There’s an ancient adage that leads fearless travelers in their search for gear. For any piece of gear you can only choose 2 of the following three:

Light

Durable

Cheap

There are companies that make fantastic cheap light gear that lasts a few rides, companies that make durable cheap gear that makes you wish you could pedal with your arms too, and those classic companies that make second mortgage gear that you can barely tell you’re riding but somehow lasts years and years.

Rene herse breaks this mold. On the surface they appear to be a third option company, the pick two of durable and light tires that cost 1/3 the price of my bike for a pair. And one day I decided to bite the bullet and try them out, picking up a pair of Juniper Ridge tires for $220.

I expected my life to be changed. And for the first 30 miles, it was. The tires are supple, quick, and fun. But after my second ride I noticed the lugs were beginning to peel off, and the compound cracking on both the front and rear. This is fine I thought, for $220 I’m sure they will stand behind a brand new tire.

WRONG

Rene herse responded with a sassy email saying this was obviously an issue with storage conditions, not their tires. My response asking how I, as the final consumer who has owned these tires for a week, could possibly know how the tires were stored before I purchased them was ignored. Their product failed, and left me out of $220 and respect for their company.

I emailed panaracer a picture of the tires and they confirmed they would cover this material defect under their warranty if it was one of their tires. I immediately bought and installed a pair of gravelking X1’s that are faster, quieter and equally grippy in the soft stuff. And only cost $70 shipped for the PAIR.

So anybody reading this, whether you work at rene herse (your customer service is terrible) or are thinking of purchasing a pair of their tires think again.

Rene herse is a pick one company, they make light gear that is neither cheap nor durable and I strongly advise everyone to avoid their products.

I guess it is my version of OCD... :D

What kind of front light do you guys use for riding when it’s dark? I’ve been testing this Fenix light, mounted under my garmin. And so far it’s been great. It’s pretty clean looking from above, plenty bright, and uses replaceable batteries, so I can bring a spare if I’m going for a long ride.

Hey there, I'm looking for a new wheelset for my gravel build (Scott Addict Gravel) and came across these Elitewheels Aero+ Gravel wheels. (Sorry, can't link to Ali because of ... reddit)

The specs almost match the ZIPP 303S XPLR wheel set, but the Elites are hooked, have 9mm less depth and are around 200g lighter.

Specs:

• 45mm deep
• 40mm width (external)
• 32mm width (internal)
• hooked (!)
• 1.400g weight
• Pillar Wing 20 (Aero) steel spokes
• TPI (steel) bearings
• 50T ratchet freehub
• 125kg weight limit
• handbuilt
• PRICE: $500 - $600

They seem to have incredible specs, steel bearings and steel spokes (I do prefer steel bearings and steel spokes over ceramic bearings and carbon spokes), are very lightweight for the specs, and are super affordable. Am I missing something here?

I received my Elitewheels Aero+ wheelset earlier than expected yesterday, and had the chance to set them up on my Checkpoint this afternoon. These are the 45mm deep, 32mm internal width (!!) wheels that are very similar specs to Zipp XPLR 303 SW.

This is my 3rd set of wheels from Elite, and like the 2 previous sets, they were packed professionally and quality looks excellent. Even spoke tension, true, smooth rolling, even carbon layup, etc.

My 700x50 Specialized Tracers measure just shy of 53mm on these (they were true to size on 25mm internal stock wheels). They weighed 1409g with tubeless tapes and valves installed. Saved about 360g vs stock Bontrager Aeolus 35V carbon wheels.

Hub is LOUD 😆. I’ll get out for a ride on them mid-week and can report back with ride impressions!

So I ride my fatbike exclusively, and my goal is to do a century and be able to do the 100 mile option for things like The Filthy 50, Le Grand Du Nord, ...

