Guitar Ted Lube-Off: Polar Drip Wax Update

 NOTICE:  The Guitar Ted 'Lube-Off' is a comparison of different lubrication products for bicycle chains that is undertaken in 'real world' conditions in a set way. Then I compare and contrast the results with past 'Lube-Off' products to see "which one is best for me". This is done for entertainment purposes and the reader should apply their own reasoning and discernment while reading my 'Lube-Off' entries. What works for me may not work for you at all.

 NOTE: Stan's sent over a bottle of their Polar Drip Wax to Guitar Ted Productions at no charge for test and review purposes. Stan's is not bribing or paying Guitar Ted for this review. All opinions are Guitar Ted's.

Okay, I have a little housekeeping to do before we dive into this update on the new Stan's Polar Drip Wax lubricant. In a FN&V recently I stated I tried to remain independent from lubricant manufacturers by buying all my testing samples. This is in error because I forgot about this Stan's lube and Stan's previous BioBased Dry Lube I tested last year. Both were samples sent to me at no charge. So, I wanted you to understand this and assure you, dear readers, that I hold the Stan's lubes to the same standards as I would any other lube. 

I just wanted to clarify this point. Now, on with the update......

Update #2: 

With Stan's having sent the Polar Drip Wax ahead of the release date, I was able to ride this lube some amount beforehand. (Intro seen HERE in case you missed it) Since then I have been able to put in more miles but specifically I was able to get in some really demanding conditions. 

The recent Labor Day ride with N.Y. Roll featured several miles of dry dirt road with a fair amount of loose dirt on top of hard pack. For instance, when I was trailing N.Y. Roll I could see a small cloud of dirt/dust being generated off his tires. This was bathing our chains in a constant bath of dry dirt. The gravel sections were also very dusty in parts of the course. 

One example of the many dirt road miles we experienced

I knew this would be a very severe test of Stan's Polar Drip Wax. Stan's claims up to around 200 miles between applications. However; with all the bathing in dirt and dust during my most recent ride, I have decided it is already time to clean and re-apply the Stan's Polar Drip Wax. 

I felt the chain was at its limit from a lube perspective. The rollers are feeling dry, but there are no sounds of squeaking or grinding when I checked the chain immediately after the ride. After a wipe-down, I felt the chain still had some coating of wax on it. 

But with all the dirt stuck to the side plates of the chain, the jockey wheels, and to some lesser extent, the chain rings, I decided a full clean-up is in order.  My estimate is that I have probably less than 125 miles on this lubricant so far. That's not a lot of miles, but then again, the test conditions on the final ride before this update were, as I said, severe. 

Test Results: 

Images of the drive train and Touch-Test:

 

First off, apologies for the out-of-focus finger! But I think it is easy to see the rollers are free from gunk, but barely! The rest of the chain is pretty dirty, especially between the side plates. I decided to try wiping down the chain with a cloth and brushing the inner chain bits with a dry, clean brush. The following image is the result of this activity:

 I also brushed off the cassette, peeled a layer of gunk off the jockey wheels, and I brushed and wiped down the chain rings. I think you can see here that this looks a lot better. In fact, I could run the chain like this. It felt slick, but Pedros does recommend a second coating, if desired, after the initial application. By the way, this all took less time to do than taking the chain off, cleaning it, and dipping it in a wax pot, by far. No comparison there. 

So, I have done this, and we will test on from here. 

 So Far:

I'm not impressed with how things have gone so far. There was more dirt accumulation than I would have expected, especially between the side plates of the chain. The jockey wheel gunk was also not welcomed. I've had better results with other chain lube products in severe dust conditions.  

I was hoping to find this lube would push the SILCA Super Secret v1 in terms of results, but this is not the case. The SILCA v2 jury is still out, so I will wait to give my final thoughts on that lube until later. 

I think this lube has promise, and I still feel it may redeem itself after getting a cure/dried coating which this lube struggled to do at first. I think this is where all the gunk/dirt accumulation came from. But we will see after this second coating. So, while I am a little disappointed so far, I feel this situation may improve now going forward. 

Gravel Grinder News: WTB Announces New High-Volume, Aero Gravel Tires

WTB Byway, Course, Macro tires (L-R) 

Note: All Images and information in this article were provided to Guitar Ted Productions by Wilderness Trail Bikes. 

