The M.U.L.E. has been a staple in the Camelbak product lineup for literally decades. Introduced in 1996, the MULE continues to be a bestseller due in part to its sleek profile, comfortable fit, and functionality. When I think of the MULE the term iconic comes to mind. The M.U.L.E., and its big brother the H.A.W.G., […]
It’s been a long time since I’ve walked the floors of a convention center filled with the latest and greatest products from the bicycle industry, but earlier this week, I laced up a pair of comfortable shoes and drove down to Schaumburg, Illinois to explore the aisles of the CABDA show. CABDA isn’t open to […]
Sometimes being the Front Range Chief Correspondent for Fat-Bike.com has its perks and the day Gomez asked if I wanted to go to the Outdoor Retailer show in Denver last week was one of those days. I mean, who doesn’t want to walk about and look at a bunch of gear?! Outdoor Retailer (or OR) […]
I’ve been on somewhat of a quest over the past five years to seek out the best frame bag for my Fatback Corvus FLT named Ten Beers. This is the fourth frame bag that I’ve fitted to this bike. The last two bags have featured precise bolt-on attachments that led me to upgrade. I thought […]
Joining Camelbak’s lineup this spring is the Rogue Light: A minimal pack available in a women’s specific and unisex design that has just the right amount of space to carry the essentials without holding you back! Fit/Comfort The pack utilizes body mapping technology, Air Support Light Back Panel, and a ventilated/mesh harness to fit the […]
Revelate Nano Pannier Bikepacking has evolved over recent years from using panniers to strapping bags to various places on your bike. Panniers are still used but it’s mostly for touring as you can get away with filling them up and not worry too much about the weight. With that, there was a gap, a pannier […]
– Field Test — Bollé Chronosheild – Glasses or Goggles –
GFBD UK Covid Edition The C word has put a downer on many things this year and sadly has caused pain and heartache to many. So this years Global Fat Bike Day ride was going to be a little different for many. You could say it went back to how it was in the early […]
Back in February, we published a first look at the 1Up USA Rak Attach and I’m back to report on how things went long term, thru the summer camping season. In a nutshell…1Up USA sells this accessory for their excellent hitch racks called the Rak Attach. It allows the fully loaded rack to pivot ninety […]
A couple of months ago Salsa announced they were releasing an updated version of the EXP Series Anything Cradle and Anything Cage systems. Luckily for me the Anything Cradle system found its way to Wales for some use in the Autumnal Welsh mountains. Black is good The Anything Cradle is now compatible for both 35mm […]
If you follow our social media, you’ve probably seen a picture or two of the new Extrawheel Mate attached to my Fatback Corvus FLT that I call Tenbeers. The Mate is a single wheel cargo trailer that is quite a bit different than other single wheel bike trailers like the BoB or the Coho (both […]
Three generations of Bluetooth Speakers – L-R Boombotix OG, Noxgear 39g & Boombotix Mini Hi, my nombre esta es Gomez and I’m a gadgetaholic. I’m especially addicted to gadgets that play music. I remember all the way back to the 1960’s, when I was just a kid, we would listen to WLS (a Chicago top […]
The fanny pack has an interesting history. Once celebrated as an essential accessory for the bespoke wilderness hiker, it’s undeniable charm and versatility crossed over to the urban landscape in 1980s. It had a good run until its popularity plummeted in the 1990s. To wear a fanny pack in the 2000s was deemed risky behavior. […]
Tio Gomez must have noticed that my trade show giveaway sunglasses had replaced my worn out and definitely no longer in style big “O” brand cycling shades. Almost out of the blue, a package appeared in my mailbox from Tifosi Optics. I’m not usually a fan of bright or showy items as a part of […]
For the past few weeks I’ve been using these Super Sparrow water bottles after they dropped into Wales. Super Sparrow was founded in 2015 with the aim of providing people with the ability to easily enjoy both hot and cold drinks and always stay hydrated on-the-go. The bottles I chose to test were a 500ml Sports […]
