Bikes of 2025: The King Fabrications "Honeman Flyer"

 It's another end-of-year period on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2025. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up.

 The Honeman Flyer has quickly risen to become one of my favorite bicycles I've ever ridden. This purely based upon my feelings when I ride it. It's so good, thanks in no small part to Li King of King Fabrications. Li had a lot of latitude in this bicycle's details. Sure, the geometry was a lock due to my demand the design reflect all the angles and degrees the original Pop Warner design for Willie Honeman had going on. But Li picked the tubing, decided how to miter the tubes and join them, and Li was the painter as well. I let Li do whatever Li wanted with the paint, and Li knocked it out of the park, in my opinion. I just wanted to make a point of Li's choices in the tubing which contribute heavily to how this bicycle rides.

Still, I find it hard to believe the Honeman Flyer rides as well as it does. It could have been a disaster even though Li did such a great job. This is due to how weird the rear half of this bicycle was designed originally. I have nothing which even comes close to how this bicycle is designed. It makes zero sense, when you think about it, as to why I would even get along with such a radically different bicycle. 

The seat tube is super-slack. The chain stays are really long. The bottom bracket drop is pretty deep. By all accounts, when considering geometry for gravel bicycles in 2025, this should not work for anyone. 

But it works great for me!

The combination of the weird stuff I already mentioned and a somewhat slack 71° head tube angle all combines to make a bike which feels super-stable and accelerates with immediacy when I stomp on the pedals. It handles well enough that during the 2024 Mid-South I was able to navigate the single track section with ease. 

I have only one beef with the bike and it has to do with tire clearances. I wish I would have asked for clearance for up to a 50mm tire. But as it is, I can fit around a 44mm wide tire and I have adequate clearance, so I can live with that. 

Changes? Well, this bicycle is kind of an inside joke regarding seat posts. I think I've gone through a half a dozen trying to find "the one" which will stay on the bike. Currently it sports a straight, no offset, Thompson in silver.  This works great, and I love the look, but eventually I think I'm going back to a carbon post or a titanium post with zero offset. 

I love Ritchey VentureMax bars, which is what the bike has, but I could see myself going with a carbon version for a bit more compliance. I could upgrade the brakes to Paul Klampers as well, since this bike is so custom, and I like it so well, it deserves this level of parts.  

The current state of the King Fabrications Honeman Flyer

Another consideration is a new crank set. I like those Paul cranks which came out recently. I can see upgrading to something like those and doing a nicer bottom bracket as well. 

But I do not need to do anything. These are all just wants/desires. The bike is serviceable and rides so well. So, I am in no hurry to change it up at any point in the near future. 

Rear View 2025: End Of Winter

 Hello! it's time again to review the year on Guitar Ted Productions. The "Rear View" has been a staple of the blog since almost the very beginning. This year will feature  five Rear View posts looking back on   End of Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, and  Beginning of Winter. I'll also have a post looking ahead at 2026. Enjoy the look back and thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Winter was missing in action when the calendar flipped to 2025. Sure, it was cold, but we were pretty much snow-free, and there were regular times when the temperatures were more like November than January. 

I started a review of the blog including major story lines and images due to the blog reaching the start of its 20th year. The date was actually May 15th, 2005 when the lights turned on here, so technically I am still in Year 20 of this thing called "Guitar Ted Productions". 

This review was fun for me as I was digging through old posts. But the most fun part for me was looking at the old headers when I started using my own images. There were a lot of those which spurred old memories. 

A foggy January ride

I have found the reviewing duties to be more self-chosen and less 'offered' as it was in the past.  So, now I typically am buying things and then reviewing them. I'm okay with this because it means I am reviewing things I have keen interest in versus doing someone a solid by taking on a review of a product I'm skeptical of, or one I feel isn't all that interesting to myself. 

