Soma’s hardtail, the Juice ($699.95 frame), just got a geometry makeover and now features boost spacing. The Juice has always been a classic, offering riders a non-aggressive, non-progressive riding experience. Read on for Soma’s updates…

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Soma’s hardtail, the Juice ($699.95 frame), just got a geometry makeover and now features boost spacing. The Juice has always been a classic, offering riders a non-aggressive, non-progressive riding experience. Read on for Soma’s updates…
We’ll continue to update this list for 2024
Hardtails make the world go round. Especially here at The Radavist. We’ve been long-time supporters of these capable yet simple mountain bikes and as people decide on the “next bike” after reaching the limitations on their gravel bikes, we thought it’d be nice to compile a list of current hardtail models we dig, all under or around $2,000 so let’s get to it!
Sonder’s Broken Road platform originally came in titanium but the brand just announced a steel chassis today, with a number of build kit options all for under or around $2000. Let’s take a look…
On a recent Radavist Retreat, John and Hailey left their wintery homes to ride the various trails and gravelly terrain down in Phoenix with Josh. While there, John rode the Knolly Tyaughton Steel he’d procured from the brand earlier this winter and spent time riding amongst the Stone Eaters of South Mountain Park. Find out what he thought about this wild hardtail 29er with an even wilder price point ($2,449 complete) below!
Nordest’s Britago platform got new colors for 2024 but maintains its tried and true all-mountain hardtail geometry numbers.
The revived 2024 Transition TransAM is shiny enough to attract local corvids in your area, progressive enough to melt the mind of your uncle still pearl-clutching his Salsa El Mariachi, and balanced enough to set a new standard. Read on below as Spencer Harding runs the numbers and throws the book at Transition’s new hardtail MTB!
The new Pace Cycles RC429 is a North Yorkshire-bred down country steel hardtail using Reynolds 853 steel tubing and offering either drop bar or flat bar MTB builds.
Burnsey at Oddity Cycles has built some stunning mountain bikes over the years, so when John took note of an Oddity hardtail frame for sale on our Rad Bazaar community marketplace, he had to buy it. It’s big. It’s pink!
Expect a deeper review and full gallery to come once the trails dry out, but for now, enjoy some snow slippin’ and slidin’ riding in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of Santa Fe!
Video: Kyle Klain
Music: Arbor “Return to Forest”
Haro’s newest hardtail piqued our collective interests when we saw the press release. The Saguaro 1 ($3,999.99 for Transmission GX or $1,899.99 for cable-actuated Saguaro 3) is a 6061 aluminum 29er hardtail with a 140mm travel fork, a 64.5º head angle, TRP 4-piston brakes, and GX Transmission. If the color didn’t grab your attention first, the build spec and geometry will.
It’d been a while since SOMA’s Riff hardtail got any sort of update. While the brand doesn’t stick to model years like other brands in the bike industry, they do try to address their various frame offerings and update them when necessary. Long overdue was the Riff, the brand’s hardtail model…
Falconer Cycles is now making titanium frames and last weekend, he unveiled a stunning titanium hardtail touring bike to John…
For creatives – be it sculptors or painters – expanding into other mediums is often fulfilling and cathartic. Learning new methodologies and processes keeps makers engaged with their work. Lots of bicycle fabricators start out TIG welding steel frames and, later, expand into working with titanium. This offers new horizons for not only the brand but also for loyal followers to access a superior material.
Cameron Falconer is the latest builder to be documented here expanding into titanium from steel. While in Southern Arizona last weekend, John caught up with Cam who showcased a titanium hardtail touring bike with a custom titanium rack. This was “John’s modern bike shoot of the year” as he put it excitedly and you can see why below…
Announced at this year’s Moab Outerbike, the Esker Cycles Hayduke LVS –available as a frame ($2,950) or a complete ($4,950)–is a hardtail mountain bike with 600-millimeter chainstays and touring accouterments aplenty. Esker even developed a specialty rack for this bike, dubbed the Molle Rackwald ($300.) Needless to say, it’s a unique offering from the brand.
John was able to ride one for a bit, including on an overnighter with the Esker Cycles team and Sincere Cycles in Santa Fe, so read on for an in-depth look at this rare and funky bike!
November 2nd is International SingleSpeed Day. It’s a celebration of Paul from Paul Component Engineering and his good friend Amanda‘s birthday.
The rules for celebration are simple: everyone, ride your singlespeeds! Gravel, road, or MTB; we’re all in on the one-gear birthday party celebration! John and Parker went out in Santa Fe for a sunset ride in the Dale Ball Trails, and they got some fun photos, so let’s check them out below…
While Curtis Inglis from Retrotec Cycles was in Santa Fe, John took along a camera for some of their rides and documented Curtis’ new twin top tube Funduro. This 140mm-travel hardtail 29er is one that Curtis built for himself to display at the 2023 MADE bike show and was the perfect choice for sampling Santa Fe’s side country riding.
Curtis and his bike undertook one of the more technical rides in the Southern Rockies, and John was there to document it all. Check out a stunning gallery of the bike and the singletrack that makes Santa Fe such a great MTB destination below!
While he and his wife were on holiday in Santa Fe, John got in a few rides with Steve Rex who brought along his fillet-brazed hardtail. Since Steve wasn’t at the MADE Bike Show, John wanted to give the Sacramento-based builder a spotlight of his own, so read on for the full gallery…
On the cusp of this year’s MADE Bike show, we’re getting the hype train rolling early with a note from Aaron Stinner on the recent updates made to Stinner Frameworks’ mainstay hardtail, the Tunnel. Then we’ll take a look at three custom-finished Tunnels for three takes on this classic mid-travel 29er.
Nothing screams early-90s louder than a tension disc and a pile of anodized parts and the colorful World Champ, Greg Herbold. Of all the pro riders who made a name for themselves in the early 90s, few played as important a role in pushing new technology forward as Greg Herbold. Although best known for winning the inaugural UCI Downhill World Championship title in 1990, Herbold was already a celebrated champion having previously won the NORBA National Downhill title three-times…
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…