The Radavist

Last year at Grinduro, Adam Sklar took to the mountains outside Quincy on a singlespeed ‘cross bike. While most of the climbing was achievable, the notorious China Grade took a toll on Adam’s legs as he pretty much hiked the entire climb. You’d think he would have learned his lesson, yet up until the day prior to the event, he was considering taking to the course once again on a singlespeed. Luckily for Adam, and his legs, he rode his geared ‘cross bike, but I couldn’t let this beauty go undocumented.

The swoopy curves, in-house shaped top tube and ombré fade of this elegant machine blew my mind, as I’m sure it’ll blow yours too. Sklar, baby, this is one stunning machine!

Way back before Instagram, there was a cycling team in Austin called Team Wooly Mammoth. Known for their completely ridiculous web videos and loud cycling kits, this rag tag group of racers were rumored to even go to tanning beds in their kits to get the crispiest lines. They even donned an all-white kit, which upon placing the order, the apparel company warned of the finished product being “see-through.” To which the two founding members of Wooly Mammoth, Patrick @UltraTradition and Benedict @UltraRomance responded with “… annnnnd?”

Their sense of humor intact, Wooly Mammoth continued to race and look good, while making more videos. Six years ago, “I Am Romancer” struck the internet like lightening on a windmill in West Texas. While future Wooly videos would embrace black metal and nonsensical battle scenes, “I Am Romancer” spoke about the soul of a bicycle and the machismo surrounding the romanticism of the bicycle. Warning: some of those videos might be NSFW, depending on your work environment.

Fast forward to 2016. Ultra Romance is a cult-hero of bicycle nomads and Ultra Tradition has moved to Portland, Oregon, where he’s working with Jeremy and Julie Dunn of the Athletic to help grow Wooly Mammoth into not only a race team, but a brand. When the Athletic contacted VYNL Bikes to make a modern day Romancer ‘cross bike, painted to match the newest Wooly Mammoth designs, they jumped right on it. The completed bike, as shown here, brand spankin’ new, would be Jeremy’s Grinduro bike…

While it looks good all clean with its Zipp and SRAM parts, the bike looked much, much better, dusty and dirty on course. Oh and that North Street Bar Bag ain’t too shabby either!

Two purple bikes back to back? It must be Grinduro…

Some people have been wanting eTap WiFli hydro and for those people, the wait is over. SRAM announced eTap WiFLi hydro groupset this morning. Coincidentally, the group appeared on this flashy Stinner all-road, which is on display at Grinduro in Quincy, California starting today. The paint uses a subtle fleck, akin to what you’d find in finger nail polish that sparkles in the sun, yet is hardly noticeable in the shade. For those wanting specs on the SRAM group, eTap WiFLi weighs 243 grams with battery and will take up to a 32t cassette. Combined with a titanium tig welded frame made from Stinner select tubing and you’re looking at a light machine, perfect for Grinduro’s challenging course.

Paul Sadoff from Rock Lobster and Bruce Gordon from, well, Bruce Gordon Cycles brought a few more models of the Grinduro-unveiled brand Schnozola this year to NAHBS. A steel ‘cross, an aluminum ‘cross, a tourer and this fixed gear. Why build a fixed gear for NAHBS? Because Paul Sadoff wanted to!

2015 was life-changing for not only myself but for the Radavist, its authors and content. For the most part, the year felt like a giant ping-pong game as various stories brought me and the contributors of this website all over the globe. Luckily, the first major story unfolded in Austin, Texas so no traveling was necessary! Check out the Radavist’s 2015 Year in Review below!

“If Ferrari made an off-road vehicle, that’s what it’d be like to ride the Santa Cruz Stigmata.”

That’s been the simile I’ve used countless times when describing how this bike rides. In fact, I still can’t think of a better way of describing the Stigmata’s handling and capabilities.

Seven months is a long time for a review and honestly, I wanted to get this up before ‘cross season began but with very little expectations to race this season, I quickly realized that I had been using the Stigmata in every other way than it’s market intention. That’s the beauty of ‘cross bikes though, right?

Let’s step back a bit and look at what this bicycle is.

What’s this? Rim brakes? Yep. Steve Rex‘s submission to the Grinduro expo was the only bike that used traditional rim brakes and you know what? I like that. A lot. Especially when it comes to the stopping power of PAUL Minimotos. Steve chose White Industries T11 hubs to Pacenti rims, SRAM CX1 and even had some slick pinstriping added to the otherwise sleek and minimal frameset.

Void of ostentation, classic, timeless and ready to rip. Rex surely is king here…

Remember this one? From NAHBS? It was one of my favorites in the show. Everything about it just looked right. First impressions are everything you see and these days, with the whole bigger is better mentality about tire clearances, it was nice to see something embrace a modest tire so elegantly.

Mosaic‘s GS1 disc all-road bike is a custom steel or titanium frameset, offered by the Colorado-based frame builders.

Let me reiterate that: this is not a production model with stock sizing. It’s made with 100% custom geometry. A custom geometry ensures this bike will fit you like a tailored suit.

The GS1 is a road bike with disc brakes and room for around a 38mm tire. It has a road bottom-bracket drop (72.5mm) and a slightly slacker head tube than your average road frame (72.5º). Side note: I like how those two numbers match up so perfectly. The 420mm stays and 1033.5mm wheelbase can be best interpreted as smooth sailin’ down your favorite road, be it dirt or sealed.

