A Pictorial Review Idea

During the Tree In The Road Ride a discussion of an idea from Jason Boucher came up which I thought might make for a good event, and maybe more. The idea would be to present a photographic review of Trans Iowa's history. 

Now, before we get too excited here, let's consider a few things. First off, there are several image takers which would have to be consulted and to get permissions from before any sort of show or more could be considered. Just to give you an idea, there are nine major contributors to Trans Iowa's imagery and several minor contributors. That's a LOT of permissions and editing to cull the best shots for any sort of showing.

I have well over 1,000 images alone which I have collected from those nine individuals, including my own, and from other minor contributors. To say that there is a wealth of images is not an understatement. Plus, I know there are thousands  of images no one has seen but the image takers themselves.

Wally Kilburg accounts for a vast amount of iconic T.I. Images. 

One snag is the fact that Wally Kilburg is no longer with us, and getting permissions for using his imagery, or even accessing it, is a big hurdle to overcome as of now.

I know Wally would be 100% all-in on this idea, but we cannot ask him anymore, so without those images, I'd be rather reticent to pursue the idea at all. Wally would have to be represented in anything like this idea.

Then you have a venue, a space to hold an event like this in, and what does this entail? Yeah, not totally insurmountable, but you all know if we picked a site there would be cries of it being unfair to those far away. Plus, any date chosen would be a big snag with several folks as well. Personally, I don't care about those two issues, because there is an inevitability about any of those two things. It will happen no matter what we do, so whatever.... 

It's a nice idea, but it wouldn't be easy to pull off. Maybe we would have to do some kind of a book to make it worthwhile, and this would complicate things further, but I know making money off this would be something some of the contributors would want to see happen to make it worth their time and efforts. Plus, you have to recognize the talent and product realized by these artists. Would this idea work if it could result in a coffee table type book? Maybe.

Look, I have no clear idea for this, and it is just an idea now. If enough folks wanted to see it happen, maybe the effort would be worth the time. I really do not know. It would have to be a collaborative effort, because I just do not see myself pulling this off alone. So, this really is not up to my decision. Plus, the whole thing with getting nine entities/people to enter into a collaborative agreement. That's a big ask.

But....I thought I'd throw it out there. You never know unless you try, even if it is just throwing something out to see what sticks. And maybe nothing will come of this. I'm good either way. 

Crazy Idea: Update

Back in mid-June I showed you dear readers this "sketch" I had for the old Singular Buzzard. If you missed the introduction to my nutty thoughts, you can go back and read them HERE. 

The short story, in case you don't go back to read the first post on this, is that I wanted to rebuild the Buzzard, but not as a trail bike. I am going with a "bikepacking/Pugsley" idea, where the rear and front wheels will be interchangeable.

The first order of business was to rebuild the single speed rear hub I have, which was laced to a 26" Marge Lite rim, as seen in the image above/left here. (depending on which platform you are viewing the blog on)

Then, since I wanted to reuse the On One Chunky Monkey 29" x 2.4" tires, I had to clean out all the old sealant. Let me tell you, there was a lot of 'skin to peel' off! But it came out swell, and the tire looked great, even if it is about a dozen years old! By the way, I will have to do the same with the rear, but I haven't gotten around to it quite yet.

With the tire cleaned up, and the 29" Dually rim rebuilt onto the single speed hub, I had to re-tape the rim, and I decided that for now I would insert a tube. This will press the tape down nice and evenly onto the rim's inner walls, and suffice for the time being to test out the idea. If things pan out, I will set up the bike tubeless, or maybe I'll go TPU. We will see when, and if, I get to this point what I decide.
 

The second mock-up looks more promising. I think I am warming up to this idea!