WTB Introduces A First In Gravel - Aero, High-Volume Gravel Tires: 

Wilderness Trail Bikes (WTB) announced today that they have added high-volume, aerodynamically designed tires to their gravel tire range. There are three new designs in the range which consists of tires in widths measuring from 700 x 50mm, 700 x 52mm, and 700 x 54mm. The tires were designed in conjunction with Stromm Cycles, makers of the most aerodynamic road bike according to tests conducted by Tour Magazin. 

The tires, named Byway, Course, and Macro, were designed with a completely new manufacturing methodology utilizing "ultra-consistent production tolerances, and advanced material sourcing to establish a new benchmark for WTB casing suppleness and compound performance.", according to the press release. 

Features of the range include 120TPI casings, WTB's bead-to-bead SG2 puncture protection, and upgraded Dual DNA rubber compounds. 

The patent-pending aerodynamic features of the range include aerodynamic vortex generators and trip-strips along the tire sidewalls. These features are incorporated to manipulate airflow over the tire and wheel system. This controls boundary layer separation and reduces the low pressure wake which typically increases drag and slows you down. 

Stromm validated the testing using the Chung Method and real-world testing against identical tires without the aerodynamic features. 

Tests at a velodrome by Stromm's Chief Aerodynamicist, Ben Rothaker, verified the reduction of drag at typical gravel racing speeds. 

●5.8 watts at 30 km/h (18.6 mph)
●9.3 watts at 35 km/h (21.7 mph)
●13.8 watts at 40 km/h (24.8 mph)

Mr. Rothaker is quoted in the press release as follows:

"Stromm applied the same real-world applicable engineering that made the fastest road bike to this tire, designing in surface features that substantially improve aero over the tire/wheel even when dirty and with no compromise to the tread. We brought all our tools to bear, running what may be the largest CFD simulations in the cycling industry to date and then doing detailed CdA measurements of clean and dirty tires with and without surface treatments to make sure what we found on the computer is working on every ride." 

Tire Models For All Use Cases: 

Each tire in the range covers a different aspect of gravel riding. The 50mm wide Byway is the tire for all-out speed with its central slick tread. It still retains good cornering manners due to the side-knobs which give the rider stability in cornering situations. 

The 52mm wide Course is a tire for more all-around conditions. It features enough tread to give a rider confidence in all gravel conditions yet it retains a fast rolling performance. The slightly larger volume casing allows for better rider comfort and control as well. 

The 54mm wide Macro is the tire for the rougher stuff. Ideal for the adventurer, this model has deeper, widely spaced lugs which grab traction in rockier, looser conditions. The highest volume tire in the range also lends the best comfort and control. 

Availability:

The 700 X 50mm Byway, 700 X 52mm Course, and 700 X 54mm Macro will come in all black or black with tan sidewalls. Each tire will retail for $89.95 / €79.95. Tires are available from WTB retailers and authorized dealers world-wide now. 

As a side note, the CGR wheels shown in the images will become available soon. 

Comments:

The aero revolution in gravel reaches a new benchmark with these tires, the first of their kind in gravel. It is interesting to see there are no tires in a width less than 50mm, marking the new trend for higher volume gravel tires. At least for racing, this is a trend, but I would guess going forward that gravel bikes will be capable of wider tire fitments whether or not they are earmarked for racing. 

Look for a more detailed look at this range in another article posting soon. Guitar Ted Productions will be testing the Byway and Course tires. Images, weights, and impressions of the tires will come with this article. The Macro was not requested as I do not have a bicycle which is appropriate to test them with, but I will also include details for this model in the next article as well. 

Country Views: Labor Day Ride

Escape Route: N.Y. Roll's truck in Dysart, Iowa

August was a total bust for me and riding. Either it was blazing hot with "feel like" temperatures over 100°F, or it rained every day, or both on the same day. This has to be one of the hottest, wettest Augusts in memory. 

N.Y. Roll and I were supposed to go on a ride on Saturday, August 29th, but of course, it rained.  Bah! So we rescheduled for Labor Day, and as it turned out, it was one of the best days in weeks here. 

