The Radavist

The Why Cycles team has been constantly working on their Wayward 29+ platform MTB since its inception, so there’s no surprise that V2 is still the same bike but with a few new details. Why used their tubing of choice, 3/2.5 titanium, and added their unique cold-formed shaping to really tune the ride quality. The geometry has been corrected to fit a 120mm fork (instead of 100mm), giving the bike a more balanced feel. The next change is an increase in standover clearance, yet the biggest change is a product spec. Why Cycles worked with Sean Burns at Oddity Cycles, the master manipulator of titanium, to offer a suspension-corrected Squid fork option for the Wayward along with his Lowrizer titanium handlebars. The team at Why have dubbed this the Squidward.

Pricing for the V2 remains the same with a frame (including headset, seat collar, anodized water bottle bolts and rear axle) coming in at $2449. Frame and fork options start at $3049 with a RockShox Yari and a $1000 upgrade for the Oddity Squid fork. Complete builds with SRAM components and Industry 9 wheels start at $4799.

See more at Why Cycles.

Our buddy Ty talks with Jeff about what it was like to leave his home base of Los Angeles, all his friends, and familiarities for a new city as an adult. Mountain bikes and bikes in general, can be a social catalyst for making new friends and it seems to be working great for Ty in Tucson.

I’d say this sums up our good friend Ty!

“Ty Hathaway, a tall, soft-spoken Californian who co-owns a bike shop, Golden Saddle Cyclery in Los Angeles, has made a life of things on two wheels. He’s been photographed for BMX magazines enough that he’s forgotten exactly which ones — and which issues. He’s been featured in clothing and helmet ads on road bikes. His Instagram feed is a visual catalogue of seemingly constant bike trips with like-minded friends. And in 2014, Hathaway re-discovered mountain biking and took on the rugged Trans Provence stage race in France, where he finished as the top-placing American. And his mountain bike jones was re-lit.”

Check out more at SRAM!

See the video for this at Ty’s Instagram

When you ride a place over and over again, it’s easy to overlook nuances in the terrain. The ride we call “Chilao” is in reality three trails, and each possess unique moments typically stemming from rock formations.

Yesterday, Ty went full berserk on some of these rocks and let’s just say I’ll let the photos do the talking… See more below.

Tyler from SRAM, Lyle from Mission Workshop / Acre, Ty from Golden Saddle and Ross Measures were in the French Alps with Adrian Marcoux for a few days of straight up ripping (and getting lost).

Over at Bike Mag, they’ve put together an extensive story of this trip, in a four-day series. Head over to read Day 1 of Following Cards and click through to Day 2 – 4 when you’re done.

In celebration of the The 2014 Tour Divide mountain bike race, Ty is selling prints of some of his favorite 35mm photos from his 2013 run. He’s only selling five of each and doesn’t plan on selling them again. Head over to Tytanium Life to order.

If you’re interested in tracking the 2014 Tour Divide, do so at Trackleaders.

The above photo, entitled “First Day” is one of my personal favorites. See four others below.

… if you’ve ever wondered what makes this dude tick, then you’ve gotta read this interview over at Folly for gems like this:

“The name Tytanium actually first came from an old friend of mine Brian Terada. He made a sticker that said Tytanium and put it on my BMX bike when we used to ride. I always kind of thought it was a cool play on my name and was a fan of Titanium parts. It did not really stick until 2007 when I had a pretty good motorcycle crash in the Baja 1000 that ended with me having a lot of Titanium holding my face together. I think it was just meant to be at that point…”

And Matt, I’ve been supporting GSC for way longer than a year and a half!

Oh man! I’m pretty sure we’ve all been there before. Thanks for this Rubber Side Up photo Ty! Check out a GIF of this crash below.

Ace from the Sleepers took some of Ty’s footage from his Mojave Road trip and made a quick video. While GoPro footage is typically boring, this is actually a really great watch.

One person that’s constantly inspiring me in life is Ty from Golden Saddle Cyclery. From crushing the Tour Divide, to riding his fatbike to the top of Baldy (10,000′) in the middle of winter and just general radness. Ty’s always got a camera on him when he seeks out one of his epic rides and I’ve rarely seen any of the photos.

Now he’s got a Tumblr called Tytanium Life. Head over, follow him and stay tuned. I’m sure you’ll see some familiar faces in the mix.

Is the riding in LA the best in the country, or did a group of my close friends make it that way and present me with a great time, every time I’m in town? Who knows. I enjoy riding in LA, be it MTB, road or cross and while I love to ride road here, I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the real dirty Los Angeles.

Oh and Ty can really boost his Surly Pugsley!

Photos by Kyle Kelley

Yesterday morning, Ty, Kyle, Sean, Moi and myself went out on a MTB ride. On the agenda: up to the top of Brown and down El Preito. I’d never done the full Brown climb before, the last time my rental bike broke down half way up the climb, so I was ready to see what all the fuss was.

We climbed up around 2,000′ from the trail head, soaked in the views of the Angeles Forest and bombed back down the double track to the El Preito entrance. On the way down, Ty found the elusive fatbike air!

El Preito was a lot of fun, especially on the Tallboy LTC. Tight switchbacks, rocky, technical descents down to stream crossings and lots of areas with “consequence” if you’re not paying attention. Basically, yes, it is an exceptional ride and worth doing if you haven’t!

Even though I’ve barely scratched the surface of all that Los Angeles has to offer on a MTB, I can say that what I’ve seen so far has me wanting more!

Check out a few more of Kyle’s photos below!

This is one of my favorite people on the planet. He’s inspired me to remember just one thing about cycling: have fun (or at least look rad). Yonder Journal has just posted an interview with Ty, right after he completed the 2013 Tour Divide.

“I was always tired to a certain degree because any day that you ride a mountain bike one hundred and forty miles you’re going to be tired. And if you wake up and do it again, and again, for twenty-three days in a row, you’re going to be tired all the time. So basically I was tired all the time. I feel great now though.”

It’s a hell of a read, so check it out at Yonder Journal!

Well, it appears that cyclocross season is officially here. Best of luck to everyone who’s been racing this weekend! Rubber side up!