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The Radavist’s Top 10 Readers’ Rides of 2021

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The Radavist’s Top 10 Readers’ Rides of 2021

2021 was an exceptional year for our Readers’ Rides series, which we first began posting back in 2011. Last year’s readership-submitted bikes ran the gamut, much like our Top 10 Beautiful Bicycles, but Readers’ Rides is 100% audience-submitted. We love receiving submissions each week so if you were on the fence about submitting your ride, perhaps this list will motivate you to break out the camera. This list was compiled by web traffic and comments. Let’s check out the Top Ten Readers’ Rides of 2021 below, in no particular order…

Soma Fabrications: Grand Randonneur Frame Updates

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Soma Fabrications: Grand Randonneur Frame Updates

Soma Fabrications have been designing bikes for all-road adventures for quite some time and one of their most cherished frames, the Randonneur, just got a whole bunch of upgrades. Here’s an easy-to-digest list of these updates:

What Stayed the Same:
-Front load bias geometry for better handling when using a front rack, bar bag, or basket.
-Traditional 1″ threaded fork with investment-cast crown
-Three sets of bottle bosses
-Front mini rack and pannier rack compatible
-Slender and lightweight CrMo tubes. (We lightened the seat tube, but are using a larger diameter, but thinner gauge downtube.)

Main Updates:
-Thru-axle hub compatibility for improved handling and stability in corners
-Disc brake mounts (IS)
-Tange/Long Shen Modular rear dropout system
-Improved tire clearance. While optimized for 650b x 42mm tires with fenders, the frame easily fits most 650b x 47mm tires
-An additional size: 46cm

Retail is $899 and available at SOMA or your local dealer.

It’s My Bicycle, and I Love It: Locke’s Soma B Side and How It’s Evolved

Reportage By: Locke Hassett

It’s My Bicycle, and I Love It: Locke’s Soma B Side and How It’s Evolved

7 years ago, I bought my first mountain bike. 3 months after that, I slammed it into a downed tree at 30mph and broke it in half. So I bought a new frame. A Soma B Side. This is the story of that bike. Now, this bike has already been featured on this site, in one of its most radical (read: stupid and most likely mechanically unsafe) configurations.

John already made that build look real purdy… This is another ode to that bike, but also an ode to how it has evolved, and how I’ve evolved with it.

Soma’s Take on Road Racing Tires: Crit King

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Soma’s Take on Road Racing Tires: Crit King

Soma, known for their city and touring tires, have entered the world of crit and road racing with their Crit King gum tread race tire. Unlike Soma’s other offerings, this is a “race day” only tire, not a training or daily ride tire.

– Proprietary gum tread compound
– Superfine cord in a high TPI weave creates a supple casing that is also cut resistant
– Anti-puncture belt under the tread
– Wt.: 200g (25c, Kevlar bead)
– Sizes: 700c x 25c, 28c
– Made in Japan

Locke’s Silly SOMA B-Side

Reportage By: Locke Hassett & john watson

Locke’s Silly SOMA B-Side

Words by Locke Hassett and photos by John Watson

Some bikes are just too good to get rid of. Or too sentimental, or broken, or otherwise a purely “eye of the be(er)holder” sort of thing. This Soma B-Side is that bike for me. It has lived its life as many different bikes. For a long time, it was built up as a new/old school Montana singletrack shredder, with a 2x drivetrain (gasp!), 660mm bars (double gasp!), a short fork and no dropper. It lived a few months as a 26+ singlespeed when I found a pair of Nokian Gazzalodi tires in some back room of Free Cycles.

Morgan and Stephanie’s Soma Wolverine Dirt Tourers – Morgan Taylor

Reportage By: Morgan Taylor

Morgan and Stephanie’s Soma Wolverine Dirt Tourers – Morgan Taylor

Words and photos by Morgan Taylor.

There are many ways you can build a bike for traveling and all of them have their virtues; striking a balance is not as much a universal truth as it comes down to where you want to make sacrifices. When Stephanie and I set out to build these bikes, we had the long term in mind. Not just the fact that we intended to spend all summer riding them around the western United States, but that we wanted bikes that would be useful beyond that trip.

For us, the guiding principle along the way was that we wanted bikes that would be fun around town and commuting bikes when we came home, which is really what determined the frames we chose. We were building bikes for a honeymoon adventure but the lasting legacy was a bike that would fit in to our daily lives when that chapter came to a close. To put it simply, we didn’t want to tour on touring bikes. And after 4,000 kilometres of fully loaded riding, we’re happy we didn’t.

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