N.Y. Roll devised a route in Tama and Benton Counties he called "B Road Culture", in reference to these counties being in the top-three for dirt road mileage in Iowa. It was to be 40 miles, and we started a little before 9:00am from Dysart, Iowa, a small town about 23 miles South of Waterloo. 

It was cool, with a breeze from the Southeast, and threatening skies when we left. In fact, it looked like rain was coming in. I was game as long as it was a rain event with no lightning. 

Note: There will be a LOT of images in this post and more than a few "Barns For Jason". 

Heading out of Dysart. You can see the dark clouds in the West.

 

This wasn't looking good. Yes....N.Y. Roll went without a helmet on purpose. 

N.Y. Roll asked if I wanted to join him in a helmetless ride. I declined. Not that I wouldn't ever do that, but Mrs. Guitar Ted deserves some respect here, so.... Nuff said about this. Please direct any responses concerning helmet wear to N.Y. Roll! 

The further we went South the better the skies looked. 

Barns For Jason #1

I chose to ride my pink Black Mountain Cycles MCD for the ride. N.Y. Roll's dirt road idea made me decide to choose wider rubber and the MCD has those Schwalbe G-One Overlands on it. These are the same tires I used in Nebraska. I set the air pressures at about 35-ish psi fron and rear. However; as we were riding along I thought the rear tire felt really soft. Like not a 'squishy' soft, but the gravel was being erased by the tire's damping at this lower pressure. Hmm... I kept thinking I need to check this out next time we stop, but we weren't stopping much, so....

 

Stopping for a 'nature break' at the first Level B Road we encountered (I forgot to check the rear tire!)

Hey! Wait a minute! I've seen those monuments before!

As we reached the first Level B dirt road, N.Y. Roll pointed out a couple of fancy, cast cement property marking columns. He then wondered aloud if we were anywhere near that place which was once a farm and had all these weird monument columns in the yard. We had come across those on a Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational years before. 

Sure enough, we came across the same place! We briefly stopped and reminisced about that old ride, then we hit the gravel again, heading due South. Those monuments were cast cement by a couple of men who grew up on a farm which was once located here. They were artistic expressions, nothing more, but the way these look and how they are arranged around the property is kind of curious. It doesn't take much to think there might be some deeper meaning here. 

Images taken from the road. We did not trespass here. 

 

Barns For Jason #2

The gravel was a bit loose and finding the right lines to ride was paramount to getting less resistance. The further South we went the hillier it got. We were entering into a slice of the "Bohemian Alps" of Iowa. So named because of the Czech heritage around these parts and the hilly terrain found in Tama County. 

I was holding my own, but once I realized it would be up-down-up-down a lot here, I started to measure my efforts a bit more. Plus, I hadn't been on a longer ride for quite some time . 

 

The hills were working me. I was sure happy it wasn't blazing Sunshine and 90 degrees out or I know I would have been toast! As it was, I was laboring along but still not too badly. N.Y. Roll was so far up the road here I almost lost sight of him. 

We were on the long Southern leg of his route, but soon we would start a stair-stepping path East and South for a bit. I looked forward to the relief from a straight shot for miles. Once I caught back up with N.Y. Roll he assured me the climbing would ease up a lot later into the route. 

A surprise find. A roadside gravesite. 

 

N.Y. Roll said this was marked as a Level C Road on maps. We did not ride this.

We came up on a small clearing in the South side ditch at one point with a sign that said "Roadside"and two tombstones could be seen high up above the roadside. We decided to stop here and investigate. 

The graves were for two people, but we don't know the name of the elder of the two as the top of that headstone was broken off which likely had the name of the deceased on it. The graves dated from the late 1860's and 1870's. Most likely these were original settlers in the area. Pretty amazing to see these gravestones and the site still exist.  

Right about this time I remembered to check my rear tire. Indeed, it was very soft! I decided I'd pump it up with my SILCA Tattico hand pump. This was going smoothly until I unscrewed the head and it pulled the valve core out with it! Bah! Now I had NO AIR! 

N.Y. Roll offered up his mini-compressor pump, and once I had the valve core threaded back into the valve he pumped it up to....we don't know! It felt firm, so.... Off we went! 

Barns For Jason #3

 

The dirt roads were super-smooth, dry, and had a little 'cocoa-powder' to them.

