The Radavist

Hardtails. Antiquated examples of mountain bike technology to some but to others, they’re liberated and simplified machines. Each year, I plan on riding a full suspension in Downieville, yet I always end up bringing my hardtail for one reason or another so this year, I took a look at just some of the bikes that were rolling around this Gold Rush town.

A little while back, All-City reached out to me to shoot their new Cosmic Stallion, with one request, it does not look like Los Angeles in the backdrop. Being a geological nerd, I have a list of weird zones surrounding LA’s sprawling megacity footprint that I’ve either found or have known about since moving there in 2015, one of which being Vasquez Rocks, a popular backdrop for Hollywood SciFi movies…

When All-City first developed the Mr. Pink, they wanted to deliver a classic steel road bike, made from Columbus ZONA tubing, with a Shimano kit for under $2,000. In fact, that number came in at $1,799. Last month, All-City lowered the MSRP on Mr. Pink completes to $1,499, with the framesets being reduced from $999 to $850, sparking me to finally shoot Mike’s “Kiwi Green” Mr. Pink with Campagnolo Chorus. This is not an advertisement, I just wanted to share the news and get you into your local shop to check one out.

When it comes to production steel road bikes, the Mr. Pink is one of the finer specimens. The model’s latest color grabbed Mike from Golden Saddle‘s attention, as it matched some components had had laying around including some green Chris King bits, as well as some PAUL skewers and a Turquoise King headset. The boys at the shop like to ride bikes that they sell, so when potential customers ask them questions, they can reply with honest answers.

Saddle Drive Is The Best … Time For All
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

Saddle Drive is a dealers only event in which QBP invites bicycle retailers from all over the country to take part in what is usually two days of seminars, stoke, and shredding, yes there’s a whole bunch of product in there too, unfortunately, I can’t share much as most of it is under embargo. This year some forthcoming thunderstorms (PSYCH) condensed the shred/expo time to just one day. The morning before the demo, QBP held a women’s only ride and 97% of the attendees traversed some of the best forest-service roads near Seven Springs, PA .   Even with the condensed timetable, I was able to take some familiar bikes down some familiar terrain and even venture further off route.

Thanks to a little Google Earth logistics we were able to take some singletrack over the road to visit some cutty spots at the top, ALWAYS TAKE THE SINGLETRACK!  There were some rad new products including Ketl’s revamped women’s line, Teravail’s answer to the industry that the world needs more gumwalls!  (Twenty-nine X 2.6″  Kennebec PLEASE) and some revamped Whisky Rims just to name a few.  It was All City’s Tenth Anniversary and let me tell you that 10TH Anniversary Mr. Pink is wild in person! Finishing out the demo day I was able to shoot some of Salsa’s new line of bikes which will be featured here once the embargo is lifted, thanks to Lindsey Beltchenko, Salsa’s Marketing Manager. I wanted to cram every bit of time we could into the day and we dipped to a natural rock slide just outside of the resort and visited a cafe that had Kyle stoked the whole way back.  We made it back in time for All City’s 10TH Anniversary Party, here’s to 100 more, as a bonus check out Jeff’s rad Gorilla Monsoon.  Thanks to everyone at QBP who makes this event a success, and everyone who made this event a blast!  This was definitely a Saddle Drive to remember.

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Follow Jarrod on Instagram.  QBP on Instagram and All-City on Instagram

Eric Koston – yes, that Eric Koston – is hooked on cycling. A few months back, he acquired a Santa Cruz Stigmata, much to the disbelief of internet cycling experts, who claimed he “wouldn’t ride that bike.” There’s something to note about these naysayers, particularly with cycling. At the time, I was bummed out on readers, and Instagram commentators from the Radavist’s audience. What is it about the sport, hobby, and activity of cycling that brews this discontent? At any rate, he proved them wrong. Eric rides bikes.

He shows up at the Golden Saddle Friday rides where he’s learned the ways of riding in Los Angeles, ascending the steep dirt roads of the Verdugo Mountains, tubeless woes, promptly taking a digger on the singletrack, getting his feet wet in the LA river, and cruising up behind the Hollywood sign.

Fishing analogies aside, Eric is hooked.

The skaters turned cyclists Eric hangs with all ride Rivendell, Crust, and All City with more upright riding positions. So he started shopping around and settled on the Gorilla Monsoon, prompting this insane build from the guys at Golden Saddle. All-City and Chris King sent in some goods, prompting the build. All these components are familiar to you, the readers of this site, yet seeing them all in one place makes me feel all tingly inside. Down to the Spitfire top cap! So yes, Eric rides bikes, he’ll ride this bike, and hopefully one day, his friends will take him bicycle camping.

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If you want a custom build like this and live in Los Angeles, hit up Golden Saddle Cyclery.

Last year, we got an early, early look at the All-City Cycles Gorilla Monsoon when Jeff came to town and brought the bike with him to ride in LA and the Mojave. It was like having an elephant in the room everywhere we went, or I suppose a gorilla. No matter where we took the bike, people were blown away, but quickly were told to keep it under wrap. We couldn’t acknowledge its existence. Well, last week during the NAHBS madness that ensues here once a year, All-City finally released the Gorilla Monsoon, which means I can now share my photos of this bike and a few riding shots I took during that week.