The Radavist

Brave New Wheel bike shop is a Fort Collins, CO staple and community hub that has been around since the 1980s. Co-owned by Johnny Daggett and Mike Woodard, the shop focuses on service and repair, wheel-building, and suspension work. Johnny recently finished building a Monē Bikes El Pebblito gravel rocketship with custom Squidfork from local builders Oddity Cycles. Continue reading below for Johnny’s full rundown with a chilly photoset from Aaron LaVanchy…

Los Angeles’ cycling culture is full of people who value California-made bicycles. During a week hanging out at The Cub House, I ogled a few bikes that were just too good not too show off as in-depth feature galleries here. My favorite of the bunch was very likely this custom Sycip disc road, built with Campagnolo Ekar, the Italian brand’s official “gravel” groupset. Sycips are super clean bikes, and this one has a beautifully scalloped, segmented seat stay, so let’s check it out in detail below…

Post a photo of drop bars on a mountain bike, and chances are, someone will reference the American rider John Tomac. In the late 1980s, this BMX racer turned full-on MTB superstar and became known for sporting a style never before seen in the growing sport. Drop bars, Tension Disc, and tabletops, Tomac had it all. In 1991, Merlin Titanium crafted this Raleigh John Tomac Signature frame from titanium and carbon fiber.

The bike made its debut at the XC World Championships in Il Ciccio, Italy before a limited run of frames was produced for public consumption, and today, we’re debuting it on The Radavist for your consumption. Check out the full history by Eric Rumpf and photos by Elizabeth Wilcox below!

Will Bender is a bicycle frame builder based in Fort Collins, CO. His custom frames run the gamut from all-road to gravel, touring, and modern hardtails. Last summer, Josh paid Will a visit to document his shop and learn about his background and approach to building bikes. While he was there, he enlisted Will to build the touring MTB of his dreams — a comfortable 29+ rig capable of carrying heavy loads and designed to harmonize with the Oddity Squid Fork made concurrently by another Fort Collins frame builder, Sean Burns. Continue reading below for the full rundown on this build…

Beach Club, the fun, not-so-serious bicycle brand started by Sean and Danny from Team Dream Team, seems to be getting more serious. An indicator is the new bike models coming out over the next few months, with the latest being the Gravioli disc gravel bike…

What do you picture when you hear “African bikes”? There’s a good chance you’re not thinking of a luxury, world-class bike. And you’re not alone. We need to change the way people think about goods made in Namibia – and from Africa as a whole. Name a luxury brand from the African continent…? Yeah, we have our work cut out for us. Onguza is making handbuilt steel frames in Omaruru and helping to put Namibia on the map of international frame builders.  Continue reading below as Dan Craven gives us a look into starting the brand and his motivations.

While steel full-suspension bikes are nothing new, there has been a resurgence in recent years with many small framebuilders making trail-ready, competent bikes that leave their genetic predecessors in the proverbial dust. When I first rode a Starling Murmur in 2019, I wasn’t prepared for how engaged I felt with the trail or the flex and movement the Murmur provided. If you like the feel of steel hardtails or gravel bikes, chances are you’ll vibe more with a steel full-suspension than a carbon model.

These bikes are incredibly niche (though you can find them being made in workshops worldwide), and they still feel like a product from a cottage industry, not an engineered machine. It wasn’t until I spent some time with the REEB Cycles SST that I felt like steel full suspension bikes had finally leaped into the next stage of their evolutionary process. Let’s take a look at the SST below.

Every year, we get offers from companies, both large and small to review one of their upcoming bike models. We take on what we can and lean on our contributors for the ones we can’t fit into our own schedules. We’re still just three people running this site over here! At the end of the calender year, we dig through our analytics, social media channels, and comments to determine which bikes did the best and compile a list. This year’s ran the gamut from full suspension mountain bikes to, cargo, all-rounder and gravel racing machines. There’s something for everyone in this one, so read on for The Radavist’s Top Ten Bike Reviews of 2022!

