The Radavist

The Whisky Six Select Frames
Photos by Jarrod Bunk, words by John Watson

Photo via Whisky

Each year at Frostbike, Whisky builds bikes, both custom from frame builders and production from one of the QBP brands. This year Whisky had six builders and brands at the Frostbike booth to show off their new rims, bars and seatposts. Dubbed the Six Select, the collection debuted a variety of veritable dream bikes, including: Rock Lobster, 44 Bikes, Retrotec, Moth Attack, Salsa and Engin.

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Frostbike’s the Best
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

I look forward to this time of the year, I get to catch up with friends, check out fresh bits from companies that I dig. You could say that Frostbike is a mini Interbike, without the tedium. QBP invites some of its dealers each year to view bikes, parts, and projects. Bikes, I love them, I love getting people on them, I love riding them. We all do right? QBP does a great job of creating bikes that small groups want and promoting cycling though all of their brands. Frostbike isn’t about just QBP brands though, there are plenty of non Q-brands that display here.

Its been said that there ain’t no party like a QBP party ‘cause a QBP party don’t stop. Obviously winding down after a day of seminars and bike stoke needs to happen. I look forward to the All City ’17 model year release every year. Jeff has a great program over there!. The log lady is a show stopper. Speaking of show stoppers, Whiskey Parts Co. has a pretty awesome project this year. They displayed six bikes as parts of their Whiskey Six Select, and let me just say oh man, these bikes are beautiful, from a custom Salsa Cycles Horsethief to a Retrotec, there is sure to be something for everyone.

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2015 was life-changing for not only myself but for the Radavist, its authors and content. For the most part, the year felt like a giant ping-pong game as various stories brought me and the contributors of this website all over the globe. Luckily, the first major story unfolded in Austin, Texas so no traveling was necessary! Check out the Radavist’s 2015 Year in Review below!

2015 was an amazing year for the Radavist. Not only in terms of traffic, or stats, but in terms of content. We take pride in the site, the rides we record, products we feature and yes, the bicycles we document. This year was huge in terms of the places we traveled to and the people we met along the way. With people and places come Beautiful Bicycles and a lot of work!

Without rambling on too much, here’s a list of the Top 10 of 2015 ranked by traffic and social media chatter, from highest down…

Boogie woogie bugle boy. Boogie on your bicycle, boogie to the party. Ace Boogie gets around, man.

Ace is the Sleepers, a one man video production outfit in Los Angeles. You’ve surely seen his work on this site, right?

His Cannondale track has seen various permutations, as these things tend to do. The ones that are actually ridden, anyway. From drops to risers and now a super simple city bar, Ace’s bike has finally hit that sweet spot for cruising around Los Angeles. I’m pretty sure Kyle shot photos of it a few years back, yet I can’t dig anything up. Some notable notes: the off-center head badge, Phil Wood hubs, Sugino cranks, loved and weathered Flite with one of those damn hot Salsa stems.

This one’s a strange bird for sure. 1994 brought about a sea change in the mountain bike industry. The world was abuzz with full suspension bikes and suddenly manufacturers like Fat City Cycles found their hands forced to embrace this new technology. It was this year that Fat Chance joined forces with Serotta in New York. This manufacturing move allowed bikes like the Shock-A-Billy to be born, as well as increased production in the standard lineup including: a Ti Fat, Buck Shaver, Yo Eddy, Wicked Lite and the brand’s road bike, the Slim Chance. These frames featured quad butting, an aluminum AMP rear swingarm providing 2.75″ of travel and an optional Rock Shox Mag 21 fork.

How bikes like this survive for over 20 years and remain mostly intact continues to baffle me. Especially with builds like this: Ringle skewers, WTB VelociRaptor tires, White Industry hubs, Moto Ace Salsa stem, Syncros post and a working Shimano XTR group.

Fat City Cycles suffered a fatal blow in 2000, only to return in 2014 with a new plan… They’re back and you can own a modern Fat City.

As for vintage Fat City, if you really wanna go down the Fat City rabbit hole, read up at Mombat!

