2024 Bespoked UK Handmade Bicycle Show Part 01: BTR Fabrications, Clandestine, Condor, Craft Bikes, Sour, Sturdy, Ted James Design, Hex Components, Tailfin, and Buxumbox

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2024 Bespoked UK Handmade Bicycle Show Part 01: BTR Fabrications, Clandestine, Condor, Craft Bikes, Sour, Sturdy, Ted James Design, Hex Components, Tailfin, and Buxumbox

With both 2024 Bespoked UK and MADE Australia taking place over the same weekend, we’ve got an action-packed week of event recaps ahead. First up, Josh is in Manchester, England, reporting from the historic Victoria Baths with the first group of stunning bikes and products from BTR Fabrications, Clandestine, Condor, Craft Bikes, Sour, Sturdy, Ted James Design, Hex Components, Tailfin, and Buxumbox. Let’s dive right in below!

Sour Bicycles SRD Steel Full Suspension Review: A Rolling Prototype

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Sour Bicycles SRD Steel Full Suspension Review: A Rolling Prototype

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…

History of Mountain Bike Evolution Show: Bicycle Taxonomy

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History of Mountain Bike Evolution Show: Bicycle Taxonomy

John spent last weekend in Santa Cruz catching up with friends, riding some tacky dirt and checking out the History of Mountain Bike Evolution Show at Santa Cruz Bicycles, put on by Doug Hatfield, Velo Cosmos with Team Old Soil. The show spanned the evolution of the mountain bike from the 1940s through the Syndicate Racing Team’s World Cup DH machines.

Below, John hones in on the evolution of cruiser bikes to klunkers and the genesis of the Marin County “Mountain Bike” and shares a jam-packed gallery of bikes and hangs…

Bikepacking Roots: Ranchita Rambler – Anza Borrego Bike Touring Route

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Bikepacking Roots: Ranchita Rambler – Anza Borrego Bike Touring Route

The Ranchita Rambler covers the high and low deserts in one go, with epic landscapes, the best mom-and-pop resupply shops you could ask for, and camping in a designated Dark Sky community.

This route is perfect for exposing mountain bikers to touring and bicycle camping but also fun and adventurous enough for the seasoned rider—it’s short at 57 miles long, has breathtaking landscapes, offers resupply and camping options with amenities, and supports rural communities via low-impact tourism.

See more at Bikepacking Roots.

Fair Bicycle Daily Hook

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Fair Bicycle Daily Hook

Yesterday we shared Fair Bicycle’s Drop Best, which allows Reverb dropper post owners to adjust their seatpost’s offset. Today we’re sharing the Daily Hook, a cargo buckle that utilizes an inner tube to make for a universal strap. Use it for commuting, touring, or even around your home. Anywhere you’d normally use a cargo strap. Fair sells the Daily Hook either as a complete strap from a re-used inner tube (CHF 64) or just a pair of buckles (CHF 58) – VAT included. Roll on over to Fair Bicycle to check out the Daily Hook.

Hey, Sweet Bikes: A Visit to Sour Bicycles in Dresden, Germany

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Hey, Sweet Bikes: A Visit to Sour Bicycles in Dresden, Germany

Over the last couple of years, our European correspondent Petor Georgallou has gotten to know Sour Bicycles, a small East German bike company who are trailblazing in their mix of domestic framebuilding in Dresden and continued importation of Taiwan-made bikes. Read on to hear about the unique conditions that have made the former states of East Germany a hotbed of innovation and manufacturing in Europe, as well as how a mega fail by Petor leads to the second of many shop visits in Germany.

2024 Touring Bikes and Rigid MTBs Under and Around $2000

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2024 Touring Bikes and Rigid MTBs Under and Around $2000

All of us here at the Radavist have been on a bike tour at some point. With the proliferation of bicycle touring and bikepacking in the modern bike zeitgeist, many options exist for a “touring bike.” This also means it can be hard to sift through all those options. With bikes that span from the “skinny tire” gravel bikes to the monster truck fat bikes, touring bikes can be whatever you need of them.

