Friday Debrief: Good Grief Dinglespeed, SimWorks x 100 Tacos, Gravel Suspension, 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…

SimWorks x 100 Tacos Collection

$2-$178 at SimWorks

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SimWorks’ latest collaboration is a partnership with 100 Tacos, their friend, Angeleno bike-powered vegan taco cart chef, and graphic collaborator Mick Weldon from Los Angeles. The launch includes a limited edition Chromoly four-bolt faceplate Rhonda Stem with Tribute 100 Tacos graphic with a custom stem cap, ripstop hats, a long-sleeve, 32oz Nalgene, patches, and stickers.

Fizik Arche-Type Helmet Collection

€209+ at Fizik

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“Arche-Type” is a new limited-edition look for the fizik Helmet Collection. Each helmet is designed with a translucent PC shell that reveals the underlying EPS core, outlined fizik logos, along with technical text that highlights key features. The new look is available in Fizik’s Kudo Aero, Kudo, Kunee, and Kassis helmets.

Blue Lug x Nitto Bullmoose Bars Back In Stock At Velo Orange

Made in Japan / $98 USD at Velo Orange

A collaboration between Blue Lug and Nitto, these chromoly Bullmoose Bars channel classic ’80s MTB style with modern 1 1/8″ threadless compatibility. Built tough with a 100mm virtual stem, 750mm width, and generous 15° backsweep, they’re perfect for trail bikes, city cruisers, and bikepacking rigs that need a little vintage flair. Velo Orange just re-stocked them and they’re bound to fly, so if you’ve been in the market, now is the time…

Wzrd Bikes Protect Trans Wzrds Posters

Made in Canada / $15 at Wzrd Bikes

To help pay for their gender-affirming surgery, Em from Wzrd Bikes has prints for sale in the Wzrd Bikes webshop. For those looking to help out with an important transition, consider buying a poster or donating at their site. Wishing you all the best, Em!

C&L Cycles Steel for Framebuilders

Made in Taiwan / $20+ at C&L Cycles

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C&L Cycles in Quebec just announced they’re selling steel tubing and other frame parts for Canadian framebuilders. They’ve started with stocking double-butted main triangle tubing, straight-gauge tubing, cast braze-ons, dropouts, fork crowns, other bits and bobs, and essential consumables like welding rods, wire, and flux. Here’s what C&L Cycles said in their Instagram announcement: “We’ve been watching the community of Canadian framebuilders grow, from folks wanting to make their own bike from scratch in their garage to fast-growing productive new framebuilding outfits, and we thought we’d be great at providing y’all with what you need!”

Custom Restrap Frame Bag

Made in the UK / £119.99 at Restrap

Accomplished ultra-cyclist Josh Reid plans to take on the Tour Divide this year, and he needed a frame bag for his gargantuan effort. With the help of his friends at Restrap, they got cookin’ on a custom frame bag. Though not everyone has the priviledge of popping down to their facility in Leeds for an in-person fit, his most recent video is a great walkthrough of how a company as large as Restrap handles custom offerings.

In Conversation

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

Gravel Suspension Forks: Suspending Disbelief?

Earlier this week, we shared news of DT Swiss’ limited travel suspension fork. Several of these have come out in recent years, with industry folks claiming it’s “the future of gravel.” Skeptics might still shake their head at the meager travel and high cost of these forks, but they’re here to stay. In the dispatch linked above, a few commenters pointed out their dissatisfaction with the specs and price of these forks. Though they’re largely marketed toward gravel event go-ers, what do you think of limited-travel forks? Are they just another marketing-driven ploy to separate you from your hard-earned money or a genuine innovation? Let us know in conversation below…

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

WeedSac 2025

Dominique Clichee made this nice little video on this year’s WeedSac, a bikepacking event by Matt Mason in New Mexico. Enjoy!

7mesh Opens Tokyo Store

7mesh is growing in Japan with the opening of a new shop in the Layover Kanamachi development in Eastern Tokyo. This new multi-use complex combines rental apartments with boutique retail and the iconic Tokyo roastery of Bicycle Coffee, which has been combining a love of bikes and coffee since being founded in Oakland, California, in 2009.

