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Hydration vests have been used in ultra-endurance running circles for some time now, but only recently have they been introduced into cycling, specifically bikepacking races. Restrap announced its first foray into vest design with the Race Hydration Vest. Let’s check it out below.
ILE just announced the second collaboration featuring Oakland-based artist Shogun Shido. This line of bags features hand-painted X50 XPAC, which started out as one continuous roll of fabric before being laser cut into panels for each product. The panels were placed at random while maintaining the orientation of the original painting, with drips and splatters cascading down the bags. Each piece is one of a kind, and includes a sewn-in artist label signed by Shido.
Check out the full collection at Inside Line Equipment.
We’ve seen the concept before, but never at this level of execution. Hydrapak’s new Breakaway+ bottle plus water filter comes in two sizes, 30 oz and 20 oz, and looks to have covered all the issues we had about these sorts of bottle filters. Let’s check it out.
Australian bag maker Framework Designs just opened a new pre-order for the updated Haul All Wald 139 basket bag ($238). Let’s check it out…
The Radavist thanks 1-Up USA for sponsoring our Sea Otter Classic 2024 coverage!
Josh and John were at Sea Otter Classic this week, covering people, products, and bikes on display. We’ve pulled together a few über galleries for your enjoyment, so let’s get into Part 02!
The new Bob Marley and State Bicycle Co. collection features a Klunker and 4130 Road+ lines alongside hemp frame bags, bar bags, and a range of distinctive cycling apparel. Let’s check it out below!
The Radavist thanks 1-Up USA for sponsoring our Sea Otter Classic 2024 coverage!
Josh and John were at Sea Otter Classic this week, covering people, products, and bikes on display. We’ve pulled together a few über galleries for your enjoyment, so let’s get into Part 01!
The Radavist thanks 1-Up USA for sponsoring our Sea Otter Classic 2024 coverage!
Josh and John were out at Sea Otter this week, covering people, products, and bikes on display. One bike in particular that caught our eye was this Stanton Sedona 29er, on display at the 5Dev booth. We love a good hardtail and much like Steve from the Hardtail Party YouTube and Instagram account, we’ve been lauding their merits for a long time! So we know a good bike when we see one. Let’s take a look at this shreddy 29er below!
The Radavist thanks 1-Up USA for sponsoring our Sea Otter Classic 2024 coverage!
Josh and John are scouring the 2024 Sea Otter Classic for interesting products, bikes, and people and we’ve got a lot more on the way but this PNW Components dropper post had us dropping our jaws…
The Radavist thanks 1-Up USA for sponsoring our Sea Otter Classic 2024 coverage!
At Sea Otter Classic 2024, John caught up with Hudski Bikes to check out their new V3 Doggler prototype. If you recall, John loved the Hudski Doggler V2 he reviewed last year and made some mindful notes of what he’d change in the next version of this affordable jack-of-all-trades flat bar bike. Did Hudski read his notes? Read on to find out…
The Wanderer is Viral’s drop-bar-specific titanium adventure bike, designed for rough roads and the longest of backcountry adventures, all with an electronic-shifting Pinion gearbox…
Coinciding with this week’s Sea Otter Classic, 1UP USA just announced a completely redesigned Super Duty hitch-mount bike rack. With a new one-handed push-button system, adjustable tray spacing, 100 lb rating per tray, and more, there’s a lot to like about this rack. Josh, our resident rackaholic, has been testing the new SD and shares a review below…
Last year, 1UP USA launched the XD (Xtreme Duty) hitch-mounted tray bike rack. Designed for “extreme” off-road use or hauling heavy bikes, the XD eschewed some of 1UP’s classic design features (and added quite a few new ones) in creating what they’ve dubbed the “most durable, highest capacity rack.”
I was included in the prototyping phase for XD, but didn’t write anything about the final product because I didn’t think it would broadly appeal to our readership for a few reasons. With a maximum 150 lb capacity in the first tray (120 lbs in a second add-on and 75 lbs in a third), the XD is targeted at e-bike and e-moto owners. And it’s heavy and expensive (a single XD costs $250 more than a double SD).
But in terms of capacity, the 1UP XD is pretty much in a league of its own. The only product that comes close is the Rigd RambleRack, rated at 150 lbs per two bike trays for on-road use.
But there were quite a few features of the XD that made me pretty excited. First, 1UP got rid of the folding trays. This feature was originally meant to make their racks easier to fold up and store away but also added pivot points that could introduce unwanted wobbling as bikes move independently at the steering axis.
Additionally, the XD’s arms are beefed up, wheel chocks can be added to reduce front wheel rotation, and probably my favorite is the new glide bar ratcheting system.
So, you might be asking, since I didn’t write about the XD a year ago, why am I writing about it now? Well, the completely redesigned SD (Super Duty) rack that launches today incorporates key features from the XD, in a lighter-weight and more versatile package. It’s the first major update to the flagship model that came out nearly ten years ago and is pretty much the rack I’d been hoping they would make for a long time.
The redesign of the SD also more clearly defines the 1UP lineup, with the lighter Heavy Duty rated at 65 lbs per tray and the Xtreme Duty at 150 lbs.
Priced at $600 for a single and $900 for a double (that’s for silver; anodized black is a slight cost increase), there are SD-specific add-ons for $395.
The first two trays are rated at 100 lbs each, and the add-ons can hold 75 lbs. Original SD add-ons, and other Quick Rack accessories, are compatible with the new rack.
The new SD retains 1UP’s integrated anti-wobble corner expander ball and machined slot for fine-tuning the hitch bar lock. And everything above the hitch bar is new.
The glide bar and red lever have been completely redesigned to offer a stronger connection to the arms that hold the tires. This allowed 1UP to introduce a press and lift feature that disengages the ratchet and opens and closes the arms with one hand. The rack arms now extend all the way down for easier loading and unloading and there’s even an optional ramp for rolling heavy bikes onto the ramp.
With bikes getting longer (and, for some, heavier) and handlebars wider, squeezing four bikes onto the original Super Duty was always tricky.
I often carry a combination of flat and drop bar bikes and channel my sub-par Tetris skills to make everything fit without rubbing each time I load up. 1UP designed the new SD around similar use cases, spacing each tray an additional 2″ apart and making them adjustable for four different configurations: standard at 54”, long at 58”, and offset to either the driver or passenger side at 56”.
While I’ve exaggerated the offset of the trays in these photos for demonstrative purposes, the new rack configuration makes it a lot easier to load my varying types of Large to XL bikes without extending wheels beyond the width of the truck’s side mirrors.
In order to achieve the 100 lb per tray weight rating, 1UP also beefed up the thickness on the side plates and pivot beams. They also widened the trays to fit fat bike tires while also accommodating everything down to about 45mm without needing a Wheel Saver.
I find the optional wheel chocks to be especially helpful in locking in the front wheel of my gravel bikes with around a 2″ tire. Without it, the wheel seems to swim in the wide side arms, even though it’s plenty stable. There’s also a fat bike chock for tires in the 4-5″ range.
I’ve been using the new SD for a couple of weeks now and with my extended drive out to Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA this week, have logged nearly one thousand miles. With the base two tray rack and a wheel chock for each bike, I can report that it is very, very, secure.
I’ve bounced it all over the desert finding some remote camp spots and the bikes don’t wobble much at all. I frequently monitor my rearview mirrors while driving, glancing back at bikes hanging off the back of my truck, and the new SD moves less than any other rack I’ve used.
In my previous rack reviews, I’ve pointed out that I rely on racks that can carry at least four bikes and a swingout adapter that allows access to my truck’s tailgate. I’ve been using the original 1UP SD along with the Rigd Rambleswing since the swingout came out right around this time last year.
It’s been a solid setup for me, as the overbuilt nature of the Rambleswing and its 300 lb capacity help isolate movement in the overall system that can come from cantilevering a four-tray rack off the back of a pickup truck. But after testing out the new SD with two add-on trays, I decided to drive to Sea Otter with only the base rack.
Photo showing the old SD rack with Rig’d Rambleswing
The Ramblwswing isn’t quite as wide as some other swingouts, which requires me to mount 1UP racks pretty far out from the unit to clear the tailgate when open. This isn’t possible with the more substantial trays of the new SD. The only way to swing the rack out and clear the tailgate is to move the rack into one of its lower settings and then swing it out. So, I decided it would be easier to deal with the two-tray version rather than four while on my initial road trip with it.
Moving forward, if I continue using the new SD, I’ll swap out a wider swingout like the 1UP RackAttach, or wait until Rid’g hopefully makes a larger size of the Rambleswing. This is a non-issue for folks mounting the new SD directly to their vehicles.
As of writing this, I’m still waiting on the official product weights from 1UP, but the new SD is heavy. So, be sure to check the weight ratings of vehicles and other accessories, especially if you’re carrying heavy bikes. Those numbers tend to add up fast.
Overall, this is the best rack 1UP has made yet. The new glide bar mech is super nice to use and staggering the trays makes loading and unloading bikes much easier than before. And the combination of beefed-up components with optional wheel chocks keeps bikes stable even in rough conditions.
See more at 1UP USA
North St Bags just announced an entirely new bag catalog featuring a Handlebar Pack, rack-mounted Adventure Micro and Macro panniers, and a Roll-Top Trunk bag. All are made with recycled EcoPak sailcloth, and the five standard color options are the same across all four, so people can mix and match colors. Check out the full drop at North St Bags.
Industry Nine has spent 2024 rolling out all-new lightweight chassis hub systems through the SOLiX lineup. First came SOLiX G and SOLiX SL wheelsets, and now SOLiX M brings the same quick engagement, low weight, and reduced drag to their lightest and fastest mountain bike wheels yet. Let’s check out some Quick Hits on the three new SOLiX wheelset offerings and an all-new hubset below.
The Radavist thanks 1-Up USA for sponsoring our Sea Otter Classic 2024 coverage!
While on the road to Sea Otter, John swung through the Ritchey HQ in the South Bay and got to check out some new models that are coming out tomorrow. Check out a sneak peek of the all-new Montebello randonneuring bike, the redesigned Outback, and P29er, along with the Superlogic Butano Ridge integrated handlebars and some shop ephemera below!
There’s a lot to love about Kona’s latest drop-bar bike, the Ouroboros. From the name (duh) to the stance and details, it’s got a lot going on. John got his hands on the Supreme build spec ($6999) and shot some photos before today’s release, so let’s take a closer look at this adventure-ready platform.
One of our favorite dropper posts, the Fox Transfer, just got a refresh…
Panorama Cycles just announced the Boreal, the brand’s all-terrain touring bike…