Besides, with the arrangement I have now I don't have to review anything, and while this may be hard for you, the reader, to understand, it is something of a relief to me. Reviews are an obligation I do not take lightly. Whether or not I am "into" a product or bicycle or not, I give it my all to do the thing justice. It is a responsibility and a duty to you, the reader. Now, if I don't feel up to it, I just don't have to do anything, which is freeing. I guess I'll leave it at that. 

Anyway, I started reviewing a couple of items in January. The Good Grief Bikes "Nice Bar" and Bike Tubes TPU fat bike tubes. Both are great and I use them to this day happily. The TPU tubes are fairly impressive and a big upgrade for any fat biker using butyl rubber tubes, in my opinion. The weight difference is astounding, and this makes them worthwhile alone, but air retention is also really good. 

We didn't ever really get much snow in 2025

The Snow Dog. I'll have more to say about this bike in my year end bike review soon.

We did end up getting one fairly decent drop of snow, but it did not last long. I think I actually rode more in January and February out in the country than I had in a while. I'd have to double check this, but the weather was outstanding for country rides from a Winter standpoint. 

It had been a long time since Guitar Ted Headquarters had upgraded its computer, so back in late February there was some changes in the works to upgrade the ol' 'puter'. 

I know, it looks all cool and whatnot, but I have to say Windows 11 isn't my favorite. The search function is terminally slow, and things are displayed in a way which is not conducive to my style. Well, I guess I've gotten used to it, but sometimes so-called "advancements" are really not. 

Moving on! March brought warmer weather again and with this I was able to get outside some more. Then later in the month I was busy writing up stories about three main things: Gravel cycling trends, the bicycle industry slump, and the upcoming Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame class for 2025. The reviews on the TPU fat bike tubes and the Good Grief bar were wrapped up. Then with the close of March I was looking forward to maybe getting more rides out in the country. 

From a March ride to check out Marky-Mark trail. 

Riding out East of Waterloo here on the Honeman Flyer

In March I wrote up a "one-year" review on the Honemann Flyer. I'll have more to say about this bike in my year-end bike reviews, but suffice it to say that I really enjoy riding this bike. It has quickly become one of my favorite bicycles of all-time. 

Hmm.... 

Maybe I should write THAT post! 

More year-end stuff coming soon. The next Rear View will be after Thanksgiving in the first week or so of December, depending upon what happens with Virtual Turkey Burn Ride reports.  

Two Things

The Peregrine Mk4 with Schwalbe G-One Overlands.

Ride Quality vs Speed:

If I am not using my gravel bike for racing, then what am I using it for? This may sound like a ridiculous question, but the answer you give matters. 

Why? Well, the answer will tell you what is likely going to be a bigger influence on the success of your riding. If the answer is that you only really race, or are training to race, on the gravel bike, then your focus will be on speed and aero. If you don't really care about racing, then maybe you might want to think about comfort and ride quality. 

I like fun. Being beaten and made numb or sore because my bicycle rides like a hay rack is not fun. I will give you an example. The recently reviewed Schwalbe G-One Overland tires I tried were fast. They were some of the best I've tested in this category. However; they did not feel very good. 

I was a bit disappointed and fearful this may have been an issue with the Peregrine itself. Maybe the frame is just too stiff? Well, after the review was over, I swapped wheel sets and tires. The tires I used were older SOMA Cazadero 700 X 50mm tires and these were fitted with Rene Herse TPU tubes. I used the bike on the Veteran's Day ride with N.Y. Roll. 

Image by N.Y. Roll

The ride quality was better. No more harshness when hitting things like expansion cracks, potholes, or the like. Plus the Cazadero/TPU tube combo rolled nearly as fast as the Schwalbe tires did. 

Now had I run these tires tubeless I would imagine the ride quality would have been even a little bit better, at the least. So, this fit my purposes better than a tire which has speed but lacks in ride quality. 

My results were that I had more fun. Fun is good. 

Now had I been going racing? Had I been doing work in training for a race? Maybe I'd throw the Schwalbe tires back on. But I am not racing, and so I don't place speed above all else when it comes to riding gravel. 

