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The Fairlight Faran MKII Touring Bike

The Faran 2.0 is the latest from the UK builders Fairlight. It’s a multi-purpose tourer, built with custom-specified Reynolds tubing, like a Reynolds 631 DZB downtube, and 631 front triangle, with a 37mm 4130 head tube and stays, with 68mm of chainstay clearance which will fit either a 700 or 27.5 wheel. That’s big enough to fit a 27.5 x 2.4” Continental X-King Tyre on Hope XC rims. These bikes have all the fixins to make them an ally on randonneuring events, S24O, or even a full-on tour. Fairlight has pulled together an extensive product catalog on the features of the Faran MKII, which I highly suggest checking out. It’s not often a bicycle manufacturer goes to these lengths describing their new product.

A £500.00 lands you a deposit (£899 frameset retail) for a Faran MKII and the queue is open for business, with the first batch shipping in September/October, with the colors to be announced shortly so head to Fairlight if you like what you see!

Reportage By: Pepper Cook & Gabe Tiller

Through The Wardrobe: Touring the Oregon Timber Trail’s Anaxshat Passage

Last Autumn, I found myself wondering, “How do I pack for a bike ride through Narnia?”. I had just been asked to sample a small section of the wonderful Oregon Timber Trail by my friend Gabriel. I packed a grocery bag full of Voile straps, my foul weather gear, a laminated local mushroom-foraging pamphlet, and prepared to step through the magic wardrobe.

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Tout Terrain: Blueridge GT Touring Bike

Over the past few years, the trend of bikepacking has really taken over, and with good reason! Riding on singletrack, fully-loaded is a real treat. You don’t have to worry about cars dusting you out and can truly be isolated if that’s what you’re going for. Yet, I can’t help but feel warm and fuzzy for classic touring bikes as well. I caught my bicycle touring bug on a road bike, then a touring bike, and then bikepacking, yet the lines and functionality of a classic tourer is so timeless. Tout Terrrain, makers of many on and off-road touring bikes, just announced their Blueridge touring models. Pictured here is the GT build spec and it has it all!

Specs:
-Integrated Expedition Rack II with optional EX-Rail system and Ortlieb Quick-Lock3 Mounting Kit
-Rohloff gear hub option for proven reliability
-Derailleur drivetrain option for precise and light shift action
-Thermocrom premium tubing for maximum strength-to-weight ratio
-700c wheelset favours speed and efficiency
-Drop-bar options provide aerodynamics and multiple hand positions
-Gates Carbon Drive belt-compatible frame for a strong, clean and reliable drivetrain

See more at Tout Terrain.

Radar

OPEN WI.DE. X WOHO CYBER-CAMO Xtouring Bags Dream Build

Taiwanese bicycle bag company WOHO just launched its limited-edition bikepacking bag system, in collaboration with Basel’s OPEN CYCLE, using the WI.DE. model to reveal WOHO’s new CYBER-CAMO BLACK special edition.

In addition to this OPEN WI.DE collaboration, WOHO has upgraded its Xtouring Bikepacking Series. The bikepacking product line was redesigned with feedback from riders all over the world and includes refined details that enhance WOHO’s bags.

Only a limited number of the new Cyber Camo Xtouring bags will be bundled with this limited OPEN WI.DE collaboration frame. This project comes in at a retail of $4,186.90 USD for the frameset (XS-XL) and bags. Check out photos of this project below and head to WOHO to order. Yes, they ship to the USA and accept Paypal.

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You Can Now Order the Black Cat Bicycles Hello Monsta! Gravel Bike

Black Cat Bicycles presents the 2020 edition of the Hello Monsta! The perfect gravel bike scaled up. Designed around 27.5 x 2.4” tires, but fully compatible with 700 x 40mm tires(!) without compromise to chainstay length, bb height, or steering trail dimensions. Let’s get real. Most of these features are ancillary to the fact that this bike just rips. The Hello Monsta! is great for exploring chunky backcountry, touring the world, or rallying your local favs. We shot this bike at NAHBS and it got a lot of attention. It’s finally available for ordering!

The frame and fork set will have the following features and specs:
-Custom sized frame and fork, tailored for you
-110 x 15 and 148 x 12 hub spacing-mtb boost
-1x or 2x drivetrain
-27.5 x 2.4” tires
-73mm British threaded bottom bracket shell
-1 1/8″ threadless unicrown fork for maximum ride quality
-front and rear flat caliper mounts for maximum versatility
-27.2 or 30.9 seatpost, internal dropper port if desired
-S bend seatstays
-Art School dropouts or Swinger single speed dropouts
-Custom blended rugged tubeset for aggressive riding
-Cable or electronic shifting
-Drop or flat handlebar
-Dear Landlord rack available, but not included
-Original paint always available and starts at $1000
-$4600 frame and fork. White Industries custom crankset and headset included.

