Friday Debrief: Longest GPS Track, World’s Tallest Bike, New Ruck Rack Baskets, and More

The weekly Debrief highlights small but important bits of news, products, and things that caught our attention on the website, in the conversation, and elsewhere around the community. These include upcoming events and interesting items our readers shared in the comments. Check out this week’s findings below.

Bits & Bobs

New products that are worth highlighting but didn’t make the Dispatch…

Ruck Rack Stainless Steel Basket

Made in Indonesia / $TBD at Ruck Rack

While it might not be totally new, the photos of Ruck Rack’s Basket were too good not to share. Handmade in Indonesia, the Ruck Rack Basket is made from stainless steel, measures out to 34 x 25cm (on the base), is 9cm tall, and weighs in at about 700 grams. Ruck Rack doesn’t list a price, so you’ll have to contact them directly for details.

Gramm Mini Wedge Frame Bag

Made in Germany / €129 at Gramm

The new Gramm Mini Wedge Frame Bag is exactly what it sounds like. Handmade in Berlin, it’s a made-to-order wedge-shaped frame bag designed to tuck into the front end of your main triangle, allowing the use of bottle on the down tube or seat tube. It offers 1-2L of storage depending on the size, comes in your choice of fabric and color, and Gramm also offers a list of other add-ons and options.

Otso Voytek 2 in Boreal Pine

Made in Taiwan / $5,150 USD at Otso Cycles

Otso just added an exclusive run of Voytek 2 colors they’re calling Boreal Pine. The run was built when they were determining production colors, and only three were made. There are just three sizes available: medium, large, and extra large. They are brand new and available as complete builds with giant 45NRTH Dillinger 4 26 x 4.0″ tires, Margura MT4 brakes, a Shimano XT 12-speed drivetrain, and many other nice bits.

The Bikepacking Cookbook

Find the PDF Here

Mathew Kady’s latest book is called The Bikepacking Cookbook, and it’s free! This free resource is packed full of 61 breakfast, ride, and dinner recipes that can be used to “turn your bikepacking trip into a culinary adventure,” as Matthew puts it.

In Conversation

Exchanges and ideas that caught our attention in the site’s conversation section…

Favorite Focal Length for Bike Travel

In our post this week about the release of the X100VI, Fujifilm’s fixed lens 35mm camera, we saw a lot of comments about focal length, with several readers mentioning their favorite (if they had to choose just one). That made us curious to hear from more readers. Let us know what your favorite camera focal length is in this survey and we’ll share the results next week. Please specify full-frame (35mm) equivalent value.

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Bike Friday by Dean Liebau

Our friend Dean Liebau, the artist responsible for the lovely Bikepacking 101 illustrations as well as several stories in The Bikepacking Journal, published another captivating bike painting this week. This time, he took inspiration from the Bike Friday that Miles shot at last year’s MADE show and wrote this short piece, which you can find on his Instagram entry:

I look down at my feet, curling my toes to dig into the cold grass. The wind is constant but not unpleasant now that I’m off of my bike. Set before me is an expansive vista with a view so endless that I can see the ocean from my perch in a landlocked country. It took a ferry ride, a train, two taxis and three days of pedaling to get to this view. It was all made possible by this curious bicycle, a Bike Friday All-Packa that I dubbed my ‘Escape Pod’. So why didn’t it feel as good as I thought it would? I had a whole, beautiful world out there but I was stuck in my head.

Maybe it’s how I left things, messy and unresolved. I haphazardly “planned” this trip to escape my problems at home. Why was I even out here wasting my time when I should be back there making things right.

Let’s try this again. I look down at my feet, curling my toes to dig into the cold grass. The wind still at a steady gale. I breathe deep in through my nose and breathe out. My phone chirps to break my concentration. It’s a notification from her. A meme sent from our favorite account. Maybe I’m overthinking things again and this is exactly where I need to be.

Austere Launches Inventory and Ordering System: Arda

Austere Manufacturing has been dialing in their inventory and ordering system over the last nine months, and they’ve officially announced that they are making it available to other businesses. Arda is “a flexible, low-touch, and powerful inventory and order management system that reduces time spent on purchasing and inventory managemnet by up to 90%.” Head over to Arda.Cards on Instagram to learn more.

The Slow Lane (Trailer)

Dedicated to slowly exploring the world on two wheels, Janick Lemieux and Pierre Bouchard have covered more than 250,000 kilometers by bike and spent 14 years in the saddle since 1990. The Slow Lane retraces their story from the Pacific Ring of Fire to the African continent, through a bikepacking trip in Quebec. The Slow Lane premieres at Ausgang Plaza, in Montréal, Quebec, on April 3rd and on YouTube on April 9th.

The New X100VI As An Everyday Photographic Tool

Photos by Camera West/Ben Carpenter

Ben Carpenter, the director of marketing at Camera West, fellow cyclist, and contributor to this website, recently put together a detailed look a the new Fujifilm X100VI that we shared here. Ben has over a decade of experience in the photography industry, so it’s worth a read if you’re eyeing up a new camera. Find his blog post here.

Jones SWB with Diamond 4130 frame and Ti Truss Fork

Jeff Jones built up a sweet Jones SWB from a Diamond 4130 steel frame and titanium Truss fork. Components include a SRAM Eagle 12-speed drivetrain, BB7 brakes, 27.5″ x 3″ tires set-up tubeless with Jones Schrader tubeless valve stems, a Thomson dropper post, and a Jones Loop H-Bar. See it in action above.

Saturday is International BivvyBag Day!

Although this is the first we’ve heard of it, we stumbled upon the International BivvyBag Day Facebook group this week, and it turns out the big day is this Saturday! The idea is pretty straightforward: plan to camp outside in a bivvy bag or hammock (no tents allowed) on February 24th, take a picture with the code word that Fran Pearson will post in the Facebook group on that day, and then post the photo in the Facebook group. Last year, over 2,000 people particpated. Learn more here.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

2024 Iditarod Trail Invitational

The Iditarod Trail Invitational (ITI) kicks off this weekend with over 100 participants taking place in the world’s longest winter ultramarathon by fat bike, foot, and ski. There are some familiar names in the mix this year following the historic Iditarod Trail from Knik to Nome, Alaska, including Miron Golfman, Pete Basinger, and Lael Wilcox. Follow along on the map here.

Tuatara 1000

The Tuatara 1000 is a 1,000-kilometer bikepacking event that runs through what the organizers consider the best terrain in the far south of New Zealand. There are over 50 riders participating in this year’s grand depart, which starts on Saturday the 24th at 8 a.m. local time. You can learn more and follow along here.

Wish We Were Here

Shedding a little light on a route one of us is dreaming about riding at the moment…

Lucas Winzenburg: Italia

I have Italy on my mind again lately, and I’ve been dreaming of getting back for a slow summery ride in a new-to-me region with many long breaks to soak in the views. Giorgio and Francesco of MONTANUS have created several fascinating routes from around their home country over the years, and their four-day loop through beautiful Monti Sibillini National Park has been calling to me.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, a couple Guinness Book Records that were recently set in the world of bikes include the largest GPS drawing by bicycle—2,162 km (1,343 mi) by Frédéric de Lanouvelle and Mathilde de Lanouvelle—and the world’s tallest bike—7.41 meters (24’ 3.73″) by Adam Zdanowicz…

Please keep the conversation civil, constructive, and inclusive, or your comment will be removed.