You may have noticed some changes on The Radavist over the past few weeks. Well, it’s because we’ve parted ways with TPC. Read on for TPC’s official press release announcement on the split and what this means for the future of The Radavist with a letter from John Watson below…
“After two years in partnership, working together under the same ownership, TPC and The Radavist have made the decision to part ways. The publishing brand was transitioned back to its previous owner – and founder – John Watson.
The two brands accomplished much together these past two years, including the development of a lucrative content-commerce business and an increase in material that the publication’s loyal followers were hungry for.
The decision to return the brand back to John was made after TPC’s latest round of strategic planning, and the efforts to double down on the brand’s core retail business and TPC messaging. We wish nothing but the best for John and The Radavist team, and will continue to support their publication for many years to come.
“Over the past two years, I’ve learned a lot from TPC in terms of how to grow a media company, and that experience has been all the more enjoyable thanks to the knowledgeable and friendly staff at TPC. The Radavist will emerge a better media organization because of TPC’s insight and I wish the company the best of luck on its journey.” John Watson, founder of The Radavist.”
So What Does This Mean?
As you might expect, there are going to be a few changes. For the better, I’d argue. For one, Cari and I are now co-owners of The Radavist LLC in New Mexico. In addition to being the designer of all of our merch for the past seven years—and most likely packing some of your merch orders with TLC—Cari has helped run our advertising program and manage the finances of the website. She’s played a massive, often behind-the-scenes, role in growing and shaping The Radavist and she deserves to be a co-owner.
Photo Kyle Klain
The need for help was one of the primary reasons I sold The Radavist, to begin with. Cari and I were fried. I was doing all the content creation and management on my own. Cari was running everything else. I wanted to hire additional employees but we weren’t making enough money to do so. Like some people, I have a hard time asking for help and TPC serendipitously reached out at a time when I was feeling run down and burnt out.
For those of you who don’t know Cari, let me pass the mic to her:
“John and I might be one of the yin and yang-iest duo around and yet somehow we are able to work well together without completely losing our minds. I probably bring more of the left brain to the table but we converge over a shared love of art and beautiful spaces. My 20+ years of production and design experience in the outdoor industry has found a perfect home at The Radavist – I keep the amount of bikes in our house to a reasonable number (debatable) and I have fulfilled a lifetime dream of designing socks (no lie!) I’m incredibly excited and feel fortunate to take what we have learned over the last handful of years together to continue to push and evolve our content and design forever forward. – Much love, Cari Carmean”
Photo Kyle Klain
Now, two years later, we are stronger than ever thanks to our editorial team. We now know how to run a legit media company, we have exciting projects in the hopper (ready for release next spring!), and our merch program is back with a vengeance. Oh and yes, we will be shipping internationally again! Our merch store is being restocked–slowly–as you’re reading this.
See what we have in stock now at The Radavist webshop.
Josh and Hailey will remain on our full-time editorial team with Spencer and Travis bringing in more daily content. Ryan Wilson, Morgan, and Petor will continue to bring in long-form, stunning Reportage, and our talented group of contractors and contributors will also be staying on board. We’re in the process of rolling out one of many website refreshes as well—stay tuned!
While we’re working on a few more things behind the scenes, one thing we’re excited to announce today is…
Our Group Ride Subscription Plan and The RaD BaZAaR
This site has survived off advertising revenue since 2008 when I went full-time with The Radavist. When I started this website in 2006, it was just a side passion project to get me through my downtime at my architecture job in New York City. I’d shoot photos all weekend and write posts at night during the week. When the economy crashed and the architecture industry deflated in 2008, I leaned on the website for my full-time work and began to sell ads. We have a lot of healthy relationships with advertisers but the times are changing.
Don’t Worry, There Will NOT Be a Paywall!
Companies want more than just a banner ad, so we’re going to give them that and you’re going to benefit from this! We’re offering our Group Ride Subscription Plan to readers of The Radavist for $6.66 a month or $69.69 a year. (You can sign up for this over here.) As part of the benefits package you’ll reap with a Group Ride subscription are product giveaways from our valued advertisers.
And you get to pick out what you want. We won’t just unload on you the random stuff that shows up at our door from the bike industry PR mailing list. Nope. You will be entered in random giveaways with gift cards or wish list prizes. Fancy a set of Paul Klampers? Or some Wolf Tooth pedals? We got you!
Yet, the biggest undertaking is the new RaD BaAZaR!
Signing up for the Group Ride gets you a selling account at our Rad Bazaaaaaaar! With your subscription, you can sell or trade any and everything related to The Radavist’s content with zero additional fees–we won’t take a cut.
Got some old cranks you just don’t use? Or a bikepacking bag set you’re not into anymore? Want to trade those bags for a set of panniers? Look up a seller and offer a swap! What about that old set of high-rise, 850mm wide handlebars just taking up space? Or an old 35mm camera that hasn’t fired in years? Yep. All that? What about that klunker or cruiser you built but never ride? That too. Got a Surly Cross Check you want to offload?
Sell it all on our moderated, niche-specific forum.
No more explaining to buyers on other forums about why that Duralcan with Paul Cantis and cruiser bars is worth $500. We get it. You get it. This will be the new playground for the reuse/recycle/re-commerce community in the alternative cycling sphere.
Like we said before, we will not take a fee from your sales. We simply want to provide a secure and safe selling/trading platform for our readership. Buyers will be able to give sellers a star rating, from one to five based on your interactions (working on this now.)
You do not have to be a Group Ride subscriber to purchase from the Rad Bazaar, only to sell. But you do need to sign up for an account. To access the Rad Bazaar, it’s linked under the “SHOP” link at the top menu.
Other Group Ride Benefits
We’re still ironing all this out but our plan is to offer Group Ride subscribers a bounty of benefits (worldwide) including:
- Rad Bazaar selling account: https://radbazaar.theradavist.com/
- A chance to win monthly giveaways from your favorite companies; the first giveaway will be announced this week for October so early subscribers get a better chance to win. It’s gonna be good! This is open to international readers as well!
- Annual subscriber feedback polls–help shape the content you see here.
- Support the longest-running, independent, alternative cycling website!
- … and more is on the way.
Every penny from the Group Ride subscription and our ad sales goes back to paying our staff, our contributors, and contractors, and will move the site more towards becoming a readership-supported platform where your feedback will help shape the content to come.
Sign up for the GROUP RIDE and RAD BAZAAR HERE!
We believe in paying people what they deserve for their work and this is the path to continue ensuring we can do so. We’ve always paid people for putting their work on The Radavist and our hope is through this new model we can expand our editorial team and grow the site sustainably through readership support. We want to grow and continue to bring you the best alternative cycling content on the web!
-John Watson, founder and co-owner of The Radavist.
From everyone here at The Radavist, thank you for your continued support!
