The Radavist

Joe Barnes takes his Orange Crush hardtail out to slop hill for some sideway steezin’ in his latest video…

Photo by Mike Curiak

We don’t want to spoil too much about this project, because Mike has documented it so thoroughly, but we’d thought y’all would get a kick out of this Meriwether after last week’s Slingshot gallery. Tukt rear end, 110mm travel fork, 29×2.8″ tires, and just the kind of kooky beauty we’re missing from all the bike trade shows. Check out the full spread at Mike’s Exposure page and see some process photos at the Meriwether Cycles Instagram…

Thomson is launching a Titanium hardtail MTB called the Hooch in conjunction with their brand new website. The “Hooch” is the namesake of the Chattahoochee in north Georgia, home to some of the most epic trails in the country.

This limited Ti frame is equipped with a Thomson Dropper post (your choice of travel), then the customer selects from Thomson’s entire collection of Thomson components, starting at $3,295.00.

From their Elite or Masterpiece series, Ti or carbon fiber, the customer can pick and choose from all of Thomson’s parts, for the ultimate build kit. Then, to sweeten the deal, customers receive a generous discount on upgrade parts as a perk of buying the frameset.

The Hooch is a backwoods hardtail, built from 3al 2.5v aircraft grade Titanium, custom formed stays, Boost (148×12) through axle, internal routing with an extra line for your Thomson dropper, 150mm fork travel, 30.9 seat tube diameter, and clearance for 27.5 x 2.4 tires.

See the full specs at Thomson and poke around on their new website!

The El Jefe is the latest model to land in the Why Cycles titanium catalog. Think of it as the more serious sibling to the S7 and the Wayward. It’s less swoopy, more serious, lighter, and faster-pedaling, yet it has clearance for a 29×2.6″ tire.

This bike is Why’s first “pro-model”, akin to skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding. Jefe Branham is an ultra-endurance legend based in Gunnison, CO, and has been a friend and team rider for Why for two seasons. His feedback as to what his dream bike would be for going fast in the backcountry informed every decision in the El Jefe design. Jefe’s personal mantra is “Fast or Slow Just Go,” so with his input, Why turned it into a sandblasted graphic on the raw titanium. The lily flower in the graphics is a nod to his two-year-old daughter, Lillian.

With a 73.3º seat angle, a 67.5º head angle, and a 120mm fork, the El Jefe is a nimble, fast, and capable hardtail with pricing beginning at $2,349 for a frame only at Why Cycles.

Named after the Pinhoti Trail, which extends between Snake Creek Gap and Dug Gap within the Chattahoochee Forest into north Georgia, Litspeed’s newest iteration of their hardtail, the Pinhoti III, received some modern updates. Now optimized for a 130mm suspension fork, the Pinhoti III also fits a 29×2.6″ or a 27.5×3″ tire, thanks to an asymmetric dropped chainstay and a new CNC-machined titanium chainstay yoke.

The Geometry has been tweaked as well, with a slacker head angle, longer reach, and a few other tweaks. Litespeed offers various builds (XTR shown here at a retail of $6,699) and finishing kits, and with all these new updates, the size medium frame comes in at just 1,649 grams (size medium)—a savings of 95 grams over our previous version of the Pinhoti. As with all Litespeed bikes, these are made in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

See more at Litespeed.

The Salsa Timberjack has been a staple option for those looking for a capable hardtail. This morning, Salsa announced the new 2021 model with a few key updates including top tube mounts for bags, the downtube received Three-Pack mounts, an upgrade to Alternator 2.0 dropouts, improved cable routing, and integrated chainstay protection.

The biggest change is the switch from a 130mm to a 150mm fork and an updated geometry, which you can see above. You can still run a 29er or 27.5+ wheelset on the Timberjack as well. Build kits range from a Ti Timberjack frame for $2,699, GX Eagle 29er for $2,499, SLX complete for $1,799, and the frameset runs $599. Check out more information at Salsa.

The Chisel is an XC hardtail and perhaps it’s this frame’s simplicity that inspired the designers at Specialized to develop a special edition pack, inspired by Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. The pack is dubbed “Disrupt the Decay”.

Key Features:
-Frames come in as light at 1,400g
-D’Aluisio Smartweld technology from M5 alloy hydroformed tubes, which allows for fine-tuning of the ride qualities
-Progressive XC Geometry
-Internal cable routing
-BSA BB
-12x148mm spacing
-30.9mm Dropper post compatible

Available in June 2021. See more at Specialized.

The Rocky Mountain Gator lives around Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and has taken up mountain biking on a Moots Womble. Good luck catching it!

Sour makes a whole catalog of mountain bikes but like everything in cycling, nuance is king. The Pasta Party is their latest model. It’s a missing link between the Purple Haze and the Crumble and is targeted for XC, lightweight, singlespeed, big backcountry, and bikepacking riding. The Pasta Party frame weighs 2250g for a small and 2600g for an XL, features an eccentric BSA BB, can be ordered as a frame for use with a suspension fork, or a rigid frameset with a carbon fork, starting at 799€ for the base frame. See more at Sour Bikes.

Today Canyon released their Stoic Hardtail models, with affordable pricepoints, modern geometry, and all the style Canyon is known for. The Stoic 4 (pictured here) retails for $1,799 and comes specced with SRAM Eagle NX, a Pike fork, and the Stoic 3 comes with Deore and a Suntour fork, with a retail price of $1,099. These 140mm travel hardtails feature internal routing, a threaded bottom bracket, a 65º head angle, a 75º seat angle, and 418mm chainstays on sizes 2XS-S with 27.5″ wheels or 428mm chainstay lengths for M-XL sized frames.

Head to Canyon to see more.

Some people were excited by the announcement that Esker Cycles had restocked their beloved Hayduke hardtail but saddened by its migration to a long travel 27.5″ wheeled chassis. To this Esker just announced their new Japhy hardtail 29er. A completely new bike, dedicated to 29″ wheels, a 120mm travel fork, and similar detailing as the Hayduke, the Japhy fills the niche left by its rowdier sibling’s revisions. Head to Esker Cycles to see all the juicy details.

The Hayduke is one of the best steel hardtails on the market and it just got better. Until now, Hayduke completes have been equipped with a 120mm 29er fork built with 27.5+ wheels, which allowed riders to swap between the 27.5+ and 29er wheel sizes. While that same swapping ability still exists for Hayduke framesets, complete builds will now feature a dedicated 27.5” fork with 140mm of travel, allowing Esker to develop a dedicated 29er model down the road. This increased travel with a dedicated 27.5″ wheel means the A-T-C length is the same as a 120mm and 29er wheel, so riders can always buy a frameset and build their Hayduke up that way as well thanks to the Portage dropout system, which allows users to adjust their chainstay length.

Hayduke framesets come standard with Portage dropouts, an axle, seat collar, and a Wolf Tooth Components headset for $750. Complete builds are available in limited quantities at 3 levels starting with H1 at $2000, H2 at $2950, and H3 at $3250. Framesets and completes are available through eskercycles.com.

See more at Esker Cycles.