The Radavist

The last 20 years have seen seismic changes to brick-and-mortar businesses of all kinds, especially bike shops, yet Mock Orange Bikes endures. Mock Orange and its owner, Charles Van Isenburg, have remained a pillar of Winston-Salem, NC’s bike community for two decades with a relationship-driven, neighborhood-oriented, very much offline, and old-school way of conducting retail business.

On one of his frequent swings through his native North Carolina, Andy Karr stopped by his favorite hometown bike shop to chat with Charles about what’s changed in 20 years of owning a shop and what hasn’t.

We’ve got a special Readers’ Rides today. It’s Chris King’s personal Cinelli Supercorsa. Chris has owned this since the mid-70s and rode it for 20 years straight, including a bike tour from Seattle to Santa Barbara. It features an early Chris King headset using salvaged grade 9 modified bearings and yeah, it’s got some beausage! Let’s check it out with words and photos by Jacob Olsen from Chris King below…

John spent last weekend in Santa Cruz catching up with friends, riding some tacky dirt and checking out the History of Mountain Bike Evolution Show at Santa Cruz Bicycles, put on by Doug Hatfield, Velo Cosmos with Team Old Soil. The show spanned the evolution of the mountain bike from the 1940s through the Syndicate Racing Team’s World Cup DH machines.

Below, John hones in on the evolution of cruiser bikes to klunkers and the genesis of the Marin County “Mountain Bike” and shares a jam-packed gallery of bikes and hangs…

John and Tasshi from The Vintage MTB Workshop once again team up to deliver a Vintage Bicycles article. This time, featuring a 1975 Ritchey track bike. Read on for John’s photos accompanying Tasshi’s words…

Few things are as beautifully simplistic as a brakeless track bike, especially a beloved Cannondale Track. While the blue anodized frames might be more iconic than the polished frames, there’s something alluring about those ground-down welds and shiny finish. Yet, this 1994 Cannondale Track has a bit more going on than a pristine appearance…

In a world where boundaries blur and possibilities collide, two extraordinary individuals emerge from different realms, united by a shared vision. Matthew Mata-Aguilar, a seasoned veteran with a decade of wisdom in the cycling industry, and Glen Repol, a maven of street fashion culture for over eleven years, embark on an epic journey that transcends the ordinary. Together, they shatter the confines of traditional cycling norms, pushing the limits of imagination and innovation. From bike builds to cycling fashion, their collaboration ignites a spark that sets the stage for a mesmerizing spectacle.

Brace yourself as they unveil a groundbreaking event, a helmet art show like no other, where creativity intertwines with functionality, and the cycling culture is forever transformed. Get ready to witness the collision of worlds, the convergence of ideas, and the birth of a new era in cycling. This is the story of SLOWRIDER and PAL, two trailblazers on a mission to redefine what it means to ride.

Wende Cragg’s contributions to cycling and her documentation of the sport over the years are unquantifiable. And here at The Radavist, we’ve been fortunate to have her sharing snapshots of that history, from her moving piece about the origins of mountain biking, to her return to Crested Butte last year for the Pearl Pass Tour after a forty-two-year hiatus.

Wende is back today to share another special story we think you’ll thoroughly enjoy. This time, Wende pens an ode to her custom 1983 Breezer Series III built for her after multiple ill-fitting predecessors (including one of the ten original Breezer Series I). To top it off, she enlisted Joe Breeze to share a few insights about her one-of-a-kind bike and the general evolution of early Breezers. Let’s get right to it below!