32 was big at MADE. There were sooo many. Even King Cage has a new cage for the 32er 32 ounces that is. As in a cage for a 32oz Nalgene bottle.(Photos / Ron Frazelle)The new bottle cage is simple and constructed of titanium, and built by hand in Colorado. It carries the exact same precision and quality as all of the items made by the King Cage crew. When snapping a 32-ounce Nalgene bottle into the cage, it offers an audible snap as it slides into its final resting place. The action is very satisfying as you slide it down into position.Back plate with King Cage punched in there.Once that snap is heard, you feel that the bottle will not be going anywhere you dont want it to. You wont need any additional straps when using the new 32 Cage, like some of the other big bottle cages on the market. Ron Anderson, the King behind King Cage, said the toughest part of the fabrication of the 32 cage was the back plate. The back plate even has cutouts that spell King Cage. Its a neat addition to the unique cage. Its also nice that the back plate has 8 different oval mounting holes, which should allow it to have plenty of adjustment to fit both two-bolt and three-bolt bottle mounts, with the ability to shift up and down for placement. If you were at the show, you could have picked one up for $60, but the retail price is set at $80. Weight is TBA. Check the link below to take a gander at all of the cool items that they make!KingCage.com

As 31 elite women lined up on the start line of the 2026 Gravel Worlds race on 22 August, many multi-thousand-dollar carbon bikes with perfectly trued wheels and carefully selected tyres could be seen in the sea of steeds ready to take on the 150-mile course through the plains of Nebraska. But looking carefully through the start line melee, one bike stood out from the rest. Professional triathlete Amanda Macuiba, 32, pushed off to tackle the 9,000 feet of climbing aboard a $500 Marin gravel bike that she'd purchased on Facebook Marketplace the previous week. "I would be a liar if I said I wasnt a little underprepared," Macuiba admits. "But I had faith that my body and my years of racing experience would get me through the race even if it got a little ugly."No bike? No problem.Macuiba is no stranger to elite competition. She competed in collegiate running, and now races as a professional in the sport of triathlon with multiple podium finishes to her name in half- and full-distance Ironmans.When Macuiba had the opportunity to pivot from racing Ironman Maryland in September to lining up as an elite at Gravel Worlds (the long-running Nebraskan gravel race not to be mistaken with the much-newer UCI Gravel World Championships), she readily took on this new challenge. "I love how gravel biking has different focus points [than road racing]," Macuiba says. "Its not just about how close you are to someones wheel; its also about navigating the terrain and handling technical sectionsI find gravel to be fun and refreshing compared to road cycling."While Macuiba's late entry into the elite wave at Gravel Worlds was accepted, she was facing two big challenges: she hadnt done any gravel-specific training in months and, worse, no gravel bike to race on. She has a custom gravel bike in the works, but it wasn't going to be ready in time. Some may have let this stop them from pursuing Gravel Worlds, but not Macuiba. "I didnt feel comfortable asking a friend to borrow a bike given the length and technical terrain of Worlds," Macuiba says. "So I turned to Facebook Marketplace, and the $500 Marin bike I ended up getting fit my budget and was close enough for easy pickup with less than a week to go for Worlds."Macuiba adds with a laugh, "I refuse to call the bike a bad bike. I thought what better thing for [the bike] and I to bond over than both being a bit over our heads with Worlds."With a bike now secured, Macuiba decided to rely on her years of aerobic endurance training, hoping it would translate to the 150 miles of dirt awaiting her in Lincoln. The $500 Bike(Image credit: Amanda Macuiba)Brand: Marin Nicasio+Year: UnknownSize: 52Frame & fork material: SteelTyres: 650b x 47mm (with Super Glue jammed into the cracks)Drivetrain: 1 x 9 speed Microshift mechanical95 Miles and Lessons for A LifetimeWhen the race got underway, Macuiba was pleased to keep up with the elite peloton for the first 10 miles, until the gravel-specific skills and tactics of the race came into play. "I learned the harsh lesson that one bad corner will cost you the entire peloton," Macuiba says of her race experience. "But it also gave me so much respect for the other elite women. I tried to channel any humiliation I felt into absolute respect for the skills these elite women possess."At mile 53, Macuiba crashed hard while attempting to corner at a high speed, planting the bike derailleur-side down into the dirt and rock. Despite Macuiba being physically OK, the bike was not. Mechanics at the mile 54 aid station attempted to fix the bikes shifting issues caused by the crash, but with little success. Macuiba had to manually push her shifters back into place after every click, and eventually, could only shift between two gears in the middle of her cassette. "By mile 95, my knees were aching from grinding uphill at 50rpm and I was weary of spinning out on every downhill," Macuiba says. "I thought to myself, 'I cant do this for 55 more miles.' Plus, I could have used more calories, and my body and mind were growing weary. I decided it wasnt safe for me to try to continue and made the tough call to DNF."Despite DNFing, Macuiba says she comes away from the race with a wealth of new information that she "couldnt possibly" have learned without giving Worlds a go on her $500 steed. "I took any feelings of embarrassment or imposter syndrome and told myself that physically, I can belong [in the elite field] if I work on my technical riding and get some better gear," Macuiba says. "As I waited for my teammate to pick me up [from the DNF point], I reminded myself that my elite application for Worlds was accepted for a reason.""I would absolutely do this again"Macuiba unflinchingly says she would do this entire experience again. "I would absolutely do [Gravel Worlds] again," Macuiba says. "And when I get that finisher medal, no matter what place Im in, Im going to be really freaking stoked. I cant wait to re-prepare myself for a big gravel race like this in the future."Macuiba says that if she could impart any post-race wisdom to other cyclists, especially those new to the sport, it would be that "waiting for everything to be perfect will never be worth it.""Waiting for the perfect day where everything aligns is unlikely to ever happen," Macuiba says. "Embracing the imperfect days will make you a better athlete mentally and physically and I think thats why we do sport at all."Even if you feel twinges of embarrassment or nerves taking on a new challenge, Macuiba encourages cyclists of all abilities to push through those feelings and enjoy the new adventure. "As I stood on the start line with these incredibly elite women and their really nice bikes, I did feel some embarrassment," Macuiba says. "But I thought, 'Youre already here, so just do your best,' and I ended up having such a cool experience that I would never have had if I waited for the perfect circumstances."As for the $500 Facebook Marketplace bike? After it gets some TLC to recover from its battle wounds, Macuiba plans on keeping the bike and loaning it to family members so they can experience the joy of riding and trying something new and different, too.