Blue Collar Bicycles‘ Robert Ives knows a thing or two about metal. Both the tig-welded and guitar-wielded variety. For Grinduro, Giro’s Eric Richter commissioned both Robert and Paul Price of Paul Component Engineering to assemble a sparkle blue disc all road.

This bike stole the attention span of Grinduro Expo attendees with its intense finish and array of orange anodized Paul components, topped off with SRAM’s 1x technology… All hail the trail Eric and Robert. All hail. Take that puppy to dirt church already!

Cycling is an experience that should continue to mature overtime. I’m weary of people who stand firm in their ideologies, rest on laurels and refuse to embrace the “new,” especially when it comes to riding bikes. Look, it’s not that hard to have fun. Opinions can change with experience, its normal. Embrace it.

For the past two years, I’ve been planning both financially and functionally for this bike. Something I’d encourage everyone to do with a custom machine. Don’t just jump in head first without doing research and saving your money. The last thing you want to do is to take a financial hit once the final invoice comes in.

You see, I knew I wanted a Firefly. I kind of felt like that brand and my own brand have grown together over the years. When Jamie, Tyler and Kevin started the company, it had a breath of energy, creativity and their final products all expressed experimentation. Those guys can make anyone a dream bike but deciding what kind of bike is a challenge. Part of my apprehension was not only where I felt like cycling’s technology was heading, but where my own riding would be taking me over the next few years.

I gotta say, out of all the expo bikes at Grinduro, Todd from Black Cat‘s creation is most up my alley. Black bikes look mean, but then you add in a custom-machined lower headset cup, a beautiful stem, custom in-house gold paint details, those ENVE M‘s with RockNRoad tires and SRAM’s 10-42 rear cluster, resulting in one very dialed machine.

There’s nothing else to say, other than enjoy!

I also wanted to thank Todd from Black Cat for organizing the builder’s expo at Grinduro!

The Soulcraft Dirtbomb is an incredibly versatile bike and a worthy tool to tackle an event like Grinduro. It’ll eat up dirt roads, singletrack and pavement alike but most importantly, it’s strong enough to withstand the after party. Which at events like last weekend, tend to go on ’til dawn.

Sean from Soulcraft knows a thing or two about handmade bikes. He learned the trade from legends like Bruce Gordon and Salsa Cycles, so it’s fitting to see his framesets carrying on many of these ideologies, just in an updated, modern form.

This bike in particular clears the Bruce Gordon RockNRoad tires, features PAUL Klampers, Chris King and WTB wheels and SRAM’s CX1 group, with a 10-42 cluster.

Like I said, it’ll take on anything you throw at it and still party ’til dawn.

Grinduro was a weekend-long event, filled with music, food, booze and a killer ride (or race, depending on how you party) but one of my favorite features was the expo, which featured a series of California-based frame builders, all designing what would be the ultimate “Grinduro bike.”

The first one to be featured here on this site is a unique Retrotec “all-road” which was built using signature Inglis details like a double, curved top tube, a seat tube cluster gusset, a hotrod-inspired paint job and extra sexy thru-axle dropouts.

It’s easy to swoon over a bike with such curves, but once you look at the build kit, the practicality really shines through. By using SRAM’s massive 10-42 cluster cassette and the CX-1 long cage rear derailleur, this bike can tackle anything, including China Grade’s intimidating average grade.

For the client, a Whisky thru-axle fork and wheels topped off the build… Which he then took right off the display shelf and rode the next day. If only I had gotten a post-race portrait.

Singlespeed ‘cross bikes on a course like Grinduro are no joke. For Lucas, the painter at Stoemper, the pain is part of the fun. The way he sees it, you’re grinning no matter what. Whether you’re spinning on the downhill or hiking up a steep kicker like China Grade, you might as well be enjoying the ride.

This SSCX was easily the wildest bike I saw the entire weekend. So. Much. Character. As I’m setting up the bike to photograph it, Lucas interrupted me, asking if he wanted me to remove the beer holster. “You’re riding it like that right?” “Yeah” “Then leave it!”

Races like Grinduro are best kept light and energetic in spirit. There’s no point in tearing yourself apart on a singlespeed, because you still have to make it to the finish!

‘Cross bikes, ‘cross bikes, ‘cross bikes…

Look. I love cyclocross bikes but I was beginning to get a little Grinduro’d out. After a weekend of shooting, talking, riding and basically living bikes at the event, I wanted a recovery day. Decompression. Detachment. Whatever you want to call it. I needed a vacation. Ok, not really. I just wanted to ride mountain bikes and be out of cell reception for 24 hours.

Luckily, we were already in the midst of some incredible mountains, so it was literally a no-brainer to hop on the road and book it up to Downieville. That place has always carried such a mystique for me. I’d never been before, for various reasons, but had ridden all over California so I was familiar with the terrain. But still. There’s something about that trail network that had been beckoning me for years.

It was my friend Andrea‘s birthday on Monday and she too wanted to ride there one last time before the season ended. She’s been numerous times, so it worked out perfectly. Sunday morning after Grindruo, we would leave Quincy, drive an hour or so, get to town, pass out, wake up for a morning shuttle, take it super chill, shoot photos, eat gummy worms, sip the flask and barrel along the downhill line, ending at the river…

There was one detail we were missing: bikes. ‘Drea and I were on Grinduro-ready rigs, not 6″ trail bikes.

Luckily Yuba Expeditions had rental bikes for around $100 a day. I scooped up a Ibis Mojo, Andrea got a Santa Cruz Nomad and we were good to go. Oh and tubes. Oh and I needed knee pads. Now we’re good to go.