Welcome to RECON where you will find all of our latest stories including gear reviews, ride recaps and industry news.
I 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 MoreWe tune into the Gravel Ride Podcast and listen in on conversations from the 2019 North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Sacramento, CA. Some interesting news from Steve Potts, Mosaic, Wolf Tooth, McGovern, Panaracer, Olivetti, No. 22 and Civilian.
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 MoreA new contest gives participants the opportunity to win a brand new Canyon Grail gravel bike, all for a great cause! Benefiting the trails of San Diego County, for every $5 donated, you will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a 2019 Canyon Grail CF SL 8.0 SL.
Read MoreAn interview with Vince Colvin of Chumba USA, Podcast by The Gravel Ride.
Read MoreNew for 2019, Moots introduces the Routt YBB ultra-compliant gravel bike. The bike incorporates the legendary Moots YBB ‘softail’ micro-suspension design, first pioneered on its mountain bikes in the1990’s, and adapts it to create the ultimate gravel bike.
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 MoreRoll Massif is a new collection of eight road, gravel and mountain bike sportives across the state of Colorado. On the gravel front they promise two impressive sportives including Wild Horse Gravel in De Beque and Crooked Gravel in Winter Park.
Read MoreAt a glance, Eagle AXS brings the real benefits of wireless electronic shifting to the mountain bike. On a deeper level, it offers discerning riders unprecedented personalization and control of the drivetrain. On the bike and off. Deepening the relationship between machine and rider. This addition to the Eagle ecosystem enhances capability. Removes complexity. And provides riders an experience like never before imagined.
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 MoreENVE has just released its latest product, a complete line of premium aluminum road hubs in rim and disc brake configurations that broaden their wheelset offering and establish ENVE as a player in the hub aftermarket. ENVE sees this proprietary hub technology as a way to further streamline their supply chain and bring more attractive pricing options for consumers. Wheelsets impacted include ENVE SES and G Series wheelsets to be set at $2550 USD. While ENVE’s new aluminum hubs will become the standard offering for complete wheelsets, ENVE will continue to offer custom wheel builds with select hub manufacturers.
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.
Read MoreAs the popularity of gravel continues to grow, bike manufacturers are increasingly offering capable adventure bikes at more accessible price points. We found 5 that that offer the capabilities you would expect, while staying at or under that elusive $2000 price point. All of these bikes have tire clearance for at least 700x40mm tires, can handle 650b, and offer multiple mounting points for added versatility.
Read MoreWe tested a few of the latest winter products from Gore Wear, including the C3 Gore Windstopper Phantom Zip-Off Jacket, Gore Wear C5 Thermo Jersey and the C5 Gore Windstopper Bib Shorts+. Read our initial impressions on warmth, comfort and design.
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