New Products and Back in Stock
A few long-awaited shipments have arrived, and we’re excited to have popular components back in stock. We’ve got TPU tubes again, and most handlebar models, the world’s lightest musette bags, and a few other items.
Plus there are a few new products that we’re excited about. Let’s start with the new items:
The Ultralight Organizer Bags are something I’ve used for a long time: Small bags to keep things easy to find in my on-bike luggage. Whether it’s during a race like Unbound XL or an FKT ride, the last thing I want to do is stop and dig through my bag.
Looking for lightweight, small bags, I realized that the stuff sacks or our Rinko bags are ideal. But few of us have multiple Rinko bags lying around, so we asked Ostrich to make just the stuff sacks for us. The Ultralight Organizer Bags come in a set of four: a small, two medium, and a large bag. Different colors make it easy to keep track of lip balm, wallet, power pack and other small things that tend to get lost in the depths of our bags. They’re made from the same ultra-tough Silnylon like our Ultralight Musette Bags. The complete set of four bags weighs just 29 g and costs just $29. Perfect for your summer adventures!
Travel to Japan is popular right now, and for good reason: It’s a great place to visit—and a great place to ride bikes. Getting around Japan by train is super-easy, and you can take your bike on any train—provided it’s in a Rinko bag.
In theory, the bag needs to meet luggage requirements—that’s where the art of Rinko comes in, with bikes that are specially prepared to fit into a bag the size of the frame (without fork). If you are traveling with a ‘standard’ bike—especially one with disc brakes—it’s hard to get the bike small enough to meet he regulations. Fortunately, train crews usually are fine with larger bags, as long as you’re not obstructing walkways, etc. Within reason, of course: Don’t even think about bringing a typical bike travel bag made for air travel onto a train!
Our friends at Ostrich are the undisputed masters of Rinko. The Chosoku Five Rinko Bag gives you options: Remove both wheels, reduce the length of the bag with the built-in cinch strap, and the bike becomes a (relatively) small package. If you remove only front wheel and bars, you’ll save time and get a package that’s free-standing. (Depending on frame size, just turning the bars may suffice.) And if you’re traveling at 5 a.m. on a weekend (upper photo), you can even skip removing the handlebars, since the train will be empty.
A separate bag for the front wheel protects your frame. It attaches to the bike’s top tube with a strap. A carrying strap goes through reinforced slots on the bag and helps with carrying your bike. At your destination, the bag rolls up into a small package that you can strap under your saddle.
If you’re planning to travel to Japan with your bike, the Chosoku Five Rinko bag makes train travel in Japan easy.
Those are the new products. Here are the restocks: Our TPU tubes continue to be popular. Superlight, superfast, and with leak-free all-metal valves, there’s a lot to like. Plus they come in three widths, for narrow, medium-wide and ultra-wide tires. We offer them for 700C / 29″, 650B, 26″ and even 16″ wheels. There are four different valves.
We’ve got all sizes back in stock. A few models—mostly with threaded valves—are still on the way to Seattle. You can pre-order yours to beat the rush when they arrive.
We also got a restock of Rene Herse handlebars. Most sizes and models are back in stock. With their long ramps and generous curves, these bars are designed for all-day comfort. A few models are still out of stock. Unfortunately, we don’t have an ETA. There’s a shortage of aluminum right now due to the war on Iran. This has disrupted production and shipping of aluminum—much of which comes from the United Arab Emirates.
Another much-talked-about consequence of the war has been a shortage of oil. Among other things, that’s affecting tire production. We’ve been able to get the raw materials needed to produce our crowd-funded all-black tires, but they were delayed a bit. The tires are in production now, and we expect them in late July or early August.
Good news: We were able to add a few tires to the production run. That means we’re taking pre-orders for all models of our all-black Endurance tires—until those added tires are spoken for as well.
Finally, our popular Ultralight Musette Bags are back in stock. Made from ultralight Silnylon like the new Organizer Bags, the musettes weigh just 25 g. (Yes, that makes them lightest in the world.) The musettes also pack incredibly small—about the size of a narrow TPU tube. I carry my musette bag on every ride, folded up in my bag. It comes in handy if I want to buy a few croissants for breakfast on the way home from an early-morning ride. Or if I need extra capacity after a resupply during a long brevet or bikepacking ride.
We appreciate your patience as we navigate the challenges of the current situation. We’re working hard to keep in stock the tires and components you rely on. And we continue to work on new things that we hope will enhance your cycling experience. Click on the images or the links below for more information.
More Information:
