The Radavist

Skeptic frame

Viral’s Pinion-powered gearbox bikes made quite the splash when they launched a few years back. New for 2021, the Skeptic got a full geometry overhaul, with a more compact triangle design for increased standover, 440/460/480/500mm reaches across the size run, and is designed for a 150-160mm fork.

Dérive complete

While the Skeptic frame got smaller, the Dérive, Viral’s excursion-ready frame, kept its geometry, while the reach numbers were increased like the Skeptic’s. The Dérive is built around a 120mm fork, like a Lauf or a rigid fork with bosses. Both frames also come in a raw, polished titanium finish now as well.

See more at Viral Bikes.

“Finally, a bicycle I can ride to the North Pole and back in a reasonable amount of time”
-Chet Bearclaw

Chet is onto something. Or on something rather! Whatever it is, it’s gotta be good though. The TŌWMAK has got to be the craziest looking bike of the year, yet I can assure you it’s not a photoshop composite. It’s a drop bar fat bike and an early production run of 20 are being made currently, so head to Bearclaw Bicycle Co to put a deposit down if you’re into this.

Specs:
-197x12mm thru-axle frame
-150x15mm Blitzen 468 Axle to Crown carbon or Ti fork (coming soon)
-Fits up to 27.5 x 4.5 or 26 x 5 tires
-3 triple boss mounts on the frame
-Rack Mounts
-Flat mount brake
-Ultradistance Gravel Friendly Geometry. (UGFG)
-100mm BSA Standard Bottom Bracket
-Internal cable routing
-3AL-2.5V double-butted titanium frame
-6AL-4V billet head tube, bb, dropouts, derailleur hanger, and chainstay plate

Dangle Supply, makers of the almighty DangleBong™️, recently revisited their roots and re-designed the titanium camp mug. You know, those camp mugs everyone dangles off their rear saddle packs? These newly-designed titanium cups are 400ml 420ml in volume, 85mm in outside diameter, and 90mm high (get it?). These are priced at $49.69 and are in stock now at Dangle Supply.

Titanium is the greatest material for a bicycle and Bombtrack clearly knows that which is why they took their Hook EXT and made it from titanium for 2021. The Hook can take 650b or 700 wheels, has plenty of bosses for cargo attachments, and is only available as a frameset.

Specs:
-Titanium 3Al-2.5V frame with T47 BB shell fender mounts and through axles.
-Full carbon tapered fork with internal light cable routing, through axles and triple cage mounts.
-Sram UDH derailleur hanger.
-Toptube bag direct mounts, triple cage mount on downtube and seattube for optimized bottle position, bottle cage mounts underneath the downtube and rear rack mounts.
-CNC yoke for maximum tire and chainring clearance.
-Ovalized toptube for supreme steering precision and comfort.
-Biaxially ovalized downtube for optimized power transfer and steering precision.
-Front derailleur compatible.
-12 mm through axles front and rear.

Firefly has really lead the way in terms of anodizing designs on their frames and in the past, we’ve seen many examples of their topography anodizing but never as expansive as this one! If you’d like to see more details of this wild piece of work, head to the Firefly Tumblr.

These bikes have always strummed a heart chord with us. Merlin has brought a version of the Newsboy to various bike expos over the years. The one pictured here is from the 2018 Philly Bike Expo.

Due to popular demand, Merlin will be offering eight limited-edition Newsboys in November 2020. Each and every Newsboy will be custom made specifically for the customer. These bikes are inspired by the 1950’s cruisers that later inspired the first American mountain bikes.

A frame and fork will run ya $4,800 and there are build kits available from Merlin direct! Head over to Merlin to contact them if you’re interested. You can also order a custom Merlin Newsboy titanium fork!