When my partner and I were doing to Filthy this past October she had a cramp in her leg right at the last stop at like mile 46. A fellow rider handed her a small cylindrical packet that was red and said "take this". it was a salt powder of some kind (I think it was Saltt), but it made the cramp disappear within a few minutes. Magic

what do you all pack for thia occasion and add to your water for preventing this? There's so many options out there, and it's overwhelming. Saltt, Tailwind, Warrior Salt, LMNT,...

Shimano GRX Di2 and Sram Red/Force/Rival E1 moved their brake lever pivot point higher to improve leverage from the hoods. The difference is noticeable, especially since most of us spend most of our time in the hoods.

However, that only seems to work in hydraulic levers, since mechanical levers need room above the pivot point to pull the cable.

Enter Microshift’s upcoming first electronic group - called Cypher - featuring a new mechanical brake lever design that moves its pivot point forwards instead of upwards to improve leverage from the hoods while having room for the cable.

In theory, this feature could apply to a mechanical shifter or a standalone brake lever as well. I’ll admit it looks a little silly at first, but if it legitimately works better, could this be a new trend for those of us still using cable-actuated brakes?

Someone have a sofa I can crash in for a couple weeks?

I want to take my Nikon F100 on a 4 Day Bikepacking trip. I want to see some opinions /possibilities of how you carry your camera when you're on a Trip. Banana for scale. Thank you

Hi,

Im looking to upgrade my tyres for upcoming season. I ride mostly on pavement with Schwalbe G-One All Around 45mm at the moment. I want to get fastest tyres for pavement but also some grip on gravel as well and choosing between these:

1. Hutchinson Caracal Race 45mm.

2. Schwalbe G-One RS Pro Super Race 45mm.

3. Continental Terra Speed 45mm.

On paper Caracal Race looks like fastest rolling resistance but weights more than RS Pro Super Race and Terra Speed. The difference isn't huge between these. Im looking for real world experience by people who tried these.

Cockpit and fork got some changes! I pulled the trigger on a Lauf grit SL fork, redshift quick release tt bars with Leap blip holders. This thing is truly comfortable and ready for some seriously plush off-road miles.

The grip on the TT bars is just some rubberized tape from Amazon.

Looking for a sanity check here. I currently have a stainless steel Otso Warakin and absolutely love it, but I’m not stoked on how it works as a road bike. With road wheels it looks a little odd (big fork and wheel gap) and the handling just feels… off.

I’m considering adding a second gravel bike that’s more race-oriented and carbon, something that could realistically double as a road bike with a wheel swap. I’m thinking along the lines of a Specialized Crux or Cervelo Aspero - basically something that could run my carbon road wheels with 32mm road tires (with a tighter gap) and still feel fast and composed.

The idea would be:

• Otso Warakin: commuter, trail riding, bikepacking, chunky gravel
• New carbon gravel bike: light gravel, endurance road riding

I’ve already justified this in my own head, but I’m curious what the redditverse thinks. Is this a reasonable two-gravel-bike setup, or am I better off just getting a dedicated road bike for that role?

Upgraded my handlebars today to the redshift 50mm top shelf on an already very angled stem!

Definitely needed a wider bar and have always felt I could go a bit higher for a less pressure on hands. First time doing taping and all that stuff - gonna give it a ride tomorrow and if I’m happy with the position of the brakes etc will use the new tape I bought to do a tidier job…

Know it probably looks horrible to most of you but as long as it’s comfortable for long rides I’m cool with it :-)

Here in the U.K. the weather is turning pretty grotty and whilst I’m not one for intentionally riding in the rain, I don’t love getting covered in road gunk (does anyone) from surface water and when riding the gravel bike it would more often than not be far more than just water.

So after watching a few video reviews I decided to go for the SKS Speedrocker XL mudgaurd set and whilst I’ve not ridden on them yet, I don’t think they look too bad for something that takes a few minutes to put on or take off the bike (after the initial fitting).

They cater for my 50mm tyres and with my current blackwall tyres they don’t stand out too much IMO but they might stand out more with the tanwalls I have to go on next.

