Friday Debrief: Chromoly Cargo Fork, Matt’s Stooge MK7, Slow Leak, 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…

State 4130 Cargo Fork

Made in Taiwan / $299 at State Bicycle

The new 4130 Cargo Fork from State Bicycle Co. replaces the stock fork on most modern steel bikes with an infinitely useful gear-hauling platform. It’s designed around a 20″ wheel, which lowers the top of the integrated rack platform for better stability. The rack uses a flat-mount disc brake (but has canti mounts for rim brakes as well), a 12mm thru-axle, and is compatible with a 160mm rotor. It has a 1-1/8” threadless steerer that’s 300mm long to fit most modern steel bikes, and with the right headset, it is compatible with State’s Klunker, Core-Line, 4130 Fixed-Gear, and popular 4130 All-Road lineup. It looks eerily similar to the Crust Clydesdale Fork, which is available with a 1″ or 1-1/8″ steerer and has a quick-release axle.

The State 4130 Cargo Fork is, as the name suggests, made from 4130 Chromoly steel, has an 11.5″ x 11″ (292mm x 280mm) platform, and weighs five pounds and ten ounces. For an additional $100, State is offering a wheel bundle to get you rolling even quicker, complete with a 32-hole rim, sealed bearing hub, a rotor, and a CST 20 x 2.125” tire. You can also add a brake caliper for $30 or $50 if you need one.

Brooks x Blue Lug B17 Special

Made in England / $230 at Brooks England

Brooks teamed up with Blue Lug in Tokyo on its latest limited edition saddle, featuring a special Blue Lug design on the popular B17, a durable vegetable-tanned leather construction, and the same extended 10-year guarantee that comes with all Brooks leather saddles. It has hand-hammered copper rivets, a unique Kanji side stamp, colourful tensioning strings, and comes with a leather Blue Lug triangular reflector.

Slow Leak Volume 1

Made in Portland, Oregon / Details at Slow Leak

If you’re unfamiliar, Slow Leak on Instagram is Sean Geivett—a messenger turned ultra racer. He recently completed the Atlas Mountain Race in Morocco and has generally been on something of a tear over the last year or so. Within his travels, Sean has documented journey’s across the Stagecoach 400, Hellenic Mountain Race, and Trans San Gabriel’s for Issue 1 of his 40 full-color pages documenting his “descent into ultra bikepack racing.” You can find his exploits at his Instagram, and hopefully in more issues of Slow Leak in the future.

Tanaka Basket Rain Cover (by Ostrich)

Made in Japan / $36 at Merry Sales

While it might not be new, the Tanaka Basket Rain Cover at Merry Sales caught our eye as a useful accessory for anyone converted over to basket-life. The basket cover is made in Japan, comes in two size options for 15″ and 18″ baskets, and has an elastic perimeter. It comes in black or olive and includes a handy little stow bag.

Fox Academy on the 36 SL

Made in Taiwan / $1,149 at Fox

On the heels of our Fox 36 SL review, we saw that the brand released this video detailing all the tech details about this fork. It’s worth a look if you want to learn more about details like the floating air spring or new bypass channels.

In Conversation

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

SRAM’s Eagle 70 Cassette

In the conversation on our Eagle 90 Transmission review, one reader asked about the interesting XS-1270 Cassette that was quietly introduced with the lower-tier Eagle 70 group. We thought it was worth pointing out here as many of you my have missed it. What makes this cassette unique is its integrated lockring/10-tooth cog (and 55mm chainline), making it the first cassette that fits on a traditional splined HG freehub driver with a small 10-tooth cog—typically the smallest cog on HG cassettes is 11-tooth. The XS-1270 weighs 565 grams and sells for $215. We expect to see a lot more of this cassette on lower-tier mountain bike builds over the next year. You can learn more about it here.

Basecamp Boons

Slammin’ deals you can only find on our Bikepacking Basecamp Co-Op…

Summer’s Novara Aspen

A really cool one from a great mechanic in Seattle! Per Summer, this is a drop-bar conversion of a 1990s Novara Aspen with “some sweet parts upgrades such as drop bars with Brooks tape and Shimano Dura Ace bar end shifters.”

Jaydon’s high-fidelity Hi-Fis

A Shutter Precision dynamo, boost spaced, carbon 650b wheelset from Hi-Fi is the kind of amazing product we love seeing on the co-op. These are bound to go soon.

Jeremy’s fantastic Fuji

A really high-quality camera and three lenses rounds our Basecamp Boons off this week! This Fuji is a great one for photographing your bike adventures.

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Looking at some RARE bikes at the Vintage Mountain Bike Show 2025

In Gary’s Projects latest video, he takes us through a tour of the 2025 Vintage Mountain Bike Show in Toronto, Ontario, hosted by Boneshaker MTB & Gremlins Bicycle Emporium. Watch the video and then make sure to check out our event recap for more fantastic photos.

Transcordilleras – Going Far Beyond in Colombia: Episode 1

For Lachlan Morton, taking on the eight stages of Transcordilleras was about racing his bike. But it was equally about taking in the Colombian landscape, pushing himself and his competitors, and experiencing every stage of the race like a bikepacking trip. Watch the first episode of Transcordilleras – Going Far Beyond in Colombia above.

Pinyons & Pines 2025 Course Preview

In the latest episode of The Endurance Studio podcast, host Dylan Turner is joined by Dana Ernst, both organizers of the Pinyons and Pines bikepacking event in Arizona. They provide an in-depth preview of the event, route, race logistics, and essential planning tips that anyone thinking about tackling the route should check out. For those who prefer to listen to the podcast, you can find that here.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

2025 East Texas Showdown

The East Texas Showdown is a self-supported race through Sam Houston National Forest and The Davy Crockett National Forest. This year’s main route is 395 miles with 17,000 feet of climbing, but there’s also the 273-mile “Slowdown” route and 161-mile “Lowdown” route. There are over 150 riders registered for the event, which starts this morning at 8 a.m. local time. Follow along live here.

GranGuanche Audax Gravel

The GranGuanche Audax is an 800-kilometre self-supported adventure across Spain’s Canary Islands. From Lanzarote to El Hierro, the route connects five islands with four ferries featuring epic sea-to-summit climbs across the most diverse landscapes and climates. The 2025 event starts Sunday afternoon, 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 stunning Stooge MK7 build out of Allez LA Bike Shop in Los Angeles, California. This particular build belongs to Matt Baffert, who lost everything in the recent Eaton Fire. Matt is the CEO/President of the Lowelifes Respectable Citizens Club, and the Stooge will double as his work bike as they begin reviving the trails lost in the fires. For those in the area, you can learn how to volunteer or make a donation to their efforts here.

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