Components

There are three reasons we chose the new Crankbrothers Stamp pedals for our ~900 mile trip across Cuba: 1. Dave said he put 3,000 miles on his and they are still going strong; 2. They have a 5-year warranty; 3. They are thin, light, and come in two sizes — small and humongous.

In the bike industry’s ever-evolving world of standards — if there is such a thing as a standard nowadays — it appears that 1x drivetrains are here to stay. But, chainring mounting standards are all over the place. So Wolf Tooth went and created another one. After we had a chance to put some miles on their promising new CAMO chainring system, hear why it might be of particular interest to bikepackers…

In August 2015, I was lucky to get my hands on one of the first pairs of pre-production ARC 45 rims. Easton’s design team let them slide with the promise that I’d get some photos of them in use, in the wild. I was never expected to write a review, but after almost 4000km of hard, loaded riding, I feel compelled to do so. Its combination of features, size options, and a competitive price, sets the full ARC rim series apart as a potential “staple” mountain bike and bikepacking rim.

There are plenty of reasons for using platform pedals rather than clipless options when trail riding, bikepacking, and touring. Here’s why – plus 8 of our favourite models, each long-distance trail tested and reviewed.

By definition, Salsa’s new 2016 Deadwood is designed specifically for long-distance dirt road bikepacking trips. This might leave some folks wondering how to pair it with world’s best expedition drivetrain. Here’s the scoop.

We took the Maxxis Mammoth fat bike tire on a two month trip around Mongolia. Given that durability is as important as performance on an overseas, backcountry trip – particularly where spares are in short supply – here’s how it fared…

The new WTB Trail Boss 3.0 trail tested on the rocky tracks, rugged roads, and endless pisté of southern Spain; here are our impressions after over eight hundred miles of hard riding.

ET is back! Here’s our thoughts, and initial riding impressions, on Surly’s first dedicated, dirt road touring tire for here on Planet Earth.

After working over the classic Knard, the Vee Trax Fatty, and the mud carving Dirt Wizard, I looked forward to putting the Chronicle through its paces. Here is the full review and comparison chart.

With tapered and ramped center knobs, the Vee Trax Fatty 29+ proved to be a fair bikepacking option for hardpack, sand, and grainy singletrack…

A few days prior to the latest 270 mile bikepacking suffer binge, the folks at Surly were kind enough to shod my Krampus with a pair of Dirt Wizard 29+ prototypes to put through the wringer…

Part 1 of 2 of a ramble pondering nomenclature (dirt touring vs bikepacking), the state of the 29+ platform, and the Surly Krampus vs the ECR…