I'm not saying racing is bad, or you should not ride for those purposes. However; many folks get caught up in the racing stuff due to those racing things seemingly being "the goal you should strive for". I think this is wrong thinking. I believe most riders want to have fun riding their bicycles and speed gains, power outputs, and GPS data - while cool - is not what the focus should be for most riders. It is not why most people ride. They typically ride for pleasure and fitness. So, maybe choose tires which fit why you are really riding. Just a thought.....

Big Wheels For Gravel:

Maybe 15 years ago, maybe a little more than that, you would have been fairly acquainted with the arguments for and against 29" wheels for mountain biking. 

29"ers were really the first wheel size which came along to break all the traditional thoughts and technical design behind mountain biking. Change is never easy, and a lot of people don't cotton to change. Resistance was high. However; eventually the results of using 29"ers convinced most people this was actually a better way to go.

Manufacturers made a few mistakes along the way. Technologies came along, which enhanced the positives of 29"ers to the point where 26" wheels, once the mainstay of MTB, were now deemed not all that great to use anymore. 

Now there is a new wheel size which is here to challenge 29"ers. It is 32" in diameter, and it sure looks as though the MTB world is going to be in line to see what shakes out from the trial usage of 32" wheels in XC racing. Technically manufacturers and designers all know what to expect, in theoretical terms, due to the previous experiments with 29"er wheels. Mistakes and failures should be mitigated to a great degree. If 32" wheels "work", it won't be because of luck. 

So, in the latest podcast we discuss this, 32"ers rumors and speculations which are afoot, and whether or not 32" is a good idea for gravel bikes. Give the show a listen. Let me know what you think in the comments. 

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions

Well, It Looks Like THIS Is Going To Happen!

It will probably end up looking a lot like this.

 I have loved fixed gear riding ever since I first tried it out many years ago. However, I did not ever really have a dedicated fixed gear bike worth a hoot. That is, until a couple of years ago when I built up the Shogun I found at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. 

Since I was able to build that bike up with a 'proper' fixed gear rear hub, I have ridden the Shogun consistently ever since. So much so that I was wishing for a fixed gear bike with bigger tires. 

I had such bikes fixed in the past. My Karate Monkey has been set up fixed gear a couple of times. The old Surly 1X1 I had was fixed gear most every Winter I rode the bike. Both bikes had proper wide tires in the 2.2" to 2.5" wide range. 

The Shogun has 28's on it and this is as wide a tire as I can squeeze into the frame and fork. In fact, the front tire is mere millimeters from rubbing the underside of the fork crown. Leaves get stuck under there all the time now, it is so close. 

I've dreamt of fat tires and fixed gears long enough now that I have finally found a solution. It sure looks like this is about to happen too, so I figured I may as well share it with all of you here. My old Standard Rando v2 is going to become my fixed gear sled in the near future. 

The Shogun will get donated, well most of it, to the Collective. So, it will be one bike in - one out. That is important to me. I do not need more bikes than I have already.  

Image courtesy of Paul Components

The key to it all will be the Paul Components Fixed Disc WORD rear hub. I was recently chatting with my friend Ari and was telling him my idea. He quickly pointed out this hub for its through-axle compatibility, which I was surprised by. Obviously, the Standard Rando v2 uses a 142mm through axle standard, and the hub here does also. Perfect!

I have two Velocity Blunt SS rims, brand new, sitting in the shop. Those will be laced up with an appropriate front hub and the wheels will be sussed. 

I have a black, 175mm TruVative single ring crank set which should work perfectly with my Wheels Manufacturing eccentric bottom bracket insert, which I used with my T-6 Standard Rando. I'll probably move the Whisky Parts Co. carbon mustache bars over from the Shogun. I may start out with only a front brake since I don't think I have a pair of mechanical flat mount brakes at the moment. 

A chain. seat post, saddle, and flat pedals. Boom! Done. Oh! And I will use some tires I already have. Probably some WTB Raddlers. So, what do you think? A fixed gear bike with a penchant for gravel travel? It all sounds good to me. 

