The Radavist

The Indian Valley Loop Project proposes 70 miles of new trail construction, linking the towns of Taylorsville, Greenville, Round Valley Lake and Crescent Mills with a mix of motorized and non-motorized singletrack. It will also connect into the existing Mount Hough trail system in Quincy, as part of the larger Connected Communities project, which aims to link 15 mountain towns with a shared trail network, using outdoor recreation as an economic driver. The IVL project is a big part of the recovery for this region in northern California, much of which is still rebuilding following the devastating 2021 Dixie Fire. Planning for the Indian Valley Loop project was jumpstarted through a $50,000 grant from the Friesen Foundation. Read more at SBTS.

In Fairlight‘s second short film in this series, Mark Bentley (aka Bentley Components), reflects on his connection with the Yorkshire Moors, how he fell into making machined parts for bikes and how ‘following his nose’ on a mountain bike is still where his riding passion lies.

Mark is a proper engineer, a trained tool-maker; he knows his craft! Deep knowledge of process and materials, helping turn our ideas into physical objects that are functional, light and elegant. We are really proud to have the Bentley logo on our frames. Thank you Mark. Filmed by Chris McClean.

Danny MacAskill is happiest when his friends are having fun. Which is why he invited Steve Peat up to the Isle of Skye, Danny’s homeland, to show him the fun that can be had on a ridgeline rollick. The Trotternish Ridge is an epic route that links together multiple summits starting at the Quiraing and finishing at the Old Man of Storr, two stunning geographical landmarks that bookend the plateau…

Travis has been clamoring for a more powerful SRAM brake, and the new Maven is definitely that. But one issue in his first-ride review left him uncertain.

Long live single-speed mountain bikes! And with a titanium bike, you know it’s going to live a long time. Some say they’re immortal, even. Kris from 44 Bikes sent over another one of his beautiful personal builds for a very special Readers’ Rides today, so let’s get to it!

Hayes’ best-known braking system, the Dominion A4 levers and calipers, just got flushed with a new hue for 2024, purple, prompting a Jimmy Hendrix reference: Purple Hayes. The trend of anodized mountain bike components began in the late 1980s and went well into the 1990s, with many manufacturers continuing the trend into modern times. Yet, this new purple wave sweeping components as of late causes pause… check out the Purple Dominion A4 brakes at Hayes.

Dropper posts range from 75 to 240 mm, but what if you’re right between sizes? These are our favorite posts that allow you to fine-tune your travel.

WTB was one of the first MTB companies and in their early days used to carve down Magura motorcycle grips for MTB use. The brand has come a long way since launching the Toe Flip, and today it announced a whole new grip lineup ($29 each) with varying thickness, profiles, and in two colors; black and tan. Let’s look at these all-new grips below…

Leatt started as the game-changing neck brace for moto in Cape Town, South Africa has evolved into a complete line that now serves XC and gravel riders. For 2024, Leatt partnered with Gregor Egger and Lukas Baum from
Speed Company Racing (winners Cape Epic 2022, and 2nd 2023) to develop best-in-class helmets and apparel.

If you’re working on a vintage MTB conversion into a basket bike, commuter bike, or touring bike, and want to go with a 1x drivetrain, you’ll be shocked to find that there aren’t many options for vintage crank bolt center diameters. Stridsland took that as impetus to make some!

This may be the most promising step forward yet in the potential of U.S.-made thermoplastic-style carbon components. We’ve talked a lot about FUSIONFIBER, the carbon rim material used on wheels from Revel and Chris King. And when the engineering team behind FUSIONFIBER launched their own brand, FORGE+BOND, it was positioned essentially as the tip of the spear. It’s who would be exploring what’s possible with this unique material and process. And not surprisingly, their debut wheels were aimed at the high-end carbon wheel market, including models laced U.S.-made hubs from Industry Nine starting at $1,900. But pricing in the carbon wheel game has gotten extremely competitive, so FORGE+BOND has now introduced the much more affordable Shift series to their wheel lineup, offering wheels with U.S.-made FUSIONFIBER rims for $1,250.

Let us wipe the drool off our keyboards on this early Monday afternoon and give y’all a heads up that Rivendell is having a pre-order (12 PM on February 8th) for the fully lugged Longbolts and Slugstone ($2,000) models this week…

John sent his 1984 Mountain Goat Whiskeytown Racer over to the team at Paul Component Engineering to let it taste the dirt of its homeland. Travis, Patrick, and Paul took it on a history ride of Chico! Paul decided to take you to the place it was built, the bike shop that sold it, and the first place it was ridden, so come along for the ride!

This is why we love Readers’ Rides; because of submissions like this. Harrison took it over the edge and back with this Diamond Back Racing drop bar gravel bike with custom-made Y-Bike guitars… Let’s get to it!