The Radavist

It’s no secret Rivendell Bicycle Works pulls inspiration from Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Grant Petersen is a big Tolkien fan and, over the years, many of the brand’s bicycles have adorned names from Tolkien’s writings. When it comes to beings of power and mystique, there are none more significant than Tom Bombadil. Older than Middle Earth and more powerful than any, Bombadil was omitted from the Jackson-envisioned big-screen movies for several reasons, but that didn’t keep Grant from naming Rivendell’s first mountain bike after the most powerful being in Middle Earth.

A Bombadil is a rare bird. Perhaps as rare as the fabled Legolas, Riv’s ‘cross bike, so I never expected I’d find one in my size, a 60cm. Then, one morning, an eBay alert popped into my email; there it was; a sunny Bombadil just begging to be purchased…

We first began featuring Reader’s Rides back in 2011; since then these part-review, part-vignette reader submissions have become a beloved weekly fixture here on The Radavist. This year’s Top Ten Readers’ Rides feature both brand new builds and older frames full of stories that have been given new life. As always they are 100% audience-submitted and the builds highlighted here were chosen based on web traffic and engagement. We love receiving submissions each week so if you have been on the fence about submitting your ride, perhaps this list will motivate you to break out the camera and show off your rig. Read on for some choice submissions from 2022…

We’d like to think we’re pretty alright at photographing bikes over here at The Radavist. The steeds we choose to document reflect our audience’s preferences and capture distinct trends in bicycle design. Yet, each year as we reflect on all the builds that have rolled through this cyber showroom, we’re always surprised to see what the Top Ten list reveals. This year, we’ve got a good mix of bikes, outfitted with flat and droopy bars, running rubber across the size spectrum, and made of steel, aluminum and yes, even carbon. Let’s get to it!

Cruiser, Klunker, ATB.  These terms get thrown around a lot and yet they represent pretty much the same thing: a rigid mountain bike. For me, the granularity of these denotations is intriguing. In modern times, these words have people debating about the proper nomenclature for each of these bikes, and there are opinions on every side of this argument. For those curious, I understand that a Cruiser is a coaster-brake bike with no gears and no hand brakes. A Klunker is a rigid mountain bike with gears and hand brakes. An ATB is simply an “all-terrain-bicycle” and was historically used to refer to a mountain bike with flat bars. “ATB” was used to denote a new, increasingly popular form of cycling at the time: “off-road” riding. AKA, riding on dirt, not pavement. Since the genesis of the term “ATB”, it has been co-opted to mean drop bar bikes as well. Being the trend-setter he is, once Ultraromance dubbed these bikes “ATB,” everyone jumped on board.

Time is a flat circle, like a wheel, so what was once a pariah in the cycling industry is bound to become the savior at one point. That’s kind of how mountain biking started, right? A bunch of misfits took the hills of Marin and the mountains of Colorado and began riding inappropriate bikes inappropriately.

Then, thirty-odd years later, Grant Petersen of Bridgestone and Rivendell fame designed the Hunqapillar, a true-to-form Klunker. I first rode one back in 2014 and immediately was drawn to the bike’s capabilities and unique ride quality. Yet, for some dumb reason, I didn’t buy one and missed out on every opportunity to own a size 62cm until recently. So why did the guy with too many bikes buy a Hunq? Well, read on below to find out.

I met Andrew years ago at a fat bike event we hosted here in Johnstown, PA. Playing polo and ripping around the parking lot on the big bouncy bikes looked like something fun to him. Until that moment, Andrew had visited several shops locally and always got the glance; you know the look if you’re outside of the “normal” scope of a cyclist, whether that’s your size, appearance, or, hell, I’ve been in the industry for nearly 20 years and I still get the look. Those eyes and words can pierce through all the stoke you may have as a larger cyclist, and make you give up before you even get to start your love affair with bicycles.