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Not a Yeti: Gravel Jesus’ Surly Midnight Special Pro Fro Tribute Bike

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Not a Yeti: Gravel Jesus’ Surly Midnight Special Pro Fro Tribute Bike

The mid of March is usually a time where you think about the upcoming season and what kind of adventures you are going to tackle during springtime. Suddenly, the world is closing down, throwing everyone into the status of the unknown. Leaving us with restless and raving minds. Diving into the world of bikes has always been a great way of escaping reality for me. Let it be physically or virtually – if you don´t have the chance for some saddle time.

I was blessed to have the chance of getting my first taste of ultra-cycling at the Atlas Mountain Race last February. The harsh brutality of the Morrocan rock fields brought up the first ideas for this project. Rocks and smaller stones hitting my frame and rims for hours let me think about how I would repaint my bike after the race.

A Look at the New Agave Products Handlebar Bag: the Arroyo Backpack

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A Look at the New Agave Products Handlebar Bag: the Arroyo Backpack

One of the joys this website has brought me over the years is helping out small companies jettison their products into the world. From component manufacturers, apparel brands, frame builders, and yes, bag makers, there’s something special about watching a brand bloom over time and having been a part of that process. Last week, I met this fella named Jeff at Sincere Cycles where he showed me a new prototype bag he’s developing under the moniker Agave Products called the Arroyo Backpack.

Jeff and Agave are based in Austin, Texas, my old stomping grounds, and so this project plucked at my heartstrings a bit. Read on for a more in-depth look at the Arroyo Backpack…

A Different Kind of Maker: Jacob from Bread Shop Santa Fe and his Surly Cross Check

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A Different Kind of Maker: Jacob from Bread Shop Santa Fe and his Surly Cross Check

We visit a lot of makers here at the Radavist. From frames to components to bags. 2020 has put a lot of that on momentary pause, yet I’ve enjoyed meeting cyclists serendipitously since moving to Santa Fe, many of which are small business owners. One of those is Jacob from Bread Shop. He and his wife Mayme, along with his brother Zac run a small bakery that’s big on taste. We’ve been buying loaves once a week from Bread Shop and this week I met up with Jacob to shoot his Surly Cross-Check.

Throw the Parts Bin at It: Morgan’s 26+ Surly Pugsley

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Throw the Parts Bin at It: Morgan’s 26+ Surly Pugsley

Considering I’ve reviewed three Surly bikes and have loved every one of them, it’s a bit surprising that I don’t have one of my own. Thing is, we live in a two-bedroom apartment, and our family collection—not including cargo bikes—has room for three bikes apiece: one slow, one medium, and one fast (and, these are probably still slow by many folks standards).

Review bikes come for tryouts, but in the past two-and-a-half years none have been able to displace any in our collection which includes: my Kona Unit (slow), our Soma Wolverines (medium), and my humongous Rock Lobster (ok, actually pretty fast). There’s a slim chance that a bike could be added, but for the right bike it is possible, and that’s where this story begins.

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Surly Overhauls the Disc Trucker

The Disc Trucker is Surly’s disc touring bike and this year, the brand revamped it a bit, adding a bunch of crucial details:

Updates:
-Dynamo routing on the fork, plus three-pack mounts on the blade and every braze-on you’ll ever need for racks, fenders, water bottle cages, and more
-12mm thru-axles for a stiffer feel and increased stability when fully loaded
-Shortened seat tube and slightly sloped top tube for improved stand-over clearance, plus increased stack height for a more upright and comfortable riding position on those long hauls
-Spec’d with the Truck Stop Bar and tubeless ExtraTerrestrial tires for dependable handling and traction
-Flat-mount disc brakes
-Frame sizes 42–56cm are available with 26” diameter wheels, while frame sizes 56–64cm are available with 700c diameter wheels
-Clearance for 26” x 2.1” tires with or without fenders, or 700c x 47mm with or without fenders

Check out this video for all the info and head to Surly to see more.

Review: Surly Big Easy Electric Cargo Bike – Living Car-Lite

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Review: Surly Big Easy Electric Cargo Bike – Living Car-Lite

Nesting projects. While some families go crazy building out and decorating a “nursery”, we mostly tried to figure out how to continue our bike lifestyle once our baby arrived. When Stephanie was pregnant, we fawned over Larry vs. Harry’s Bullitt, tried out the very-Euro Riese and Müller Packster, and bought into the front load aesthetic right away.

But, long term practicality was never too far away, considering the astronomical cost of an electrified front-loader. As it turns out, our friend Adam, whose Bullitt we borrowed for a couple months in 2018, let us know that his daughter was in fact outgrowing the bike’s kid canopy at only 4 years of age. Not only was her helmet hitting the top of the enclosure, but she was losing interest in riding in the “trailer” on the front of the bike.

High costs mixed with the prospect of the bike possibly lasting only three years before its primary cargo turned on it meant we were wary of dropping into an electric box bike. When the opportunity came along to review the first Surly Big Easy to make its way into Canada, we were very, very stoked. The dream of a car-lite lifestyle was alive!

I immediately swept out and scored an older Yepp seat with the requisite (and obsolete) adapter off the local buy and sell, and we got scheming on how to adapt to the longtail lifestyle.

Good Coffee, Clean Bathrooms: Being a Breezer for Two Weeks at Angry Catfish in Minneapolis

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Good Coffee, Clean Bathrooms: Being a Breezer for Two Weeks at Angry Catfish in Minneapolis

FOREWORD: Back in May and into June, I had the pleasure of helping the crew at Angry Catfish for a couple of weeks as their summer season began to pick up. The following is a series of entries from a journal I kept during my time there. My hope is that through these vignettes you will get a glimpse of what it’s like to not only work at one of the most successful bike shops in the country, but be a bicycle salesperson and mechanic in the city of Minneappolis. Think of this as an extended shop visit, one where I get my hands dirty and experience the area and community the way those at Angry Catfish and other locals do. All photos are film, shot on 35mm and 120mm. Enjoy!

