The Radavist

I’ll admit, this bike should have been shot with a Kleen Kanteen, not a Purist, but Kyle doesn’t like rules, at all, so it’s fine.

This MB-1 came into Golden Saddle Cyclery around the time Kyle sold his Saluki, regrettably. We’ve all been there before, you’re in a bind and you’ve gotta part ways with one bike to make ends meet, but luckily for Kyle, he kept in alignment with Grant Petersen‘s ideologies.

Bridgestone’s MB-1 hit at a unique time in mountain biking. Dirt drops were in and rigid was the (only) way. For Kyle, this bike became his around-town singlespeed, opting for White Industries components and Nitto’s Bullmoose bars. Topped off with Rubena Cityhopper tires.

What an event! For the past year, I’ve been putting in intense laps on this little piece of singletrack over on the east side of Austin. It’s not much, but for me, it got me in mode for cross season. When I casually mentioned the idea about doing a race here in Austin to Jeff from All-City, he was so down. The only question was: is it gonna be weird?

I never thought making an event weird was the key ingredient. I was just reminded of the cheesy tie-dye “Keep Austin Weird” shirts but when Kyle and Jeff got into town, they wanted to know how the race was going to be weird.

Honestly, I did very little, other than make a tough, technical and different race go down. 50 people registered, twice as many spectated and about 30 finished. There were glow-sticks marking off the treachery, log hops, muddy run ups, a 200-foot sand sprint, fast, twisty singletrack, a long wooden staircase run-up and a creek crossing.

One guy raced it on a BMC track bike, another on a fixed gear, there were three mountain bikes, a bunch of cross bikes and a basket bike. Oh and Tucker showed up on his neon pedicab.

The fastest lap was 9 minutes and the winner did an extra because he didn’t believe me that the race was done.

So in the end, this race was pretty fucking weird and no one was hurt! We ended the night at Yellow Jacket Social Club where I threw all the race money back at the participants with a keg of beer and cash prized for the top 3 and 1st lady.

There were a bunch of photographers on hand, but I chose to post Nick Cantrell‘s and Gideon Tsang‘s photos from the Yellow Jacket.

Check out Erik Binggeser’s photos here, Dirt Drops’ here and J.A. Hicks’ very pro photos here!

Austin, you surprise me every time.

It doesn’t take a lot to classy up a stock build, or even a frameset. Especially when it comes to a Surly. These “do anything” bikes are great. Throw some dirt drops, barcons and knobbies and you’ve got an off-roader, camping mobile. Or roll one stock and race cross. Perhaps you just want to have a nice, balanced and smooth, reliable ride to scoot around on. The latter was the inspiration for this recent Golden Saddle Cyclery customer build.

A 1×10 is ideal for a city commute. Then, by adding a tried and true Wald basket, a Brooks, one slick Archive x Tracko bag to the mix, along with a mix of Paul Components and some solid wheels, you’ve got a stylish, balleur and relatively affordable ride.

Click on the above photo to launch the gallery, or here to open in a new tab.

This week’s Readers’ Rides comes from our home base of Santa Fe, penned by Ship of Fools Pedal Club and the Santa Fe Fat Tire Society‘s own Blake Hendsch. Below, Blake writes about a fun Specialized Hardrock basket bike build. Let’s check it out!

Nicholas Haig-Arack satisfied his mini velo curiosity with a test of the Kyoot Itty Bitty, a “futuristic bicycle moto-cross transportation vehicle”. Read on for a subjective review of the 20″-wheeled joy machine and to find out more about the sole offering from the Austin, Texas-based Kyoot Bikes.

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!

What happens when a logo flip sticker becomes a sorta serious part-time hustle alongside a full-time hustle of slingin’ pots from the edge of the Great Basin Desert? You get Campandgoslow, a brand for which our readership needs no introduction. When Cari and John were meandering back to Santa Fe from the MADE Bike Show, they dropped into the Campandgoslow HQ. While there, John got a sneak peek at the new Campandgoslow Trout Bar Tape, released today, and some of Casey’s personal bikes. Check out this inside look into your favorite bar tape brand below…

With two members of our Radavist editorial team living in Arizona, it only made sense to head to Flagstaff for our second Cycling Guide. With its recent spike in new singletrack development, legendary dark skies, and accessible location as a hub for other Northern Arizona destinations, there’s a lot to talk about. Read on for a look at The City of Seven Wonders…

River trips on a cycling website? You got that right. We’ve highlighted numerous river trips in the past. As much as we all love bikes over here, we’re well-rounded outdoors people, taking on slot canyon backpacking trips, trail running, 4WD car camping, and, yes, rivers. On a recent outing on the lower San Juan River, Spencer and Blix renewed their wedding vows, with Cari and John in tow and a bunch of river guides Blix works with.

This beautiful gallery celebrates the West’s most precious resource, water while highlighting the beauty of camaraderie, all set in a stunning backdrop, deep within a desert canyon. Read on for some words by John and a fun gallery from him and Spencer!

The field of all-road and gravel bikes may seem crowded, but Otso Cycles always seems to add something new to the conversation with their bikes. In this review, Hailey Moore writes about what sets the Otso Warakin Steel apart among its off-road peers.

To help support our Bespoked Dresden coverage, Ergon bike components sponsored a special gallery with builds featuring their products, including some of our favorite saddles, grips, and bar tape. Below, our 2024 Bespoked Dresden Part 04, our final report from the show,  features bicycles from Corrent Components, Kobel, Quokka, Rizzo, Scarab, Significant Other, and Sueess.  Scroll on down to take it all in!

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 fourth chapter of this series, Petor joins Li King of Berkeley, Ca of King Fabrications. Petor chats with Li about their lifetime dream to become a welder and NorCal’s specific style as they prepare to head to Germany.

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…