong passion for riding is equaled only by what he has done to advance the sport. He embodies the ingenuity, craftsmanship, and dedication that we strive to achieve, and he has been instrumental in making cycling better for all of us.
And now Chuck needs our help; his home is gone. The CZU August Lightning Complex fire has ripped through the Santa Cruz mountains, destroying dozens of buildings, incinerating tens of thousands of acres and displacing tens of thousands of people. Chuck’s home was one of those that burned to the ground, only ashes remain. The sweat and blood he poured into building his mountain refuge is gone – reduced to smoke and embers. His scores of rare and vintage bicycles – a rolling museum of cycling’s evolution and a living archive of his inventions and innovations – reduced to melted metal and plastic. His hand-build hotrods – each representing thousands of hours of meditative hard work – charred beyond recognition. Beyond the tangible, and all the more devastating, Chuck and his wife Debbie lost the dream of spending the rest of their lives together in the sanctuary they built.
