The Radavist

It’s become a tradition for Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and Paul Component Engineering to collaborate on an off-the-wall bike to showcase at Sea Otter Classic and then raffle off to raise money for a select non-profit. An enigmatic headturner, this year’s collective build will benefit The Roam Collective and came together around a custom titanium frame made by HotSalad Bikes. Dedicated to women past and present in cycling, the Wild and Weird Sierra Roamer pays tribute to legendary mountain biker Jacquie Phelan and her Cunningham race bike, “Otto.” Take a closer look below and consider contributing to the raffle!  

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?

Part shape-shifter, part time capsule, Hailey‘s Crust Bikes Bombora has taken many forms. It’s the bike that she got when she first started really getting into bikes, and bike touring, and since then it’s the one she’s altered the most, always finding a way to keep it relevant as her preferences and bike collection evolve. In this somewhat unconventional review, she veers into the sentimental as she highlights some of the setups her Bombora has seen over the past five years.

We talk a lot about the early klunkers, from Breezers to Cunninghams and Ritcheys, but what about the very first MTBs in the US, the coaster cruisers, aka mountain cruisers? These esoteric singlespeeds rely on a coaster brake hub to control their speed and were adapted from old Schwinn newspaper bikes.

Read on as John reviews his coaster cruiser, a Monē Bikes Small Batch Straight Bar, aka the SB2. These bikes are the simplest mountain bike you can ride: No hand brakes. No gears. Big bars. Balloon tires. This is peak coaster cruiser!

After about a month of using the Tern Orox in a particularly snowy and cold spring in Santa Fe, John has penned a review of the e-cargo platform, which speaks to the bike’s versatility and aligns it firmly in the “car replacement” category. Let’s check it out!

Continuing our 2024 Philly Bike Expo coverage with more Reportage with words and photos by Brad Quartuccio, featuring Chapman Cycles, Chumba Cycles, and Doom Bars. Let’s get to it!

For Morgan Taylor, there’s a magical nexus that happens when a bike has a certain amount of frame flex and low-trail randonneuring geometry. In this long-term review of Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Morgan recounts how past bikes have contributed to this preferred combination and then offers an in-depth look at why the NFE might just be the perfect noodle.

Fair weather prevailed at the 2024 Sedona Mountain Bike Festival after a brief forecast scare the day before almost doomed the weekend-long event for a second year in a row. But the clear skies set the tone for the Arizona event: lovely riding on tacky dirt, and some sweet new bike gear to show off. Spencer and Josh spent two days wandering and documenting the festival, so check out the mega-gallery of all the bikes, products, and people they found below…

We lost a good brand last year. All-City Cycles’ parent company, Quality Bicycle Products, announced they’d be closing down the brand in 2024. After a heartfelt outpouring here on The Radavist, John penned an homage to the brand vis-à-vis some abstract photos of the All-City Cycles Cosmic Stallion Titanium and includes a note from Saisha Harris, All-City’s creative director, and final closing thoughts by Jeff Frane, the brand’s founder. Read on for this fond farewell…

After spending nearly six months riding Polish builder True Love Cycle’s Heart Breaker, Hailey Moore pens a long-term review of this drop-bar 29er, and compares and contrasts two vastly different build specs.

After its first top-to-bottom update, the new 2024 Revel Rascal may be the most versatile mid-travel 29er Travis has ever ridden. But does versatility matter when you’re just here to have fun?