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Sincere Cycles Build: Kevin’s Monē La Roca V3 Hardtail 29er

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Sincere Cycles Build: Kevin’s Monē La Roca V3 Hardtail 29er

 The hardtail market is far from saturated, yet there are a lot of bikes that just blend together with similar angles, colors, details, and pricing. This isn’t a bad thing, but when buying an incredibly well-rounded frame that can be built up any number of ways, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything in the same realm as a Monē.

The La Roca is Cjell Monē’s production hardtail, made by hand in a small operation in Taiwan using a unique fillet brazing technique. What you’re looking at now is the V3 frame, and we have yet to feature a La Roca V3 here on The Radavist so when Bailey was building this up at Sincere Cycles last Friday, I had to take it out for photos! Let’s check out what’s new in V3 and more details on Kevin from Adventure Bikepacking‘s build below!

Bikes, Products, and People from Sea Otter Classic 2023: Part Three and Mega Photo Gallery

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Bikes, Products, and People from Sea Otter Classic 2023: Part Three and Mega Photo Gallery

Travis and Josh are back today with their third and final report from the 2023 Sea Otter Classic. Continue reading below for another installment of interesting bikes, products, and people from the show, in addition to a mega gallery of images from the three days of sun, fog, rides, and wild times at Laguna Seca Raceway. Did they save the best for last? Read on to find out!

The Paul Component Engineering, Monē Bikes, and Sierra Nevada Sierra Recycler Cruiser

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The Paul Component Engineering, Monē Bikes, and Sierra Nevada Sierra Recycler Cruiser

For the 6th year in a row, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co asked Paul Components to build a custom one-off bike for them to show-off at Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, then give-away to raise money for a non-profit. After thinking long and hard about what’s already been done and hasn’t been done at Sea Otter, Paul came up with a wild proposition for a super fun bike that would be a conversation starter for sustainability and environmental thoughtfulness in bicycle manufacturing, the #SierraRecycler. Sierra Nevada loved this idea, being leaders in solar power, recycling, estate farming, transportation, composting, and water reclamation in the craft beer industry. Read on to learn more about how this project came together from the folks at Paul!

An Early Look at The Monē Bikes Hachita Prototype All-Rounder: A Sincere Cycles Build

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An Early Look at The Monē Bikes Hachita Prototype All-Rounder: A Sincere Cycles Build

Cjell here with a quick report from the field on my latest prototype bike model, the Moné Hachita. I’m still dialing in the details but have released a few protos into the wild. The new/forthcoming frame featured here was just built up by my friend Bailey Newbrey. For those unfamiliar, Bailey is the owner/operator/janitor/DJ of Sincere Cycles in Santa Fe.

The new bike is one we’re working on over here at Monē. The current Monē line-up has a slack/playful hardtail with very big tire clearance, a drop bar with very big tire clearance, and a gravel bike with just big tire clearance. In many ways, these thru-axle, disc-braked bikes are superior to this new bike. In all ways, really, save one: ultimate retro compatibility.

We Put a Light Bar on Moné Bike’s Light Bar So You Don’t Have To: A Review

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We Put a Light Bar on Moné Bike’s Light Bar So You Don’t Have To: A Review

The enigmatic folks behind Moné Bikes invested “new Honda Civic” money into the fabrication of their carbon riser bar. It was a gamble, but the results are impressive. Spencer Harding has become addicted to upsweep angles and while steel risers may work in many cases, sometimes you need to shave some grams. Read on for some silly memes, useless light bar mods, and a hot take on the handlebar bend you didn’t know you needed.

Brave New Wheel Builds: Johnny’s Monē El Pebblito with Oddity Squidfork

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Brave New Wheel Builds: Johnny’s Monē El Pebblito with Oddity Squidfork

Brave New Wheel bike shop is a Fort Collins, CO staple and community hub that has been around since the 1980s. Co-owned by Johnny Daggett and Mike Woodard, the shop focuses on service and repair, wheel-building, and suspension work. Johnny recently finished building a Monē Bikes El Pebblito gravel rocketship with custom Squidfork from local builders Oddity Cycles. Continue reading below for Johnny’s full rundown with a chilly photoset from Aaron LaVanchy

2022 Single Speed USA: Decorah, Iowa Edition!

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2022 Single Speed USA: Decorah, Iowa Edition!

Single speed mountain biking. It’s kinda dumb right? How hard is it to shift a derailleur, c’mon.

Let’s not sully the holy sanctity of this article with such petty things as single speed arguments (for or against). What a cliché. If you’re new here, suffice it to say there are all sorts of reasons—from cost to curmudgeonliness to cache—to ride single speed mountain bikes. Those reasons don’t necessarily make sense. If you’re a regular reader, you already know how 1-speed bikes fit into today’s bike culture…enjoy your unsullied reading.

This article is about the bond shared by single speeders and how events like Single Speed USA (SSUSA) carry and strengthen them. I also want it to be about bikes as well, as I know more than a couple of people here might be into them.

Catching up with Karl: Bikes for Buddies and his Rusty Trucker Mountain Cruiser

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Catching up with Karl: Bikes for Buddies and his Rusty Trucker Mountain Cruiser

Back in 2020, Cjell Monē and I wrote about our friend Karl Artis‘ eclectic bike collection and his collaborative “Bikes for Buddies” fundraiser with Matt Whitman, which raised enough money to purchase fifty bikes for youngsters in need. Since then, Karl has added even more bikes to his personal cache, including an enviable custom mountain cruiser, and finally found a home for the youth bikes after months of pandemic-induced hiccups. I recently met up with Karl and a crew of other friends – who were fresh off a weekend of building and donating bikes – to check out Karl’s new cruiser and enjoy some metamorphic chunder on the trails of North Phoenix.

Cjell’s Moné Hardtail with a 130mm Lefty Fork

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Cjell’s Moné Hardtail with a 130mm 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, Moné Bikes, it’s just that. Moné 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.

Dean Liebau’s Illustration of Bailey’s Moné Hardtail SSMTB 29er and #DrawMyKona Contest

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Dean Liebau’s Illustration of Bailey’s Moné Hardtail SSMTB 29er and #DrawMyKona Contest

We’ve featured the work of artist Dean Liebau before, who takes inspiration for many of our pieces here at the Radavist with beautiful Conte pencil illustrations. The latest Dean posted is Bailey’s Moné 29er, all packed up from our CDT tour last summer. Dean also just announced a new contest dubbed #DrawMyKona. Find all the information for that below and give Dean a follow on Instagram!

An Homage to Friendship and Staying Local During a Worldwide Pandemic

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An Homage to Friendship and Staying Local During a Worldwide Pandemic

Last year, I rode bikes all over New Mexico with this guy, @baileygenenewbrey. To limit my contact with people I pretty much rode with the same small group all year and Bailey was in that group.

We often discussed how staying local has been a big change. With Covid shutting down all events, I had no reason to travel. To be safe, and as a new resident of New Mexico, I just kept it to a 100-mile radius of our home and began scouring the map for places to see/fish/ride.

One of the biggest takeaways for me is how a few close friends can make something as severe as an utterly shit pandemic more manageable. We both helped each other through some rough spots, spent nights under the stars, stoked each other out on rides, shot great photos, and most importantly, became really close friends.

It’s moments like this (still within the pandemic) that really make me value close friendship. Who helped you through 2020 and continues to in 2021?