Friday News And Views

  A Very Gravel-filled FN&V!

Gravel Amplifier: The Skirmish:

The area around Northwest Arkansas is rife with mountain bike and gravel event activities, but how about something in Northeast Arkansas? That is where an event dubbed "The Skirmish" takes place. 

The event is being promoted as more than just a race. It will be a "festival" of gravel, and event promoters plan a multi-day experience for those who attend. Here is a bullet point list taken from an article seen on the "Arkansas Outside website HERE. 

• Live music on Friday night.
• A family-friendly “slow roll” ride through the Arkansas State University campus and downtown on Saturday.
• A vendor expo showcasing various products and services.
• Opportunities to meet and greet participating athletes.

The daily schedule will look like this: 

• Thursday: Kick things off with a group ride to energize for the weekend.
• Friday: Enjoy two group rides, explore the vendor expo, meet the athletes, and attend a lively welcome party with free live music.
• Saturday: Participate in the main cycling event followed by a post-race celebration. Family-friendly activities will ensure everyone enjoys the day.
• Sunday: Wrap up the weekend with a relaxing short ride, followed by a video and photo montage showcasing the event’s highlights. Award ceremonies and prize distributions will mark the official closing.

The event will take place out of Jonesboro, Arkansas from May 29th - June 1st with the race date being Saturday, May 31st. The earlier you register the less the event costs, but overall this ranks pretty high on the dollar-per-mile scale I use to rank event value. 

Comments: Can't make it into Unbound, or has that event lost you with its growth and focus? Check out this event, held on the same date as Unbound, by the way. In my opinion this will have a feel much akin to Mid-South in that the community will show out for this, but it won't have a focus on the upper echelon of athletes to the point of ignoring the average rider. 

The last Gents Race logo. For real this time?

Gents Race Run Ends v2:

The event dubbed at first as The Renegade Gentleman's Race, but eventually was known as as just "Gents Race", has posted a social media post saying that the event's run is over.

Thanking the past riders of the event in helping raise over $40,000.00 in donations for different causes, the directors of the event also rightly pointed out that the gravel calendar has become a rather crowded space in the Springtime when this event was held. 

Comments: Well, we've been here before with saying this event was over, and you never know, but this time the announcement has a bit of an air of finality to it. This makes me feel like the Gents Race is truly now gravel history. The event, started in 2011, was one of but a handful of gravel specific events held in Iowa at that time. Fast-forward to 2025 and there are two multi-event series on gravel held in Iowa plus many other events which were non-existent back in 2011. 

The Gents Race's unique structure, a team of five time trial, was open to interpretation enough that in some ways the event represented a "gravel RAGBRAI/party-pace event for many who participated in the event over the years. Of course, many also could take the racing part seriously, and did so, which is what made this a very unique and attractive event for many years in Iowa. It was an event challenging enough, (held during the first full weekend of April, metric century length) yet one that embodied the social aspect (party-pace option, mid-ride checkpoint at a winery, social bar time at the end), that there was an appeal across a wide section of society. 

I did a look back at my experiences with the Gents Race HERE in a post from 2023. Check those images out for a feel of what this event was about.
 

New Podcast Dropped:

N.Y. Roll had intended that we would talk about a few new things on the podcast including his pair of WTB i76 fat bike rims, his new Lake gravel shoes, and what we would do for a dream lighting set up for our bicycles. 

While we did get around to all of that, there is a fair bit of discussion and weirdness sandwiched in between those topics. N.Y. Roll bitterly rued our rabbit trail dives, but we made it through the episode. 

I think he's just being a bit sensitive concerning a comment we received saying we are just a couple of old men complaining. Which is rich considering that the comment is a complaint. Someone actually took the time and effort to let us know that. As if we weren't already aware that we complain. I mean, c'mon! If we said everything was roses we'd get lambasted for "not being real", right? Comments we make are our opinions, negative or positive. You can call that whatever you'd like. So, listen or do not listen. Complaining about our content isn't helping anyone. 

Check it all out HERE if you are interested in hearing two old men complain. I jest! But it is true.....

We're hoping to get a long-time guest on next and then start in with my talks with early gravel scene folks. If you have any suggestions for a guest that you'd like to hear from concerning the early days of gravel cycling, let me know in the comments.

Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame To Reveal 2025 Class:

Monday January 27th will be the day that the next class of inductees will be revealed that are going to be enshrined in the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame in late May in Emporia, Kansas. 