By this point in the ride we found ourselves on a long Eastward stretch. N.Y. Roll was disappointed because the county map he looked at indicated this stretch was dirt road after dirt road. Instead it was just gravel. But it wasn't bad, the scenery was great, and the big climbs were behind us. There were two consecutive miles of Level B at the end of this stretch though.

Another stellar dirt road. There were two miles straight of this at the end of the Eastward leg. 

 

Finally there was more Sun than clouds, the wind got stronger, and the heat was turned up!

We reached our turn North and there were more dirt roads. We also had a pretty stiff Southern wind at our backs now. The roads were rolling and on the downhills you could coast at around 20mph or faster and on the flats you could do almost 20 easily. 

I kind of pushed myself and it bit me in the end, but there were some factors which played into this. One: I had been working out my shoulders and arms to strengthen my bad shoulders. So, I already had sore muscles to start. Second: I mowed the lawn the day before in some nasty humid conditions. This both amped up my shoulder pain and I was likely fatigued going into this ride. Third: I needed to eat! 

Look at that black dirt!

 

Barns For Jason #4

There were several dirt roads which were fast and fun. The dirt was so dry it was like cocoa powder on top of a firm base. Level B road riding is generally at its best in August, then up until the harvest. After that time the dirt roads are packed with harvesting equipment and after that, they have a lot of field trash on them, generally speaking. 

Barns For Jason #5

 

Level B after Level B! This was a fun section. 

At one point I think we went four miles on dirt, which was fun, and a bit rare in Iowa. There were so many great dirt roads on this back half that I have to say N.Y. Roll put together a really good route. Well.....if you like dirt roads. 

By the end of this long section my batteries were getting low and my right shoulder was in some pretty intense pain. We had to stop under the shade of some trees so I could cool down and take it easy for a few minutes. 

The view from our stop on a shaded Level B road. 

 

This downhill was steep and fast!

We finally moved on and after a few miles or so we contacted the Old Creamery Trail. This trail runs from Dysart to Vinton, Iowa, with a midway town of Garrison thrown in there. Once we reached this trail it was railroad grade until we got to the end. I'm not a big fan of rail trails because there are no coasting opportunities. I like rolling terrain better, but hey! If you are a rail trail fan, good on you! We have lots of them in Iowa. 

Lots of the Old Creamery Trail is shaded.

 

Half a mile to go!

The Old Creamery Trail is pretty rustic. You'll find ruts, sticks, and you'll have to dodge tree branches and weeds in Summer. But I like it a lot, for a rail trail. It was just that I was more than ready to be done with this ride and because of my shoulder pain I was not loving life there at the end. But I was happy I went on the ride. I need to push myself and - well, with our weather of late, you gotta take it while its there to be taken. 

We did just that. Thanks N.Y. Roll for the invitation to ride! 

NOTE: A Press Release will post at 10:00am CST today. Make sure to check out this article which will follow this post.  

Gravel Grinder News: Iowa Wind And Rock Announces Final Event

After eight years of events, Iowa Wind and Rock, the ultra-distance, self-supported, self-navigated gravel event will hold its last ever event on April 17th-18th, 2027. 

The announcement was posted to Iowa Wind and Rock's Facebook page on Monday, September 7th. 

The event, which uses a different course every year, is unique in the gravel racing world as it eschews most of the features many gravel events see as being "necessary". There is no pre-event course release, riders do not have any idea where they are going during the event unless they are familiar with Iowa backcountry. There is no gps file. Riders navigate by cue sheet instructions. It all is done to test the physical, mental, and mechanical limits of each participant. 

There really are no gravel events quite like IWAR. The loop course, which is typically well over 300 miles, must be completed in 34 hours or less. The event starts at night, riders ride into the day, the next evening, and typically finish the following day in the morning, IF they finish at all. 

If you are interested in IWAR, see their site HERE for more details, but do not tarry, as after the 2027 event, a challenge like this will disappear from the gravel calendar for the first time since 2005. 

Comments: Full disclosure, I was told about this on September 3rd. The event directors, Sarah Cooper and Steve Fuller felt that I deserved to know first. In case you aren't aware, Iowa Wind and Rock grew out of the event I put on starting in 2005 called Trans Iowa. 

