This video takes us along with a few riders traversing the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan as part of their tour from Beijing to Istanbul.

Photos and words by Morgan Taylor.

Being out on tour for the past six weeks Stephanie and I have met a lot of other people traveling by bike. The different ways people travel on two wheels has become a point of interest for us: despite the fact that we can get caught up in gear nerding and finding the perfect setup, it’s so rad to see all the different approaches to problems that anyone traveling by bike faces.

Troy and Jen were part of the larger group of people who descended on Missoula for the ACA’s 40th. It turned out that they, like us, were also on their honeymoon, on matching bikes. Since they’re from Nutmeg Country their tastes trend toward traditional aesthetics, and their Rivendell Hunqapillars are all class – and pieces of flair. These bikes were shaken down on east coast toodles through backroads with good friends before setting out on tour.

Possibly the most traditional part of their setups is the four panniers, a look that isn’t necessarily en vogue – at least among those talking about bike travel. The thing is, many of the people actually traveling by bike aren’t talking about it like we are – they’re just out there doing it. And for road touring on one of the ACA’s many diligently mapped routes, four bags is just fine.

These two made their way west from Missoula to Seattle, and then began down the coast – they’re currently in northern California. So that’s where Troy and Jen’s honeymoon trip brings them: around the country visiting friends and meeting new people, happily pedaling the days away on their matching bikes.

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Follow Morgan on Instagram and follow Troy and Jen on Instagram.

The Adventure Cycling Association Bikecentennial Salsa Marrakesh Touring Bike – Kyle Kelley
Photos by Kyle Kelley, words by John Watson

When June and Greg Siple teamed up with Dan and Lys Burden to found the Adventure Cycling Association, I doubt they anticipated their impact on the bicycle touring world. Now, 40 years later and the ACA helps cyclists from all over the world navigate the trails, roads and dirt tracks all over North America with their route maps and magazine.

The ACA exists solely to grow the spirit of cycle tourism and a large portion of its funding comes from memberships and the sales of their maps, along with donations. Some of those come in the form of projects like this: the ACA Bikecentennial Edition Salsa Marrakesh. Between now and December 31st, 2016, each cyclist that you refer to ACA will land you a chance to win this bike.

While in Montana at the Bikecentennial celebration, Kyle got access to one to photograph it in an attempt to stoke the fire for the ACA and bicycle tourism! Head over to ACA’s Share the Joy website to find out more information and to enter for your chance to win this bike.

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Follow Kyle on Instagram and Adventure Cycling on Instagram.

Northsouth took to Italy’s scenic roadways on their bikes for a tour of epic proportions.

These days, with bicycles being so specified in their usage and design, it’s easy to forget that literally any bike can become a touring bike. Now bear with me, I’m not insinuating that your carbon race bike will suddenly sprout rack or fender braze-ons and grow in its tire clearance, or your 6″ enduro mtb will grow calcium deposits, rendering its suspension moot, but every bike has capabilities for multiple day, long distance riding. It’s just a matter of what you’re willing to compromise or cope with.

Aaron wanted a Rosko ‘cross bike. He was living in Brooklyn at the time and was enamored with the idea of a dude making bikes in his garage. Much like the surfing world he grew up in, Aaron liked makers and the idea that a person can make a vehicle for fun, by hand, really resonated with him. So he placed an order for a ‘cross bike from Seth Rosko and waited for the frame.

In the time that he waited for the bike to arrive, he decided to do a tour. One that would center around a theme. This theme involved a wetsuit and a surfboard, along the Pacific Coast. While it’s probably pretty difficult to affix a surfboard to a ‘cross bike, Aaron relied on a trailer to transport his stick and his suit, leaving his bike to hold his packs and gear. Riding a bike like this for multiple weeks, meant that he’d have to re-evaluate his setup. He added some spacers, and a positive rise stem to bring his bars a bit higher.

He spent a few months cruising the PCH, looking for point breaks and barrels, while meeting people and gathering stories along the way. A Florida native, the mountainous California coastline offered plenty of physical challenges, yet Aaron knew he’d be rewarded with a fresh break to paddle out to and a often times vacant beach to himself upon his descent.

So yes, plenty of people tour on ‘cross bikes, but I’d argue very few approach it from Aaron’s angle. In some ways, looking at this bike sans rack, panniers, trailer and board, it may be hard to see the whole picture, or perhaps you’re affixed to the stack height and cockpit setup on this bike. Yet, if you take a minute and really look at the story this bike is dictating through its beausage, there’s much more to be learned from Aaron and his journey.

