The Problem Can Be Seen In The Mirror

From KCCI's social media

 NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Years ago, maybe around 2008 or so, a representative from a company called Day 6 Bicycles showed up at the shop. He had an example of a 'foot-forward' electrified bicycle. The idea was the bike could provide an extremely comfortable ride position along with electric motor assist which would make the bike easy to ride. 

My boss at the shop took the front wheel motor e-Bike out for a spin in the parking lot. I watched as he zoomed back and forth. I would estimate he was going well over 20mph and without pedaling. I was alarmed. 

Why? It looked like a ton of fun. The bike put the rider in a really easy to use position. Powered riding would get more folks outdoors, out of cars, and maybe into pedaling more. 

Maybe.... Pedaling. Yeah, that means working, and if you don't have to work? Well, why would you? This is what alarmed me. That and the immediate acceleration to top speed. Unskilled or inexperienced riders on a heavy-ish two wheeled electrified bicycle? I saw trouble ahead. 

The future of e-micromobility is murky at best

Just this past weekend I was waiting for my wife in the car as she picked up an item at a big-box store in town here. I noted movement in my right side field of vision and then noted three youth riding electrified two-wheeled contraptions. One was a mini-bike kind of thing and the other two were scooters. They were in perfect formation, the scooters flanking the mini-bike thing and flying across the parking lot at near 20mph. No helmets. No adults near by. No regard for parking lot traffic. 

Ooof!

 Municipalities in Iowa are currently wrestling with coming up with ordinances and laws to regulate these devices and differentiate them from bicycles which have electric assistance. I posted about this recently here. 

Most agree that education, parental involvement, and some knowledge amongst law enforcement about the differences between what are bicycles and what are not bicycles will help. Certainly, this makes sense. 

But you are speaking about humans, right? We cannot even expect humans to follow the rules when it comes to current usage of any of the vehicles we use.  So why can we feel safe with regard to any ordinance, law, or public education measures when it comes to electrified two-wheeled vehicles like e-Motos, e-Scooters, and the like? 

The problem probably cannot be rectified with enforcement of law and ordinance. You'll catch a few, but you won't stop them all. Getting any kind of stoppage of sales of these things would be great, but if people are making money off sales of these things, you'll have a hard time stopping the in-flow of the devices used to create these issues. And, of course, there are a lot of these things already here.

The final line of defense is relying on "people to do the right thing". This is the vibe I'm getting so far from these discussions. Sorry, but I cannot buy into this line of thinking. The problem with e-device abuse is what you see in the mirror. And to regulate that? 

I don't see the good solution yet.  

Update On The Ride For Jacob

GT's Ride For Jacob, Saturday, July 25th, 2026:

Where: North Parking Lot of Big Woods Lake, Cedar Falls, Iowa.. For detailed directions to the parking lot see the July 10th entry HERE

When: 8:00am

What: A no-drop gravel road ride of 46.3 miles which will pass through the towns of Janesville, Iowa, Shell Rock, Iowa, and New Hartford, Iowa. 

Why: A Ride to honor my son, Jacob Stevenson who died on August 2nd, 2025 at the age of 22 years. 

Expectations: Casual pace. Riders can resupply in Janesville, Shell Rock, and New Hartford. No-drop means we may stop at various times to gather up stragglers. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU! There is NO SAG SUPPORT. If you have to bail, quit, or cannot go on for some reason, then you will have to self-extract, or have a back-up plan in place. No one associated with me is going to come and pick you up. THIS RIDE IS FREE. No entry fees, and therefore there should be no expectations for anything other than for you to bring a good attitude, a capability to ride 40 miles of gravel and pavement, and to have tools, water, nutrition, and a way to communicate to the outside world, (smart phone usually...or you can choose smoke signals. You do you.), and have all this on a competent bike in good condition. 

IF you join me you assume all personal responsibility and will be held accountable for any and all actions you take, actions of others on the ride which may negatively affect you, or for any circumstances related to weather, traffic, and road conditions which may cause personal harm, injury, or death. In other words, I am not responsible for anything that happens to you if you come on this ride. IF you decide to ride with me, you assume all responsibility for YOURSELF. 

Okay.................with all this understood, here are the finer details.......

