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The Routt ESC is the latest bike to roll out of Moots’ Steamboat Springs facility where they’ve been making titanium frames for over 40 years. Watch this edition of our Beautiful Builds series for the full rundown on what makes the Routt ESC so different from any other bike in the Routt lineup…
See our full review of the Routt ESC in today’s Reportage.
Top US World Cup Downhill Pro, Neko Mullaly, is preparing to race the 2022 World Cup season on a self-designed one-off bike hand-built by Frank Wadelton aka the Welder. As a lifelong mountain bike nerd, this blows my hair back.
World Cup DH is a bicycle death sentence. Riders push themselves and their bikes to the limit; smashing through rock gardens with pinpoint abandon while bending gravity in tire ripping corners. The races happen over a scant few minutes creating a competitive pressure cooker where talent rides a razor’s edge.
But you don’t have to like all this “gravity bully” business to get into this story. The undeniable DIY ethos stands out amongst bike industry’s manufactured homogeneity. This is a story about taking chances, going fast, and doing what you love. I’m a fan.
The second video in our Beautiful Builds series showcases John Watson, the founder of The Radavist’s “Rad Rod” Firefly gravel/all-road bike. Back in 2014, he commissioned Firefly to make him a “gravel” bike before there were gravel bikes. This bike has a road geometry with ‘cross bike clearances and cable routing.
Don’t forget to Like and Subscribe for more Radavist videos to come at The Pro’s Closet YouTube
Music: Bongripper – Endless
Beautiful Builds. Like Beautiful Bicycles but in video! For our first video in this series, John goes over his Retrotec Funduro with videographer Justin Balog in beautiful Santa Fe, NM. Check the video out above and be sure to like and subscribe to The Pro’s Closet’s YouTube, where we’ll be hosting our videos from here on out…
Many thanks to the Fat Tire Society for maintaining these wonderful trails and to our creative director Cari Carmean for the kick-ass Beautiful Builds type treatment!
Music: Electric Wizard “Dunwich”
When The Service Course caught wind that the 2021 National Hill Climb Championships was being held at the iconic Winnats Pass in the Peak District National Park for the first time in over 40 years, they could sense the perfect storm beginning to brew – and quickly got to work. A year in the making, this project is a celebration of everything we pride ourselves in – a passion for cycling culture in all its quirky guises, collaborating with a dream team of talented creatives from ISEN Workshop and yes producing head-turning, jaw-dropping steel bikes weighing in at 5.4kg and ready to fly.
See more at The Service Course.
In nature, evolution is a process that takes hundreds of years, whereas the entire evolution of mountain biking fits within a lifetime. Or Hans Rey’s shed, as it happens!
Payson McElveen makes an attempt at being the first person in history to cross Iceland from coast-to-coast in a single push under human power.
Fish and Chip connoisseurs, Joe Barnes and Fergus Lambs of the venerable Dudes of Hazzard invite you to join them on their whimsical journey along the Hebridean Way. Faffing about through the long days of high summer here’s your chance to take part in a proxy experience of cold swims, impressive echoes, and some extremely pastoral campsites.
This video was showcased in today’s Reportage but we’ll put it here in Radar as well:
Odyssey of the VOG is a 350 mile self-supported bikepacking race through some of the most rugged terrain through the old-growth forests along the the Oregon Coast. The event name pays respect to a section of the route comprised of 51 acres of massive old-growth forest found on the North Fork Siletz River at the western edge of Polk County, Oregon. Most of these huge trees are Douglas-firs, with a few large western hemlocks as well, many of which are close to 500 years in age. 2021 was the inaugural year for the Odyssey of the VOG. This film provides a glimpse in to the experiences of a few of the participants.
For more information: odysseyvog.com
Rab Wardell is striving, fighting, and living his life full of fire and joy. His dreams are still bright, and at 36 his desire to compete at the highest level, and be the best athlete he can be, is a chance for all of us to analyze if we should ever be “old enough to know better.”
