The Radavist

Over the years, we’ve all really strived to make the content and the characters here on the Radavist unique. It’s been a slow process, but as I’ve just spent a week sifting through the site’s archives from 2016, I can honestly say this has been our best year yet. These year-end recaps are always a joy to collate, as it allows everyone here at the site, as well as the readers to look back and relive some our favorite moments.

2016 was busy. Very busy. In fact, the archives are almost twice as long as the previous year’s, which were almost twice as long as the year’s prior, making editing the site’s content into a digestible post challenging. We’ve omitted bicycle reviews and Beautiful Bicycles for obvious reasons, leaving only ride, travel and shop visit Reportage as the meat of the gallery and storyline. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did and I’d like to thank everyone for making this site, well, rad! That includes you, the readers and the commenters. I couldn’t ask for a better community.

Before things get too sappy, read on below for the Radavist’s 2016 Year in Review.

Tasmania, or Tassie for short, has long been on the list of places I’ve wanted to visit my whole life. Even as a kid with his nosed pressed in nature magazines, the landscape, flora and fauna of this island inspired many daydreams about trekking throughout the backcountry. Over the past few years, trips to Australia came and went, never allowing the extra time to explore this island, its roads and tracks. Each time, locals would say, “mate, you’ve gotta go to Tassie next time!” Everything I’d seen made it look like an exceptional place to ride bikes and with a handful of newly-opened mountain bike parks opening, I began to make moves…

The touring bike goes in and out of fashion quite often, but has always been something special in my book. A bike that can carry everything you need to live, smoothly and reliably across the open roads of America will always be the perfect bicycle to me and the people who ride them will always be the most interesting to talk to. The bicycle tourist may be the one that keeps the great American story teller alive. You’ll find eccentrics, artist, musicians, dirtbags, and all types of bike punks zigzagging their way across the world on these bikes and I think this is what originally drew me to the Bikecenntenial and vintage bicycle touring memorabilia.

South African Dirt and the Karoobaix

Photos and words by Stan Engelbrecht

On the third morning we came across two kudus, dead, and partially eaten. During the intense drought in the area over the last months, many animals had been breaking through fences to get to this dam, only to find it completely dry. In their search for water, these kudus tried to cross the dried dam floor, and got trapped in two mud sinkholes. They must have struggled there for days, before dying of thirst and starvation. And maybe something had started eating them while they were still alive.

It was a stark reminder that the Karoo is a dangerous and remote place. This semi-desert region near the Southern tip of Africa is known for its searing beauty, but also its harsh and unforgiving environment. Get caught out here without water or shelter at the wrong time of year and it can be the end of you.

Well, we’re here in Los Angeles, after four days of pedal to the metal driving down Highway 1 from Portland to Los Angeles. The Pacific Coast Highway is one of the nation’s most popular bicycle touring routes and unfortunately, that also means it’s one of the most popular RV / Camper / no-clue how to drive windy road tourist destinations.

While John was in NorCal, working with Whit from Meriwether Cycles on the Ponderosa project and Shop Visit article, he managed to document Jay from Nevada City-based You Bet! Bicycle Sales and Service‘s custom steel 140 mm hardtail 29er. We reached out to Jay to see if he’d be willing to pen the story of how this bike came about and he delivered one great write-up. Let’s check it out, along with some stunning photos below…

Gideon Tsang has spent the better part of his life admiring and collecting bicycles designed by Grant Petersen. From early Bridgestones to current Rivendells, the bicycles designed around Grant’s ethos of moving mindfully and enjoying the ride have always resonated with Gideon. Enjoy this firsthand account about a bicycle collection that came and went, and the story behind Gideon’s dream bike: a rare 26″ Rivendell Atlantis 2.

The Synergistic Combination: The Bridgestone Stable

The story starts in 2007 – a full decade since I had last touched my Bontrager Race Lite. My friend Lee handed me an old Bridgestone catalog.

The first page I turned to featured Pineapple Bob eating a banana, wearing a cycling cap, riding his Bridgestone RB-T with a musette over his shoulder. In the same catalog, I found Bob tucked into an aero position on an orange XO-1 with mustache bars. I was smitten at first sight.

Over the next few years, I amassed an impressive Bridgestone collection, starting with an XO-1, which led to an RB-1, an MB-Zip, and, the hardest to hunt down at the time, Bob’s RB-T. By 2010 I had a solid Bridgestone stable. It was time to take the pilgrimage to visit Bridgestone’s offspring, Rivendell Bicycle Works.