So there is what I have so far. I like what I am seeing now much better. A few points to note here:

• The seat height is correct, so I am happy with the saddle-to-bar drop I am seeing without adding more spacers. The fact that this fork was made for a first generation titanium Mukluk helps in that the steer tube was extra long.
• Speaking of that Enabler fork, this is the key to the entire idea being worthwhile, in my opinion. The context here is that Salsa, for better or worse, based the first iterations of their fat bike on the Surly Pugsley, which had as one of its central ideas the interchangeable front and rear wheel feature. This was done to allow for a "bail-out" option where a failed derailleur or frozen up free hub could be swapped out as an entire wheel assembly for your front wheel which would have a single speed free wheel mounted, or a fixed cog. (Or if you went with only a rear brake, both fixed and free wheel single speed options!)  This meant that the Enabler fork was designed with a 135mm, rear brake specific, quick release drop out spacing. The same as the rear of the Singular Buzzard. 
• The Velo Orange Utility Bar and Utility Rack will be utilized for water bottle mounts as well as cargo-carrying duties. The original set up on the Buzzard was predicated on a MTB usage which was based upon the assumption a rider would be using a hydration pack. This one-bottle set up was not going to cut it as a bikepacking rig, so the additional capacity for the Utility Bar and Rack to handle water bottles is a boon here. Obviously the Enabler Fork also adds two water bottle mounts. So water carrying needs are all covered here.
• I will make use of a Topeak rear seat bag/dry bag carrier for more cargo capacity when necessary. I will also be looking to add a "gas tank" style top tube bag.
• The drive train will be a 2X 11 speed set up utilizing an XTR shifter and  rear derailleur which I was gifted by N.Y. Roll. (The current STX rear mech will be replaced). 

There will be a lot of details to take care of before I get this thing up and running, so I am far from the finish line with this project. However; I am encouraged by the outcome so far. If you have any comments or suggestions, I would welcome them.

Stay tuned.... 

WTB Solano Saddle Review: Final Verdict

 Note: WTB sent two Solano saddles to Guitar Ted Productions at no cost for test and review. WTB has not paid for, nor bribed Guitar Ted for these reviews. All opinions and images, unless noted, belong to Guitar Ted/Guitar Ted Productions.

The time has arrived to render a final verdict on the WTB Solano saddles I was sent to review. The opening review with all the technical data and first impressions was posted HERE and the first follow-up after this can be seen HERE. 

In this final post in this reveiw I will give my final thoughts on the Solano and also I will pass along what I have heard from N.Y. Roll who is using the Solano SL, which was sent to me in a wider size than I typically use.

A Bit Of A Surprise:

On my final 3.5 hr ride I did before this final review I stopped about seven miles in to rest and have a "nature break" when I realized I was numb in the groin area. I had not ever experienced this with the Solano, and it alarmed me. Just to be clear, there had been no change in the seat position at all.

What may be even more surprising is that for the remainder of the ride I was fine. No numbness at all once I had walked it off at my first stop. I can only point to the bibs I was wearing as a possibility for the initial numbness as I had not used those Summer-weight GORE bibs with this saddle until that last ride. 

This experience was baffling, so I am not quite sure what to make of it other than perhaps it was an anomaly. Yet I thought it was worth mentioning. I can say the first miles were all done grinding into a stiff 20mph wind, and completely seated with no relief from standing. Again, it wasn't as though I hadn't ridden this saddle that way before, so it was a mystery to me as to what happened there.

N.Y. Roll, on the other hand, had nothing but praise for the Solano SL he is using. I would probably not ever get it back unless I pried it from his hands.. So, I think it is safe to say the wider Solano SL fits him quite well.

Final Verdict: The Solano SL seems to (mostly) be a fine gravel saddle on my rides. I never had any kind of irritations or hot-spot issues at all. There was the odd situation detailed above. Other than this, I do like the saddle quite a bit.

It is better than the WTB Gravelier, at least in how it fits my anatomy. The Gravelier was always a saddle which I never quite felt 100% great on. It was a saddle I waffled on as far as being one I would stick with or take off. So far, it has stayed on the bike. The Solano will likely stay on also, unless I have more issues with numbness, which I do not anticipate.  

Weekly Top Five

 Welcome to the weekly Top Five" showing links to five of the week's most read articles on the blog.
Sometimes those will be current posts, but sometimes not. I will also post commentary with perspective on some of the older posts, and try to give some context as to why I wrote what I wrote then, which may not reflect what I'd say in 2025. With all of the above said, here is this week's list.

Riders L-R: Guitar Ted, Matt Will, Matt Gersib Image by Jason Boucher

 The Tree In The Road Ride Report: Technical Snafus & Heat - Tuesday July 1st, 2025 - The meat of the report from the Tree In The Road Ride saw a lot of interest. I was a bit surprised by this, to be honest. 

Gear Review From The TITRR & Final Thoughts - Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 -  I almost didn't write this post because I thought there would be little interest in what I used and what I thought about those things and the ride. I guessed wrong. I am happy I posted it now!

Tips On Dealing With The Mighty Red Winged Blackbird: Thursday July 9th, 2020 - I was thinking about this post on my July 4th ride this year. I was remarking to myself how the Red Winged Blackbirds are not so aggressive this year. Have I jinxed myself? 

The Open Source Naming Project: Tuesday September 24th, 2013 - Here's a sometimes top-fiver which pops up now and again. It is about what we should have called "gravel bikes" instead of "gravel bikes".  

Some Thoughts On 2025 Eurobike Trends: Thursday July 3rd, 2025 -  My opinions about things which will affect cyclists going forward which were shown at Eurobike recently. 

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions! 

Country Views: July 4th, 2025

Escape Route: Waterloo's vast alley network

I've been doing "July 4th" rides for as many years as this blog has been around, I think. So, of course, I was out again this year.

It was a 'firecracker' day, for sure, with temperatures in the upper 80's. This was cooler than last week's Tree In The Road Ride, however, the humidity was worse, so it felt almost exactly the same.

Now, it was July 4th, so I wore my ancient Stars and Stripes jersey and a new-to-me cycling hat which was in a red, white, and blue theme. You know, it is weird how some folks in the cycling community are against whatever they are against, and this may mean they won't celebrate something like the 4th of July. You know, the alternative scenario for us here isn't known. Can't be. But I'd wager it wouldn't be as good. Probably worse. And this is our country. Not perfect, by any means, but with so many people trying to get here, it must not be all that bad either.

Something to think about, anyway, and that is all I have to say here about this. 

The route was the anticlockwise Tour of Southern Black Hawk County. Seeing as how the winds were out of the Southwest, this made sense to me to go South first, then East. So that is what I did.

First quick rest stop about seven miles in.

There used to be two cool old barns here. Now it is just another nondescript corner.

The wind was pretty stiff at around 20mph. There was almost no clouds. The Sun was heating things up, but I seemed to be doing okay. I was concerned because ever since the Tree In The Road Ride my legs have been in some form of pain. One day my hamstrings were sore. The next day it would be my glutes. Then another day my knees were sore. Weird! Of course, I was riding a little every day and many days on a fixed gear.

There used to be a home here. All that is left is the swing set and flowers someone planted years ago. 

I stopped again at the intersection of Aker and Quarry Road to stretch. I was riding my Honeman Flyer single speed. This bike is weird, and I shouldn't like it as much as I do, but I love getting out on it. There is a certain smoothness to this bike which is just great, and the stability of the bike is good. This means it doesn't get pinged around on chunky, loose gravel and it mostly allows me to ride whatever line I want regardless of the state of the gravel. 

I know I said Friday I was going to ride my red, white, and blue Tamland, but the siren song of the single speed won me over.  

The corn is about as high as usual. I didn't think it would get there, but it did!

Black Hawk County views may not be as good as Cass and Audubon County views, but I'll take it. 

Once I started East up Quarry Road, I noticed a set of bicycle tracks meandering along on the same side of the road as I was on. The tires looked bigger. Maybe 650B's or fat 700's. Whatever size they were, they were fairly fresh. Probably they were laid down earlier on the 4th, or maybe on the evening of the 3rd, but no older than this. I kept wondering who these tracks were laid down by. My bet was Tom, but it could have been anyone. 

I did not see the bird here in this image until I got home and was processing the images I took. 

 

A surprising number of people walk gravel. Maybe I should start a site called "Walking Gravel"!