I did some tweaking of the original route. Here are some details on what to look for. First, we will be leaving going North on the bike path to Lone Tree Road, then continuing North to Dunkerton Road and going Right to get us across HWY 218/27. Then we will head North again on Symons Road. These three miles plus a little are all pavement. We should be single file, aware of our surroundings, and looking out for traffic until we reach the "T" intersection with Mount Vernon Road. 

Gravel starts here. I decided to take a Left and head up Leversee Road instead of what the original Ride For Jacob did which was to go North out of Waterloo up Burton Avenue. The start in Cedar Falls dictated this because it would make for an easier place to start, park vehicles, and return to. More so than almost any place in Waterloo would have for a start of a North route out of town. 

I also tweaked the route coming out of Shell Rock. Instead of going West I decided to go South out of there to cut off a big loop I did last year which wasn't all that interesting. We will cross that old gabled bridge over the West Fork of the Cedar River though. And we will still be taking the short bit of pavement from the North into New Hartford to go by the convenience store there. 

Finally, I did not like how I used a bit of Union Road last year and coming in on a great bike path on West First Street which dwindles down to crappy sidewalk seemed like a poor idea for a group of cyclists. So I rerouted out in the country to bring the ride back in on West 12th, then hitting that bike path to Hudson Road, and then continuing down 12th to State Street after the round-a-bout so we can go through downtown. 

IF the group feels the itch to stop at, oh say....Second State Brewing Co., or something along those lines, we could do that. Then it is a short jaunt from there via bike path to the end where we started. 

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE ROUTE.  

The route is on Ride With GPS. Please download the file into your device if you are planning to come, or even if you are not coming, this would make a fun route to ride out of Cedar Falls and back again. 

NOTE: I have not reconned this route yet and I plan on doing this before the 25th. IF there are any route changes I will announce this after recon. I do not anticipate there being anything different though.  

Questions? Hit me up at g.ted.productions@gmail.com or here in the comments.  

XLBird Review

The swap to the XL sized Peregrine Mk4 frame was covered earlier HERE and HERE. Then I posted a quick take on the build HERE. This post will cover everything I've learned since then and will suffice as the final update on the switch from the Large size frame to the XL sized one. 

My original reasoning for getting this bike was to satisfy my craving for a "classic" looking gravel bike which had up to date tire clearances. My previous choice, the Twin Six Standard Rando, is, at this time, not capable of having any tire much wider than a 43mm gravel tire in the back. I loved the look of the T-6, and it rode fine, but I wanted wider tires, so..... 

The size Large was, on paper, the right size for me, but in reality the bike felt cramped when I rode it, and I had a nagging feeling the frame wasn't quite "right" in reality. This led to - thanks to Matt Gersib and Sam Alison - to getting the size XL instead. 

Now with everything set up as I like it, I have to say this size feels a LOT better when I'm riding it. I feel more in between the wheels instead of on top of them. The Luxy Bars, ironically inspired by Sam Alison of Singular's input, is perfect for this bike. I'm so glad I had Luxy Bars in silver ano for this build. Riding in the drops is really good and the hoods are hand savers. They may look weird to a traditionalist, but when I am riding gravel these handle bars are so nice. I really wish someone could make these again. 

Which makes one wonder: Would the size Large have been okay with Luxy Bars? The bike would have been better, no doubt, but still not "right". Luxy Bars wouldn't have fixed the slight cramped feel the size Large had. 

I wanted this bike to become the one I'd pull out most often, and I think this will be the case going forward. Now, I have some other nice bikes as well, and I will be riding those also, but my hope is the Peregrine will become a bicycle which won't grow stale and be a steady, easy to ride bike now and in the future. I do think it handles very well. It feels smoother than the T-6 ever did and it is better than the size Large Peregrine was.  

So far it has been a very successful move. I do not feel any of the old niggles I had with the size Large and for this I am very grateful. Mk4's are gone now, but if you are interested in a Peregrine Mk5, I would highly recommend one, but do pay attention to the sizing chart. Be aware this is a classically inspired design, which means "not much exposed seat post" for you, in all likelihood. The new Peregrine is also a Maxway factory made frame and fork. In my opinion, the Maxway factory is a superior place to have frames and forks in steel made. So, that is a good thing. 

If I Had To Guess....

Image courtesy of Singular Cycles

The buzz over the 32"ers hasn't died down much since Sea Otter and some folks are already in line waiting on delivery of the ultimate wagon-wheeled bicycle. But what intrigues me the most is how these bikes will be received after the initial wave of enthusiasm over them wanes. 

