The Radavist

After running bar “inners” on his trail bike and hardtail all last summer, John was stoked to hear of Rogue Panda‘s newest component offering, Bamboo Shoots. Much like Rogue Panda’s recent releases, these made-in-Arizona aluminum bar “inners” have some clever detailing so let’s check them out…

Scolarian is a small-scale production bicycle company based in India. It specializes in making fixed, gravel, and touring bikes using chromoly steel. The brand just announced its all-new, no-nonsense touring bike, the Kettlexpress. Let’s check it out…

Esker Cycles has refreshed most of their hardtail lineup for 2025. Let’s check the models and their updates out below…

UK folding bike company Brompton launched its first-ever 20″ wheel chassis last year dubbed the “G Line.” Our First Ride Review ranked as our number one bike review in 2024 and with good reason. These gravel focused bikes come equipped with a rear “roller rack,” off-road handlebars, disc brakes, and can be outfitted with your favorite touring or bikepacking bags. It took some time but the G Line is finally arriving in the USA ($3,300) on March 6th. These 20″ wheeled folders come in three sizes and in three colors, shown above.

See the full specs and more at Brompton.

Many people’s introduction to bicycle touring was via the Surly Long Haul Trucker, or LHT for short. Anne has quite the story of her attachment to it for this week’s Readers’ Rides!

The Rivendell Clem Smith epitomizes the Grant Petersen “Hilly Bike” ethos. It’s got a long W-factor (distance from the middle of the saddle to the rear axle of a bicycle), clearance for 29er tires on the large size and 27.5 wheels on the other two sizes, a gracious standover, fender, and rack mounts, and is by far the most unique looking bicycle the brand has ever produced.

These tig-welded frames are built with investment-cast Rivendell lugs and are simply stunning. They come in the option to buy a Taiwan-built complete for $2,400 at a significant savings or have the boyz at Rivendell custom build you one starting at $3,136. You can build one yourself, too for $1,400 as a frameset.

Roll on over to Rivendell to get on the pre-order today at 12 noon PST.

Aside from a new frame color, GRX and Apex build options, and a titanium chassis option, Salsa‘s tried and true drop bar 29er MTB platform, the Fargo, received a few minor updates for 2025…

Welcome to the Backcountry Bike Repair video series, designed to help you build skills and confidence around fixing your own bike when things go awry far from help. In each month’s episode, Kait Boyle and Kurt Refsnider will take you through the diagnosis and repair of common trailside mechanicals using the tools and items they typically carry.

In this introductory episode, they walk you through the ABCDs of a thorough pre-trip bike check and all the parts of the bike to inspect before launching on a big backcountry ride, race, bikepacking adventure, etc. Subsequent episodes will focus on these different parts of the bike in a more detailed manner.

Thanks to Wolf Tooth for supporting Kait and Kurt with this series!

The PBJ, or Performance Basket Jammer, has been a model in the Sklar Bikes lineup for some time now. But today, the San Francisco-based framebuilder and bike company announced that the pre-order is live for these veritable “do it all” framesets ($1,399), so let’s take a more in-depth look…

Sometimes, a brand just nails it right out of the gate. That’s the case with the latest from Rose Bikes. Its Hobo touring bike is a 650b steel frame all-rounder with an integrated front rack. The complete weighs in at 26 lbs, fits a 55 mm tire, and has cargo bosses galore; 14 to be exact. The Hobo comes in two configurations: flat bar (1,299.00 €) or drop bar (1,899.00 €), and two colors per variation.

Check out more at Rose Bikes.

If you’re looking for a dream machine, titanium drop bar mountain bike to tour on this year, Tumbleweed Bikes just got in a shipment of its lauded titanium Stargazer. These are the same as the steel Stargazer model we reviewed two years ago, just made from lightweight and flexy titanium tubing. Tumbleweed can either build one up as a complete, or sell you the frame.

Check out more at Tumbleweed Bikes!

For this week’s Readers’ Rides, Jordan wrote an enthusiastic entry on his Surly Troll, a veritable all-rounder. Let’s check it out!

Surly‘s 27.5 wheeled drop bar mountain bike, Grappler ($1899), is a boost-spaced off-road tourer. New for 2025, the Grappler gets hit with lavender in a new color called “Purple Dust Bunny.” The Grappler’s steel chassis clears a 27.5 x 2.8″ tire for rough terrain or 29 x 2.1″ for hardpack touring. Check it out in its lavender glory at Surly.