This week’s Debrief features Opinel Leave No Trace knives, our favorite Tour Divide Rigs, Paul’s bike addiction, five events to follow live, and much more. Find it all here…

The weekly Debrief highlights small but important bits of news, products, and things that caught our attention on the website, in the conversation, and elsewhere around the community. These include upcoming events and interesting items our readers shared in the comments. Check out this week’s findings below.

Bits & Bobs

New products that are worth highlighting but didn’t make the Dispatch…

Brick Buddy Compression Cap

Made in Chester, CT / $60 at Kyoot Bikes

This new top cap from Kyoot Bikes, made by Brian Tucker of Yellow Bird Threadworks, enables users to stack LEGOs on their top cap. With a pair of two-bit LEGO interfaces on either end of the cap, folks could really get creative with what and how they decide to add LEGOs to their bikes. In keeping with being the cutest bikes on the market, Kyoot bikes seems to understand their demographic with collabs like this one.

Ride Forward Designs Website and Princey Pouch

Made in USA / $23+ at Ride Forward Designs

Ride Forward Designs, led by Jay Petervary, just launched a new website where you can purchase the rack bag that Miles reviewed earlier this year. There’s also the new Princey Pouch, which is a stretchy little zippered pouch that can be attached to the top of the rack bag. It’s designed to hold a SPOT/tracking device, and it also makes an easy-access spot for snacks or small layers.

Ornot Gravel Sweater Re-Release

Made in USA / $145 at Ornot

After the first batch sold out almost immediately, Ornot is back with a re-release of its Merino Gravel Sweater in several new colors in men’s and women’s fits. The Gravel Sweater is made from domestically sourced Polartec Power Wool, bluesign-approved materials, and has a Concealed 5″x7″ rear zip pocket for snacks, sunglasses, or even a phone. Each sweater is hand-sewn in the USA, and it’s available in three colors: Charcoal, Zissou, and Nightshady.

Opinel National Parks Collection

Made in France / $25 at Opinel

Opinel partnered with Leave No Trace—a national non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the outdoors through science, education, and stewardship—to launch the National Parks Collection, featuring three No.08 knives engraved with art to represent Yellowstone, Great Smokey Mountains, and Grand Canyon National Parks. A percentage of the sale goes to Leave No Trace.

OR Freewheel MTB Lite Ride Shorts

$100 at Outdoor Research

Among other updates to the Freewheel MTB collection they launched last year, OR’s new Freewheel MTB Lite Ride Shorts were built for riding trails. They feature a stretchy and highly breathable design made from durable nylon, a higher back for coverage while seated, adjustable waistband tabs, and a gusseted crotch for enhanced mobility, and a zippered pocket to store valuables. They’re available in several colors in men’s and women’s sizes.

Trek Air Rush Electric Pump

$99.99 at Trek

Trek’s new Air Rush is a powerful electric pump that’s small enough to fit in a saddle bag or pocket and strong enough to inflate multiple bike tires on-the-go. Measuring 3.15 x 1.77 x 1.26 inches, it weighs just 3.8 ounces and replaces up to four 16-ounce CO₂ cartridges on a single charge (which takes less than an hour via USB-C). It includes Presta, Shrader and needle valve adapters and displays pressure in PSI, bar, and kPa.

In Conversation

Exchanges and ideas that caught our attention in the site’s conversation section…

Our Favorite Tour Divide Rigs

It’s always interesting to thumb through the wide array of Tour Divide-ready bikes on display in our annual roundups. This is the eighth year we’ve put this original feature together, and we thought it was high time for our editors to pick favorites. Here they are in no particular order. Also, we’d love to hear which rig or rigs struck a chord for you; be sure to leave us a note in the Conversation below!

Logan: Considering my propensity toward rigid singlespeeds, it was impossible to overlook Randy Windle’s Rare Earth “Righteous Gemstone.” From the Randi Jo feedbags to the eeWings crankset and the use of Berd Spokes and a minimalist rear rack/bag combo, there are a lot of excellent choices made in this build that mirror how I’d set up a bike for this iconic ride. That said, I have to give a nod to Maggie Livelsberger’s Otso Fenrir, which also has a lot of perfectly thought-out details, including a dropper post, which is a must.

Lucas: Amid a field of mostly high-end, purpose-built rigs, I particularly appreciate Juan Antonio Alegre Munoz’s humble 26-inch-wheeled Otero Altiplano. It’s a lovely time capsule down to the last details, including the paper maps and well-worn panniers. Plus, there’s something uplifting about the idea of pedaling such a bike down the route, and I’ll be cheering for him!

Nic: Though I’m still foreign to the world of suspension-corrected bikes, gazing at some of these rigs of lists for years now has made me think about what’s best for the course. And not just in the sense of what will go the fastest or what appeals the most to me from aesthetically, but a rig that’s both indicative of one’s personal style and the course it intends to traverse. Cameron Russell’s custom Waltly titanium hardtail seems to be exactly that. A carefully curated selection of bags and components come together to create a rig worthy of what’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many. Come on, Cam. You got this!

