Cass Gilbert

Niner’s latest SIR 9 is the company’s third iteration on their cult classic hardtail. For 2017, it retains the high-end Reynolds 853 tubeset for which the bike is known, infusing its new frame with an up-to-the-minute geometry, all the latest industry standards, clearances for 27.5+ tires, and a host of bikepacking-friendly braze-ons. Given that the company is based in Colorado… it only seemed fitting to it out on the technically demanding and physically challenging Colorado Trail.

Over the summer, Michael Dammer joined us on the Colorado Trail, miraculously packing two weeks worth of dehydrated food, grown on his family farm in Ecuador, into his homemade leather framebag. Together with a ziplock bag full of quinoa, they helped us complete the route’s 530 mile length and tackle its 70,000 feet of elevation gain. For those seeking a different take on easy-to-cook bikepacking meals, here are three healthy recipes that kept our legs strong and our bellies full.

In our latest Rider and Rig, we admire Danish couple Kenneth and Marie’s beautifully crafted 29+ steel hardtails, made by framebuilder Ari Rosenzweig in Israel, for their dirt road journey across the Americas.

We talk to filmmaker Jay Ritchey about his 27.5+ Tumbleweed Prospector, the camera gear he carried on a recent tour of the Peru Divide, and find out about the rack and bikepacking bags he custom made to accommodate it.

Perhaps you’ve noticed Salsa shuffling around some of their models of late, in terms of names and purposes? The latest in their lineup to see such metamorphosis is the Blackborow. Formerly a 26in fat bike, the 2018 Salsa Blackborow GX Eagle announced today has been completely reinvented into a cargo-carrying, 27.5in ‘midtail’, a stretched out fatty that’s likely to set adventure-plotting brains ablaze…

Andrew the Maker’s simple and elegant Many Things Sack tailor-fits around one of our favourite cargo cages on the market – King Cage’s titanium Many Thing Cage. We head off to Peru and see if we can shake the pair loose down its rambunctious Andean backroads…

In the latest Rider and Rig, we check out Michael Dammer’s Surly Karate Monkey bikepacking rig as used on the Colorado Trail, plus its awesome farm-made leather framebag…

Road Runner Bags are handmade in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, with color and flair. Meet their brand new bikepacking lineup…

Complete with All City panache, the steel framed Cosmic Stallion joins a burgeoning drove of ‘all road’ bikes – fast but practical steeds, designed to transcend the notions of where a traditional road bike may take you… be it pavement, gravel, or even a swig of singletrack too.

Surly updates the ECR, including a rigid-specific geometry and the choice of 29+ or 27.5+ wheels, depending on frame size. Meanwhile, the Troll goes Pea Lime Pie Soup and there’s a Receptacle for your Moloko.

Fresh from Saddledrive 2017, Salsa’s big news – big being the operative word – is the fleet-footed Beargrease’s shift to 27.5x4in rubber. The Mukluk also sees some welcome spec additions, including the expansive range of Sram’s Eagle GX drivetrain.

We take a look at Zach Shriver’s all carbon, 29+ trail slayer, the Trek Stache 9.8. We also hear about how it was set up for bikepacking the Colorado Trail, as well as exactly what gear Zach carried. It’s a great checklist for anyone planning to undertake this beautiful, challenging journey.