Friday News And Views

On One Geoff Bar (Image from One One's Instagram)

On One Does It Again With Trio Of Handle Bars:

A little over ten years ago On One brought three "alt bars" to market which really changed the face of 29"ers, drop bar for off road, and eventually, gravel bikes. Their take on the WTB Dirt Drop, the groundbreaking Midge Bar, became an early favorite of mine with its decent flare and short and shallow drops. The Mary was a bendy bit of tubing which many took and used on 29" hard tails early on and also which influenced several imitations. The third bar in that series, the Mungo, wasn't as popular. Those three bars were based on a popular UK animation show from years past.

Now On One have done a similar trick, only this time basing their bar's names on the show, "The League Of Gentleman". The three new bars, named after characters from the show, are once again aimed at similar disciplines as the originals. The urban focused bar being the "Mike Bar", the mtb focused bar being the "Geoff Bar", and a new off road drop bar named the "Brian Bar".

Also in true On One/Planet Bike fashion, the bars are all pretty reasonably priced. You'll have to order online from the UK, but in my experience, that hasn't been an issue. I haven't had any trouble with their delivery or with components arriving damaged at all.

The Brian Bar. (Image from On One's site)

Well, as far as what I think, I feel there is going to be an eyebrow raised concerning that "Geoff Bar. It strikes a resemblance to another bar designed by a "Jeff" and I am sure a lot of comments will be made regarding that. But On One have never been too shy when it comes to riffing on a theme and the Geoff Bar is a perfect example of that. And well, so too is the Brian Bar. It just seems "less offensive" because everyone does flared drops now.

The Brian Bar seems to be hitting on all cylinders, as far as design. It is offered in a few different widths, including a wide 46cm width, so I think they covered that base well also. It's a constantly varying radius drop design, which can be quite nice. At least the extensions are long, (you can always cut them back) and they are not "opened" in relation to the tops, like a Woodchipper's are, which in my view, is a fatal flaw in that bar's design.

I would be remiss if I didn't express my disappointment that there is no reissue of the Luxy Bar here. My last reliable information was that Brant Richards, the original designer of the bar, had gotten the rights to the design again from a previous employer. He is now doing work, (once again), for On One. I was hoping to see a Luxy reboot, but alas.......not yet.

Jersey order went in earlier this week.

C.O.G. 100 Update:

The special C.O.G. 100 jersey order was paid for and submitted earlier this week. So, the 13 others of you who joined me in ordering one will be waiting for several weeks to get our dirty mitts on them. On a related note, the special C.O.G. 100 Championship jerseys, (design similar to what is shown here with slight difference in logo and colors) was also submitted. The hats for all the registered racers are already done.

Insurance purchase will happen soon after the "year" flips over to 2019 with the company's policy we are using. Then that will get paid for via the registration fees. Part of those fees also paid for the hats and Champion's jerseys, by the way. As per N.Y. Roll and my agreement, we are being 100% transparent about our finances with regard to the C.O.G. 100, so all of this will be put on a financial statement which will get posted to the C.O.G. 100 site at a later date.

Next up is final cue sheet formatting and number plate production. A final recon is scheduled for sometime in February. There still are a few spots left for anyone wanting to register. Just in case you think a single speed race is a good idea on gravel.

The new Gravel Worlds Logo for 2019

Events I Am Doing: Gravel Worlds-

I thought I'd start talking a bit more about some of the events I am signed up to do in 2019 now and give you an idea of why it is that I have decided upon these as worth my time.

Gravel Worlds, as many of you long time readers know, is one of my favorite events. It's an irony amongst gravel events since it has "big name appeal", (Alison Tetrick, Neal Shirley, and Rebecca Rusch are all past winners of this event), it has a "title sponsor" (Gravel Worlds Presented by Lauf), and yet Gravel Worlds retains a VERY grassroots feel and doesn't get near the backlash that the Dirty Kanza 200 gets from those who claim "grassroots gravel is dead".

I attribute this to the clever and steady hands of its RD's, Craig "Schmidy" Schmidt and Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey, who are pivotal figures in the success of this event, amongst a host of other volunteers, Oasis Stop hosts, and "trail angels". I was hooked immediately on the event back when it was still called "The Good Life Gravel Adventure" and that was precipitated by the enthusiastic persuasion for my attendance then by my former T.I. co-RD, David Pals, who did the first ever "GLGA" in 2008.

Things have changed at Gravel Worlds over the past decade, for sure, but all along the changes have been positive and have added to- not taken away from- the grassroots, down to earth vibe that has been part of this event since day one. There are new changes for 2019, but I bet that they will be met with positive comments, or just accepted as "normal". That seems to be the way most of the evolutionary changes this event has had over the years have been seen by its riders.

Interested? there are still spots available on the roster. It's every bit as fun and rewarding as the Dirty Kanza 200, so check it out here.

That's all for this week. get ready for more weird weather out there and keep the rubber side down y'all!