Mountain Bike (MTB)
Gravel Bike
All-Terrain Bike (ATB)
Fat Bike
This week’s Debrief features two fresh gravel forks, a handful of low-budget/DIY guides, your ideal bike GPS, Calvin Jones on bike co-ops, a vintage Trek rebuild, new bikepacking bags from Gramm and Atwater Atelier, ultralight down mittens, a job at Tumbleweed, four events to follow live, and more. Find it all here…
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…
Gramm Candy Bags
Made in Germany / €69+ at Gramm Tourpacking
Gramm Tourpacking in Berlin just released a limited run of Candy Bags made of recycled X-Pac RX30 Black and VX21 Black. The infinitely handy little bags have a 0.5-liter capacity that fits a standard bottle, feature an exterior pocket, are easy to open and close on the move, attach securely via three rubberized straps, and won’t bounce thanks to a stabilizer strap on the fork crown. They weigh 95 grams each and are expected to sell out quickly.
Cascada Roamer Active Hoodie
Made in Italy / $172 at Cascada.cc
Made in Italy with PrimaLoft Active Evolve, the Cascada Roamer Active Hoodie delivers “lightweight warmth and comfort for bikepacking, hiking and long days outdoors.” It features an integrated hood, a chest pocket, and thumbholes at the cuffs for added coverage and comfort. It’s available in eight sizes.
Zpacks Down Mittens
Made in China / $89.95 at Zpacks.com
The new Zpacks Down Mittens feature a .51 oz/sqyd Ventum Ripstop Nylon liner and shell, plus Responsible Down Standard-certified 950 fill power Muscovy Duck down insulation. They are reversible, highly packable, and weigh just 24 grams in size medium.
Two New Kyoot Rolly Polly Colors
Made in Taiwan / $899 at Kyoot Bikes
Released last year, the Kyoot Rolly Polly is a 20″ mini-velo designed around a 4130 Chromoly steel frame, thru-axles, clearance for 20 x 2.4″ tires, and a SRAM UDH rear dropout. Kyoot’s owner, Phil Bailey, just returned from a quality-control trip to Taiwan and locked in some new colors available for pre-order. Two new colors, Salted Milk Foam (white with chunky chrome fleck) and Purple Haze (a metallic purple-blue hybrid), are expected in December, along with a restock of the clear-coated raw steel.
Ohlins GXF30 M.1 Gravel Fork
Made in Taiwan / $995 at Ohlins.com
The GXF30 M.1 is Öhlins’ first dedicated gravel suspension fork, designed from the ground up for the demands of gravel riding rather than adapted from a mountain bike. It features 30mm stanchions, gravel hub spacing, 40mm of travel, and the all-new FTX14 damper. The GXF30 M.1 clears a 2.0″ (52mm) tire without a fender installed, and the first production run is limited to just 300 units.
Atwater Half Frame Expedition Bag in XL
Made in Canada / $180 CAD at Atwater
Atwater Atelier in Quebec, Canada, recently expanded its Half Frame Expedition bag lineup with a new XL option for riders on big bikes. It has the same specs as the other sizes, including a single drive-side zipper, a bright liner fabric, a lace-up attachment on the top tube, and internal pockets, but it’s now 21 inches long to fit larger frames.
Garmin Edge 1060 + Edge Explore 3 Plus
Made in Thailand / $499-$799 at Garmin Edge 1060 Edge Explore 3 Plus
Garmin released several new devices this week, most notably the Garmin Edge 1060 and Garmin Edge Explore 3 Plus. Both devices feature large displays, touchscreens, and voice control, and the Edge 1060 offers up to 60 hours in battery saver mode, while the Edge Explore 3 maxes out at 48 hours.
Classic New Zealand Cycle Trails, 7th Edition
Made in NZ / $38 at Kennett Brothers
The latest edition of the Kennett Brothers’ Classic New Zealand Cycle Trails just got a dozen new rides and 40 extra pages, plus updated details, maps, and services. Grab your copy from the Kennett Brothers’ website today.