This bike should need no introduction to the readers of this site. It’s All-City’s flagship road model, made from Columbus Zona tubing and available this year in a classic throwback magenta and pink paint job. The Mr. Pink is one of the best steel road bikes on the market. It’s affordable and capable with the only limitations being those which you set yourself.

So what drew me to review this beaut? For the first time since this bike’s launch, I felt drawn to it in more than just an aesthetic attraction. All-City as a brand has hit the point now where they’re improving on their current catalog piecemeal, rather than focusing on launching entirely new models. At least that’s my observation and the Mr. Pink got some much-needed upgrades.

Being able to get in a good ride before the workday begins is one of the many perks of living in a city that’s embraced by mountains. Simply look at a map and seek out squiggly lines. Pack up your bike, add snacks, water, a jacket and head out just before sunrise. These days, the day’s light is fleeting, so the earlier the better.

Last Friday a few of us wanted to ride Mt. Lukens, a 5,000ish foot tall dirt road climb. While it’s not as big as Disappointment or Wilson, its adjacency to the beginning of the Angeles National Forest along the 2 makes it for a perfect out and back ride.

The Soulcraft Dirtbomb is an incredibly versatile bike and a worthy tool to tackle an event like Grinduro. It’ll eat up dirt roads, singletrack and pavement alike but most importantly, it’s strong enough to withstand the after party. Which at events like last weekend, tend to go on ’til dawn.

Sean from Soulcraft knows a thing or two about handmade bikes. He learned the trade from legends like Bruce Gordon and Salsa Cycles, so it’s fitting to see his framesets carrying on many of these ideologies, just in an updated, modern form.

This bike in particular clears the Bruce Gordon RockNRoad tires, features PAUL Klampers, Chris King and WTB wheels and SRAM’s CX1 group, with a 10-42 cluster.

Like I said, it’ll take on anything you throw at it and still party ’til dawn.

I’m here in Portland, Oregon attending the Bike and Beer festival at HopWorks Urban Brewery. While I’ll be documenting many of the frames, I’ll also be capturing the general vibes. For now, let’s just check out some bikes!

You’re a long way from home, partna’…

Konga Frames has been spending the past few months in the Pacific Northwest, soaking in the Oregonian sunlight and bicycle culture that, at this point, is world-renown and worth the trip.

So who and what is Konga?

Konga’s frames are made individually by hand in Mäntyharju, Finland and his latest work is something completely unexpected (for me anyway.) This bright yellow 29+ SS MTB features a painted to match Salsa fork with ENVE riser bars, Maxxis Chronicle tires, Hope hubs, White Industry ONE cranks and Formula Racing disc brakes. Pretty cush, right?

Even though Konga wasn’t officially displaying at the show, I couldn’t pass this beauty up…

Porcelain Rocket’s Moots Fatty with Hunter Fork
Words and photos by Morgan Taylor

Our recent trip through the Rockies to visit Porcelain Rocket’s shop was months in the making. The plan was to start with the shop visit in Calgary and then backtrack for a ride with Kevin Tweed in Banff the following day. I was excited to experience first hand the majestic Canadian Rockies, and to ride with Kevin on his home turf – but we were skunked.

In the days approaching our visit, massive wildfires burning south of the border combined with stagnant weather patterns to send a blanket of smoke over much of southern BC and Alberta. I had imagined shooting Scott’s Moots with a breathtaking Banff backdrop that I knew Kevin could lead us to, but that idea was out the window. Fortunately, Scott’s Moots holds its own. The haze lifted just enough to let an orange sun bring out the depth in the titanium, and we made some magic.

While we took a look at my own touring bike yesterday, I will say this with confidence: had I ridden the Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer prior to ordering my Woodville two years ago, I would have drastically changed my views on 650b, disc brakes and trail.

The National Forest Explorer is a low-trail, 650b bike with disc brakes and a decent, not copious amount of tire clearance. These NFE’s are made by Glen Copus in Spokane, WA and pack quite the wallop of versatility in a beautiful, forest service green package. They’re made from lightweight steel for just the amount of liveliness.