Friday News And Views

Narrower, lighter: Sometimes better.

In yesterday's post called "The Oasis" I got a lot of interesting comments and thoughts about "float", wide rims, big tires, and weight. I think a few things were being discussed there that are important, but weren't really relevant to my particular experiment. Here's what I have to say about my particular experiment first.

1. My ride conditions were not in packed snow. I was riding in 8+ inches of virgin, untrodden snow for my test. So, "float" was not the biggest priority here. 
2. I chose to ride these conditions as a way to find out what works best to "bust my own trail". Obviously, on snowmo trails, or places that have had some sort of compaction on the snow, "float" is king. 
3. My conclusions were that fatter tires, wider rims, and heavier bikes were conspiring to make riding these conditions tougher. 

Again, on trails that are compacted by something, (people, snow mobiles, dredges), flotation with wider tires, wider rims, and lower tire pressures makes more sense.  However; when you are slogging through deep, new snow, or really powdery, flour-like snow, I think a narrower tire is going to cut through that with less resistance. And a lighter bike overall helps in this.

Hope that clears that up a bit.

Yep! It's baaaack!

A 650B Reprise: One of the things that 650B fans used to say about the wheel size was that it would be a better fit for long travel applications where a bigger diameter wheel could roll over stuff easier than a 26"ers.

Well, I thought that of all the claims being bandied about back in 2007 for 650B, this was one of the more credible ones. Turns out that this is the one thing that 650B will hang its hat on in 2013.

I've seen this image of a MY2013 Rock Shox Revelation since back in mid-December when it was leaked to me from Australia. So, I've had a little time to dig around on this. 650B is coming, new tires, new forks, and all packaged for big bikes with travel from 130-160mm. Back-country, big hit, All-mountain rigs.

Will it work? Will this finally be the niche where 650B will slot in and take over its rightful place in mountain biking? Hard to say as of now. The core market of riders in this category are not real keen on 29"ers at all, but this might be what sways them away from 26"ers, or will it be?

I know one thing: Sea Otter 2012 will be an interesting place to be come April, and the internet bike nerds will have another field day posting rants in support and against this development. But one thing is a sure bet: 650B will be here soon.

Short, Sweet, T.I.V8 Update: In news about T.I.V8, I have narrowed down a primary and secondary date for recon-testing of the cue sheets for this new course. A couple of volunteers have stepped forward to offer to drive with me around the course and see to it that all the cues make sense. We'll also be pinpointing a location for the remote Checkpoint #2.

Did you know that the "Official Trans Iowa Site" has a FAQ page? Well, now you do! And by the way, if you have a suggestion for a FAQ I should add to the list, feel free to leave it in today's comment section, and I'll make that happen.

I saw stripes!

Shorter, Sweeter GTDRI Update: The "Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational"is a fun little gravel grinder of a 100 miles I do every summer. It has a large, pretentious name, but don't let that deter you from checking this little gig out this coming summer. "And when would that be?", you might ask.

Well, mark your calendars for July 14th, 2012. I've been asked several times by different folks to not have the GTDRI on a RAGBRAI weekend. Well.......wish granted! Hopefully that works out for a bunch of you all to show up and ride the gravel back roads of Iowa in the heat of summer.

I may reprise the course from last year when we saw zebras, but I might just do something different as well. I will make a determination later, but for now, just know this is back on again.You can read about last year's foggy, heated, dusty ride here and here. You can be sure that this year's ride will be something similar, so that dhould give you a good idea of what this is all about.

Okay folks, that's it for this edition of Friday News and Views.  Get out and ride a bike, or just enjoy the outdoors this weekend. Have a good one, ya'all!