The Radavist

Today, we’re peeling back the curtain on one of the cycling industry’s most experienced, globally recognized, and revered manufacturers of superlative bicycle components that continue to define and stand the test of time. Join the SimWorks crew for a trip inside Nitto for thoughtful insights into their commitment to traditional craft and manufacturing processes, their uniquely Japanese philosophy on quality and dedication to process, and how their past continues to direct their future.

Carving mountain descents and sprinting up short rises, Morgan Taylor rekindled a love for zippy road bikes with the Chumba SOCO SL Ti All Road. In this long term review, Morgan reflects on what makes the SOCO a bike they’d like to keep just a little bit longer…

A few weeks back, during our State Bicycle Ti All-Road review, a conversation about titanium unfurled in the comments. The Radavist is uniquely positioned to have this discussion as we’ve amassed more Beautiful Bicycle galleries than anyone else on the web, and a large portion of these feature titanium frames. In the eighteen years of documenting cycling culture, we’ve also amassed a large contact list in the framebuilding world.

In an attempt to demystify the material, we reached out to No. 22 Bicycle Company for a bit of Ti Talk.

John and Cari were in Melbourne for a few days following the 2024 MADE Australia showcase, which gave them some free time to visit a couple of shops, one of which was Prova Cycles.

Nestled inside this compact factory, siblings Mark and Kelly Hester build some of the most advanced bikes in the world. This two-person team has optimized production over the past four years, and it’s something to behold…

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.

We looked at the restoration of this 1984 Ritchey Annapurna through a series of videos earlier this year, and today, we’re sharing a full Beautiful Bicycles gallery documentation of it, along with a brief quote by Tom Ritchey himself. John takes a look at this esquisite emblematic example of the quality work leaving the workshop of Ritchey below!

Earlier this month, Josh stopped over in Paris, France, following his time in the UK covering Bespoked Handmade Bike Show. During his visit to the City of Lights, he visited multiple bike shops and fabricators. First up in a series of reports from his time there, Josh checks in with Marie and Laurent of Avalanche Cycles, who take an innovative approach to building bicycles and components from steel, stainless, and titanium.

Learn more about this duo of French builders below!

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.

Rounding out our MADE Bike Show Australia coverage with photos from the Bicycle Roadshow, vendors, people, and views inside the DISC Velodrome…