Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
This week’s Debrief features an incredible Avalanche with a Ti truss fork, Starling “Steel is Teal,” a Sexy Rack, new 29+ Alloy Rims, two events to follow live, and much more. Find it all here…
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…
Ballern Cycle Works Sexy Rack
Made in Hamburg / €89 at Ballern Cycle Works
Hamburg’s Ballern Cycle Works updated the Sexy Rack bag support with a high-strength 304 stainless tubing construction that can now support up to 15 pounds (7 kilograms). The thicker clamp means it also sits flush with your existing headset spacers. The rack comes in two sizes: regular for standard bags such as the Wizard Works Mini Shazam, Ortlieb, Apidura, etc, and for bigger bags, there’s an XL version. Both racks come around the 190-gram mark and replace a 20mm spacer. Pre-orders are open now.
“Zero Drag” DT Swiss Internals
$379 AUD at Williams Racing Products
A reader recently pointed out his love of the “Zero Drag” DT internals by Australian brand Williams Racing Products. This 36T Star Ratchet upgrade uses a double clutching system that allows isolation of the drive ring so that no speed is lost to friction of the ratcheting drive mechanism while coasting. This mod works with 36T DT hubs, either EXP or Standard Ratchet.
Tarptent Ultralight Dyneema Trail Hat
Made in USA / $40 at Tarptent
Nothing says “I like Dyneema” more than an ultralight Dyneema hat from Tarptent. The hat is made from scraps of the premium ultralight material used in Tarptent’s shelters, has an airy mesh back section, and weighs just 24 grams. It comes in one size with a ladder-lock adjustment on the back and has a shapeable HDPE brim.
Starling “Steel Is Teal” Available on All Bikes and Frames
Made in UK / £1,800+ at Starling Cycles
Announced this week, #00414B AKA “Steel Is Teal” is now available on all frames and complete bikes from Starling Cycles. This moody, cyany, greeny-blue was only available for the Beady Little Eye until now, but now it’s available across the entire range.
7mesh Spring 2025 Collection
Made in China / $80+ at 7mesh
British Columbia’s cycling apparel brand, 7mesh, just added a handful of new styles and colors to their lineup for spring. The drop includes the new Atlas longsleeve/T-shirt, longer Glidepath shorts, new road/gravel jerseys, and plenty of new color options.
ROKA San Remo Air Sunglasses
$190+ at Roka
ROKA’s new San Remo Air sunglasses are lightweight, adaptable, and take cues from the oversized lines of 1980s eyewear and the aerodynamic sport designs of even earlier eras of ski and racing googles. They have a semi-rim shield design and are packed with features that ensure a secure and comfortable fit with lenses that deliver exceptional color, contrast, and clarity while shielding against glare, wind, and debris.
Corvus Passhunter 29+ Alloy Rim
Made in Taiwan / $110 at Corvus Cycles
Wait, didn’t 29+ die four years ago? Corvus Cycles doesn’t think so, and they’ve released a new 29+ rim for all you big-tire-loving weirdos like us. The Passhunter 29+ Rim is made from 6069 Alloy and has a 38mm inner width (29 x 2.6″ to 3.0″ tires). The spoke holes have internal reinforcements for added durability, and each rim weighs 615 grams.
Joe’s Otso Arctodus
Made in Taiwan / $1,495+ at Otso
Otso shared another Staff Bike a week or so ago, featuring Joe from Sturdy Bags’ Arctodus! Joe whipped up these custom Smokey bags for his Arctodus before bringing it in for Otso to photograph. Both the bags and the bike are made for winter exploration and riverside fires. “Just remember: if it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to leave. Only YOU can prevent wildfires.”
In Conversation
Exchanges and ideas that caught our attention in the site’s conversation section…
Suggest a Community-building Bikepacking Route
After hearing from multiple people about it, we were super excited to post the Brandenburg Odyssee this week. Several Berlin locals had expressed excitement about this route being a potential bridge to help build the bikepacking community that has sprouted up in the city. Do you have a route or suggestion that has a similar intent that you’d like to see in our Bikepacking Route Network? Leave us a note in the Conversation below or use this form to submit a route.
Around the Community
News from around the bikepacking world…
Henry Bikes on the Golden Jackrabbit
In their latest video, the Henry Bikes YouTube channel reflects on ride on the Golden Jackrabbit Loop bikepacking route. Watch it above, and find more details in the route guide here.
Brother in the Wild Munich 2025
Save the date! In collaboration with Guten Biken, Brother in the Wild is returning to Munich for 2025 for a two-day bikepacking adventure around the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. The event will take place from Friday, June 27th, to Sunday, June 29th, and registration opens on Monday, March 17th. Find details here.
Events Starting Soon
What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…
St. Patrick’s Day Massacre Ride
Put on by Peter Curley of the PBP Podcast is the annual St. Patricks Day Massacre hill climb. Created with the intention of raising money for a rotating series of special causes, Peter is focusing this year’s hill climb efforts on two UNICEF causes—children in Gaza and Ukraine—as well as a local charity, the SF/ Marin Food Bank. The ride is a heck of a hill climb and one intent on pushing your limits as a rider. If you’re in the bay area and are looking for a better way to spend your St. Patricks day, consider donating and swinging by.
Maricopa Trail Ride
The Maricopa Trail Ride is a 240-mile self-supported ultra-endurance race along the Maricopa Trail in Phoenix, Arizona. There are no entry fees or prizes, and ride time will be recorded only as a comparison to others. Riders start their rides this morning, and you can follow their progress live here.
Indian Pacific Wheel Ride
The Indian Pacific Wheel Ride is an unofficial, solo, unsupported, 5,500-kilometer road cycling event ocean-to-ocean across Australia. There are almost 30 riders registered for this year’s grand depart, which takes off from the South Mole Lighthouse in Fremantle, Western Australia, tomorrow morning. Follow their progress live here.
Wish We Were Here
Shedding a little light on a route one of us is dreaming about riding at the moment…
Nic Morales: Mega Mid South
With the Mid South kicking off this weekend, I am once again dreaming of those iconic orange roads. Though the primary impetus for doing Mega last year was to get into Mid South this year, travel and life didn’t really allow me to get back to Stillwater for what has become one of the biggest and best gravel events in the world. There is, however, another version of Stillwater that appeals to me. With the Mega Mid South Route open and accessible year round, those who miss out on the big spring kick-off can get a whole plate full of Oklahoma goodness with Mega, a route the combines the best bits of Mid South’s past into one big, beautiful adventure.
Weekly Social
Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, we stumbled on a couple of excellent photos in the Hunt Bikes feed, featuring a beautiful frame by French frame builders, Avalanche Cycles. This bike features a rare titanium Truss fork which was designed and developed for the 2023 Machine Show bike but refinished for Bespoked 2024 and photographed by Stefan Haehnel, the talented photographer who shot bikes and builders for our Bespoked Dresden coverage. It’s finished with Hunt’s 40 Carbon Gravel Race wheelset and some other interesting components.
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