Electors were sent the nominees last December and asked to choose five from a long list. Of the five chosen, each had to be ranked 1 - 5 with the elector's number one vote being weighted more than the next an so on. The GCHoF board then compiled all the votes, added up their rankings, and chose three new inductees for the class of 2025.

With the announcement of the 2025 class the total number of individuals in the hall will be 19. The GCHoF started in 2021 and inducted its first class in 2022, which included seven people, including myself. 

Comments: I'll be keen to see which three of the list that was sent to me to vote on will be getting the nod this year. I will have a complete commentary on the 2025 inductees next week after the announcement on Monday. So, stay tuned for that as I will have some very interesting comments depending on how this class shapes up. 

Image courtesy of Life Time Sea Otter

Life Time Sea Otter To Feature Gravel Heavily:

Sea Otter began as a mountain bike festival. Then as the years wore on it took on road racing and other forms of cycling, especially at the expo. Now, in 2025, under Life Time's ownership, the festival will be gravel-centric. 

Life Time is holding its first Grand Prix event here and has switched it from a mountain bike event to a gravel event. 50 folks will take away free entry to Life Time's Unbound Gravel event. Furthermore, Life Time is promoting its expo as being home to "the cutting edge in gravel" components and bicycles. 

Meet-ups with top gravel athletes and gravel specific workshops will also be offered this year. Life Time predicts that upwards of 70,000 folks will attend the four day event which will be held April 18th - 21 at Laguna-Seca Raceway. 

Comments: With Sea Otter having taken over the role that Interbike used to have in regard to introducing new product and providing a meet-up for industry folks, it is no wonder then that "gravel" is taking over the festival. Gravel being really the only bright spot in the marketplace (besides electrified bicycles) and it certainly draws the most people in terms of events. 

Expect to see a lot of cycling media sites and YouTube accounts spilling coverage all over the place starting in April.
 

Special Thanks: Thanks to all those who commented on the post yesterday, or who have taken the time to give me a Happy Birthday shout-out on social media. I appreciated each and every one of your messages!

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions! Get out there and ride those bicycles!

64 Times

Still rockin'

 Today is the day I cross the line for the 64th time. It's a number that I never thought I'd see attached to my name. 

I remember a rider back from the days when I was first doing bicycle work. He's a reader of this blog, so, John, if you read this, you might remember this story.

John used to take his lunch at the shop. He'd pull up a five gallon bucket, sit down, and have his meal. He'd chat us up for a bit and then take off back to work  

The shop guys revered John. He was a really good rider, and he was around sixty or so at this point in his life. I can remember thinking, "I sure hope I'm still riding strong at sixty!" 

Well, here I am. I'm probably no where near as "strong" as John was at my age, but hey! I'm doing okay. Better than I figured I would be. And I still am planning on doing this thing for a while. No reasons not to. 

Thanks for reading!

BIKETUBES 26 X 4.0"-4.5" TPU Tubes: Review Part 2

 Note: Guitar Ted purchased three BIKETUBES 26" X 4.0"-4.5" TPU tubes for test/review. BIKETUBES has no knowledge of this review previous to this post and all opinions are Guitar Ted's.

Image courtesy of BIKETUBES.

The TPU tubes for fat bikes which I am using were introduced a while back. That post can be read HERE in case you missed it. 

In this post I will be relating my first impressions and observations so far on how these tubes are doing with my riding so far here. 

Air Pressure:

I noted right away that the TPU fat bike tubes did not support the tires as well as the thicker, bulkier butyl tubes. These TPU tubes allow for a lot more tire flex and this can be seen two ways. 

One: It isn't maybe so great for some fat bike set ups and for using really low pressures for maximum flotation and traction. With a butyl tube the pressures can be run as low as almost zero and the tires tend to stay on and you can get maximum grip and flotation that way. However; I have to wonder if the TPU tubes either won't go to that extreme at even slightly higher pressures, or perhaps this is really all that needs to be done here. My instincts here are to say that I could do a similar thing as I could with a butyl tube, I just would not have to go so low in air pressure settings. 

Which leads me to number two: I needed to use a higher pressure to get a similar feel to what I was used to. Example: I would have never considered using anything higher than 10psi with a butyl tube. However; I not only am now using up to 10psi, I still don't see a similar feel to butyl tubes at this pressure compared to the 6psi - 8psi I used to use.And that is not a bad thing. The tires with TPU tubes feel amazingly smoother than with butyl rubber tubes in them.