Oscar Onley went into stage 4 of the Vuelta a Espana half-expecting overnight sickness to wreck his general classification. He came out of the first major mountain showdown fifth overall and wearing the white jersey. The Netcompany INEOS leader finished sixth in Andorra la Vella after staying with t...

Multi-time downhill World Champion Loc Bruni may race the World Cup clipped into Mallet DH pedals, but Crankbrothers made these special Stamp 7 flat pedals for when he hops on his BMX bike. Just like his signature Mallet pedals, now the Stamps also get a special gold Bruni edition to honor all those times on the top step of the podium 6x UCI DH World Champ and 4x UCI DH World Cup champ to name just ten of em. Crankbrothers Stamp 7 Loic Bruni Edition flat pedalsBruni playing around in Les Gets since he wasnt ready to race (All photos/Crankbrothers)Hopefully, Bruni can spin around on flats for a bit, as he works to make his way back to racing. Its good to see he was goofing around in Les Gets on his BMX with the new pedals this past weekend.The Stamp 7 is Crankbrothers long-running benchmark alloy flat pedal. Not their most expensive (leave that to the ti axles of the 11) or the biggest (leave that to the monster new Stamp EVO). But a solid performer that costs two hundred bucks a pair, and is easily serviceable for years of riding. You get a thin 11-13mm concave profile, 10 grippy pins per side, tough steel axles that spin on low-maintenance glide bushings, and the option for two platform sizes. Plus, now you can get a Loic Bruni edition in anodized gold with Bruni and his number 29 on the side. And it wont even cost you any extra.Tech detailsforged 6061-T6 aluminum platform, now in gold ano with Bruni signature graphicsavailable in small or large sizes: 114mm x 111mm Large, made for shoe sizes 10-15 US / 43-49 EU 100mm x 100mm Small, made for shoe sizes 3-10 US / 35-43.5 EU shoesconcave platform profile, 11mm at the axle & 13mm at the edges10 replaceable traction pins per side further concave 8mm inner, 10mm outer pin setupforged SCM 415 Chromoly steel axles with no rider weight limitlow-friction Igus LL-glide bearing inner and outer bushings345g for Small pair, 375g for Large pair of pedals (claimed)5-year warrantyBruni edition Crankbrothers Stamp 7 pedals Pricing, options & availabilityLoc Bruni races World Cups on clips, but between race days, hes on the BMX track riding flats to polish his feel on the bike. This Stamp 7 is designed around those sessions, featuring the same signature colorway as his Mallet DH pedal so you can run Brunis look whether you ride flats or clips.The Bruni edition flat pedals sell for the same $200 / 180 as all the other Stamp 7s. And you can pick these gold platforms in either small or large now, directly from Crankbros or their partner retail shops.Wheres Super Bruni been? View this post on Instagram Loc Bruni has been out of World Cup DH racing since June. Sidelined by a serious crash and wrist injury in Loudenvielle that required emergency surgery. Hed hoped to return to racing this past weekend in Les Gets, but shared on social media that he was recovering more slowly than expected. Now, the Frenchman hopes to be back in time for the Whistler World Cup.(Photos by Billy Ceusters/Ohlins)We hope well see him (and his sick custom hlins 50th anniversary-painted new Demo 11 race bike) there!Bike photo by Billy Ceusters/Ohlins)Crankbrothers.com

