Second Chance Shoes

The year was 2018. The Almanzo 100 event was still around and this iconic event was the choice for Shimano engineers and top brass to attend and ride US gravel and to check out the scene. 

To commemorate this occasion, Shimano commissioned 1,000 pairs of a camo-themed XC5 shoe. This shoe was a model meant for XC MTB racing, but Shimano was also marketing it as a gravel shoe. (Introductory story on this shoe by PEZ Cycling can be read HERE) 

As an interesting side note, I was there at the Cherry Grove checkpoint along with my then 'Riding Gravel' partner, my son, Jacob, and a local named Ross. (Story HERE)

I was able to see the Shimano folks roll through the checkpoint and as I was trying to sneak peeks at their bicycles I was told they were testing the waters for gravel components. Then the very next year GRX was introduced. 

Anyway, those were heady days in the gravel scene. It may seem odd to those just getting started in the gravel cycling world now, but the gravel cycling niche had already become a big deal back then. I always shake my head when I see people talk about how this gravel riding stuff is "new". 

But back to the shoes.... I had heard the only way to get one of the 1,000 pairs of these was via a bike shop. I happened to work at one then, so I asked our buyer to put in an order for a pair of the XC5 camo shoes in a size 46. I wasn't sure I'd get them, but obviously, I did, and I was thrilled....at first. 

The original laces sent with the shoes were your typical flat, cloth laces in a highlighter yellow with a spare set in black also in the box. The holes the laces were to pass through were smaller, round holes which prevented the laces from smoothly moving through them. This made getting an even tension over the forefoot difficult, if not impossible. I was dismayed. The shoes didn't really work all that well. 

I tried a fancy set of those elastic laces some runners use, but they were too tight and made my foot fall asleep after riding just a short while. So, I parked them in my shoe rack. I had several other pairs of shoes also, so it was easy to forget about the XC 5's. 

About a couple of weeks ago, I came across a new set of small, round boot laces my son, Jacob had purchased as a back-up set for his work boots. Well, since he's no longer with us,the laces had no purpose. I looked at them and after a moment or two of grief, I had an idea. I could use these in those old XC 5 shoes! 

While the laces are waaaaay too long, they worked great and now those old special edition shoes feel fantastic. I want to wait until I put in a multi-hour ride, but I am probably going to cut the laces shorter and I'm very optimistic this has solved my issues with those shoes. 

Of course, I could have done this literally years ago, but with my over-abundance of footwear I just had forgotten all about those shoes until I saw Jacob's back-up pair of boot laces. Now I have no idea why I thought about those shoes just then, but I am glad I did. 

When Wide Is Too Wide

Rim widths have sure changed a lot in the past ten years. I've noted this in several earlier articles on this site. A good historical reference point can be seen HERE for instance. 

That article was written exactly six years ago now. So, even since 2020 things have radically changed in terms of what people are thinking about for inner rim widths. I'm speaking to what gravel riders use here. So, while references to mountain biking will be made, I am primarily thinking about gravel/all-roads riding. 

Why Is This Important?

The most influential facet of a bicycle ride - besides the all-important rider - is the wheel. Wheels have obvious influences over your riding experience, but I want to focus in on how inner rim width works in concert with tire volume and width. 

What happens with this relationship can greatly affect your comfort, efficiency, and overall experience on a bicycle. Take a look above at the image above. I was trying to visually show what happens to a tire when the beads of the tire are set further apart by the inner rim width when it is arguably too wide for the tire being mounted on that rim. In this example I have a 700 x 42mm WTB Resolute mounted on a Spank rim with an inner width of 30.5mm. 

The 30.5mm inner width with 2.8" tires

The profile of the Resolute gets flattened out. This might seem to be a good thing on the surface of it. However; what happens in reality is that the more tire you get to hit the surface laterally makes rolling resistance increase. Furthermore; if the casing gets too squared off you will start to notice a self-steering effect which is not desirable. This increases the rider's efforts to steer the bicycle through corners and in difficult terrain. 

I allude to some of this in my 2021 article on the Spank rims and those Resolute tires HERE. What I did not show there, or talk about much, is how having the beads of the tire set too widely apart from each other affects ride quality. 

There is an optimal shape tire manufacturers design to which allows what they have designed for to be fully expressed during a ride. These qualities are many. What we feel most is influenced by how the tire casing works against the surface you are riding on and the results of the steering/riding inputs the rider exerts on those tires. 