So, a quick recap of what happened in 2018 when I announced the end of Trans Iowa. Sarah Cooper asked if she and Steve Fuller could take over the event. I had decided this wasn't a very good idea. NOT because I didn't want them to take over Trans Iowa, but because I didn't want Sarah and Steve to be held to the same standards set up during Trans Iowa's 14 year run. 

So, instead, I suggested they start their own event, be that a clone of T.I. or whatever they decided to do. Then their legacy would not be judged against Trans Iowa. And I was very pleased to understand that IWAR did indeed take this track and they ran with it for eight wonderful years. Building their own story, fans, and doing it their way, even if that was as close to Trans Iowa as it could possibly be. 

So, there is the connection between IWAR and Trans Iowa. I have to admit, I was a little heartbroken reading the email I got September 3rd. The gravel world has moved on into several different directions, but this event is so unique and special, I think it is a bit of a shame this won't exist anymore. 

That said, I "get it", and that in spades, as to why this must come to an end. As Craig Schmidt, co-founder of Gravel Worlds outlined in his response to the IWAR announcement on Facebook, you know what you know if you have ever put on an event. If you haven't, it's hard to explain the weight on your shoulders. It is not easy to bear. So, from this viewpoint, I can certainly see why it is time to let IWAR go for the RD's of this event. 

Two Things

 Hey! It's Labor Day here in the USA. The weekend which marks the 'end of Summer' here. Usually a day off for most of us. But I'm not taking the day off! Here's a special "Two Things" post for your enjoyment. Thanks, as always, for reading Guitar Ted Productions. 

Image courtesy of Marin Bikes

A Throwback:

Marin Bikes released news of a 40th anniversary model celebrating their first bike offered in 1986. Called the Madrone Trail, it was Marin's only offering that year. 

While the silhouette is that of an first gen MTB, the bike has been modernized with a threadless steer tube/head set, disc brakes, and 1X drive train. 

Featuring a 'bull moose' style handle bar with swept back extensions, the bike seems like a laid-back cruiser more suited to bar crawls and casual riding. All this for 12 hundred bucks or so. 

The bike is a limited run offering and I'm reading that it is sold out already. But if you are curious, you can check out the details at Marin's site HERE. 

Comments: It is an interesting exercise, if nothing else, to see an old design modernized. That said, I am reminded of how many brands stuck to a design borrowed from a 1930's children's bike by the early MTB builders and never improved upon until a decade had gone by after Joe Breeze's first efforts. 

That is probably due to the prevailing attitude in the early 1980's that mountain bikes were a fad and sooner or later people would come to their senses and forget about this nonsense. So much for that sentiment!

I think it is also apparent this bike has an incredibly short top tube for a bike like this. Most bikes from this era don't have this short of a reach, but this is not meant to be a "mountain bike" for 2026 either. It is a novelty bike, and as such, it is just fine. 

One more detail which caught my eye was the use of 27.5/650B wheels. I truly believe that if 650B had been widely available and had wider tires back in the 1970's that "26 inch" as we knew it would never have happened. What the "butterfly effect" of that would have had on the future is kind of interesting. One could easily argue that 29" would have been skipped over for 32", and we'd have a completely different set of bicycles than we have now. 

Maybe.... It's fun to consider though.

Saving Nicky Brooks:

Once in a while I see an old leather saddle come through the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. We had one show up on a really old drop bar bike of questionable vintage and it had this leather saddle on it. 

Turns out it is a Brooks B-17. So, definitely worth refurbishing this one, at least I think so. You dear readers here might remember the Brooks I refurbished last year, I think it was. That turned out okay, and was in far worse condition than this one. So, I figured this shouldn't prove to be too tough to do. 

There was some rust, a lot of nicks and scrapes in the leather cover, but not too many cracks and it was dry, but not as "desert dry" as the last one I worked on. I think it has copper rivets too, which if true is a bit harder to find. (They might just be really rusty! Ha!) Whomever rode it rode enough to get their sit bone impressions indented into the leather. If this saddle was ever tensioned, I don't think it was by much more than a turn of the tensioning nut. There is a ton of adjustment left here. 

But is it really a Brooks B-17? 

The ultra-rare "Nicky" Brooks!

Seems a previous owner saw an opportunity to scratch a name into the plate on the back which is riveted to the back of all B-17s. It would  usually say "Brooks". Instead a very poorly hacked "NICKY" appears there now. Was this the previous owners name, the name of the bike it was on, or maybe some other meaning was meant here? I don't know. But from here on out, this saddle is going to be called "Nicky Brooks". 

I've already cleaned it, and applied the first coating of Brooks Proofide, and I have done a little work on the metal as well. I'll update you as things go along, but I did note a few things with this saddle. 

I have a Brooks B-17 Speacial off a bike for the time being and I thought I'd compare the two saddles. They say Brooks saddles are being made the same way since the 19th Century. This is mostly true, but apparently there are some minor differences. 

Looking at the older saddle's rails, I could see marks at points where bends were executed on the steel rails.  On the newer one, (2000's vintage), the saddle rails are completely smooth and have no tool marks at all on them. 

I also noted the saddle rails on the newer B-17 look ever so slightly bigger in diameter. I haven't put a digital calipers to them yet, but I plan on doing so to verify this. Lastly, the tensioning nut on the older saddle is thinner than it is on the newer one. This is plain to see, and you do not have to measure to see that. 

But several things were exactly the same. The "Brooks England" mark is in the same part of the frame on both in the same direction and almost exactly in the same place. This is remarkable. Of course, the Special has the larger copper rivets, but otherwise everything about the older one looks pretty spot on in comparison to the newer one minus what I have detailed already. 

One other detail I noted was the ordinary looking seat post clamp which was on the saddle rails is actually a Brooks England made clamp! I'm not sure I've ever seen this before. I almost tossed it into the scrap, as those multi-piece, clamshell clamps are ubiquitous and we have enough to last years at the Collective. But a Brooks made one? That seems rare to me.  

Shopping

Image courtesy of Scott Sports

I was looking at "The Fleet" the other day and I am noticing trends in the gravel segment. This has me thinking, 'Is it time for a new gravel bike?'

The tire sizes which are seen as being 'normal' for gravel have ballooned up wider and wider. I no longer have a bike which can handle the widest gravel tires available. 

Then you have geometry. Things have gone a bit lower and slacker in terms of the more 'adventure' oriented gravel bikes. 

And, if I were to heed what my friend N.Y. Roll says, any bike without down tube storage is stupid. 

Well.....that may be a bit aggressive, but it is a fashionable feature to include on a frame these days. . 

 

Image courtesy of Dangerholm social media

I noticed last week a new version of Scott's Addict gravel bike was released. The marketing copy stated this model was more about adventure than racing. Okay....this grabbed my attention. I looked into it a bit deeper. Hmm..... I can see this is what might be best for me. That is, 'if' I were to go shopping now. 

The geometry is very good. They have a GRX equipped 12 speed model in the range. It isn't crazy expensive. It isn't that lovely lilac color of the more expensive model, but....ya know....it's fine. It's okay. I'd likely swap in my BERD spoked wheel set with blue anodized Industry 9 hubs anyway, and those would look weird on a lilac colored frame and fork. 

The eighty-five hundred buck model has a very specific integrated stem too, which as spec'ed, would be too long for me, and this cheaper model has a stem I could easily swap. So, there is that as well. (I've no idea if a frame set is offered)

The new Addict has an interesting fork. The blades bow outward, which Scott claims has the effect of giving the rider more comfort. It also allows for larger tires, and the inside the fork bottle mounts.  

It is an enticing bicycle. For my needs, at any rate. IF I were to get something like this it would immediately replace the Noble GX5 and put the Raleigh Tamland on permanent retirement. (Can't bring myself to get rid of that Tamland since I had a hand in its development) 

Anyway, just dreaming here now. If you have any suggestions you think would be great for me, hit me up in the comments. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions. 

Gravel History With Guitar Ted: The Past Is The Future

2006 DK200 checkpoint

 Welcome To Gravel History With Guitar Ted! This will be a random series here on the blog where I will give you my take on the history of gravel riding and racing in the "modern era.* 

There may be a "Ted-terview" or two where I speak with those from the early days of the Modern era of Gravel as well. 

Finally: This is my perspective, but I welcome other perspectives, even if they oppose mine, and in the end, we maybe can sharpen the focus of what really did happen versus fiction, lore, and speculations.

* The "Modern Era of Gravel" started when Trans Iowa was concocted by myself and Jeff Kerkove in the Fall of 2004. From that point forward what became known as a new niche of cycle-sport and cycling culture was born.  For more on this, see the following.....HERE

 Tire Tech & Fashions:

Fat tires are all the rage in gravel now. It wasn't that long ago when anything 43mm and above was considered "big" for gravel. Most bikes came with 40mm - 42mm tires, and races were run on these width tires for years. 

But it wasn't always this way. Going way back to the beginnings of Modern Gravel circa 2006 - 2010, it wasn't odd to see a large portion of the field at most Mid-West gravel events on mountain bikes. 

Fatter tires were known to be much more stable, comfortable, and could be just as fast as those folks who were running touring class tires on 700c sized rims. It wasn't until the bicycle industry made gravel specific tires in 2012 that this started to change. 

Tubeless tires for gravel weren't a thing until 2015 when WTB made the Nano 40 a tubeless ready tire. That pretty much sent the MTB sized rubber to the sidelines, seemingly for good. Gravel bikes came along with clearances for 40 - 43mm tires, and no one at the time figured on running anything wider, because most forgot how fatter tires tamed gravel. 

Of course, no one was making a racy, drop bar gravel bike with big tire clearances in 2015. So it was also a matter of availability to even do such a thing as sticking a MTB sized tire in a gravel bike. There were some other things, like 1X gravel drive trains, which helped as time went along to facilitate such an experiment.  

There was also a revolution happening in rim widths. It is forgotten, and hilarious, that only ten years ago we were freaking out over inner rim widths for gravel wheels being 23mm. Twenty-three millimeters? No one wants THAT in 2026! It's crazy how fast technology and "fashion" changes in cycling. 

WTB sponsored Trans Iowa with tubeless Nano 40's before anyone else could get them!

Now, in 2026 a 45mm gravel tire is considered normal, if not "skinny". Inner rim widths are creeping to 30mm and wider. Gravel bikes come with clearances for 50mm tires at a minimum now. Many companies offer a 50mm gravel tire these days. 

On the flip side you see the disappearance of "skinny gravel". You can find all sorts of 700 x 38mm and 40mm gravel tires on close-out pricing. Wheels with 23mm inner rim widths to 25mm inner rim widths are considered "old school" now. It is all indicative of where gravel fashion is going from here looking forward. Given that "endurance road" tire widths are creeping up to 40mm in width, it is getting kind of hard to not call those bikes  gravel bikes!

But I digress....

The irony here is that what is now considered "cutting edge" in gravel tires is not all that "new". We knew this about wider tires back in the day. What will be new, and is new now, is the materials technology and the design which is being applied to this sort of tire. Things which will make these tires less "drop bar MTB" and more "Gravel™". But the overall concept? 

Yeah, that's old news folks!  

Friday News And Views

Ritchey Classic Bigfoot (Image provided courtesy of Ritchey Design)

Ritchey Design Shows New Bigfoot Alloy Flat Pedals. 

Ritchey Design has had a flat pedal in the range for a while now called the Comp Bigfoot. It is a composite Nylon pedal body flat pedal. Now Ritchey has added two models to the Bigfoot range in alloy. The WCS and Classic Bigfoot pedals are machined 6061 alloy bodied pedals with replaceable pins and a concave profile to better retain the foot on the pedal during riding. 

The pedal dimensions are 105mm x 108.5mm and the pedal body is 18.5mm thick. Ten replaceable pins per side are on each pedal.  CroMo spindles run on an inner bushing and an outer sealed bearing for smooth spinning performance. There are two models in the range. The Classic Bigfoot is silver finish. The WCS version is all black anodized. Both cost the same at $119.00 USD. 

WCS Bigfoot (Image courtesy of Ritchey Design)

• Machined extruded 6061 alloy body, 105 x 108.5mm platform, 18.5mm deep
• CroMo axle on a bushing inner bearing and sealed cartridge outer bearing
• Ten replaceable anti-slip steel pins per side
• 63mm crank-to-center, 8.75mm stack height
• 445g +/-5g per pair
• Concave profile for confident foot placement and control 

The pedals will be available now from Ritchey Design and Ritchey dealers.  Pricing is as follows: 

• WCS Bigfoot – €99.90 / $119.95 / £86.90

• Classic Bigfoot – €99.90 / $119.95 / £86.90 

Image courtesy of Life Time

UCI Criticized For Mishandling Women's Pro Field At Euro Gravel Championships:

In an article posted on cyclingnews.com it was reported that the field for the Women's Pro European Gravel Championships was hindered in their event. This was due to having to navigate through the slower men's age group riders who were released onto the course ahead of them. Many top women Pros were quoted in the piece saying it was dangerous, and unfair, with some calling for changes. 

