At the end of each year, The Radavist’s staff compiles a list of their favorite products. Like last year, we’ve included our favorite products, rides, experiences, and more. Read on for Spencer’s list from 2025…
Crust Bikes Prototype
In the wake of my Crust Scapebot review, I had enough nitpicking complaints and ideas that Matt from Crust told me to design what I wanted so he could make it a reality. Flabbergasted, I came back a few weeks later with a few ideas that had been kicking around my head. We went with a rigid 29er that checked all the boxes for my dream touring rig: aluminum frame, huge stack height, high BB, slack head tube angle, and more framebag space than you could shake a stick at. I came back to Matt with a napkin drawing and some measurements, and before I knew it, Matt sent the idea off to Taiwan.
I got the frame late spring and got to dreaming about how I wanted it all to come together. The first piece was, of course, a custom framebag from Rockgeist, which should make this list on its own. Built with friction-shifting Deore XT Linkglide, some spare aluminum bars from the parts bin, a Wolf Tooth dropper that I can trust on tour, a 28t steel chainring from Sarah Swallow’s garage sale, and to top it off, Surly Exterrestrials on Roval Carbon rims (chef’s kiss), it’s everything I could dream of in one bike. That is, until the alternative colorway comes down the pipeline, in which case I have a whole other build in my head.
I got to spend a few weeks riding it loaded around the PNW this past summer. I’m hoping these will be available to the wider world this coming year…
Peak Design Outdoor Backpack 25L $250
I had been on the hunt for a new camera backpack for a few years. I really wanted a bag that opened via the back panel when laid down, simple styling, and most importantly, a single color. I kept finding bags that were close, but something was always missing. When Peak Design announced its Outdoor Backpack, it looked like just what I was looking for.
The Outdoor Backpack is a modular backpack with a mindbending amount of options, but it has simply fulfilled everything I was looking for in a camera backpack. It’s been with me to almost every trade show and assignment I’ve documented this year, and I couldn’t be happier with the experience. There are a few weird fabric and hardware choices on the pack, but we’re not here to nitpick. Kudos, Peak Design!
Ghooost Twist Flowers $10
Clearly, the lovely folks behind Ghooost won the Made bike show this year. There was always a line to get some of these cute lil’ flower twists the whole weekend. These are so precious, you need them, yes, you really do. Make your mountain bike cuter, and you’ll send it so much harder.
Going Full Nikon Mirrorless
After shooting on some form of the Nikon F mount since literally high school, it was time to enter the modern age. This year, I finally leaned into Nikon’s Z-mount mirrorless gear after adapting the older F-mount lenses. The Nikon F-mount was in service for nearly 60 years until Nikon realized it was time to update, much like Shimano introducing Microspline after years of the HG freehub standard.
I’ve landed on my go-to lenses being the 24-240 f/4 and 70-180 F/2.8 on a Z6 II body. Nikon has been able to eke out some amazing image quality from these new optics while keeping the weight reasonable. I could upgrade to the full pro level 2.8 versions of both lenses, but I find the portability and affordability of my combination to be worth the small trade-off in image quality and speed.
I will miss the battery life of my legacy DSLR for sure, but the full-sensor autofocus for shooting bike portraits and action shots has been a worthy tradeoff.
Flextail pillow ($26) and Therm-a-Rest Ridgerest ($44) Foam Sleeping Pad
Finally finding the camp pillow and sleeping pad combo I sought after all these years felt so good. I now have a reliable, lightweight, although bulky, sleep system figured out, finally. I use the Flextail pillow backwards to get as much height out of the pillow as I can for my broad shoulders when I sleep on my side. I also thread the pillow strap through my foam pad to keep it in place all night, a crucial detail as most camp pillows are slippery af.
This simple system has been revelatory for me and kept me sleeping better in the backcountry than I have in years.
Neotrekk PillBottle Stove $34
At the end of 2024, a friend showed me this silly alcohol stove that used two small pucks of pizza stone material as a camp stove. You soak the stones in denatured alcohol overnight, and then you light them up. No priming, no fuss, no pot stand, just put your pot on top.
I’ve been using a very simple simmering version of a cat food can stove for the better part of two decades as my go-to solo camping stove. This Pillbottle stove was the first alcohol stove to catch my eye in years, and I love it. It’s only $34, and the Neotrekk website is a blissful return to internet sites of yesteryear.
Ride Concepts Accomplice Clip Shoes $147
I wrote a review praising these shoes a few months ago, as I was looking for a simple lace-up clipless shoe and nothing else. After that, I moved on to a new pair of shoes for review, and they killed my feet, so I had to send them back. The Accomplice is hard to beat – since I do about half my riding in clipless shoes, these have been getting some serious use in 2025, and I foresee them continuing into 2026 easily.
Favorite Ride: The Abajo Mountains
I wound up in the Moab area a lot this year, and while there is a stunning amount of riding right out of town, I found myself being dragged south to the Abajo mountains by my favorite Moabites. The Abajo mountains stand guard just to the west of Monticello and border the Maze area of Canyonlands. With some of the most stunning views I have ever experienced and no crowds, the Abajos took my breath away.