Obviously (see image above) we just haven't had optimal conditions for snow/flotation. So, that low pressure thing will have to wait. I am pretty convinced that these tubes will be best if you shift your pressure ranges you are used to slightly higher. 

Finally, while other TPU tubes I've tried hold air quite well, these fat bike TPU tubes are not quite as good as what I expected in this regard. I noted that it only took about 3-4 days for my pressure to go from just under 10psi to about seven. That doesn't seem like much. Not even 3psi, right? But with a fat bike, 3psi is a huge difference. I plan on keeping a closer eye on this trait going forward. 

So, there might be a pressure holding issue and I don't like the valve stem design. That stem is just not robust enough and with no threaded/nut system to hold it against the rim, you have to be very careful with the stem as it is delicate. In fact, I have to wonder if using really low pressures might not cause a sheared valve stem problem. 

I'll be back with more in about a month or so. Stay tuned....

Good Grief Bikes' Nice Bar: Review - The Ride Experience

  Note: Guitar Ted purchased the Nice Bar at full retail for personal use and review from Good Grief Bikes. Good Grief Bikes has no input on this review and all opinions are Guitar Ted's.

My 2003 Karate Monkey set up with the Good Grief Bikes' Nice Bar

Now that I've had some rides on the Good Grief Bikes' Nice Bar, I have a few things to share about this handmade, "alt bar" from Colorado. If you missed the previous posts on this bar, you can see the intro HERE and the set-up and more in the second update HERE. 

Going into the riding portion of the review my concern was that this stoutly built bar would be an unforgiving, hand-numbing component that looked cool but was no fun to ride. Thankfully that was no where near the mark in my experience.

The Nice Bar does have a bit of give and so it doesn't really have that "zing" when you hit a sharp bump. This is subtle, so the bar feels direct and nothing like a "noodle" when you get up and yank on the bars for a sprint or sharply inclined climbing. 

I mentioned in the opener that I was pretty sure the angle of the extensions would be comfortable for me. I have tried many "alt" bars and I have tried about every conceivable  variation in angle from a more subtle 17° to the Jones Bar's 45° angled extensions. 

In my opinion, anything close to or beyond 40° is just a bit too much. At least it is for me. I never really got on with the Jones H Bar, although it is not "bad", but I often wished for less sweep when I used that bar. 

Having some amount of sweep is a good thing, in my opinion, from an ergonomic viewpoint. I liked those old Salsa flat handle bars with 17° of sweep. Then I got a hold of some Answer carbon bars with 20° and that was even better. The Nice Bars have 34.5° of sweep, so quite a bit more, but not in the ballpark of the Jones H Bars. In my opinion, I feel like this handlebar is about as "extreme" in terms of sweep, that I would likely feel alright with. 

The 34.5° of sweep in the extensions works well.

The thing is, to get that forward extension of the Nice Bar to work I don't think you could go with much less sweep. So, I think in terms of the design, this is a good place to be that offers many hand positions instead of a mildly swept bar that had no forward extensions at all. 

How about those nubs sticking out there? Any good or what? Well, I like this junction of the extensions and the central bar that bridges across to both because it gives me a couple of very comfortable, useable grips. 

One is to grasp the bar so that my thumbs are on the forward extensions ends, right on the end cap I installed there. This is a great climbing position for those longer grades. That works well for a touch of aero as well. Secondly, I like draping my hands across the central bar and forward extension which relieves pressure spots that build up while I am on the cork grips. It's a good place to cruise for a long time, and again, gets you a bit skinnier to the wind. 

I'm impressed with the ways I can get around to different positions on this bar and give my hands a break from time to time. There are not as many options as you would have to choose from with a drop bar, but there are a lot more to use than any typical flat bar would have. I've no doubt I could ride for a day on these bars with no stress induced from the handlebars. 

Plus, these bars look really cool. I still find myself checking them out in the Sunlight which really brings the different hues of the "flash painting" out. The steel construction really compliments my Surly frame and looks "right" on the bike. So, that part is good and along with the ride quality, I feel like these bars are going to be on this bike for quite a while. 

I'll be back later on with some reports on how this handlebar is holding up over a longer run in the future. Likely sometime this Spring. Look for that coming up.

Brown Season: Gravel Therapy

Escape Route: An alley in a "bougie" neighborhood.

