Our favorite posts each week come from you, the readers of this website! Back in 2011 we launched our Readers’ Rides feature and every year, we like to look back at twelve months of submissions and see what resonated with people the most. Well, this year we saw a huge uptick in vintage restomods being submitted and it says something that the number one entry on this list was just posted a few weeks ago! Let’s get to it…
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The Radavist’s Top Ten Beautiful Bicycles of 2023
We’ve got over 17 years of Beautiful Bicycles in our archives and each year we like to look back at the previous twelve months of coverage and decipher what you, the audience, liked the most. To do this, we look at the page views for each and every Beautiful Bicycles gallery. Then we look at comments and internet chatter. Once we cull all this data, we’re left with a solid list of bikes. We love compiling this data as it helps us determine what bikes you like to see the most and thus, informs what bikes we document in the future.
Without further ado, let’s get to it!
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Josh’s Favorite Products of 2023
It’s been a wild year around these parts. In addition to the organizational changes we experienced with this website, I feel fortunate to have met and collaborated with many amazing people in addition to traveling to some truly remarkable places. My list of favorite products ended up being rather eclectic, but I think it reflects the wide range of material we get to cover here. Of course, music was an integral backdrop to my work – on rides, traveling abroad, and with my family at home – so I have joined some of our other contributors in offering a selection of favorite tunes, alongside a handful of products, below.
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Who’s Got Next? A Framebuilding Summit at Caletti Cycles
Last week, John Caletti of Caletti Cycles hosted five up-and-coming bicycle framebuilders at his shop in Santa Cruz, California. An event that had been on John’s to-do list for the past few years, his first Framebuilding Summit was intended to be an educational meeting of the minds–a time dedicated to sharing knowledge with a group of young bike builders.
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Radar Roundup: Bombtrack 2024 Lineup, Bedrock Mountain Clogs, Revelate Pronghorn Returns, Farewell Scout Roll, Wizard Works Quick Draw Bottle Pocket, Steve Potts Bars, Bender MADE Show Bike, and Tesekkür Turkey
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
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2023 MADE Bike Show Coverage: Part 01 – Bender, Black Cat, Goodday + Curiosity, Ira Ryan, LaMarche, Larkin, Oddity, SaltAir, Seeker, and Significant Other
We’re here in Portland, covering the 2023 MADE Bike Show, looking for bikes that we thought you, the readers of The Radavist would appreciate. Josh and John have been scouring the halls of the show for bikes to document, and we’ve got Part 01 of our coverage for you to enjoy…
Thanks to 1-Up USA for sponsoring our continued 2023 MADE Bike Show coverage!
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Radar Roundup: Bender Grab ‘n’ Go, Udog Distanza, Stash Cache, MKS MM-Cube Ezy, Manastash Ridge Tires, Pony Express, Los(t) Sueños, and How to Ride Gravel
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Radar
Readers’ Rides: Michael’s Bender Hardtail 29er
While many of the Readers’ Rides we feature here are well-loved machines that exude character from miles of usage and years of iterations, we also receive reader submissions featuring fresh builds. Today, we’re taking a look at one of these from Michael in southern California who recently commissioned a hardtail from Bender Bicycle Co and had it built up by the team at Velo Hangar in Carlsbad. They even had the build process and completed bike documented by talented local photographer/director Embry Rucker. Let’s check it out below!
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A FoCo Collabo: Josh’s Bender 29+ Touring MTB with Oddity Squid Fork
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…
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Suds and Buds at The Custom Bike Show in Golden, Colorado
Colorado has long been known for custom bicycles and talented framebuilders throughout the state. It’s also not a secret that our state has a high density of said talented builders within a short distance of each other. On Wednesday evening, a small group of custom bicycle brands gathered at New Terrain Brewing in Golden, Colorado.
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Inside / Out at Bender Bicycle Company of Fort Collins, CO
I’ve always wondered if there was something special about the water in Fort Collins that makes it a hotbed for legendary bicycle frame builders. Is the Poudre River’s clean mountain water that so famously supplies New Belgium, Odell, and numerous other local breweries in some way responsible for the wildly beautiful frames made by the likes of Black Sheep Bikes, Oddity Cycles, or Moonmen Bikes? Well, the answer is probably not, but Fort Collins’ water is delicious and it’s a great place to build bikes. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting with the Choice City’s newest framebuilder, Will Bender, of Bender Bicycle Company. Will has been making frames part-time for a handful of years now, with some truly beautiful machines under his belt, and he just recently moved into a new shop space to start building full-time.
Below, let’s take a look at Bender Bicycle Company as well as some of Will’s recent customer builds!