Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Corima

Corima Shows New Gravel Racing Wheel Set:

Spring cycle shows are not limited to Sea Otter. Recently Cycling World Europe showed consumers and media new wares for sale. One of those being a new wheel set from Corima. Perhaps more well known here in the States for track racing, Corima has been involved in carbon fiber wheel construction for quite some time now. Their newest wheel set is for gravel racing and is called the 50G. 

As indicated by the name, this wheel set has a 50mm deep, aero profile with a 27mm inner rim width which Corima advises is best for 35mm to 60mm wide 700c diameter tires. *Why do Euro brands insist on calling these 28" wheels? Weird)

With hookless rim sidewalls the maximum pressure allowed for 35mm tires is 58psi. Wheel weight for the pair is claimed to be 1,550 grams. The price is approximately $1,850.00 USD. 

Comments: Corima claims gravel racing is getting "smoother, faster, and more competitive". So......more like road racing? Got it. 

Look for more aero stuff to be released soon. I feel as though the lack of unpaved routes outside of the USA and particularly in Europe is going to drive design closer to road racing in one sense. Although plenty of bikes seem to have been shown at Cycling World Europe to give one some hope that this is not going to be totally the case there across the pond. 

Image courtesy of social media

The 32" Watch: Taipei Bike Show 2026:

This week the Taipei Bike Show is wrapping up and several sightings of 32" wheeled product were noted. I won't cover everything in detail here, but I will note a few things I was struck by after seeing what was shown and hearing what attendees had to say about 32"ers. 

First of all, 32"ers are not going to be just a flash in the pan. This category is getting the full Original Equipment treatment. This was evident in offerings in suspension forks from the likes of Sun Tour, Xfusion and a few other mid-level and entry level suspension fork companies. 

This would indicate there are big-brand commitments to offer entry level to mid-tier offerings in the XC hardtail marketplace. Bikes like Rockhoppers and Marlins, as an example. I would think there would be a three-stage sizing scheme where some brand, (Trek?) will offer 27.5 as XS and Small sizes, 29"er at Medium and Large, and 32"ers at Large/XL/XXL. 

Tires: There weren't any big name brand tires dropped but I heard specifically from a video watched that Vittoria's Peyote 32"er is "in development" and "other brands are working on this" size tire. On bike was shown with a 32"er Schwalbe Rick Race XC tire. Forks: With no big name brand forks or tires being introduced/shown, at least publicly, it would indicate to me that IF there are to be Rock Shox/Fox/Marzocchi 32"er forks they would likely be 2027 product and maybe  we'll see some sneak peeks at Sea Otter. 

No talk or sightings of any gravel related product, but..... I think Sea Otter will be interesting. 

Industry chatter from the embedded folks at Taipei Cycle Show seem to indicate a sort of indifference to almost a disappointment in the development of 32"ers. But as I recall, acceptance of the 29"er concept was pretty cool from within the industry as well. Even as far as brands like Specialized, Giant, and Yeti saying 'they would never make a 29"er' and coming up with derogatory terms for the wheel size. Negativity for 32"ers may not be at this level, but we've heard this story before. 

Listener Comments & Questions Episode:

The latest Guitar Ted Podcast just dropped. In this episode we answer a bunch of listener sent questions which cover bike geometry, tires for cornering on gravel, and more.

Give it a listen by finding the Guitar Ted Podcast on your favorite podcast platform or check it out on the Spotify homepage HERE. 

We had a lot of fun fielding these questions and we would like to continue to offer our listeners the chance to ask questions which we will answer in future episodes of "Listener Questions & Comments". 

Just send in any question about cycling, gravel riding, or whatever related cycling question you may have to g.ted.productions@gmail.com. Then listen to the next LQC episode and hear N.Y. Roll and I riff on your questions, comments, or whatever you have on your mind you'd like to hear us chat about.  

Thanks for checking out the podcast! 

The Adventure Monkey Returns:

Years ago a bicycle rider and photographer, Eric Benjamin, was instrumental in popularizing gravel riding.  He started off with his blog and then moved to a proper "dot-com" later on. His site included stories, trip reports, and of course, his stunning imagery from his adventures. 

Eric then had a health scare and kind of dropped out of cycling for several years. But now he is back, and he has jump-started his old site as well. 

You can read about his journey HERE.  It's an open, honest, raw look at what Eric has gone through. Plus you will get a sense of what it was that drew many of us toward riding gravel back in the 2000's. Well worth your time to read. 

I'm linking Eric's Adventure Monkey blog to the right sidebar here so when he posts new material it will show up there. Make sure you check it out and support him as you can.  

