Bike Hugger 

The New Pivot Phoenix DH Carbon from Pivot Cycles on Vimeo.

So much to catch up on after a long weekend of fat biking in the Methow Valley, and we’ll start with this PR from Pivot and the edit. Rode Pivot a few years ago during a media event and here in Seattle, that’s why I share their content still – exceptionally well engineered. Also not a brand everyone else has on the trail.

Set your racing on fire. With input from the Pivot Factory racing team, the new Phoenix DH Carbon is 2/3 of a lb lighter, and offers more go-fast features than any other gravity offering on the market. In this video, rider Bernard Kerr, Eliot Jackson and Emilie Siegenthaler offer their input and feedback on what makes the new Phoenix their choice for the 2016 World Cup and Crankworx season.

Occasionally I happen upon an item that completely takes me by surprise. At first glance the PowerLight Mini from BioLite looks like an odd tail light masquerading as almost-vintage flip phone. BioLite is a company that is perhaps better known for making clever devices such as a camp stove that smokelessly burns wood to generate heat for cooking while simultaneously providing electricity to charge a phone, GoPro, or other electronic device. I thought so they’re making a bicycle tail light, ho hum. It turns out that the PowerLight Mini is so much more than just that.

How a bit of software and tech may save the lives of many cyclists

On Medium Bicycles, Matt Haughey reviews Garmins’s rear-facing radar.

Once you have the rear light mounted and sync’d to your computer, you simply start riding normally and whenever a car approaches you from behind (up to 500 feet away) the right side of your bike computer screen will turn red, beep, and show an approaching dot animated on your screen.

Monochromatic with a splash of color. #fatbike #methowvalley

A photo posted by Byron (@bikehugger) on Feb 14, 2016 at 7:41am PST

We’re enjoying a couple’s getaway this weekend in Methow Valley riding fatbikes in the snow with friends. North Cascades Cycle Werks set us up with Fatbacks and Methow Cycle and Sport a Trek Farley. The conditions were greasy, but we made the best of it.

The scenery was monochromatic with a splash of color. When I first wrote about fatbikes in the snow, most of the narrative was written from rides in this valley. I didn’t know then if a niche of a niche would get traction in the mainstream. Happy to report it has and if you haven’t tried fatbiking yet, you totally should. It’s super fun.

Don from Cycle and Sport or Merle from Cycle Werks will set you up. Rentals are about $30.00 for a 1/2 day and Pearrygin Lake State Park is designated for fatbikes. We stayed with friends, but there are plenty of rooms to rent.

Peak at the Rawland launch party at @velocult pic.twitter.com/J8SX1oNkLy

— ThePathLessPedaled (@pathlesspedaled) February 11, 2016

Rawland announced their new Drop-Bar MTBs at Velocult in Portland. Our friends from PLP were there and uploaded this short video. Also see the report from Bicycle Times about The Ravn and Ulv. In a market that’s not very well defined, you can call these bikes whatever, and just be happy for more hand positions and tire choices. The Trek 920 is similar with road-touring geo and 29r wheels, as well as the Specialized AWOL, and what Raleigh did with the Roker – first ride here and reviewed in our mag.

Ravn 26-inch wheels with Panaracer Driver Pro tires and will fit a 650b x 42 tire with fenders. Photo: Bicycle Times

Ulv with clearance for a 27plus tire or a 29-inch mountain bike tire. It also has additional braze-ons for bikepacking gear. Photo: Bicycle Times

As I’ve said, if roadies are gonna ride off road without suspension, it’ll take more than high volume tires to make for a comfortable all-day ride. Next up, bring back the Rock Shock Ruby, seriously. What I’m spending my miles on now is the Trek Boone that smooths out gravel with their IsoSpeed decoupler. I wrote about a ride on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail last weekend.

So why would you want a MTB on fire roads instead of a touring bike? According to Rawland’s Jeremy Spencer:

The key to both models is the low trail geometry. By lowering the trail the bike becomes much more stable with a load on the front end and without super-wide handlebars to maintain control.

And Mark V’s take:

The Ravn and ULV are interesting designs as a sort of fusion between the low-trail/front-loading rando philosophy and the reemerging interest in dropbars offroad.