Cass Gilbert

Joining the ever-growing ranks of Tailfin gear comes the Mini Cage, a chopped-in-half version of their Small Cargo Cage that’s designed to carry anything from an inner tube, to a tool kit, to a water bottle, to a Nalgene bottle. Cass Gilbert spent a few months with one permanently affixed to his bike, and reports in for this review…

For those who favour traditional saddlebags to carry their cargo but find fitting and removing them a pain, Frost and Sekers’ stainless steel mounting system adds a classic aesthetic and genuine practicality to your ride, be it for commuting or weekends away. Cass Gilbert took it out on the UK’s Purbeck Bimble and bounced around Mexico’s dirt roads for this review…

Cass Gilbert and his son Sage head out on an overnighter in Mexico. Their mission? To camp out with a view. Listen to music. Eat tacos, memelas, and ice cream. Spend time together. And feed street dogs…

Just when you thought our coverage of the wonderful Concours de Machines 2021 was over (and Bespoked, for that matter), we bring you one last and especially fascinating bike. Mouton Cycles’ E.T., so named because of its unlikely aspirations for flight, is a separable hardtail that sports “unfashionable” 24-inch wheels, a Pinion drivetrain, Santana Z Couplers, and a truss-like rear rack complete with kevlar lines…

We’ve been impressed with Tailfin’s growing range of bikepacking baggage over the last few years. The latest accessory to join the fold is the Suspension Fork Mount, allowing those who favour suspension for their bikepacking adventures to carry additional cargo cages, water bottle cages, or even both at once. Find all the details here, along with our first impressions of the premium carbon version…

They may not be his first choice of steed for bicycle touring, but that doesn’t stop Cass from sharing his love for Mexico’s behemoth cargo trikes. Sightings are a bike-cultural highlight of his bikepacking trips around the region, especially when they’re laden with homemade ice cream. Find his ode to the Mercurio Magnum here…

Even if you don’t speak French, we think it’s well worth checking out the accompanying film to this year’s Concours de Machines. Watch riders race to put their dismantled bikes together, judges ponder the nuts and bolts of each build, glory in some beautiful mountain scenery, and revel in a vision of innovation, performance, community, and artisanship…

To round out our coverage of this year’s Concours de Machines, we bring you this remarkable offering from Cycles Cadence, which earned itself the competition’s first-place prize. Dig in to appreciate this bike’s many details, including an integrated USB charger hidden in the fork, curvy handmade racks, and how cleverly it transforms for travel, almost into a wheelie suitcase…

Jolie Rouge’s gravity-inspired rig, which placed third in France’s Concours de Machines 2021, was designed for fun with friends on bikepacking trips and to keep up with maker Julien Fritsch’s trail goats in the French Alps. Read on to find out about the whimsical, creative, and off-the-wall ideas behind this gorgeous build, enjoy a fantastic set of photos, and see how well the Monster Goat keeps up its little goat sisters…

In our fourth post about France’s 2021 Concours de Machines, we hone in on five more builders, learn the story behind their bike and its design challenges, and share detailed photos of each of these unique rigs. From crafty folds and upside-down forks to tasty morcels like integrated charging and homemade tents, find out all about them here…