Our Favorite Gear of the Year

With the year winding down and the whole Black Friday shopping experience about to kick off, we decided to look back at some of the products that we found ourselves using time and time again in 2019. Many of these products have been featured before on the TBD Journal, but what can we say - when we find a product that we love, we’re going to keep using it. In no particular order, some of our favorite gear from 2019:

Donnelly PDX Tubeless Tires

When Donnelly announced their new PDX tubeless tires our team slack immediately lit up with excitement. Judging from the reaction to our recent Guide to CX Tire Treads we are not the only folks who love the PDX’s. Why are we such big fans? The mid-range tread provides great performance in a range of conditions while also rolling with good speed. The only real negative is that the less expensive all-black model is sold out, but the good news is that the Euro-edition tan sidewalls look great ($80 at https://www.donnellycycling.com/)

Road Runner Burrito Bag

We featured the Road Runner Burrito Bag was part of our winter bike setup post almost one year ago. Since then we have become only more convinced on the utility of having extra cockpit storage. During the summer we’ll stuff it with snacks and tubes, for D2R2 it may or may not have held a flask, and during the fall and winter it will be an emergency pair of glove liners and waterproof jacket. ($40 at https://roadrunnerbags.us/)

Spurcycle Bell

The Spurcycle Bell has been around for long enough that there are a whole plethora of imitation products now available online. But this is one of those instances where the original still appears to be the best. And while nearly $50 isn’t a small ask for a bike bell, this is one that we use time and time again on New York City streets while dodging all manner of obstacles. It’s exceptionally well made, and in our experience worth every penny. If you do pick up a Spurcycle Bell, make sure to check out the Spurcycle Key Clip as well - it’s quickly become my keychain of choice. ($49 and up at https://www.spurcycle.com/).

SRAM eTap AXS

When it comes to electronic shifting, our team has historically been pretty devoted to Shimano ui2. In recent generations Shimano ui2 was not just a groupset that worked reliability, it pretty handily outperformed the competition. But then earlier this year SRAM Red eTap AXS landed as part of a highly coordinated launch campaign, followed shortly thereafter by Force eTap AXS. We quickly built up several TBD x Moots bikes up with each and let us tell you, the current generation SRAM AXS is nothing like the original eTap. Not only is performance excellent, but basic characteristics like the gearing are properly innovative. The price point is hefty (Force helps a bit with cost) but we have been convinced and chances are that you’ll be seeing some more AXS equipped Moots rolling around NYC next year. (Various prices at https://www.sram.com/en/sram)

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Ricoh GR III

TBD is fortunate to have a number of talented photographers on the roster who help make the To Be Determined Journal possible. We use a variety of equipment off the bike, but on the bike we spent a good chunk of the year shooting the new Ricoh GR III. It is not an inexpensive piece of kit, but for the size we don’t think there is any better option when it comes to image quality. We also loved the prior generation GR II, which is now available for less than $500, but the GR III does add some nice features, especially the touch screen. For a selection of street photography with the GR III, head over to “A day with Ricoh GR III” ($899 at https://us.ricoh-imaging.com/shop/)

Images shot with the Ricoh GR III by Daghan Perker

Airshot

We have written about the Airshot before and in a world where tubeless only continues to get better and better, we continue to think the Airshot is a great option for anyone that wants to go tubeless but doesn’t want to get a canister floor pump. There are some new players introducing competitive products, but for now we continue to endorse the Airshot. (£49.99 at http://www.airshotltd.com/)

Dynaplug

Continuing on the tubeless theme, we have been relying on Dynaplugs to keep us rolling for some time now. When sealant can’t close a puncture, having a Dynaplug kit on hand can mean avoiding an expensive cab ride or salvaging a new tire. The pre-threaded plugs are easy to use/replace, and the super sticky plug material has been developed from plugging up car and motorcycle tires. We’ve even sealed up punctures in the rain. Dynaplug gives you several options for carrying their plugs, ranging from the Megapill kit (incl. several sized plugs, a mini pipe cleaner and mini knife to trim any excess plug) to a super slim minimalist racer kit that would easily fit in any saddlebag — customizable colors and laser etching available too. (kits $24.99 and up at http://www.dynaplug.com/bike.html)

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Feedback Sports Omnium Bike Trainer

The Feedback Sports Omnium Trainer is another one of those products that has been around for a while but that we just constantly found ourselves using in 2019. These rollers are built like a tank and yet fold up into a package that is easily transportable to your local (or not so local) race. Long story short, there is a reason why these things are increasingly ubiquitous at New England cyclocross races: they just work. ($429.99 at https://www.feedbacksports.com/)