The Radavist

Remember that Horse Cycles Shop Visit that Ian and Kevin from ENVE worked on for the Radavist last year? It featured Kevin’s Horse Cycles all-road that was an homage to the late Ezra Caldwell – may he ride in peace! Well, Kevin was just in Bozeman for the Swift Campout – which unfortunately got snowed out – so he made the best of the 7-hour drive up from Salt Lake City and spent the extended weekend riding MTB trails on his newly converted Horse Cycles.

Bike thieves suck. Colin got his last Sklar road bike stolen last year here in Los Angeles. It was one of those moments where we all dropped what we were doing and rode all over the neighborhood looking for it. While that event was less than ideal, the resulting bike is what is featured here on the Radavist today.

The general rule of thumb is if you build it, people will cram the biggest tire possible into it. I wish we lived in a world where tire clearances were maxed out with drivetrain efficiency in mind, but it’s not always the case. However, when it is the case, you end up with a very capable bike. So yeah, if you build it… with ‘it’ being the Specialized Sequoia. While people have certainly put mountain bike tires on this bike before, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone fit as big of a tire as Sarah Swallow did with the Ground Control 2.1″. This bike is her recon bike for her 125 mile race next month, the Ruta de Jefe, in Elgin, Arizona. While there is no singletrack per se on the course, the roads can get rowdy, where a wide bar and fat tire will soften the blow from the washboard and ruts.

It’s built with a Rogue Panda framebag, SRAM Force 1, PAUL Klampers, a Revelate Feed Bag, one of those WTF Bikexplorer bidons, and a set of those S-Works Overendz Bar Ends.

Some might call it a hybrid, or just a rigid MTB, so that nomenclature is welcome, but bottom line is, I doubt anyone foresaw a build like this arising from the Sequoia platform!

Also, as a personal note, happy birthday Sarah!
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Follow Sarah on Instagram.

This build, like many that arrive as a box of parts and roll out the door of Golden Saddle a beautiful, functional completes, is just filled with great details and components but the thing that ties it all together is the fork. The fork was made by our friend Carlos, aka Weld Street Loco / Dark Moon Fab Works. Carlos lives in Los Angeles, where ha has worked for numerous fabrication companies over the years, before switching to work full-time on frames for Aaron Stinner, and finally, setting up his own shop. Andrew wanted a steel fork for his steel Fairdale Rockitship and Carlos built one to the same spec as the stock fork, but with a few added bits of functionality. He was planning on building it up as a chubby road bike but equipped for light touring and bikepacking. Hence for the need to have bosses on the fork to carry a rack or cargo cages.

The rest of the component selection is on-par with a lot of builds rolling out of GSC’s doors. Not because of the trend but because these are made by people like you and me, who really love bicycles. They love them so much that they want to make the best parts to their abilities, right here in the USA. … and Japan!

Andrew plans on taking on the Oregon Outback route this fall, so wish him luck!

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If you want a custom build like this and live in Los Angeles, hit up Golden Saddle Cyclery.