Friday Debrief: WZRD Quill Stem, Korean Coasts Zine, Attack of the Moth, Bike Box Wheels, Extreme Bikepacking, and More…

The weekly Debrief highlights small but important bits of news, products, and things that caught our attention on the website, in the conversation, and elsewhere around the community. These include upcoming events and interesting items our readers shared in the comments. Check out this week’s findings below.

Bits & Bobs

New products that are worth highlighting but didn’t make the Dispatch…

Trail Borne RollPack Nomad

Made in USA / $30+ at Trail Borne Gear

Launched earlier this year via Kickstarter, Trail Borne Gear has expanded its RollPack caster system for cardboard bicycle boxes to include two levels. The new RollPack Nomad system is designed for one-way trips where you plan to ditch the box at the airport. The wheels attach to any standard cardboard bike box, then bolt onto downtube mounts when not in use. The Eagle system includes four wheels built for race weekends and bikepacking trips.

Hyperlite 20-Degree Mummy Bag

Made in Mexico / $650 at Hyperlite

Hyperlite Mountain Gear’s new 20-Degree Mummy Bag is packed with 1,000-fill-power grey goose down treated with a DWR finish for maximum loft and durability. An ultralight 7D micro-ripstop nylon shell and lining balance durability and breathability, and draft tubes along the zipper, neck, and hood help seal in warmth. Cinch cords and a parka-style hood create a secure, cozy fit through the night,, and continuous horizontal baffles allow you to shift insulation as conditions change. It’s available in three sizes (Short, Medium, and Long) to fit users from under 5’6″ up to 6’6″ tall.

Buffalo Bags’ New Fabric

Made in Thailand / $200 at Buffalo Bags

Buffalo Bags launched a new color of their Big Buffalo top-loader in a new EPLX600 fabric. It features a thicker construction with a clean matte finish, which they say is has excellent resistance to wear and abrasion. It’s currently available in all three sizes in Black or Graphite.

KiLEY Nexus Eye Mirror

Made in Japan / ¥6,960 (~$42 USD) at Kiley Japan

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The Japan-made KiLEY Nexus Eye Mirror is a damn good-looking bar-end mirror for riders who want to be safe in style. It’s CNC machined from aluminum, offers a roughly 225-degree field of view, and is compatible with handlebars with an inner diameter of 17.5-21mm. It can be installed on the left or right side of the bars, and the mirror part can be easily removed with a quick-release mechanism.

White Industries MET Hubs

Made in USA / $203+ at White Industries

The new MET hub from White Industries is a hub platform designed specifically for Brompton folding bicycles. Precision-machined in Petaluma, California, the MET Hub features high-quality aluminum construction, sealed cartridge bearings, and Brompton-specific axle and flange geometry designed to maximize durability, wheel strength, and long-term reliability. The White Industries MET Hub is available through authorized White Industries dealers and distributors. Front hubs cost $203 and rear hubs cost $453 USD.

Velocio LUXE Ultralight Gloves + TRAIL Ultralight Gloves

Made in Vietnam / $49+ at Velocio

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Velocio has two fresh pairs of ultralight gloves available. The $59 TRAIL Ultralights are a summer glove for long, hot days on the trail, maximizing breathability without sacrificing protection, and the $49 LUXE Ultralights are a hot‑weather glove that disappears on summer rides, with zero padding and maximum breathability. They’re both available now in a wide array of sizes and colors.

Silca Super Secret 2.0 Chain Lube

Made in USA / $25 at Silca

SILCA’s Super Secret Lube 2.0 brings hot-wax efficiency to a drip bottle. Developed with Team Visma–Lease a Bike, they say their new formula lasts longer, performs better in wet conditions, and minimizes drivetrain friction on par with hot-melt wax systems, delivering a breakthrough in drip-application marginal gains and longevity.

Molly Sugar’s Korean Coasts Zine

Made in USA / $13+ at Long Distance Studio

The Korean Coasts Zine is the second chapter of Molly Sugar’s bicycle journey through Korea, exploring identity, belonging, and landscape as a Korean adoptee. The zine is 52 pages long (twice as big as part one) and includes an Ocean Light Crab sticker with every zine. Sliding scale pricing, starting at $13, supports production and future bike tours in Korea.

New Brother Stroma Colors

Made in Taiwan / £1,199 at Brother Cycles

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Brother Cycles in the UK shared a peek at the forthcoming colors of their Stroma all-road framesets this week, inspired by the bold graphics and loud colors of old VHS packaging. With frames arriving from Taiwan in about a month, pre-orders for both yet-to-be-named colors are opening soon. Hit the link above to read the story behind the new paint.

