The Radavist

On a recent Radavist Retreat, John and Hailey left their wintery homes to ride the various trails and gravelly terrain down in Phoenix with Josh. While there, John rode the Knolly Tyaughton Steel he’d procured from the brand earlier this winter and spent time riding amongst the Stone Eaters of South Mountain Park. Find out what he thought about this wild hardtail 29er with an even wilder price point ($2,449 complete) below!

The Hodag Country Ramble is a ride. It’s a tour, a campout. But it has also become so much more. Read on for an insight into the event and what makes it so special for its founder, Jeff Frane with some marvelous photos by Alex Horner…

Wende Cragg’s contributions to cycling and her documentation of the sport over the years are unquantifiable. And here at The Radavist, we’ve been fortunate to have her sharing snapshots of that history, from her moving piece about the origins of mountain biking, to her return to Crested Butte last year for the Pearl Pass Tour after a forty-two-year hiatus.

Wende is back today to share another special story we think you’ll thoroughly enjoy. This time, Wende pens an ode to her custom 1983 Breezer Series III built for her after multiple ill-fitting predecessors (including one of the ten original Breezer Series I). To top it off, she enlisted Joe Breeze to share a few insights about her one-of-a-kind bike and the general evolution of early Breezers. Let’s get right to it below!

Come along as we take a leisurely dive into the origin story of the 26+ Stridsland Beachcomber frame. Matias Stridsland has built a following around reviving old 26″ bikes and not taking things too seriously, but now he’s here to present his own 90s-inspired 26″ MTB.

Matias is self-admittedly addicted to the details and his chronicling of the process behind the Beachcomber gives real insight into the dedication that goes into these short-run projects. As he writes, this exact bike didn’t exist before and now it does—we think that’s pretty rad and if you’re interested in owning one, read to the bottom for pre-order details!

After a serious hand injury forces him off the bike, Bailey Newbrey is forced to confront his reliance on movement for his wellbeing. In this reflective essay on finding running that culminates in a 100-mile fastpack on the Continental Divide Trail in northern New Mexico, Bailey also examines why physical movement feels so vital as a means to combat the plagues of modernity…

With its high consequences and steep gear-barrier to entry, winter bikepacking and backcountry travel can be an intimidating pursuit. After touring the complete, nearly 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail across Alaska in early 2023, Kurt Refsnider answers the questions he got from followers along the trail. Read on for a brief history of this legendary trail, Kurt’s complete gear list, and the challenges you can expect to encounter along the way.

We’ve got over 17 years of Beautiful Bicycles in our archives and each year we like to look back at the previous twelve months of coverage and decipher what you, the audience, liked the most. To do this, we look at the page views for each and every Beautiful Bicycles gallery. Then we look at comments and internet chatter. Once we cull all this data, we’re left with a solid list of bikes. We love compiling this data as it helps us determine what bikes you like to see the most and thus, informs what bikes we document in the future.

Without further ado, let’s get to it!

Longtime contributor, product tester, and Bespoked co-owner Petor Georgallou shares his list of Favourite Products of 2023. With an eye for aesthetics, function, and alternative uses, Petor’s top picks run the gamut of what you might expect to find on this site, from boutique bikes to a lowly notebook. Read on to learn how he hacked a Wizard Works bag, made use of a “smiling butt kit,” a look at a couple products he’ll be reviewing next year, and two playlists he recently assembled for Bespoked…

Spencer Harding is up next and below, joins our team of contributors and editors in sharing a list of favorite products and albums of 2023. A few of his picks are things he’s had for a while and have withstood the test of time and extended use. Others include some new gadgets as well as one non-bike-related product for good measure. He also put together a list of album and podcast recommendations. Let’s get right into it below!

It’s been a wild year around these parts. In addition to the organizational changes we experienced with this website, I feel fortunate to have met and collaborated with many amazing people in addition to traveling to some truly remarkable places. My list of favorite products ended up being rather eclectic, but I think it reflects the wide range of material we get to cover here. Of course, music was an integral backdrop to my work – on rides, traveling abroad, and with my family at home – so I have joined some of our other contributors in offering a selection of favorite tunes, alongside a handful of products, below.

It’s Travis Engel’s turn to go through the gear that made his year. Somehow, he managed to resist the urge to fill his list with movie podcasts and carbon full-suspension bikes (though there are a couple movie podcasts down in his Playlist). Instead, he’s got an eclectic collection of on- and off-bike goodies. None of them actually came out in 2023, but each played a uniquely pivotal role for him this year.

We’ve had a busy year over here at The Radavist. From the return to being 100% independent, launching our Group Ride subscription service, our Rad Bazaar marketplace, and adjusting to being a small business owner again, my free time has been limited. Yet, I can thank a few products for making my job and life easier this year, along with the albums that became the backdrop for my rides, so let’s check out my Favorite Products of 2023!