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“Opening our first brand shop in Japan is a proud milestone for 7mesh,” said 7mesh VP Sales Andrew Sherry. “Layover Kanamachi is more than just a retail location—it’s a vibrant community hub where adventure, design, and culture come together. Partnering with our long-term partner Sunwest allows us to share the 7mesh experience in a space that celebrates discovery and quality. We’re excited to be part of this community and to connect with new riders and adventurers in Tokyo.”

Visit 7mesh at Layover Kanamachi at 2-27-12 Kanamachi, Katsushika-ku in Tokyo.

ORTLIEB “To be free”: Story of Nacho

In 2017, Nacho made a life-changing decision: to leave everything behind and hit the road by bike—no plan, no destination, just the desire to be free. That journey shaped who he is today. In Ortlieb’s latest short film, we get to know Ignacio “Nacho” Pellejero, and ultra-distance rider, bike guide, and adventurer with Argentinian roots. Learn more about the “To Be Free” project here.

Finding Joy in the Ride: Lachlan Morton

The latest video from Far Beyond by EF Pro Cycling follows Lachlan Morton at the Traka race in Spain and on the Bergslagleden bikepacking route in Sweden, which he found here on the site. Thanks for the shout-out, Lachy!

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

Hydra Epic

The Hydra Epic traverses the Baltic States from south to north, following some of the largest rivers in the region. The 1,800-kilometer route has technical cross-country singletrack and long, fast gravel sections go through most beautiful Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian cities, small countryside towns, and forests. The 2025 grand depart started earlier this morning, and you can follow their progress live here.

The Grand Loop

The Grand Loop is a 365-mile self-supported bikepacking challenge that connects the Kokopelli, Paradox, and Tabeguache trails together into one epic ride. This year’s grand depart takes off from Nucla, Colorado at 8 a.m. local time, with over 60 riders registered for live tracking. Dig into our rig roundup and then follow them live here.

Trans Balkan Race

The Trans Balkan Race presents unique challenges such as extreme temperature ranges, rough riding surfaces, scarce water availability, and distant resupply points, offering one of the toughest races worldwide. The 1,350-kilometer route takes riders across Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, and Montenegro through the most stunning national parks of the Dinaric Alps. The 2025 grand depart started earlier this morning with nearly 160 riders registered, and you can follow their progress here.

Wish We Were Here

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

Lucas Winzenburg: OCVA

Published just this week, the 410-mile Oregon Cascades Volcanic Arc (OCVA) captured my attention the moment we shared it. Having ridden across Oregon via the Oregon Outback a decade ago, I’m eager to return and see it from another perspective along the new route. It looks relatively straightforward and incredibly beautiful, key ingredients for a relaxed getaway by bike.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, a stunning double dingle speed from Good Grief in Colorado. Here’s what owner/framebuilder Christopher Schmidt had to say about the project…

Chris: Mixing it up with a double dinglespeed built upon our FGATB foundation, this baby utilizes 135mm x 10mm QR axles for both wheels, a set of Velocity Blunt 35s rims laced to Surly Single Speed hubs, two White Industries Double Freewheels, and a double chainring so rider Jon can dial in just the right singlespeed gearing for any terrain he decides to tackle.

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Jon, an artist and printmaker, kept the input coming to nail down every detail and ensure his bike is a lifetime build from form down to nitty-gritty function. This labor of love features heavily shaped bronze-fillet-brazed construction and a custom cheetah-print front fork crown as well as a host of premium components hand-picked by Jon.

Mixing Columbus and Tange tubing ensures this bike is light and compliant for long days in the saddle, offering the robustness to handle a bike camping load while still being agile enough for the demands of everyday city riding. Jon and I bonded around a love for six-bolt stems the first day we met, so I knew when he chose the Doom Legal Drinker bar for his build that we needed a custom stem for this frame design. Our tallboy stem replaces all those ring-shaped things and affords just enough panache to piss off the weight weenies in the room.

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