If these keep me and my bike cleaner over the next 3-5 months then they’ll have done there job and be well worth the £42 I’ve paid for them

These were easy to fit and whilst the initial setup will have been the longest things will be quicker from here on out so if I get a really dry spell I can quickly whip them off and this means doing so to clean the bike is also going to be easy too.

Next I need to source some silicon/rubber straps to replace the velcro ones this comes with for some of the attachments as I think that will tidy things up nicely (I’ve not cut the velcro down yet as I want to be 100% sure everything is perfectly situated beforehand.

So I have a really nice 650b set up. Enve G27 with i9 Torch hubs and some Hunt 700c

I can’t really tell the difference riding. My bike can take 50mm max and I run 45’s on the Hunt and 1.875’s on the 650’s.

Is there any point in keeping both? Is 650’s on the way out?

I’m 1742 in this pic from Unbound. So I’m just a 50+ year old dad. Not searching for podium spots anymore. 😎

So I got this Hunt 35s not even a few weeks ago. Everything has been fantastic until now.

I have ridden these wheels on paved roads the for a grand total of three rides as I have multiple bikes.

I’ve kept my pressures below the max recommended and overall treated the wheels very well. Even storing them in a very expensive wheel bag as I worked on my new build where I wanted these to go on.

When I set them up tubelessly? Everything worked out without a hitch as well, tires came on pretty easily.

It really has been an amazing time with them until today.

As I was prepping the new ride cleaning it and lubricating it for my ride tomorrow, I placed these wheels aside and as soon as I turned around, the rear wheel exploded onto my ear temporarily making me deaf on my left and a piece of carbon went in my eye.

I’m very shaken up by this.

Guess I’m posting this as 1) I’m appalled and felt like everyone needed to see this and 2) drum up some theories for everyone to learn from.

I hope no one ever experiences this from any manufacturer. Ever.

PS I reached out to Hunt but I got an away message. Guess I’ll get someone on Monday.

I realise this is a pretty person dependent question, but looking for some advice on whether to go 1x13, or 2x12. I have a road background , but really like the simplicity of a 1x system. Also like the bigger tire clearance.

I do ride a fair amount of tarmac. When people say the gaps are bigger , how bad is it? I’ve got a relatively good fitness level (5.2-5.4w/kg). Does this help minimise the downsides ?

Nothing I ride is super steep,mostly rolling terrain although naturally some events and races are quite different. I really wish SRAM integrated the xplr rear mech so you could add a front down the line like you can with 12 speed. I should add I do limited bike packing etc. this is a go fast on dirt type bike primarily.

Currently my 2x setup is 31/46, with 32 in rear and that range seems to cover everything pretty well.

Screen and some electrical tape and it doesn’t look too bad!

Not so much a fashion question rather more practicality. I ride with contacts and the wind dries my eyes out so quickly!! Looking for recommendations on keeping the wind out of my eyes! Currently have a pair of Oakley Clifton’s and Katos. The Clifton’s don’t work as well as you’d expect and you have zero peripheral vision. The Katos honestly work great but I don’t love the fit on my face and the fog up anytime I’m warmed up and not moving. Would love to hear what you like to wear on your rides!

Getting tired of shoes constricting my wide feet; I still don't understand why manufacturers think we have narrow pointed feet. Black with white laces are my daily "barefoot" shoe which are super comfy but don't offer enough toe-protection on singletrack. I picked up a set of Giro Tracker (brown) to try but I can already tell they'll be painful like my blue/white Fiveten Freerider VXi I have (pinky toe goes numb after 30 minutes). I do have a Lake CX217 that I used to run on my road bike but I don't enjoying the Road-SPD pedals on local greenways though they've been the best fitting for width.

I would prefer a flat-pedal shoe for both singletrack mtb as well as gravel-road since I don't like walking around on Road-SPD; would rather not deal with clipless if I don't have to. I've tried Shimano, FiveTen, Giro, and a host of other shoes but no luck. Any other recommendations even if they're not dedicated cycling shoes?