The Radavist

What a year it’s been. As you might imagine, we need some time off to rest, recover, and spend time with our families. We’re going to take the rest of the week off but will be back on Monday with our year-in-review posts, some of our favorite moments, and the top Beautiful Bicycles of the year.

The first week of the new year, we’re going to have a very special restock of our made in the USA Radavist hats as well as some other goodies.

Enjoy the Holidaze and let’s look forward to a brighter future.

xo

Northern New Mexico is home to a lot of cyclists, so it should come as no surprise that many of these cyclists are also makers. From framebuilders, manufacturers of MTB bars, and yes, bag makers. Down in Albuquerque, a new company just launched. Buckhorn Bags makes custom frame bags, hip bags, and more, using lightweight materials. There isn’t much on them online, so check out their Instagram account for all the tidbits and if you’d like one of their hip bags, Sincere Cycles has some in stock.

It’s no secret that for the past few years, we spend a lot of time on the road traveling to bike events. We often spend 7 months on the road, visiting gravel races, MTB events, framebuilder showcases, or just checking out the cycling communities and rides in various towns all over the Western United States. 2020 put a damper on that with Covid-19 but this year I’ve been building out a desert tourer and road trip vehicle of a different sort, an HJ75 Troopcarrier from Australia. This “long van” is one of the most capable and compact RVs in the world and unfortunately, we never got this specific model of Toyota here in the States.

When BF Goodrich caught wind of a recent interview with me where I discussed desert touring… by bicycle. They had to know more. How in the world do you ride in the desert on a bike? So I sat down with them for an interview about the Radavist and what it means to “Shred Lightly.”

Guide books like this are where I get a lot of inspiration for bike rides and tours.

The piece might be common knowledge for a lot of y’all but it’s always nice to push a positive message for outdoor recreation on a large platform like that. Head over to BF Goodrich Garage to check it out.

This week’s Readers’ Rides comes from Dan, who pedals this bike all over the Northeast. It’s a Crust Bike Nor’Easter and Dan calls it his Party Bike. Follow along with Dan on Instagram and check out more photos and a parts breakdown below…

A modern-day homage to the fabled Bridgestone X0-1, the XOXO is an accessible replica of the highly-desired, very rare touring bike. Handsome didn’t just knock off the XO-1, they updated the tubing, paint, and more, all for $699 for a frame or $1,249 for a complete.

There’s a lot of information to unpack, so head to the Kickstarter page to read all about it.

The latest video from Bombtrack has all the vibes!

“Matty has bikepacked plenty of times in Europe and Australia and has passionately shared his infatuation for riding with me. I was fairly new to this way of life and adventure but excited to share this experience on my first bike-packing trip overseas. More than a year of travel ahead and a one-way flight to Oslo, Norway was the beginning of the unknown. The trepidation of leaving our family, friends and jobs behind was tempered by the excitement of the new challenges we would soon be facing. Add to this a strong emotional link to Matty’s Grandfather, Bob, who had cycle toured Scandinavia in the 1950’s, we felt a powerful draw to this mountainous country to mark the beginning of our world trip. There was also the challenge of tracking down the same locations Bob had captured on an old film camera, recently uncovered in a dusty photo album.

The film documents our daily trials and tribulations, from strong headwinds, torrential rain, the odd argument and uncontrollable happiness as we attempted to re-trace the pedal strokes of Matty’s Grandfather. Maybe, we dared to think, even recreate one of his images and come to find his ‘Lost Captures’…” – Clare Nattress

Many framebuilders and bike companies approach cargo capacity by relying on third-party racks, which is fine and all but when a company designs specific cargo solutions, it causes pause. Trek did it with their 1120+ touring bike and now Mason Cycles turns it up a notch with their new InSearchOf steel touring bike model, featuring the Condensor Rack. Yet the most clever innovation here is this beautiful load-bearing front mudguard/fender. Not every ride requires cargo bags but plenty of rides, especially this time of year, require the constant shedding and switching of layers. This fender can hold a jacket (or a hoagie, burrito, muffin, etc), with the addition of ski straps.

You can read all about the Condensor Rack at Mason Cycles and see the new ISO models there too!

During the pandemic, bike shops have seen a surge in business, and with this growing popularity of two-wheeled machines, we’re stoked to see non-profits benefiting from the bicycle boom. Mitchell and Matt recently opened Two Bikes, a non-profit in Knoxville, TN. For this week’s Readers’ Rides, we take a look at Mitchell’s Rivendell Hunqapillar, with an interesting backstory…

Available in both a 275 (pictured) and a 28 (700c) model, the new Tout Terrain GT II is a gravel bike with a Pinion Gearbox. These frames have provisions for a rear rack, front fork cargo bosses, come in sizes M-XL, and have a geometry that is designed for all-rounder usage. Head over to Tout Terrain to see more on the Scrambler GT II.

The Standard Rando is Twin Six’s flagship do it all drop bar bike. Tour, gravel, commute, ride road, whatever on this versatile bike. Build it with 650b or 700, buy a frameset or a complete, and now, you’ve got one more color to choose from if the lastolive drab release wasn’t your style. This limited edition color is available now from Twin Six in a frameset ($700) or complete ($1950), so hop on over to Twin Six and check it out.

For decades, Brooks saddles have been a staple on touring bikes, and today, Brooks has just widened their scope for bicycle portage with the SCAPE lineup.

These bags are for the cyclo-tourist, long-distance gravel rider, and bikepacker alike with panniers, saddle packs, handlebar packs, frame bags, and more.

There’s a lot to unpack so head to Brooks to see the full spread.

Fairlight’s touring bike chassis the Faran got a major update earlier this year and just recently, the Faran 2.0 has begun shipping.

For some mouth-watering touring bike images, head to Fairlight to check out the build option examples of the new Faran 2.0, including this one with Restrap touring bags.