A lot of people have heard of Spokane’s Elephant Bikes thanks to their National Forest Explorer touring bikes and today we have Thomas from Spokane who has documented the process of getting a custom hardtail from Elephant. Read on below!
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Radar
Radar Roundup: Hayduke Lives, Work for Old Man Mountain, Chirp Chirp Cycles, Winter Bikepacking, and A Ride for Kids
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Reportage
Waaseyaa: It is Bright – Alexandera Houchin, Her Life, and Her Chumba Cycles Stella MTB
Waaseyaa: it is bright, is light (as in the day), is radiant; it is sunny
It’s been a hard couple of years. Compounded self-doubt, emotional and physical abuse and income insecurity had me clinging to any bit of life I had within myself. I hadn’t really comprehended how I had gotten in that position in the first place. I remember years ago talking to someone who confided in me that she was in an abusive relationship. I’d been stone-cold in clarity when I told her to leave the fucker. She revealed that it was more complicated than that and, at that moment, I pitied her. Years later, I found myself in the same predicament; I was ashamed both for the lack of strength I had to leave my boyfriend and for my inability to listen to her. I’ve spent the last two years feeling like a swollen shell of myself.
Radar
Radar Roundup: Titanium Trowels, Hardtails, Concrete Revolt, Impossible Route, and Atherton Sets Sail
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Radar
Radar Roundup
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Radar
Radar Roundup
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Radar
Beautiful Builds: Retrotec Funduro
Beautiful Builds. Like Beautiful Bicycles but in video! For our first video in this series, John goes over his Retrotec Funduro with videographer Justin Balog in beautiful Santa Fe, NM. Check the video out above and be sure to like and subscribe to The Radavist’s YouTube, where we’ll be hosting our videos from here on out…
Many thanks to the Fat Tire Society for maintaining these wonderful trails and to our creative director Cari Carmean for the kick-ass Beautiful Builds type treatment!
Music: Electric Wizard “Dunwich”
Radar
The Starling Cycles Roost Hardtail
Starling’s very first hardtail, the Roost, had to be something special, so the UK MTB framebuilders went all out to make a bike built for pure, undiluted fun. Made to go anywhere and do anything, it’s as suited to back-country epics as it is bike park blasts. A handbuilt, zingy steel frame makes light work of rough and rowdy descents whilst mullet wheels bring that perfect balance of flick-knife and magnum. With room for a 120mm to 160mm fork, you’ve got plenty of options to custom build your own perfect setup. It’s not a spindly XC whippet, it’s not a sickly ‘hardcore ‘hardtail. It’s a ride-wherever, ride-whatever, tough-as-nails stainless do-it-all that’s built to take on whatever you can throw it at. And, of course, it’s built-in beautiful stainless steel for that shiny, rust-free raw style.
When you’re done with the video above, check out more photos of the Roost below and check out the pre-order at Starling Cycles. Pre-orders are open now with frames shipping to customers in early April 2022.
Radar
1992 Yeti ARC vs. 2020 Yeti ARC: More Similar Than You Think
We love vintage bikes but our parent company The Pro’s Closet knows vintage bikes… and modern bikes for that matter. Spencer Powlison takes a look at the 2020 Yeti ARC limited edition hardtail and compares it to the 1992 Yeti ARC in this blog piece and what he finds will surprise you. In terms of tech, gearing, weight, price (believe it or not), and accouterment, these two bikes are closer than you’d think. If you’re into this kind of bike nerdery, give this one a read.
Radar
Mason Cycles Introduce Its Made in the UK RAW Hardtail
Featuring custom shaped Dedacciai Zero/Zero Uno tubing, mixed with Reynolds, a 66º (sagged) head angle, clearance for a 29×2.6″ tire and a 34t chainring, 73mm stainless BSA threaded bottom bracket shell, the Mason Cycles RAW is a made in the UK expedition-ready hardtail that’s available as a frame, frame+fork, or two build kits, SLX or Deore XT.
The RAW takes touring and long-distance rides seriously, with 15 discrete integrated bottle/bag/accessory mounts, including semi-custom options such as male threaded/standard bottle bosses or top tube pack mounting points. It also has rack mounts and is designed for a 120mm travel fork.
There’s so much to unpack with this one, so hop on over to Mason to see the RAW in its full glory!
