Friday Debrief: Short Cranks, New Ti Bars, Italy Dreams, 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…

Five Ten Breast Cancer Awareness Collection

Five Ten’s new line of shoes honors the people fighting—and surviving—breast cancer. The graphics are drawn by artist and cyclist Veronique Sandler, who spoke with many breast cancer survivors while working on the project. The collection includes the Freerider Pro, two Terrex trail shoes, and the Ultraboost running shoe. They are available in men’s and women’s sizing, and Five Ten is donating $15 per shoe sold to the Breast Cancer Foundation (and the same amount to the UK’s Breast Cancer Now for shoes sold in Europe). Learn more here.

Wolf Tooth CAMO Direct Mount Spider for Shimano

Wolf Tooth Components’ new CAMO Direct Mount Spider for Shimano is designed to work with Shimano mountain bike cranksets that have a removable spider, which includes several XTR, XT, SLX, and Deore Boost and Super Boost Cranksets. Their CAMO (Chainline and Material Optimization) system allows you to easily swap between chainrings, requiring no nuts or spacers, and is offered in four chainline options and a number of chainring sizes.

$29.95 / Made in USA / Details

New Breezer Doppler Colors

The Breezer Doppler is a 650B steel touring bike, complete with full-coverage fenders, a dynamo light, and all the of the provisions for bikepacking. The new Doppler Team+ and Pro+ just arrived in the US, updated with fresh paint for the fall and are available now.

$1,750 / Made in Taiwan / Details

New Women’s Fit for Icon Shirt

We’re big fans of the Icon shirt and always happy to see Kitsbow expanding the lineup. They just added a new women’s for, “the Ample Athletic Fit is designed by women, for women to accommodate for more bodies while adding necessary shaping to allow a wide variety of activities.”

$233 / Details

Esgualepado Mohap Shorts

Made by Brazil-based bag maker Esgualepado, the new Mohap shorts are made from a two-way stretch fabric that offers UV50+ protection, anti-stink properties, rear and front front pockets, and an integrated webbing belt with a buckle. They are offered in men’s and women’s sizing, and we thought they look pretty ideal as a do-everything bikepacking short.

R$275 (~$52 USD) / Details

Hope EVO 155mm Cranks

Hope Tech just released a super-short 155mm version of their versatile aluminum crankset, the EVO, claiming this new length hits a sweet spot. Hope says their 155mm cranks allow the rider to stay centred on the bike, increase stability, make for faster transitions between downhills and pedalling uphill, offer more ground clearance, and they are lighter and stiffer due to their shorter length.

$320 / Made in UK Details

Brother Cycles Big Bro Pre-Orders Open

The UK’s Brother Cycles just announced that their Big Bro (and Allday) framesets will be arriving in November, and they’ve now opened online pre-orders. This year’s version of their 29er/27.5+ adventure frame is available in Yellow and Woodland Brown.

£725 (£604.17 for non-UK) / Made in Taiwan / Details

New Cascada Land Wool Shirts

Cascada’s versatile Land Wool Shirt was just updated with some fresh colors for the fall, just in time for cooler temperatures in some parts of the world. It’s made from a breathable wool/polyester blend fabric, has a longer hem out back for coverage while riding, plus snap buttons and elasticized cuffs. As a reminder, Bikepacking Collective members get 20% off the Cascada web store!

$119 USD / Made in Italy / Details

Agave x Meriwether Ti Single-Bend Sweeper Handlebar

Agave Finishworks just started stocking the titanium Meriwether Single-Bend Sweeper Handlebar on their web shop. Each bar is made in the USA using top shelf tubing, has an 800mm with, 20° sweep, and weighs 380g. It has a 22.2mm clamp size, but includes Paragon shims to fit 31.8mm stems. They are available in a classy satin grey finish, but Agave can provide anodized options upon request.

$234 USD / Made in USA / Details

Limited Edition Payson McElveen Allied BC40

Allied Cycles just launched a limited edition Payson McElveen version of their first full-suspension mountain bike, the BC40. It features a stunning paint scheme inspired by the San Juan Mountains, can be purchased as a complete build or frameset, and is hand-made in the United States. Oh, and the complete build will set you back an eye-watering $14,000 in case you were wondering.

