The Radavist

What happens if you really like bikes and really like grilled cheese sandwiches?

The Far Quarter film explores the past, present, and future of rural Colorado through the lens of gravel cycling. We can’t wait to share the feature-length!

Remember that funky Sutra ULTD we teased a few weeks ago? Well, Kona has all the details on this drop bar touring bike up on their site now, including pricing and build spec. To start, if you just wanted to build one of these up yourself, the frame will set you back $599. Or a complete would run you $2399 with the specs below. The Sutra ULTD will fit a 29×2.25″ tire, comes with a Trans-X +RAD dropper installed and ready, as well as SRAM Rival 1 flat mount disc brakes. It dons a 69.5º head angle, a long wheelbase for added stability, and either a 74mm or 72mm BB drop depending on the size. All in all, the Sutra ULTD looks to be a very funky, yet highly functional touring bike from a brand that knows how to put together rad bikes. See more at Kona.

Frame Material: Kona Cromoly Butted
Fork: Kona Project Two Cromoly Disc Touring
Wheels: WTB KOM Light Team i27 TCS 2.0 29”
Crankset: SRAM NX
Drivetrain: SRAM Rival 1 11spd
Brakes: SRAM Rival 1 with 160mm front/160mm rear rotor
Seat Post: Trans-X Dropper +RAD Internal 31.6mm
Cockpit: Kona Road Bar/Kona Road Deluxe Stem
Front Tire: Maxxis Recon Race EXO TR 29×2.25″
Rear tire: Maxxis Recon Race EXO TR 29×2.25″
Saddle: WTB Volt

It’s not often you get photos like James’ in the Readers’ Rides email box. It’s not the bike shots I’m talking about either, check out that rider portrait! So good. Let’s let James describe his Temple prototype in his own words for this week’s Readers’ Rides…

… and it brought back the Rove LTD, which features GRX 810, the Rove Verso flat-mount carbon fork, butted tubing and more. The whole Rove lineup has a breakdown at Kona, so head on over to check it out.

Santa Cruz Bicycles’ entire lineup got color and build kit updates, including our two favorite bikes in their catalog, the Stigmata and Chameleon.

The Stiggy has five build kits, ranging from Rival 1 to Force AXS 2x and a new forest green and mint color option, starting at $3499. Over on the mountain side, the Chameleon has NX and SX build kits in 29er or 27.5+ wheels, starting at $1949.

See the full refresh at Santa Cruz Bicycles.

The Áspero was one of our favorite gravel bikes we reviewed in 2019 and this year, they stuck to their guns, keeping the same frame details and build specs but coating the frames in new colors and gradients. Check out our favs below. Which would you prefer to see covered in dust and sweat?

Like many brands, Lauf has decided to cut out wholesalers and retailers, and offer their products direct to the consumer. Check out all the details below in their press-release…

Moots first introduced the Routt in 2014. Do you remember what gravel bikes were like back then? 15mm TA forks, 1x drivetrain had just picked up steam, 40mm tires were commonplace, and gravel races were just starting to catch on. Now in 2020, Moots has revamped the Routt family of their gravel bikes to fit the modern sensibilities of gravel riding and racing.

The ROUTT RSL will now fit a 45mm tire, has 3 bottle locations, and has been upgraded to the 3-D printed dropouts. The ROUTT 45 & ROUTT YBB now fits a 50mm tire, comes spec’d with shorter stems and wider bars.

Read all about these exciting updates at Moots.

What makes a bike an appropriate city bike? Commencal, known for their mountain bikes, just announced a flat bar “Fast City Bike”, built around SRAM’s Apex group, disc brakes, and rolling on an 6061 T6 aluminum frame. The FCB will fit 50mm tires too! So what makes this a city bike and not a gravel bike or a touring bike? That’s up for you to decide. At $1,099, the FCB is an interesting option for all three options! Check out more info at Commencal.