What happens when the beads of a tire are too far apart usually affects how well the tire casing can conform to the riding surface. Generally speaking, a tire sidewall should bow outward, not being a straightened out line from surface to rim bead seat. The straighter the tire sidewall gets the worse that tire works at doing its job of conforming to the surface. It affects negatively how the tire responds to rider input. Combine this with a flattened out tread area and the problems get more magnified. 

Of course, I am describing a worst case scenario, but this happens incrementally when we go from 25mm wide internal widths to anything around 30mm with gravel tires in the 45mm - 50mm range, which is arguably the sweet spot for tire width in gravel now.  Most gravel racing rims are not 30mm wide internally either, so why the worry?

Image courtesy of Continental Tire

 Aero vs Comfort & Handling:

The problem is aero related and how an aero focus in racing influences what you and I get to ride.  Most road cyclists who follow Pro racing know that aero is everything these days. Teams spend gobs of cash trying to find every advantage in aero to make their riders more efficient and faster. Of course, this has spilled over to gravel racing as well. 

Pro gravel riders are pushing the limits on tire widths. We are seeing wider than 2" tires being used in some cases. Aerodynamics dictate that a smoother airflow is achieved when a tire side wall seamlessly transitions off of the rim side wall on a deep section rim. Just like you see on skinnier road racing aero set ups. This affects choices in rim width.

The accompanying image here is from Continental showing the 700 x 50mm Dubnital on a wide, deep section rim. You can see the smoother transition from tire to rim clearly. This is all driven by aero concerns. 

Of course, this causes the tire to have some undesirable effects, as outlined above. In every gain in one area you often get compromise in another area. Racing isn't about comfort, at least not in a top-of-mind design sense. It matters, but these days, aero is king. 

I feel the wider tire thing is going to pull back a little bit from the excesses we see now. I also feel that rider comfort and handling will start to become more important in gravel racing as courses world-wide start to reflect a more MTB-XC feel than a true gravel road type experience. This is because, well, what I see most being called "gravel" isn't gravel at all. 

But this is a subject for another article. 

For now I think it is fair to say that the outlandishly wide inner rim widths and hyper-focus on aero for gravel will relax in favor of better handling and rider comfort leading to faster racing in the long run. I could be wrong, but this is my opinion. Got any thoughts? Hit me up in the comments section.

Gravel Grinder News: WTB Introduces CGR Gravel Wheelset

 NOTE: All images and information in this article were provided by Wilderness Trail Bikes. "Comments" are Guitar Ted's opinions. 

Today WTB has released information on its newest and fastest gravel wheel set, the CGR i28. If you are at all familiar with WTB's naming convention, you already know the internal rim width is a nice, wide 28mm. 

However; this is only a small fraction of what is going on with these new wheels. WTB has built these wheels up around the new, World Cup proven Frequency 7X hubs which are incredibly light, strong, and feature larger ball bearings for improved axle stability and durability. 

Frequency 7X Hubs:

Starting off with the hubs we have the patent-pending ratchet design of the free hub which is over-sized and coated with what WTB calls "DLC" which is an acronym for Diamond-Like Carbon. This coating is claimed to lend a slickness to the ratchet which is said to "significantly lower friction" between the ratchet parts over traditional hard chrome plated ratchet parts. WTB also employs a splined inner (hub side) ratchet ring over the traditional threaded type ring. WTB claims this gives the Frequency 7X rear hub an ability to handle twice the torque of a threaded in ring.  WTB says this keyed ratchet ring requires no specialist tools to service it. 

WTB is also using larger than typical Enduro bearings which they claim increases the load rating by a margin of 38% over competing rear hubs. This is claimed to create a stiffer axle assembly. This also lessens the amount of times the hub would need servicing, theoretically. 

WTB claims the hubs are weather sealed and have been "rigorously tested" to show that these hubs keep dirt and water out.  

The hubs are laced to the new CGR Light rims with 24 straight pull spokes. The Frequency 7X hubs come with a choice of Shimano HG or MicroSpline free hub or a SRAM compatible free hub. 

CGR Light Rims:

The new deep section CGR Light rims feature an offset spoke bed design to help achieve a more balanced spoke tension for the 24 spokes used on each wheel build. The spokes also sit in WTB's 4D, internally reinforced spoke beds. This design keeps the spokes from exiting the rim perpendicular to the hub axis and instead better aims each spoke to its corresponding hub flange.  

