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After six months of traveling the world–sans bicycles–Gideon Tsang and his partner Christie touched down in Bordeaux, France. With a full month’s stay ahead of them in the southwestern French city, the couple scooped up two 80s flat-bar “road bikes” for commuting and almost immediately fell in with the wonderful community-centered Musette Bicycles and Coffee. Read on below for Gideon’s insightful shop visit and interview with co-owner Rob Lawrence…
With numerous high summits along the Continental Divide and over a dozen 14,000′ peaks, the Sawatch Mountains are the heart of central Colorado’s alpine riding. Below, Hailey Moore shares a 340-mile bike touring route that circumnavigates 14 of the 15 Sawatch peaks by linking together a few of the region’s classic high passes and resupply options in iconic mountain towns. Read on for Hailey’s inspiration behind crafting this classic Colorado cyclo-touring route, detailed information for each section, and an optional extension that loops around Mt. Holy Cross to make the route a complete circumnavigation.
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Five years ago, I penned a post about abstaining from alcohol for six months. Then, eighteen months later, I followed up with a two-year anniversary piece that outlined my perspective on putting down the bottle… for good.
It’s now been six years since I had any alcohol. In that time, I’ve witnessed more discussions about cycling’s alcohol problem, so I wanted to write again about this subject where I’ll offer guidance on transitioning out of alcohol dependency, non-alcoholic drinks I’ve found to be helpful, and resources you can use to help on this journey…
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
This is a continuation of Ryan Wilson’s Altai Traverse Reportage. Read part one here: The Altai Traverse: Finding Tracks in the Mongolian Countryside
In a remote corner of the Mongolian Altai, about 40 kilometers from the border with China, I set off toward a desolate valley from the small, windswept, and dusty village of Bulgan. My next resupply point, about 125km down the road, was, confusingly, another town named Bulgan. I never quite got the hang of the Mongolian naming schemes in my time there, as it was quite common to find a handful of towns and villages across the country with identical names on any given map, and sometimes each town had two or three names they might be referred to by depending on which map you’re looking it, which sometimes makes it tricky getting reliable information.
We like to look at the origins of cycling nomenclature occasionally, dissecting the etymology of certain nuanced terms and explaining their origins. Today, we’re looking at the term “clipless pedals.” Read on for a short but sweet rundown by John…
Underbiking World Championships is precisely what it sounds like: a mixed-terrain race on classic road bikes. Think Rough Stuff Collective meets Single Speed Worlds. Today’s Readers’ Rides comes from Barry Wicks, a legendary multi-surface master, who shares his Underbiking Worlds Raleigh Super Course…
We love the products Austere Manufacturing is producing in Northwest Washington state. Uriel Eisen’s clever designs have taken a critical look at items you can buy from hardware stores and injected real engineering into the design process, resulting in more robust, longer-lasting products that operate as well as they look.
We’ve been using the Cam straps for a while now on our bike tours and even in our 4×4 buildouts, but today, we’re checking out Uriel’s latest creation: a 1″ Pin Ladder Lock buckle (stainless pins $16.95 / ti pins $19.85). These are meant to replace the plastic ladder buckles found on your bags and packs that can break out in the backcountry.
John took delivery of some early production 1″ Pin Ladder Lock buckles and put them to work on his trusty Realm Crossbody Pack. Let’s check out the process below!
No matter how innovative or controversial a given mountain bike technology may be, it’s usually just a means to an end. A way to add efficiency or capability. Sure, these technologies can often make for utterly spectacular rides. But bikes themselves—especially full-suspension bikes—rarely add any soul purely for soul’s sake.
That may be why we love to highlight bikes like the REEB SST, Chromag Darco, and, of course, the Starling Murmur. These bikes have esoteric quirks usually found only on hardtail, gravel, and town bikes. And they just happen to also offer utterly spectacular rides.
But when Travis Engel noticed function-first stalwarts, Pivot and Specialized suddenly teasing in-house experiments in lugged carbon fiber, he wondered if there might be a new search for soul afoot…
As cyclists, we love bikes that can do more than one thing. A Swiss Army knife rather than a scalpel, if you will. So when a bike like the Hudski Doggler passes through my possession, I want to find its limits and then push through them. I’ve spent a few months riding the Doggler around Santa Fe, in and around our beloved Santa Fe National Forest, and I’m ready to spill the beans on what makes this bike so appropriate for gravel and mountain riding…
A faint kiss of cool air blows across the Southern Rockies here in Santa Fe. That means summer is almost over. This season shift has led me to reflect upon my ERC, or Every Ride Carry, that I’ve been using all summer here on MTB and gravel rides in the foothills and deep into our Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Let’s check it out below…
Ruta del Jefe has officially announced the dates and the new venue – March 21-24, 2024 in Cuenca Los Ojos, Mexico – for the next edition of this adventure, education, community, and advocacy event. Cuenca Los Ojos is a protected natural area in the Sky Islands of the Mexican state of Sonora, southeast of Agua Prieta/Douglas, Arizona. Daniel Zaid and Karla Robles recently linked up with, organizer Sarah Swallow and, below, document her new new Otso Voytek, which she has been using for scouting the 2024 Ruta Del Jefe route. Additionally, Daniel and Karla share an update on the work Cuenca Los Ojos has been doing to provide the best platform for Ruta del Jefe in advance of the event’s first season south of the border…
Today’s Readers’ Rides is spurred by a request John made in our Super Something Ti seatpost and stem post earlier this week. Remi built up a Sklar Super Something as a commuter and it came out… well, you’re going to have to look for yourself!
This isn’t as much a product review as it is a public service announcement: Every cyclist should have an assortment of 3M Nexcare waterproof bandages at home, and maybe even a couple in your pack. They’re pretty special. If you know, you know. And if you don’t, Travis Engel is here to explain why they’re nothing like the band-aids you used as a kid.
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
We interrupt your Friday evening with a special announcement from our friends at Chris King and Argonaut Cycles:
“WIN this bike! Help the communities of Maui devastated by recent wildfires by entering this raffle to win this custom @argonautcycles RM3. It’s a truly one-of-a-kind bike, painted to match our Splash LE component color. The winner will also receive a color-matched @brooksengland C15 Carved saddle, and a really special Network MIPS helmet from our friends @smithoptics (there’s only one of these!).
Here’s the link to the raffle tickets.
All proceeds will go directly to the Hawaii Community Foundation. Winner will be drawn at the @made.bike happy hour tomorrow night(Saturday, 8/26, 9pm) must be present to win. Don’t miss your chance to win this unique build!
Come down to the MADE show to see it in person at the Chris King booth.”
MicroSHIFT’s new Sword group came into Travis Engel’s life at the perfect moment. He had been noticing that his Ratio-12-speed-converted SRAM Force shift quality would degrade quickly, as the cable housing wore and friction increased. It’s a sad side-effect of the Ratio conversion’s decreased cable pull per-shift. Also, the hydraulic brakes had too much dead stroke for Travis’ discerning index fingers. He was looking for something new. That’s when, like the sexy stranger disrupting a rom-com protagonist’s unhappy European vacation, microSHIFT Sword bumped into Travis with a very timely meet-cute.
