Friday Debrief: Midnight Sparkle Stargazer, Ultra-long Ti Spoon, Surly Dugout Bag, 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 Stargazer in Midnight Sparkle

Made in Taiwan / $1,350 (frameset) at Tumbleweed.cc

Tumbleweed Bikes just launched a new color option for their Stargazer that they’re calling Midnight Sparkle. It’s the same midnight blue from the Prospector with a sparkly gold treatment that we’re guessing looks magical under a full moon. They are in stock now as framesets or complete builds, and they’ve also got the original Bone and Starry Night colors in stock, but once they’re gone, they won’t be coming back.

Wizard Works x CampAndGoSlow Collection

Made in England / £40-80 at Wizard Works

The Campandgoslow X Wizard Works collaboration is launching today at 5 p.m. GMT (noon EST). This collection consists of a Lil Presto Barrel Bag and Mag-Neato Tool Roll constructed from Scottish Haley Stevens 18oz Dry-Waxed Canvas and German-made FC free 1000D Cordura lined with a German-made recycled polyester. Both bags are available in two color combos to complement Campandgoslow’s Eastern and Western Rattler bar tape. Wizard Works also has bar tape.

RatKing Ti Long Spoon

Made in USA / $22 at RatKing Frames

Handmade titanium spoons from RatKing Frames? Damn right! They’re 11″ long, weigh 19 grams, and are made by Smith one at a time in Seattle, Washington.

Surly Dugout Bag

Made in TBD / $45 at Surly

Surly recently released their take on a stem bag. The Dugout bag features a design made for one-handed operation and mounts to the bars and stem using the three included OneWrap straps and one Surly Whip Lash Gear Strap. It’s built using Bluesign materials and is rated to carry up to three pounds worth of gear.

Corvus Sweetrise Carbon Handlebar

Made in Taiwan / $160 at Corvus Cycles

The new Corvus Sweetrise Carbon Handlebar takes design cues from their popular Sweet 16 bar. It has a 16° sweep, 48mm rise, and 780mm total width that make it look like a comfortable option for bikepacking and trail-riding.

Field and Forest Rack Pack

Made in Canada / $150 CAD at Field and Forest

Taking design cues from their Basket Bag, the Field and Forest Rack Pack is a nifty bag that attaches to any front rack with a large platform. Made custom for your specific rack, the Rack Pack features a roll-top closure and two exterior side pockets, and it attaches directly to the rack using the two main webbing straps or the integrated daisy chain on the base. It has an internal pocket, your choice of 1.5″ wide shoulder straps or 1″ wide grab handles, and the base is padded with closed-cell foam to reduce rattling. Each Rack Pack is made-to-order in your choice of fabric (Cordura, X-Pac, or Waxed Canvas) and color.

Blackburn Design Outpost Cargo Cage V2

Made in Taiwan / $35 at Blackburn Design

We’re not sure when Blackburn updated their Outpost Cargo Cage, but it appears the second version now features an additional set of mounting holes, making it compatible with triple-pack mounts and allowing for more adjustment. The cage is made from lightweight aluminum, weighs 126 grams (cage only), includes two cargo straps, and comes with Blackburn’s lifetime warranty.

Introducing Rare Earth Cycles

Made in USA at Rare Earth Cycle

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After 17 years spent working in design and product development in the outdoor footwear industry, Brian Hall started building bicycles as a hobby. He built a bike for the Baja Divide, followed by a bike for the Tour Divide, and is now fully up and running and building a customer list under the Rare Earth name. Brian is based out of River Falls, Minnesota, and specializes in fully custom, handmade adventure bikes. Make sure to check out our Rigs of the 2023 Tour Divide roundup for a closer look at his personal rig.

Brooks B72

Made in England / $190 at Brooks England

The Brooks B72 was first launched in the 1930s, popularized by its vegetable-tanned leather top, twin-rail steel frame, and integrated suspension springs, and it’s now making a comeback. It comes in one width (205mm), weighs a hefty 720 grams, and is designed for an upright riding position or “unhurried touring” as Brooks puts it.

PTAP Designs/Holdfast Collaboration

Made in USA / $99 at Holdfast

Earlier this week, PTAP Designs and Holdfast announced a joint release that includes a PTAP stem bag, a set of Holdfast foot retention straps, and a keychain, all made using upcycled materials from decommissioned Baltimore road work signs. Quantities are very limited!

Hobo Hub Works Slow Poke Longsleeve

$30 at Hobo Hub Works

Embrace your inner slow poke with the new Hobo Hub Works Slow Poke Longsleeve. Each shirt is printed in Columbia, Missouri, features an awesome design by Art Of Shralp in St Louis, and all pre-orders get free stickers. Pre-orders opened today and run until December 8th.

In Conversation

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

What’s Your Gear of the Year?

Putting together our annual Gear of the Year awards is always a ton of work, and this year’s award roundup was no exception. However, it’s also a lot of fun going through all the products we’ve tested to refine a selection that worked well and stood up to miles upon miles of abuse. We get to try a lot of stuff throughout the year, but we obviously can’t test everything. We’d love to hear about your favorite gear of 2023. Let us know which products (or DIY projects) were your favorites in the conversation below.

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Chris and Rob Ride the Cowichan Valley 8

In his latest video, Chris Wilson and his riding buddy Rob spent the fourth of July weekend riding the Olympic Adventure Route and Cowichan Valley 8 Loop. Watch it above.

Brother in the Wild Dorset Tickets Available

Brother in the Wild Dorset is a two-day bikepacking, gravel grinding, adventure-seeking festival hosted by Brother Cycles. Riders will set up camp in the heart of a nature reserve and spend two days riding the gravel roads, country lanes, and singletrack trails that link up across the region. The routes, ranging from 30 to 50 miles, will dip in and out of local towns with a number of pubs, cafes, and wild swim spots along the way. Tickets are available now but are expected to sell out quick.

A Taste of Freedom

Amundsen’s latest video catches up with Ronnie Romance at his home in rural Connecticut to learn what the bicycle means to him. He shows off a couple of his favorite bikes and shares some beautiful and relatable sentiments that speak to why many of us ride. Watch the four-minute video above.

Laura Killingbeck’s Solo Great Divide Story: Day Fire Podcast

On the latest episode of the Day Fire podcast, hosts Clint and Dawson sit down with Laura Killingbeck to learn more about her recent solo 5,000-mile bikepacking trip on the Great Divide Trail. Their conversation is full of useful tips for anyone thinking about heading out solo and topics like owls, bears, squirrels, panic, and magic.

Two and a half days. 64 miles. One large pumpkin.

Beau Miles loves running and riding, he’s passionate about food heritage and he’s curious about how the things he eats impact the way his body performs. Logically, this led him to a bold idea: go for a multisport, multiday trip and eat just one thing. As a connoisseur of orange foods and the proud owner of a pumpkin patch grown from his grandmother’s seeds, Beau knew exactly what his one food would be. See his story in the new video from Patagonia above.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

GranGuanche Audax Trail

The GranGuanche Audax Trail is an 800-kilometer, self-supported trail ride across the Canary Islands. The Audax pace is the challenge to connect all the scheduled ferries in a non-stop ride, it’s only achievable by ultra-cycling athletes, and the entry fee will be fully refunded to every rider fast enough to make it. The event takes off from Lanzarote on December 3rd at 10 p.m. local time. You can follow along live here.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, a handful of Instagram posts from the Hunt 1000 in Australia…

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