Friday Wrap-Up: August 16

It might be hot and dusty on the trails, but the evenings are cool and beautiful, and riding is still wonderful! This week we published a fun mix of gear, event, and shop content on the site.

In the news

We’ve got a confirmed rider list for the first ever women’s category in Red Bull Rampage! This roster is stacked, and we can’t wait to see these ladies throw down in the desert. We’ve also got all the details on the Durango Derby. This event looks like an absolute blast, hopefully the future holds more grassroots mountain bike racing.

Gear reviews

New bike release season might be slowing down somewhat, but we still had plenty of gear to review. I wrote up my impressions of the Maxxis Aspen ST (should I run the forbidden combo of a High Roller 3 up front and an Aspen ST out back?), Andrew Major talked Corvettes and drivetrains , Marin launched sweet new affordable Rift Zone builds, and I waxed lyrical about my weird tiny drivetrain.

Travel & features

Our travel series kicks back off next week, but we still published a few fun features this week. Ariel wrote about her relationship with riding through the lens of the Olympics , and also documented Reece Wallace’s rad backyard bike park . Dillon Osleger talks about smoke detection mapping and how it relates to mountain biking, and we published a few more Shop Local pieces as well.

Looking forward

Next week a bike I got to spend time on at Crankworx launches, we’ll have a report from the SheShreds event at Legacy bike park, a photo gallery from our latest Main Character of the Race, and more.

Related: Friday Wrap-up: August 9