Friday Debrief: KT-800 Bar, Pizza T-Shirts, Hokem Issue 2, 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…

Crumbworks x Magic KT-800 Bar

Made in Taiwan / $110 at Magic Components

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The new Crumbworks x Magic KT-800 Bar is a modified version of their original KT Bar, now with an 800mm width. It’s made from 4130 Chromoly steel and has a 22.2mm clamp, 40mm rise, and 37° backsweep. It’s handmade in Taiwan.

Brother in the Wild Pizza T-Shirt

Made in UK / £25 at Brother Cycles

Designed for the 2024 Brother in the Wild event, the BITW 2024 Pizza T-Shirt is now available to the public. Each shirt is screen printed in the UK on a 100% organic washed cotton tee and features their Skeleton Pizza design. Note that the online version of the shirt doesn’t include their BITW partner logos printed on the back.

Updated Ornot Cargo Bibs

Made in Italy / $218 at Ornot Women’s Men’s

California apparel brand Ornot just updated its popular Cargo Bibs with a new fabric that they say makes them perfect for long rides. The new fabric is extra soft, made from recycled content, and bluesign and Oeko-Tex-certified, ensuring safe and responsible production. The bibs also have wider grippers on the leg openings and lots of pockets for snacks, phones, and wallets.

New RockShox Charger 3.1 Damper

Made in Taiwan / Rockshox

RockShox released their new Charger 3.1 damper yesterday on their model year 2025 Pike, Lyrik, and ZEB forks. Essentially, the plumbing in the Low Speed Compression (LSC) circuit was updated to make the oil’s flow path even easier, allowing 68% more oil flow when the adjuster is set to Open. Rockshox claims this results in less compression damping, enhancing traction and control to mute low-speed trail noise. The High Speed Compression (HSC) was also tweaked to create more damping when the HSC adjuster is closed. All this results in a widened adjustment range for both LSC and HSC. Rockshox also mentioned new Shim Tune Kits that allow you to customize your damper. The updated 2025 forks also get an updated bushing package, which they claim greatly reduces the friction in the system.

Updated PTAP Designs 137 Basket Bag

Made in USA / $160 at PTAP Designs

PTAP Designs in Baltimore just released an updated version of their Wald 137 Basket Bag. The bag now features two exterior zippered pockets, replacing the pockets with snaps on the original. The hardware and webbing for the handles and shoulder strap have also been upgraded for more comfort when carrying off the bike. It’s offered in five stock color options and is made to order.

Fairdale Elevator

Made in Taiwan / $3,299 at Fairdale

The recently released Fairdale Elevator is a BMX-inspired, full Chromoly mountain bike “with a geometry that is focused on nimble maneuverability and predictable climbing and descending.” It has super short 406mm chainstays, features a SRAM GX Eagle groupset, a RockShox Pike fork, and user-friendly external cable routing. The complete build costs $3,299 USD and the frame is available by itself for $599.

Velocio Ultralight Jersey

Made in Albania / $79 at Velocio

The new Velocio Ultralight Jersey is made from Italian-milled mesh (with 88% recycled polyester) designed to shed weight and improve breathability on long rides. The fit is specifically designed for off-road riding, and it comes in men’s (XS to 4XL) and women’s (XXS to 3XL) sizing and several color options. Plus, it can be paired with any full-priced MTB shorts for 20% off both.

Limited Edition Cane Creek eeWings Galaxy Cranks

Made in China / $1,199 at Cane Creek

Earlier this year, Cane Creek released a limited edition version of the eeWings in a stunning Aurora finish (they’re still available today), but this time, they’re back with the Galaxy finish to match their Helm Galaxy fork. The new limited edition Cane Creek eeWings Galaxy cranks are painted with a holographic ultraviolet glitter that gives a brilliant color-changing effect. Just like the standard version, the eeWings Galaxy cranks are made from 100% titanium, weigh just 400 grams, include a CNC-machined aluminum preloader ring, and are compatible with X-SYNC chainrings. There are four spindle options to choose from: Mountain 165mm or 170mm and All-Road 170mm or 172.5mm.

In Conversation

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

Tour Divide Coverage

Debuting with the Rigs of the Tour Divide this week (part 1 and part 2), we have have quite a bit of Tour Divide coverage slated to be published over the next few weeks. That includes updates from the event and more amazing reports as we follow the race. Stay tuned in on our Tracker page here, and let us know in the conversation below what you’d like to see more (or less) of in this year’s Tour Divide suite of content…

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

“Hokem” Issue 2 is Live

This week, SimWorks collaborator Bob Scales launched the second issue of his new publication, Hokem. From Bob Scales: “Hokem is a (small) quarterly publication that explores the idea that people who are interested in bikes are interested in (a lot more) than bikes. Design, music, art, gardening, cars, and whatever else we are into are all fair game.” Issue 2 includes illustrations from our friend Chris McNally, an interview with Andy Jenkins, an editorial about a chair they like, and more. Grab yourself a digital or print copy at ProductofBobScales.com.

Commuter Cycles in Australia is now “Off Course”

Commuter Cycles in Melbourne, Australia recently underwent a rebrand is now “Off Course.” Here’s what co-owner Huw Vellacott said about the name change, “In the 16 years since, our team has grown far beyond me, and we’ve evolved by going further off course; continually investing back into our business in ways that cater to our broadening interests and those of our customers.
Bikepacking and expedition touring are now a huge part of what we do.
As our vision and reach has expanded, the name Commuter Cycles no longer represents the diversity and breadth of our store, our community, or our team.” Read more here.

A Weekend of Dirt Dashing

Markus Stitz’s latest film documents the camaraderie and inclusiveness (including an equal gender split!) of the 2024 Cateran Dirt Dash, which took place in early May in Alyth, Scotland. The organizers are also excited to announce the inaugural Kinesis UK Yorkshire Coast Dirt Dash, scheduled for July 13th and 14th, 2024. Riders can sign up online for £95 here.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

2024 Tour Divide

The 2024 Tour Divide commences this morning and traverses the length of Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, from Banff to New Mexico, 2,745 miles of ultra-endurance bikepacking. We’ve got loads of great coverage planned, so head over to the Tour Divide Tracker page to follow their progress live, dig into our largest rig roundup yet, and more.

Hope 1000

The Hope 1000 is a bikepacking race that begins in Romanshorn on Lake Constance and ends at the statue of Freddie Mercury in Montreux on Lake Geneva. Spanning 1,000 kilometers across Switzerland and with nearly 100,000 feet of climbing, the Hope 1000 follows mostly singletrack through meadows, crystal clear lakes, abbeys with courtyards, and, of course, stunning views. This year’s grand depart beings tomorrow at 6 a.m. local time, and there are over 100 riders registered for live tracking. Follow their progress live here.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, a handful of photos from the 2024 BAM! Bicycle Adventure Meeting event in Italy…

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