I had the pleasure of bookin’ it down Dirt Mulholland to the coast with Aaron on Saturday’s ride and was stoked to hear his anecdotes. As noted on this site prior: ” The bicycle tourist may be the one that keeps the great American story teller alive.” To hear Aaron’s story however, you’ll have to rely on his Instagram account… for now anyway.

This is the seventh layout of the Radavist 2016 Calendar, entitled “Surprise Sunset” Shot with a Canon 70d with a 18-135mm lens in Gray Creek, British Columbia

On the second day of their tour, Found in the Mountains tackled a whopping 40 miles and 6,500′ climbing, on their fully-loaded Soma Wolverines. As they climbed out of a valley to the Gray Creek summit, they were greeted with a full nuker. Gray Creek is coincidentally the highest dirt pass in Canada!

NEW: There’s also a mobile image uploaded for anyone wanting a mobile phone background each month. September’s image is from Los Angeles, featuring a tall dead tree and dust. Click here to download September’s Mobile Wallpaper.

For a high-res JPG, suitable for print and desktop wallpaper*, right click and save link as – The Radavist 2016 Calendar – September. Please, this photo is for personal use only!
(*set background to white and center for optimal coverage)

I love that this project came to fruition. Good on ya, Search and State!

Path Less Pedaled looks at one of my favorite regions in the State of Jefferson.

I Got the Blues: a Bombus Bikes Blue Steel Tourer
Photos by Kyle Kelley words by John Watson

A simple search online for Bombus Bikes won’t turn up a whole lot of information. A video here, a random photo there, and a Yelp page with not a lot of information. Yet if you talk to people of Seattle, they know good and well about this small time framebuilding shop. Well, some of they do anyway. Throughout the year, we get lots of touring bikes coming through Los Angeles, specifically through the doors at GSC. Sometimes I’m around the document them and sometimes I’m not, leaving it up to Kyle to do so.

Something you might or might not know about Kyle is he’s a raconteur and a good one. He loves talking to people, to the point of physical exhaustion. Or in most cases, he talks to the wanderlust-filled tourist so much that there’s not enough time to photograph their bike. Which is why I was so stoked to see these photos. As I said, I can’t be around to document everything or everyone, but it’s nice to know there’s a guy who knows his stuff hanging around as well.

The bike is clearly a dedicated touring bike with all the bells and whistles. Ok, maybe not the whistles. Shutter Precision generator hub, lights, White Industries cranks, spare tubes and spokes taped all over, Swift Industries bags, TRP disc brakes, painted-to-match Tubus rack, fenders (clearly not from SoCal!) and lots of beausage.

As for this traveler, his name is James Stroud and this is his Bombus Bikes Blue Steel Tourer. Does he himself have the blues? Doubtful. Anyone that’s touring on a bike like this has got to be stoked.

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Follow Kyle on Instagram.

No bicycle is ever a completed work. At least in my opinion anyway, but sometimes a bike is at a place where you step back, look at it and smile. The other day I caught Cari doing just that. Smiling as she looked at her bike. She then said she’d like to photograph it in the forest. We were in Santa Cruz at the time and had just finished up a killer loop through the redwoods and down to the coast.

Let’s back track a bit. Around NAHBS last year, she mentioned that she’d like an upgrade from her current bike, an old Nishiki road bike that was a couple sizes too big for her. We looked at the market’s offerings and discussed what ideally she’d like in a bicycle.

Once she had a budget, it was easier to nail down exactly what her options were. I knew NAHBS was coming up, so I emailed a few builders, including Elephant to see if there would be any deals rolling around. Throughout this whole process, I couldn’t stop thinking about how the National Forest Explorer was a perfect “all-rounder” bike when I reviewed it. You could tour on it, ride trails and use it as a grocery getter. Since we have endless dirt, right from our front door, the idea of having a nice, plump tire for Cari was a plus. Anyway, John at Elephant told me he’d have a size small, complete, at NAHBS for sale after a customer backed out at the last minute.

NAHBS came and went, we picked up the bike and began riding all over Los Angeles. Fast forward a few months, a few part swaps and here it is.

As for part swaps, we kept the Gevenalle shifters and the Shimano derailleurs, but changed out the wheels. We ordered a new wheelset from Golden Saddle: a White Industries rear hub and a SON front generator hub, laced to Velocity Blunt SS rims. While the Sugino cranks offer a great rear range, we added a Sun Race 11-42t 10spd cassette to make steep climbs a bit easier. The Supernova lights made a world of difference. No more “I forgot my lights!” as the sun was setting. A Thomson post holds her trusty Brooks B17S saddle and a Thomson Stem, with Brooks tape kept the cockpit comfy. A King headset, just ‘cuz and Soma Cazadero tires, set up tubeless (kinda, anyway) offer a bit of traction in the dirt. A Sim Works Potluck rack, trusty Wald basket and those nifty Monkeywrench Cycles Porcelain Rocket bags add a level of functionality to this bike for urban riding.

