Announced today, the Revel Bikes Tirade is a 29er, 140-millimeter travel titanium hardtail, unlike anything the brand has offered in the past. With generous tire clearance, beautiful cable routing, and more, it’s clear Revel has used merged its own design prowess, learned through making phenomenal full-suspension bikes, and the re-labeling of its titanium brand, Why Cycles, to force an evolution of the almighty hardtail. Read on for John’s nerdy science talk intertwined with commentary on how hardtails are still having a moment in 2024 below!
“hardtail”
Search Term – Change
Radar
Soma Juice Hardtails Get Boost Spacing and Other Updates
Soma’s hardtail, the Juice ($699.95 frame), just got a geometry makeover and now features boost spacing. The Juice has always been a classic, offering riders a non-aggressive, non-progressive riding experience. Read on for Soma’s updates…
Radar
UPDATED 2024 Hardtails Under and Around $2000
We’ll continue to update this list for 2024
Hardtails make the world go round. Especially here at The Radavist. We’ve been long-time supporters of these capable yet simple mountain bikes and as people decide on the “next bike” after reaching the limitations on their gravel bikes, we thought it’d be nice to compile a list of current hardtail models we dig, all under or around $2,000 so let’s get to it!
Radar
Sonder Broken Road Hardtail Now in Steel and Under $2000
Sonder’s Broken Road platform originally came in titanium but the brand just announced a steel chassis today, with a number of build kit options all for under or around $2000. Let’s take a look…
Reportage
Bike Touring Cork in Ireland: Hardtails, Hills, and Horses
Nick McIntyre takes us on a mosey through Ireland’s southernmost county on some choice cuts from the Golden Age of 26-inch MTBs. Sharing company with a small group of friends, Nick writes about rolling past stashed-off coves, winding back roads, and an unexpected day making petty bets at the Ballabuidhe Horse Fair after one of the wettest Irish summers on record. It was a given that there would be some downpours to deal with along the way, but these only made the odd break in the clouds all the sweeter. Read on for Nick’s retelling of bike touring in Cork and don’t miss his 35 mm gallery.
Reportage
Shredding With the Stone Eaters: Knolly Tyaughton Steel 29er Hardtail Review
On a recent Radavist Retreat, John and Hailey left their wintery homes to ride the various trails and gravelly terrain down in Phoenix with Josh. While there, John rode the Knolly Tyaughton Steel he’d procured from the brand earlier this winter and spent time riding amongst the Stone Eaters of South Mountain Park. Find out what he thought about this wild hardtail 29er with an even wilder price point ($2,449 complete) below!
Radar
Nordest Britango 3 Hardtail Pre Order
Nordest’s Britago platform got new colors for 2024 but maintains its tried and true all-mountain hardtail geometry numbers.
Reportage
Shining Bright Like a Diamond: A 2024 Transition TransAM Hardtail MTB Review
The revived 2024 Transition TransAM is shiny enough to attract local corvids in your area, progressive enough to melt the mind of your uncle still pearl-clutching his Salsa El Mariachi, and balanced enough to set a new standard. Read on below as Spencer Harding runs the numbers and throws the book at Transition’s new hardtail MTB!
Radar
Haro Saguaro Hardtail 29er
Haro’s newest hardtail piqued our collective interests when we saw the press release. The Saguaro 1 ($3,999.99 for Transmission GX or $1,899.99 for cable-actuated Saguaro 3) is a 6061 aluminum 29er hardtail with a 140mm travel fork, a 64.5º head angle, TRP 4-piston brakes, and GX Transmission. If the color didn’t grab your attention first, the build spec and geometry will.
Radar
SOMA’s Riff Hardtail Gets an Update for 2024
It’d been a while since SOMA’s Riff hardtail got any sort of update. While the brand doesn’t stick to model years like other brands in the bike industry, they do try to address their various frame offerings and update them when necessary. Long overdue was the Riff, the brand’s hardtail model…
Reportage
Falconer Cycles Now Offers Titanium Frames: A Look at Cameron’s Hardtail Touring Bike and Rack
Falconer Cycles is now making titanium frames and last weekend, he unveiled a stunning titanium hardtail touring bike to John…
For creatives – be it sculptors or painters – expanding into other mediums is often fulfilling and cathartic. Learning new methodologies and processes keeps makers engaged with their work. Lots of bicycle fabricators start out TIG welding steel frames and, later, expand into working with titanium. This offers new horizons for not only the brand but also for loyal followers to access a superior material.
