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Over the last eight years, Ryan Wilson has been traveling all over the world by bike on an extended tour and has learned plenty of lessons planning trips along the way. Below, Ryan dives into some of the most frequent questions that people ask when they’re looking to plan their first bike tour.
Initially released in the mid-aughts, the Singular Cycles Swift was one of the first bikes to embrace 29-inch wheels, which, as we now know, became a highly popular size during the proceeding decades. Still, nearly twenty years later, the Swift endures. The frameset has undergone multiple updates over the years, with the most recent incarnation featuring elements true to its roots, like thin steel frame tubing, eccentric bottom bracket, thicc tire clearance, and reasonable pricing. Yet the MK5 version, launched in late 2023, finally gets internal dropper routing, tapered headtube, boost spacing, and thru axles.
When Josh swung through Portland, Oregon, earlier this year, he picked up a Swift test frameset from US distributor Biciclista and outfitted it with choice parts from generous partners like Ingrid, Chris King, and Paul. A longtime fan of plus tire bikes, Josh reviews the Swift after a few months of riding on his home trails in southern Arizona. Is this 29+ suspension-corrected rigid bike still relevant in 2024? Read on to find out…
The Pinion Smart.Shift gearbox offers electronic shifting for instantaneous engagement, eliminating the soft or sluggish feeling found with the grip shift Pinion systems. Yet this system isn’t as perfect as it’s marketed, and John found one critical shortcoming during his review period…
Pedaling 1,400 miles from the highlands of Arizona to the plains of Kansas for a gravel race might not seem like the ideal lead-up to a long event, but ultra-endurance bikepacker and regular Radavist contributor Kurt Refsnider was convinced that taking the long way to Unbound was a journey worth pursuing. Join Kurt and Kait Boyle on an off-road ride to the world’s premier gravel event in Emporia.
Going into this year’s Unbound Gravel, someone asked Hailey Moore why she was lining up. Turns out, after a bit of thought, the answer was more complicated than she’d expected. Read on as Hailey writes about gravel’s bittersweet growing pains and her motivation for toeing the line for the fourth time in Emporia.
Travis’s praise for the Forbidden Druid may occasionally seem hyperbolic. As if he’s exaggerating the thrills offered by a particular trail in an effort to convince you that it’s totally worth the climb. We understand why that would be a little off-putting if you’re reading this for objective buying advice. It’s hard to trust a bike review that sounds like a Happy Meal commercial. But whenever Travis talked about the Druid, it sounded like some sort of Greek myth that could defy the laws of nature … See? Now he’s got us doing it.
Even if you’ve never given the phrase “carbs per hour” a second thought (or a first), Hailey Moore would bet that all cyclists have a shared performance goal: we want to feel good while riding. And while performance-focused sports nutrition brands like Skratch Labs have largely catered to the carb-counting crowds, the science of nutrition underpinning their products can still be applied outside of the controlled confines of racing—to bikepacking, randonneuring and other unsupported adventure riding—when nutrition goes rogue. Hailey sat down with Skratch Labs dietitian, Colette Vartanian, to talk about gas-station fueling strategies, the magic of chocolate milk and if drinking ‘Trash Juice’ is actually ok. Read on for an unconventional conversation about cycling nutrition.
After seven years, Ryan Wilson returns to the Peruvian Cordillera Blanca to re-ride some of the roads that inspired him to take up bike touring in the first place and explore some new roads around the tourist hub of Huaraz. Come along for a ride in one of the most spectacular regions of the world.
The Reaper lineup of bikes from Rocky Mountain utilizes many of the brand’s popular features from its adult-sized siblings but in smaller versions for growing younger riders. Featuring dialed kinematics and adjustable RIDE-9 geometry, the Reapers–which include 24″, 26″, and 27.5″ wheeled models–are designed as ripping platforms for kids with the same Rocky Mountain DNA as the rest of the storied Canadian brand’s lineup.
Last year, Josh brought in a Reaper 26 for his now twelve-year-old son Holden to ride on their loose and chunky southern Arizona trails. Holden also used the bike to race his first XC season with the Arizona Cycling Association’s Youth Development League.