Miles: I’m lucky to be the one responsible for gathering and creating the rig roundups that you see here on the site. I won’t pretend like sifting through hundreds of Tour Divide submissions is a particularly fun task, but getting the first glimpse at the rigs definitely makes it all worthwhile. This year, John and Mira’s pre-production Xtracycle OmniTierra takes the win for me. Not only is it so cool to see John riding the Tour Divide with his pup, but seeing a fully loaded mid-tail cargo bikes that makes me want to pedal one as soon as possible. I’m hoping 2025 is the year that dream comes true.

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

The Spirit of Aloha

New from Kona, The Spirit of Aloha: Rebuilding Community with West Maui’s Bike Park peels back the delicate curtain on the real story behind building West Maui’s first public bike park. The concept came long before anyone could imagine what was ahead. Like everything in the region, plans were derailed by the 2023 Lahaina wildfires. Watch it above.

The DirtySixer 32″ MTB is Coming

The DirtySixer 32″ MTB we shared this spring launched via a crowdfunding campaign, and the product is moving forward. The geometry and build kit has been finalized, and they’re still accepting deposits for those who want to snag one from the first batch. Learn more and reserve yours here.

Stephen Fitzgerald on the Bikes Or Death Podcast

Stephen Fitzgerald has continued his streak of solid podcast appearances with another on the Bikes Or Death podcast. Talking his origins, Rodeo Labs, the development of their new MUSA mountain bike, the Show Pony, and a million other things, it’s an insightful look at what it’s like to try and balance daily life with that of a bike industry mover and shaker. Stephen was even kind enough to give us a little shoutout on the show. Cheers, Stephen!

Restrap is Hiring

Restrap just announced three new job positions at their workshop in Leeds, England, which is a fantastic opportunity to push the boundaries of UK manufacturing and join a close-knit team of passionate folks who love bikepacking. The open positions include an Accounts Coordinator, Customer Support Advisor, and an International Sales Manager.

Paul is Building Three New Bikes

Does Paul Price, owner and founder of Paul Component Engineering, have too many bikes? In the small company’s latest video, Paul shows off three new frames he’ll be building up: a Crust Evasion, Wilde Dark Star, and titanium Tumbleweed Stargazer.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

2025 TransAtlantic Way

The TransAtlantic Way is a 2,500-kilometer road bike ride between Derry and Cork via The Wild Atlantic Way. The 2025 grand depart started yesterday morning with nearly 100 riders registered for live tracking. Follow their progress live via the event page.

2025 Tour Divide

The 2025 Tour Divide takes place on Friday, June 13th at 7 a.m. local time. Riders will race the length of Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, from Banff to New Mexico, encompassing 2,745 miles of ultra-endurance bikepacking. There are over 230 riders registered for live tracking, and we’ll be sharing updates throughout the race on our Tracker page.

Hope 1000

The Hope-1000 is a bikepacking race that begins in Romanshorn on Lake Constance and ends at the statue of Freddie Mercury in Montreux on Lake Geneva. Spanning 1,000 kilometers across Switzerland and nearly 100,000 feet of climbing, the Hope-1000 follows mostly singletrack through meadows, crystal-clear lakes, abbeys with courtyards, and, of course, stunning views. Nearly 100 riders are signed up for live tracking at this year’s grand depart, which starts later today at 6 a.m. CEST. Follow along live here.

El Piri 2025

El Piri is a solo and unsupported bikepacking gravel adventure through the Catalan Pyrenees, Spain. The route covers 800 kilometres with 20,000 meters of elevation, starting and finishing in the beautiful city of Girona. This year’s grand depart starts tomorrow morning with well over 120 riders signed up. Follow along live here.

BT 700

The BT 700 wanders along a mixed surface of gravel roads, rail trail, rowdy unmaintained roads, and forested singletrack for a nearly 800-kilometer loop involving some of Ontario’s most amazing bikepacking terrain. A small group will be out tackling the route starting Sunday, and you can follow their progress live here.

Wish We Were Here

Shedding a little light on a route one of us is dreaming about riding at the moment…

Nic Morales: VTXL

Things are starting to heat up here in my new-ish home in southern Appalachia. And while nothing quite compares to the sweltering heat my mom is eager to tell me about on our phone calls, I’ve become spoiled in my short time away from the place I spent most of my life. Also having a ride with Joe Cruz on my bucket list makes it such that I’m dreaming of hitting some Vermont chunder before the sun sets on what I hope is a mile-heavy summer. The VTXL looks like it would do just fine, and I’d be more than happy with any company.

Please keep the conversation civil, constructive, and inclusive, or your comment will be removed.