Reportage By: Locke Hassett

It’s My Bicycle, and I Love It: Locke’s Soma B Side and How It’s Evolved

7 years ago, I bought my first mountain bike. 3 months after that, I slammed it into a downed tree at 30mph and broke it in half. So I bought a new frame. A Soma B Side. This is the story of that bike. Now, this bike has already been featured on this site, in one of its most radical (read: stupid and most likely mechanically unsafe) configurations.

John already made that build look real purdy… This is another ode to that bike, but also an ode to how it has evolved, and how I’ve evolved with it.

Reportage By: john watson

Isao’s Larkin Cycles 24″ Mini Velo Touring MTB

We had quite the coverage of mini velos last year, beginning with this dude’s personal bike. Isao’s Falconer was one of my personal favorites to hit these pages in 2019 because it really embodied the notion of deep custom and something we don’t address a whole lot here on the Radavist; this idea that when you get a wacky, 100% custom bike, you’re essentially getting a working prototype.

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Outside Online: I Loved Bike Touring—Until I Got Paid to Do It

This read is one hell of a way to kick in the New Year. Got plans to do a bike tour? Don’t monetize it!

“In a race for your life from a belligerent madman, there is no worse getaway vehicle than a recumbent bicycle. Particularly on any sort of climb. At least that’s what Alan* and I discovered as we crept up a desolate stretch of Arizona highway, necks craning behind us to see if the knife-wielding drunkard was gaining any ground.”

Continue reading at Outside Online.

Reportage By: john watson

The Radavist’s Top Ten Beautiful Bicycles of 2019

Wow! What a year it’s been. In the past twelve months, we’ve shot roughly 300 bikes. From gravel races, to NAHBS, the Philly Bike Expo and our normal travels, we really captured some unique builds and we’ve got a good handle on the bikes the readers of the Radavist enjoy checking out based on some key metrics.

Every year we try to do our best to sort through twelve months of archives to narrow down to this list. The first filter is the comment count, which we start at 50 comments. Then comes page views, with the minimum number being 20,000 views. Finally, we look at the social media chatter; including Instagram comments and how many times was the post shared across various platforms.

What we end up with is a list that is filled with a plethora of interesting, versatile, and quirky bikes. The only editorial decision I myself made was to omit reviews of stock bikes. So no Santa Cruz Stigmata or Cannondale Topstone this round!

Check out the full Top Ten Beautiful Bicycles of 2019 below, in no particular order…

Reportage By: John Watson

Deserted, Dusted, and Dolomite: A Central Death Valley Bicycle Tour

The cold. Oh, the cold. Never before had I experienced 10º temperatures at night and 70º during the day. There I lay, in chrysalis, asleep in my bivy thinking to myself, “this is miserable.” That was two years ago, at the foot of the second tallest sand dunes in North America, nestled between the Last Chance and Amargosa Mountains in Death Valley National Park. Needless to say, it took a while for me to want to tour this unforgiving place again. There’s something transformative about touring in the Mojave Desert. The dryness, the elevation, the sand, the silt, the wind, the washboard roads; insurmountable obstacles really bring out the truest human condition, that Lovecraftian urge to get out and test one’s limits. Push it a little bit further and come out the other side. Had I known that this love for the deserted, the dusted, and that grandiose dolomite was merely biding its time as I shivered uncontrollably in my bivy sack two years ago, I might not have been so absolute in my cynicism. It was time for emergence.

Radar

The Swift X Kona Rove ST Touring Bike

With only 201 models in circulation, this Swift Industries x Kona Rove ST is a very limited edition project. Built for touring, the Rove ST comes with a limited edition headbadge, Tubus Tara Big Apple front Lowrider rack, fenders with mudflaps, limited edition Swift Industries bags, and Shimano’s GRX 600/800 group. If you’re in the Seattle area, you can rent this bike from Swift Adventure Co. Check out more photos below and all the details at Kona.

Reportage By: Jack Watney & Adam Gasson

The Custom Bikes of Grinduro Scotland: Clandestine, Ted James, Spoon Customs, and The Bicycle Academy

Words by Jack Watney, photos by Adam Gasson

Grinduro Frame Builder Event Format

The Bicycle Academy (TBA) put the Grinduro Scotland frame builder competition format together 3 years ago as a way of creating a platform for frame builders to showcase what they do. It’s an opportunity for builders to work to a tight brief, but at the same time to be playful and creative with bike design. They get to make their own idea of a perfect bike, to keep for themselves, something that doesn’t happen as often as you might think.