With 11 days until the British XC champs, Rab decides to mix things up. His physical shape is looking good – the numbers don’t lie – but what about the mental preparations? Riding an indoor skatepark might not seem like ideal preparation for a national xc championship, but as we find out from some esteemed members of his cohort, the fun can be just as beneficial as physical gains…
You have a little bit of everything in Los Angeles. Diversity, opportunity, creativity, it’s all at your fingertips. But there are two versions of this city: there’s Hollywood, and then there’s the multi-faceted, beautifully complex reality. Born and raised in LA, Ron Holden feels like he owes the city everything but at the same time, he’s always been missing something. Following the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, he offered his company the opportunity to make a meaningful change but got nowhere. So instead, he quit his job and founded a movement that allows its members to go anywhere. Ride for Black Lives organizes open-to-all group rides through town that spread the message of equality. It welcomes riders from all walks of life, it bridges the gap between communities, and it’s what keeps Ron riding each and every day.
While chasing the fleeting moments of biking season, three friends find themselves in the heart of The Gifford Pinchot National Forest for a ride they will never forget.
Life has a way of changing all of our well-thought-out plans. In a moment, how you relate to your career, your friends, your hobbies, your family, can change. This moment for Beija was when her father became one of the first COVID-19 patients. She immediately moved home to Seattle to be with her family. Back in Seattle, Beija discovered cycling and it soon became her mood elevator, her escape from reality and sleepless nights.
Beija wrote a wonderful piece for us this year and we’re stoked to see her getting some recognition by our parent company, The Pro’s Closet!
Starling’s very first hardtail, the Roost, had to be something special, so the UK MTB framebuilders went all out to make a bike built for pure, undiluted fun. Made to go anywhere and do anything, it’s as suited to back-country epics as it is bike park blasts. A handbuilt, zingy steel frame makes light work of rough and rowdy descents whilst mullet wheels bring that perfect balance of flick-knife and magnum. With room for a 120mm to 160mm fork, you’ve got plenty of options to custom build your own perfect setup. It’s not a spindly XC whippet, it’s not a sickly ‘hardcore ‘hardtail. It’s a ride-wherever, ride-whatever, tough-as-nails stainless do-it-all that’s built to take on whatever you can throw it at. And, of course, it’s built-in beautiful stainless steel for that shiny, rust-free raw style.
When you’re done with the video above, check out more photos of the Roost below and check out the pre-order at Starling Cycles. Pre-orders are open now with frames shipping to customers in early April 2022.
We love seeing how cycling frames and components are made and perhaps that’s what motivates our Shop Visit series? This video was sent to us by a reader and they are right, this really is right up our alley! Check it out to see how TIME makes its in-house carbon fiber frames…
Mind Over Mountains’ is a short film about the mindset behind riding far and fast. Challenging the idea that speed and suffering go hand in hand, it follows Annie Lloyd Evans, Huw Oliver and friends as they ride Scotland’s stunning Cairngorms Loop ITT on a perfect August day. Moving fast, light and in the moment, they show us that love for a landscape and joy for the simplicity of movement are what fuel unforgettable rides. Read on below for more on this video as well as a handful of photos by Huw Oliver…
What happens when everything in mountain biking has already been done? Rather than swapping their 29″ bikes for mullets or testing the limits of handlebar widths, sibling teammates Ryan and Becky Gardner decide to give up racing altogether to become high alpine extreme tubers. However, pioneering a sport is never easy; Becky and Ryan have faced many hurdles and endless judgment along the way. The Gardners share a common goal: snagging first tubing descents in previously tubeless high alpine lakes.
From early spring to autumn, start gate to finish line, the world of enduro racing is intense. Around every corner, through every pedal section and down every drop, there’s reward for those prepared to push and risk for those who push too hard. In winter, however, things slow down. Nature regenerates, and so do we. It’s a time to relax, re-evaluate and rebuild. A time to switch off, before switching on again. After several race seasons on the EWS circuit, Ella Conolly knows this well, and on her home trails in Scotland she’s focused on one thing: the section straight ahead of her.