Friday Debrief: Colorful Parts, a Ti Wrench, Tour Aotearoa Grand Depart, 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…

Forager Cycles Ti 8/10mm wrench

Our friends over at Forager (maker of Cable Cherries) just unveiled a grade 5 titanium 8/10mm wrench with valve core remover that’s small enough to fit into tight spots between racks and fenders but still long enough for some leverage. “Ideal for snugging up loose nuts and making trailside adjustments to the seat bag, fender stays, rack bolts, etc.,” as they put it. Nitto, Salsa, Tubus, and other rack builders use 10mm nuts. It’s not available yet, but stay tuned as it will be made in Nevada and available in April/May.

Wolf Tooth’s Colorful Rotor Lockrings

Wolf Tooth released a rainbow of Centerlock Rotor Lockrings earlier this week, each compatible with 12mm, 15mm, and 20mm thru-axles and QR. They’re machined from 7075-T6 aluminum in Minnesota and available in eight colors to match other Wolf Tooth anodized color accents for headsets, bolts, and seatpost clamps.

$15.95 / Made in Minnesota, USA / Details

PNW Bar Tape

PNW released their new Coast Bar Tape, available in seven unique color options and accompanied by a pair of matte black anodized bar end plugs. According to PNW, the Coast tape is made from a 2.4mm shock-absorbing material and features 2000mm of anti-slip, PNW-embossed tape.

$29 / Made in Taiwan / Details

In Conversation

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

Nua Roure

With nearly 200 comments in the conversation section of the ATB Manifesto we published earlier this week, we got some very interesting suggestions. One of which was from Jimmy who’s having a custom Nua Roure built as an ATB. We thought it was definitely worth sharing.

Based in Barcelona, Spain, Nua Bikes is a small bespoke builder focused on titanium bikes and internally geared drivetrains. Nua is the Catalan word for nude, which gets to the heart of their bicycle design philosophy. The Nua Roure is their “two-wheeled exploration vehicle” and is based on either a Pinion or Rohloff build featuring 27.5+ tires and loads of mounts, including a three-pack on each seat stay. Currently, all Nua bikes are custom-made to order and frames are custom-sized to fit the owner. The Nua Roure is available as a complete with a Rohloff starting at €4,600 or with a Pinion starting at €5,000. Learn more over at NuaBikes.com.

Trek Sawyer with a Jones fork?

Another reader, Kyle K., left a photo of their ATB in the same conversation thread (here). While we’re not quite sure what it is, it looks quite unique, complete with a truss fork and Hite-rite “dropper.” One of us guessed a Trek Sawyer with a Jones fork. Anybody else want to take a shot at identifying it?

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

Brother In the Wild BIPOC Tickets

At last year’s Brother in the Wild, Harry and Vee from Wizard Works hosted a fireside panel discussion on inclusivity within the cycling world. “Those that attended know how powerful and engaging this fireside conversation was to listen to, and we don’t want this talk to be the only action we take to make things better,” said Brother Cycles. This year, to continue working to increase diversity at their events, they’ve held 30 extra tickets for POC/BAME riders to attend BITW Dorset (May 13 to 15th), as general release tickets sold out in the blink of an eye. Tickets for POC/BAME riders can be accessed via the link below.

£80-90 / Details

Support Black Cycling Orgs & Businesses

To celebrate Black History Month, Radical Adventure Riders (RAR) created a list of Black cycling organizations and businesses. Be sure to support, follow, and share this resource this month and beyond. Check it out here.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

2022 TOUR AOTEAROA

The 3,000-kilometer Tour Aotearoa starts today! Riders must finish the route from Cape Reinga, at top of New Zealand, to Bluff at the bottom in 30 days. It’s a brevet, not a race. Riding conditions vary from rough singletrack, to beaches, to dirt roads, gravel roads, sealed roads, cycle lanes, trails and paths, and five boat trips. This year’s grand depart starts at 7:30 a.m. in waves of 100 people per day—there are currently more than 300 riders registered to participate. Follow along live here.

Iditarod Trail Invitational 2022

The epic Iditarod Trail Invitational kicks off on Sunday. The Iditarod Trail Invitational is the world’s longest winter ultra marathon by fat bike, foot, and ski, and it follows the historic Iditarod Trail from Knik to Nome. Follow along the tracker map here.

Wish We Were Here

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

Cass Gilbert: Southern Arizona

I’ve been seeing a lot of imagery from southern Arizona this week, what with Sarah Swallow’s recent Sky Islands Adventure Ride series, and news that my buddy Jay Ritchey from BXB is about to have a shop warming party in Tucson. So I wish I was there too, cruising around those quiet desert dirt roads, camping out, and maybe trying Lael Wilcox’ recently posted Redington-Lemmon Loop. Since riding the AZT over a decade ago, I’ve always wanted to go back up to Mount Lemmon, and this looks like the perfect overnighter to do so. Now, where’s that gravel bike…

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