Friday News And Views

These were old, old ornaments I had somewhere...

Riding Gravel Gift Guide- 

Should we or shouldn't we? It wasn't a slam dunk, but MG had a good idea and well, there it is. A gift guide for gravel freaks of stuff under $60.00. Check it out here. https://www.ridinggravel.com/reviews-2/great-gifts-for-gravel-cyclists-60-and-under/

 I gotta hand it to MG, he did a great job. I'm not real excited when I do those types of articles because they just aren't really up my alley, so anyone that does a good job on such a thing deserves credit. Nicely done, MG! 

And as an aside, the image he used is from one of the rare years I set up a Christmas tree in the house. (I'm not big on Christmas decorating, neither is Mrs. Guitar Ted, and so, that's the way it is here.) I gotta say, when I saw the post I was surprised!  

Canyon Bikes Stoic (Image courtesy of Canyon Bikes website)

 Canyon Debuts The Stoic Hard Tails:

 Tuesday this past week all the cycling media joints were ballyhooing the latest hard tail bike from Canyon. It's an aluminum mountain bike, okay? Nothing that different than say, oh, a Trek Marlin, or a Specialized Rockhopper. I mean, it's an entry level hard tail mountain bike. 

 The interesting thing was that the mainstream cycling media was covering an entry-level MTB hard tail at all. So, kudos! Secondly, it really doesn't matter if it is a Canyon, Trek, or a Specialized. Pick which one you can actually get, (not easy now or in the near future)hopefully one in your size, and if you have a choice in color, all the better. It really won't matter what brand it is out on the trail. 

It's been this way with mountain bikes most of the time in this range. It's a very competitive price point, and almost every brand is using the same parts bolted to aluminum frames with almost identical geometry. What has been the most interesting thing to me about bikes like this is that this category, for me, defines a line between 'mountain bike shaped objects' and 'Real Mountain Bikes®'. 

The difference generally is defined by what parts the companies bolt to these rather generic frames. A pretty dead giveaway is right up front. The fork will almost always tell you. If it says anything but Rock Shox or Fox, then yeah....mountain bike shaped object.  But derailleurs, brakes, and wheels will also tell you bits of the story. SRAM NX or anything below Deore from Shimano? Below the cut line. And the parts just above this? Barely serviceable in many cases. Well, that is, if you actually off-road these rigs. 

I'm not criticizing, merely making observations. Mountain biking, and by that I mean a steady diet of dirt, sand, mud, and rocks, is hard on equipment and riding off-road on single track takes a toll on stuff. Parts are out there that are 'up to snuff', but the line of demarcation for "Real Mountain Bikes®" in terms of price has now been over a grand for a few years now. It keeps creeping up too. It's really quite odd to me because, well, most of these bikes don't have front derailleurs anymore, and besides that, parts haven't changed all that much in the last decade. By all observations, the prices should be going down, but they don't. 

Meanwhile, a new Canyon Stoic 3 costs  just a hair over a grand. You wonder why people buy 'mart bikes"? The bikes look similar, still aren't really mountain bikes, and cost a third the amount. Hard to convince folks that 'see' that difference in price that the 1K bike is 'that much better'. Especially when it barely is much better. 

By the way, if you want to piece together your own entry level hard tail, (or bling-tastic one), THIS frame is available for under $400.00 and pretty much is representative of the genre. Except that it has a boatload more versatility. Anyway, I thought it was interesting. 

With a cover that might give your kids nightmares....

New Tome Covering The Life Of Gary Fisher Announced:

Gary Fisher is a very interesting man from the standpoint of mountain bikes. But did you know that he ran a psychedelic light show for the Grateful Dead in the late 60's? Did you know he was a very talented road and criterium rider in the 60's and 70's? Did you know he has driven Trek's engineering team bananas with ideas for 25 years? 

He's done all that and more. A new autobiography is out now featuring the life and times of Gray Fisher. The book, available through Trek for about 40 bucks, sports a cover reflecting Gary's personality and a wild-eyed look that might give the kids nightmares. I'm not much of a book reader, but even I might grab this one. 

I've met Gary Fisher a few times and I can say that each time I spoke with him he was brimming with ideas, passion, and all that with a very connected, in the moment manner that never made you feel like you weren't important to him. I also cannot imagine that if you have met him that you do not have your own "Gary Fisher Story" to tell. I know I have one from each time I have spoken with him. He's just that sort of a character. 

Say what you will, had we not had Gary Fisher a LOT of things would be VERY different in cycling. He is one of the people responsible for getting "The Tire" made, (the first 29"er tire, the WTB Nanoraptor in 1999), he pushed for 29"ers hard at Trek, and obviously Gary was instrumental in bringing mountain biking to a wider audience through his early efforts in Marin and beyond. 

I still say the dumbest thing Trek ever did was to can the Gary Fisher brand, but what do I know? Speaking of that, the day Trek announced this I was called by Gary Fisher himself so he could explain it all to me. I mean, wow! That still blows me away to this day. Okay, so one quickie Gary Fisher story.....

We were at a press camp deal at a remote location near Santa Cruz when someone asked me who I was as Gary Fisher was standing there. I mumbled something about being Guitar Ted but my name was Mark and just then Gary slapped my shoulder and said, "C'mon! You ARE Guitar Ted man!" 

Quite the character....

Guitar Ted Productions Merch:  

Just a quick reminder that there is G-Ted Productions merch for sale HERE 

Remember- I don't make a penny off this and it's just for fun. T-shirts, stickers, and more can be purchased. It's all just a way for me, and you, to celebrate 15 years of blogging. Have fun with it.... Also- I just got the spendy t-shirt. It's nice. I'll post a review sometime soon. Full  Disclosure: Artist proceeds from any sale of G-Ted merch will go to my daughter who has the page where the merch is displayed.

Also- All throughout the month of December there will be a lot of double-posts. That's right! TWO posts on one day for your reading pleasure. It's my way of saying "Thanks for reading"! So, don't forget to scroll back to make sure you haven't missed anything on the blog this month.  

That's a wrap for this week. I hope you all are safe and staying healthy and riding!