Reportage
That Guy Has Style for Days: Gideon’s Madrean 27.5″ Hardtail
Over the past year, I’ve had quite a few people roll through Santa Fe on road trips. Knowing Covid is still running rampant all up and down the Rockies, I usually opt for a meet-up outdoors. Whether that means for a cup of coffee or a bike ride, I like catching up with people but want to err on the side of safety these days. Last March, our good friend Gideon came through town with his new-to-him Madrean 27.5 hardtail. If you recall our Shop Visit with Madrean – and our older Shop Visit from 2013 with Cycles d’Autremont – then you’ll recognize Hubert d’Autremont’s handiwork…
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The Quirk Cycles SUPERCHUB is a Tricked Out XC Race Hardtail
Today we’re pleased to showcase framebuilder operation Quirk Cycles and its new model, the SUPERCHUB. Let’s take a look at this new bike, guided by Robert Quirk’s words and photographer’s Nikoo Hamzavi documentation of this stunning machine.
Radar
Nordest’s Bardino 3 Pre-Order Comes with a Fox 36 Grip2 Kit
The Nordest Bardino is the brand’s flagship rowdy hardtail and open today is the brand’s pre-order for the latest model to roll out its doors, the Bardino 3. With that pre-order comes some wild savings. Everything you see here, the frame, Fox Float 36 Grip2 fork, and the Cane Creek headset is only 1.749,00 € at this introductory offer. Head on over to Nordest to read all the details.
Reportage
REVIEW: 2024 Santa Cruz Chameleon
Updated for 2024, our Santa Cruz Chameleon review was originally posted in 2022.
Back in 2018, I reviewed the Santa Cruz Chameleon in the 27.5+ platform with a tricked-out build spec thanks to Hope Tech. Much like its namesake, the Chameleon really stood out from the crowd of other production hardtails on the market, making it a proper icon in the world of hardtail mountain bikes. Fast forward three years and I’ve had the new and improved 2022 Chameleon model under my butt for a few weeks now, have taken it on similar terrain as I did in Los Angeles with its predecessor, and have a few thoughts about the two models. Which one is worth your money? Read on below to find out…
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Rigid and Spellbound: The Sour Bicycles Pasta Party 29er SSMTB with BERD Wheels
In some form of intergalactic serendipity, this review coincides with the 2021 International Singlespeed Day, so hopefully, this article inspires you to dust off the ol’ Cruiser or SSMTB and get out for a sunset shred with your friends.
I’ve had the Sour Bicycles Pasta Party for longer than I’d like to admit for a review period but with supply chain shortages, I decided to scrap my original plans for the build as a geared hardtail and assembled it with various spare parts and some new fancy BERD wheels which ended up resulting in one very unique rigid singlespeed 29er.
The Pasta Party is a strange bird with a few clever details and a few quirks, so read on below for my review of this unique chassis offering from the German brand Sour Bicycles…
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Cjell’s Monē Hardtail With a 130-Millimeter Lefty Fork
These days, it’s hard to set your bike brand apart from others within a specific niche but if there’s one thing Cjell has achieved with his brand, Monē Bikes, it’s just that. Monē frames are instantly recognizable with their large, bountiful brass beds of fillet brazing, unique tubing bends, intricate and ingenious singlespeed-friendly dropout designs, and yeah, rat rod aesthetics. Cjell and I have met before, albeit briefly, but at last weekend’s Dangerbird event, we got to spend a lot of time on the bike with each other, which helped me gain an even deeper appreciation for the brand, the bikes, and the man who designs and even builds some of them.
Radar
NM Bikepacking Summit: Mike from Broken Spoke’s O’Leary Built Minimal Rack
One of the things that caught my eye at this weekend’s NM Bikepacking Summit was Mike, the owner of Broken Spoke in Santa Fe’s custom-built O’Leary rack for his Karate Monkey. Mike really wanted a better way of carrying his essentials, rather than a bikepacking saddle pack. His goal for the rack was to have it be multi-purpose, both designed to carry traditional panniers or as a framework to strap Nalgene bottles to, while allowing for a bedroll or tent to be strapped to the rack’s platform. Depending on how you’re traveling, this opens up the use of a dropper post as well.
Mike went to O’Leary, a custom builder here in Santa Fe, to hash out the design and he whipped it up in a matter of hours. Minimal racks like this offer a simple solution to a very common problem and I thought the readership would be intrigued by this. Check out a few more photos below!
Radar
Yoann Barelli Rides Squamish… On a Guerrilla Gravity Hardtail
Well, mark this up to something you don’t see every day. Yoann Barelli is best known for his course previews, where he follows a pro downhill racer and narrates the tracks’ bumps and jumps. Today though, he’s taking on Squamish… on the new Guerrilla Gravity hardtail.
