Repurposing 90s MTBs into ’round town basket bikes has been a huge repeating theme in our weekly Readers’ Rides series. This week’s build comes from Benny, with his Specialized StreetStomper. Check out words and photos by Benny below!
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Radar
Machines for Freedom: Versatile Off-Road Line
Machines for Freedom is known for their road and gravel apparel but our friends just launched the Versatile Off Road collection for those who prefer to not wear lycra. The lineup includes Key Shorts, Technical Tees, and handkerchief designs, all in stock now at Machines for Freedom. If you missed our Utah expedition with them from a few years back, be sure to check that out too!
Radar
Specialized: Disrupt the Decay – Chisel LTD Frameset in Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water
The Chisel is an XC hardtail and perhaps it’s this frame’s simplicity that inspired the designers at Specialized to develop a special edition pack, inspired by Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. The pack is dubbed “Disrupt the Decay”.
Key Features:
-Frames come in as light at 1,400g
-D’Aluisio Smartweld technology from M5 alloy hydroformed tubes, which allows for fine-tuning of the ride qualities
-Progressive XC Geometry
-Internal cable routing
-BSA BB
-12x148mm spacing
-30.9mm Dropper post compatible
Available in June 2021. See more at Specialized.
Radar
OG Rock Combo Commercial
A reader posted this video in the comments of yesterday’s Reportage on Liam’s Rock Combo and it’s too good to not share here on our Radar. Enjoy!
Radar
Soil Searching: Kamloops
Out of all the riding areas in British Columbia, Kamloops is one that truly draws me in. Part of the reason for that is the phenomenal job photographer Dylan Sherrard does on his Instagram account. Then again, videos like this don’t hurt either!
Radar
Tourist: Finally Finale Ligure
Fall 2019 – We went, we raced, we watched, we ate… we slept, we drank, we rode…we photographed, videographed, we put some words in a series, and then we hit send. Or so we thought. So here’s your Tourist experience in fine motion picture form. You want more? You got it, you can see more of the story at www.touristsoncourse.com
Reportage
Tourists On Course: Enduro Trophy of Nations 2019 – We Forgot to Hit Send
Hello 2021
We liked this project so much we didn’t think it belonged in 2020. Seriously though, sometimes things are just out of your control and sometimes the things that are in your control take a back seat to other things in your control and those things take a back seat to the out of control things. And well, sometimes you just forget to hit send. That being said I am so happy to be sharing this project here on the Radavist because it’s where it all started. I wrote a little piece about how cool the Enduro Trophy of Nations would be–it was–and how excited I would be to be able to go race it–I did–so this is the story of that adventure.
Radar
Readers’ Rides: Matt’s Drop Bar Disc Converted 1993 Stumpjumper
We’re very stoked to kick off 2021 with this very unique build from Matt for our first Readers’ Rides of the year. Read on below for Matt’s words and a full build list!
Radar
Soil Searching: Dillon Osleger
Fires aren’t going anywhere in California. Soil Searching founder, Fanie Kok, shares this intimate profile of Dillon Osleger, a man building a conservation movement that has us all thinking about how to protect what we have now instead of rebuilding once it’s already gone.
Radar
Specialized’s Thru-Axle Rack Mount Works on Your Boost MTB
In yesterday’s Reportage, featuring Kyle’s Falconer, a reader plugged this innovative and simple product. If you have a mountain bike with 148mm rear end (and a 1mm thread pitch – Syntace) and want to run a rack similar to the Tumbleweed T-Rack or the like, then check out this innovative Thru-Axle Rack Mount that Specialized has in their catalog. It’s hard to see but each end of the axle has threading for a bolt to secure your rear rack. This problem-solving device is only $30…
Radar
Welcome to the Golden Age of Mountain Biking
Specialized launched their new Stumpjumper EVO line today and with it, another banger of a product video.
Reportage
Readers’ Rides: RJ Rabe’s Sequoia Basket Bike Build
For this week’s Readers’ Rides, our friend RJ Rabe shares his vintage Sequoia townie build in a high res gallery…
I don’t know much about this particular Sequoia before it came into my life. Beyond that, it lived in the rafters of my friend Austin Horse’s New York apartment before I brought it back to California some years ago. You can see the sticker from the shop that originally sold it on the seat tube, with the protective film somewhat intact.