Image courtesy of Wolf Tooth Components

Wolf Tooth Components Introduces "Mark0" Component Line:

Wolf Tooth Components has just announced a high-end range of race-oriented, tweaked components which they are calling "Mark0". (MK0 for short) 

Identified by their Shadow Gray anodized surfaces, these components are optimized by Wolf Tooth for the highest performance and lightest weight possible. 

Wolf Tooth's press release says: "Design detail examples include ceramic bearings, DLC-coated titanium hardware, and finely-detailed machine profiles to shave every possible gram in pursuit of speed."

You can check out all the MK0 components HERE.  

 Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions! Go ride those bikes today!

Review: BT OrthoCell Road Tape Update & An Idea

 Note: Ergon sent the SR Allroad saddle and the BT OrthoCell Road handle bar tape to Guitar Ted Productions at no cost for test and review. Ergon has not paid for, nor bribed Guitar Ted for these reviews. All opinions and images, unless noted, belong to Guitar Ted/Guitar Ted Productions.

What It Is & Expectations:

It is time for an update on this review of the Ergon BT OrthoCell Handlebar Tape. You can check back on previous posts on this product by following the link HERE and clicking back to the intro from a link on that post.  

The promise of this handlebar tape is that it will reduce vibrations which are generated by riding over gravel or rough roads. This would be realized as less numbness, less fatigue in the hands, and a reduction in any pain, hopefully. I think this BT OrthoCell tape does do all of these things. 

While BT OrthoCell does not eliminate vibrations, pain, or numbness, it can be a vital element in helping to make a rider more comfortable. It needs to be mentioned that previous physical conditions and ailments a rider brings with them, and how a rider is fit to any particular bicycle will have major implications as to the effectiveness of this product. So, if one goes into using BT OrthoCell tape with a poor fit to a bicycle, or previous ailments which are going to persist whether or not you use any brand of handlebar tape, that person may feel this review is in error. This is something I would expect and understand if it happens. 

An Idea:

One more thing to add. In my years of experience being a retail bicycle mechanic, and after talking with many riders, it is evident many riders spend their time "on the hoods" while using drop bars. 

This is something which struck me as I was using the BT OrthoCell tape. Unless you ride a lot in the drops, (I tend to), or on the tops next to the stem, (I do occasionally), you would miss any benefits of the BT OrthoCell tape. 

So, what if Ergon got with Shimano, or SRAM, or ideally both, and made hoods for their drop bar levers using this OrthoCell material? Wouldn't this be even better? 

Actually, I suggested this very thing to my Ergon contact, so.....maybe someday? I think it would be a stellar idea. It would provide an entire systemic approach to handlebar tape/hood comfort using a material proven to make riding more enjoyable. 

My Thoughts On The BT OrthoCell Tape So Far:

Finally, before I ride off from this update, I did want to mention the tape has a good grip quality. Either with or without gloves,  The great grip qualities come with no tackiness or sticky feelings at all. The "give" in the tape also enhances this quality of the tape. While it has been too cool for any sweat-inducing riding where I could gauge how well the grip is sustained through a sweated surface, I hope to find this out before the final update.

So the BT OrthoCell tape is a good tape for vibration reduction. It is comfortable, but not squishy. It remains firm in the hand, like a good, thick cork/cork-like tape would feel. It is not rubbery, plastic feeling, or slippery. The BT OrthoCell is definitely more "traditional" feeling despite the techy material it is made from. So far, I am quite happy to use it for gravel rides. 

The final update should occur within the next few weeks, hopefully. Thanks for reading this review! 

"Rack Me" - A Follow-Up

Kuat Piston Pro (Image courtesy of Kuat)

Last weekend in my running series, "Two Things", I asked about hitch racks for an upcoming trip, and occasional usage afterward, and you readers sure came through with answers!

And I am getting really tired of watching reviews on car racks! My goodness! Some people should not be on camera. But I slogged through several of them, considered the advise I received on the comments from the post over the weekend, and I have arrived at some thoughts so far.

It's coming down to a few things which I think are important, and a few things I just have opinions about which are maybe no big deal to some of you readers here. 

First, I am getting away from as much plastic bits as I can. This maybe isn't a big deal, but plastic generally doesn't hold up great and well.....I just don't want it on my rack. This steered me away from more traditional rack brands like Thule, Yakima, and some of the Saris stuff out there. 

Secondly, I think the One-Up style rack is superior, and every good rack company has their take on this iconic design out now. In my opinion, One-Up's more "ala carte" way of selling isn't really easy to navigate, for me at any rate. I do appreciate their videos on the site explaining every detail of their product line. But other companies have caught up and have easier ways to understand buying their product than One-Up does. Again....my opinion. 

Saris MK2 (Image courtesy of Saris)

My price point is a little shy of what I see for features and what is available. Sheesh! These things are spendy! So, it is important to me that this rack lasts a while, is supported by a company with good customer service, and that will be around a while. I know there are no guarantees for any of those wishes, but this eliminated a couple of companies which are either too new or not well known. 

Details matter. There were a few things I hadn't thought about going in. Things like bike placement on the rack, ground clearance, and locks. I used to own a Thule T2 Pro, and it had a few things I would have missed had I not been reminded I liked those thing. Locks being one of those. 

Where I Am At With This So Far:

Okay, so what is tripping my trigger so far? Well, right now I am really leaning toward a Kuat Piston Pro. The reason why mainly has to do with a few things. One- It is easy to use. This really comes down to being functional for Mrs. Guitar Ted. If she can get along with how it works, and I feel this model from Kuat is super-easy to use, than that is a passing grade from me. 

One Up rack (Image courtesy of One Up)

Ease of use also kind of goes along with function. I like how the Kuat functions versus something like One Up. And again, while a One Up can be configured to match a Kuat pretty closely, there are so many extras you have to buy to get there with One Up it becomes a hassle and ends up being more expensive. That's my take on it. The shopping experience online is just more streamlined with Kuat. 

Saris is close, but lacks the ground clearance and has more plastic bits than I would like to see. So while their modular system is cool, it isn't what I need or would ever use, and so I'm out on this company. 

That's where I am at so far. If I get any other advice or see something which sways my opinion, I'll let y'all know, but for now the Kuat Piston Pro is looking like a front runner. 

Stay tuned. 

The Definition Of "Gravel"

Okay, so this whole "Gravel™" thing. What the heck? What does the term even mean anymore? It seems "gravel" can be darn near mountain biking or it could mean riding on paved back roads. It could be a full-suspension XC-MTB-ish bike or a bike packing/touring bike, or maybe an endurance road bike with clearance for 40mm tires. Does anyone have a handle on the definition for "gravel"? 

Even events are all over the place with this. So, I thought I'd dive into this mess and see if maybe there could be some sense made of it all. It doesn't help that the term "gravel" is the wrong term, but it is what we got stuck with early on. So, it is what I have to work with here. 

For the record, I would have preferred "all-road" for these bikes and riding style. I just wanted to get that out there up front. 

So, as with any good research project, it is good to know what the word means you are working on. I headed over to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary for the definition of "gravel" and this is what I found..... 

Cut from the webpage for "gravel" on Merriam Webster's site

 So, now it all makes sense. All these variations have gravelled me into a state of confusion. Who knew "gravel" could be a verb? Do not let it be said that Guitar Ted Productions is not educational. Ha!

Obviously, we're most interested in the "loose rounded fragments of rock", and "a stratum or deposit of gravel - a surface covered with gravel, ie: a gravel road". 

I know, it makes so much sense when you see the definition. It also points out how far off the rails "Gravel™" has gone. It has made the original term defined here meaningless, or maybe a different definition is now required. I don't know...... I think words should be attached to specific meanings, and in terms of cycling, words seem to be pretty fluid. At least in this case it seems that way. 

Extreme gravel. Maybe even epic. 

 I know this might offend many people, but most cyclists who think they are riding gravel are not really riding gravel. This is not their fault. The term should never have been used. Because look - most people don't have crushed rock roads near them. And even if they did, they probably wouldn't want to ride a bicycle down them. Especially if the road looked like the image above! Which, I should point out, is a rare size of rock in Iowa. 

There are a lot of dirt roads all over the world. Some may even have some small gravel in them, on them, or near them. This is not gravel, as in crushed rock road, but it gets lumped into the whole "Gravel™" thing anyway. Besides, mountain bikers had the lock on "dirt", along with maybe BMX'ers, long before this whole thing with "Gravel™" came along. It would have been hard to make a catchy name using dirt anyway, so those roads were just co-opted into gravel riding and you know what? Nobody blinked an eye! We seem to have gotten away with adopting those roads into this scene. 

Then you have this situation in most areas where dirt, maybe crushed rock roads too, are not capable of being strung together into a continuous course. You have this pesky surface which we call "pavement". You sometimes will see courses which utilize this surface to string together the "good stuff". 

Besides, you sometimes will be going through towns and villages. It seems most civilized places in the USA want pavement. Not always, but generally - yes. So, pavement is on the menu in small doses, hopefully just small doses. Too much and we'd have to go by the name "roadie", don't cha know? Can't have that, now can we? . 

Look, this article is an exercise in futility,I understand this, but I also think you might get the point here. "Gravel™" is just the wrong name. I was going to use a stronger wording here and say the name we ended up with is "stupid", but back in 2010 or so most of the folks running roads unpaved were doing so on actual crushed rock. So I can forgive those folks who saddled this style of riding with the term gravel. However; I was also saying at that time we shouldn't use the term "gravel" and I really wish we wouldn't have landed on that term. 

But like I said, it is futile to think we would ditch "gravel" for what we do and use something much more sensible and easily defined like "all-road". So, I just hope everyone who reads this comes to the understanding of what the shortcomings are when we say gravel-this, or gravel-that, and see how vague and open-ended the results are for using this terminology. It is why you shouldn't be surprised to see a full-suspension MTB with drop bars called a "gravel bike" and why you also see road bikes doing gravel bike things at the other extreme, (but those are "endurance road bikes") 

As always, thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions. 

Brown Season: Riding Into Spring

Escape Route: South Riverside Trail

 A little more than a week ago we were staring down a blizzard. High winds and snow battered us Sunday evening through until Monday evening. Then it got brutally cold with negative wind chills and air temperatures in the single digits on Tuesday. 

By Friday it was shirt-sleeve weather! 

What a crazy Winter, and I sure hope it is all over with. We were on a roller coaster of freezing, thawing, snow cover, no snow cover, all Winter long. But hopefully it is all done with, and this Spring can be a bit less up and down. 

Friday I took advantage of the nice weather and got out on my Honeman Flyer since it has all the Ergon stuff on it I am reviewing. It was 65°F and so I put on a wind vest, a short-sleeved jersey, my Twin Six bib knickers, and I wore normal cycling shoes. A bandana and Bontrager Circuit helmet rounded out the kit for the day. 

There were a lot of people enjoying Big Woods Lake on Friday

 

First gravel on Mt. Vernon Road. 

I saw the breeze was out of the Northwest before I left the house so I decided to use my "Northwest Passage" route out of town. It essentially follows the Cedar River along quiet city streets and bike paths, stays out of the wind, and allows me to get out of town without expending a lot of energy.Once I get away from Big Woods Lake I only have about two miles worth of headwind. 

The roads are nice! No fresh gravel......yet!

Not much snow in the ditches anymore here. Probably none now!

It's amazing how quickly the snow disappeared. Tuesday the ditches were full last week. Now on Friday, during my ride, snow was hard to come by, and most of it was stained black from dirt blowing into it during the storm. The winds scoured the snow off  during the blizzard and picked up the black dirt afterward. 

Angles in the Sky and angles on the ground. 

 

It felt like a Summer ride. I almost took the wind vest off a few times to stuff it into my jersey pocket, but I never did. I stuck it out. Because the heat was so unfamiliar to me at this point of the year for around these parts, I decided not to take a longer route. Later on, after I was at home for a while, I was happy I made that decision. 

 

One example of the rolling hills North of Waterloo.

Now we are back to what feels like Spring. This past weekend, well Friday and Saturday, at any rate, were straight out of Summer. It's too early for Summer! Hopefully Spring will be good. I need to get some miles in. 

Stay tuned.... 

Two Things

Image courtesy of Inno Racks

Rack Me:

Okay readers, I am in the market for a two bike hitch rack. I thought I knew what I wanted, then I started looking online. 

Whooo-boy! Are there a lot of zealous One Up rack users! 

Anyway, I gotta admit I am suffering a bit of sticker-shock regarding what these things cost. I get it now though. The prices are the prices. I think I'm settling in on spending something either side of 1K. Preferably under. 

Here are my parameters for purchase:

• Two bike carrier, 2" receiver hitch compatible.
• Lightweight construction. Mrs. Guitar Ted has to be able to wrestle this thing. 
•  I prefer a no-touch rack like a One-Up, or like system. 
• Integrated locking system for security
• It'd be nice if I could put my fat bike on it, but this is not a deal-breaker.  

What I do not care about:

• Ramps
• Heavy duty for e-Bikes ratings
•  Lights
• Add-ons for more than two bikes.
• Made In USA. (Nice but not necessary)
• Where I buy it from

 I've looked at Kuat, One-Up, Quick-R, Inno, Yakima, Thule, and some other brand I cannot recall right now, but they weren't too great anyway! In my looking at online reviews and sites for racks too many focus on stuff I don't care about like hauling e-Bikes, modular benefits, add-ons, and what not. I just need a two-bike rack, and I will buy one before mid-April because I am going on a trip to Kansas, if everything works out. And that will lead me to......

