Friday Debrief: A Sub-$900 Fat Bike, New Bike Trailer, Rivendell Clem Pre-Order, 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…

Austere Belt Pre-Orders

Made in USA / $88 (until Monday) at Austere

After years of customer requests, Austere Manufacturing has added what they describe as “the most over engineered belt” to their lineup of high-end CNC’d buckles. According to Austere its innovative, patent pending design allows the buckle to lock so that it doesn’t move while going about your day and yet it’s still capable of pretty extreme loads. Austere is also currently offering free shipping on all orders and has added a bunch of single-use discount codes for between $10-$100 off your order as well as some free products! The discount codes are words that they use a lot on the website to describe their brand and products. You can take multiple guesses at checkout.

Ritchey Outback Granite & Snow + New Rear Dropouts

Made in Taiwan / $1599 at Ritchey Logic

The latest Ritchey Outback features a clean Granite & Snow paint job, all of the versatility and utility we’ve come to expect from the Outback, and Ritchey snuck in a redesigned rear dropout that uses a lightweight truss design that we think looks pretty slick. The Ritchey Outback took a top spot in our 2020 Gear of the Year Awards due to its smooth riding Ritchey Logic steel tubing and carbon fork. Make sure to check out Miles’ review here.

State’s $999 Trail+ Fat Bike

Made in Taiwan / $999 at State Bicycle Co.

State Bicycle Co. just released a new fat bike made from 6061 aluminum and priced at an impressively low $999. The Trail+ Fat Bike comes in Gray or Wildberry and is built with a Shimano 1×9-speed drivetrain, Tektro brakes, and 26 x 4.5″ Kenda Juggernaut tires mounted on 36-hole rims. You can also customize it with a few things, including a handlebar bag or Brooks saddle. And it’s on sale right now for $899.

Crumpler Steamed Bun

Made in Australia / $80 at Crumpler

Crumpler has been making camera bags for ages—some of our long-time readers might recognize the brand name from Logan’s 2014 pack list or the DIY camera bag conversion from 2013. We recently heard that they’ve been making bike bags for a hot minute and saw the Steamed Bun stem bag listed in the recent Hunt 1000 Rigs roundup, which looks pretty nice.

VEOLO Bike Trailer on Kickstarter

Made in Germany / €550+ at Kickstarter

Designed to be a versatile companion for everyday life and loaded touring alike, the new German-made VEOLO trailer is built from 95% recycled materials, can haul up to 80 kilograms (175 pounds), and quickly stows away into a compact shape. It’s live on Kickstarter now, and backers can save 30% on the planned retail price.

Analog Cycles Fool’s Gold Cerakote

$65+ at Analog Cycles

Vermont-based Analog Cycles just dropped some limited edition Fool’s Gold Cerakote components on their web shop. There’s no more than one or two of each item, which includes King Cages, Nitto racks, Sim Works, Wald baskets, and more. Here’s how Analog describes the finish: “This is a real gold ring gold, the ring everybody wants gold, not matte yellow like our harvest gold.”

Dispersed Bikepacking Handlebar Roll

Made in USA / $175 at Dispersed.Bike

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Released this week, the new Dispersed Bikepacking Handlebar Roll is the brand’s first proper handlebar bag for bikepacking. It’s a minimal dual bag system consisting of an exterior bag with webbing attachment points and a small front pouch, alongside an interior bag that’s lightweight and seam-taped. The whole system straps directly to the bars using Voile Straps and a paracord headtube attachment. It looks to be lightweight, simple, and best of all, waterproof!

Rivendell Clem Pre-Order is this Monday

Made in Taiwan / $1,300+ at RivBike.com Frameset Complete

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While not necessarily a dedicated bikepacking bike, the Rivendell Clem has strong tubes, plenty of mounts, and clearance for 2.4″ tires with room for mud. Rivendell describes the Clem as a “relaxed commute, trail and camping bike for people who don’t care about (or possibly even disdain) all the latest bike tech and have a history with bikes that makes them appreciate now unique details like rim brakes, investment cast fork crowns, seatlugs instead of collars, quill stems, quick release wheels, and uncomplicated vertical drop-outs.” The winter pre-order for framesets and complete builds goes live on Monday the 27th at noon PST.

