Welcome to RECON where you will find all of our latest stories including gear reviews, ride recaps and industry news.
In case you hadn’t heard yet, handlebar bags are finally cool. It wasn’t long ago that this accessory was something you wouldn’t even consider as part of your setup. Fortunately the days of “rules” in cycling are finally behind us, now that function and utility have its rightful place as a priority. There are loads of handlebar bags available today, each offering unique styles and functionality. We got our hands on this one from Topo Designs, called the Bike Bag.
Read MoreMatteo Pistono’s account of The Stagecoach 400 multi-day bikepacking race in Southern California.
Read MoreThis is how the 2019 Belgian Waffle Ride weekend would begin. With another SoCal breakfast favorite, the burrito. The brainchild of Brandt Furgerson, aka Uncle Tio, the 2nd annual Breakfast Burrito Ride (BBR) would take place on the cloud covered morning of May 3. Hosted by Canyon Bicycles USA, the BBR is a no-drop, all smiles coastal roll to the top of Torrey Pines and back. Just 35 miles in distance, the ride covers perhaps San Diego’s most popular strip of pavement. While not much dirt in sight (that will come on Sunday), the views and vibes through Carlsbad, Encinitas, Cardiff, Solana Beach and Del Mar can’t be beat.
Read MoreDuring a recent trip to the Bay Area we stopped by the Outer Shell workshop to see what Kyle and Jim were up to. Last Fall we met up with these guys for a #CoffeeOutsideSF ride to Battery Wagner, followed by some sweet gravel shredding around the Marin Headlands. With no bike, and no time to ride, this time we opted for a quick visit to see what was new in the land of extremely dope bike gear. Here are a few shots we took that beautiful afternoon in the Mission District.
Read MoreIt was shortly after a friend’s birthday road ride to the top of Palomar Mountain in February of last year that we first had the idea for our own ride of a similar theme. With little time to plan we reached out to our friend Roman for help in crafting a memorable route that would take riders on a gravel adventure in late March of 2018. The concept was simple, yet true to our ways. The Great Western Reroute (GWR) was born.
Read MoreOur very first time to the Sea Otter Classic was quite the spectacle. While this is traditionally a mountain bike event, it has increasingly featured numerous large and small brand gravel bikes from all over the world. We visited numerous booths to bring you our favorite gravel bikes from the show.
Read More#BestBikeGameEver. That is the hashtag for the Croatan Buck Fifty (CBF) race held in Swansboro, NC. Matt Hawkins and Gordon Wadsworth, the two race directors, set out to make that hashtag more than just a few words though.
Read MoreA few shots by Explore With Chris at our team event this week at The Lost Abbey San Marcos. Eliel Cycling custom Gravelstoke kits were distributed and team sponsors announced. More details coming soon!
Read MoreI have ridden numerous styles of Class 1 and Class 3 pedal assist bicycles over the past few years and have found them to be a lot of fun. So when Yamaha reached out with an opportunity to try out their new gravel adventure bicycle known as Wabash, I was very intrigued. And what an eye opening experience!
Read MoreGravel riding in San Diego’s north county offers a combination of urban shard-ladened tarmac connecting hard packed sand and rollers on washed out and rutted mountain bike loops. In these conditions, for traction and stability, I prefer to max out the tire size to 38 mm on my Foundry Overland. But with the Belgian Waffle Ride date quickly approaching, and other adventures like the SBT GRVL, where I will likely run a smaller tire choice, I thought I would test out Ere Research’s 32 mm Tenaci.
Read MoreAn interview with Vince Colvin of Chumba USA, Podcast by The Gravel Ride.
Read MoreRuta Del Jefe’s name represents ‘El Jefe’, who is a Jaguar that has roamed the region widely recognized as Sky Islands in southern Arizona. The recent appearance of another long-time friend of the region has provided our hosts, The Appleton Whittell Research Ranch, with hope of El Jefe’s return after his disappearance.
Read MoreWhat is the best gravel race bike? I don’t know, man; what is the best beer? Beyond your personal taste preference, where you live and what you like to race largely determines what’s best for you. But Dave asked me to put down The Best Gravel Bikes on digital paper, so here we are.
Read MoreWe covered the Rock Cobbler on a previous post here, with a full write up and (almost) all of our photos from the event. With this post we bring you some bonus coverage with 15 gravel bikes from Rock Cobbler 2019. Sam Ames crafted a challenging course with a bit of everything, even some mud!
Read MoreFrom its humble beginnings in 2014 with 50 riders, to the 6.0 installment on February 9, 2019, the Rock Cobbler has become one of the must-do gravel events of the year. Originally inspired by some of the first great ‘gravel grinders’ like Dirty Kanza and the Crusher, the Cobbler is certainly a great one with its own unique style.
Read MoreBased in Germany, Ergon creates equipment and gear for cyclists that are always impressive and well designed. Certainly their clear focus on delivering products at each contact point with the bicycle has served them well. Driven by ergonomics, durability and sustainability, Ergon has consistently delivered a solid line-up of grips, packs, saddles and other gear for several years now. Ergon has now launched their latest product line, the SR Road Series and SM MTB Series of bike saddles for men.
Read MoreWith a full suite of gravel specific hardgoods it was good timing to bring some friends together to test out these products on some of the finest roads and gravel in the country. You guessed it… Los Angeles, California.
Read MoreTo round up our coverage of CABDA West we bring you the top 5 gravel bikes from the show. While you may think this was easy, it wasn’t. We were pleasantly surprised by the number of adventure bikes on display, so we filtered down to just those worthy of a dedicated post. Some familiar brands and some we saw for the very first time. Sorry you couldn’t be there, but at least you can see them here…
Read MoreThe Chicagoland Area Bicycle Dealers Association (CABDA) came to San Diego on Jan 16-17. We were pleasantly surprised to see brands from across the country show up for the 2 -day regional trade show. The exhibitor list was quite impressive, and gave us an opportunity to see some of the latest trends in cycling up close. Here we give you some of our favorite products from the show.
Read MoreBack at it again, the crew from Deux North took another wild adventure and captured some incredible moments in their latest film, HUNT 7. Watch their 300 mile journey from Los Angeles to the US-Mexico border and back in 24 hours.
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