Ever thought about buying one of those steel bikes handmade in Spokane, but wanted a deep-diving review before committing?

You're in luck. Spokane's Elephant Bikes got a nice write-up in the latest issue of Adventure Cyclist, with a review of their National Forest Explorer.

The review has specifications, measurements, gearing and all kinds of stuff that's way over my head. But it also has some pretty straight forward descriptions of what the bike is for:

The National Forest Explorer is intended for traveling light and fast, whether you're commuting from home to work, doing a long out-and-back on your local dirt roads, or bikepacking into the high country to see if there's any prime real estate on the other side.

"Think long, unsupported days in the saddle," said John Speare of Elephant Bikes, where Glen Copus puts his 25 years of experience to work building bike sin small batches in the South Perry district of Spokane, Washington.

Pretty cool. And South Perry even got a little plug. 

To read the full article, you'll need an subscription to the magazine, which is always filled with first-person narratives on tours around the world, my favorite reads.

Or you can watch this video review of the NFE.