The Radavist

There aren’t many modern bicycle brands that have a history quite as rich as Yeti, let alone a diehard cult following of collectors and fans for the early bikes. Coming into a steel F.R.O or Yeti Ultimate is usually enough to be considered a “Holy Grail” find for most. However, there is another bike in the early Yeti lineup that is so rare many will never see one in person and more modern followers of the brand may not know even exists. This is the story of an elusive Yeti Tree Frog…

Forever tinkering with his bikes, John recently wrapped up a complete restoration of the 1983 Ritchey Everest that we looked at last year. Remember? The gray one? The bike appeared to have been subjected to a sloppy respray at some point in the early 2000s, and John wanted to restore the bike to its formal glory. 

He pinged Rick at D&D, the guy who has painted more Ritchey frames than perhaps anyone, to respray the Everest in Imron Bright Gold paint with the uber-rare Palo Alto Ritchey decals to finish the look. The Everest also had a “touring package” added when Tom built the frame in 1983. Since John acquired it, the Everest has always felt a bit naked without the proper racks…

We know John’s posted a lot of vintage projects over the past few years, but this might be the best yet! Let’s check it out below…

Nothing screams early-90s louder than a tension disc and a pile of anodized parts and the colorful World Champ, Greg Herbold. Of all the pro riders who made a name for themselves in the early 90s, few played as important a role in pushing new technology forward as Greg Herbold. Although best known for winning the inaugural UCI Downhill World Championship title in 1990, Herbold was already a celebrated champion having previously won the NORBA National Downhill title three-times…

We’ve looked back at the early works of Jeff Lindsay’s brand Mountain Goat before with John’s Whiskeytown Racer profile but today our focus is a wild creation from 1988; the Mountain Goat Dinoflage Deluxe. Writer Zap Espinoza shares the Mountain Goat origin story and an interview with Lindsay about his work at Mountain Goat—let’s get to it!

Today we’re elated to present to you a most unique bicycle; Otis Guy’s 1978 Breezer Series I, in all its period-correct glory. This one is a very special installment of our Vintage Bicycles series, so let’s get to it!

We’re running with an alternative format for this week’s Vintage Bicycles feature! It’s one we hope you enjoy as it was penned by the original owner of this stunning singlespeed WTB Phoenix, Jacquie Phelan. Jacquie was an early MTB pioneer in the Marin constituency and along with her racing accolades is, perhaps, most known for starting the Women’s Mountain Bike & Tea Society (WOMBATS). In her own words,  she hasn’t retired from racing and still loves to mix it up on two wheels. Read on for her retelling of how this bike faired at the 2008 Napa Single Speed World Championships (SSWC)…

The MCR Descender was a bicycle ahead of its time. It was the first suspended mountain bike and dreamed up by Brian Skinner whose contributions to mountain biking would go on to span the entire sport. On the technology side, Skinner started with the Descender but later led development on innovations such as index shifting, trigger shifters, SPDs, Onza porcupines and Answer taperlites. His first passion in the sport of mountain biking was as a race promoter though, and it was from that passion that the other half of this bike’s name MCR — Mountain Cross Racing —was born.

A rare machine, this 1983 Mantis XCR tells the story of the then-nascent Southern California mountain bike scene. The movement that grew out of Marin would eventually bring radical and different ideas to mountain bike design the world over. In tandem with founding Mantis Bicycles in 1981, Richard Cunningham’s first production racing mountain bike would serve as a catalyst to the burgeoning mtb scene, and stand in contrast to more traditional Marin-born frame designs. For the next ten years he would relentlessly innovate, exploring geometry, materials and design along the way. Read on for more of Noah Gellner’s words with photos by Joey Schusler…

Many different forms of cycling contributed to the development of the mountain bike, including balloon tire bikes, touring bikes, and BMX bikes. Separate from that was the influence of motorcycles, and more specifically off-road motocross bikes. The early suspension fork pioneers — Paul Turner (Rock Shox), Mert Lawwill (Lawwill), Horst Leitner (AMP), and Doug Bradbury (Manitou) — all came from motorcycle backgrounds and knew the benefits of suspension. But before that innovation came about, Doug Bradbury began by building fully rigid mountain bikes. In this edition of our Vintage Bicycles series, we look at Doug’s personal 1987 Manitou…

Post a photo of drop bars on a mountain bike, and chances are, someone will reference the American rider John Tomac. In the late 1980s, this BMX racer turned full-on MTB superstar and became known for sporting a style never before seen in the growing sport. Drop bars, Tension Disc, and tabletops, Tomac had it all. In 1991, Merlin Titanium crafted this Raleigh John Tomac Signature frame from titanium and carbon fiber.

The bike made its debut at the XC World Championships in Il Ciccio, Italy before a limited run of frames was produced for public consumption, and today, we’re debuting it on The Radavist for your consumption. Check out the full history by Eric Rumpf and photos by Elizabeth Wilcox below!

J.P. Weigle is the gem of the Connecticut River Valley. From his small shop in Lyme, CT, he has built hundreds of beautiful randonneuring bicycles for Randonnée events worldwide and each year, he hosts the French Fender Day. Before Weigle was known for his rando bikes, he made a lot of experimental bikes. We’ve looked at his Ice Cycle in detail, a fat tire road bike, and today we present this pristine 1983 Time Trial Bike, with words by Noah Gellner and photos by the ever-talented Joey Schusler. Let’s get to it!

Readers of this site might be familiar with Retrotec but what about the brand’s Genesis, or its roots, rather? Bob Seals started Retrotec in the late 1980s after making the Cool Tool. Yet many aren’t aware of the brand’s most unique creation: the Cool Toob Human Powered Dirt Craft Cycle. Read on below for an in-depth look!

The late 80s and through the 90s brought in a sea change of experimental bicycle design, namely in the time trial events. From the banked walls of a velodrome to the bitumen, several bikes pushed the limits of design in this era. Today in our From The Pro’s Closet series, we have Raúl Alcalá’s 1988 7-Eleven Huffy funny bike, reported by Noah Geller and documented by Joey Schusler. If you’re pining for some classic 7-Eleven history, don’t miss this one! Let’s get to it…

I doubt the readers of this website need an introduction to the brand Salsa Cycles, but what about the brand’s genesis? Today’s Vintage Bicycles bike features Ross Shafer, the founder of Salsa’s 1984 Custom. This bike, much like Salsa itself, is riddled with lore, so we pinged the lore meister himself, Tasshi Dennis, to dish out the goods. Grab a bowl of chips and a dish of salsa, and get yourself a big scoop below…

Two Kleins in one week? What are the odds? Today, we’ve got a killer Vintage Bicycles feature, penned by Mike Wilk and photographed by John Watson, showcasing Tinker Juarez’s 1993 “Team Storm” painted Adroit EX. If you were a grom or an adult back then, you’ll recognize this bike. Without further adieu, let’s get to it!

This entry from our Vintage Bicycles series is my personal favorite bike I’ve shot thus far. It’s not often you find such a clean and pristine example of a 1980s Potts Signature, complete with WTB dirt drops, a LD stem, and a full WTB/Suntour Grease Guard kit. Today we’re stoked to feature this gem with words by the Vintage MTB Workshop‘s Tasshi Dennis so read on below for more!

Featuring five inches of suspension travel courtesy of flexy titanium and a wild, never-before realized linkage fork, the Ibis Bow Ti was an iconic “full suspension” bike of the 90s. Today we feature this bike with a deep dive into what makes it so unique with words by Tasshi Dennis of The Vintage MTB Workshop. Let’s check it out below!