It's time to bow down to our Amazon overlords and pick up some cycling bargains (if it's stuff you genuinely need, and can't find cheaper elsewhere)

A sight that has been seen on a few occasions this week. About a week ago Tom Pidcock and Geraint Thomas were seen being transported to the start of Tour de France stages in team cars and not on the bus, and later showed symptoms and tested positive for Covid-19 respectively. Two of Tadej Pogacar's...

Hot on the heels of the release of the Smokey and Lorax titanium versions, Esker is following up with a different kind of metal. The Smokey and Lorax are once again the newest members of the Esker family, but this time they arrive with steel frames that offer the durability and ease of maintenance that Esker prioritizes in its line. Both sport external cable routing, a threaded bottom bracket, and a 44mm head tube. They also carry a plethora of water bottles and accessory attachment points to facilitate big, backcountry adventures.We like to name our bikes after iconic defenders of wild spaces and the Smokey and Lorax are no exception. We like to imagine that if the legendary bear and mustachioed creature from our youth rode a mountain bike, these would be it. Tim Krueger, Owner of Esker CyclesLorax Steel(Photo / Esker Cyles)The Lorax might be the ideal, do anything, drop bar mountain bike. It utilizes the same quad-butted steel tubing as the Hayduke hardtail. This gives it a supple, yet durable ride.The Lorax is available as a complete bike or a frameset with a Wolf Tooth Lithic Carbon Mountain fork thats painted to match. The Lorax GeoLorax Retail & Key FeaturesRetail: Starting at $1600 (frame & fork painted to match)Complete builds: Starting at $3000 (with a cornucopia of upgrade options)Mountain bike fit and feel. Designed with shorter stems and wider handlebars in mind for more control and better handling in rough terrain.Optimized geometry for a rigid fork with a 495mm axle to crown, or a 120mm suspension fork.Mountain bike spacing standards: 73mm BSA bottom bracket, Boost spacing, 44mm head tube, 31.6 seat tube.Dropper compatible, with internal routing at the seat tube.Designed around a 29 x 2.2 tire with clearance for up to a 29 x 2.615 attachment points + rack/fender mounts. Directly mount a top tube bag plus 3-pack mounts on both the bottom and top of your downtube.Custom drawn externally tapered, seamless, quadruple butted, heat treated 4130 DOM Chromoly tubeset that is specific to each frame size.Adjustable UDH Portage Dropout with a new Flat Mount version for the Lorax. Dial in your chainstay length or run as a singlespeed.Painted-to-match Wolf Tooth Lithic Carbon Mountain fork with adjustable offset and 3-pack mounts.Colors:Saguaro (Metallic Green), Burlap (Tan), Dusk (Dark Blue)Smokey SteelThe Smokey is the most aggressive hardtail in the Esker line. It has the same features as the titanium counterpart. Its built with a robust double-butted, heat-treated 4130 chromoly DOM tubeset. The Smokey is ready for anything you or the trail throws at it. The Smokey GeoSageRavenGold BarSmokey Retail & HighlightsRetail: $1000 (frame only), $1600 (frame & fork)Retail: Complet builds starting at $3000 (with a cornucopia of upgrade options)Optimized geometry for a 160mm suspension fork, steep seat tube angle, long reach and wheelbase.Accessory/tool mount under the top tubeCustom drawn, seamless, double-butted, heat-treated 4130 DOM chromoly tube set.Tire Clearance: Fits a recommended tire size range from 2.4 to 2.6.Hydration ready: Accommodates 2 water bottles in the front triangle for MD, LG, and XL sizes.Adjustable UDH Portage Dropout to tune your perfect chainstay length or run as a singlespeed.Colors: Raven (Deep Metallic Grey), Lichen (Forest Service Green), Gold Bar (GOLD).EskerCycles.comThe post Esker Cycles releases Steel Version of Lorax Dropbar MTB & Smokey Hardtail appeared first on Bikerumor.

Reversing the Welsh portion of the GB Divide, this ride starts in Wrexham and finishes in the Forest of Dean.

Covid-19 is being spread throughout the Tour de France peloton, staff and also must be said - fans. The huge amount of people that it takes to organize such a race and huge amount of fans has led to plenty positive cases amongst the riders, and most teams are at this point protecting themselves in s...

Some readers might be excited to hear that Esker Cycles just released a steel version of their new Lorax drop-bar 29er. The Esker Lorax steel features the same geometry and carbon Lithic fork as the titanium model, but it comes in three colors at a lower price point. Find details here...The post The Esker Lorax Now in Steel appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