The biggest upgrade, in terms of confidence when riding off-road however were the Paul Klamper disc brakes and Yokozuna compressionless brake housing. It made a world of difference coming down a multi-mile descent.

Who knows where this bike will go, or the sights it’ll see, the important part is she loves riding it and wants to take on a multi-day tour, which leaves me beyond stoked!

If you live in Los Angeles, please keep a look out for my Geekhouse touring bike. It was stolen this morning between the hours of 5 – 6:30am from my house. It doesn’t have fenders now and has a basket bag, but is very distinguishable. If you see it, throw a u-lock on it or call Golden Saddle Cyclery (323-661-1174). Leave a comment if you have any questions.

Jamis-sponsored racer Thomas Turner explains why he loves to ride.

“The ROMANCEÜR is a swashbuckling tender heart of a fantasy warrior, who not only seduces its rider, but acts as a psychedelic aphrodisiac on the psyche. Together you become thee Romanceür, a sacred, lustful partnership rendering all riding surfaces swooned out and speechless, pining for an intimate evening including a tray of rosé Jell-O shots.” – Ultra Romance from his Crust Bikes Diary

Recently, Los Angeles was invaded by some of cycling’s biggest celebrities and no, not Wiggo, Sagan, Vos, or Bryceland. The cyclists that found themselves hanging out at Golden Saddle Cyclery are from a different walk, er, roll of life all-together. These nomadic raconteurs favor dirt to pavement and fully-loaded bikes to ultralight carbon. Not to mention, they’re always on the hunt for the latest cycling expedition, which brings me to Los Angeles…

Benedict, his lovely partner Nam and many others rolled into town to hang out, ride bikes and soak in the big city living before heading out for their forty days journey along the Baja Divide. We’ve seen a little bit on that route so far, and since so many of our friends are on the ride with cameras in tow, I’m sure there will be more on that at a later point in time.

So, back to Poppi, or Benedict, or Ultra Romance and this bike. Bene met Matt from Crust Bikes on the road at some point. They began talking bikes, how this idiosyncratic world we all love and live in doesn’t address the many nuances desired by the two of them. Conversations turned to drawings, which then turned to numbers and finally a sample of the Romanceür was born. A touring bike with disc brakes, low trail, ample tire clearance and the ability to ride a 26″ – 29″ wheel, depending on tire size.

Poppi rode this sample like the noble steed it was throughout the United States before giving it his seal of approval: a thumbprint, smeared with freshly cooked garlic. Months later and the framesets were available for pre-order on Crust Bikes. Poppi smiled. Matt smiled. Customers smiled. All was well, yet Poppi felt the Romanceür needed something extra special. Something sinister. Something…. 66.6cm wide. Along came the Leather bars:

“In my 21 years of life I lived through the MTB craze of the 90s. Stems were 140mm long, and handlebars were 50cm wide. It was weird, but we were all too busy sketchy skidding our 26×1.9 smoke/dart combos down hiking trails to really complain. Flash ahead to the normalized MTB world of 50mm stems and 800mm handlebars that we live in today. Why do they get to be so verily comfortable while our slumped, pigeon chested bodies are negated to 38-46cm “wide” bars??? WHYYYY????”

You can check out the above link to read Poppi’s list of benefits from riding such a wide bar and while it might seem like propaganda, you should know that pro-cycling extraordinaire Taylor Phinny has endorsed this setup. Not officially, because, ya know… but he smiled and said the bike was “fun!”

With a bar that wide, you’re opening up cargo capacity even more, which is where the Swift Industries “Fabio’s Chest” (previously called the Wizard Sleeve, but changed for obvios reasons) bag came along. So here we are, looking at this bike, with those tiny wheels, big tires, wide bars, big, cavernous bag, gold anodized Paul Klampers, a 1970’s Brooks saddle, Herse cranks and fuckin’ Campagnolo 11 speed, asking ourselves, “my god man, what have you done!?!”

Well, I don’t have an answer to that, but what a way to ring in the New Year here on the Radavist… And uhh, sorry for the lack of risqué photoshoots this round, but ya know, Poppi has settled down a bit.

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Follow Benedict on Instagram, Nam on Instagram, Crust Bikes on Instagram and follow the whole #BajaDivide group by using the hashtag!