Mattias Skjelmose believes his first attempt at racing the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana in the same season may already be leaving a mark after he lost ground to his closest podium rivals in Andorra. The Lidl-Trek leader was still in the main GC fight deep into stage 4, but slipped away as the...

Enric Mas has accepted that the battle for victory at the 2026 Vuelta a Espana has effectively become a fight for second place after Tadej Pogacar demolished his rivals on the first major mountain test in Andorra. Pogacar's 50-kilometre solo attack on stage 4 left Primoz Roglic 3:21 behind in the ge...

On the latest episode of the road.cc Podcast, we reflect on a big summer of womens racing, a historic trip to the Giant of Provence, Emily dissects why Demi Vollerings so good, and Ryan chases some more professional cyclists around France

The2026 Vuelta a Espaawill be the third and final Grand Tour of the men's calendar and will take place from the 22nd of August to the 13th of September. Starting in Monaco, the World Tour peloton will travel through the eastern and southern half of Spain for a mountain-packed edition. Below, you...

There were many, many 32 bikes at the 2026 edition of MADE. So many that well have a dedicated roundup to the big wheels coming soon (that might have to be split into two parts!). But few brands seemed to thoroughly embrace the concept like Rare Earth Cycle. All three of the Rare Earth show bikes were built around the big wheels and seem to have elevated Brian Halls designs to another level with a fantastic blend of modern design elements creatively interpreted in steel. Rare BerdWhen Berd Spokes approached Brian to create a show-stopping build for their booth, Brian thought a 32 aero gravel race bike would be the perfect subject. Why not? Of course, this wouldnt be your average gravel race bike. From a distance, you might think this is a composite frame with plenty of deep aero cross sections. But its actually all steel. Brian explained that to get this effect, he utilized thin 4130 sheet metal that is then stretched around steel tubing like a skin-on-frame aircraft. Brian also built his own fork, because as he points out, the existing forks didnt have the right offset. Thats something we heard from a lot of builders who also gave credit to Mosaic for introducing a fork with a more 32-friendly offset. In this case, Brians fork runs a 62mm offset. In spite of all that steel, the big wheels and tires, pedals, bottles, tools, and bags, the Rare Bird felt lighter than expected. That weight is certainly helped by details like what is possibly the lightest frame bag in the world just 17g. Made by San Util, the bag is actually taped to the frame around the edges to ensure it is as aerodynamic as possible. Crazy Cloud Full SuspensionThe Crazy Cloud full suspension bike takes some of that skin-on-frame steel construction and pairs it with a modern-looking suspension design and thin tubing to make what looks to be a lightweight full-suspension endurance bikepacking race bike. With Doom 2026 on the downtube, Brian raced this one at the 2026 edition of the race in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It looks serious, but maybe not that serious since it does have a flask holder for one of the bottle cages after all. With most of Brians work in steel, the handlebar/stem combo is one of the few places where titanium has been mixed in. It looks incredible, and probably delivers excellent compliance for a one-piece bar/stem, which tend to be on the rigid sideGunni Flyer Bikepacking Bike Last up is the Gunni Flyer, a build for Bikepacking.com editor Neil Beltchenko. Again, no ready-made forks on the market had the right specs so Brian made a custom semi-truss fork with plenty of mounts and what appears to be routing for a dynamo hub that pokes out just below the headset on the right side of the fork. Further details include an integrated portage handle, Rare Earths signature twin top tube with adjustable bag rails, and a rear brake caliper that is tucked inside the seat stay, presumably to keep it away from bags and gear on the rear rack. rareearthcycle.com

Tadej Pogacar delivered a crushing display on the first mountain stage of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana. The Slovenian attacked on the Collada de Beixalis with around 50 kilometres remaining and quickly dropped Felix Gall, the only rider initially able to follow. Gall tried to respond to Pogacars accele...