I see some signs of momentum, (no pun intended) for 32"ers and gravel cycling. I see some interest in the wheel size for bike packing. Of course, the initial buzz was created by XC MTB and 32 inch wheels. 

I have a couple of reasons to believe that 32 inch wheels will be more popular in gravel and bike packing than they will be for mountain biking. I think it comes down to two physics related issues. 

Larger wheels hold momentum better than smaller ones do given similar set ups. Now this is a good thing for gravel riders. It may also come in handy for a bike packer, depending upon the area being ridden. Mountain biking can be a momentum driven sport, but more often than not, you are dealing with stopping quickly, or lots of deceleration, and then lots of little accelerations. Especially in Mid-West single track. Stop - Go - Stop - Go. Tight corners, not much "flow". 

I can see 32 being good on some flowy stuff, but on "real" single track? I gotta think it would be better on a 29"er. Maybe I am way off. Of course, it's all just speculation as of now. 

The other thing I see is just how darn big the rear wheel is and how dropping into steeps and trying to get your butt low and back is going to be a hindrance on a 32"er. The shorter you are, the worse this will be, in my opinion. 

Screen grab from a Trek video showing their 32"er FS proto

Gravel cycling, and to a degree, bikepacking, probably are not as affected by those two things as MTB will be. Add on the fact that below a medium sized bike your geometry will necessarily be wonky with 32"er wheels and the market for big wheeled 32"ers seems a bit limited. So, for MTB, I don't see 32"ers being super-popular. 

Trek and a couple others are banking on the MTB 32"er, and maybe they will be "right", or at the least, okay with whatever they put out eventually. Uniquely, Twin Six has a design which could be either MTB or gravel/bike packing.  Other brands, like Singular, have a model for MTB and one for gravel. Most brands seem to be hedging toward MTB as of now. 

The MTB bikes will certainly garner a lot of sales and attention on the front end of 32"er sales, but I feel gravel/bike packing will eventually become where 32"ers are at their best. We've already seen 32 inch wheels do well at Unbound. Of course, 32"ers have already been seen at the front of some XC events as well. So maybe none of those results is a good indicator for 32"er sales in "the real world". 

Again, I have nothing in terms of hard data to say one way or the other. But if I had to guess now, my gut feeling is 32'ers are going to become a bigger deal in gravel and bike packing than they will be for mountain biking.  

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of the Polk County Health Department

E-Bike/Scooter/Moto Issues Reach Fever Peak In Iowa:

I realize this is a nationwide issue, but my focus here is on Iowa as it relates to the debate and concerns over electrified two and three wheeled devices. 

Reports of crashes, injuries, and damage are on the uptick. I saw a recent post by an ED professional (Emergency Department = ED) who was stating a case for helmet usage and proper education of children and adults concerning electrified vehicles. Stating a strong uptick in ED visits due to usage of these devices, the individual was pleading with parents, especially, to educate themselves and their children on the proper usage of these devices. 

Many municipalities in Iowa are also posting on social media concerning either education, laws currently on books, or about impending city ordinances which are being considered to regulate this surge of electric vehicle usage on streets and trails. 

Comments: The issues facing many cities are beyond the scope of control, in most cases, in my opinion. In view of how people are using these vehicles, it is my opinion that there are three basic user groups. One: Youth who are looking for easy transportation, thrills, and freedom from having to beg rides from parents or older siblings. Two: Low income people, either coming out of the legal system, or from other countries, who either cannot afford a car/truck, or cannot legally operate a car/truck, or both. Three: recreational cyclists who use e-bikes as a way to exercise and enjoy the outdoors who would not otherwise be doing so without an assisted bicycle or tricycle. 

Most concerns I see being voiced are over misuse or ignorance (or both) and point at the underage crowd on these vehicles as being a menace to society. I do not see much concern over low income/disadvantaged folks using even the vehicles which are prohibited by law to be ridden without a license and insurance. That said, there are probably a few instances where these folks are causing problems. Most assuredly most of this segment is on these electrified vehicles because they cannot get, or afford insurance and/or a license. The third crowd, the e-bikers with assisted pedaling platforms, are generally no big deal to anyone. 

