The Radavist

Shimano is proud to announce its new Trail Born Fund, aimed at helping increase and sustain mountain bike trails and trail access around the world. Shimano will donate $10 million USD over the next 10 years, to support and facilitate trail projects and trail advocacy organizations. 

Weighing in at a scant 6 oz and storing away at the size of your average nutrition bar, John’s been using his trusty 36″ pocket chainsaw to cut down lots of deadfall in Santa Fe this spring, prompting this review. Sparked by Travis’ Silky Pocketboy review earlier this month, these ubiquitous hand-operated chainsaws pack a mighty punch, so let’s look at his buddy Scott and him making quick work of some deadfall below…

This is not one of Travis’s trail-work humble-brag stories. His Silky Pocketboy folding saw can’t make lasting changes like the chainsaw or sawzall he prefers to use. But he carries a Silky Pocketboy on every mountain bike ride, and maybe you should, too.

Old Man Mountain joined Lowelifes for one of their monthly work party campouts to gain a little insight into what makes their trail organization different from other groups in California. They do grueling work, from long hours breaking up granite with 60V demolition hammers to cutting out forests of Poodle-Dog Bush. They also know how to have fun, hand-pressing tacos for their volunteers in the backcountry. Join us and learn more about Lowelifes and what makes the trails around LA so special…

Assisting with habitat restoration in the Mojave Desert, learning about the history and ecology of the region, and three nights of camping…

Like many towns along the Rocky Mountain corridor, Santa Fe has easy access to endless singletrack that spans many mountainous ecotones. You can pedal from town at 7000′ all the way above tree line to where our bike-legal trails top out at 12,500′, on almost exclusively singletrack.

This dense network of trails is stewarded by our local organization, the Santa Fe Fat Tire Society, and over the years, they’ve been putting in work adding new, legal trails, keeping the current trails running smoothly, cutting deadfall, fixing blown corners, and adding signage in a hope to bridge the various trail users in this community…

We probably could have come up with a more crowd-pleasing review than a mountain-bike-specific chainsaw pack. But life’s not all about clicks. For example, if pleasing the masses were all Dakine was worried about, they wouldn’t have recently updated and expanded their niche series of Builder Packs. And Travis Engel wouldn’t have found the Builder Pack 25L, his new favorite way to carry a chainsaw. Now, he just needs someone to carry everything else.

Welcome to the debut installment of The Dust-Up. This will be a semi-regular platform for Radavist editors and contributors to make bold, sometimes controversial claims about cycling. A way to challenge long-held assumptions that deserve a second look. Sometimes they will be global issues with important far-reaching consequences, other times they will shed light on little nerdy corners of our world that don’t get enough attention. We’re starting somewhere in the middle with Travis Engel’s explanation of why being thanked for doing trail work kinda rubs him the wrong way.

This is not a review of the Trail Boss collapsible tool system as a whole. That’d be kinda pointless. These U.S.-made splined sectional trail tools don’t really have any worthy one-to-one competitors. So, until that changes, Trail Boss wins by default. But that’s not a bad thing. Although traditional tools are sturdier and cheaper, you can’t stow traditional tools inside a pack, do legit heavy tread work, then pop mad wheelies while comfortably carrying them home. So, instead of stretching my not-so-hot take for hundreds of words, I’m just going to talk about Trail Boss’ new made-in-house tool head, the Hoe Rake, and stretch that for a mere hundreds of words.

Without trail working tools, our favorite trails would exist in disarray. Sometimes packing a full kit into the backcountry can be cumbersome and a new Kickstarter looks to rectify that. The GRIP N RIP Dirt Tool Set features everything you’d need to work dirt in a compact and lightweight package.

Check out the launch video here and see more at Kickstarter…

Photos by Dylan VanWeelden

To say Trans Cascadia is a lot of work is an understatement. It’s an unprecedented undertaking in the backcountry of Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. Since its inception, various companies have come on board to assist in the trail work team’s efforts. Earlier this year, we looked at the Sycip eMTB the Shimano team worked on and now, Oakley announces their partnership with the race. Check out the full press release below!

After the last trail work day on the Gabrielino Trail, I received texts, emails, messages and carrier pigeon notes asking when and how various people can learn about these work days. Well, here ya go. This Sunday, in Los Angeles, Mission Workshop and MWBA are kickin’ more ass on the Gabrielino Trail. Check out details at MWBA’s FB. We’ll see you there!