Wilde MB-Fun Show Bike is For Sale

Made in USA / $6,500 at Wilde Bikes

Unfortunately, this stunning Wilde MB-Fun wasn’t able to make it to MADE earlier this year due to shipping delays, but now they are selling it, and it could be yours. It’s a size large with a 66° head tube angle, 491mm reach, and 635mm stack. It’s built up with some nice parts, including a Chris King headset, Chris King MTN 30 29″ wheels, Chris King Bottom Bracket, SRAM XO Transmission Group, Wolf Tooth Dropper post, Paul x Wilde 50mm Splatter stem, and Carbon Answer Handlebars. Reach out to Wilde directly to learn more.

Support Brands Who Support Bikepacking

We’re not big on promoting holiday sales and overconsumption, but if you’re on the hunt for a good deal on a bike, bags, or components, consider jumping on one of the sales from a few of the wonderful companies who’ve helped support independent cycling media this year:

• 45NRTH (up to 60% off)
• Blackburn Designs (25% off tools and bags)
• Jones Bikes (15% off)
• Kona Bikes (deep dealer discounts)
• Ortlieb (Repair Week)
• Old Man Mountain (racks 20% off)
• PEdALED (up to 50% off)
• Restrap (up to 60% off all bags)
• Revelate Designs ($99 Sweetrolls)
• Ride With GPS (treat yourself)
• Salsa (up to 30% off bikes and bags)
• Surly (30% off fat bikes thru Dec 11)
• Tailfin (treat yourself)
• Voile (treat yourself)
• Wolf Tooth (up to 40% off)

In Conversation

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

Bikes for 2024

Readers were eager to talk about bikes and gear this week, and as we look ahead to 2024 we’d like to learn what you’d like to see reviewed next year. Suggest a bike in the survey below:

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Laurianne Placais Wins BikingMan Challenge

Out of nearly 1,000 participants, Laurianne Plaçais won the overall BikingMan title after completing four events in 2023: Portugal (4th place), France – Southern Region (1st place), Euskadi – Pyrenees (2nd place), Morocco (2nd place). Not only did Laurianne dominate all categories, including the men and women’s divisions, she is also the first woman to take the overall BikingMan title. Congrats, Laurianne!

Ted King’s XL’ent Gravel Adventure

Earlier this fall, Ted King set out on a four-day gravel journey on our VTXL route across the state of Vermont with riding buddies Tim Johnson and Pete Gaston. Watch the video the made along the way above.

2023/24 Ultra Distance Scholarship Recipients Announced

The Ultra Distance Scholarship is an initiative aimed at increasing diversity and representation within ultra-distance cycling and racing. With the aid of its many sponsors and supporters, it provides training and equipment to scholarship recipients in a journey toward a prominent ultra cycling race. The recipients for 2023/2024 are Musa Akinosho, Fatima Ahmed, and Cai Wang. Follow the @UltraDistanceScholarship on Instagram to learn more.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

Victoria Divide

The Victoria Divide is a 570km off-road bikepacking route, traversing the Great Dividing Range across the state of Victoria, from Melbourne to Albury/Wodonga. The grand depart takes off this morning from the Wurundjeri Spur Lookout in the town of Kew and there are currently just 3 riders registered for live tracking.

Hunt 1000

Developed in 2016 by Dan Hunt, the Hunt 1000 is a bikepacking route that links Melbourne to Canberra, and traverses some of Australia’s most beautiful high country. Riders are aiming for a grand finish on December 2nd, rather than a grand depart, so the majority of riders are already out on route. Follow their progress along live here and make sure to check out our Rigs of the Hunt 1000 roundup, linked at the bottom of this page.

Wish We Were Here

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

Lucas Winzenburg: Eastern Divide Trail Segment 8

I’m in Florida for the first time this week, and as much as the gator I can see beside the pond out the window is creeping me out, I find this place and its landscapes strangely intriguing. Pedaling Segment 8 of our Eastern Divide Trail seems like the perfect way to experience more of Florida, and I’m eager to return with a bike some winter soon.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, a handful of updates from this year’s Across Andes event in Chile…

Further Reading

Make sure to dig into these related articles for more info...

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