The Radavist

Crystal’s Gunnar Not-So-Roadie
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

I still remember seeing this frame when I was in District Bicycles this March at the Land Run. You remember that story, right? The muddy as all hell race where I couldn’t feel my hands or feet? Well, anyway, I was at District and I asked, when is that thing going to get built?  I was told it had been there a while, like three years a while.  

Crystal, Bobby’s wife and co-owner / operator of District made the jump to get this built just a few days before Saddle Drive this year, test ride around the block and boxed up for a trip from Oakland California, to Saddle Drive near Truckee.  The 300-ish mile trip took Crystal on some pretty beautiful roads on her way to NorCal over three days. 

During my visit to District Bicycles I felt like Crystal was the glue of the operation and it was great to see her break in this beautiful Gunnar on such an epic journey. Next year, the whole Radavist team needs to make an appearance at the Land Run… Til then, thanks to District for the constant stoke!

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Upon arriving at Saddle Drive in Tahoe, I was surprised to see that many, if not all of the bikes here are under embargo, meaning, I can shoot them now, but can’t post them until the embargo is lifted. I’ve spent my morning scouring the booths for bikes that are free to share, hence this beaut…

Minneapolis’ Northern Frameworks is the in-house brand of Angry Catfish. Each frame is made in house, per the customer’s measurements and desires. This disc road bike was designed to take on long days in the saddle, with clearance for up to a 32mm road tire and SRAM’s Red22 eTap. Laced with Zipp components and a beautiful Chris King Mango headset, this bike has plenty of visual pop where it matters.

A Ponderosa Cyclery Eisentraut Road with Mavic Zap
Photos by Kyle Kelley, words by John Watson

If you think Shimano and SRAM were the first to the e-shifting market, you’re mistaken, my friend. Mavic blazed that trail over a decade before Shimano put its tires down on it. Back before they shifted focus to wheels and apparel, Mavic developed and manufactured component groups. Their “Starfish” cranks are as iconic as their unique headsets, but one group stood out from the rest of Mavic’s catalog. Zap was the name for Mavic’s electronic shifting system and while it was way before its time, it wasn’t underused, making several Tour appearances. Even Chris Boardman secured several victories in the Tour back in 1994 and 1997.

We’ve seen a lot of design gimmicks to make rough roads more pleasant on ‘cross or all-road bikes, mostly in the form of suspension forks, yet I personally feel like there’s more that could be done in terms of frame design. While I’m not an engineer, I feel like achieving comfort on rough roads can mostly be done in the frame itself. That with larger volume, lower pressure tires, a carbon fiber bicycle can really show its true potential when the going gets tough.

Granted, there have actually been a good number of attempts at this over the years, but mostly from the bigger brands with extensive engineering teams, with access to custom layups and large production numbers, but it wasn’t until I saw the Calfee Manta RS at NAHBS this year, that I really thought frame design and compliance had been approached in a different, honest design language.

It was time for Nick to get a road bike. Nick is usually seen around town on a track bike – and a damn fine one at that – but now, he’s got something new. A longtime fan of Adam Eldridge’s Stanridge Speed brand, he commissioned him for a road bike with aggressive angles, disc brakes and an almost blinding wet paint. The sparkles almost overpower this speed machine’s stance. Short chainstays, a drop stem and a zero setback post puts Nick on the front of the bike at all times. It’s perfect for inner city riding and descending the tight canyons found in Los Angeles.

As you can tell, he used Ultegra, Thomson and DT Swiss for the build. This road bike is one of the meanest looking specimens to cross my lens this year. Lookin’ good, fellas!

When designing and conceiving my Firefly all road bike a few years ago, I wanted to be able to fit a 43mm tire, while maintaining a road geometry. “It’s not a cyclocross bike, rather a road bike with bigger tires and disc brakes” I’d tell people. Inadvertently, what I found was by allowing clearances for such a large 700c tire, I’d opened the door to even larger 650b tires.

I first used WTB’s “Road Plus” platform shortly after they released the 47mm Horizon tire. They sent the tires mounted to their Ci24 rims, built to White Industries hubs. While the wheels fit with enough clearances on my Firefly, I wasn’t a fan of the Horizon tires. Sure, they looked great and rode even better on sealed roads, but I found them to be less-than-ideal on the fire roads and singletrack I frequented in the mountains of Los Angeles.

Jump forward a year and WTB’s newest “road plus” tire, the Byway is now available and I’ve been riding them for a few weeks. The difference between the Horizon and the Byway is simple: there’s slight tread on the sides of the Byway, meant to give traction on loose corners. Well, does the Byway live up to the marketing jargon?

Gunnar Cycles has had some pretty tricked-out bikes featured here on the Radavist over the years, but Jay’s bike holds a special place in my heart. First, you need an introduction to Jay. He’s worked at Topanga Creek Outpost for a few years now, and in his spare time spends hours upon hours exploring the neighboring State and National Parks as part of the Unpredict Your Wednesday outings. Jay is a lover of nature and the magic herb our Mother produces here in California. He’s a smiling soul with love and stoke always present.

Jay’s bike has that special something that stops people in their tracks and requires further visual inquiry. In a world of disc-brake dominated bikes, Jay’s is a Paul Cantilever-equipped machine, with clearance for a 40mm tire and a relaxed road geometry. If it had provisions for racks, it could even pass for a lightweight tourer. That hasn’t stopped him from strapping bikepacking bags on it in the past, however.

This bike looks like a carton of American Spirits, or an old hotel sign in the southwest. It oozes Americana without being overly ostentatious. Like Jay, this bike is best observed and engaged with when you’ve got the time. Jay is moving up to the Bay Area and we’re all gonna miss him down here in Sunny So-Cal. That means it’ll be time to fender up this bad boy, right, Jay?