End Of Year Plans For Guitar Ted Productions

 The end of another year is upon us and soon it will be 2026. Regular readers of this blog know I usually do a multi-faceted end -of-year series of posts here. This year will be no exception. However; there will be changes due to a few circumstances which occurred this year. This will make the end-of-year posts unique for 2025. 

First, and most obvious of all, the unexpected and unexplained death of my 22 year old son, Jacob has altered many things for me. This year I am going to do a special look back on our times together on bicycles. 

Secondly, the rise of artificial intelligence programs has severely affected my post views during a few segments of this past year. I usually would do a "Top Ten" list of most read posts for the year, but this will be impossible to do now with so many of my post numbers being so unrealistic as to be comical in terms of what the analytics are telling me. 

Instead, I am going to post my own "Top Ten" most important posts based upon impact to myself, from responses in the comments, or from outside of the blog feedback I received. This will be a different way of gauging what posts were important to you, the readers, but perhaps it will also be less analytical and more personal based. 

I may also gather up all the gravel cycling related posts and put together a list with links. This would serve as a "State of the Gravel Scene" overview from my perspective.  I am not going to post any more of those "SotGS" posts going forward, so this might be a good substitute for that. 

I will continue to do the "Bikes of 2025", the "Rear View", and "Top Images" posts for the year. 

With all the Virtual Turkey Burn Ride reports I had last year, and what I suspect will turn out to be as many, or perhaps even more coming in this year, I am going to kick in the end-of-year posts starting this coming week with a look at some bikes and a Rear View post.  Then Thanksgiving will see another bike post or two, and then the following week will, most likely, be all Virtual Turkey Burn related posts.  

I probably won't get back to end-of-year stuff again until December 8th at the earliest, so this will be a busy stretch here on the blog. Due to the amount of content I want to create, please be advised I will likely double-post on several days until the first of the year. 

Thanks again for reading Guitar Ted Productions! 

Friday News And Views

 Bicycle Sales Still Slumping:

You probably have noticed it. All the "Black Friday" sales stuff which kicked in right after Halloween was over here. We may as well call the month of November "Black Friday" and have no days other than Friday for 30 calendar days until December 1st.  

News coming out of all the trade publications are still showing sales numbers mostly down for the Summer. You can tell because some companies have been running ridiculous discounts for months already.  

There have been a few businesses shutting down, and many bicycle shops seem to be closing up across the world, not just here. I'm certain there are parts where shops are thriving and business is brisk, but this seems to be less common now. 

And there are "bicycle deserts" which are getting larger all the time. The city I live in currently has no bicycle shops at all. None. It's crazy to think about it. There are several places in Iowa which have no close local bicycle services at all. I'm sure nationwide it is commonplace. 

It will be interesting to see if 2026 brings any positive changes.  

Prototype known as "D62" Image courtesy of Brant Richards

Luxy Redux Update:

Last Friday I asked if anyone was interested in a Luxy Bar reissue. (IYKYK) I wanted to give those interested parties an update, as far as what I know. 

The Luxy Bar was sold through Chain Reactions Cycles, an online retailer which had many "in-house" brands. One of those brands was Ragley, and the main designer for Ragley Bikes at the time of the Luxy Bar's availability was Brant Richards. The Luxy was sold as a Ragley Bikes product. 

I do not know the particulars involved in a possible revival of a component which has a license through a company which went through financial distress and I do not know who owns the rights to the Luxy now. All I know is Brant is getting back into bicycle stuff again and asked if I thought the Luxy was a viable offering in 2025/26. 

I posted about this, as I stated, last Friday, and Brant has seen all of your comments. So, if those carry any weight, then .......maybe. Also, I did ask for a carbon version to which Brant replied to by saying, "You can ask. But I’m sticking with metal. Not plastic!"

You can read into this statement if you'd like. I am saying it still is a big "what if" until I see one for real. Stay tuned.....

