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Keepin’ it Lit with AE and Wildfire Undies
Words by AE Silver Photos by Spencer Harding
A few years ago AE, the sole proprietor of Wildfire Undies, bartered her Surly Karate Monkey for pattern making lessons. She then left the bike industry and decided to make Wildfire Undies her main gig. She specializes in underwear fit for a femme body, but a new line will be dropping this fall. I stopped by for a tour of her shop/bike shed followed by a session at the dirt jumps.
Adding to their extensive mountain bike apparel collection, Mission Workshop announces their PNG “pavement and gravel” apparel. Included in this range are bibs, a base layer, a jersey, jacket, and socks. Since this lineup is from Mission, you can expect the same solid construction and detailing as the rest of their products. See the full PNG lineup at Mission Workshop.
For fans of the Seattle-based brand Swift Industries, new product announcements are welcomed news, especially when it’s two all-new bags. The Sonora line includes a daypack and a pannier, both offering slim designs, in a few color options, and are made by hand in Seattle. See more details at Swift Industries.
Since acquiring eeCycleworks and their phenomenal brakes last year, Cane Creek has been implementing ee’s MO to products within their lineup. The eeSilk is a recent example of that. Weighing in at only 295 grams, this post weighs around the same as many rigid posts on the market, while offering 20mm of vertical compliance, improving the ride quality on rough surfaces and reducing fatigue on long rides. By comparison, a Thomson mountain post weighs 228 grams. The eeSilk post comes in 27.2mm only, but Cane Creek offers a variety of shims to make it work on your bike. Each eeSilk is is made in North Carolina. You can see more at Cane Creek.
The Torch Road Alloy, or TRA for short, is i9’s latest wheelset platform, combining the Torch MTB platform with the Torch Road Disc system in a pairing they describe as “sturdy meets svelte.” Watch as athletes Gordon “Quadsworth” and Jay Petervary put their wheels to the test.
For those unfamiliar with this brand, the $175 pricepoint might come as a sticker shock, especially considering there are tools at a fraction of this MSRP, yet those other companies are not Abbey Bike Tools. Many mechanics will argue that when you wrench on bikes for a living, it’s nice to have quality tools and if Abbey knows one things, it’s nice tools. I love their description:
“After two years of design, testing, revisions, more testing, and more tweaking, Abbey Bike Tools’s Chain Tool is dialed and ready to put a wide eyed grin on your face. We broke over 10,000 chains on a single tool and pin during the development of the new tool. That’s 3 chain installs a day every day for a decade, hence the name”Decade”.”
Now that’s dedication! See more on the Decade at Abbey.
Over the years, SF-based MASH has teamed up with Phil Wood on numerous collaborations, yet their latest project looks to be the best yet. Teaming up with Caustic Customs Anodizing on Phil Wood track hubs and seat collars, these limited edition beauties will only available as a package from MASH in the form of a complete wheelset. Don’t fret, because if you’re not feeling the presented options here, this is only a sampling of the full collection, which you’ll have to head to MASH’s Instagram to see in full glory.
Each year I look forward to seeing what designs the folks at Team Dream think up and this year’s summer launch is lookin’ good. Keep your eyes on Team Dream come Monday for their summer launch. Check out this BTS video and a few previews below.
I love it when two MUSA companies join forces on something simple like this. Spurcycle and Chris King teamed up to make round two of their limited edition anodized bells. In stock now at Chris King for $69. I love how sinister it looks. Almost like HAL 9000.
Mission Workshop’s most popular backpacks, The Rhake, The Vandal, and The Rambler now come in a limited run of white Multicam fabric. These bags are still backed by MW’s 100% no-questions asked warranty and repair, are made in the USA and in stock now at Mission Workshop.
Random patterns, whether disruptive like camo, or more organic and chaotic like the newest from Search and State, can deliver a unique look to your cycling apparel collection. As a part of their 2018 Signature Print Series, the Skinner Pattern is made from a solid black ground with random skin print markings. The original print was hand-painted in New York City before being transferred to a digital rendering. No two Skinner prints are alike, so rest assured yours will be unique and a true original. These are very limited, with only one run being made in New York City, so if this pattern tickles you, be sure to pick one up at Search and State!
Wolf Tooth has grown their B-RAD lineup to include these Pump Bags, ready to carry whatever you can cram into them. Perhaps even a Sin Dawg from the looks of it? I’ve been using a similar, yet a lot smaller bag for some time now, carrying the Silca pocket pump, or a Dynaplug with a Co2. If you’ve got bottle bosses to spare, these nifty bags can put them to use. My personal favorite is the underside of the downtube, particularly on a touring bike or hardtail, for when you don’t need three full bottles. See more at Wolf Tooth!
When you have a bag addiction, releases like this are bad news for your wallet. For those looking for a travel bag with duffel bag carrying capacity, yet designed, constructed, and backed by Mission Workshop’s longstanding legacy of making durable backpacks here in the USA. The Radian is the latest offering from the San Francisco company. Available now, at Mission Workshop.
Paul Component Engineering’s latest anodized offering is the color of royalty, the Phoenicians, Barney, and Three Six Mafia’s favorite drink; purple! Head on over to PAUL to see more. If you don’t see the component you’d like anodized, you can email Paul and request it!
When you’re touring or bikepacking, you’ll find yourself over-stuffing your bags to fit it all on your bike. That’s when bags like these Dirtbags Four Deep Downtube Bags come in handy. Fit tent poles, hoagies, Sin Dawgs, or other touring essentials into these nifty bags. From the looks of things, they’re working on a similar bag, being tested on the Tour Divide right now.
Head over to Dirtbags to check out their product line.
Two of my absolute favorite brands teamed up to create an absolute genius accessory for MTBs, especially for those who choose not to use an awareness bell system. The ReMote Belltower mounts your Spurcycle Bell to the Wolf Tooth dropper post ReMote. See more at Wolf Tooth!
The thing I use the most in my toolkit is my Silca HX-One home wrench set, yet I never bring it on the road with me because I’m afraid of losing some of the tiny bits in the black hole that is my truck. After the success of the HX-One home kit, Silca announced their HX-Two travel kit. These are not your standard hex wrenches. Not at all. This is Silca after all.
These wrenches are heat treated with a 9 step process, with a high grip polymer coating over high-engagement satin chrome. After over two years of heavy use, my HX-One wrenches still look brand new. The hex keys in the set, which include 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.5, 2, and 1.5mm, and Torx® keys include T30, T27, T25, T20, T15, T10, T9, T8, and T7. See more at Silca.
Looking for some MUSA bling for your bike? Check out these 6Al-4Va Titanium Seat Collars by Firefly. They’re made in the USA, weigh 25 grams, are available in 35mm and 31.8mm, come in brushed or blasted, and are made by Oglewatch Co exclusively for Firefly. These beautiful ti nuggets are $100, or you can add anodizing for $20 extra. Swoop up one at Firefly.
