Friday Debrief: 26″ tires for 90s MTBs, Oddity Delicious Bars, Deep Winter Gloves, 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…

Gura Gear Kiboko City Classic Mini 12L+

$224 at Gura Gear

Made for creatives on the move, the new Gura Gear Kiboko City Classic Mini 12L+ is a camera pack built to comfortably fit a Sony or Fuji mirrorless camera with two lenses, plus an 11-inch iPad. It’s extremely weather-resistant thanks to its X-Pac construction, and there are padded, adjustable dividers for cameras and lenses. It looks like a handy size for carry-on or while traveling.

Oddity DELICIOUS Bars

Made in USA / $345+ at Oddity Cycles

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The new DELICIOUS Bar is the latest addition to Oddity’s stock bar collection. According to Sean Burns at Oddity, “It’s so delicious because it eats small bumps and vibrations like a kid eats birthday cake.” It’s available with or without a crossbar, it’s 800mm wide, and has a 17° backsweep, 80mm rise, 8° upsweep, and 7” of flat area at the stem/clamp. It has a 22.2mm stem clamp diameter (but can be shimmed to 31.8mm). The bars are made from titanium to order and go for $345 without the crossbar or $365 with.

House of Looptail Competition Deuce

Made in Japan / $85 at House of Looptail

After bringing back the Snake Belly tire last year, House of Looptail in Colorado is back with yet another tread option. This time it’s inspired by classic motocross tires—harkening back to how the first dedicated off-road bicycle tires came to be. The House of Looptail Competition Deuce is made by Panaracer in Japan and is designed to fit in your vintage MTB or klunker. It’s only available in one size: 26 × 2.125” in tan wall. Black wall versions will be up for sale next week.

Appleman Cranks in Lavender

Made in USA / $540+ at PLACE

To celebrate three years of the 2XR Crankset, Appleman has added a new stock color option: Lavender. The 2XR Cranks are made to order and available in eight different crank lengths, from 100mm to 175mm, with your choice of spindle length for road, gravel, MTB, and fat bike setups. For a real-world test on the effect of crank lengths, make sure to read our detailed article here.

“One shirt to rule them all”

$40 at Fitz Cyclez

John Fitzgerald’s new t-shirt is for all of the Lord of the Rings fans out there, and according to John, “It’s probably the dumbest shirt ever.” He’ll be selling them at Single Speed USA in Chico, California on Halloween, or can ship within the USA. The $40 price tag includes US-shipping.

Topo Designs x Trek Project One ICON Colorway

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Trek and Topo Designs launched the Project One ICON paint scheme collaboration, available exclusively on Checkmate SLR gravel bikes. The scheme is now available on Trek Checkmate SLR gravel bike models through Project One. Riders can customize their dream ride at Trek retailers around the world and online at trekbikes.com in select markets.

Quoc x Maap Grand Tourer XC in Graphite

Made in Vietnam / $330 at PLACE

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Following the success of their partnership that created the ‘Fog’ Gran Tourer XC and multiple colorways of the M3 Pro, the two brands return with a fresh version of the Gran Tourer XC. The Gran Tourer XC is designed to strike a balance between race-ready performance and durability. It has a carbon composite sole and weighs 327g.

Turn Your Bike’s Scratches into Art with Goldfinger

$16 at Velo Orange

New at the Velo Orange store, Goldfinger is a unique product that turns scratches and scrapes into pure gold (or silver). Instead of hiding imperfections, Goldfinger allows you to embrace history and highlight them with a metallic finish, giving your frame a look inspired by kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pieces of pottery with gold. Available in Gold and Silver finishes.

Dyed in the Wool Deep Winter Gloves are Back

Made in Poland / €45 at DITW

Last winter, Poland’s Dyed in the Wool landed on some new locally sourced winter gloves that they like so much they’ve started selling. They’ve been sold out for a while, but they just restocked them in time for cooler temperatures. They’re made from soft brown leather, insulated with fleece, and have proven to be super durable and weather-resistant. They’re available in three sizes and have a wrist strap to keep them in place.

In Conversation

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

What’s The Ideal Length for an Overnighter?