The Wizard of Riv

I flew from Austin to California and hopped on a train from San Francisco to Walnut Creek, where I took my MB-Zip off the bike hook. As I mounted my Zip, a beautiful blue bike with a front basket and a large saddlebag zoomed past me. It was the wizard himself, Grant Petersen.

I finally caught up with the wizard as he arrived at his warehouse. Grant was kind and generous with his time. They were building a darkroom in the back of the Rivendell warehouse and he showed me around. He recognized my name from Flickr and gave me my first in-person photography critique: “I can’t tell if you’re a really good photographer or a really bad one.” Fair enough – like anyone starting out, my photography ratio was more bad than good.

He set me up on a Bombadil with a map secured to the stem with a magnet and told me to come back before they closed.

A couple of hours later, I returned with a big smile on my face, told him I loved his work, and proudly relayed that I owned four Bridgestones. With a mischievous smirk, he said, “Why? One Rivendell is better than four Bridgestones.”

I hopped back on my MB-Zip and headed to the train station. Am I a bad photographer or a good one? Is one Rivendell better than four Bridgestones?

Grant’s Greatest Hits

Later that year, I bought my first Rivendell frameset – a custom-painted Rambouillet with S & S couplers.

That Rambouillet is the only bike I regret letting go of. I’ve been trying to find those Spécialités TA Carmina Cranks for the last five years.

In 2014, my Sam Hillborne was born. That was my gateway to the fine pairing of the legendary Campy 10-speed Ergopower with 8-speed Shimano hack.

In 2016 I acquired a Hunqapillar. I had desired such a bike since I felt the magic of the Bombadil six years earlier. My Hunq became my go-to touring and bikepacking horse.

Finding Atlantis

In 2022, I sold my entire stable (gasp!) to travel the world. Upon returning, it was a no-brainer that if I had just one bike, it would be an Atlantis. I prefer the shorter chainstays of the earlier models and, in particular, wanted the 26” Atlantis 2 with the larger clearance. After quite a bit of searching, I finally found one in New Haven, CT.

As much as I love the Atlantis, the greenish-blue color of the inside of a Russian submarine wasn’t part of my earth-toned palette preference. I got in touch with Rick Stefani, a painter and friend of Rivendell in San Francisco, and had it painted a dark metallic brown. Sorry, Grant!

I worked with David Ross of Meteor Bikes in Austin to craft a build around a 1X Shimano XTR 950 crankset, which required a custom chainring made in Poland by Garbaruk, along with a NOS XTR HP-M900 headset that David magically sourced.

Ladies and gentlemen, I may not know if I’m a good or bad photographer, but I do know this: one Rivendell beats four Bridgestones any day. This is my Atlantis, photographed by Alex Roszko.

Build Spec:

• Frame and fork: Rivendell Atlantis 2
• Crankset: Shimano XTR M950
• Chainring: Garbaruk XTR M950, 36T
• Rear Derailleur: Shimano XTR RD-M9000
• Cassette: Shimano XTR M9001 11-Speed 11-40t
• Headset: Shimano XTR HP-M900
• Levers: Paul Love Lever
• Brakes: Paul Motolite
• Wheels: Crust 26” All Nighter
• Tires: Ultradynamico Mars Race, 26” x 2.2”
• Bars: Nitto Albatross
• Grips: Brooks Ergonomic Rubber Grip
• Saddle: Brooks Cambium Saddle
• Pedals: White Industries urban platform pedals
• Seatpost: Nitto S65 Seatpost
• Stem: Nitto Crystem 3 Stem, 120 mm
• Quick release skewers: Paul Components
• Bottle Cages: Nitto R

A lovely build for a lovely human. Learn more about Rivendell at their website, and be sure to read Grant’s Blahg.

What happens when a logo flip sticker becomes a sorta serious part-time hustle alongside a full-time hustle of slingin’ pots from the edge of the Great Basin Desert? You get Campandgoslow, a brand for which our readership needs no introduction. When Cari and John were meandering back to Santa Fe from the MADE Bike Show, they dropped into the Campandgoslow HQ. While there, John got a sneak peek at the new Campandgoslow Trout Bar Tape, released today, and some of Casey’s personal bikes. Check out this inside look into your favorite bar tape brand below…