Watch and Nik and Leif take on a cycling tour.

For the past few months, all I’ve been reading and hearing about is the Baja Divide. Lael and Nicholas created a route last year that would take riders on a 1,700 mile journey from the US-Mexico border down the length of the Baja Penninsula, almost entirely on dirt. Well, dirt and sand. They are two completely different riding substrates. The grand depart took place last week and over 100 cyclists embarked on the journey, two of which being Tom and Sarah Swallow.

In order to prep for their 45-day ride – they’re going out and back on the route – Tom and Sarah rode for two weeks along the Baja Divide route in December. Afterward, they both described their ride as “the hardest thing we’ve ever done.” But at least they now know exactly what they needed in terms of gear. For instance, they left their filter at home, because there is no fresh water on the route, only bottled and filtered water. They’re also confident in their setups, which are very similar, save for Tom is riding a Hunter Cycles 27.5+ hardtail and Sarah is on a carbon S-Works hardtail.

Tom’s bike just looked so damn good all loaded up with Revelate bags the day before they left, so I had to shoot some photos of it. Not only to give Rick props for building such amazing frames, but I rarely get the chance to shoot loaded down hardtails. All of Tom’s little hacks – like those killer King Cage USBs – to make this a proper tourer simply add to the bike’s character.

I want to wish everyone who’s out on the Divide’s course good luck. You can follow Tom and Sarah’s trip on their Instagram.

All-City teases us with 20 seconds of Sierra Nevada bliss.

As with any fabrication job, resolving design challenges creatively is just part of the job. When Jon at Sabrosa Cycles wanted a travel touring bike, he didn’t want to order an S&S or Break-Away kit, he wanted to design something from scratch that would be special and unique to his brand. The result is clever and hardly noticeable unless you know what you’re looking for.

When I first saw the details, I asked Jon if he had seen Rick Hunter’s Bushmaster. He hadn’t. Yet, whereas Rick’s design was used to resolve the problem of chain tension, Jon designed his so you could unbolt the rear triangle from the front, making it easy to travel with.

If you love details, this frame’s got’em, since just about everything on this has been hand machined and made from scratch. The segmented fork and stays harken back to Fat City Cycles and Jon’s roots as a MTB fanboy, where he grew up admiring the early creations from Salsa and the like. The Paul Neo Retro Cantis have plenty of stopping power and a good, ol’ fashioned triple gets Jon up and over mountain passes in the St. George area.

This bike is unique without being overly ostentatious and capable without being overbuilt. Photographing it was sheer pleasure! Don’t forget to check out our Shop Visit at Sabrosa Cycles and give Jon a follow on Instagram!

I’m blown away by this!

“Lee Craigie of the Adventure Syndicate shares her short film about cycling the Caledonia Way Scotland. This video was filmed along NCN78, the Caledonia Way. The Caledonia Way is a long distance cycle route, linking Campbeltown in the west, with the Highland capital of Inverness in the east.”

Thanks for sharing this video, Whitney!

Daniel is the head designer and brains behind Tumbleweed Bicycle Company. Yet he didn’t get to this point on his own. Through working with Cameron Falconer and Anna Schwinn, Daniel was able to successfully jettison Tumbleweed onto the internet and into the real world.

Tumbleweed officially launched last year with their Prospector 27.5+ touring bikes, equipped with Rohloff technology and an Anna Schwinn-designed chainstay yoke. With these two moves, Tumbleweed’s design solved two major issues within the realm of bikepacking: clearance around the bottom bracket cluster and derailleur malfunctions due to mud. Speaking of which, because these bikes utilize a chainstay yoke, Tumbleweed was able to offer about an inch of mud clearance around even a plump 3″ tire. It can even run a 4″ on a 26″ wheel. The chain tension is made possible by a special Phil Wood eccentric bottom bracket, laser-etched with the Tumbleweed logo.

Details abound on the Prospector and they’re hard to grasp online. Even in photos like this. Usually, on steel bikes, the bottom bracket cluster looks cluttered. There are very few well-resolved chainstay and chainring interactions out there. People are oftentimes forced to use 0mm offset rings, resulting in less-than-ideal chainlines and heavily crimped tubing. These bikes are damn impressive and as proven since their inception, are very capable for bikepacking excursions like the Baja Divide.

I was fortunate enough to meet Daniel this morning at LA River Camp Coffee and enjoyed rambling on about bike design, the Baja Divide, Toyota trucks, Death Valley and the future of Tumbleweed Bicycle Co. Safe travels, hombre!

What on Earth, All-City? I’m touring wrong! Oh and if you like the song, you can download it for free!