Friday Debrief: “Cold Dead Hands” Gear, Bike Industry Waste Documentary, 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…

Route Werks Big Handlebar Bag

Made in China / $149 at Kickstarter

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The new Route Werks Big Handlebar Bag is a larger, more sophisticated version of Route Werks’ original bag that launched four years ago. It dishes up 6L of storage, has three integrated device mounts on the lid, and two styles of inserts to keep smaller items or a camera protected while riding. The bag has a nifty quick-release mounting system and loads of other handy features. The Big Handlebar Bag launched via Kickstarter this week and orders are expected to be delivered by April 2025.

Esker GX Builds Now 20% off

20% off at Esker Cycles

Apparently, all the singlespeeders converged on Esker and bought all their one-gear builds, so they’re trying to move a bunch of SRAM GX-equipped complete bikes by offering 20% off. This sale includes any steel or titanium Japhy, Smokey, Hayduke, and even the Hayduke LVS! All discounts will be applied in the cart on the website. Or, as always, you can visit any Esker dealer for the same discount.

2025 Cotic BFe

Made in Taiwan / £699 at Cotic

Cotic just announced the 2025 BFe with a new trick up it’s sleeve. The all-new BFe features a “Double Decker Dropout” allowing it to be set up as either a full 29er or as a dedicated “mullet” with a 27.5″ rear wheel, without altering the geometry. Like the previous model, the BFe has a Reynolds 853 downtube and relatively consistent angles and measurements, making it a versatile frame. It has clearance for 29 x 2.6″ tires and can be set up with a fork in ravel lengths ranging from 130–160mm, allowing it to be tweaked within the trail and enduro categories. The 2025 BFe also gets a UDH derailleur hanger and two new paint schemes: Gunmetal or White CMYK. It’s available for preorder as a frameset for £699 or in one of several completes starting at £2,099. Cotic states the delivery will be around February 25th.

DT Swiss Ratchet LN Upgrade Kit

~$155 at AMZN

After we published the beginner’s Guide to DT Swiss Hubs yesterday, the folks at DT pointed out the Ratchet LN upgrade kit. Previously, DT’s 350 hubs featured a 3-pawl freehub design. To remedy this, DT Swiss designed a star ratchet conversion kit for these older hubs, so anyone with that 3-pawl system can buy a Ratchet LN conversion kit to upgrade to the classic Ratchet System. You can learn more about the installation process on their website here.

Pre-Orders Open for 2025 Corvus Akio 2.0

$3,799+ at Corvus

Just in time for winter, the Corvus Akio 2.0 is an interesting new fat bike with a full redesign for 2025. Key updates include a carbon frame with internal cable routing, lower bottom bracket, and more mounting points. Features like an integrated portage handle, in-frame storage, UDH dropout for SRAM Transmission, and strapless framebag mounts make it highly versatile.

The Akio has rear rack and three-pack fork mounts, internal dropper routing, and clearance for 27.5 x 5.0″ or 29 x 3.0″ tires. It’s available in three sizes and builds ranging from $3,799 to $4,999 USD, with frame/fork options at $2,199. Pre-orders with full payment come with extras like a custom framebag and rack.

In Conversation

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

“From My Cold Dead Hands” Gear

Logan: I left a comment in John Montesi’s eloquent eeWings review about having a “you’ll have to pry them from my cold dead hands” relationship with my titanium eeWings—meaning, they’re one of my most cherished possessions that I’ll probably take to my grave. More on that soon, but now I’m curious what other components/gear/items folks are extremely attached to. Please let me know in the conversation below.

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Revolutions: A short documentary about bike waste

Revolutions is a short documentary that urges cyclists, brands, and manufacturers to rethink sustainability, particularly as it applies to sporting goods, using the bike as a key example. It explores questions like: What happens to our gear at the end of its life? How can we design with sustainability in mind? With 18 million bikes sold annually in the U.S. (National Bicycle Dealers Association, 2015), the film highlights the environmental impact of bikes ending up in landfills, despite their eco-friendly image. Supported by research from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the film calls for a shift in how we approach product design and disposal.

CRUX S-Works Custom x Across Andes

To celebrate the fifth edition of Across Andes, a 1,000km bikepacking race from Chile to Argentina, Specialized Chile launched a special version of the CRUX S-Works Custom. The design was created by local artist, BikeFix, and commemorates the black and white design of the 2019 event with textured paint representative of the ice of Patagonia and the glaciers of the Andes Mountains. The 2024 Across Andes event starts on November 24th. Learn more here.

Bikepacking 450 miles from Mexico City to Oaxaca

Episode 19 of the Dan Cycles the World series follows Dan Camp from Mexico City down to Oaxaca City as he makes his way south from Alaska to Argentina. Along the way he rides up 14,000-foot volcanoes and descends into cacti-filled deserts before making it to the city just in time to meet a friend.

Buffalo Bags has a US Dealer

Since 2020, the bag makers at Buffalo Bags in Bangkok, Thailand, have been making high-quality, hand-made bikepacking bags and accessories. They kicked things off with the Big Buffalo handlebar bag (pictured above) but now have a variety of other bags and bits available. Up until this week, they haven’t had a dealer in the USA, but that just changed! Marygold Cyclery in Chicago, USA, just became Buffalo Bags’ first dealer, marking a major milestone for both brands.

2025 Rocky Mountain Element Launch Video

Released alongside the redesigned 2025 Rocky Mountain Element we reviewed, the brand’s latest video follows Celeste Pomerantz as she revisits her Norwegian roots while chasing the endless daylight of the summer solstice. Adding to the Rocky Mountain Element content, the latest episode of “Between Two Wheels” hosts Celeste in a conversation with Rocky Mountain R&D Coordinator Lyle Vallie to discuss the updates to the new Element:

Ride, XPLOR, Create? The Rodeo Labs Podcast

On the latest episode of the Rodeo Labs podcast, they dig into SRAM RED XPLR AXS and its use of SRAM UDH, focusing on how industry shifts affect small brands. The episode is hosted by Logan Jones-Wilkins with Stephen Fitzgerald, Drew van Kampen, and Cameron “Coco” Lindberg as guests.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

2024 Arizona Trail Race

The 2024 Arizona Trail Race started yesterday morning, with nearly 50 riders split between the 300-mile (AZT300) and 800-mile (AZT800) routes. All riders left from Arizona’s southern border and are making their way north towards Phoenix and beyond. Head over to the event tracker page for a race preview and our annual rigs roundup.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, a handful of posts from this year’s Vermont Super 8…

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