Reportage By: Ronnie Romance

California Golde: An Analog Bicycle Tour on Kodak 35mm and 120 film

One year and a week ago, a vehicle’s faulty catalytic converter ignited roadside vegetation igniting a blaze that would consume 96,901 acres of Sierra and Sequoia National Forest, eventually closing Yosemite for the first time in the National Park’s history. This was the first “big” fire of the indomitable 2018 fire season that torched the Western U.S. and serving as an unwelcome backdrop to this 12-minute major motion picture.

Reportage By: Jack Watney & Adam Gasson

Grav. Grav. And Double Grav! the Bicycle Academy at Grinduro Scotland

Words by Jack Watney, photos by Adam Gasson

And now here they are! The most daredevil group of daffy frame builders to ever whirl their wheels in the WACKY RACES. Competing for the title of Grinduro’s wackiest frame builder. The bikes are approaching the starting line.

First, is the TBA GXC driven by Tom Sturdy. Next is paratrooper Will Barcode on the TBA Splat Grav. Flying through the air is the Rad Roamer piloted by Ted James. Maneuvering for position is Andy Carr on the Spoon Customs Fat Tracker and right on his tail is Pi Manson on his Caledonian Carrier.

Sneaking along last is the unmistakable Petor of Dear Susan Bicycles riding his award-winning ‘Mike Rotch’…

“Grav, Grav. And double Grav!”

Radar

Jones Bikes: the Complete LWB Boxed Bicycle

After the success of the Jones Plus SWB, or short wheel base, completes last year, Jones announced the launching of the LWB, or long wheel base, complete this morning. Whereas the Jones Plus SWB is a smaller bike overall, with 27.5×2.8-3.25″ tires, the Jones Plus LWB is a larger bike, designed to fit 29×2.8-3.25″ tires. The Jones Plus LWB is boxed and ready to ride for $2050 in either a knobby or a road slick tire option. Check out more details below, or head to Jones to read up!

Radar

Bearclaw Bicycle Co: Ramhorn Rigid Carbon MTB Fork

If you’ve been looking for a rigid carbon MTB fork with provisions for touring cargo cages, then be sure to check out the Bearclaw Bicycle Co Ramhorn fork. With a pairing of triple bosses, 15mm x 100mm thru-axle, post or flat mount compatibility, clearance for 29 x 2.4 – 2.6″ or 27.5 x 2.8 – 3.0″ and looks to boot, the Ramhorn can make your MTB a little more touring-friendly. Head to Bearclaw Bicycle Co for more information!

Reportage By: John Watson

The Top 10 Beautiful Bicycles of 2018

We shoot a lot of bikes here on the Radavist. A lot. From my estimates, including tradeshows, and events like the Chris King Open House, or the Moots’ Employee Bikes, and even the Speedvagen Build Off, we shot 220 or so bikes in 2018. That’s a lot of bikes. A lot of details. A lot of component selection, build styles, and uses. From road, to mountain, and everything in between, noting the permutations that exist in this ever-so-special era in the cycling industry, I really feel like we’ve shown you just about everything you could see this year.

Out of those 220 bikes, I looked at the data in the form of traffic metrics, social chatter, and comments to pick the Top 10 Beautiful Bicycles of 2018. While many bikes had a lot of comments, some had higher traffic or social media shares. Compiling all the numbers, a very compelling list was formed. Not included in this lot are bike reviews, of which Morgan’s review of the Midnight Special and Kyle’s review of his Chubby Cosmic Stallion took the highest metrics from all others on this list. I guess they’re in a league of their own!

At any rate, check out the complete Top 10 Beautiful Bicycles of 2018, in no particular order, below!

Radar

Tumbleweed Bicycle Co: Prospector Rohloff Tourer Pre-Order

Tumbleweed’s Prospector touring bikes are built around the Rohloff hub platform. These do-it-all tourers are at home in the backcountry, on washboarded roads, or ripping and flowy singletrack. Their geometry is tuned to take on fully-loaded tours, while still being equally as fun un-loaded. Just announced today, the new Prospector frames are now available for presale. There are a limited number of frames available in each size and color and they are due to arrive February 2019.

Select Desert Sandglow or Midnight Blue colors, choose a fork option and whether to add a Rohloff module. The module includes the Rohloff SPEEDHUB, shifter, cables and a 180mm brake rotor (save $500 off retail). Head to Tumbleweed for more information!