Friday Debrief: Hot Bars, Blood Oranges, Flashy Anodizing, and More

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…

Velo Orange Hot Bar

Released this week, the new Velo Orange Hot Bar is a wide, high-rise mountain bike bar for trail riding and bikepacking. The 800mm width should provide plenty of stability and control on technical terrain, while the 80mm rise and 8° backsweep should keep your back happy on long rides. It also has a wide 31.8mm clamp area that should make attaching lights and other gadgets that much easier.

$75 USD / Details

Blood Orange PNW Loam Pedals

Released a few months back, the PNW Loam Pedals feature a nice-looking, low-profile alloy platform, 22 pins, and are easily disassembled for servicing and maintenance. Previously only available in three colors, PNW just added a flashy Blood Orange option to match their line of dropper levers, grips, and bar tape.

$99 USD / Details

Rodeo Labs Steel CNC Spork Tool

Rodeo Labs’ Spork endcap tool now has a full stainless steel CNC construction and tighter tolerances so they look and function better than the original version. The tool allows proper torque specs when swapping endcaps on their carbon Spork fork and is the latest example of Rodeo Labs moving production of certain components closer to home.

$25 / Details

Gramm UL-AERO Packsack

Berlin-based Gramm Tourpacking just launched their lightest bag yet, a limited edition UL-Dyneema dry bag. It weighs just 40 grams, provides 4L of storage, has roll-top closures at both ends, and they say it makes a great bag for aero bars. It’s handmade in their workshop and comes with two Gramm-branded Voilé straps.

€89 / Made in Germany / Details

13mm Voile Rack Straps

After receiving requests for a larger diameter hook to accommodate racks with 13mm tubing (Specialized and Orgin8), Voile has added a 13mm Rack Strap to their lineup of infinitely useful cargo straps. The straps are tough, lightweight, and incredibly useful for bikepacking. They come in three lengths: 20″, 25″, and 32″ in either black or orange and are available now.

$17-18/ Made in USA / Details

In Conversation

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

Grams, Inches, Celsius, Oh My!

In our recent Sea to Summit sleeping bag review, some mixed measurement systems seemed to cause some confusion for our readers. Our team is mostly US-based but spread across several countries, and we have lots of readers outside of the United States. We typically try to list temperatures and distances in Imperial and Metric, which can sometimes be a lot, and many brands seem to use metric for weights, regardless of where they’re located. What’s the best approach?

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Brother in the Wild 2022 Film Launch

Put on by UK-based Brother Cycles, the Brother in the Wild event series brings folks together for a weekend of bikepacking and community building. What started as an event in Dorset has expanded to locations around the world and is shaping into one of the most fun events in the scene. They just launched a film showcasing this year’s event in Dorset, where they welcomed 350 riders to their basecamp on the Isle of Purbeck.

Alpacka Raft Announces World Premiere of “Sheri”

In celebration of their 20th anniversary, Alpacka Raft is laughing a new documentary that tells the story of their founder, Sheri Tingey, who navigated the male-dominated outdoor industry for decades before revolutionizing it with the design of the modern-day packraft. The world premiere of Sheri was held recently in Telluride at Mountainfilm’s Basecamp (Telluride Town Park), but you can search for upcoming screenings at MountainFilm.org.

Fear and Climbing in the Rockies

Rodeo Labs’ founder Stephen Fitzgerald just published a blog post that takes a personal look at where his mind wanders when he’s riding alone—more specifically, being afraid. It’s an honest take on something we’ve all felt while trapped in our own heads and is definitely worth a read. Find the full story at Rodeo-Labs.com.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

Sea To Peak

The Sea To Peak is a self-supported bikepacking event following a route between Brittany and Queyras through the center of France. It’s 2,100 kilometers long with 35,000 meters of elevation gain. There’s a grand depart tomorrow morning, and you can follow along live here.

The Ardennes Monster

The Ardennes Monster is a 1,000-kilometer self-supported race in Belgium. The route goes through the famous hills from Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Fleche Wallonne such as the Mur de Huy or the Côte de la Redoute. The grand depart is this Wednesday, and live tracking should be available soon.

Wish We Were Here

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

Emily Heron: The Lower Sunshine Coast

Summer has finally hit coastal British Columbia after a long rainy spring. My friend Lauren and I were talking about getting some women out to ride the 10 Lakes Loop in Powell River, but have since expanded our plans to include more singletrack, and the Lower Sunshine Coast Route seems like the perfect route. I recently completed my first all-ladies overnighter, and I’m inspired to do more.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, some flashy anodizing work from Agave Finishworks and @AshleyAnodizedIt

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