Custom bikes aren’t always about the bling; they’re about designing form for specific functions. For Dylan, his love of touring through the Australian outback pushed him to get a custom Meriwether Cycles longtail fat bike for touring. Read on for a dusty Readers’ Rides…
#touring-bike
tag
Radar
Portland Design Works: 26″ Vintage MTB Fenders in Stock!
If you have converted a 1980s or 90s vintage MTB to a commuter, basket bike, or tourer, and have been looking for solid, affordable fenders for the winter months, look no further. PDW just announced its All Metal Fenders ($149) in a 26″ wheel diameter. They’ll fit a 26 x 2.2″ tire, maximum, which is about as big as most 1980s MTBs would fit anyway and come pre-assembled to make installation easier. Check out more at Portland Design Works.
Reportage
John’s Geekhouse Woodville Touring Bike: A Classic Redux Made Possible by Friends
It’s spooky season, and while humans can’t return from the dead, bicycles can! Especially steel bikes. Longtime readers of The Radavist might recall John’s Geekhouse Woodville touring bike from 2013. Its history is sordid and includes theft, a recovery, some damage, and a brief hiatus. Well, thanks to a group of friends, John got it back, and the redux might be better than the original. Read on for the resurrection of this beloved and more beautiful than ever bicycle!
Radar
The Mason Cycles Macro Has Landed
After seemingly years of teasing, including in our Mason Cycles Shop Visit, Mason sneakily announced that the Macro has finally landed in its Instagram Stories this morning. Let’s take a closer look at this rigid or hardtail 29er mixed-terrain bicycle below!
Reportage
2024 Bespoked Dresden: A Special Fern Bicycles Chuck Gravel Touring Bike
Amid our ongoing coverage of the Bespoked Dresden framebuilder and maker showcase, today we are featuring a very special bicycle made by Berlin-based Fern Bicycles equipped with Allygn racks and custom bags from Gramm Tourpacking. With design language referencing a late-1980s Toyota Pickup and mountain bikes of the same vintage, the build features both old and new elements with components from a long list of artisan fabricators like Cyber Cycles, Garbaruk, Tune, Velocity, SON, Gevenalle, Btchn’, and many more. We think this bike might be peak Fern. Continue reading below for the complete breakdown of this special Fern Bicycles Chuck gravel touring bike.
If you’re at Bespoked this weekend, make sure to swing by the Fern booth to check this out!
Reportage
Tumbleweed Sunliner Review: A Timeless Mountain Touring Bike
The Tumbleweed Sunliner ($3775 complete) continues a long-held tradition of equipping a mountain bike with touring accoutrements. Since the mountain bike’s inception, people have been bolting racks and strapping bags to them, taking advantage of its beefy chassis and wide gearing to pedal deeper into rugged terrain than ever before. John has been riding the Sunliner all year in the Southern Rockies, both unloaded as a trail bike and loaded on camping trips. Read on for his thorough assessment of this timeless touring bike…
Reportage
Meriwether Cycles Ponderosa Adventure Gravel Bike Review
Yesterday we looked Inside and Out of Meriwether Cycles via an in-depth Shop Visit. In that post, we offered a sneak peek at Whit’s production adventure gravel bike, the Ponderosa. John has been riding a prototype all year, providing Whit feedback for the final production model, which we’ll look at it in detail today. Read on for a full review of this tall and sturdy dream bike platform…
Radar
Touring Through Japan
“Mystery Tour: Bikepacking Through Japan” follows friends Jackson, Jake, Kyle, and Fischer on a bike tour across Japan on State Bicycle Co.’s Titanium All-Road bikes. From navigating Tokyo’s chaotic streets and subways to cycling along the coast and through scenic landscapes, their journey is filled with surprises, new friends, and spontaneous detours.
Radar
Tout Terrain: Smart Solutions for Touring and Bikepacking
In an effort to keep this website free for all to enjoy, modern media has to rely on several revenue streams. One of which is sponsored content. From time to time, we’ll be offering features from brand partners that align with the core values of The Radavist.
One such sponsored post is from Tout Terrain. We encourage you to read on as your views, clicks, and engagement keep us independent and help fuel our business. Let’s check it out…
Reportage
Readers’ Rides: Auguste Bicycles Causse Toujours Full Suspension
We’re back with Readers’ Rides after a couple of weeks’ hiatus, and today’s submission comes from Auguste Bicycles in Causse Méjean, the South of France, with a wild full suspension…
Radar
Under Biking Down Under on Damien’s Trail
A while back we shared the first Under Biking Down Under video and today we’re back with another one from Damien’s trail in New Zealand.
Reportage
2024 MADE Bike Show Pre-Feature: Paul’s Meriwether x Oddity Touring Fat Bike
John and Cari are en route to the 2024 MADE Bike Show and stopped along the way to see the Paul Component Engineering fam in Chico, California. While there, we checked out Paul’s Meriwether Cycles touring fat bike. This collaboration bike with Oddity Cycles is a three-year project, but if you’re like us, you’ll agree it was well worth the wait. Let’s check it out!
Radar
Tumbleweed Sunliner Touring Bike: First Look
The Tumbleweed Sunliner is a flat bar rigid 29er mountain touring bike. It’s in the same brand family as the lauded Stargazer. After crowning the Stargazer best in class, John had to try out the flat bar sibling to see if it stacked up. While we have a much longer, in-depth review on the way later this fall, let’s take a First Look at this tantalizing touring bike…
Reportage
A Look at the Crust Bikes Australia Wheelhouse: Stupid Tourist Break-Away Bike, Lugged Lightning Bolt, and More!
John and Cari were in Australia earlier this month, and since they were on the same continent as Matt and Cheech from Crust Bikes, they had to visit them at their home in New South Wales. While there, John documented a selection of bikes from their shed, including some prototypes and soon-to-be-released future cult classics. Let’s check it all out!
Radar
Spencer’s Crust Bikes Scapebot Wheel Swap Chainline Hack Video
With Crust Bikes’ Scapebot frame, you can swap from 29 x 2.4″ tires and wheels to a massive 26″ x 3.8″ setup… but it takes some tinkering and a clever hack. Shed tinker lord Spencer shows us how in this supplementary video to his Scapebot review.
Radar
Esker Cycles Lorax Steel Drop Bar Mountain Bike
Announced back in May, the Esker Lorax is the ultimate, do-anything drop-bar mountain bike. Today the brand just announced a more affordable steel chassis material. Let’s check it out!
Reportage
Readers’ Rides: Zeke’s Gemini World Randonneur
Originally featured in our MADE OZ coverage, Zeke’s stunning resto-mod Gemini World randonneur build was expanded upon by Alex Streich on the Off Course Bike Shop blog. We’ve got the whole write-up below for a very in-depth Readers’ Rides!
Radar
The 2024 Salsa Cutthroat Gets Updates
Hot off the heels of a Tour Divide second place with Salsa rider Ana Jager, the brand announced three key updates to the popular Cutthroat touring bike. Let’s check it out below.