I went for a big alpine singletrack day back in May on my way to the Enve Grodeo, which will live in my top rides of the past few years. I also got to sneak in a two-night bike tour between Made and another photo shoot in September. Our tour started down in Indian Creek and wound our way up through the range and back down to the desert. Our first night’s camp was one for the books, to say the least. Many thanks to all the Moab buds for showing me around this year!
Lessons Learned: Bike Shows Are Hard Work
This year, I got jumped into the bike trade/handmade show circuit. In previous years, I would have attended the Sedona MTB Fest and probably nothing else. This year, I attended and shot Sea Otter, Enve Grodeo, Made, and Bespoked Dresden. It should come as no surprise that the mountains of editing, tight schedule, and days spent diligently wandering the aisles are tiresome, but wow. I underestimated it for sure.
Our team sets a really high bar for documenting events and shows, and I feel honored to be a part of it, though I have more imposter syndrome than you could imagine. My younger self, a 20-something tall bike-touring idiot, still feels so out of place being led behind the Shimano booth to be shown the secret new wireless shit in a locked suitcase. What am I even doing here?
Thanks to the many lovely and amazing folks that populate these shows, I have found a place where I belong. John has been a huge support in this endeavor as well. His praise and encouragement mean the world. Last year, I talked about settling into working full-time for the site, and this year, I feel more integral than ever, and I am still learning so much as I go.
Favorite Book: Stormlight Archive Series
I spent the better half of my year absolutely churning through Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive books. I read all five, accounting for the first half of the series’s story arc. At nearly 1400 pages a piece, these books are no quick read. Turned out I really needed some high fantasy escapism this year. After finishing the series, I felt wayward in the same way I did after finishing the game Elden Ring. Both had such engrossing lore and world-building that sucked me in to the point I felt lost afterward.
Brandon Sanderson isn’t free from issues with his writing, but damn, can he dream up a magic system. Think of it like hard sci-fi but for fantasy. The magic system of each planet in his Cosmere universe has its own limits and constraints that are wild and unique in their own way.
If you have been looking to start this series, I can’t recommend it enough. Now I just have to wait another decade for him to finish the next five books.
Best New Album: Netherwalker, Odyssey of Respair
Netherwalker has been on my radar for a bit while they released brutal single after brootal single, but finally, in November, they unleashed their first full-length Album: Odyssey of Respair. Imagine if your DND campaign has some of the most insane deathcore vocals and riffs in the land; that’s Netherwalker.
I dare you to listen to the breakdown on “Tavern” and not grimace at the vocal onslaught. I dare you to listen to “Crystal Knight” and not get your face melted off. I dare you to answer the call of “All those who stand against the forces of evil! Swing thine fists!” We quest, nerds!
Another Best New Album Ethel Cain, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You
An unlikely Spotify recommendation led me to Ethel Cain’s chart-topping “F*ck Me Eyes,” which got stuck in my head for weeks. The eerie ensemble mixed with the powerful vision of small-town America was hard to get out of my head. Once I finally moved on from what can amount to a “radio single” from someone like Cain, I found myself deep in the ambient world of the rest of Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You.
I’m always looking for music that I can write to, with minimal distraction, and this album has been on heavy repeat all year for me. On the other end of that experience, “Tempest” really deserves a dedicated listen with the bass cranked.
New Thing: No New Hobbies Resolution
For 2025, I felt like I was still behind on all my hobbies from 2024, so I decided that I wouldn’t take on any new hobbies this year. It was wildly successful. That friend who is always trying to get you to play pickleball or go to pilates? Nope, no new hobbies. “Hey, you should buy this old ass car that doesn’t work.” Nope, new hobby, can’t do it.
I fear that if I stick to this for too long, I will start to stagnate, and that is bad, of course, but I found the freedom from new distractions to be liberating. I will probably stick with this resolution for 2026 as I still feel wildly overburdened by my to-do list.
One thing that isn’t a new hobby: I started using an E-reader this year. When I wanted to take a copy of Wind and Truth on tour this summer, I found that it was only available in large-format hardcover. I love reading paper books on tour, but the thought of taking a 1400-page hardcover book on tour was too much. A friend gifted me a Kindle, and it was great to have on tour, even after all my years of abstaining from using one. I left that Kindle at TSA on my way to Bespoked Dresden, and I missed it so much that I ended up getting another. I guess I’m Kindle-pilled now.
2025 was a rough year, to be honest. There were plenty of amazing moments, and of course, lovely humans. It turned out to be an introspective year of looking at what I already have instead of constantly looking to the horizon. I hope to continue that introspection in 2026 as I feel I have much left to hone in my personal and professional life. I hope to get some creative juices flowing and focus on fun photography as well as more tinkering in the coming year. Thanks to everyone who subscribes, supports, and engages in discussion here on the site. I can’t tell you what an amazing outlet this has been for me. See you next year!