Cameron Falconer is the latest builder to be documented here expanding into titanium from steel. While in Southern Arizona last weekend, John caught up with Cam who showcased a titanium hardtail touring bike with a custom titanium rack. This was “John’s modern bike shoot of the year” as he put it excitedly and you can see why below…
Radar
Radar Roundup: Transition TransAM Hardtail, POC Omne Beacon Helmet, Wolf Tooth Remote 360 Dropper Lever, ALLYGN Diamond Rack Re-Up,Doom Lucky Riser Bars, Rivendell 182.55 Saddles, Transcontinental Race 2024, Orange Blossom Special, Bikepacking Iceland with Finja and Svenja
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Reportage
Curtis Inglis and His Retrotec Twin Top Tube Funduro 140mm Hardtail 29er
While Curtis Inglis from Retrotec Cycles was in Santa Fe, John took along a camera for some of their rides and documented Curtis’ new twin top tube Funduro. This 140mm-travel hardtail 29er is one that Curtis built for himself to display at the 2023 MADE bike show and was the perfect choice for sampling Santa Fe’s side country riding.
Curtis and his bike undertook one of the more technical rides in the Southern Rockies, and John was there to document it all. Check out a stunning gallery of the bike and the singletrack that makes Santa Fe such a great MTB destination below!
Reportage
Steve Rex and His Rex Cycles FIllet Brazed Hardtail 29er
While he and his wife were on holiday in Santa Fe, John got in a few rides with Steve Rex who brought along his fillet-brazed hardtail. Since Steve wasn’t at the MADE Bike Show, John wanted to give the Sacramento-based builder a spotlight of his own, so read on for the full gallery…
Reportage
2023 MADE Bike Show Hype: Three Custom-Finished Stinner Tunnel Hardtail 29ers
On the cusp of this year’s MADE Bike show, we’re getting the hype train rolling early with a note from Aaron Stinner on the recent updates made to Stinner Frameworks’ mainstay hardtail, the Tunnel. Then we’ll take a look at three custom-finished Tunnels for three takes on this classic mid-travel 29er.
Radar
Steve, Founder of Hardtail Party, Has Some Bad News
If you know Hardtail Party, you know Steve Hume. He embodies the unpretentious spirit of the YouTube channel he founded in early 2019. He’ll speak with the exact same enthusiasm about the titanium Binary Maniak 29+ frame he helped design, as he will about the updates on the Trek Roscoe or his daughter’s Woom balance bike. But he just posted a video on his channel that, despite somehow showcasing that same unflappable positivity, is very very different…
Radar
Readers’ Rides: Ben’s Larkin Cycles Nightmare Hardtail
This week’s Readers’ Rides comes from Ben, aka Bushtrucker here on the site, from down in Australia. He shared with us his custom Larkin Cycles “Nightmare,” the opposite of his Larkin/Crust “Dreamer” tourer. Let’s check out the bike and build kit below!
Reportage
Sincere Cycles Build: Kevin’s Monē La Roca V3 Hardtail 29er
The hardtail market is far from saturated, yet there are a lot of bikes that just blend together with similar angles, colors, details, and pricing. This isn’t a bad thing, but when buying an incredibly well-rounded frame that can be built up any number of ways, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything in the same realm as a Monē.
The La Roca is Cjell Monē’s production hardtail, made by hand in a small operation in Taiwan using a unique fillet brazing technique. What you’re looking at now is the V3 frame, and we have yet to feature a La Roca V3 here on The Radavist so when Bailey was building this up at Sincere Cycles last Friday, I had to take it out for photos! Let’s check out what’s new in V3 and more details on Kevin from Adventure Bikepacking‘s build below!