Eventually the rider I was tracking must have turned aside as the tracks ceased to exist on Quarry Road. Oh well! It was fun while it lasted. Just about this time I ran across a set of tracks left by a walker. I actually saw a few folks out walking on this ride. This is not totally uncommon either. I think there are more folks walking gravel than we might think. 

This place is always neat as a pin.

Now this is an impressive "grass farmer". Look at the size of this mown field!

Farmers love to either have a wild, unkempt appearance to their lands or they seem to manicure the living daylights out of their homestead. I never could understand why some mow such huge tracts of tillable land. Why not grow something and make a bit more money off of it? Perhaps allow it to be pasture for some farm animals. But to mow these huge tracts of land is doing what? Taking up a lot of resources, I would say.

 

Foulk Road is really pretty flat. You have to pedal every inch of it.

Heading back toward Waterloo, I was still having some assistance via the quartering tailwind, so it was not as bad as it could be with this route. Foulk Road is one of those roads you get no relief from. Pedal, pedal, pedal. It is flat and coasting is rare. But the tailwind helped and at least the road wasn't super-chunky as it has been in recent years. 

A random American flag was spotted just down from the intersection with Foulk Road and East Schrock Road.

A 'detour' for some Level B road action.

Once I got back to more urban areas, I went on a bit of a lollipop route to take in the dirt of McKeller and Weiden Roads. The irrigated field on McKellar has some monster-sized corn this year! I was thinking it may have been the tallest I'd seen all day. Then I went and road down Weiden Road's Level B section, which takes you to Washburn. From there I went down the blacktop East to catch Golinvaux Road. This then looped me back toward Evansdale.

 

Weiden Road looking South.

Golinvaux Road looking North.

I ended up back home after 3.5 hours and I wasn't too bad as far as being whooped goes. I did double up on dosage with electrolytes this time, and I was sweating a LOT. It was soooo humid Friday! I was wishing I would have brought gloves or that I had worn Sun-sleeves as my sweat was making my grip compromised. I also wished I had brought something to eat as I was bonking by the time I reached the house. A bite or two of chicken kabob and some chocolate milk later and I was all fixed up.

It was a great way to celebrate my freedom to ride and my thankfulness for this country.  

Happy 4th of July!

Man high by the 4th of July!

 Happy 4th of July! 

 There will be no FN&V today as it is the 4th of July in the USA. Look for a return of that venerable series coming next week.

Hopefully today I am out riding to celebrate the fact I can ride and ride free. I hope wherever you are that you can get out and spin some pedals as well.

Look for a detailed ride report to come on Monday. most likely. I have a modest plan for a ride and hope to accomplish it on my red, white, and blue Raleigh Tamland Two, of course.

Thank you for checking in here at Guitar Ted Productions! 

Some Thoughts On 2025 Eurobike Trends

Image courtesy of PandaPodium

 Eurobike just happened in Franfurt, Germany. I watched the news and went through a few videos to see what the vibe was from the show floor. As always, there is a lot of stuff you and I will never see outside the walls of Eurobike. However, there were a few things which caught my eyes and one thing I've heard from a credible source which may have impacts on our cycling futures.

Stringy Spokes: 

First is fiber-based spokes for wheels. Now Berd has been at this the longest, unless you want to talk about Spinergy, which would be a credible argument. But yeah, those two companies are the first to really put fibrous spokes on the map.

Now the Chinese companies are bringing in competition for this market, which was seen at the latest Taipei Cycle Show. Goosyn, as an example, has a fibrous spoke product which seems to be very derivative of Berd's design. There were others on offer there as well.

But the Eurobike show has me thinking this fiber spoke trend is about to take off. I say this because one You Tube video I saw showed Sapim fiber spokes. Sapim is a big player in bicycle spokes, so if they have a fiber spoke product hitting the market, you can bet we are going to see it spec'ed as stock on some brand's bicycles soon enough. So, this is a trend now and I think you are going to see a lot more of the fiber spoked wheels in the future. 

Will The Real Wagon Wheels For Bikes Please Stand Up! 

Image courtesy of Dirty Sixer

Gary Fisher was spouting off on social media during Eurobike on the 32" wheels for MTB and gravel. He claims he has a design for a MTB which would fit 32" wheels that would work for a 5'5" human. 