Surly Issues Immediate Safety Recall for 8 and 24 Pack Racks!

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Surly Issues Immediate Safety Recall for 8 and 24 Pack Racks!

This just in from our friends at Surly!

“We’re writing today to let you know that we have recently received reports of a small number of Surly 8-Pack and 24-Pack Racks loosening, contacting the front wheel and causing accidents.

Rider safety is our greatest concern, and we want to make sure that you are fully informed with what is going on, and the steps you should take to ensure safety on your bike equipped with either the Surly 8-Pack or 24-Pack Rack (rack images above).”

Surly’s Truck Stop Bar

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Surly’s Truck Stop Bar

Bars. Bars. Bars. I feel like we’ve been inundated with bar designs this year and leave it to Surly to bide their time and develop one of the more subtle replies to the high-demand gravel handlebar market. The Truck Stop Bar is an aluminum bar with a 31.8 clamp, 42-48cm widths, 30mm of rise (!!!), 12º of sweep, resulting in a bar with many hand positions to help alleviate pain on long rides. Check out the Truck Stop Bar at your local Surly dealer or see more information at Surly!

Why Ride One Bike When You Can Ride Two?

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Why Ride One Bike When You Can Ride Two?

Stephanie and I have been eyeing up cargo bikes basically since we found out we were pregnant early last year. But would it be a good financial move to drop $5000+ on a new setup when we’re also running on one income? Knowing we’d likely be taking the winter off of family biking with Sophia on the younger side, we had lots of time to consider the options and make sure we had the money ready when the time came.

Last summer, we borrowed a friend’s Bullitt for a camping trip. Super rad. Denver loved riding up front. Yet we had our suspicions confirmed that a bike that weighs 60 pounds dry is a tough sell when you live in a hilly area like we do. Load that up with kids or dogs and the rest of the stuff you need every day, let alone on a camping trip, and you’ll quickly find yourself back in the car.

Plenty of Stock at Santa Fe’s Broken Spoke

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Plenty of Stock at Santa Fe’s Broken Spoke

Over the past couple of months, we’ve looked at a few bike shops with very unique business models. From opening their stock up as a rental fleet, to stocking only Rivendell and Bob Dylan, and roadside attractions, looking to recycle as much as possible, we’ve run quite the gammut of business models this summer here on the Radavist. Another shop that I recently documented was Santa Fe’s Broken Spoke and they’re doing something unique in the modern internet sales versus the Local Bike Shop climate…

A Father Son Tour Divide Duo

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A Father Son Tour Divide Duo

Happy Father’s Day!

On our road trip up to Bozeman for the Swift Campout, we mosied up through Abiquiu to visit some friends who own a nice little tract of land in the hills. At a favorite lunch stop of ours, we bumped into a father and son bikepacking duo from Arkansas. They are riding the Tour Divide from south to north, beginning in New Mexico. They were 14 days into their trip when we bumped into them. They looked cooked!

Frostbike 2019: Three Shots of Whisky With a Carbon Back

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Frostbike 2019: Three Shots of Whisky With a Carbon Back

Frostbike 2019: Three Shots of Whisky With a Carbon Back
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

Whisky Components chose Quality Bicycle Products Frostbike to unveil some new products this year, and along with it, they proved that the sum of a well-appointed bicycle is in its parts.  With three unique builds designed around a Surly Wednesday, Surly Karate Monkey, and Surly Midnight special, all shod in a certain shade of retina burn that when entering the expo halls was sure to catch your eye.

There’s much more going on than at first glance, but the paint/carbon combo worked out really well, I’ve been told the Wednesday weighed under 27lbs.

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Follow Whisky Parts Co on Instagram, and Jarrod on Instagram

Amy’s Arrowhead 135 Surly Pugsley – Jarrod Bunk

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Amy’s Arrowhead 135 Surly Pugsley – Jarrod Bunk

Amy’s Arrowhead 135 Surly Pugsley
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

Amy, a total badass, and product manager at Surly bikes set off to DFL the Arrowhead 135 this year.  The Arrowhead 135 is a 135 mile ultra race through northern Minnesota, usually set in January to take advantage of the frigid Winters. With a finisher rate of somewhere close to half, this race put your body, and gear through some of the toughest conditions.   Fully loaded and weighing in at a stout “it’s fuggin heavy” this Pugsley was loaded up to tackle the -25°F weather and save for some frozen shifty bits, Amy made it to the finish.  If you’ll be around Edgewater, CO on April 12 Amy will be talking about her Arrowhead experience at Yawp Cyclery’s Adventure Lab,  for more info on Amy’s setup and her recount of the experience on course check it out here.

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Follow Amy on Instagram, Surly Bikes on Instagram, and Jarrod on Instagram

 

 

Surly’s New Big Easy Is a Necessity for the Brand

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Surly’s New Big Easy Is a Necessity for the Brand

e-Bike hate is all the rage these days, yet pry open the myopic, short-sightedness of those scoffing at e-anything and look at Surly’s new Big Easy as a literal definition of what it is. In short, cargo made as easy as possible. Somewhere us Americans got it wrong, the bicycle that is. We look at them as instruments of pain, of punishment, of fitness, of sport. Oftentimes, the clamoring horde fails to look to the rest of the world’s reliance on two-wheel transport, over our enamorment with four-wheel. Our cars are easy. Bikes are meant to be painful and e-assist is cheating. You have to work for whatever it is you’re pedaling for. This is why I believe people hate e-bikes on their city streets.