$14,000 / Made in USA / Details

Wren Perseverance Armrests

If you’re a Wren Perseverance Adventure Bar user and finding that the surplus of hand positions just aren’t enough, you might be interested in their new Armrests. Designed specifically for their Perseverance bar, the Wren Perseverance Armrests are a lightweight forearm pad that provide a more traditional aero riding position to give your hands a break. They are made from CNC alloy clamps, polycarbonate cups, and are available to purchase individually.

$129 / Details

Wolf Tooth Ti Bolt Hardware Upgrade Kit

You can now upgrade your Wolf Tooth seatpost clamp with a fancy shmancy titanium one, adding a subtle flash to your rig that only your closest friends will notice. The Ti Bolt Hardware Kit is available for their Bolt-Closure and Quick Release Seatpost Clamps, and it comes in three finishes: black, gold, and oil slick.

$12.95 / Made in USA / Details

In Conversation

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

Are Short Cranks the Future?

There’s been a lot of crank length talk this week. Not only did Appleman Bicycles release their new 2XR Crankset, which is available in five lengths right down to 135mm, but Hope also came out with the above 155mm crank. They claim a shorter crank “allow you to get into a more neutral body position on the bike allowing your hips to rotate to be more forward facing, increasing stability and having greater control of the bike.” Might short cranks be the next trend?

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Congrats 2022 Utah Mixed Epic Finishers!

Over the last few days, some of the riders at this year’s Utah Mixed Epic started rolling into the finish in Moab, Utah, having traversed the deserts, canyons, and mountain ranges of the southeast portion of the state. Zeno Molteni took first place with a time of 4 days, 3 hours, and 17 minutes, followed by Peter Basinger at 4 days, 5 hours, and 6 minutes. We couldn’t be more excited to see our friend Katie Strempke take third place (first woman and first single-speeder) with a time of 5 days, 5 hours, and 24 minutes. A number of riders have finished since then, and a good portion have scratched from the event. Congrats to everyone who participated!

The Bikepacking Giveaway

Otso Cycles, Swift Industries, QUOC, and Wolf Tooth Components have teamed up on an awesome giveaway that will have one lucky winner set up with a dialled bikepacking setup. The giveaway includes an Otso Waheela C built up with Wolf Tooth bits, a full Swift Industries bag set, QUOC Gran Tourer II Gravel Shoes, Wolf Tooth tools, and more. The total prize retail value is over $5,000 USD. The contest is open to anyone in the world and all you have to do is enter your email to be entered in the draw. Sign up here.

More Rigs of the Atlas Mountain Race

In addition to our Atlas Mountain Race rigs roundup this morning, we ran across this video looking at long time riding pals and long distance addicts Carl Hopps and Jade Saskia Field’s AMR kits. Carl and Jade will be taking on this year’s Atlas Mountain Race, which starts tomorrow.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

2022 Atlas Mountain Race

The Atlas Mountain Race is a fixed-route, unsupported, single-stage cycling race from Marrakesh to the Atlantic coast. It follows gravel, single and doubletrack, and old colonial pistes that have long been forgotten and fallen into disrepair. The grand depart takes off from Marrakesh tomorrow morning with more than 140 riders signed up. Follow along live here.

The Tally Tango 2022

The Tallahassee Tango is an ultra-endurance individual time trial in the Florida panhandle centered around the state capital’s finest singletrack and surrounding scenic doubletrack, coastal levees, and forest roads. There is a grand depart tomorrow at 7 a.m. from Weems Rd. Trailhead in Tallahassee with more than 30 riders signed up. 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…

Joshua Meissner (@joshm.de): Veneto Divide

There’s something special about revisiting places, particularly ones as layered and rich as Italy’s Dolomites. Last year, I hurtled across the alpine singletrack on a suspended mountain bike, then this year we took it slow rock-scrambling with road bikes and bar-hopping south via the golden villages seemingly stuck in time. Next year, I’d like to combine elements of both trips and expose myself to the full range of the Dolomites along the mixed terrain of the Veneto Divide.

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