The new rims are 40mm deep and feature a 28mm inner rim width chosen to allow tires from 45mm - 54mm in width to perform their best. WTB believes that this width is ideal to allow for the best balance of tire stability, traction, suppleness, and rolling efficiency. 

The CGR Light rims are hooked and feature WTB's patented TCS tubeless design for simple, easy tubeless tire set ups. As of this time, neither the rims or hubs are sold separately. So, wheel weights and pricing will reflect current wheel assembly options offered by WTB. 

Weights & Pricing:

 USD:  Front $850 / Rear $950 / Wheelset $1,800
EUR:  Front €727.45 / Rear €822.45 / Wheelset €1,549.90
GBP:  Front £563 / Rear £636 / Wheelset £1,199

Ride With Confidence Guarantee. If you break a WTB carbon rim
while riding, as long as you’re the original owner, we’ll send you a
replacement for free. No exceptions.

Front Wheel: 644 grams

Rear Wheel Weight: SRAM XDR 729 grams, Shimano MicroSpline 729 grams, Shimano HG 740 grams

All hubs utilize Shimano CenterLock rotor mount standard.

For availability see your authorized WTB dealer or check out the wheels at wtb.com 

 Comments:

I saw this wheel set in the release for the WTB aero gravel tires which are on review here. I was informed these would be coming, so it was with some anticipation that I awaited this news. I have to say that I am a little bit surprised by the inner rim width choice and thoughts behind this. I know it will seem unlikely to readers here, but I had an article written up before the press release landed concerning this very subject, and that will appear here tomorrow. 

This new wheel set also falls right into line with current gravel trends for deep section wheels, wider internal rim widths, and light overall weight, which - honestly - when have light weight wheel sets not been a thing?  

At a bit under 1,400 grams for both wheels (1,373), this isn't bad for a deep section wheel set. In fact, it is quite good. I'm a little surprised WTB did not go for a carbon spoke, or a fiber spoke option to lower weight even further, but given the price at well under 2K, maybe WTB did not want to go there. Carbon or fiber spokes would have raised the prices significantly. And who knows? Maybe this will be an upgrade for a future CGR wheel. 

 Beyond this, I will say that I am not at all surprised WTB designed a wheel set to compliment its tire release. It makes sense to do this, since WTB has traditionally done complete wheel systems and tires since the early 2010's.

PSA: News & Notes

Your regularly scheduled Guitar Ted Productions morning post has been delayed till 11:00am CST due to an embargoed press release. However; I will use this opportunity to highlight upcoming happenings and notes for the Fall and early Winter here. 

It's soon to be October and with that the regular "Country Views" posts will likely cease for 2026. You never know, but I suspect "Brown Season" posts will be coming sooner than later. 

I hope to get in a couple longer rides yet. Weather permitting, of course, and speaking of weather.... It's been a rotten stretch for weather here for months. You have to think the odds have to change here and we'll swing to more favorable riding conditions soon. I'm hoping so.

I'm planning on bringing back the "Virtual Turkey Burn Ride Challenge" again for 2026. In case you are new here, the VTBRC is a challenge for you to ride a metric or full century ride (100 miles or a "metric" which is approximately 63 miles) between Thanksgiving Day and November 29th, 2026. That's four days to "git 'er duuuun!". You decide the course, the bike, and when you want to ride in those four days. Of course, I encourage gravel and dirt, but you do not have to do this that way. More details as the day draws closer. 

Late November will be filled with recaps of VTBRC reports sent to me. Last year this took up the first week or two of December as well. Then it will be on to the end-of-year recaps which I have done here for many years now. Those include monthly highlights, bike reviews of bikes used during the year, and final looks at things like 2026's best images and people from 2026 who made an impact on my year here. 

Then it will be a final look at 2026 and a post on New Year's Eve to look forward to 2027. 

Twenty-twenty seven! What?!! How can this be already? 

Stay tuned......

Press release due at 11:00am CST. Make sure you come back to check it out!
 

Upon Further Review

The rain.... Well, there is no need to go over all that again. I've been forced into different decisions of late though. One of those was grabbing a bike with fenders so I could at least get some sort of cycling in outdoors. 

