Journal | Hunt Bike Wheels

The Altlas mountain race is a second new race to the early season Backpacking calendar and, as the name suggests, takes part in the Atlas Mountains of Morroco. The Atlas Mountain race is a predominantly off road event which began in Marrakesh on feb 15th, crosses the Atlas mountains and winds its way through the fringes of the desert and smaller Anti Atlas mountains before finishing on the coast near Agadir.

At 1000km in length this isn’t the longest event on the calendar, however the substantial elevation, rough roads and tracks will make it a tough ride. Winning times will be expected to be under 4 days, with the majority of the participants completing the event in around a week.

The Race around Rwanda kicks off in Kigali Rwanda this weekend. It's a 1000km race with around 250km of gravel roads and lots of climbing. In fact there is barely a flat section on the route and coupled with the fact that the race begins at 1800m altitude and only goes up fro there means that this will be a tough challenge. But what is the best bike set up for the event? 

Josh Ibbett takes us through his race setup...

The winter break is almost over for the Ultra distance Dotwatching community as the first race of the season is almost upon us. There are plenty of new races popping up on the 2020 bikepacking and the first of them is the Race Around Rwanda.

The Race Around Rwanda is a 1000km self supported race around the land of a thousand hills. Rwanda’s nickname hints as to what is to come for the rider's participation in the inaugural race, as the name suggests Rwanda is not a flat country!

Their only portrait is a photography project run by Federico Cabrera. Fede has spent the past decade traveling South America on various bikepacking trips and the project was started in order to try and give something back to the small local communities he passed through on his travels. 

We spoke to Fede to find out more about Their only portrait and his travels...

We are super excited to announce that Rob Williams will be going on the team for the 2020 season. Rob basis himself in the South of Wales with some of the best riding in the Uk Literally on the hill behind his house. Here is what he had to say for himself when we had a chat over a Cup of Tea and a cheeky Donut. 

The Tour Divide is a 2750 mile (4400 km) unsupported mountain bike race from Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells on the Mexican border.

The Length of Time documents the race from a rider's perspective telling the story of Josh Ibbett’s ride. See the emotional highs and lows of this classic bikepacking race from the inside. Find out how Josh prepared for the ride and discover the emotional battles both before, during and after the ride.

Fabian Burri has a long history with cycling but has only recently started bikepacking and racing Ultra races. Fabian has travelled all over the world racing throughout 2019 and as the most recent addition to the Hunt team we thought it was about time we found out more about the man.

So without further ado lets meet Fabian!

Fabian recently raced this cool Cannondale Topstone in the Across Andes Bikepacking race in Chille, South America. The route crossed high altitude mountain passes on both tarmac and dirt roads, so the Topstone proved to be an excellent choice.

The Topstone uses Cannondale's revolutionary kingpin suspension system based around a series of clever pivots and strategically laid carbon fiber. The end result is a suspension system that will take the edge of the dirt road yet still pedal efficiently on the road sections and long climbs.

 In this weeks 'meeting' we get to know James Stockhausen. James works for Temple cycles, a small British company who build bikes in Bristol. James loves to get away and travel on his bike so we find out more about the man and his travels.

Read on to find out more...

We offer a full range of Dynamo lights so you can forget about charging your lights on your daily commute or charging your GPS device on those multiday backpacking trips. But how do you use a Dynamo wheelset to run your lights and charge your devices?

HUNT Beyond Brand Manager, Josh Ibbett, talks you through the Dynamo setup that he used on this year's 2600mile Tour Divide in the USA. Watch the video to find out more...

For most us the off season has well and truly arrived. Getting out on the bike requires military planning to ensure the correct layers are chosen to keep warm, the lights are charged and don’t even mention the post ride clean up!

So let get some motivation in the bank and explore some bikepacking goals for 2020. Here is Hunt Beyond’s top ten bikepacking events to enter in 2020.