As outlined in our latest Fill in the Map challenge this week, we offered up a few measures for creating the ideal Local Overnighter route: “40-180 MILES (65-290KM) is a pretty good benchmark” and that it, “should be comprised of at least 60% unpaved surfaces, give or take”. Of course, these are’t hard and fast rules, and we’ve posted quite a few routes with less than 60% unpaved surfaces, and a few that are shorter than 40 miles. However, one reader suggested that these statements were too limiting. What do you think is the ideal length for an approachable, overnighter route? Let us know in the conversation below.

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Complete 32″ Wheels Available from Berd

This week, the folks at Berd Spokes let us know that they’ve had quite a few customers reach out who are 32″ curious and having a hard time finding appropriate spokes. Berd’s fabric spokes allows them to easily cut them to the correct size for 32″ rims, and they only take a few weeks to make. The basic pricing for a Berd 32″ build would be the same as any 29″ or 27.5″ or 20″, at $688 for 28 spoke wheelset. The complete build for the Unicorns, Berd Talon hubs, and spokes would be just over $1,800. Contact Berd at BerdSpokes.com to learn more.

CSS Composites Ceases Operations

CSS Composites, the folks making carbon Revel Wheels, Forge and Bond, Chris King, and some Evil wheels, is immediately stopping all operations and is in the process of liquidating its assets to satisfy its creditors. CSS Composites will cease to provide all OEM services relating to its composite bicycle rims manufacturing business, including all customer service, replacements and repairs, and warranty services.

JJJJustin visits Wolf Tooth and Otso

Our friend Justin McKinley dropped in for a tour of the Wolf Tooth and Otso headquarters while visiting family in Minnesota. Watch the full video above.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

The Japanese Odyssey

The Japanese Odyssey is an endurance cycling event. It is not a race. It’s about discovery, about exploration, about challenging yourself. Riders must reach 20 mandatory checkpoints and segments, but in between, the route they choose is totally up to them. There are over 80 riders participating in this year’s event, which started yesterday. Follow them live here.

Dead Ends & Dolci

Dead Ends & Dolci is a self-supported and self-navigated bikepacking event in southern Switzerland—with homemade dolci at each checkpoint. There are nearly 100 dolci-craving riders signed up for this year’s event, which starts tomorrow from Bellinzona, Switzerland. Follow along live here.

Arkansas High Country Race

The Arkansas High Country Race is a self-supported 1,015-mile event following a route from the Adventure Cycling Association. Like previous years, there are three routes for riders to choose from: the full Arkansas High Country Route, the Central Loop, and the Ozark Odyssey. The race kicks off tomorrow morning from Russellville, and you can follow along live on our Tracker here.

TransEcuador

The TransEcuador bikepacking race plunges you into the heart of the Andes. Experience authentic Andean culture as you navigate a challenging course featuring ancestral single-track, rugged dirt roads, and sections of tarmac. This year’s route is 627km long, starting from Central Park of Cumbaya in Quito and finishing in Cuenca. The ride starts tomorrow and you can track the riders live here.

Karnu Rally

The Karnu Rally is an unsupported bikepacking event in South Australia—choose from either a 730km or 1,180km route. The fifth edition starts today at 7:00 a.m. local time. Follow along here.

Tally Tango

The Tallahassee Tango routes are the first ultra-endurance bikepacking routes in the Florida panhandle. The routes are centered around the state capital and comprise singletrack, scenic doubletrack, coastal levees, and forest roads. There are four routes available, ranging from 165 miles to 230 miles. There are 50 riders registered for live tracking and the grand depart kicks off tomorrow. Follow along live here.

Morocco-BikeAdventure

Morocco-BikeAdventure is a 2,300km self-supported bikepacking adventure across Morocco following gravel roads. The 6th edition of will start in Tangier on October 5th, 2025. The course will lead the riders through the Rif and Atlas mountains, and part of the legendary Paris-Dakar rally to the Sahara desert. The riders will finish in Sidi Ifni at the Atlantic Ocean. Learn more here.

Wish We Were Here

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

Logan: Vermont

The beginning of October always has the same effect on me—a draw to go to Vermont. Maybe it’s nostalgia at play since we first scouted the Green Mountain Gravel Growler in the same time frame, but it’s hard to argue the allure of peak leaf season and all the wonderful things about autumn in one of my favorite states.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, a pair of custom Santa Cruz Stigmatas built by Blackbird Bikes in Poland…

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