Friday Debrief: Giant Water Bottles, Faran 2.5, ITI 350 Winner, 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…

Tumbleweed Rack Adapter

Tumbleweed’s new powder-coated steel rack adaptor provides upper mounting points for forks that don’t have them. The Rack Adapter mounts to the center fork crown hole on equipped steel, aluminum, or carbon forks (check manufacturer’s allowances for carbon) and features two fork crown mounting points for rack struts. It’s designed to work with the Tumbleweed T Rack or Mini Pannier Rack, but it will likely work with other racks too. The adaptor’s center hole is drilled to fit an M5 bolt and includes an M5x45mm bolt and M5x16mm bolts with Nylock nuts and washers.

Made in Taiwan / $10 at Tumbleweed.cc

Growtac Equal Brakes now in Black

Growtac’s popular Equal brakes are now available in black! Equal brakes are developed and manufactured in Japan, use a short pull system, are single piston mechanical brakes, and are available in both flat mount and post mount.

Made in Japan / $350 at Velo Orange

Trek Voda 34oz Water Bottle

The new Trek Voda 34 is a supersized 34-ounce water bottle for folks heading out on long rides. It features a thread on top with a Pop Top cap that firmly locks to help prevent leakage, is dishwasher safe, and measures out to about 12″ (30cm) tall.

$14.99 at Trek Bikes

Ride with GPS: Export GPX files from Mobile App

Ride with GPS just added the (long-awaited) functionality to export GPX files from the mobile app, syncing directly to your GPS device anywhere where you have a network connection. While “pinning” the route in the mobile app still works, this looks like a promising workaround for certain situations. Learn more here.

Mission Workshop Baja Longsleeve

The new limited edition Mission Workshop Baja Longsleeve features Moto-inspired graphics and an Italian open-knit dimensional mesh construction that’s breathable and quick-drying. It comes in Blue, Sand, and Grey colors, sizes small to XL, and is made in Italy.

Made in Italy / $145 at Mission Workshop

DITW Lab

Dyed in the Wool just launched an extension of their brand to focus on unique experimental ideas and concepts powered by AI design. “We aim to explore these new narratives through AI (artificial intelligence ) images, 3D models, renderings, materiality reaserch, custom designed 3D printed trim, custom fabrics where the end goal would be completely bespoke, one-off product.” Follow along on Instagram.

Ornot Mission Pants

Building on the design of their Mission Shorts, the new Ornot Mission Pants were just released in four colors, two inseam lengths (32 and 34″), and feature a four-way stretch fabric that’s said to be comfortable and durable enough to be your daily driver. Miles has been wearing some for the last week and can attest to their comfort and quality.

Made in USA / $148 at OrnotBike.com

Fairlight Faran 2.5

Fairlight quietly released their Faran 2.5 with a few subtle refinements. Those include the addition of a heat-treated rear triangle, “which has allowed us to remove 0.15mm wall thickness from the chain stays; resulting in reduced weight and increased compliance.” The v2.5 also sees increased tire clearance to 27.5 x 60mm (2.36″) tires, new size-specific top tube and seat stays for 61R and 61T sizes, and the inclusion of the Fairlight x Bentley Mk II dropouts, featuring CNC machined fully modular inserts on both sides. Learn about the Faran 2.5 in their extensive PDF design notes. Also, be sure to check out Logan’s review of the Faran here.

In Conversation

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

Non-cycling Cycling Gloves

In our refreshed roundup of the best cycling gloves we’ve tried, a reader brought up the fact that there’s not much of a difference between cycling gloves and non-cycling gloves when looking at gloves without padding. This opens up a lot of options. Do you have a pair of non-cycling-specific gloves you use for cycling? Leave us a note in the conversation below.

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Tyson Flaharty Wins ITI 350

After 3 days, 1 hour, and 30 minutes, Tyson Flaharty from Fairbanks, Alaska, was the first to finish this year’s 350-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational. According to the organizers, this is Tyson’s third win, making his accomplishment that much more exciting, especially considering the challenging conditions participants are facing this year. Congrats, Tyson!

Devin Cowens on the Girls Gone Gravel Podcast

Our friend Devin Cowens was recently a guest on the Girls Gone Gravel podcast and shares her experience of getting into cycling, the importance of cycling to Black folks, and what it looks like to create a safe space for all skill levels. You can listen to the latest episode above.

Beyond Words: Combining Film, Music & Bikepacking

The recently launched production house and community Play Outdoor Productions is back with their second project, but they need help to make it possible. This April, queer multi-ethnic immigrant composer and cyclist Mari Funabashi will go on a three-day bikepacking trip with Play Outdoors Productions founders Alison Wormell and Roxanna Barry. After the trip, Mari will write a piece for solo bassoon about the experience. Watch the overview video above and then head over to the campaign page to make a donation.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

2023 Queen’s Ransom

The Queen’s Ransom is a 227-mile bikepacking route around the greater East Valley of metro Phoenix, Arizona. It weaves together many of the area’s popular singletrack trail systems, regional parks, and the Arizona National Scenic Trail amid stunning topography, rolling dirt roads, and challenging terrain. This year’s group ride takes off tomorrow at 7 a.m., and you can follow along live here.

SKY ISLANDS ODYSSEY 2023

This weekend, Sarah Swallow is hosting a communal ride and challenge on one of the Sky Islands Odyssey routes in Southern Arizona. The challenge is simple: ride your route at your own pace, self-supported, with a friend (or not), and finish your ride by the end of the day on Sunday, March 5 (three days) to swap stories with other riders over food and beverage at a post-ride gathering. Learn more here.

Wish We Were Here

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

Ryan Santoski (@ryansantoski): The Present

I came halfway across the world to ride some of my dream routes in southwestern Europe, an intoxicating array of rolling pastoral fields bursting with wild orchids, secret cobblestone paths leading through thickets of almond blossoms to random sculpture gardens, the jagged maze-like coastline kissed by cliffside singletrack.

Yet, something’s missing – on today’s ride, I lost count of how many times I pulled my phone out for no other reason than to check for new notifications. Staring at the stone facade of a 15th-century fortress, I completely zoned out, thinking about some irrelevant work email. At a lovely cafe tucked deep in the Algarve countryside, all of the patrons were hunched over our devices, missing the show of late-day color and shadow on the ancient walls.

• 
• 

Why do we pretend to want to experience some wild route when we can’t even pay attention, only to rave on social media about how great it was and how cool we are for having done it? What’s the point of wondering if a ride will “change” me if I can’t cause change within myself?

Maybe the ultimate destination isn’t a place but a state of mind: active, aware, calibrated. I wish I were here.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, some posts from the Iditarod Trail Invitational in Alaska…

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