Friday Debrief: Champagne Supernova, Mag-Neato, Tube Recycling, 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…

Unior Screw Grabbing Pliers

As many of us have learned the hard way, there are a lot of imprecise tools out there (and bolts with shallow heads) making it easy to round out the recessed torx or hex rotor bolt or a stem bolt. Unior’s new 407/4DP Screw Grabbing Pliers offer a nice solution for loosening screws with stripped out heads. Hit the link below to watch a video and learn more.

$44 / Made in Slovenia / Details

Helinox Chair Zero High-Back

Just released, the new Helinox Chair Zero High-Back combines the ultralight design of the original Chair Zero with a sturdier back for neck and shoulder support. It weighs just 1.8 pounds, has a packed length of 16″, and can support up to 265 pounds. Find the regular Chair Zero in our ultralight camp chairs shootout.

$169.95 / Made in Vietnam & Korea / Details

Wizard Works Mag-Neato Tool Roll

Wizard Works re-released their Mag-Neato Tool Roll with a few tweaks they say “take it from cute to wicked cute!” This handy little tool roll uses a magnetic Fidlock buckle to tuck up under your saddle, secured to your saddle rails. Wizard Works updated it with more colour options, a slick diagonal detail, and the pocket is now made from a stretchy Cordura fabric that expands to fit larger tools.

£28 incl UK VAT / Made in UK / Details

Surly Ogre in Champagne Supernova

The latest Surly Ogre is rolling on 29 x 2.5” Surly ExtraTerrestrials with Avid BB5 brakes, a Microshift 10-speed drivetrain, and a fresh Champagne Supernova powder coat. Oasis, anyone? Surly is offering the Ogre as a complete for $1,699 or a frameset for $899 USD.

$1,699 / Made in Taiwan / Details

Olive Cerakote Wolf Tooth Ti Morse Cage

The latest in Wolf Tooth’s run of limited edition Titanium Morse Cage is a classy Olive Cerakote finish. The Morse Cage’s base plate has four different positions, a “dot” paired with “dash”, giving up to 32mm of vertical adjustment of bottle cage positioning.

$84.95 / Made in USA / Details

In Conversation

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

Voilé Micro-Nano Strap Spec Clarification

We noticed a comment in the Dispatch earlier today about the new Voilé Micro-Nano Straps posing its potential use with securing anchovies. To clarify, we think it could only work with three small fillets, or two whole anchovies. Thanks for the catch, Christian.

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Sisters in the Wild UK and EU Merge

Sisters in the Wild, a group providing community focused bikepacking experiences for women, trans, femme, and non-binary cyclists, just announced they’ll be merging their UK and Europe groups into one single entity. This means more great events all across the UK and Europe, including a new event in Scotland led by Annie Le. Check them out at @sistersinthewilduk on Instagram or online at SistersintheWild.com.

Schwalbe in exhibition Plastik

We got an interesting news bit the other day that tire company Schwalbe is part of an art exhibition called “Plastik. Remaking our world” at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Schwalbe is in the show with several exhibits and is represented with their tube recycling program. The exhibition opened on Friday (March 25th) and is about the plastics boom and how plastic shapes our everyday lives like almost no other material, “from packaging to sneakers, from household appliances to furniture, from cars to architecture.” The exhibition examines the rapid rise of plastics in the 20th century, its devastating consequences for the environment, and possible solutions for more sustainable use. Learn more about Schwalbe’s tube recycling program here.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

East Texas Showdown

The 2022 East Texas Showdown started this morning at 8 a.m. from the Bullet Cafe in Point Blank, Texas. The Showdown Route is 380 miles and the Slowdown Route is 280 miles, and both have plenty of dogs to pet along the way. There are 100 riders registered for this year’s event, and the weather is looking far better than last year. Follow along live here.

Thee Abundance Summit

After a successful first-year event, Ayesha McGowan just announced the second annual Thee Abundance Summit, “A virtual celebration and convening of Black and Brown folks in the outdoors.” The event will take place virtually and streamed live on YouTube on Friday, April 1, and Saturday, April 2. Learn more here.

Wish We Were Here

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

Neil Beltchenko: The Grand Valley

While Arizona is great and all—and right now is the perfect time to visit—once the Grand Valley of Colorado and Utah melts out and the temps climb into the 50s and 60s, this zone is hard to beat. The singletrack is world class and the bikepacking options are seemingly endless, with miles upon miles of public land. Each spring and fall, I make the trip with or without my bikepacking rig, and it never disappoints. From the Kokopelli Trail, to the Lunch Loops, and everything in between, I look forward to my next visit down that way in a few weeks.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, another wonderful illustration from one of our bike reviews. This one is by @artmartinezart and depicts the new Santa Cruz Chameleon that Logan reviewed back in the fall. Nice work!

Please keep the conversation civil, constructive, and inclusive, or your comment will be removed.