We’d like to think we’re pretty alright at photographing bikes over here at The Radavist. The steeds we choose to document reflect our audience’s preferences and capture distinct trends in bicycle design. Yet, each year as we reflect on all the builds that have rolled through this cyber showroom, we’re always surprised to see what the Top Ten list reveals. This year, we’ve got a good mix of bikes, outfitted with flat and droopy bars, running rubber across the size spectrum, and made of steel, aluminum and yes, even carbon. Let’s get to it!

Beach Club is the bicycle brand of Danny Heeley and Sean Talkington, who also run Team Dream Bicycling Team and The Cub House in San Marino, CA. Danny and Sean launched the brand with the Discless Road model earlier this year and followed up with a disc-equipped gravel bike called the Gravioli. While Josh was in town for Team Dream’s 10th-Anniversary Party, he pulled aside an objectively stellar Gravioli build that had just been completed for Jared, rode over to one of San Marino’s most photogenic alleyways, and documented it as you see here. There’s a lot to enjoy about this bike, so let’s check it out in detail below!

We were pedaling up a steep pitch on the dirt road where Emily Kachorek now resides in Patagonia, Arizona, when she leaned over and said “this is just my old ‘cross racing bike, not a gravel bike” and we chuckled together. Emily relocated to southern Arizona last year to reconnect with herself after leaving her career as a UCI professional cyclocross racer. As a co-founder of Squid Bikes, she’s raced this bike globally: China, Australia, and Japan. In its current build, this V2 Squidcross is very close to UCI-spec she raced between the ribbons and through the mud, sand, and off-camber chicanes, save for the tires.

During our time together in Patagonia, we had a lot of conversations about life, ‘cross, and this thing everyone calls “gravel.” Which prompted me to photograph her beloved steed and write about it here…

The Mamtor from Quirk Cycles is UK-based framebuilder Rob Quirk’s all-road model, designed for mixed paved and gravel riding with clearance for up to 700 x 38c tires. The Kintsugi-inspired Mamtor was one of our favorite bikes from this year’s Bespoked where it won “Best Finish,” and today, along with a brief glimpse inside Quirk’s workshop, Rob gives us a full rundown of this ornately-finished machine by Velofique Designs, accompanied by a gorgeous photoset from Nikoo Hamzavi. Enjoy!

When the summer months roll through Santa Fe, my drop bar bikes tend to get hung on the wall in favor of my flat bar mountain and touring bikes. The main reason is that our “gravel” in town is exposed, hot, and windy. Rather than battle the elements on gravel roads, we escape from town into tree cover and savor our luscious singletrack. 

So when we released The Radavist edition Mosaic bikes, both in the GT-2X and GT-2 45 models, I had my friends at The Pro’s Closet hold onto a size 58cm GT-2 45 mechanical bike for me to ride this winter. In the interim, I did my best to “soften the ride” by incorporating Cane Creek‘s popular eeSilk components.

Well, I’ve spent some time riding the bike, both in Santa Fe and down in Southern Arizona, and am ready to spew my thoughts in a fully-detailed review, so let’s get to it!

J.P. Weigle is the gem of the Connecticut River Valley. From his small shop in Lyme, CT, he has built hundreds of beautiful randonneuring bicycles for Randonnée events worldwide and each year, he hosts the French Fender Day. Before Weigle was known for his rando bikes, he made a lot of experimental bikes. We’ve looked at his Ice Cycle in detail, a fat tire road bike, and today we present this pristine 1983 Time Trial Bike, with words by Noah Gellner and photos by the ever-talented Joey Schusler. Let’s get to it!

Aside from pristine days of riding, the GiRodeo was also a semi-nomadic bike show. The Service Course has long-term collaborative relationships with a number of builders, working together to pair builders and customers appropriately. I say “semi-nomadic” because the majority of builders rode their bikes, but also because the bikes that were not being ridden magically popped up in restaurants and breweries or wherever else events were held as part of the show. This is a rundown of my favorite bikes, many of which were part of the GiRodeo, and others were part of The Service Course’s furniture.

Earlier this year Amy Danger blew us away with the story of her intricately restored and documented dumpster find Cinelli Laser Rivoluzione Prototype. Today she’s back with another stunning historic track bike from her personal collection, a Custom Gianni Motta Personal 2001r low-pro track bike with Mondrian-inspired color scheme and Columbus Air tubing. Let’s check it out in detail below!