Radar
A Living Legend of Cycling Has Lost his Home and Workshop: Let’s Give Him a Hand
Chuck Teixeira’s lifelong passion for riding is equaled only by what he has done to advance the sport. He embodies the ingenuity, craftsmanship, and dedication that we strive to achieve, and he has been instrumental in making cycling better for all of us.
And now Chuck needs our help; his home is gone. The CZU August Lightning Complex fire has ripped through the Santa Cruz mountains, destroying dozens of buildings, incinerating tens of thousands of acres and displacing tens of thousands of people. Chuck’s home was one of those that burned to the ground, only ashes remain. The sweat and blood he poured into building his mountain refuge is gone – reduced to smoke and embers. His scores of rare and vintage bicycles – a rolling museum of cycling’s evolution and a living archive of his inventions and innovations – reduced to melted metal and plastic. His hand-build hotrods – each representing thousands of hours of meditative hard work – charred beyond recognition. Beyond the tangible, and all the more devastating, Chuck and his wife Debbie lost the dream of spending the rest of their lives together in the sanctuary they built.
Radar
Readers’ Rides: Jerry’s StumpCruiser
Today on Readers’ Rides, Jerry shares his Craigslist Stumpjumper build from Central Oregon.
Radar
Legion of Los Angeles on the New Tarmac
Justin and Cory Williams from Legion of Los Angeles give the new Tarmac SL7 a rip.
Reportage
A Sequoia Raffle to Benefit WTF Bikexplorers, Bikepacking Roots’ BIPOC Grant, and Antonio Chavez’s BIPOC Program
Whatever you do in this life, do it with fucking passion and power.
Make sure the world knows it – Edward B. Gieda III
I’ve been so inspired by the voices, initiatives and attitudes from our bicycle community in the last year in general and especially in the last couple of weeks of unrest and calibration of who we are and what we’re doing to each other. The calling out of toxic elements and the demand for change has a snowballing effect that is nothing but refreshing. I believe in the bicycle as a tool for change and grassroots movements like the Cycling Industry Pledge by WTF Bikexplorers is just one powerful example of how to drive change and hold us all accountable for our actions, or the lack thereof. For some, the bicycle will always just be a toy or a piece of sporting equipment but for many others, it’s a tool that enables change, growth and freedom.
Radar
Specialized Listened: the New Diverge Comes in a Flat Bar Expert E5 EVO Model
Remember Sarah’s SIQuoia flat bar? I like to think that builds like that prompted Specialized to experiment with their newly-launched Diverge line announced today. Nestled in the EVO line – the catalog reserved for experimentation – the new Diverge EVO joins the newest in Diverge tech with a flat bar package suitable for singletrack riding. This model retails for $2,600 and the EVO Comp model retails for $1,600. The only bummer is that these flat bar aluminum frame models lack the SWAT storage the carbon models use. Now the next question is, when will Specialized release an Aero-Bar build kit like Sarah’s?
Check out the full lineup at Specialized.
Specs:
-E5 Aluminum frame
-Future Shock 2.0 with an adjustable hydraulic damper offering 20mm of travel
-Shimano XT 1×12
-Magura MT4 brakes.
-X-Fusion Manic dropper
-Rhombus 42mm gravel tires
-DT Swiss G540 alloy wheels.
Radar
Specialized’s Recon 2.0 and 3.0 MTB Shoes
MTB shoes don’t have to look like 1990’s era skate shoes. Case in point is Specialized’s Recon shoes, the pinnacle of the brand’s MTB footwear. The Recon utilizes a Body Geometry sole and footbed for comfort and power transfer. These shoes have a stiffness index of 10, thanks to the Carbon STRIDE toe-flex technology and the fully-welded upper body reduces seams, so you don’t have to worry as much about blisters. The Recon 2 ($160.00) features one BOA closure, while the Recon 3 ($225.00) features two. See more at Specialized.
