Sometimes it takes really pushing a bike to unlock its potential. This was the case for Andy White of FYXO on a recent bush bash down in Australia aboard his trusty Karate Monkey. Read on for a full review of this tried-and true-touring platform…
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Reportage
Kurt Refsnider Answers Your Questions About Riding Across Alaska on the Iditarod Trail
With its high consequences and steep gear-barrier to entry, winter bikepacking and backcountry travel can be an intimidating pursuit. After touring the complete, nearly 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail across Alaska in early 2023, Kurt Refsnider answers the questions he got from followers along the trail. Read on for a brief history of this legendary trail, Kurt’s complete gear list, and the challenges you can expect to encounter along the way.
Radar
If You Ride in the Santa Fe National Forest, Please Read This!
The Caja Del Rio, the westernmost edge of the Santa Fe National Forest has been neglected by management over the years, resulting in an excess of illegal dumping, shooting, cattle grazing, and UHV abuse. Yet, this area is a bastian for locals looking for lower-elevation riding in the frigid winter months and maintains a rich and diverse biome. Animals use the Caja for a habitat as high-end/luxury housing has expanded and golf courses installed in a water-parched landscape.
Energy.gov is currently seeking public comments related to the destruction of habitat in favor of a power line installation from Los Alamos.
This comment period was extended as it was illegally posted during the holidays. So, if you ride bikes in the Caja, or believe the sacred home of the Cochiti Pueblo should be protected, please comment. Read more below…
Reportage
When Labor Turns to Love: Build Your Own Bike With LaFraise Cycles
As part of their European tour this summer, Sam Rice and Bec Norman stopped off in Roubaix, France to spend a few days with Andreas Behrens of LaFraise Cycles. On the dawn of his 200th student, they share a shop visit that draws on Andreas’s mesmerizing past and his present-day mission to share the craft of framebuilding with people around the world.
Reportage
Easy Wins and Marginal Gains: Our Review Fairlight Secan Goes Ultra Distance
While most review bikes go back into a company’s demo fleet pretty quickly, the Fairlight Secan that Morgan Taylor reviewed back in 2022 has gone on to live an illustrious life of ultra-distance riding, mostly of the randonneuring variety, with their friend Andrew. In this re-review, Morgan and Andrew consider the Secan’s updated build and speak to the easy wins and marginal gains of preparing both bike and rider for very long days in the saddle.
Radar
Interval Straining: What Actually Happens if You Don’t Regularly Service Your Bicycle Suspension?
If you own a car, you change your oil. And not just because it’s part of adulting. Even if you know nothing about engines, you probably know what can happen if you push it too far. Debris will eventually build up, viscosity will eventually break down, and the more miles your car travels in that condition, the fewer miles it will last. But if you own bicycle suspension, the specific reasons for performing regular service may not be quite so clear.
Travis Engel knows a lot more about shocks and forks than he does about rods and pistons, but he doesn’t know exactly what happens when he blows past the manufacturer-recommended 50- and 200-hour service intervals. And like many riders, he pretty much always blows past them. So, he did some research and is here to tell us what we are (and aren’t) risking when we ignore the proverbial sticker in the upper left corner of our suspension’s proverbial windshield.
Radar
A First Look at Sim Works’ New Doppo Locust Touring Bike and SimLoaders Bags
We got our first look at the made in Portland, Oregon Sim Works SimLoaders bags during our Chris King Open House Reportage this year and today, the Japanese brand announced the full lineup, coinciding with a completely redesigned Doppo touring bike, now dubbed the Locust and with either 27.5×2.8″ or 29×2.4″ tire clearance!
We first showcased the Doppo when John did a bike tour around Mt. Fuji with the Circles crew back in 2016, so it’s exciting to see the newest permutation of this line. Read on for a complete look at the SimLoaders Bags and the new Doppo Locust below!
Radar
Radar Roundup: Kat Litty Panniers, Dispersed 6mm to 14mm Adapter, Jank Beverage Clip, Wolf Tooth Holiday MTB Giveaway, Alpacka Sled?, The Hill Project, and America’s Best Gravel Ride?
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Radar
REMINDER: December’s Group Ride Giveaway: Silca SuperPista Ultimate Hiro Edition Floor Pump
You’ve still got some time to be entered to win the nicest pump ever for our December Group Ride giveaway!
Join our Group Ride subscription plan by December 31st and be entered for a chance to win a Silca SuperPista Ultimate Hiro Floor Pump! This is open to Group Ride members worldwide!
