Friday Debrief: Micro Racer, COLT FKT, Munda Biddi Trail Raffle, 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…

Bianchi Arcadex

€2,599+ at Bianchi

The Bianchi Arcadex was redesigned specifically for adventure gravel. The new model was built around what Bianchi calls an endurance-focused geometry and a carbon frame that comes with a matching carbon fork or a 30mm Rockshox Judy. Frame features include a press-fit 86.5 bottom bracket, flat mount 140/160 brake standards, 142/100 mm thru-axles, and clearance for 700 x 50mm tires. It doesn’t appear to have rack mounts, but it gets a few other bikepacking-freindly features, including three-pack mounts on the fork, four pairs of standard cage mounts on the frame, and internal frame storage on the downtube. It also has a clever built-in thru-axle tool with 4, 5, and 6mm hex keys, and you can get it with Bianchi’s own set of bikepacking bags.

Dynaplug Micro Racer

Made in USA / $49.99 at Dynaplug

The new Dynaplug Micro Racer weighs just 15 grams, is nearly half the size of the Racer Pro, and is their lightest aluminum tool to date. Machined from billet 6061 aluminum in Chico, California, the Micro Racer uses Dynaplug’s Twin Tube technology and a dual-sided insertion tube to have two plugs ready at all times and is just 2.86″ long.

Updated Brother Carbon MTB Forks in Stock

$420 at Brother Cycles

Brother Cycles in the UK just restocked their Carbon MTB Fork, and they made some improvements for 2024. Updates include triple cage mounts, internal dynamo/disc brake cable routing, boost axle spacing, and clearance for up to 29 x 3″ tires. It will fit a range of mountain and adventure bikes, typically replacing a 100-120mm travel suspension fork. It has an axle-to-crown of 490mm, an adjustable 44/52mm offset, and weighs 670 grams.

Meet the Pitchfork

Made in USA / $160 at Revelate Designs

In their latest video, Revelate Designs founder and designer Eric Parsons walks through the new Pitchfork aero bar harness system to explain how it was conceived and walk through some of the features. If you missed it, be sure to check out our review of the Pitchfork here.

Wilde Cardinal Bar in Fluorescent Yellow

Made in USA / $130 at Wilde Bikes

Wilde Bikes just restocked their Cardinal Bar, which is currently available in all colors as well as a super flashy new Fluorescent Yellow option for those looking to make a statement. Each Cardinal Bar is handmade in California, has a 2.87″ rise, 15° backsweep, and is 830mm wide but can be trimmed down to 730mm.

New Spurcycle Bell Colors

Made in USA / $32+ at Spurcycle

Sprucycle just added some fresh color options to their collection of US-made bicycle bells. The Original Bell now comes in a Black/Red and a Black/Turquoise, and they’ve also added a Black/Teal version of their Compact Bell, which is great for mountain bikes and bikepacking rigs.

Brooks Standard Professional

Made in England / $240 at Brooks England

Brooks England just resurrected their Standard Professional Saddle, which was originally released as a racing saddle but has an enduring and comfortable design that looks ideal for randonneuring and sporty all-day rides. It’s available in black or brown vegetable tanned leather, measures 275 x 160 x 67mm, weighs 510 grams, and comes with a 10-year guarantee.

In Conversation

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

What Can’t You Eat with a Spoon?

Logan: After my foray into “long spoon” life—as noted in the review of the new MSR Titan cookware lineup—the only real con I could muster about the long spoon was the fact that, “you can’t really eat spaghetti with it.” A long-time long spoon-using reader took issue with that sentiment, although I’ll stand my ground with slippery noodles not being spoon friendly. That got me thinking, what else can’t you eat with a spoon, and why do sporks exist in the first place? Let us know your thoughts in the conversation below.

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Ben Sweet Sets Central Ontario Loop Trail (COLT) FKT

Last week, Ben Sweet had his first go at ultra-racing by setting a fastest known time (FKT) on the Central Ontario Loop Trail (COLT) in Ontario, Canada. He finished the 450-kilometer route in just 21 hours and 4 minutes, beating Justin Ross’ record-setting 2021 ride by over five hours. Congrats, Ben! You can see more from his ride on Instagram.

ORTLIEB at North London Dirt

Ortlieb attended the North London Dirt event to help kick off a summer of gravel riding in the UK. The ride was 70 miles and took in some of North East London’s finest gravel and dirt roads, which were slightly muddier than anticipated this year. Ortlieb’s UK team at Lyon Cycle was on hand to chat with the riders, refill bottles, and provide a custom recycling station.

Leanne Bentley’s 2024 Hellenic Mountain Race Gear List

Leanne Bentley took third place at the 2024 Hellenic Mountain Race, just 90 minutes behind Emma Missale in second place. According to her Instagram, she even got caught in an electric storm on a high mountain pass but pushed forward to the finish. Leanne put together a complete kit breakdown on her bag-making website, Carrie Gere, and you can dig into all the details here.

Munda Biddi Trail Foundation Bikepacking Raffle

The Munda Biddi Trail Foundation is organizing a raffle, and all proceeds will go toward maintaining, promoting, and advocating for the Munda Biddi Trail. Tickets are just $10 each, and it’s open to Australian residents only. There are three prizes to be won, ranging from $249 to $1,099 in value. Learn more and grab your tickets here.

Ortlieb Carbon Footprint Calculator

Furthering their commitment to producing long-lasting bags as sustainably as possible, Ortlieb is now publishing the exact carbon footprint of every bag that comes out of their factory in Heilsbronn, Germany. As an example, the Dark Sand Toptube Frame-Pack that Neil recently reviewed has a total carbon footprint of 3.14 kilograms; you’d need to leave the car behind and ride about 33 kilometers to offset its production. You can view the footprint of every bag in the brand’s lineup on the site now, and learn more about sustainability at Ortlieb here.

Entiat Ridge Rally: Leavenworth, Washington

The Entiat Ridge Rally is a collaboration between Rapha and OMTM. It features two days of adventure riding through Central Washington’s Entiat Mountains. Each day will showcase a new route, blurring the lines between gravel and mountain biking, following a mix of gravel, singletrack, and backcountry forest roads. Learn more and register here.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

Great American Wheel Race

The Great American Wheel Race is a mixed terrain self-supported race following a 3,700-mile route across the United States. This year is the inaugural event, and the route utilizes established Great American Rail-Trails across the US while linking other bike trails and gravel roads to provide the safest less traveled roads possible. The grand depart is this Sunday at 6 a.m. from the Seattle Space Needle. Follow along live here.

2024 BAM! Bicycle Adventure Meeting

While not officially a race or ride, the BAM! Bicycle Adventure Meeting kicks off today and is a weekend-long event in Italy packed full of group rides, workshops, meetings, speeches, contests, books, music, parties, and more. It’s growing into Europe’s largest gathering of cyclists, and we’re itching to get out there one of these years to check it out for ourselves. Learn more here.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, photos from a handful of riders who signed up for this year’s Grenzsteintrophy event in Germany last week…

Further Reading

Make sure to dig into these related articles for more info...

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