On March 19th, 2008, I collected 21 famous quotes about cycling:Some of the quotes were real, and some I simply made uplike this one:Give me good books, good conversations, and my Trek Y-Foil, and I shall want for nothing else. George PlimptonMy intent was not to mislead anyone as I figured it was obvious which ones were fake. However, I inadvertently fooled the then-editor of The Paris Review, who in 2012 mentioned that George Plimpton used to ride around the city on a Y-Foil as though it were common knowledge:I was simultaneously amused and alarmed by the almost Orwellian manner in which Id forever reshaped reality and our collective memory simply by pulling a completely fabricated quote out of my chamois for a silly bike blog post. And like a broken Winston Smith, now I too can no longer separate reality from the ever-changing fiction I myself helped to create. Perhaps Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia, and perhaps Plimpton had owned that Y-Foil after all:This is the note that accompanied the latest test subject from Classic Cycle, of which I just took delivery yesterday. It couldnt be, I muttered to myself. I made it all updidnt I?And yet there it was, that eerie free-floating seat collar poking through the cardboard like the dorsal fin of a carbon fiber shark:As I withdrew the bike from the box, I felt as though Id slipped through an invisible membrane and into a world in which fiction was fact, two plus two equaled five, and full-length seat tubes had never even existed:Yes, it was George Plimptons Y-Foil all right. It said so, right there on theon the what? The seat stay? Thats not a seat stay. Y-Foils dont have seat stays. There is no such thing as a seat stay. The diamond frame never existed. To say they ever did is doubleplus ungood thoughtcrime. You may think you once ran your fingers along the dusty tubes of a lugged steel frame at an antique shop once, but you never did:I should add that until this moment I had never been this close to any Y-Foil, let alone George Plimptons, and I was oddly captivated by its sculpted frame and scintillating golden hue. What wheels could possibly do justice to this thing, I wondered to myself?Then I opened the wheel bags and found out:Never in my wildest dreams and/or night terrors would I ever have imagined that one day Id find myself in possession of not only a pair of Spinergy Rev-Xes, but also a pair of (Specialized? HED?) Tri Spokes:Like the Softride (and the Spinergy Rev-X for that matter), the Y-Foil (say WIFE-oil) disappeared from the marketplace because it was banned by the UCI, which is ironic because the vast majority of the people buying bikes like this will never, ever have to worry about whether their bike is UCI legal or not. But in 1998, the Y-Foil was a cutting-edge machine at the pointy end of Treks line-up, and Plimptons appears to be the metalized yellow bike from that year:Though that description hardly does Plimptons bike justice, especially with the orange and red accents:And if anything Id call it pumpkin spice latte:Or maybe candy corn:As someone whos currently riding a 1982 Nishiki Cervino and owns multiple Rivendae it probably wont surprise you that at no point have I ever coveted a Trek Y-Foil. Something about them has always screamed Hairy legs and aero helmets to me, and Ive always found the idea of anyone riding one to be amusing, let alone the late George Plimpton, which is why I made up the quote in the first place. And yet, also like the Softride, when youre actually in its presence its hard not to be charmed by the audacity of this elaborate evolutionary detour. The water bottle sits atop a carbon fiber (Im assuming) pedestal like a museum artifact:The seat post coupled with the lack of a seat tube makes the bike seem like some sort of futuristic hole-boring device:In fact legend has it that on group rides Plimpton would stop and prepare a fruit and cheese plate by placing cantaloupe and gouda in the seat tube void, loosening the seat collar, and punching delightful cylindrical morsels out of them with the seatpost and then wrapping them in prosciutto. Delicious.If only Plimpton had had access to a dropper post he could have prepared his fruit and cheese plates in only a fraction of the time:The bracket that holds the front derailleur is also oddly fascinating, and in a pinch can be used to pop the top off a bottle of cuve:Speaking of the front derailleur, the cable stops on the Y-Foils fuselage lack barrel adjusters, so Plimpton has made do by fitting one to his STI lever:The drivetrain is Dura-Ace 9-speed, though Plimpton made some departures, such as the Zero Gravity brakes:And of course those wheels, which cut through the air like a witty remark at a soire:He also used Campagnolo pedals for a touch of Euro flair (though like their Shimano equivalents of that era theyre basically just Looks):And a Cinelli Frog stem for a dash of whimsy:By the way, if you still doubt the bikes authenticity, take a look at the head badge:Now what do you have to say to that?Yes, the bike cuts a striking figure from any angle:And I only wish this baby had arrived before the Five Boro Bike Tour because I would have absolutely destroyed it on this thing:So far, Ive only ridden the bike around the neighborhood on a brief shakedown ride, but in that short amount of time someone called to me from his driveway: A Trek Y-Foil! Havent seen one of those in awhile! I stopped so he could check it out, and he noted the components with approbation, though he spotted the decals and remarked with amusement that there was no way the bike could have belonged to George Plimpton:Really? I beg to differ. And I even have the letter of authenticity to prove it.

Prime Day might incentivise shopping with Amazon, but big-name bike brands are getting in on the game. Discover some of the great deals to be had elsewhere on the Internet

Stage 16 of the Tour de France is a windy day by the Mediterranean coast into Nmes where there can be differences in the wind, but ultimately a bunch sprint is expected. We take a look at the words of a few big candidates at the start of the day, including Mark Cavendish's praise for his teammates...

Navigating the world of custom bikepacking bags can be daunting, even for experienced riders. Adding to our growing archive of guides to understanding and getting the most out of custom-built bike luggage, Ty Domin of Yeah Nah Thread Works compiled this primer featuring several key pointers to keep in mind when discussing projects with one-off bag makers. Read it here...The post How to Talk to Bikepacking Bag Makers: A Practical Guide appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.