This meant that I had one choice. My fixed gear, Twin Six Standard Rando v2. I've actually put a fair amount of time on this bike over 2026. But there has been a bit of a break in between where I had not ridden it much. 

The last time I reviewed this bike was about nine months ago. But I've ridden it a bunch since then. Mostly around town, but there have been a few longer rides thrown in around the city here. 

One thing which may seem weird here is the stem. It is a Redshift Sports ShockStop stem. Seems weird on a fixie, but it works and since you can get caught out running over stuff and not in a position to unweight the saddle, it sure comes in handy. In fact, maybe I should put on a suspension seat post.... 

Anyway, I've gotten used to the gearing. That took me a while. The Dura Ace 16T cog can be a bear at times. But in the beginning of this builds riding I was hurting every time I rode it. Now? I seem to be getting on with it fine. 

I'm spoiled by big, poofy tires. So much so that these 37mm Panaracer tires seem too harsh to me. But with fenders, this is about a big a tire I can squeeze in there. I used to ride that old 1X1 Surly I had as a fixed gear bike with Extraterrestrials on the wheels. 2.5" of nice, smooth tire makes riding fixed a lot nicer experience. But this bike is not that bike. It is fine for what it is and I'm not planning any changes soon. Except for one thing. 

Riding fixed is hard on things which you wouldn't think about on a geared bike. Things like saddles. I think I may have broken the one on this bike. I'll likely change it out for one of my spare Brooks saddles soon. 

On My Plate....

There are three more days in September and then we're in arguably the last month of the year I can consistently expect to get out in the country. Maybe, if I am blessed, I can see good weather to start out November. But by Thanksgiving time the chances of good riding weather in the country go way down. 

So, I might have four weeks - maybe six - to get a LOT of stuff done. The loose ends list is ridiculous. This post is pretty much for myself. It will be a list of things I need to get to. 

I have several reviews undone yet. Ergon bar tape and saddle being perhaps the longest in terms of waiting to complete. I wanted to do a nice review of the SMP saddle as well, and that has been in limbo for weeks. There are also those Aeron TPU tubes I need to wrap up. Of course, the new WTB tires are the latest on the plate to get completed. 

Then there is the Guitar Ted Lube-Off to get through. I'll tell ya, this stretch of wet weather has really thrown a wrench into this whole Lube-Off for 2026. Hopefully this weather will cooperate now so I can at least get some drier, dustier rides in before Thanksgiving. That is, if I can dodge what will certainly be a mad rush to harvest corn and beans. 

Hang on.....it's gonna be crazy around here for a few weeks if the weather holds up.  

 

Feeling Cranky

Image courtesy of MRCC social media

Feeling cranky and you live in the Mid-West? Maybe you haven't ridden enough in the last two months. Gee.....I wonder why? 

Well, this map I saw the other day from the Midwest Regional Climate Center may help you understand why. In the last 134 years in the time period between August 1st and September 23rd, Iowa has had the 7th most rainy precipitation ranking. 

Which translates into a lot of cloudy, rainy days which you probably did not ride. Lightning is not listed in this data, but yeah.... A lot of those days were filled with lightning as well. 

This also does not list the days it was brutally hot and humid with "feels like" temperatures over 100°. Those are days I do not ride as well since I am prone to heat related issues. 

So, as I sat here the other day watching it rain (again!), I was somewhat consoled by the fact that I wasn't crazy. It hasn't been the greatest end to Summer or beginning of Fall here. 

Two months of hit or miss riding opportunities has hurt in many ways, I certainly am hoping October pans out a bit differently, because, well.....After that, it's going to be Winter, and getting any meaningful rides in the country in November and December is never a good bet. 

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Whaleroad

Fourteen Sprockets:

Almost ten years ago now I posted concerning the stir a story caused back then about a patent drawing for a 14 speed Shimano cassette. I wrote about that HERE. It was something Shimano had in its back pocket for years already by that time. So, I knew it was only a matter of time till we saw this in reality. 

But to see it first from a Chinese company called Whaleroad? I did not have this on my 2026 bingo card, as the saying goes. And how about the name of the company? Gotta hand it to the Chinese. When they try to hit on an English language name for a company it doesn't always make sense. It makes for some interesting reactions. 