Image courtesy of Ratio Tech

Ratio Mech Now Available:

Early in October I reported in another FN&V regarding Ratio Technologies stab at making a rear derailleur with an aim to be versatile enough to work with several different shifters. It appears now this component is now available from the U.K. based company and is called the "Mech".  

Riders can choose the correct Mech configuration for their preferred cassette and shifter right from the webpage.  The Mech can also be configured for traditional derailleur hangars or UDH style mounting. 

Comments: I think this sort of mechanical rear derailleur is really a thing filling a void. The major component makers have, for the most part, abandoned cable pull derailleurs. This Ratio offering fills a void in the marketplace for those who want 12 and 13 speed drive trains but do not want electronic shifting for whatever reasons they may have.  

The asking price of approximately $457.00 (based upon current exchange rates and no tariff or VAT) seems steep, but a SRAM AXS XPLR rear mech is only about one hundred bucks less. Given some competition in this space for high-end, cable pull rear mechs and some decent amount of demand, I could see this 457 number coming down. 

But who knows? Perhaps this will only be a niche offering for old-school, cable pull holdouts. Once the demand is met, and those folks age out, perhaps all we wil see is electronic rear mechs in the future.  Either way, it is nice to see a company offering an alternative to electronic shifting. 

Image courtesy of Ritchey Design

Ritchey Design Septimer Carbon Breakaway Frame:

Whoops! I had to redact this news last Friday because I didn't read the embargo date correctly, so if you've already seen this here, or thought you might have, you did!

My bad! Sorry Ritchey Design! 

So, anyway, the Septimer is a break-away frame design in carbon. Ritchey has its own design for travel frames which come apart and can be packed into a small travel bag which can be checked at airports as regular baggage, saving on shipping costs for folks who like to travel with a bicycle. 

If you are interested you can check out the Ritchey Septimer and all their other fine products HERE. 

More 32"er Watch Rumors:

I was pointed to a mtbr.com thread by fellow blogger Rich Dillen which detailed the latest in 32"er news. With Mike Curiak being the current "Central Scrutinizer" of all things 32" in the MTB world, at least here in the USA, it was enlightening.  

Apparently the scuttlebutt from Mike is that at least "5-6 new 32" tires " are due out next year. I would assume this would mostly become news around and at Sea Otter, given the MTB nature of the event in April. 

Chatting via text messenger with "Mr Vague Idea Racing", we both agreed gravel stands to be addressed with the 32" wand as well. What exactly becomes of this is anyone's guess as of now, but more companies than Maxxis will have to jump in to make this viable. My guess is the German based tire brands will not be included due to their notorious conservative natures, I'd look for brands like Kenda, (who could use a shot in the arm), Panaracer, or maybe WTB to be brands which come in with 32" offerings for tires in 2026. 

This 32 inch nonsense reminds me a LOT of the heady days of 29"ers, fat bikes, and early gravel bike tire threads online where certain individuals were looked to for breaking news and posters would theorize on stuff they had no idea about. Ah! I recall this sort of thing and I understand it is "fun", but I'm not going to press into this too hard myself. The rewards are ethereal and fleeting for the amount of "grind" one has to exert. But with this said, I will be keeping a close eye on things in relation to 32" wheels and gravel bikes. 

That is a wrap on this week! The FN&V will be taking a break next week (unless there is breaking news) for Thanksgiving. Look for the next FN&V to appear at the end of the first week of December. 

Now get out and ride those bicycles!  

Maintenance Of Fat Bike Tubeless Tire - A Pictorial

 CAUTION! If you are easily offended by gross images or scared of seeing "intestinal" type images, do not read further. You've been warned! 

Today I am going to share what it took to check and clean out the old sealant in my front wheel of my Ti Muk 2 fat bike. The detail most important to know here is the sealant has never been cleaned out of this tire since 2019. So, after around six years, I would imagine it would be time to do this job, wouldn't you think? Ha!

Secondly, you may wonder how I dealt with sealant for this tire, (and the rear, by the way). I simply added about 100ml of sealant every Fall for the past five years. yep! I never did anything else. Now, I will also add here the rear wheel was done several weeks ago, and due to the laborious, time consuming peeling of sealant, I wasn't in any big hurry to do the front wheel. So, this was why I waited a while longer, in case any of you regular readers were wondering. 