On September 2, Salsa will be releasing updated versions of its EXP Series Anything Cradle and Anything Cage systems. EXP – Platform Update The Anything Cradle collection now features: Arms compatible with 35.0 mm bars (includes shims for 31.8 mm bars)New Side-Load and Top-Load Dry Bags for easier use with flat or drop barsA redesigned EXP […]
Portland Design Works Hot Take After a lovely weekend ride at the storied Levis-Trow Mounds trail, I returned to my vehicular device to find a funky little beverage holder gadget named Hot Take made by Portland Design Works (PDW). Some gnome must have dropped it off while I wasn’t looking. PDW makes all sorts of […]
Two of our favorite innovators in the industry have teamed up to create a bit of kit that we’ll be testing and reviewing soon. This Alaska/Minnesota collaboration pairs Revelate Designs and Wolftooth Components together and the resulting product is called the ToolCash. The following info is taken from the product news release sent to us […]
Ahhhhh the Dutch! They invented the ‘Dutch Reach’ and have developed an incredibly vibrant cycling culture. A new (to us) Dutch component company called Close the Gap sent us a couple of their ‘hidden’ accessories to check out and share. I bolted them onto our Framed Basswood Groadie test bike and today we’re ready for […]
Luckily in the last few weeks of testing the new Hydro Flask Down Shift Hydration Pack here in Wales, the weather has been kind by throwing up some unusually warm weather. So with warm temperatures, a cool drink has been a welcome treat. Hydro Flask was founded in 2009 in Bend, Oregon. They have been […]
Editor’s Note: Hydro Flask is an up and coming newish-type brand of hydration that hit the US market a couple of years back. Last season you might have seen Dustin Marsh’s review of the Hydro Flask Journey Series 20 L Hydration Pack. This year HF has introduced the Down Shift 14 Litre Hydration Pack and […]
In the waining days of 2011, I started the Moonlander Space Suit Bag Project (MM1-SSB). Back at the end of 2012, we received this brand new custom frame bag. The Moonlander Space Suit Bag Project (MM2-SSB/ON) from Oveja Negra. We published a first look and then later published a long term review of the bag. It’s […]
Gary Buckham is one of the pioneers of fat biking in the UK and we’ve featured a number of his videos during the early days of the site. You may know his work from ‘Pugsley on Patrol’. Today we feature another video from him called Aberlady Dawn. I got a nice chill vibe from this […]
Ritchey Outback V2 Tom Ritchey rides about 10,000 miles (16,000 km) per year, and most of that is off-road. Combine that with his more than 40 years of designing and building bicycles, and it’s no wonder the Outback has become an icon in the gritty world of gravel and adventure bikes. Updated for 2020, the […]
Bags…Bags…get ya bags here. I have fallen in love with bags on my bikes. What used to be a simple “under the saddle” bag with a tube, tire lever, multi-tool and maybe some CO2, has evolved into carrying keys, phones, pumps, snacks and oh, maybe, just possibly, a few adult beverages for the mid-ride social […]
Cedaero Tank Top Bolt-on Pack final thoughts I always carry too much stuff on my rides. A full-frame pack just doesn’t cut it some days. When I ordered my custom frame pack from Cedaero Bags, I had them sew up a Tank Top Pack to match. I’ll consider them as enablers for my pack-rat ways. […]
Anchorage, Alaska, March 18, 2020 Forge into the future with the new stabilized Spinelock seat bags. Revelate Designs set out to create the most stable seat bag with the lowest profile mounting hardware on the market. The result is a feature-loaded, waterproof seat bag that checks all the boxes. The Spinelock integrates user tested and […]
As owner of a new garage (and house), I’ve been trying to sort out the bike storage situation. I figured I should get it right the first time instead of the hodgepodge that inevitably comes to the surface. In the past, I’ve used the ubiquitous garage utility hooks, Gladiator bike hooks, and Delta Cycles hanger. […]
Our neighbors and amigos at 1Up USA over in Dickyville Wisconsin manufacture an accessory for their excellent hitch racks called the Rak Attach that allows the fully loaded rack to pivot ninety degrees and lock into position so you can gain unfettered access to the back of your vehicle. (photo below) The Rak Attach is […]
