Friday Debrief: 2023 Kona Bikes, Fresh Handmade Gear, Moxie Mx3, 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…

2023 Kona Bikes Rollout

Kona Bikes has been revealing their 2023 lineup this week, which appears to be mostly new build kits and paint jobs. The website is updated with the 2023 Rove DL, Rove LTD, Rove, Libre, Sutra LTD, Sutra, Unit and Unit X, and the Hei Hei carbons. Check them out at KonaWorld.com.

Six New Cedaero Space Heater Pogie Colors

Minnesota bag maker Cedaero just added some readymade Space Heater Pogies to their website in a run of six new color combinations. You can still go the custom route if you want, but these are pre-made and ready to ship. The pogies have zippered vents and an adjustable fleece cuff to help regulate the temperature, are made with a 1000D Cordura or 15oz Waxed Canvas exterior, and have a recycled 300-weight Polartec fleece interior.

$229 / Made in USA / Details

New Atwater Expedition Half Frame Bags

Quebec-based bag maker Atwater just released a new half frame bag model called the Expedition. It’s based around a tough Cordura exterior, lace-up top tube attachment, drive side and non-drive side pockets, and three sizes that correspond with your bike’s top tube length.

$150 CAD / Made in Canada / Details

Hyperlite Unbound 2P Tent

Released as part of their new Unbound kit, the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Unbound 2P tent is a lightweight trekking pole shelter designed for thru-hikers. It’s designed for three-season use, has room for 1-2 people, and is made from three different DCF fabric weights. It has built-in bug mesh, weighs just 1.5 pounds (23.97 oz.), and packs down to 8.5″ x 6″ x 5.5″.

$699 / Made in Mexico / Details

Pipedream Moxie Mx3 Preorders Open

UK-based Pipedream Cycles just opened up preorders for their Moxie Mx3—a rowdy steel hardtail designed around 140-170mm of travel, 29er, 27.5+, 27.5, or mullet wheel options, and sliding dropouts with 16mm of adjustment. The Moxie comes in three sizes, four paint jobs, and frames start at £579 within the UK or £582 outside of the UK.

£579 / Made in Taiwan / Details

Granite Design Stash RT AirTag Mount

The new Stash RT Airtag Mount converts your Granite Design Stash and Stash RT tool kit to a clever holster for your Apple AirTag. The kit replaces the lower cap of your Stash system with a plastic cap and CNC’d alloy lower cap, providing a secure and discrete way to track your bicycle.

$16 / Made in China / Details

Sklar Super Something Preorders Open Today

The Super Something is Sklar Bikes’ first made-in-Taiwan offering. It’s a versatile gravel bike designed to handle a wide range of conditions and terrain, or “a bike you will want to keep around forever,” as Sklar puts it. It’s based around a Chromoly steel frame and fork, clearance for 700 x 55mm or 27.5 x 2.1″ tires, a 68mm threaded bottom bracket, and Rocker Dropouts for adjustable chainstay length or single speed setups. The preorder will open today at 9 a.m. MST.

$1,599 / Made in Taiwan / Details

In Conversation

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

Who Pays for SOS Calls?

In our post this week showcasing the data Garmin shared after 10,000 SOS calls there was lots of discussion on how much it costs the individual triggering the rescue, who’s charging who, and where insurance comes in. Have you pressed the SOS button before? What happened?

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

BEAUTIFUL BIKES OF BESKPOKED UK Pt. 2

The folks at Velo Orange made it over to the Bespoked UK handmade bike show this year, and they shared their second installment of favorite bikes, bags, bits, and more earlier this week. Check it out here.

Jan Heine on the King of the Ride Podcast

Following his blazing-fast time on the 2022 Arkansas High Country Route’s South Loop, enigmatic Bicycle Quarterly and Rene Herse frontman Jan Heine was recently interviewed by Ted King on his King of the Ride podcast. You can find a link to listen on various podcasting platforms here.

A Fall Ride in the NC Appalachians

Our friend Jamie Roszel made this video tiled “A Tormenting Meditation on the Annual Peregrination Through Liminal Space and Time,” inspired by Burial Beer Co. This is a video recap of a weekend bikepacking trip based around Brevard, North Carolina, and culminating at Burial for our presentation.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

2022 DangerBird 250

The DangerBird 250 is a bikepacking event to support cycling within the Organ Mountains Desert National Monument that follows the Monumental Loop route. This year, the grand depart starts at 9 a.m. from Plaza de Las Cruces tomorrow morning. Keep an eye on the Monumental Loop Instagram for updates.

Wish We Were Here

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

Logan Watts: South Africa

It’s been nearly a decade since we cycled in South Africa. It was way back in 2013 when we rode from Cape Town through the country toward Zimbabwe, taking in the Cape Winelands, the Klein Karoo, and Lesotho along the way. Every year around this time the memories come back, and now the Rhino Run race has amplified that. The Dragon’s Spine is on my list of routes to go back and ride. It desperately needs a re-scout and proper documentation since its keeper and creator let it lapse a few years ago. It’s officially on the bucket list—I actually clicked that button and added it the other day.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, some posts of warmer weather as things start to cool off for winter…

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