The Radavist

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!

At some point earlier this year, I came down (again) with the vintage bug. I used to comb swap meets in search of a 58-60cm bike, NOS Campagnolo kits, hard-anodized wheels, and pantographed parts but it has been a while. Perhaps it’s because I feel so inundated with “new” tech announcements claiming “lighter, stiffer, faster, more aero” and at a certain point, it just gets to be too much. In the same way, I enjoy riding a rigid or a hardtail 90% of the time over a full suspension. Recently, I began to feel “tech fatigue” when it comes to drop bar bikes and have been looking at ways to simplify that riding experience…

When I listed the Ultradynamico Mars tires in my top ten product list last week, I received a handful of messages on IG, as well as emails requesting the “recipe” for getting them set up tubeless on 30+ year old rims. While I didn’t document the process in photos, I can give you a rundown below in an easy-to-recreate recipe so read on for more.

We’ve already posted the Crested Butte to Aspen tour numerous times over the years, but we’ve never posted Freewheelin’!

Thanks for sending this video in, Stephen!

We love vintage bikes but our parent company The Pro’s Closet knows vintage bikes… and modern bikes for that matter. Spencer Powlison takes a look at the 2020 Yeti ARC limited edition hardtail and compares it to the 1992 Yeti ARC in this blog piece and what he finds will surprise you. In terms of tech, gearing, weight, price (believe it or not), and accouterment, these two bikes are closer than you’d think. If you’re into this kind of bike nerdery, give this one a read.

I’m not sure what got into me this year but I’ve been on the hunt for some vintage bikes. A few months back we looked at an Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra I built up with Dura-Ace 7400, an arguably pretty bike yet it’s nothing special per se. Now this project will be even cooler. It’s a 1984 Mountain Goat Whiskeytown racer I just picked up from Second Spin Cycles…

For something a little different this week, we’re bringing in Sam from Christchurch, New Zealand and his unique late 1980s New Zealand-built Pertini Ten Road. This one has some patina but a great story and as Sam puts it’s “all just old as hell.”

When Alexi Grewal won gold in the 1984 Olympics, it wasn’t because he was wearing spandex. Filmmaker, Ali Selim, was one of the only few keen enough to understand why Grewal won.

Today’s Readers’ Rides comes from Rokus in Rotterdam, who submitted his Specialized Stumpjumper that was built up by Studio ROOK. I know people love these old Stumpy frames and Rokus did a great job detailing the parts list with a succinct story about where he got this bike. Read on below for all the details!

You might want to put on some sunglasses to look at this week’s Readers’ Rides post from Wayne in Bristol. Read on below to find out what inspired this unique Trek 6000 build!

Cycling-related art prints are always fun and to help support the cycling community here in Santa Fe, we reached out to our friend Jeff Hantman to see if he’d be willing to let us sell some of his “Bike Part Alphabet” art prints in our webshop. These prints are for the vintage aficionados, dirt freaks, parts bin pickers, and co-op combers, with lots of cycling ephemera represented by each of the letters of the alphabet.

Here’s what Jeff has to say about these prints:

I started drawing the artwork for “Bike Part Alphabet” in March of 2020. The idea for the print was to represent each letter of the alphabet with a bike part.

I started riding mountain bikes in the early ’90s and wanted to include as many parts from those early days. My approach was to avoid using brands; however, there were a few letters that were challenging so I got creative with my own rule.

This is an open edition, 3 color silkscreen, printed on 19”x 25” 100# acid-free French Paper with Green Galaxy water-based inks.

These prints are in stock now at the Radavist webshop for $100 plus shipping to the United States only please!