Wheel Size: 26”, 27.5″, 29″,
Fork Optional: Custom Merlin Titanium Newsboy
Bottom Bracket: BSA 68/73 English, PF 30, T47
Rear Hub Spacing: 142 x 12m drops – 44m
Cable Routing: External or Internal
Front Derailleur: 31.8 mm or 34.9mm Clamp-On
Derailleur Pull: Bottom, Top, or Forward Pull.
Brake Type: Disc
Seatpost Diameter: 27.2 mm ( 31.6m Optional )
Seat Collar: Thomson
Recommended Use: Road, Gravel, Mountain
Manufacturer Warranty: Lifetime

With new pricing beginning at $2,250.00, the Chumba titanium Terlingua gravel bike is closer to reality than you might expect. Of course, as with any frame made by Chumba, you can select various options like pump pegs, Di2 routing, rack mounts, fender eyelets, and so on. These frames use oversized Aerospace Titanium 3/2.5 tubing, 6/4 on the yoke, and dropouts with Paragon Sliding Inserts. Singlespeed, geared, whatever. It just works. With post-mount, flat-mount options, cerakote finishing, and color customizations, you can literally get your dream bike made for less than you’d think, all on a chassis that clears up to a 700c x 50mm or 650b x 2.1” wheel/tire combo.

Specs:
-Made in USA quality
-Oversized Aerospace Titanium 3/2.5 Grade Tubing, 6/4 on the yoke and dropouts w/ Paragon Sliding Inserts
-Clean thoughtful cable routing
-Maximum tire and drivetrain clearances for a wide range of options and mud clearance
-All tubes are heat sunk and argon purged when welded to prevent distortion and material thinning

2020 Terlingua Titanium Model Refinements:
-removed Di2 ports standard (why pay for it unless you need it, we can add this on request.)
-removed lower rack mounts standard (why pay for it unless you need it, we can add this on request.)
-Lowered MSRP
-No other changes, this bike is dialed!

See more at Chumba.

While we’re on the subject, Mark from Chumba wrote a blog piece about framebuilding on their website, don’t miss this one!

Moots first introduced the Routt in 2014. Do you remember what gravel bikes were like back then? 15mm TA forks, 1x drivetrain had just picked up steam, 40mm tires were commonplace, and gravel races were just starting to catch on. Now in 2020, Moots has revamped the Routt family of their gravel bikes to fit the modern sensibilities of gravel riding and racing.

The ROUTT RSL will now fit a 45mm tire, has 3 bottle locations, and has been upgraded to the 3-D printed dropouts. The ROUTT 45 & ROUTT YBB now fits a 50mm tire, comes spec’d with shorter stems and wider bars.

Read all about these exciting updates at Moots.

This bike is a real stunner and one that I was hoping to document before I left Los Angles for Santa Fe but never got around to it. It was one of those “I’ll document it the next time it’s in the shop” moments. Carson‘s Funk La Ruta+ is a real gem of a bike and the dude puts in work on it, maintaining trails for the Mount Wilson Bicycling Association. Let’s check it out with Carson’s own words describing this idiosyncratic steed…

While most hardtails we feature here are long, slack, and low, we still love riding XC and that pleasant middle-ground an all-rounder hardtail offers. Titanium wizards MOOTS just launched their Womble 29er, which fits a 2.6″ tire, has a 67º head angle, and 57mm of BB drop. The geometry on this bike looks like an ideal all-rounder bike, perfect for XC trails, bikepacking, and a bit of all-mountain underbiking. Check out more of this beautiful steed at MOOTS.

Also, check out our Shop Visit to MOOTS from a while back for more titanium wizardry!

Named for the first -and most significant- pass in Kyrgyzstan’s 1,121-mile Silk Road ultra-endurance race, the Kegeti is the mixed-terrain, do-it-all adventure bike from Chiru Bicycles. This bike might look a little strange at first but it’s the product of its purpose. The Kegeti was designed with rough and rugged ultra-endurance racing in mind. The frame material, titanium, offers a smooth and supple ride on even the most jaw-jarring roads. Drop bars offer up multiple hand positions and when mated with clamp-on aero bars, the bike’s riding position gets even more aerodynamic. A suspension fork is there to eat up the washboard roads. There really is a number of details to unpack here and we’ll get to look at this in person at a later date, but for now, head to Lindarets to see more information.