We’re stoked to offer up one highest-end pump to a random selection from our Group Ride subscribers. The Silca SuperPista is made in the USA. It’s rebuildable, serviceable, and durable! Our good friends at Silca have offered a free pump for one lucky subscriber.
Check this post out for all the information on how to join Group Ride for $6.66/month or $69.69/year.
SIGN UP HERE.
November’s Group Ride Giveaway–from PAUL–was Pierre from Houston, TX! Congrats, Pierre!
Radar
Video Roundup: Canvas, Atmospheric River Rats 2.0, Tooling Around with Pat, Ride to Ski, and Evasion Bike Check
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Reportage
The New Traws Eryri Trail: Bikepacking Across Wales’s Most Intimidating Mountain Range
After three years in the making, Cycling UK and Natural Resources Wales launched Traws Eryri this summer, a new 200-kilometer bikepacking route that crosses Eryri National Park in North Wales. Among the first to ride it, Katherine Moore gives her verdict on the Welsh rough stuff.
Radar
Radar Roundup: Sour Bicycles Ready to Ship, Vigor Polished Rolf Prima Wheels, Crust Cold Steel Crew Neck, A NOS Aluminum Stigmata?!?!, Gravel Mania, and Drew Dropping the Hammer
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Radar
Readers’ Rides: Geoff’s ’93 Rockhopper Vintage MTB Disc Brake Conversion
Lots of people are into adapting vintage 1990s MTBs into modern gravel bikes, yet Geoff went one step further with his 1993 Rockhopper: he took on a disc brake conversion. In his garage! Let’s check out his process and final product below…
Radar
Dirty Sundays’ Velo Cosmos Event Recap!
Back in November, Dirty Sundays hosted the first Velo Cosmos event at the Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley, CA. We are honored to host an event recap, written by Whit at Meriwether Cycles and documented professionally by Reel 23 Films and Jean Paul Rose. Let’s check it out below!
Reportage
Keepers of the Flame: Shop Visit and Interview With Smith Levi of RatKing Frames
Smith Levi, of RatKing Frames, has been dedicated to making frames and bicycle cargo accessories that merge fun and function for a decade. After getting started in Oakland, California in 2013, RatKing has since migrated north to Seattle, Washington and is a founding member of the creative collective Stunt Doubles. Andrew Johns recently had a chance to stop in the space for a chat with Smith and, below, shares a conversation that spans from the idea behind Stunt Doubles, to RatKing’s design inspiration and obsession with process, and Smith’s current offerings.
Reportage
Gotta F’ It Up… Just a Tiny Bit: Monumental Loop Matt’s Monē Bikes Rigid Singlespeed 29er
Wabi-sabi is an ancient and deeply-held Japanese philosophy that sees the beauty in imperfection, appreciates simplicity, and accepts that change is inevitable. This concept, if applicable to any bicycle, feels most appropriate for a custom, handmade, rigid singlespeed 29er mountain bike. Especially a Monē Bikes. That’s not a dig at all on Cjell’s abilities as a framebuilder but as he spelled it out in a text to Matt Mason, this bike’s owner and the co-founder of the Monumental Loop, “Gotta fuck it up… just a tiny bit.”
Radar
Bike Hacks: How to Never Forget Another Piece of Riding Gear
For those of us who have (or choose) to drive to our rides, there’s always a risk that we’ll leave something important at home. And usually, we don’t realize it until we park the truck, unload the bike, reach over to the passenger seat, and … well, shit. Travis Engel knows this feeling all too well, so he’s got a hack to make sure he always has what he needs, as long as he always has his truck.
Reportage
Mental Detours Part One: Bike Touring the Italy Divide(ish)
Travel is routinely romanticized. And it is romantic—how could having the privilege of “checking out” of the daily drum of work, family, bills, etc., and the attendant stress in favor of experiencing a new place not be? The word vacation is, of course, derived from the verb “to vacate,” and while going on vacation is about the act of leaving, it’s also about finding. Finding new culture, new landscapes, new experiences, but maybe just as importantly it’s about finding new perspective on what it is you’ve placed on hold.
After two weeks spent bike touring in Italy in October, Hailey Moore reflects on what she found while away and the paradox of trying to experience more than the Trip Advisor-version of a place without missing the five-star sights. Read on for part one of her Italy Divide reflections while riding from Trento to Florence.