If you have a young rider at home and are curious how this bike fit, handled, and held up for Holden over nearly nine months of extended use (and abuse), continue reading below…
The last 20 years have seen seismic changes to brick-and-mortar businesses of all kinds, especially bike shops, yet Mock Orange Bikes endures. Mock Orange and its owner, Charles Van Isenburg, have remained a pillar of Winston-Salem, NC’s bike community for two decades with a relationship-driven, neighborhood-oriented, very much offline, and old-school way of conducting retail business.
On one of his frequent swings through his native North Carolina, Andy Karr stopped by his favorite hometown bike shop to chat with Charles about what’s changed in 20 years of owning a shop and what hasn’t.
During his sojourn to Northern California in April, John Watson wanted to document one framebuilder in particular whose work had caught his eye. John Fitzgerald has been building elegant custom steel bicycles under the name Fitz Cyclez for just under two decades, yet he tends to fly under the radar. He doesn’t attend the big bike shows, and he’s not really interested in marketing his brand. But as anyone who’s seen a Fitz in the wild can attest, his work speaks for itself – and his work is seen often throughout Sonoma County and the greater Bay Area, thanks to Fitz’s popularity within the randonneuring community.
To tell the tale of Fitz Cyclez from the eyes of a local, John Watson tapped Santa Rosa’s own Nicholas Haig-Arack to interview John Fitzgerald. Take a peek into the world of Fitz Cyclez.
The inaugural Rez Gravel was held in February of 2024. Founded by tribal member Elisha Bishop, the event consisted of 68, 26, and 13-mile courses through O’Odham tribal land near Casa Grande, Arizona. The event weekend also included a pre-ride dinner, campfire, and sharing of culture and history by Akimel O’Odham leader, singer, artist, farmer, and teacher Robert “Bobby” Stone. Don’t miss Erik Mathy’s unique photos and background on this new event below…
From snow to sand, wildflowers, and close encounters with a rattlesnake, John’s been putting the Cotic FlareMAX Gen5 through the wringer for his in-depth review on this made-in-the-UK short(er) travel, metal full-suspension bike. Read on for his full take on how less is more with the FlareMAX’s design below…
With a seemingly endless array of dirt roads scattered throughout the Peruvian Andes, it’s easy to see why it has become a favorite destination for bike travelers like Ryan Wilson. During his latest trip to the country, Ryan looks to connect the northern city of Cajamarca to the Ancash region along some rarely traveled dirt tracks through the Sunchubamba Game Reserve. With little information about this zone to be found online, read on to find out how it went.
Rob Roberson has had a storied career as a bicycle builder for over fifty years and, until relatively recently, despite his incredible craftsmanship, he’s flown under the radar. A few weeks ago, Rob’s longtime friend and colleague, legendary painter Joe Bell, organized a party at his paint shop that was part Roberson retrospective (with nearly a quarter of Rob’s 100ish custom bikes on display) and part celebration of San Diego‘s cycling community.
Josh stopped by the festivities on his way home from Sea Otter to document this momentous event. Check out the full gallery from the party below, including detailed looks at several bikes on display.
Peter Georgallou might be the last person ’round these parts you’d expect to test an all-mountain/enduro full-suspension mountain bike like the steel single-pivot SRD prototype from Sour Bicycles but that’s what makes his review so interesting. Continue reading below as Petor dives head-first and in-depth into a new-to-him world of riding in addition to a preview of some exciting things to come from our friends at Sour…
When downcountry isn’t enough, and all-mountain is too much, there’s probably no safer bet than a 140 mm bike like the new 2024 Canyon Spectral. But that’s the problem. These are not precision instruments, nor are they unstoppable eaters of worlds. To stand out, a 140 bike has to either cast a very wide net or have some very clever tricks up its sleeve. After a couple months with the new Spectral, Travis discovered it does a little of both.
After a two-year hiatus and a mission to find a new event location, Ruta Del Jefe relocated from Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch in Arizona, US, to Cuena Los Ojos in Sonora, México. The 2024 event was nestled in the hills of Cuenca Los Ojos conservation ranch just south of the Arizona border, straddling the line between biomes, states, and countries.
While the event was, of course, a weekend full of riding bikes across beautiful terrain, it was also infused with workshops, informative presentations, bird walks, dancing, coffee, chocolate, and incredible local food.
With its redoubled focus on advocacy, community, and stewardship, Ruta Del Jefe stands out among the myriad cycling events these days as a singular experience. Make sure to check out our mega gallery and multiple perspectives from this impactful event below in both Spanish and English…
