Cass Gilbert
While Out Riding

CLICK TO DRILL DOWN BY COUNTRY/PROVINCE
*CURRENTLY FOR ROUTES ONLY (MORE SOON)In this Rider and Rig, we chat with UK framebuilder Jonathan Thompson about his Tomo x On-One x Kona Tall Bike. We find out about the tall bike scene, bikepacking on a tall bike, and dive into an alternative world where bicycle design collides with unhindered imagination…
COVID-19 has reminded us of the importance of keeping our bodies healthy and our immune systems as robust as possible. Cass Gilbert looks at a variety of foods we can eat and simple lifestyle choices we can make to help stay healthy both at home and on the road…
Tailfin has added water bottle and cargo cage eyelets to the alloy version of their AeroPack S and S Series Trunk Rack, offering extra versatility and capacity to their excellent, sway-free seatpack. Find out more and read our first impressions here…
Clearly of more interest to competitive, long-distance racers rather than budget bikepackers, Roval has just launched a $2650, featherweight cross country wheelset that’s claimed to be their lightest ever: the Control SL Team LTD. Not that its minimal weight – just 1248g – comes at the expense of strength, width, or pinch-flat resistance, as Cass Gilbert finds out on the dusty trails of Baja California.
Our latest Reader’s Rig features artist Yeshe Parks’ beautiful singlespeed Moné El Continente, which he uses to explore the dirt roads of New Mexico. Check out more details and photos here…
Think you need to spend a small fortune for a Baja-worthy rig? Think again! Roberto-Apolinar Martinez tells us how his dinged-up 2006 Jamis hardtail, mated to a modern 27.5+ Surly fork, saw him successfully ride a chunk of the Baja Divide… teamed with bags he made himself, good coffee, and the spirit of adventure.
As bikepackers, we often seek ways of keeping our setups light, minimal, and rattle-free, whilst still increasing capacity when we need to. For those running a truss fork instead of suspension or a more conventional unicrown, Jones’ Truss Fork Pack is a clever way of making it all work, and one that will likely suit smaller riders too. Cass spent a few months testing a pair for this review…
The Analog Kids is a short film from Bombtrack about a father and son overnighter in the woods close to where they live in Lille, France. We catch up with Clem and his seven-year-old son Lubin, and ask them both about how they planned their trip, what it means to them to bikepack as a family, and to share tips about the experience. Plus, we find out more about Lubin’s Beyond Beyond Junior…
For the many riders who head south over the winter to ride the Baja Divide, Salvador Basurto from FASS Bike is something of a savior… or at least, he’s known to go to extraordinary lengths to help when mechanical grief strikes. Cass drops in on his way through to share some trail time with him, and finds out more about the role he’s been playing in the growing success of this wonderful 1,700 mile desert route…