Friday Debrief: Ugly Bike Parts, Cargo Dogpacking, Forever Bender, Funky Bars, 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…

Recycled PNW Loam Grips

Made in Taiwan / $29 at PNW Components

The new Loam Grips Recycled Edition reduces some of PNW’s dependence on virgin materials by using 80% recycled ocean plastic in the grip core and 30% upcycled scraps from the factory floor in the grip rubber. The new grips offer the same feel and durability as the originals with a nearly 50% reduction in the use of new materials.

Alex McCormack’s Atlas Mountain Race Training Plan

$50 at Training Peaks

Since taking first place at the 2025 Atlas Mountain Race, Alex McCormack has received a number of questions about training and preparation. “How many hours a week do you ride?” “Do you ride with a power meter?” “What sort of efforts do you do?” To help folks interested in training for an ultra-endurance race like the AMR, Alex uploaded his eight-week training block leading up to the race onto Training Peaks for anyone to get their hands on.

Wilde Dark Star

Made in Taiwan / $1,200 at Wilde Bikes

We already shared the details on the new Wilde Dark Star and Future Proof fork here, but with stock arriving any week now, here’s a quick refresher. The Dark Star is a new steel hardtail mountain bike with clearance for 29 x 2.6″ tires, sliding dropouts, several mounting points, and geometry suitable for 120 or 130mm travel forks. The Future Proof fork has a 501mm axle-to-crown that’s perfect for replacing 120mm forks, features segmented construction, clearance for 29 x 2.8″ tires, and a straight 1 ⅛” steerer. Both are expected to be in stock in the next week or two.

Rockgeist Opens Custom Framebag Orders

Made in USA / $190+ at Rockgeist

After losing their shop to Hurricane Helene, Rockgeist has been hard at work rebuilding to start making fantastic bikepacking gear again. They’ve relocated to a new shop in Asheville and have been settling in, and they finally caught up on custom framebag orders placed before the storm. Custom framebag orders are officially open just in time for your spring and summer bikepacking adventures, and while they aren’t making other bags just yet, they do have some in-stock items ready to ship out if you’re on the hunt for something specific.

Vetra Water Strider Bars

Made in Germany / Contact for Pricing at Vetra Bikes

Vetra Bikes in Berlin recently teased some prototype ATB touring handlebars inspired by nature. The Vetra Water Strider Bars offer multiple hand positions and offer a unique mix of angles to help keep riders comfortable throughout long rides over all kinds of terrain.

Chris King Lockrings

Made in USA / $25 USD at Chris King

After years of using Shimano’s lockrings with their iconic hubs, Chris King has now added its own centerlock lockring to their product line for $25 USD. The King lockring is aluminum with a steel crush washer and features a classic “King” laser mark so that fans of the brands can have their lockrings match headsets, bottom brackets, hubs, and more.

Ornot x McNally Ultralight Boxers

Made in USA / $38 at Ornot

Ornot and Chris McNally teamed up on a limited edition version of Ornot’s Ultralight Boxer Briefs, featuring 10 years’ worth of Chris’ doodles, scribbles, and maybe a few happy accidents. No two pairs are the same, but they are all light, airy, and cut and sewn in California.

Deuter Rogla 5 Hydration Backpack

$135 at Deuter

Deuter’s new cycling-specific hydration backpack is designed for fast, technical rides with zero bounce. It features a vest-style fit, a 2L HydraPak reservoir, and breathable Air Spacer Mesh to keep hydration and essentials close without getting in the way and looks like a good choice for fast-and-light rides and races.

In Conversation

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

How Important are Aesthetics?

Yesterday, Logan shared details and thoughts on the new RockShox Reverb AXS and compared it to the Fox Transfer Neo, and he ultimately talked a lot about the questionable aesthetics of wireless dropper posts. Now we want to hear from you: how important are looks when choosing bicycle components, or do you select them purely on performance? Let us know in the discussion below.

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Treehouse Cyclery Kickstarter

Treehouse Cyclery is a small, woman-owned bike shop out of Denver, Colorado. Recently, they’ve been forced to vacate their shop space in downtown Denver and have hopes of relocating to a more permanent home in Boulder. Though their time in service has been short, Treehouse’s existence has been wide-ranging and impactful. With an ethos centered around community and inclusion as opposed to achievement and profit, Treehouse is the kind of bike shop that deserves a longer life. To help relocate, they’ve started a kickstarter campaign with a primary goal of $15,000. With a wide range of pledge rewards, you can grab anything from a shirt to massive discounts. Learn more and back them on Kickstarter.

The Great San Diego Bikepack

Tava Kessler recently rode our 121-mile Great San Diego Triathlon bikepacking route in California and nicely documented the ride along the picturesque track in an eight-minute video. Give it a twatch above.

Borealis Suspends Bike Purchases

Citing Trump’s recent tariff announcement, Colorado’s Borealis Fat Bikes announced that it is pausing all inventory purchases for the 2025-2026 season. Founder and CEO Steve Kaczmarek said responsible planning is incredibly difficult amid the current climate of uncertainty, adding, “Certain sectors, including the bicycle industry, are going to be decimated. Many small companies will be forced out of business because of these policies. We are taking a cautious approach to ensure Borealis remains a viable company for years to come.” You can read the original reporting over on Bicycle Retailer.

Fernwee Dogpacking in the South of Spain

Fernwee’s latest video offers a refreshing change of pace and finds him pedaling around Spain on his Omnium Mini-Max cargo bike with his dog riding shotgun. Join the duo on a relaxed ride around the Badlands area in the video above.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

2025 Stagecoach 400

The Stagecoach 400 is a masterpiece of stitchworked dirt doubletrack, sandy desert roads, technical singletrack, urban bike paths, and rolling tarmac. The 2025 grand depart takes off from Idyllwild, California at 8 a.m. local time, and you can follow their progress live here.

2025 Doom

Doom is a beautifully evil bikepacking route in the South consisting of soul-sucking climbs, rough roads, and a whopping 43,000 feet of elevation gain. This year, there are three routes to choose from: Doom (408 miles), Despair (196 miles), and Dismay (109 miles). Dig into a massive collection of over 90 riders and rigs, find more updates from the event, and follow along live via the Event Tracker page.

Wish We Were Here

Shedding a little light on a route one of us is dreaming about riding at the moment…

Lucas Winzenburg: Sardinia

I’ve been wanting to get to the enchanting island of Sardinia for almost two decades now, which is coincindentally about as long as the TranSardinia route has existed. When Tristan Bogaard shared an updated version of the route earlier this year, my desire to visit only burned brighter. It looks like a challenging but rewarding route that affords an up-close view of the island’s fascinating history, geology, and culture in an often overlooked part of Europe.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, some photos of Max’s custom Bender Bicycle Co. touring bike, who spent the last few weeks behind the scenes filming the entire build process at Bender headquarters in Fort Collins, Colorado. The result is a flashy red touring rig that Max is calling his “forever bike,” and looks ready for the long haul. Visit Max’s YouTube channel to watch the video series he made during the build/design process.

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Further Reading

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

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