Ride Farr announced today two new framesets in their catalog. Known for their aero bars and other ultra-endurance accessories, these frames are a milestone for the brand. The Gravel Monster (GMX) aluminum frame ($695) and All Terrain Bicycle (ATB) steel ($495) frames were designed from the ground up, with bikepacking, and long rides in mind. The GMX features its own 483mm Axle-to-Crown steel rigid fork that is suspension corrected for 100mm 29er travel, while the ATB rolls on a steel chassis and 120/130mm travel. Head to Ride Farr to see all the details.

For this week’s Readers’ Rides, we’re featuring Steven’s own, self-built Slug gravel bike. This one is very detail-oriented so we’ll let Steven do the talking…

Here’s my bike, my only bike. After working in the Cycling industry for several years, I realized that I had far too many bikes, and I’ve subsequently sold off all but this one. The story of Slug is pretty random, and I’m not necessarily the one to tell it. I will tell you about the bike, however.

Made in their Leytonstone, East London workshop, in small batches, the new Groadinger UG frame from Stayer Cycles offers up a modern gravel geometry, frame details for ultra-versatile builds, and a beautiful finish, with a wishbone seat stay. Stayer offers these new frames in two build kits as well with the ultra-sporty HOPE superfast Grav Grav build (pictured above) or the Danglemug realness double camo build (pictured below) with an olive drab paint and a double crankset.

Pricing for a frameset with either a Ritchey or Whisky fork begins at £1,650.00, with a pre-order opened now. The next batch of UGs will be ready to paint the last week of August 2020. The Stayer pre-order will close on August 1st.

Head to Stayer Cycles to see more!

Designed for those super intense, high-speed gravel races, the Factor LS is their stiffest gravel bike yet, engineered for big rides and races, with 42mm of tire clearance, 1x and 2x electronic or mechanical drivetrains, hidden fender mounts, and a chainsuck protector. Stiff carbon bikes might not be for everyone but for those who love the feel, the LS is their newest ally. Head on over to Factor to see more.

Velo Orange has put a ton of time in designing their Pass Hunter frame, which we’d call a sportif or endurance road bike but don’t let that limit its possibilities. You could ride a randonneuring event with it, take it on some light touring, or a club ride.

The Pass Hunter is a DIY project, offering up a utilitarian frameset with details galore.

They’re currently running a pre-order for these frames for only $695.00, with an arrival of November 2020, so head to Velo Orange to familiarize yourself with this versatile frameset.

Specs:
-Frameset material: 4130 double butted chromoly steel
-Fork: 1 1/8″ -> 1 1/2″ tapered threadless, 4130 double-butted chromoly steel
-Wheel Size: 650b or 700c
-Tire Clearance: 650Bx47mm or 700x32mm w/ fenders
-Rear Spacing: 12x142mm thru-axle
-Front Spacing: 12x100mm thru-axle
-BB: English threaded 68mm
-Brakes: Flat Mount disc, 140mm rotor compatible
-Seatpost size: 27.2mm, non-integrated seat collar (not included)
-Front Derailleur Size: 28.6mm
-Water bottle mounts: Double on top of downtube, under downtube, and on seattube
-Fender bosses: seat stay bridge, chainstay bridge, under fork crown
-Rear Dropouts: Vertical with aluminium alloy replaceable hanger
-Frame Eyelets: Single eyelets on rear dropouts for fenders, internal eyelets on seat stays
-Fork Eyelets: Double eyelets on fork dropouts for racks and fenders, triple thru-bosses on the blades for cargo cages, hourglass braze-on for Randonneur Rack
-Rear Brake Routing: Easy internal routing for rear brake cable housing/hydraulic tubing
-Paint: Cool Blue or Burgundy Red with metallic VeloORANGE logo

“I’ve always looked out to the east, where the Earth’s curvature is pronounced, and wondered. Living at the base of the Rocky Mountains, in Boulder, Colorado, sometimes feels like being at the edge of a vast ocean. Well, at one point in geological history, it was, but now Eastern Colorado is a sea of grass. I wanted to see what was out there.

I had about four days to get ready. I was in, 100%.”

Check out the full story at the Pro’s Closet!