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Wilde‘s latest bike, the Dark Star ($1,200 pre-order), is a 120 or 130 mm travel hardtail 29er MTB with clearance for a 2.6″ tire and the option to run it with a rigid segmented fork Wilde calls the Future Proof Fork ($250 pre-order). What’s most interesting about this bike is how Wilde launched it to dealers…
The Tumbleweed Sunliner ($3775 complete) continues a long-held tradition of equipping a mountain bike with touring accoutrements. Since the mountain bike’s inception, people have been bolting racks and strapping bags to them, taking advantage of its beefy chassis and wide gearing to pedal deeper into rugged terrain than ever before. John has been riding the Sunliner all year in the Southern Rockies, both unloaded as a trail bike and loaded on camping trips. Read on for his thorough assessment of this timeless touring bike…
One of our favorite bikes from MADE was the Ron’s Bikes R-Werks 29er EVOO. Yes, it has rim brakes, and yes, it evokes feelings of the best resto-mods but with bigger wheels. Ronnie made a video walking through the project and here’s part one.
Check out John’s photos of it from the 2024 MADE Bike Show too!
Our friends at Sklar Bikes have some exciting news today: the steel “Tall Tale” 29er hardtail mountain bike and the new aluminum handlebar called the “PBJ Bar” are available and shipping now! Let’s look at the details of both below…
The Tumbleweed Sunliner is a flat bar rigid 29er mountain touring bike. It’s in the same brand family as the lauded Stargazer. After crowning the Stargazer best in class, John had to try out the flat bar sibling to see if it stacked up. While we have a much longer, in-depth review on the way later this fall, let’s take a First Look at this tantalizing touring bike…
Three weeks ago, John laid out a quick look at dirt drops on early mountain bikes by using his 1983 Steve Potts as a vehicle for the discussion and today we’re looking at our favorite modern drop-bar 29er mountain bikes. But first, we’ve got to define what a drop-bar 29er mountain bike is!
The mad lads at Starling Cycles in the UK just announced an all-new short travel Murmur cleverly dubbed the Mini Murmur. This new chassis is a 120mm rear-travel Trail/XC/Down Country/do-whatever bike that’s really fun and fast. Let’s check it out.
Chromag is synonymous with hardtails. Trail hardtails. And the 160 mm travel Rootdown ($801 frame, $3,912 complete) is now in its sixth iteration. The updates this round are chassis details and new build specs so let’s check it out…
John likes to review a carbon full-suspension bike at least once a year to challenge his opinions on his preference of chassis material, and this summer’s bike is the 2024 Rocky Mountain Instinct. Thanks to new geometry, details, and a simplified RIDE-4 adjustment, the Instinct proved to be a very capable 140/150 trail bike. Perhaps the bigger picture of this review is John’s ever-questioning of his quasi-religious, cult-like zealotry for metal bikes…
Previewed in our Sea Otter Classic coverage earlier this year, the new Ritchey P-29er is finally available. After perfecting his concept for a new mountain bike, Tom introduced the first P-29er in 2012. Now, Ritchey announces the latest updated version of the P-29er, the latest manifestation of Ritchey’s deep heritage of mountain bike history.
Launching today, the Hoot Ti from Otso Cycles is the brand’s first foray into designing a truly modern and progressive hardtail mountain bike. Built around 140 mm of front suspension with short 425mm chainstays across all sizes, the Hoot is meant for demanding trail riding yet is playful enough for riders who like to get airborne. It’s an evolution of where the brand, which has been innovating since day one, is going while also showcasing its ability to deploy new technologies to solve challenging design problems.
Josh has put considerable mileage on the new Hoot over the past few weeks, both in his usual testing grounds of southern Arizona and a big week in the steep mountains of northern New Mexico. Continue reading below for Josh’s review of the Hoot and a peek inside Otso’s Minneapolis, MN-based operations.
Esker Cycles is broadening its hardtail lineup with its most aggressive hardtail, the Smokey Ti. Let’s check it out…
Initially released in the mid-aughts, the Singular Cycles Swift was one of the first bikes to embrace 29-inch wheels, which, as we now know, became a highly popular size during the proceeding decades. Still, nearly twenty years later, the Swift endures. The frameset has undergone multiple updates over the years, with the most recent incarnation featuring elements true to its roots, like thin steel frame tubing, eccentric bottom bracket, thicc tire clearance, and reasonable pricing. Yet the MK5 version, launched in late 2023, finally gets internal dropper routing, tapered headtube, boost spacing, and thru axles.
When Josh swung through Portland, Oregon, earlier this year, he picked up a Swift test frameset from US distributor Biciclista and outfitted it with choice parts from generous partners like Ingrid, Chris King, and Paul. A longtime fan of plus tire bikes, Josh reviews the Swift after a few months of riding on his home trails in southern Arizona. Is this 29+ suspension-corrected rigid bike still relevant in 2024? Read on to find out…
Germany-based Sour Bicycles announced its two new steel full-suspension bikes today, the Double Choc trail and Cowboy Cookie downcountry. Petor walked us through the Double Choc last month, but let’s check out the bikes below in production detail and spec…
If the Womble is the ultimate Moots hardtail for all-mountain endeavors, the Steamboat Springs-based framebuilder’s newest bike, the MXC, is designed to be its fastest. The MXC is perfect for XC trails, singletrack, and backroad gravel. Bikes like this quickly become a modern classic, truly high-performance bike, and look genuinely fun…
Yesterday, John walked us through the electronic shifting Pinion C1.12i Smart.Shift gearbox in an in-depth review, and today, we’ll be looking at the bike it was installed on, the Viral Bike Derive hardtail. You know we love hardtails at The Radavist, and this one did not disappoint…
Fairdale‘s Elevator ($599 frame), the brand’s first hardtail, arrives in a few days, but the brand sent us over an early look at this entry-level 29er. Let’s check it out!
Nick’s titanium Sycip hardtail has been on our list to document for some time. On his April road trip to Sea Otter, John crashed in the driveway at his buddy Nick‘s house while he visited shops and builders in the area. After a particularly epic afternoon of riding in Annadel State Park, he grabbed Nick’s beautiful Sycip for some photos. This bike isn’t your ordinary Sycip and Nick ain’t your ordinary guy. Let’s see why below…
