RAD RACE: THE WILD WORLD OF CYCLING

What started as an idea conceived by two friends around ten years ago has since developed into one of the world’s biggest cycling and endurance communities: RAD RACE. With events across Europe, its own shops in Hamburg and Berlin, an amateur cycling and triathlon team plus brand-new podcast formats, RAD RACE has long since become a key player in shaping the cycling scene - together with its partner of many years GOREWEAR.

Take two friends who love cycling, a little punk-rock attitude, the desire to break the rules, a pinch of event experience, a large helping of enthusiasm and self-confidence, and the guts to go for broke - and what you’ve got are the basic ingredients from which RAD RACE was born.

In 2014, it didn’t take long for the entire cycling scene to realize that a previously nonexistent gap in the market had to be created for RAD RACE to fill. The first few years were marked by causing controversy, standing out, and being different. In fact, if there were one word to describe RAD RACE in the early days, it would be ‘disruptive’. The events came with their own rules, pyrotechnics, and loud music. Right from the get go, the whole thing feels more like a US skateboard contest for the cool kids than the kind of demure cycling event that people were previously used to.

One event soon became many:

• kolektif: a bike fair in Berlin to celebrate the cycling scene and culture

• Tour de Friends: invites hundreds of cyclists to the multi-day race each year

• Fixed42: the unofficial Fixed Gear World Championships, with participants from around 40 nations

• ONETWENTY: cycling festival with thousands of participants

• 96 HOURS: sends those in search of adventure out on hand-picked gravel routes

• MIDNIGHT MILES: RAD RACE is set to launch its first running event format and has plenty more up its sleeve too

• LAST WO/MAN STANDING: at present, RAD RACE is looking for a new location for its signature event, so this spectacular fixed gear race can be held on a karting track again soon

• RAD RACE SHOPS: and of course, we can’t forget to mention the two specialist shops in Hamburg and Berlin, which aren’t just popular for bike services and their workshops, but also as hubs for regular community rides with hundreds of participants

CANYON RAD PACK

The CANYON RAD PACK is a kind of works team. These aren’t just random people thrown together, but friends who have met each other at some point within the self-built world of RAD RACE and who embody exactly what the community strives to stand for. For these athletes, it’s not about winning races, but about having as much fun together as possible. For anyone wanting to keep up with the pack’s races, training, or other adventures, the best place to follow them is on Instagram: check out the CANYON RAD PACK here

GOREWEAR X RAD RACE

When it comes down to it though, RAD RACE is about more than just events and community; it’s a gateway to an incredible network. A network that GOREWEAR has also been part of for many years and that has resulted in a pact where two partners can depend on each other, whether in terms of expertise, quality, or reliability. The CANYON RAD PACK not only acts as a key source of ideas when developing new products, but also tests and reviews fabrics, materials, and functionality. And there’s more: over the years, the athletes’ faces have repeatedly appeared in the campaigns used by GOREWEAR to promote its new collections worldwide. Speaking of collections, the partnership also includes the annual production of a co-branded GOREWEAR X RAD RACE jersey. No wonder the last limited-edition run of 500 were snapped up within a day!