Skyler Des Roches

“It’s not you, it’s the tent.” Most of us will agree, bikepacking as a couple is best done with a three-person tent. After 11 years, Skyler finds his ideal couples bikepacking shelter in a unique tunnel tent design, the Tarptent Cloudburst 3. Read the full review…

In our latest Rider and Rig, Skyler shows off his DaamBuilt No. 5 custom hardtail and digs deep into the nitty gritty of its angles, measurements, cable routing placement, and other intricate details that make it his near-perfect backcountry trail bikepacking rig…

Interested in a large platform pedal? How about a massive platform pedal. Pedaling Innovations’ Catalyst promises a more comfortable ride and better performance with their 143mm design. Skyler Des Roches tested a pair over thousands of miles to see if those claims hold water.

Skyler, Scott, and Rick set out to ride a 1300 kilometer route in the sublimely harsh Puna de Atacama desert along the Chile-Argentina border. Here’s Skyler’s tale of mental starvation, dizzying winds, mind-boggling scenery, and a harrowing river crossing.

In our long-term review of Onyx Hubs, Skyler illustrates a few key points to consider when looking at a rear hub for bikepacking and technical mountain biking. Plus, why Onyx’s silent, soft catch “instant engagement” has made him a life-long customer…

In the struggle to break topographic barriers, the proletariat have had the deck stacked against them. The People have been tantalized by opulent 12-speed drivetrains, but left priced-out of all but unfashionably low cog-counts. But, the answer to the long-standing connundrum of price vs. performance comes not from one team or another, but rather from a mixed, cooperative force – Shimano, Sram, and Race Face brought together into a victorious union: The People’s Liberation Drivetrain.

As riders trickled into Calgary and onto Banff in preparation for this year’s Tour Divide Grand Départ, Skyler had a chance to intercept Lynne Slivovsky and her mesmerizing Moonmen #M32 titanium bike. In this Rider and Rig learn a little more about this artful ti masterwork and how Lynne is attacking the Tour Divide.

As the popularity of multi-day mountain biking soars to new levels, many bike manufacturers have set out to build bikepacking-specific models, aiming to split the difference between a touring bike and a mountain bike. Kona has made no such effort within their Honzo hardtails. The Honzos were built to be fun and capable trail bikes, with no apparent consideration toward the idea of carrying more than a single water bottle. Yet, by refusing to compromise on trail handling, Kona has by accident created an outstandingly comfortable and capable bikepacking machine – the Big Honzo DL…

Scott likes to say that the name ‘Porcelain Rocket’ references the exploratory efforts of civilizations-past, in their search for the coveted porcelain material, and to humanity’s urge to venture into the great unknown, into outer space. But the name came first from his past life as a potter, and his life-long passion for riding bicycles at top speed. It started as his own nickname…

Building on the concept behind their popular Mr Fusion, Porcelain Rocket has been working on a new seat pack, one that’s dropper-post compatible — called “Albert”. Find out how it got its name and get a unique look into its long design process – trials that involved endless brainstorming, seven prototypes, and months on the trail – and at the production version, coming this fall…

Joining the ever-burgeoning ranks of the ‘adventure bike’, Trek’s 920 aims to rewrite the classic touring rulebook. For a start, it uses a lightweight aluminum frame, the latest in industry thru-axle standards, and sports clearances for 2.2in 29er tires. There’s custom racks and provision for 6 water bottles too. But does this mean it can really go where no touring bike has previously been? Skyler Des Roches takes one to British Colombia to find out…