We compiled a list of touring bikes and rigid MTBs under or around $2000 to help you find your first or next tourin’ rig… 

The Radavist’s Top Ten Beautiful Bicycles of 2023

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The Radavist’s Top Ten Beautiful Bicycles of 2023

We’ve got over 17 years of Beautiful Bicycles in our archives and each year we like to look back at the previous twelve months of coverage and decipher what you, the audience, liked the most. To do this, we look at the page views for each and every Beautiful Bicycles gallery. Then we look at comments and internet chatter. Once we cull all this data, we’re left with a solid list of bikes. We love compiling this data as it helps us determine what bikes you like to see the most and thus, informs what bikes we document in the future.

Without further ado, let’s get to it!

Falconer Cycles Now Offers Titanium Frames: A Look at Cameron’s Hardtail Touring Bike and Rack

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Falconer Cycles Now Offers Titanium Frames: A Look at Cameron’s Hardtail Touring Bike and Rack

Falconer Cycles is now making titanium frames and last weekend, he unveiled a stunning titanium hardtail touring bike to John…

For creatives – be it sculptors or painters – expanding into other mediums is often fulfilling and cathartic. Learning new methodologies and processes keeps makers engaged with their work. Lots of bicycle fabricators start out TIG welding steel frames and, later, expand into working with titanium. This offers new horizons for not only the brand but also for loyal followers to access a superior material.

Cameron Falconer is the latest builder to be documented here expanding into titanium from steel. While in Southern Arizona last weekend, John caught up with Cam who showcased a titanium hardtail touring bike with a custom titanium rack. This was “John’s modern bike shoot of the year” as he put it excitedly and you can see why below…

John’s Restoration of a 1983 Ritchey Everest With a “Touring Package”

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John’s Restoration of a 1983 Ritchey Everest With a “Touring Package”

Forever tinkering with his bikes, John recently wrapped up a complete restoration of the 1983 Ritchey Everest that we looked at last year. Remember? The gray one? The bike appeared to have been subjected to a sloppy respray at some point in the early 2000s, and John wanted to restore the bike to its formal glory. 

He pinged Rick at D&D, the guy who has painted more Ritchey frames than perhaps anyone, to respray the Everest in Imron Bright Gold paint with the uber-rare Palo Alto Ritchey decals to finish the look. The Everest also had a “touring package” added when Tom built the frame in 1983. Since John acquired it, the Everest has always felt a bit naked without the proper racks…

We know John’s posted a lot of vintage projects over the past few years, but this might be the best yet! Let’s check it out below…

2023 Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show Part 3: Avalanche, Ballern, Black Sheep, CMG, Fern, Huhn, Rheintritt, Rossman, Repete, and Timba

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2023 Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show Part 3: Avalanche, Ballern, Black Sheep, CMG, Fern, Huhn, Rheintritt, Rossman, Repete, and Timba

The 2023 Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show just wrapped after three action-packed days of talks, parties, and drooling over the heaps of amazing craftsmanship on display. Josh was on the ground at the Dresden, Germany airport where this year’s event took place, and, below, shares his final gallery of bikes and a couple of interesting components. Let’s get right into it!

2023 Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show Part 2: Auguste, Actofive, Bididu, Manivelle, Quirk, Star Fish, Tim Tas+Rek, True Love, Posedla, Gramm, and Allygn

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2023 Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show Part 2: Auguste, Actofive, Bididu, Manivelle, Quirk, Star Fish, Tim Tas+Rek, True Love, Posedla, Gramm, and Allygn

The 2023 Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show just wrapped after three action-packed days of talks, parties, and drooling over heaps of amazing craftsmanship on display. Josh was on the ground at the Dresden, Germany airport where this year’s event took place, and, below, shares his second gallery of bikes and a couple of interesting components. Let’s get right into it!