The Radavist

A Craftsman’s Legacy looks at makers of all sorts, including Bilenky Cycle Works.

With the Builders for Builders fundraiser finishing last Friday, the event raised a total of $56,000 for the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship. The winner, Kenny Lehman, chose a custom McGovern Cycles for his build of choice. I just wanted to say I know we plugged this event a lot, so thanks for your patience, and most of all, your support!

Friends of this site and Bruce Gordon just informed us that he has passed away. With more details to come, I’d like to take a second to commemorate Bruce’s contributions to the very sport we all love and hold dear to our hearts. Bruce was a true legend and in a lot of ways, he helped pave the way – no pun intended – for our off-road cycling obsessions. Ride in peace, Bruce.

Friday is payday! Spend $10 of your hard earned money for the chance to win a balleur custom bike from Mosaic Cycles, Stinner Frameworks, Argonaut Cycles, Sklar Bikes, and McGovern Cycles! Today is the last day – the fundraiser ends at Noon PST – so head on over to the Builders for Builders fundraiser for more information and check out these dream builds in our Reportage!

With Lael and Rue’s exceptional DKXL piece up on the site today, I thought the DK200 winner’s bike would make for a nice addition to today’s coverage. Colin Strickland is a friend from when I lived in Texas. He used to crush the road and ‘cross races and now with his new team, Meteor x Giordana with Kevin Girkins, he’s had great success at the Belgian Waffle Ride and the DK200. Allied has an exceptional bike check up on their blog, so if you’re interested in reading about Colin’s setup, the new Allied Able, you should head on over to check it out.

When you order a Firefly, you go all in. Take their latest showcase build for example. Complete with Andrew the Maker bags and a painted to match fork, this lightweight bikepacking/gravel race/S24O rig embodies the “the traveler with the most experience, carries the least on their back” mentality. See more at the Firefly Tumblr.

We’ll be there for another grueling year of Lost Sierra back roads and the nonstop party that is the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship’s hardest race! See ya there?

Morgan’s photos did Craig’s Allied Able build plenty of justice but let’s look at the bike through Allied’s own videography.

Remember last year’s Builders for Builders fundraiser that launched at Lost & Found? Well, it’s back! With more builders this time. Stinner Frameworks, Sklar Bikes, Mosaic Cycles, McGovern Cycles and Argonaut are all building Beautiful Bicycles to be raffled off to raise money for the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship. Each of these bikes are stunning and are one of a kind, so head over to Sierra Trails to buy a raffle ticket and be on the lookout next week for photos of all the bikes to drop here on the Radavist.

Do you think the Dutch abstract painter Piet Mondrian would have ever expected to see his unique form of Neoplasticism art used so wildly in pop culture? To the point where a bicycle frame – hell, multiple bicycle frames! – would be adorned with his unique form of abstract art? Firefly Bicycles is working on documenting a beauty of a frame. See more at their Tumblr.

Stayer Cycles, a framebuilder from East London makes bikes of the off-road variety from production models like their Groadinger and Chigzag to full-on custom project like this. This is Raoul’s second bike from Stayer. This bike was built around two items: Bontrager 3.0” Chubacarbra tires and a front rack duffle bag from Dan at Envelope Bagworks. What Stayer sculpted from those two items is really something else. See more below, check out a more in-depth look at Raoul’s dirt drop bike, and read about more of their custom builds at Stayer!

In their latest Vlog, Path Less Pedaled asks a question we get here at the Radavist a lot; are custom bikes worth it? After watching this video, what do you think? Feel free to ask any questions you might have in the comments and we’ll answer them the best to our abilities.