What will likely happen? Smaller communities with limited resources will likely ban them all. Most of these cities and villages don't even have police. They just won't have any other way to enforce or apply any laws/ordinances. (Unless they lump the e-motor vehicles in with side-by-sides) At the very least, the laws and ordinances will keep the city/village governments out of liability in case of crashes, injuries, or deaths. Bigger cities may try separating the assisted vehicles from the non-assisted ones, but again, enforcement will be limited due to limited resources. Police are already spread thin, and asking them to separate goats from sheep is not going to be efficient. Maybe states will get involved, like New Jersey did, but I think this will be hit or miss based upon the specific cases each state is seeing rise through their judiciary systems. 

My gut tells me the issue will become solved, mostly, when either states, or the Federal government steps in at the behest of insurers to make all electric assist and e-motor equipped two and three wheeled vehicles illegal unless they are licensed and insured. Essentially following the New Jersey example, if it is a successfully implemented law there. 

Time will tell, but I think it will have to be solved sooner than later. 

Substack Story:

Some of you here may already have noted my Substack account, maybe you follow it, but if not, I just wanted to point it out. 

I don't post there a lot, but when I do it usually is something I don't publish anywhere else. Recently I wrote a bit more personal story about BRAN and why I went on the trip. If you want to check it out, Click Here.  

If this sort of thing intrigues you and you like my writing, please consider subscribing to my Substack. It's free, and there is no obligation.  

Update On Chris King Hub/Wheel Build:

A slow news week here folks! So, I am going through the archives and making sure nothing gets left behind. I did come across the Chris king hub story from back in April. (Here) 

The hang up is in regard to rims and what I want to spend. Carbon is nice, it builds a strong, lightweight wheel, and is my preference. However; they are expensive for anything with a reputation for quality and durability. 

For instance, I can buy two Velocity Blunt SS aluminum rims for a little bit more than I can buy one decent carbon rim in a few cases, and for less than many single carbon rims in the size and spoke count I need.  

So, seeing as how money has been tight, or allocated elsewhere of late (BRAN), I haven't made any decisions for those hubs yet. I probably will not make a decision on rims for quite some time yet. 

Update On Ergon Review:

Another thing I need to get back on is the review of the Ergon SR AllRoad Pro Saddle and the BT OrthoCell Handlebar Tape.  Those items are on the Honeman Flyer and I switched out to ride the bikes I was considering for BRAN shortly after the review kicked off. 

Now it is time to switch over to these products n the Honeman Flyer to conclude the review. I have another item coming in I cannot speak about yet which will help push these reviews up my "to do" list. 

Interestingly, I have used the Honeman Flyer as a training bike for BRAN and since I've returned several times. I just haven't done any longer rides out in the country. I do have a bit of feedback, even from ny shorter rides, so it hasn't been as though I don't have any time on these products. I just don't have the gravel time I like to get before I write up anything. 

So, stay tuned for updates on both products here from Ergon very soon.  

And That's A Wrap! 

I know.....The tour is on now. (May as well hand Pogačar the trophy now) But I have almost zero interest in Pro road racing these days, so you are not going to see much coverage of it here. With that, I want to thank you for checking out Guitar Ted Productions today. I hope you all get out for a ride this weekend.  

Review: Aeron TPU Tubes Update #3

 Note: Guitar Ted received Aeron TPU tubes and a patch kit at no charge for test and review from Aeron. Guitar Ted is not being paid, nor bribed for this review and all opinions are Guitar Ted's. 

 I've been testing the Aeron TPU tubes most of this season already. The last update came back in early May. Then the whole BRAN thing happened and I was off doing things in preparation for that trip. Now that I'm back in a regular routine again I have had time to do an experiment with the Aeron tubes to check out something I was curious about. 

That being how an Aeron tube would respond to being taken out of one tire and being put into another. Would the tube be too stretched out to use in a smaller volume tire? Would the TPU be stressed or damaged easily by handling it after having been inflated and ridden a while? 

To learn the answers to these questions I took the front wheel I had been using with these tubes on my Black Mountain Cycles MCD, a wheel with a WTB Nineline 29" X 2.25" tire, and swapping that Aeron tube to a narrower tire. I also decided to go with a different wheel as well, just to make this even a bit more interesting. 

 The tire I chose is a Rene Herse Fleecer Ridge 700 X 55mm tire. The Fleecer Ridge is actually a bit narrower than claimed and in inches would be a 2.1" tire, so slightly narrower than the 2.25 WTB tire, which measured out right at its claimed width. 

