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| A bare Zipp 101 XPLR rim: Image courtesy of SRAM |
This struck me as odd, but the design has merits which I understand as valid in gravel design. That said, the results- spec-wise and pricing-wise- are puzzling. Let's take a look...
The design for the rim is, basically, a carbon fat bike rim design shrunk down to fit a gravel bike. It has single wall construction which does a couple of things here that make a bit of sense for a gravel road rider.
First, that single wall construction, theoretically speaking, should be able to flex a bit more freely in a vertical plane than a box section rim, or a triangulated, shallow section rim. There is a reinforced ridge for the spoke beds, and other than that, one might expect a bit less impact resistance, but here we are speaking of gravel riding- not MTB. So Zipp maybe saw this as a way to introduce some rider comfort.
The second thing a single wall rim does is that it presents - most likely- the least amount of side drag from cross winds that is possible without doing super-aero stuff with the rim design. But if there are any cross-wind benefits, this is probably secondary to this design.
A possible third benefit might be light weight, but curiously this complete wheel set weighs in at 1665 grams for the pair. That's kinda heavy, and many aluminum wheel sets weigh similarly, cost less, and have similar comfort claims. Add in the asking price of $1800.00 USD and that value prospect seems to go up in a puff of smoked credit card plastic.
I like that they dared to go to a 27mm wide inner width here, but I'll have a lot more to say to this feature once I get my Project Wide Gravel Wheels going after Gravel Worlds is over. Stay tuned for that...
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| Remember this? Well- that didn't work out so well! |
Finish Line Introduces FiberLink Sealant:
Back in 2018 I noted on another "FN&V" that Finish Line had introduced a sealant which they said would "..last the usable lifetime of the tire". While I did not say exactly what I thought was going on there in that 2018 post, I had serious misgivings about this new 'wonder sealant', and as it turned out, my instincts about it were largely correct.
Finish Line sealant quickly became a byword amongst mechanics who tried it out as it became known that by using it the tires would not seal up correctly and it made servicing new tubeless set-ups a total nightmare. Riders found that it sealed punctures poorly as well. So, the sealant was quickly dismissed by the consumer and the industry. It wasn't long before Finish Line started looking into its replacement. By 2019 they were already working on that.
Well, after two years, Finish Line have come out with what they are calling "FiberLink" sealant. As you might suspect, it is now a latex based sealant but it is infused with Kevlar® fibers which, as Finish Line claims, should seal punctures more quickly and with a longer lasting effect. My 'instincts' tell me that -this time- this stuff should work pretty well.
There is only one real question I have, and that is how well will this work with valve stems, (will it clog them more easily because of the fibers?) and how long will it last before it coagulates and becomes ineffective? Typically, any coagulant enhancing substance in a latex based sealant tends to clog valve stems and/or does not last a long time at all in a tire before it needs to be serviced. If Finish Line dodges those pitfalls with its new FiberLink sealant, then this could be a big deal in sealants. We'll see......
My Adidas!- Got No Stones In 'Em!
Adidas Shoes just announced a new gravel cycling shoe which is brilliantly named. You won't believe what the name they chose for it is! Check it out:
Introducing, the new "Gravel Cycling Shoe"!
The name just blows me away it is sooo good! Ahem......right then, so really Adidas? Wow... Okay, let's move on....
Yeah, so it is a $170.00 shoe with a 'sock' dealio around the ankle to keep dust and small stones out. Hmm.....okay...I can see that. I mean, I do get stones of the smaller size inside my shoes at times. So, that cuff may not be as goofy as it seems at first glance. However; I would say that as of right now, in this air we have had that is so thick and juicy that you feel like you are being enveloped in a warm blanket, in 90°F weather, that a neoprene cuff is not exactly what I would want sealing off my Earth pads from air flow.
Anyway, there is supposedly a variant on the black theme with some outlandish, 80's inspired brightness. Now those would get you noticed at the local small village convenience store! Thankfully the basic black is much more fitting in rural conservative America. Hey! I own a pink bicycle, I should know!
The bottoms look like they took scraps of Schwalbe G-One tires and used them for the walkable soles. I would be slipping like a farm animal on ice if I wore those on a soft or wet Level B Road around here. But for dry gravel travel? That's probably okay. Gotta wonder how long those little nubbins would last though. But you know what? If these made your toes happy, who am I to say? Shoes are highly personal fit items and these look okay to me. Price is fair if they perform and last a decent amount of time. (All images courtesy of Adidas)
The latest gab-fest between myself and Andy of Andy's Bike shop is live now. Check out the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch here or look for it n your favorite podcast feed.
We typically get 2-3 episodes out a month and sometimes 4! I'm pretty pumped that this has been a steady flow of content now for about two years straight. You can thank, (or blame- however you feel about this), Andy. He was pretty adamant that we get the ball rolling more often with the podcast and for us to make sure we have a constant flow of content there.
Andy does provide much of the equipment and the space for recording is his office, so he is a big reason why the streak of content has been fairly steady since early 2020. Thank you Andy for that! Of course, it was a goal of mine, as well, to reinvigorate the podcast and get it coming more consistently as it had kind of petered out there in 2019. Or was that 2018? I can't remember... Time flies!
There is another podcast in the can which should be published really soon and then we have a special guest coming up which I am excited about. Check out tomorrow's post for more on who that is and why I am stoked. Until then.....
That's a wrap for this week! Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions!
Actually the main supposed benefit of the Zipp rim is that the rim will pivot side to side at the spoke nipples, which is supposed to make the bike track straighter and avoid the rim pinching the tire when hitting off camber bumps/rocks. This is tech already used in motocross and on Zipp’s MTB wheels.
ReplyDelete@Nooge - If that is true that is the last thing I would want my rim to do on gravel. Deflection sets up vibrations. Not good in my opinion. Not on crushed rock roads, at any rate.
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