Cane Creek Invert Tuxedo
$1,200 at Cane Creek
Cane Creek is now offering its gravel suspension fork, the Invert, in a limited-edition white color. This version of their gravel suspension fork is offered only in the climb-switch-equipped iteration, with either 30 or 40mm of travel. It’s the same version Nic and Neil tested last year but with a tuxedo-inspired look.
In Conversation
Exchanges and ideas that caught our attention in the site’s conversation section…
What Does Your Ideal Bike GPS Actually Need?
One of the most interesting takeaways from the comments on Neil’s COROS DURA 2 SOLAR review is how different people’s GPS needs are. Some riders want nothing more than a reliable line to follow and a battery that lasts for days. Others want detailed offline maps, advanced routing, physical buttons, and complete independence from their phones. And some would rather skip the dedicated GPS altogether. Despite decades of development, every bike computer still seems to involve compromises. So, for this week’s In Conversation, if you could design your ideal bike GPS from scratch, what features are essential, what could you happily live without, and how much would you realistically pay for it?
Around the Community
News from around the bikepacking world…
Bikepacking Mods: Making a Custom Rear Rack
The Thrifty Framebuilder YouTube channel published part two of a three-part video series in which they convert an old mountain bike into a bikepacking rig. This video covers how they built a custom rear rack.
Dakota’s 1981 Trek 613 Build
Dakota Graff recently fulfilled a longtime dream of stripping down a stock vintage 1981 Trek 613 and building it up into a capable ATB build with Ultradynamico tires, Velocity rims, and other bits from White Industries, Rene Herse, and Paul. Watch the in-depth build video above.
Baja Divide Packing List
Complementing the Baja Divide travel video we shared in last week’s Debrief, the latest release from YouTuber JupiterHikes is a full rundown of the bike and all the gear he used for his 1,700-mile ride. Check out the 30-minute video above.
How to make a $30 Front Rack
YouTuber RodsOverBricks recently uploaded a tutorial on making a simple $30 front rack with only basic tools and an afternoon. Follow along in the 11-minute video guide above, and if you end up making one, please share the results!
You Don’t Need An Expensive Bike
In keeping with this week’s accidental low-budget theme, Monkey on 2Wheels has a fresh video that talks through his rationale for riding inexpensive bikes and using the money to fund his rides instead. In it, he also builds up an old Kuwahara into a touring-ready rig. Watch it above.
Revel Roundtable Episode 1
Revel Bikes just launched their very own podcast series where they get into the people, ideas, and behind-the-scenes work that make Revel what it is. The first episode of the Revel Roundtable podcast, Adam and Mike visited Revel’s carbon factory in Vietnam and sat down to talk through parts of the bike industry that usually go unseen. Watch the episode above, or listen to it on Spotify here.
Events Starting Soon
What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…
Central Texas Showdown
The Central Texas Showdown is the brainchild of Patrick of the Bikes or Death podcast. It follows a similar format to the popular East Texas Showdown, with three route options: the 500-mile Central Texas Showdown route, the 300-mile SLOWdown route, or the 170-mile LOWdown. This year’s grand depart begins this morning. Follow along live here.
Kings Road
The 2026 Edition of the Cross Florida Kings Road starts October 24th at 7:06 am, civil twilight. This year, there are three routes available: The Kings Road (210 miles), The King’s Road XL (333 miles), and The HoLaTa Loop (410 miles). The ride kicks off tomorrow morning, and you can follow along live here.
2026 Mountaineer Monster
The second Annual Mountaineer Monster Grand Depart begins at sunrise on October 24, 2025, taking riders on an unforgettable adventure through the rugged terrain of north-central West Virginia, aka Mountaineer Country. Over 70 riders are participating, and you can track their progress live here.
The Great Southeastern Loop 2026
The Great Southeastern Loop is an exhilarating 1,263-kilometer route in Australia that riders must complete within 157 hours. This year’s event launches on Sunday morning, and you can track the riders live here.
Weekly Social
Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, Calvin Jones on bike co-ops and a new job posting from Tumbleweed Bikes…
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