In Conversation

Exchanges and ideas that caught our attention in the site’s conversation section…

Your Weirdest Bikepacking Stories

In Nic’s review of the Slug Earthling on Tuesday, he shared a shocking story about a moth getting stuck in Daniel’s ear while they were on a weekend bikepacking trip together, and it sent many readers reeling in the comments. It was an incredibly unlikely and no doubt equally uncomfortable freak occurrence, and it has us curious to hear about the strangest or most unexpected thing that’s ever happened to you or a riding partner on one of your trips. Let us know in the Conversation below. There are no wrong answers!

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Antoine Willemart’s Bikepacking Setup

Regular contributor Antoine Willemart’s new video offers and up-close look at his Brother Big Bro, fresh off a few weeks on the Torino-Nice Rally track and our own Trans Verdon route. Watch the 20-minute video above to learn more, and don’t miss his Reader’s Rig feature on the same bike.

These are the Rides we Remember

Unprepared and uninformed, Brian Cahal and Teddy Hayden equipped their Hudski Dualists with a light load of overnight gear and headed north from San Francisco using public transport. On their way to the coast, the ride quickly devolved into type 2 fun, and it ended with the smell of canned fish. The next day, they reaped the benefit of the push to the coast and hit some epic lines as they traversed back to the city. This ride was a reminder that a memorable adventure is just an idea away, even in one of California’s biggest cities.

WZRD Quill Stem Step-by-Step Build

WZRD’s latest video digs into the build process of a custom high-rise quill stem for a customer’s dirt-drop build. Since Emma doesn’t have a lathe, most of the time is spent machining the aluminum wedge, but the rest of the stem is made by chopping tubes and fillet brazing everything together. Don’t forget to check out our WZRD shop visit story from a few years ago to learn more about the brand.

Stephen’s Rift Abyss Write-Up

Rodeo Labs’ Stephen Fitzgerald took on the The Rift’s new, longest distance earlier this month and has a great write up on the Rodeo Labs journal about it. The Abyss distance is a 330-kilometer race across Iceland’s moon-like landscape in the middle of summer. As always, Stephen’s words are insightful, and they provide an interesting perspective on competition.

Bantam Bicycle Works Has a New Website

Long in the works, Bantam Bicycle Works in Portland finally launched a fresh website a few days ago. Builder Bob Kamzelski’s work is on full display in neatly organized pages with essential details galleries of his lovely handbuilt frames, forks racks, stems, and more. Head to the new BantamBicycles.com to learn more about Bob’s custom and stock offerings.

12 Hours For Adventure: Bikepacking The Lake District UK

Allen Boardman’s latest video is out, and here’s what he had to say about it: “I craftily planned a Scottish three-day adventure a few days before a family holiday in the Lake District, though through poor route planning I didn’t manage more than a day ride, leaving me still wanting a night under the stars. We’ve had some great weather in the Lake District – not a rain jacket in sight and suncream at the ready, so it was only right to head out on an overnighter after a day out with everyone. Already being seconds from a trail or quiet roads, it was great to leave the van on the drive and ride straight from the front door.”

No Wrong Turns Podcast: Episode One

No Wrong Turns is a new podcast hosted by Jim Santos of Outer Shell, Adam Sklar of Sklar Bikes, and Adam Leibow of Calling in Sick magazine. It’s an alt-bike industry podcast at the intersection of design, manufacturing, culture, and fun, through the eyes of three insiders and a rotation of special guests. The first episode explains why the three friends started a podcast and what’s unique about their shared workspace at “The Farm” in San Francisco. In case you missed it, Miles visited The Farm ahead of Sea Otter this summer, check that out here.

The Drive Side is Starting a Gear Library

Our friends Jimmy Judgey and Gurinder Sandhu of The Drive Side in Ontario just announced that they are starting a cycling gear library based out of Toronto and Hamilton. The Gear Library will have a catalog of items available at Bikechain in Toronto and New Hope Community Bikes in Hamilton. They are looking for gear and monetary donations to help get up and running. Learn more here.

New Curious Creatures Brand Video

Montana-based Curious Creatures, known for their colorful and creative cycling apparel, just shared a two-minute video that conveys their design language and what they’re all about. Watch it above.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

Dahu Trail

The Dahu Trail is an 800-kilometer vertical alpine unsupported ultra-cycling adventure that takes riders on a journey through the high altitudes of the Western Alps. The route will cross the borders between Italy, France, and Switzerland eight times. The 2026 edition starts at 8 a.m. on Monday, and you can follow the participants live here.

Colorado Trail Race

The 2026 Colorado Trail Race takes off from Denver on Friday, with around 70 riders making their way along the high-elevation, singletrack-heavy route to Durango, on the other side of the state. We’ll be sharing updates from the 514-mile race is it unfolds, and you can keep up with all the action on our 2026 Colorado Trail Race Tracker.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, a Cam’s summer bikepacking adventure and a different kind of gravel bike from Marcel Sketches…

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