Friday News And Views

Knolly Bikes Cache gravel bike

Knolly Bikes Cache Gravel Bike:

The gravel bike parade keeps on going and the latest bike to be announced is from a brand most noted for big country dual suspension mountain bikes. While one could be quick to dismiss this one as being just a "jumping on the bandwagon" entry, that would be a mistake this time. Looking into this titanium frame, I found several tasty details which make a lot of sense. Plus it can be configured with wheels and tires many in the gravel community like.

It will handle 700 X 45mm or 650B X 2.1" wheels and tires. Of course, being a mountain bike brand, Knolly made this compatible with a dropper post and they sell it equipped with either the Fox or MRP adventure suspension forks.

I also commend Knolly for working this design up in titanium, allowing them to be in control of details like drop out design, cable porting, and braze on accessory attachment points. Using a "catalog" carbon frame from the Far East doesn't always allow for these options and those also tend to have a rather generic look to them. So, I'm happy to see Knolly didn't go that route, and besides, titanium is my material of choice for an "ultimate" gravel grinder.

This snow is going to melt.....then what?

Spring To Start Next Week And This Snow Will Turn Into Water- And Then.......

February broke snow fall records across the upper Mid-West this year. This March has started out really cold, but you know that cannot last forever. Sooner than later we are going to rise up out of this frigid morass to a more temperate, wetter morass. Yes folks.....that snow is going to melt and cause flooding. 

Besides rivers going nuts, this is going to make recreational trails a mess and the gravel roads in many places will be wet, mucky, and messy for many weeks. If you are thinking, "Hurray! Winter is over and now we get to ride!", well.......not so fast there, Buddy! Travel South or be prepared to wait. It might be until April.......sometime......before much of what we long to ride on is rideable. Then, of course, that depends upon Spring rains, which could easily prolong this wait.

This has all the earmarks of 1993, a year which Winter was late, we had a lot of snow melt very quickly, and the Spring was cool and wet to boot. That year was the "500 year flood" around these parts, which we repeated in 2008, and again a few years ago, but you know......Once in 500 year floods. Whatever. The point is that during 1993 we basically lost that entire year here locally in terms of cycling on trails. It wasn't until Fall of that year before we even got out on single track and then it was so overgrown and mosquito infested that it wasn't worth doing.

Hopefully we are not headed down that same, or a similar path, but it bears watching. It easily could be a year when many of our local favorite cycling trails are unusable for much of the season.

"Weird grass tracks" and other oddness seems to amuse this roadie specific social media site.

What Do You Make Of This "Weirdness"?

While I am not to be mistaken as a fan of road racing at the semi-Pro or Pro levels, I still follow a few feeds that are specific to the genre. It has become increasingly clear that now gravel events and the gear used for it is becoming an influence on that old, traditional scene. That's kind of a big deal, since road traditionalists are not keen on anything that is "new" or out of the ordinary.

This was only made more clear to me when on Twitter I came across a bit of video from "FloBikes", a Twitter account that covers many traditional road and cyclo cross races, as they were discussing the Dwars Door Het Hageland event in Belgium. This is a gravel genre' inspired event which takes in many farm roads in Belgium. The two commentators were somewhat befuddled by the appearance of this event on the calendar saying, "I thought I was watching a cyclo cross race", and commenting on the course with its "weird grass tracks". 

I had to chuckle at that. Of course, gravel races have featured such things since......well, before I was involved in it! That's for sure. I just find it amusing that since the level of popularity of these events has started to draw off semi-Pro and Pro riders who enjoy the courses and the vibe of gravel events that now the talking heads are paying attention. Hey, we've been here a long time, FloBikes. Welcome to the fun times and challenge of gravel and adventure cycling.

That's all for this week. have a great weekend!