The Guitar Ted Podcast Episode #100:

Oh yeah! We made it to 100 episodes in just over 4 years. My last podcast I was involved with took like a decade to reach that milestone, so I feel pretty good about our work on the GTP show. 

The new episode features Ryan "Uncle Dudley" Dudley. We talked about a lot of stuff, but the main point was his producing an event called The Legends Of Gravel. 

this is a casual gathering planned to be a celebration of some of us old geezers who have been at the forefront of the gravel scene back when this Modern Era of gravel got going in the mid-2000's. 

The show can be accessed on several podcast platforms, but here is the Spotify Link in case you want to give this a listen. 

We also got around to some other stuff after Uncle Dudley signed off. There was some 32"er news, and a few other tidbits. Please check out the episode, and keep in mind we can really use 5 star ratings, and subs to the podcast, or sharing it on your socials. These are the best ways to support N.Y. Roll and I in our efforts. 

Plus, we are asking for listener questions. Just email any questions you may have to g.ted.productions@gmail.com. We'll do our best to answer those in the next episode. 

The Path To Discovering Gravel: Part 4

Unidentified rider skirting a muddy road during Trans Iowa v2 2006

 This is Part 4 of a mini-series of posts telling the story of what it was like to attend events in the early days of the Modern Gravel Era. In today's post I wanted to continue with a view to how the events were looked at by riders and what was important from a rider perspective. I think you will find things were very different 20 years ago!

When gravel events started to show up in 2005 and afterward for several years, it was a niche of cycling competition which drew heavily from endurance mountain biking culture. In the early to mid-2000's, the heyday of 24hr MTB events, certain ways things were done were taken for granted by the riders. Some of this culture was transferred over to gravel, certainly, and was done so in an unspoken way. However; the real emphasis philosophically was for gravel was drawn from the unsanctioned, off the grid ultra-mountain biking events. 

Self-sufficiency in those events was paramount. Not only was a rider expected to be able to do repairs in the field, but riders were also tasked with something else which caused no end of debate in the endurance community at the time. This debate also was a large part of early gravel events. The debate? It was centered around when a rider should abandon an event and how not to be a burden on the event. 

From T.I.v8 Image by Steve Fuller

Riders wanted to go as far as possible, at least this was the thought before an attempt at an event. Race directors did not like the idea of having half-dead, dazed and confused riders wandering around out in the wilds. What was the middle ground? 

I recall during the first Trans Iowa in 2005 reports coming in to me concerning a cyclists wandering far off course. It wasn't 100% known for certain if the rider was in Trans Iowa or not, but in all likelihood, the rider was probably in the event. I mean, who else goes wandering about in Iowa on gravel in late April in 40mph gusty Northwest winds? 

Obviously I was shocked and very concerned, but being I was the only functional person running the event, it was not possible for me to do much about this. Eventually the rider was corralled and brought back to safety by his support people, but I am not 100% sure how it happened at all, even now. The thing is, there was responsibility on both sides. Mine, because I wasn't able to keep track of every single rider, and on the rider, because they pushed too hard into a heavy wind, got dehydrated, disoriented, and lost. 

This was the debate. When to say when. Not to burden the event. This meant every rider was on their honor to "pull the plug", get themselves extracted from the course, either self-sufficiently, or by support people called in, and report their status to the event director. This was the operational rule in many early gravel events. It is echoed in the oft still used "You Are Responsible For You!" tagline you may have seen before on certain registration pages or event sites. 

An exploded rear derailleur on the course of Trans Iowa v4. Image by Rob Walters

The philosophical tenets of early gravel events were far different than today's events. Now event directors cater to their "customers" in ways which were never dreamt of as Modern Era Gravel got going. Aid stations, support for hire, course sweepers, media vehicles, and more leave little room for danger and self-reliance in the field. 

Some may see this as an 'improvement' over the old ways and think early gravel events were not 'real racing'. On the other hand, it was challenging, a thrill, and a different sort of 'fun' to ride in an event which placed the burden on you, the rider, to make it out the other side safely. You can still find some semblance of the old philosophy in events like the Arrowhead 135 and the IDITAROD Trail Invitational fat bike events., But in gravel, it is very hard to find this style of event in 2026. 

Things have certainly been changed to where the burden lays at the feet of race directors when it comes to rider well-being and success.