The 1UpUSA Rack systems are are some of the best options for getting your bike to where you want to ride it, but what do you do with your rack when you’re not bringing your bike? Do you set it on the floor? Do you clear out shelf space? Do you just lean it up […]
I’ve been using a Wahoo Element Roam GPS Cycling computer for the last 110 rides. We published an initial story about how the first phase of the Roam test went. Even though we were only at the beginning, it was clear that an old dog can learn new tricks! The Roam is as easy as […]
Last Minute Gift Ideas for That Buddy or Loved One You know you blew it. It’s now the week before Christmas and you have a handful of gifts to pickup and your back is against the wall. But you’re cool and collected. You’re not sweating it because you know you’ve got your friends at Fat-Bike.com […]
I’m old enough to have owned a pair of Oakley Factory Pilots. They were red to match my 1986 Specialized Rockhopper. We all wore them because Greg Lemond wore them and he won the TdF. In the years between then and now, I’ve sunk thousands of dollars into high-end fashionable cycling eye protection (sunglasses). I’d […]
The 2019 Fat-Bike Holiday Gift Guide
Check out the latest addition to Revelate Designs’ collection of bikepacking gear that leads the industry in innovation. This is their official product news release. For Release November 27, 2019 Anchorage, Alaska – Answering the call for carrying capacity in hard to use spaces, Revelate Designs releases the Hopper frame bag and Joey downtube bag. […]
I first noticed Cedaero bags when they sponsored the Marji Gesick 100 a few years ago. I saw some wildly colored top tube bags with tidy stitching. The business was just getting going in the back of SpokeNGear bike shop of Two Harbors, Minnesota. That’s way up nort der, just a bit past the big […]
When I was out in Washington last month, my main man Randy Pulk had one of these and as soon as I saw the Click Stand in action, I knew that I’d be ordering one. Randy had bought his Click Stand for bikepacking in high open ‘sagebrush’ trips that don’t have trees to lean your […]
I met with the folks at Bontrager at the Sea Otter Classic earlier this Spring to talk about what they had in the pipeline for 2019. One of the products that piqued my interest was the promise of Bontrager coming out with their own line of adventure bags. Some time passed and somewhere near the […]
(L) – 1Up-USA Equip-D Rack (R) – 1Up-USA Heavy Duty 2″ Rack I’ve been testing a 1UP-USA Equip-D Beta Hitch Rack for the last six months along with a couple of dozen other consumers and industry folks. I’ve been a 1 Up-USA Rack owner for quite a few years and I’ve been involved with fat-bike.com’s […]
News release from our amigos at Revelate Designs Anchorage, Alaska – With roots in camping centric mountain biking adventures, Revelate Designs diversifies their line up with the Shrew, their smallest seat bag ever built for long days on gravel, singletrack, or utilizing the dead under your seat space while using a rack. The Shrew is […]
We spotlighted two new fork bags from our amigos at Revelate Designs and Apidura this Spring and I’ve been testing them ‘side by side’ on both the Trek 1120 that we have in for review and my Fatback Aluminum bike (named Otis) mounted to King Many Things cages. It’s been a great cycling year for […]
Testing bags at Kettle Moraine photo by Justin (Case) We have two bags from our amigos at Revelate designs in for review. The Salty Roll Dry Bag and the Egress Pocket. I’m integrating these two new components into my bikepacking set up alongside the fork bag test that we’re running. Egress Pocket Let’s take a […]
The more that you ride the more you need a little tender loving care for certain areas of the body that experience higher friction during the natural biomechanical process of bicycling. Whether you call it grundle butter, crease grease, gootch balm or chamois cream this ointment can literally save your ass on a four day […]
Words by Tony Berger, Photos Tony and Greg Smith Were you a fan of “That Seventies Show” like I was? Do you remember the episode where Hyde made the pot brownies to sell at the bake sale and Eric’s parents accidentally ate them and Red ended up selling the Vista Cruiser? “It’s a Vista Cruiser, […]
