The Radavist

When you have too many bikes and too little space, simply living your life feels like one big bike hack. It’s something Travis knows all too well, juggling multiple cycling disciplines, piles of gear, and a smattering of trail-work tools. With the help of a very forgiving spouse, he fits it all in (and around) a rental unit that’s about the size of a two-car garage. Oh, and he doesn’t have a garage.

This isn’t exactly a “review” of the Carlito lightweight U-lock. Reviewing a lock is like reviewing a helmet. You can’t be sure if it will perform when you really need it until a very bad thing happens. And when (or if) that bad thing does happen, there are too many variables to say if your experience will be the same. But Travis’s experience with the Carlito has been overwhelmingly positive, even though this lock may not perform when you really need it.

Travis often sneaks a scornful jab at thru-headset cable routing into his stories. In this Dust-Up, he explains why. And it’s not for all the obvious reasons.

This is not one of Travis’s trail-work humble-brag stories. His Silky Pocketboy folding saw can’t make lasting changes like the chainsaw or sawzall he prefers to use. But he carries a Silky Pocketboy on every mountain bike ride, and maybe you should, too.

You can spend $30 on a mountain bike helmet, or you can spend $300. So, Travis aimed for the middle and compared eight budget helmets with boutique swagger.

Travis‘s Otso Fenrir shows up a lot in his reviews. So does the 85mm-travel Fox Step-Cast 34 he customized for it. We’ve gotten some questions about how he finagled this hack. He’s here to give answers, but not to recommend you try it.

Sometimes, the bike industry throws cost-conscious consumers a bone, and the 2024 RockShox Psylo Gold RC is a meaty one. Travis has been chewing on it for a couple weeks now, and he’s got a review with almost no flesh-based metaphors.

If you use folding multi-tools, you’ve probably used one that’s gotten loose over time. Travis set out to find a permanent solution. He failed.

Just when you think handlebars can’t get any weirder, Redshift Sports drops the Top Shelf. But after riding them for a week, Travis found they actually felt pretty normal. Whether that’s a good thing is up to you.

TPU inner tubes are light, compact, and expensive. So, Travis compared knock-off, RideNow, to OG, Tubolito. It didn’t go well, but why does he still carry one?

Weighing less than 57 grams, the Flextail Zero Pump is the sort of bike camping luxury that’s easy to live with. It cuts the hyperventilation out of sleeping-pad inflation, though a temperamental deflation function had Travis leaving it at home on trips where every ounce counts.

In this Dust-Up, Travis claims 27.2 mm seatposts are symptoms of the gravel industry’s refusal to evolve. Turns out there’s more to it, but he’s still upset.