Cass Gilbert

Cass heads out on a well-loved local overnighter that promises a glorious spot for making coffee outside with a view. This time, however, he also broaches the world of e-bikepacking and wonders when it might have a place, whether it can be as immersive an experience as pure pedal power alone, and where e-bikes may play their most valuable role…

Cass heads out with Chad and his Mexico-bought “26 ain’t deaders,” complete with DIY bags, motorbike handlebars, dollar-fifty brakes, and a Dangle Boot. He ponders the essence of an ATB and wonders if perhaps we should all foster a vintage mountain bike in preparation for our planet’s uncertain future, and even load it up with homemade gear to celebrate the halcyon days of All Terrain Biking. Plus, find out what thrift-store specials have earned a place in Chad’s technicoloured bags…

Coinciding with Jones Bicycles’ 20th Anniversary, Cass knuckles down to write a long-term review of his dream bike, the Jones Titanium Plus LWB Spaceframe. After months of daily use, technical singletrack climbs, enduro trail descents, multi-day bikepacking trips, and even trailer pulling, he attempts to explain why the latest iteration of Jones’s iconic mountain bike is as special as it’s always been…

In our latest Rider and Rig, we catch up with Samer Abouhamad on his way down to Patagonia aboard his streamlined Bombtrack EXT. We talk Beirut, Redshift Kitchen Sinks, Crocs, cakes, and we even rescue a little puppy too. Plus, find Samer’s full gear list for his journey across the Americas…

Bicycle trailers can help turn our more off-beat and imaginative bikepacking aspirations into reality, be it by carrying a surfboard across Baja or bringing your dog along for the ride. Mexican callejero Huesos and his humans try out Frances Cycles’ Farfarer over a number of trail rides and multi-day trips into the mountains, reporting in with their respective findings…

The Valles Caldera Preserve is initiating a Wilderness Eligibility Assessment and is seeking public opinion on the matter. Find out more and share you voice here…

As luck would have it, Karl Kroll was recently seen cycling through the neighbourhood, giving us the chance to chat to the long-distance bikepacker as he puts the final pieces down for his mammoth Americas Bike Trip jigsaw. Over a local campout and an ice cream float, we talk about everything from Ecuadorian Dangle Llamas to packing bearings with bananas, bikey family heirlooms to triple-padded bar-ends, along with unfortunate finds in the Copper Canyon and running a YouTube channel. Plus, check out his complete gearlist honed after 31 months on the road…

If you find yourself traveling through Mexico City – perhaps to ride one of the routes we’ve posted on the site – you might be surprised how a few days of cycling around the capital will enrich your visit to this beautiful and diverse country. Cass shares his recent experiences there, from trying out its bike-share program and savouring car-free Sundays to enjoying local dirt road day rides and a sunrise coffee outside…

Just when you thought you’d wrapped your head around Tailfin’s burgeoning line of small bags – such as their Cargo Cage Packs and Mini Panniers – out come the new V-Mount Packs, which are designed for bikes with a shortage of water bottle or cargo cage eyelets. We’ve had a chance to try both sizes, and you can read our full review here…

In their first family dogpacking bike trip, Cass, his nine-year-old son Sage, and Huesos (the ex-street pup) set out to forge memories on an overnight ride to a Zapotec archeological site, via a vulture road, a Mongolian ger, three dozen barking strays, a bicycle-molino, and the girthiest tree in the Americas. Read all about it here…

Based in Oaxaca for the better part of two years, Cass finally ventures to the metropolis of Mexico City to meet makers, ride with newfound friends, and get a taste of what this unexpectedly bicycle-friendly city has to offer bikepackers. Check out part one of this photo journal here…