The wheel changed from a WTB Proterra i23 to an ancient HED Belgium+ design rim called the Ardennes wheel. It is slightly narrower than the WTB rim internally as it is 21mm internal width. With an obvious change in inner rim profile and a narrower tire, would the Aeron tube be compatible after having been in a larger space? 

Removing the Aeron tube, I noted that it felt very delicate. Maybe it thinned out a bit? But when I aired it up enough to give it some shape for installation in the Rene Herse/HED combination, I observed that the tube was not oversized for the new application. Installation was easy, but it was a delicate operation.  It should also be noted again that these Aeron tubes are spec'ed to work with 650B diameter tires as well as 700c tires. The tube was not stretched out to a 700c diameter requiring a bit of finessing to get the tube into the Fleecer Ridge casing. 

My conclusion is then that - at least for the Aeron TPU tubes - they do stretch to fit a larger tire but they do not stay stretched out if removed. These examples, at least, show some return to original size out of the box, despite their feeling thinner than new as I recall things. 

This is an interesting finding since it would seem that, as long as one handles the TPU tube with care, Aeron TPU tubes can be safely transferred from one wheel to another. The main point being that you have to be very careful with the TPU material and see to it you do not damage the tube by removing it and reinstalling it. 

So, I think the Aeron tubes retain their shape to a degree that you can use a tube from a slightly larger tire and put it into a slightly narrower one. However; I do feel it would be rather easy to damage the TPU material while doing a swap-over. 

More riding will be done soon and I will return with another update later into Summer.  

Selle SMP Pro Saddle: Part 1

  Note: This review is of a used Selle SMP saddle Guitar Ted purchased from the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. Selle SMP is not aware of this review and all opinions are Guitar Ted's. 

Last week I introduced to you the Selle SMP saddles, if you were not already aware of them.  As it turned out, several of you were aware of the brand and are current users of an SMP saddle. If you missed last week's post, click HERE. 

One of the comments I received on that post was a quite informative one. In the comment was a link to professional bike fitter, Steve Hogg's article on SMP saddles. It is a deep-dive into all of Selle SMP's models and where they are best applied, in Hogg's opinion, amongst various cyclists. (Click HERE for Steve Hogg's SMP post) Beware! It is technical, long, and may be more of a rabbit hole than you may want to dive into! 

I found it to be very informative and instructive as to how to set up an SMP saddle. According to Hogg, the "Pro" model is a bit of an outlier in SMP's range, but a very comfort oriented choice nonetheless. To my way of thinking, it fits best for the common, non-racer cyclists who want a saddle to relieve numbness and promote comfort on long rides. So, I think I fell into a good choice with this Pro model. 

I decided to mount the Pro on my 2014 Raleigh Tamland Two, as it is set up in a bit more of a tourist/comfort/endurance way than some of my other gravel bikes. All that to say the Tamland is set up for comfort on longer outings. Perfect for this review. 

I did have an issue with wheels though, and this took several days to sort out. I do not have many choices in quick release wheels anymore! Additionally, I have few bikes which use quick release drop outs anymore, so this complicated matters a bit. In the end, I did find a set of wheels and if the tires seal up (tubeless) and I don't have to revisit that, we're good to go now. 

As you can see here I have the Selle SMP Pro nose down just a bit, as my friend from Nebraska, Jayme said I should do. The seat post is a two bolt design which allows easy micro-adjustments. So the next phase in testing will be to go on a ride and take a wrench with me to adjust the post as necessary. Initially I can say it feels "right", but things can change while riding a longer time than just around the block. 

 I did note something when I got the bike outdoors and test rode the set up. The leather SMP uses is very soft and luxurious feeling. In fact, it was startling compared to other saddles I have. I'm not sure this will have any effect upon riding, but it is noteworthy. For being a used saddle, it sure looks almost new, so I don't know that this softness was a wear-in effect, and I'm inclined to think this is just how the Pro is out of the box. But this is speculation. Perhaps someone out there can comment if they have any experience with this. 

In the Hogg article, it was noted the SMP saddles have longer saddle rails than many other saddles do, and I think you can see this from my image above. I agree, the rails are long. Finding a saddle set-back appropriate to your fit shouldn't be an issue. You can see how I slid the Pro up a bit, compensating for the longer offset of this carbon post I'm using. 

Okay, so that is all I have for you on this SMP saddle today. I'll get some riding done and will report back again soon. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!