Now......that's something I'd have to see, but despite my doubts, there are no doubts regarding 32" wheels and the industry's buzz behind the scenes concerning this monster wheel.

I have spoken with a person who has ridden these bigger big wheels and the reaction was somewhat positive. Let's say "guarded optimism" was the feeling I got from this person's take on the 32's. This probably will supplant the WTB 750D idea which seems dead in the water now. 

As I stated earlier this year when news of a Maxxis Aspen 32" tire came out: If Maxxis is making this, then it will become available to the public on a name-brand bike you know. Stay tuned on this one.....

T-47 Rules: 

Image courtesy of Chris King

 T-47 bottom brackets have been around a while already, but I noted many newer bicycles being shown at Eurobike are being designed to utilize this standard.

The larger bore diameter over most other bottom brackets not only provides a better environment for bearings, (unless you are using DUB), and it also allows larger bearings to be used. It also makes for a stiffer junction for chain stays, down tube, and seat tube. 

PF-30's were based on this idea, except there were no threads, because, well, it was easier/cheaper for manufacturers to make frames without precise machined and threaded bottom bracket shells. But the creaking which resulted from this made PF-30 a byword amongst mechanics and some riders for years.  

I've got no beef with T-47's as long as the shells are threaded and machined, or have a threaded shell molded into the frame, in the case of carbon fiber. Press-fit or Thread-together styles just are not necessary. I mean, it is the entire point for having T-47's anyway. Now if SRAM would just make DUB a little smaller so we can have real-world sized bearings, that would be great. 

Integrated Everything? 

Image courtesy of Winspace

Integration is a trend in cycling with the most obvious things having to do with aerodynamics. Bars, stems, and cables are all affected by this integration of components and aero concerns.

Well, we've seen one instance of a flat bar, fully-integrated set up shown before, but I've heard this will be pushed to new limits by a major brand sooner than later with a fully integrated drop bar set up.

All components: Stem, bar, and levers- will be integrated into a single, I assume carbon fiber, component which will have its main focus being on aero. I wouldn't at all be surprised if a GPS head unit is part of this integration as well. (There was a company at Eurobike showing their own computer embedded into an integrated flat bar component, so it is a thing) 

I know......I can hear the hue and cry from bike-fitters and mechanics already. 

Image courtesy of Cervelo

Gravel Bikes At The Show:

A pre-show press release from Eurobike stated that this year would be heavy with gravel bikes. From every outlet I saw, this seemed to hold up. Gravel bikes are being offered by almost every bicycle brand now. Not only is this seemingly true, but the category isn't being taken lightly. The bikes I was able to see online are deeply technical, high end, and meant for a purpose - Either for Pro level racing, or adventure. In either case, aerodynamics are a big theme with the gravel bikes seen at Eurobike.

All the latest aero road bike trends are now found on gravel bikes as well. Deep profile carbon aero rims, aero handle bars, and frames optimized for slicing through the air were seen in Frankfurt. This trend will infiltrate all levels of gravel bikes going forward. 

Aero touches all aspects of modern gravel bike frames and forks now with completely hidden cables, hidden seat binders, and forks which blend in at the crown seamlessly into the down tube shapes. I also noted aero water bottle solutions are again being pushed for the top-tier gravel racing bikes.

The adventure gravel segment can easily be spotted by the appearance of the "triple-boss" mounts on forks. Credit to Salsa Cycles for their early use of this idea as now it is ubiquitous on any gravel bike meant for ultra-distance, bikepacking, or adventure. Of course, other accessory mounts abound on these bicycles as well. Both types of gravel bikes are also sporting in-tube down tube storage if they are made with carbon frames. It seems any bicycle without this feature is missing a trick.

Also noted: BIG tires are a theme with most showing 700 X 45mm tires and up. I recall when I was running 700 X 43mm Gravel Kings and people telling me I was running tires which were too wide! Now it seems 45mm is the new "gravel skinny". I say, "Welcome to the party!"

That is what I noted from Eurobike. What did you see or read about which caught your attention? let me know in the comments.