Friday Debrief: A Mountain Mixte, Wombat Rundown, and Elevated Chainstays

We started “The Debrief” on our YouTube channel last year as a way of highlighting the week’s news and things that caught our attention on the website, in the conversation, and elsewhere around the community. To take this a step further, we’re posting a weekly Debrief here on the site to highlight all of those things and more, including upcoming events and interesting things 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…

Brooks C17 Special Lab

Earlier this week, Brooks England announced their latest limited-edition saddle, the C17 Special LAB. With an eye-catching design that they say “celebrates intrepid Cambium riders and those who chart their own course,” it sports topographic line graphics and features the same durability, first-ride comfort, and all-weather performance for which Cambium saddles have become known.

$150 / Made in Italy / Details

Velo Orange Polyvalents Are Back

Velo Orange just restocked both Diamond and Low Kicker versions their do-it-all Polyvalent framesets in all sizes. They call it the “ideal platform to build a sturdy tourer, practical commuter, comfortable all-day randonneur, or a rugged gravel bike,” and as a reminder, our Bikepacking Collective members save 20% on everything from Velo Orange (and 20+ other brands)!

$925 / Details

PEdALED Team Amani Kit

This week, PEdALED launched their new custom kit for Team Amani—a project that supports East African cyclists with the mission to encourage more equitable competition. The new kit was just tested on the Migration Gravel Race, and the entire kit is available for purchase now.

$150-170 USD / Details

Clandestine Mountain Mixte ATB

Bristol UK’s Clandestine has done it again and wowed us with another beautiful ATB. This time, it’s a build for a customer who has mobility issues. Builder and owner Pi Manson added, “Peter got in touch with me about an ATB a while back, and we discussed his mobility issues, having had a hip resurfacing operation following decades of fell running (so gnarly!). I knew a low-slung mixte type situation could be the one. It’s not a true mixte as I added the extra arcing brace from the seat tube to stiffen it up with the rear rack loaded.”

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The Clandestine “Mountain Mixte” features handmade mudguards, rack, stem, and fork, and full dynamo lighting. In case you missed Pi’s last ATB we posted, find that here. Also, be sure to check out the Clandestine shop visit we posted last year and some coverage of Pi’s builds at the Bespoked show here.

Crust Wombat Rundown

Garrett from Crust Bikes runs down his signature singlespeed mountain bike frameset. Crust’s latest creation, the Wombat is an interesting, pared down ATB-esque mountain bike designed around 27.5 x 2.6″ tires, rim brakes, and singlespeed-friendly dropouts.

$875 (frameset) / Made in Taiwan / Details

Zpacks Updates Duplex & Triplex Tents

Florida-based Zpacks just announced updates to the Duplex and Triplex tents, including a pattern change that has resulted in an even tighter pitch. They’ve also updated the way reinforcements are applied, making both tents “lighter and tighter” than ever.

$699-799 / Made in USA / Details

In Conversation

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

Elevated Chainstays: Yay or Nay?

Many readers of our recent US-made Allied Able review were quick to comment on the aesthetics of the drive-side elevated chainstay. Some quick web searching will show the 1989 Yeti Ultimate as one of the first bikes to embrace the design, known as e-stays, but it seems not many people are into it these days.

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Crafting the Perfect Overnighter with Ride With GPS

Our friends over at Ride With GPS just released an article to help you craft the best overnighter route for the 2022 Fill in the Map challenge. The guide features tips and tools from several of their ambassadors, including Anton Krupika, Scotti Lechuga, the Knoth family, and more. Find it here.

Six Moon Designs’ 20th Anniversary

Oregon-based Six Moon Designs is celebrating their 20th anniversary and shared an interview with founder Ron Moak, which was filmed back in 2020. Watch the video above.

“Why you should ride it” Series

The New Forest Off Road Club’s “Why you should ride it” series highlights various routes that they want their community to ride. Their next online event is focusing on the East Devon Trail in England, presented by route designer Katherine Moore, and will provide lots of helpful information for anyone who is interested in the route but isn’t sure where to start. Learn more here.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

2022 BC Epic 1000

The BC Epic 1000 is an annual 1,000-kilometer off-road bikepacking event from Merritt to Fernie, British Columbia. The route follows service roads, doubletrack, and singletrack along a good portion of the Trans Canada Trail and attracts riders from all over Canada and beyond. The 2022 grand depart starts tomorrow at 7 a.m. Follow along live here.

2022 Hungarian Divide

The Hungarian Divide is a self-supported bikepacking event across Hungary. Riders will choose from either the 700-kilometer or the full 1,400-kilometer route, riding as individuals or in a team. The grand depart takes off from the village of Tornanádaska this morning. You can follow along live here.

Wish We Were Here

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

Miles Arbour: Dead Ends & Cake

The Dead Ends & Cake event in Switzerland, which happens to also have a grand depart this weekend, has had my attention since I first learned about it. Each checkpoint is located on a dead end road, where riders are rewarded with a slice of cake. It wouldn’t take much convincing to get me to the 2023 event.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, more e-stays for the haters…

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