January around these parts is not known for stellar country riding weather. In fact, many Januarys have gone by where I barely get out into the woods to ride. Commuting to work amounts to all the riding I generally get in for most Januarys around here. 

That's because of our terrain, our weather, and my desire not to get frostbitten. I only am half kidding about the last part. It really is not a lot of fun to get out into the rural areas to ride in Winter here, if you can even do that. 

Many times the roads are very icy, so riding out there on icy gravel is nigh unto impossible. Not a good idea, at any rate. Then there is the wind. A constant in Iowa, and when that starts in when it is much under 25°F, well, that windchill is nothing to take lightly. 

But sometimes we get that rare combination of clear roads and a day where the air temperature is high enough that wind chill is not a big deal. Last Friday was just such a day here. It was in the mid-40's, and the wind wasn't too bad. The Sun was out, and the roads had no snow or ice whatsoever. In fact, we maybe have had two inches of snow all Winter here so far. Maybe two inches..... It hasn't been much, I do know that!

A "working dairy barn" outside of Waterloo on Ansborough.

Nothing will stop the wind out here in Winter, or stop you from freezing to death.

I decided I could take a bit of time in the afternoon to take in this rarity.I needed to get some gravel time in on those Good Grief Nice Bars anyway. More importantly, I needed some mental therapy which can only come via riding a bicycle. 

I know many riders who will tell you that a good ride can help cleanse the mind. I am one of those who hold to that philosophy. I would only add that, for me, getting that dose of medicine goes down best on a gravel road. It is just me, the bicycle, and gravel. Simple. No distractions. No traffic breathing down my neck. No worries about missing the next turn, or concerns about getting lost. Just time to think clearly and employ some good mental hygiene. 

Good thing I went out Friday! That wind and cold we have now is going to put off the next ride for a while.

It was a good thing to have gone out on a mid-January day for some rare country goodness. I did not care if the plants were all brown, the fields bare, or that there were no animals about. I got what I needed out of the ride. A much calmer mental interior for a while. 

Oh! And I got to evaluate those handle bars. I'll have something more to say about those soon.

Aero Focus: Taking What Is Good Out Of Gravel Bikes

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

With professionalism and bigger monetary stakes, the competition to be winning in gravel is intensifying. Especially at the premier gravel events, such as Life Time Grand Prix, Gravel Earth Series, and the UCI World Gravel Series, amongst other single-day gravel events with big prize purses. This encourages cycling brands to push for "more cutting edge" designs aimed at giving the riders an edge over their fellow competitors. This is mostly being done via aerodynamics. 

Obviously, cycling brands feel that Pro and semi-Pro gravel riders must be the ones bringing attention to their brands because the marketing reflects this belief. I have stated in previous posts about this sort of marketing philosophy that building a bike to suit a very small percentage of gravel riders is not the best thing for the majority of gravel riders and obviously, not the best value for this larger segment of the marketplace either. 

This is why I believe aero focus is taking what was good about gravel bikes and kicking it to the curb. Marketing and brand focus on the upper echelons of competitive gravel cycling will gravitate toward this aero driven design and while doing so will forgo the stability, comfort, and utility that gravel bikes originally featured, and sometimes still does. However; sometimes when the focus is not on aerodynamics for gravel bikes, and is on those more comfort/versatile features, another thing seems to be happening.

Bikes like this 2022 Salsa Cycles Warbird were good at everything: Racing, adventure, fun, etc.

Those "do-it-all" bikes are being pigeonholed more and more as "adventure" bikes or worse - bikepacking bikes. Not that there is anything wrong with doing those types of rides, but when you name a bike, you put a perception into people's minds that "this is all that bike is good for". 

I'll use my oft referred to reference of what we called those bikes in 2011 with the big, fat tires that were being used for better flotation. We were calling these "snow bikes", and for good reason. They were good at that, but the perception was, "I don't ride in the snow" and so this made the bikes hard to sell. As you all know, the terminology changed quickly to the "fat bike" name for this category of bicycles, and that seemed to open more doors. 

 So the name matters, and while that may not seem obvious, most people in sales can tell you that this is true. I'm convinced that this is true also. But the name is "gravel" and by this point in history, we're stuck with that.

