Friday News And Views

Nope- I didn't go after all.

Bonus Post Because I Didn't Go:

So, you may have missed this, but I did not make the trip down to see the "All Things Gravel Expo" this week at the Dirty Kanza 200 event. I had intended to, and plans were laid, but at the last minute, MG and I talked, and well.......I realized how crazy this idea was. Nothing to do with the event, by the way. This was all circumstances on our end. I'll let MG speak for himself, if he ever wants to do that, because he had great reasons for not going, but as for me, it wasn't a prudent idea.

See, I had my daughter's commencement on Tuesday evening to attend. Then, my daughter and Mrs. Guitar Ted were to fly out to El Paso, Texas the next morning to see relatives that couldn't make the trip up to see us. Well, and here is the thing- their flight left at 6:00am from Des Moines International Airport, a full 100 plus miles away from us. Maybe you can see how that might work, but if not, here are the details. Commencement ended at about 8:00pm, (we had to be there at 4:30pm!), and it took a full half of an hour just to get out of the parking lot. Then we had to eat. This and preparations to get into bed left us with a nice three hour window to sleep until 1:00am. That was when we had to get up, dress, check over baggage, and load the car. We left the house at 2:15am, stopped for coffee and gas, and left town at 2:22am to get the gals to the airport by 5:00am, so they would have time to check bags, get screened by TSA, and board the plane which was leaving AT 6:00am. We made it with a little less than a half an hour bonus time. So, that was good.

I got maybe two hours of decent sleep, (not nearly enough), and then I would have been driving a further 180+ miles to hook up with MG. It was hard enough driving the 100-ish miles back home. Then Saturday, I have to be back in Des Moines for the arrival of the gals back home, so yeah..... The time spent would not have been well spent in Kansas, and more to the point- the windshield time, which would have been a LOT. Heck I was so out of it Wednesday as it was, I wouldn't have enjoyed the trip, nor would I have been effective. Add in that I would have missed out on two pay days and it really made less sense, and right now, that is important. Then throw in what MG had going on. I wasn't willing to do the trip alone.

So, there is my end of the story. I figure some of you may be wondering why I wasn't down there. Now you know.

SLX 12 speed. Shimano hits back with new XT and SLX MTB parts.

New Shimano XT, SLX Parts:

Shimano has dropped a couple of new MTB parts groups on the market as you may have heard yesterday. Besides the expected XT update to 12 speeds, they also did the SLX group in 12 speed. I like what I see Shimano offering here and there are a few things that I found interesting about the new group sets.

MicroSpline hubs are featured in both groups and this wasn't made prominent in the press release I saw. It was there, but this is a sea change, folks. This is a big, big deal. The line was drawn, I felt, when the new XTR was introduced last year and if you thought it was just nonsense, well this underscores the point that the old, Hypeglide type free hub body is going to end up becoming the pedestrian choice and will maybe live on in entry level groups in the coming years. But your wheels you are riding now aren't going to be compatible with anything new in about five years time. MicroSpline is going to become ubiquitous across the board with high end wheel choices very soon. I know that ticks off a lot of people, but I really don't see any difference with what SRAM did with XD Driver free hub bodies.

HyperGlide + chain link plates. (The blue highlights the "extended inner plate" feature)

Another notable thing is what Shimano has done with chains and chain rings. Obviously, 12 speeds crammed into the same-ish spaces we have had for decades means things have to get slimmer to a degree. Shimano has developed a new Hyperglide + chain which uses a clever shaping of the inner chain plates which mates to the chain rings, effectively causing the two parts to have more contact area than traditionally made chains. This should decrease chain and chain ring wear, since it distributes forces over more material instead of less. Of course, the chains are developed with the chain rings to shift flawlessly, and I expect that they will do just this. No one is better at how chains shift over chain rings and cogs than Shimano. This new chain technology should be implemented over future 12 speed groups, and I bet the GRX group will benefit someday from this.

I also noted that Shimano has front derailleurs for 2 X 12 set ups. Again- not everyone wants a front derailleur, and not every design can use one, but I like that Shimano hasn't given over to the thinking that everything has to be 1X.

It's also noteworthy that Deore XT 12 will be available June 14th, not at some unspecified time six months from now, which was the way Shimano used to do things. That's a big improvement as well.

Finally! A WTB Road Plus tire in 700c sizes.

WTB Introduces 700c Sizes Of The Venture Tire: 

Early this year I had the opportunity to test out the WTB Venture Road Plus tires for the RidingGravel.com site. one of the rides I got in on them was a sketch-fest with N.Y. Roll one Saturday when the snow was still melting off stuff here in March.

During that ride it struck me how the Venture could do far above and beyond what it looked capable of in severe conditions like slick ice, snow, and even a bit in sloppy mud. This, I wagered, would make the Venture an ideal tire for a Fargo, but it would need to be in a 700c size and at least 50mm wide. And guess what? A lot of other folks were thinking similarly. So much so that WTB is now going to offer the Venture in a 700c X 40mm and 700c X 50mm size for those who want to give this versatile trad a go. Also, if you hate skin walls you are in luck, because each will be offered in a black wall version as well.

As luck would have it RidingGravel.com is getting both sizes of 700C Venture tires in for review any day now. So, stay tuned and I should have some feedback on them for you all on that channel. Until then, you can click the link up there and read about the 650B version.

That's a wrap for this week. GOOD LUCK DK200 RIDERS!