Anyway - the point Guitar Ted? Ah! Yes...... The point being that I wonder how Whaleroad can pull this off without Shimano having some sort of legal reaction to it. Then my second thought is concerning the "why do this?" question which I am sure many of you are thinking about as well.  

The cassette is an 11T - 46T. The cassette is part of the R7 road group. My feeling is Whaleroad is trying to reduce the differential in tooth count between cogs and to allow a 1X road drivetrain to be competitive with a 2X set up with a similar range of gearing. It is wireless, of course, with the rear derailleur having a removable battery. (SRAM nay have something to say about this as well.) The cassette fits on a standard HG free hub body (Shimano). 

Comments: This may be pointless now, because you probably cannot easily get this stuff, and taking a chance on a new drive train with little track record of success can seem like a bad decision now. And maybe you cannot fathom ever wanting or needing 14 speed cassettes. I get that. We thought 10 speed was crazy in 2010 too.  

But this is coming. Someday new bicycles will have 14 speed cassettes and it will be commonplace. Where it goes from there? I do not know, and maybe more importantly, I do not care. I'm still using 11 speed cassettes and I see no reason to get more than 11 sprockets back there. In fact, two of my bicycles are 9 speed. Think about this - It's 2026 and you can still buy good quality 9 speed components. So, I guess the bottom line here is don't let 14 speed stuff upset your apple cart. You do not have to buy into it. 

Podcast Update:

Just a reminder that the "Guitar Ted Podcast" has been pumping out a new episode about every two weeks. In case you haven't checked out this content, the two latest episodes can be accessed HERE and HERE (Spotify), or from any podcast outlet. 

N.Y. Roll has the new SILCA tires in reserve for his upcoming Twin Six 3X2 32"er build. We talk about our opinions on the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame, cycling in general, and on other subjects as well. We've gotten some great feedback on the episodes so far this year, and we thank you listeners for the encouragement. 

The next and newest episode is one where we talk about the lack of marketing focus on fun and community by cycling brands.I also share my wheel building thoughts.  

It's almost October already! That means we will be coming up on our traditional December mini-break soon. I suspect we will have about 5-6 more episodes before we call it an end to Season #4. If you have any suggestions for content you'd like to hear us speak on, please let me know either in the comments or at g.ted.productions@gmail.com. We listen to any and all feedback and would welcome any suggestions or comments you may have. 

We're having a banner year so far with as many episodes in the can already as we had all of last year. Thanks for the support, and if you are a new listener, Welcome!

Image courtesy of Tailfin

Tailfin Acquired By MVC Group:

It was announced Thursday on several online outlets that the bike packing rack company, Tailfin, had been acquired by the MVC group, a family owned business out of Italy. 

The MVC Group, according to its Linkedin profile, also owns Sportful, Karpos, Castelli and the triathlon brand Zoot. The MVC Group - according to its own press release, is backed by the private equity fund, Equinox.

Comments: I normally do not report on business transactions in the world of cycling, but I was made aware recently that there are some of you folks out there who really do not like "private equity" getting involved in companies you support. or used to support. 

It also dawned on me that the entire thought of private equity funds being involved in a bike packing company acquisition is kind of weird. Bike packing might be the ultimate expression in these times of an independent, self-governed life style. Private equity is seen by some to be one of the things that is wrong with business today and a thing that sucks the life out of brands which were started as family businesses. 

To be fair, the MVC Group is a family business, and maybe this acquisition is a good thing. I do not know. I only point this out since I have found there is a subset of people who find private equity distasteful. At the very least, this high-level business decision seems like an uncomfortable bedfellow with bike packing.

Image courtesy of Teravail 

QBP Brands To Be Sold On Amazon:

Earlier this week news spread across the internet regarding a letter sent to QBP (Quality Bicycle Products) dealers which detailed a strategy QBP would be implementing on the Amazon platform. 

In the communication QBP stated it would become an seller of record and would be offering proprietary brands on Amazon for sale to consumers. A list of those brands included Teravail and 45NRTH amongst others. 

Comments: This should not be a surprise. Independent bicycle shops are becoming scarcer and consumers buying habits have changed dramatically. Amazon is open 24-7, 365. Your local bike shop is not. It is the way it is and this move is, I think, due in part to this new reality. 

By the way, Teravail is blowing out tires at about half price right now on their site. If you are in need of some tires this might be a good time to shop. 

 That's it for this week! Have a great weekend and get out and ride those bicycles!