Image courtesy of Fyxation

Is a gravel bike a "race bike" or a do-it-all bike? More and more I see the brands trotting out models meant for all-out competition, ballyhooing them as "watt saving" and "lighter", as with the racing bikes for pavement. Meanwhile subtle changes to geometry, to push the aero thing more, have begun to erode what was good about "gravel bikes". This is  causing these newer competition oriented bicycles to be less versatile, less comfortable, and less adept at making average cyclists able to have fun. 

But you save watts! It's lighter! The Pro's ride these! 

I realize this is not always the case with many gravel bikes, but this trend for aero is troubling. My hope is that the "all-around" road bike will survive. The bike for any-road, be that paved or unpaved. Not so much a mountain bike, and not so much a touring bike, but a bike that could do a little of all of that if pressed to do so. A bike made from a material that is repairable, sustainable, and not super-expensive. (Probably metal) A bike that is easily maintained and not rife with proprietary parts or spec'ed with the highest priced components that only promise marginal gains but cost stupid amounts of cash. 

Aero has its place, but all-out gravel aero bikes with forward geometry that puts riders in a position only a super-fit athlete riding for a living can maintain are not what serves the majority of riders. Less of that, please! More of the versatile, fun, adventure, and easily obtainable "gravel bikes", please.

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

When I Wrote About Mary

 In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

As I was starting out the blog I was often posting the latest stuff on the then new 29 inch wheeled mountain bikes. I posted a lot of the things I was seeing that made more sense to me than the smaller 26"er wheels had to offer, which I knew all too well having ridden and raced on those wheels for a dozen years or so.

The 2007 Haro Mary SS

Consequently one of the opportunities offered to me came by way of Mike Varley, he now of Black Mountain Cycles. Back in 2006, Mike was working at Haro as the brand manager, I suppose you would call it. 

Mike has a long history in mountain biking and he has a wealth and depth of knowledge that is well beyond what most folks possess today in terms of mountain bikes and what works. His talents and knowledge were being utilized at Haro to spiff up their mountain bike range, and 29"ers were going to be a part of that. Mike somehow got wind of what I was writing, must have thought I was a pretty decent wordsmith, and so he asked that I write some catalog copy for the 2007 Haro Mary 29"ers. 

Okay, I was barely past one year of blogging and then this opportunity came along? I had to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming when I read the email. Me? A dude from Iowa write catalog copy for a 29"er bike? Wow.... 

The copy I wrote in the catalog.

Not only was I writing some marketing stuff, but my task was to present the Mary, and 29"ers in general, as something that was a serious thing, not some fad or joke. Because things back in 2006 were different concerning the perception of 29"ers by most mountain bikers, this was no easy feat!

I jotted some words down, scrapped them, started again, and tweaked the copy. I sent it off to Mike thinking it would get rejected. I mean, this wasn't my area of expertise, or at least I did not think it was.

However; I was surprised and delighted to find out what I sent in was so good that they were actually going to use it! You can try reading it in the image here if you'd like. I know it is not much, but in the context of the day, I was pretty chuffed to have this be published by a legitimate bicycle brand. 

Mike wanted to recognize my efforts and he offered to send out a frame and fork for one of the two Haro Mary 29"ers, a geared or single speed. At the time, almost every brand was pushing single speed as the way 29"ers were to be consumed, so I chose the geared version, despite my proclivities to being a single speeder. 

The Haro Mary 29"er I built up in 2007. Unfortunately I asked for the wrong size!

Geometry for 29"ers was still a thing being experimented with and not every company was doing things in a way that could be cross referenced to other brands. This led me to choosing a Mary that was one size too small for me. Drat! I was bummed, but I made it work for a bit. Then I decided to move on from this bike and I sold it to a former coworker at the shop I was at during this time. 

Later that year, at Trans Iowa v3 which was run out of Decorah, Iowa, I saw Marty Larsen's Mary SS and I kicked myself for not getting that bike. I probably would still have the Mary if I had gotten the correct size in a single speed, but alas! Such is life. 

The main point here is that this blog, and the eyeballs that were reading it, somehow got me into a place where I was doing things I would have never dreamt of doing. Writing catalog copy for a bicycle catalog was one such thing which fit that list. I am happy it was an opportunity which came along though. This opportunity pushed my work in front of more eyes that eventually would take me off into other opportunities that I am super-grateful for having had the chance to partake in. 

Looking back after twenty years from starting this blog, some of these things I was able to do are still pretty unbelievable to me. Did I really do that? Yes, I did. And I have you dear blog readers to thank, in part, for those opportunities. 

Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions!