Radar Roundup: New Chris King Color &#8220;Midnight&#8221;, Steve Potts Original Dirt Drops, Kate George x Cosmic Dirt, Angel Revo Saddle, Soma Jawbone, Ergon BA Hip Bag, and Cycling to Argentina

Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…

Chris King “Midnight” Color Now Available

Perhaps you noticed a new color Chris King product donning the bikes in our Chris King Open House Reportage? Well, this new hue, dubbed “Midnight,” is now available from your local Chris King dealers. You can even lace a set of the hubs up to those new Chris King carbon wheels John reviewed.

Roll on over to see our Chris King Open House post if you haven’t and browse the new color at Chris King.

Steve Potts Original Dirt Drop Bar 31.8 60cm $149.95

Remember that gorgeous 1987 Steve Potts Signature we posted a few months ago? The dirt drop one? Well, Steve worked with Nitto on a re-issue of the Original Dirt Drop, those fabled dirt drops WTB developed back in the day, and were later released under the Specialized banner as the RM-2. Mark Slate, Steve Potts, and Charlie Cunningham’s WTB products are timeless, and it’s great to see a modern update.

Specs:

31.8 clamp
Aluminum
Polished finish in black and silver
Width at ends: 60cm
Flare Out: 25°
Drop Flare: 30°
Reach: 104mm
Drop: 133mm
Weight: 365g
Made in Japan by Nitto

See more at Soma.

Kate George x Cosmic Dirt Pack

You might recognize the work of Kate George from her collaboration with Rogue Panda on their unique framebag designs. Well, the artist recently teamed up with Cosmic Dirt on a pack of products, featuring a pattern that’s right up our alley. Roll on over to check it out at Cosmic Dirt.

Angel Revo Palm Saddle $125

This palm-printed Angel Revo saddle from Velo caught our eyes recently. These saddles feature a printed surface, covered with palm fronds. The Angel Revo utilizes Velo’s new AtmosFoam, a nitrogen-infused foam designed to enhance performance and durability while minimizing the production process’s environmental impact. AtmosFoam is lightweight and provides incredible support for the rider’s sit bones, improving comfort and performance. Including nitrogen in the foaming process results in a lighter, more responsive foam compared to other compounds with finer pore structures. In fact, the microcells are more evenly distributed, providing consistent rebound and shock-absorbing capabilities. It also provides lower thermal conductivity, keeping contact with the saddle cooler in hotter weather conditions.

Check out more at Velo.

Soma Jawbone A-Type and B-Type Frames $795.95/$769.95

While Soma’s popular Wolverine monster cross frame and its Juice and Riff hardtails are super-capable for the majority of cyclotourists and bikepackers, the brand recognized that many of its customers – after being out a different trips on different terrain and riding different bikes – find themselves wanting more of one thing and maybe less of another.

Enter the Jawbone, a drop bar bikepacking/touring bike that fits true mountain bike width tires. It’ll clear up to 29 x 2.25″ and 27.5 x 2.6″ with decent mud clearance, all depending on frame size and drivetrain choice.

The Jawbone is offered in two versions.

The A-Type (green) is for those who feel a simpler design with less moving parts makes for a more reliable, thus better touring bike. It also adopts more current standards like thru-axles, which offer a stiffer connection to the wheel.

The B-Type (black) is for those who like to tinker and appreciates practical bells and whistles. The Broski thru-axles allow to run the bike with derailleurs or geared hubs like Rohloff and if either fails on a trip, it can be run as a single speed. The sliders on the B-Type allow you shorten the chainstay to 435mm for a sportier ride or 455mm for a more stable ride.
The B-Type maintains compatibility with QR wheels standard. We know there are quite a few of you who find QR wheels quite reliable for long distance touring and gravel. It is the technology you know and it is still easy to find and cheap to replace.

Check out the full breakdown at Soma.

Ergon BA Hip Bag $104.95

The BA Hip Back is designed to meet the highest demands of enduro, all-mountain and gravel riding – to provide the perfect balance of ergonomics and ride comfort. Due to the lack of a back plate, a standard hip pack tends to shift when ridden in technical terrain. Ergon solved this common issue with a wide, slip resistant hip belt combined with a unique compression system that provides a reliable and stable fit. The compression system is a twist mechanism that the rider can easily adjust with one hand, securing pack essentials or even a hydration bladder safely and unnoticeable to the body.

Specs:

3 Liter capacity
Fits up to a 49″ waist
Ergon’s exclusively developed twist-dial allows the hip pack to be cinched close to the body with just one hand, even while riding
The wide hip belt is ventilated by mesh inserts and ensures a stable, ergonomic fit of the hip pack in any riding situation. The upper and lower edge of the hip belt can be individually tightened. This provides an additional level of compression to secure the pack to the body.
The pockets of the BA Hip Pack are divided into a main compartment on top with a pocket to store your keys and another pocket towards the lower portion of the main compartment. In addition, there is an additional pocket as well as a cell phone pocket on either side of the pack.
The BA Hip Pack offers a tailor-made way to carry an Ergon BH150 hydration bladder in a practical horizontal position. Bladder sold separately and available HERE

Cycling to Argentina EP1: ALASKA, The Arctic

In July of 2022 Greg and Victoria set off from Deadhorse / Prudhoe Bay, at the very tippy top of Alaska on their Tumbleweed bikes, on a long Bikepacking journey south. Episode 1 is from their first week on the Dalton Highway, up above the Arctic Circle…