 

The front wheel of my Ti Muk 2 consistes of a SON dynamo hub laced to a carbon Whisky Co. rim. These were rims which came stock on Beargrease fat bikes circa 2016 or so. The previous owner had these wheels laced up, so as far as any other details of these wheels goes, I am unaware of those. I mounted the Terrene Cake Eater 26" x 4.0" tires in about 2019 or so. These wheels originally had 45NRTH Van Helga tires which I found to be too slow and clunky for my uses. 

Removal of the wheel requires careful disconnection of the two spade connectors near the drop out so the wiring for the dynamo hub can be separated to get the wheel out. Then the Maxle through axle is utilized to release the wheel from the fork. The next step is to break the tire bead from its place on the carbon rim. 

 The first order of business is to remove as much air as you can from the tire. I usually don't take the core out, and in fact, I close the valve when I am finished pushing out air. I cannot say this is an aid, or cool trick to use, but I've always done it this way with fat bike tires. 

To break the bead from its place on the rim I lay the rim against the bench at a slight angle, not allowing a lot of the rim to overhang the bench. This is important for leverage. You want the rim supported at two points closer together so you won't damage the rim. 

Next I use the butt of each hand to apply pressure right at the point where the tire meets the rim at the sidewall facing upward at me. (See where I have my thumb in the image. This is where you want to apply pressure)

Using a downward force at a right angle to the rim, (essentially pushing 'sideways' across the rim), I carefully apply pressure until the tire breaks free. I use my finger to grasp the tire in this process, but I am not really doing anything with force at the fingers. The force is concentrated at the butt end of my hands. Think of how an automobile tire machine works, if you are at all familiar with this type of machine. 

Once the bead breaks free the rest generally will come apart with little effort. When you have pushed the bead on one side all the way around away from the rim edge, flip the wheel and repeat the above process

Next, you will need a tire lever to peel off one bead from the rim. Now in my case, here is where I found a big surprise. The sealant had formed a sort of 'tube' which was acting much like a butyl rubber tube in that it wanted to come out in one piece. So, I went with this situation. 

Here you can see what this looked like. I simply started to look at this as I would a tube replacement. The sealant slipped right out of the tire with little effort. 

Now I know some of you will want to know what I used for sealant for the past five-plus years. The answer to this question is a little complicated and murky. 

I'm pretty sure most of the sealant was WTB sealant. Some of it was Finish Line sealant, because I could see the black additive particles they used as an extra measure to seal up punctures. I am certain the last sealant I put in was Orange Seal for cold weather, and I may have used my own home-brew sealant which is a recipe I have shared here several times and which I call "MG's Sealant". 

Yeah.... I realize many say do not mix sealants. But to my mind, most sealants are more similar than dissimilar, and in practice, mixing sealants has never caused me any negative effects. So, you probably should not do what I did, but also - I am not at all concerned about mixing sealants. So, take all this under advisement and consider what you do carefully in regard to your own sealant use practices. 

After peeling out the sealant I simply remounted the tire, introduced 300ml of new sealant, and aired up the tire again with no further issues. For the record, I used some mixed up sealants again. So, I cannot tell you exactly what I used because I don't even know for certain. But before I discarded the old sealant "tube" I thought I'd weigh it for fun. 

Not bad, eh? I think this is in the range of TPU fat bike tubes, maybe a touch heavier. But I thought it was interesting the sealant did not accumulate to a weight  which was more than it turned out to be. Obviously, this was still far less than a butyl tube would weigh in at for a 26" x 4.0" tire. 

So, there you have it. My maintenance of my front wheel is finished and I am ready for Winter. Also, this might be the bike I end up using for the Virtual Turkey Burn Ride, since we may be getting blasted with Arctic air right around that time. I'd rather ride this bike when, or if, it gets windy and cold.