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It’s spooky season, and while humans can’t return from the dead, bicycles can! Especially steel bikes. Longtime readers of The Radavist might recall John’s Geekhouse Woodville touring bike from 2013. Its history is sordid and includes theft, a recovery, some damage, and a brief hiatus. Well, thanks to a group of friends, John got it back, and the redux might be better than the original. Read on for the resurrection of this beloved and more beautiful than ever bicycle!
Yesterday, Josh bumped into Konstantin Drust of Drust Cycles on his way to Dresden for this year’s Bespoked framebuilder and maker showcase. Konstantin was picking up the luggage for his show bike from Kristin Heil’s Gramm Tourpacking workshop in Berlin. Josh was so enamored with the bike that he couldn’t wait to see it again at the show, and he documented it on the spot. Continue reading below for a detailed look at the Drust Cycles collapsible touring bike…
Our European correspondent Petor Georgallou recently visited four North American framebuilders who have been awarded SRAM’s Inclusivity Scholarship to attend Bespoked in Dresden, Germany, on October 18–20. In the third chapter of this series, Petor joins Christopher Schmidt of Colorado Springs, CO, who builds bikes under the name Good Grief Bicycles. What’s it like to be a Native American framebuilder in the USA? Join Petor and Chris for a thought-provoking conversation and take a look behind the bikes at Good Grief…
The Tumbleweed Sunliner ($3775 complete) continues a long-held tradition of equipping a mountain bike with touring accoutrements. Since the mountain bike’s inception, people have been bolting racks and strapping bags to them, taking advantage of its beefy chassis and wide gearing to pedal deeper into rugged terrain than ever before. John has been riding the Sunliner all year in the Southern Rockies, both unloaded as a trail bike and loaded on camping trips. Read on for his thorough assessment of this timeless touring bike…
“Mystery Tour: Bikepacking Through Japan” follows friends Jackson, Jake, Kyle, and Fischer on a bike tour across Japan on State Bicycle Co.’s Titanium All-Road bikes. From navigating Tokyo’s chaotic streets and subways to cycling along the coast and through scenic landscapes, their journey is filled with surprises, new friends, and spontaneous detours.
We’re in a seemingly new era of bicycle framebuilding with the proliferation of 3D-printed components. While this movement might feel “unprecedented,” a similar thing happened with framebuilders in the mid-1980s and into the 1990s with technology borrowed from the Beretta gun manufacturer in Italy.
In what has to be one of our most intriguing Vintage Bicycles articles to date, John hops on a phone call with Tom Ritchey to discuss a rare 1990 Eisentraut mountain bike that Tom had recently acquired and the technology that made it possible.
The Tumbleweed Sunliner is a flat bar rigid 29er mountain touring bike. It’s in the same brand family as the lauded Stargazer. After crowning the Stargazer best in class, John had to try out the flat bar sibling to see if it stacked up. While we have a much longer, in-depth review on the way later this fall, let’s take a First Look at this tantalizing touring bike…
Our European correspondent, Petor Georgallou, approaches Eurobike 2024 with his trademark gonzo style. Read on to follow Petor’s tracks into the wonder and weirdness of Europe’s largest cycling trade show.
Dirt drops are mentioned periodically here on The Radavist, usually in the context of a modern hardtail, rigid mountain bike, or adventure touring bike. But where did this terminology come from, and how are vintage dirt drops wildly different from what we have today? Using his 1983 Steve Potts as a platform for discussion, John unfurled the unique history behind this bike and looked at a proper 1980s dirt drop setup. Let’s check it out.
John (and Cari) took part in the seventeeth annual Melburn Roobaix last weekend. It is an all-day fun ride that welcomes all types of cyclists. At the event, they began to call the Roobaix “Bicycle Heaven.” Let’s show you why in this stunning gallery!
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, UK, reporting from the historic Victoria Baths with the second group of stunning bikes and products from Alfano, Assembly, Atherton, Olsen Bikes, Medusa, Reilly, Eighteen Bikes, SON, and Wizard Works
Let’s dive right in below!
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!
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…
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…
Framework Bicycles turns blocks of aluminum and spools of carbon into one-off custom bikes where obsessive precision and iteration becomes rideable art. In this long-term, long form Framework Bicycles review, Morgan Taylor details the experience of designing and riding their custom road bike. Did they strike the perfect balance, or produce their own Homer car?
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.
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.
In today’s Dust-Up opinion column, John brings up a controversial point about the disconnect between the “handmade” language surrounding bicycle framebuilder showcases and Asian-produced bicycle frames. Hold onto your butts for this one!
