Friday Debrief: Boone Ti Cranks, Bladder vs. Bottles Survey, Aluminus Maximus, 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…

Boone Titanium Radius Cranks

Made in USA / $795+ at BooneTi.com

The new Boone Titanium Radius Cranks are lightweight, stiff, durable, and designed to accommodate many types of chainrings. They use a standard BB30 spindle for mountain bike and road use, have an integrated crank extractor bolt, and accept Boone’s direct drive chainrings, SRAM 8 bolt, spiders in 110mm 5 bolt, 130mm 5 bolt, or 104mm 4 bolt, or you can use Boone’s Adapt-Rs to convert their original spline to other popular splines like RaceFace, SRAM 3 bolt, HollowGram, FSA, e*Thirteen, Absolute Black, Wolf Tooth, Easton, Hope, and others. The cranks are offered in standard lengths of 165mm, 170mm, and 175mm. They also can make custom lengths from 150mm to 180mm at extra cost.

Omnium Titanium on Demand

Made in China / €13-225 at Omnium Cargo

The cargo bike experts at Omnium just opened up preorders for their range of on-demand titanium parts. The launch includes stems, seat posts, headsets, seat clamps, bottles, and spacers. They feature the new Omnium logo and are available for pre-order until September 24th. They’ve also opened up orders on all of their titanium frames, including the Cargo, Mini-Max, Mini, and CXC.

Ride with GPS Adds Lock-Screen Metrics

Free at RidewithGPS.com

Using Apple’s new Live Activity display, the Ride with GPS mobile app now enables iOS users (version 16.1 and up) to display persistent realtime metrics right over their iPhone lock screen. What that means is you can record rides, track your stats, and navigate routes in realtime without ever unlocking your phone–extending battery life in the process. The new feature is available to all RWGPS users with both premium and free accounts. And remember, Bikepacking Collective members get 20% off basic and premium RWGPS accounts!

Introducing Curious Creatures

Made in USA/Overseas / $35-$139 at WeAreCuriousCreatures.com

Curious Creatures is a new mountain bike apparel brand based out of Bozeman, Montana, that’s reimagining technical clothing to feel and look like clothes, not costumes. Curious Creatures is working with manufacturers that support innovation in renewable energy and positive treatment of workers. The company has partnered with a local Montana repair shop to ensure the possibility of repairing goods and keeping them in use for as long as possible.

Veloci Cycles Open Bar

Made in Taiwan / $TBD at VelociCycle.com

The new Veloci Cycles Open Bar is an aluminum riser bar and part of their Taiwan-made VLC series. It is 760mm wide and has a 5° upsweep, 25° backsweep, and plenty of clamping pace for accessories and bags. It also has a 50mm rise, is made from double-butted 6061 Aluminum, and comes with a polished silver or black finish. Price and availability is uncertain for now, but you can keep an eye on the Veloci website to learn more.

New and Improved Crankbrother Stamp 1 Pedals

Made in Taiwan / $59 at Crankbrothers Small Large

The new Crankbrother Stamp 1 Gen 2 pedals feature 10 pins per side, a reduced platform height over the axle, and a concave foothold. They are still made from a durable robust nylon composite, borrow internals from the higher-end Stamp 7 pedals, and come in small and large sizes.

Singular Kite Titanium in Stock

Made in Taiwan / £2,500 at SingularCycles.com

The Singular Kite Titanium is intended to be a versatile bike that can be dressed up or down in a variety of ways. It can accommodate 45mm tires with fenders, knobby 29 x 2.1″ tires for getting rowdy, and has loads of mounts for racks, bags, and accessories. Although the small UK brand still offers custom Kites, their standard geo version is a great option with less of a wait.

All-New Klymit Static V Lite ECO Pads

Made in Taiwan / $89+ at Klymit

Klymit just launched their Static V Lite Eco and Insulated Static V Lite Eco sleeping pads that are manufactured using BlueSign approved fabrics. This means the pads are made with a minimum impact on people and the planet for a safer, more sustainable production process.

Old Man Mountain Basket in Stock and Shipping

Made in Taiwan / $80 at Old Man Mountain

The Old Man Mountain Basket is a stamped aluminum basket designed to bolt directly to their racks for a stable, rattle-free attachment. The basket fits all basket bags made for the Wald 137 and is also Molle compatible, so you can attach your favorite accessory pouches. OMM just let us know that they are in stock and shipping now. Check out our original Dispatch here.

In Conversation

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

Bladder vs Bottles

In our review of the new Revelate wedge bags (with optional hydration bladder system), there were a few comments about the pros and cons of using a bladder instead of water bottles. We’re curious how many people use bladders and/or bottles. Take a sec to fill out the survey below and we’ll post the results next week:

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Revel Wayward Dream Bike (on video)

In our latest YouTube video, Neil runs through the Revel Wayward dream bike that we’ll be giving away to one lucky Bikepacking Collective Member. You can learn more about that here.

Divine intervention – Bikepacking New Mexico

In May, our friend Dwayne Burgess tackled a four-day bikepacking adventure in Central New Mexico to ride a slightly modified version of the Apaches, Conquistadores, and a Bomb route in New Mexico. This video above shares their journey.

The Ron’s Bikes Aluminus MAXimus Story

Want to learn more about Ron’s Bikes upcoming “all metal, all American gravel crotch rocket?” They just published a detailed article on the thought process behind it, its geometry, and more over on the Ron’s Bikes blog. Read it here and stay tuned for more information on pre-orders soon.

Bikepacking Iceland

YouTube creator Bike Max’s first full-length video is a doozy. At 38 minutes long, it chronicles his trip along the Iceland Divide bikepacking route with three friends. In July, the four of them spent two weeks pedaling a total of 1,000 kilometers around the Land of Fire and Ice. Watch it above.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

Caldera 150/250/500

The Caldera is offered in three lengths ranging from 150 to 500 miles, all of which follow the beauty and geological rarities that the Eastern Sierra has to offer. The grand depart takes off from Mammoth Lakes tomorrow morning, and there are only a few folks registered on Trackleaders. Follow their progress here.

Snallygaster 200

The Snallygaster 200 is a stunningly beautiful but tough 200-mile loop through the rugged and steep Allegheny Highlands of western Maryland and northeastern West Virginia. The grand depart is tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. from the Tiny Corner Bike Shop in Oakland. You can follow the event live here.

Black Hills Expedition

The Black Hills Expedition is a 460-mile singletrack-heavy race through the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. No support, no fees, and no registration. The grand depart is this coming Monday, and there are currently just over 20 riders signed up for live tracking. Follow their progress live here.

Wish We Were Here

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

Lucas Winzenburg: Munda Biddi Trail

With the arrival of the first chilly mornings here in Colorado, I’m already browsing around our route map and dreaming of warmer locales for a getaway. Today’s meander around the map turned up the Munda Biddi Trail in Western Australia, which we’d been waning to get into the archive for years before Miles and Emily finally made it there to document for the site. The 1,000-kilometer route looks to offer a diverse mix of scenery, an abundance of interesting stops, and an eclectic group of fellow riders to meet along the way. Check out the full route guide here.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, a handful of inspiring photos from last week’s Sisters in the Wild Scotland Gravel Camp…

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