Comments: In a continuing failure to understand how Pro racing does not integrate into the traditional standards of gravel events, the UCI has once again stubbed its toe.  The attempts at having gravel event culture intertwine with the business and rules of "professional racing" often result in conflicts such as the ones described by the article linked above. None of this is news. That the UCI has failed to understand this in 2026 is inexcusable. 

Of course, North American event promoters have already been walking through this quagmire as well. I've said it all along: Traditional gravel events were developed to avoid the types of racers and racing which mainstream media, brands, and pundits define as "real racing". The two elements were at odds on purpose from the beginning.  

Gravel in the Modern Era was set up as a rejection of the racing rules and culture which was primarily motivated by money and notoriety.  Today's top-tier gravel race culture is one where only a select few are seen, or chosen to be, at the 'top of sport'. Whereas gravel originally was set up to celebrate all riders. It was not motivated by money, prizing, or sponsorship, but by gaining a personal growth and an experience not capable of being purchased. 

Image courtesy of Hunt Wheels

Hunt Wheels Offers Frt/R Specific Enduro V3 Rims:

Alloy rims are not very fashionable or noteworthy it seems anymore. However; alloy can represent a value proposition which is hard to ignore. Carbon rims, while not as pricey as they once were, still are not budget friendly. 

Hunt Wheels has just announced a front and rear specific set of Enduro V3 alloy rims with a 30mm internal rim width. (Note: Link is for rear specific rim)

These rims are tested in real world usage by Hunt sponsored enduro and DH riders. Using a sensible 32 spoke design, these are rims for bashing your FS 29"er around and at a cost of $119.00 each, these represent a pretty great bang for the buck. 

Comments: It is great to see a company willing to invest into R&D for alloy rims. In my searching for alloy rims for my Fargo Gen I project, it became apparent rather quickly that alloy rims are a bit less common than you'd think. 

New WTB 7X Hub (Image courtesy of WTB)

WTB 7X Hubs Figure Heavily In MTB World Championship Results:

In a July FN&V I had some news concerning a new hub design being used by Wilderness Trail Bikes. These hubs were being used by the Cannondale Factory Racing Team in World Cup MTB events. 

The design and partnership with the racing team has paid off with the Cannondale factory Racing Team athletes collecting five medals at the recently held World Championships in Val de Sole.  

Comments: WTB claims the hub set weighs in at a paltry "less than 300 grams", which seems crazy. Sporting oversize Enduro bearings and a ratchet drive system, these hubs are promised to appear in future wheel set offerings from WTB. 

There has been no indication WTB plans on selling the hubs as a stand-alone product. The press release states that these hubs will be commercially available as "part of WTB Mountain and Gravel wheel sets."

Look for news on some developments coming soon from WTB.  

New lube to be revealed soon...

New Lube-Off Contender Coming Soon:

I discovered a new contender for the Lube-Off which has some pretty interesting claims. I went ahead and ordered a bottle.  This brings to mind a point I wanted to make about my running lube tests which I feel hasn't been stressed enough. 

I buy all the products I test in this series with very few exceptions.(UPDATE: I did receive Stan's lubes for testing from Stan's, so there is another example of product I did not purchase.) 

Sure, in the past I received a few free samples from events. But I have not tested any lubricants in the last five years or more which I haven't purchased outright with my own money. (With exception of two Stan's lubricants) It is important to me that I am beholden to no company or marketing department when it comes to these tests. 

I will let you know that this newest contender's company owner or marketing guy reached out to me and wanted to send me a sample. But that is not how this deal works. I ordered a bottle, paid for it, and the lube will be here next week. 

I will say also that although Stan's sent over product, I do not treat it any differently than I would had I purchased it. But then, you dear readers will have to judge me on this for yourselves. Either way I can sleep at night knowing I've done my best to be objective and non-biased.  

Stay tuned.... 
 

That's all for this week! Get out and ride those bicycles!