Friday News And Views

Aero gravel bikes and wheels should be a hit in gravel triathlon.

 USA Triathlon Announces New Gravel Triathlon Series:

News hit last week on Wednesday that USA Triathlon would be setting up a gravel based triathlon series of events for 2022. 

The series will not allow the use of aero bars, "tri-bikes", or fixed gear bikes. Otherwise it seems as though the organization is banking on the gravel trend to be a big deal yet and the organization is set on cashing in on this. Quote from the USA Triathlon site:

"“Gravel cycling is growing incredibly fast and the multisport community is positioned to take advantage of this trend by providing athletes with new and unique race formats and disciplines like gravel triathlon,” said Rocky Harris, USA Triathlon CEO. “USA Triathlon is proud to partner with local race directors across the country to create this exciting new series.""

The races will be held in New Jersey, Michigan, Texas, Colorado, Idaho and California.Participants will receive special stickers and awards and will not be required to finish any qualifier events to enter into the inaugural season. The inaugural USA Triathlon Gravel National Championships will be held June 3 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The rest of the series will be a mix of new and established gravel tri's, including the long held "Dirty Mitten" event in Michigan. 

Comments: Not a big surprise here. I have been aware of 'gravel triathlon' for years.  (The Dirty Mitten being one of several I've heard of) This seems - somehow - to be a more natural fit than does the move by USAC and the UCI to bring Pro Road style events to gravel. I think perhaps that Triathlon is a bit more grassroots driven, and conversely, this whole Pro Gravel thing seems too derivative of professional road racing to be a natural for the gravel scene. 

But that may be just my perspective. This news seems congruent with what I've been exposed to all along with the gravel scene.  

Singular Gryphon v3(Image courtesy of Singular)

I'm In Trouble Here:

So, some of you readers here may remember way back when that I had a Singular Gryphon drop bar single speed bike. It was a V1 version, the creme with green panels. I really liked that bike, but space concerns and the fact that I was hardly riding it, near the end of my time with the bike, forced me to sell it. I will admit to kind of kicking myself sometimes for doing that. 

Now Singular is showing this v3 version of the Gryphon and it is modernized and has a feature I have wanted to get in a bike for years. So......I'm in a bit of a bind here because I really want this frame! 

Modernized? Yes. Through axles- but - NOT Boost!  AND it can handle up to a 29" X 3" tire AND it can be single speed! Dang.......that hits me right where I like things! 

Computer generated image of the Gryphon v3 in kind of the way I'd be doing it. (Image courtesy of Singular)

 I'm having a hard time talking myself out of pre-ordering this thing. It wouldn't get here until later this year. October is what the site says, but you know.....supply chain things. And I am considering a Black Mountain Cycles Mod Zero too, and then there is this bike as well. ..... Uggh. So, anyway, IF I get a Gryphon here's what I'd do. 

Single speed, of course, with my polished Velocity Dually rims, some 29" X 2.6" or so tires, White Industries crank, a Ti Salsa Regulator post, and a set of Ragley Luxy Bars. That would be rad! I have a lot of what I just mentioned already too. I'd just have to get some hubs and lace the rims I have to those. 

Anyway.....possible pipe dream........

 Is Recent Peloton Trouble An Example Of Overall Trouble To Come For The Bike Industry?

Last month on the 20th of January it was widely reported that Peloton, the indoor stationary cycling company, announced that it was pausing production of its indoor cycling and treadmill models to clear out excess inventory. As a result their stock market prices tumbled.

You read that right. In an age where delays and supply stream issues are rampant, Peloton has too much inventory. Now, why did that happen? Could this be a indicator of what will happen with the cycling industry soon? 

Comments: It is difficult to say that Peloton's issues are a reflection of things to come for the bicycle industry because some of Peloton's issues are self-inflicted (product recalls) and some of their issues are related to competition. But after early demand outstripped Peloton's ability to provide products, (sound familiar) they ramped up production and then the competition started to eat away at their dominance. People found less expensive alternatives, pandemic lock downs ended, and gyms started reopening again. All of which negatively affected Peloton's sales and demand for product waned as a result. 

Peloton has responded by slashing unit prices and by this reported shutdown of production of anywhere from six months to several weeks, depending on the model and which stories you read. Now, Peloton is not the bicycle industry, but I think some parallels can be drawn here from this story.

Cycling was taken up by thousands of new-to-cycling folks when there wasn't much else that they were allowed to do. Well, that drained the supply chain. Since then, the cycling industry has faced pandemic driven obstacles in shipping, factory shutdowns, natural disasters, and more to the point that maybe by the end of this year we get everything back on its feet again.

But by then, what will the people be doing that spiked the sales demands in early 2020? Will they, like many Peloton riders, go find alternatives to cycling now that they can do most everything again? And add in those prices, which will reflect inflation, raw materials and shipping costs which have skyrocketed, and manufacturers and dealers hungry to cash out so they can pay the mounting bills. 

I don't have the answers, but the horizon I see has some dark storm clouds gathering, and if I had to place any bets, my money is on a mirroring of the issues we have seen with Peloton. 

Gravel Worlds Picks Up Title Sponsor:

Gravel Worlds announced on Thursday that the event has a 'title sponsor' now in Garmin. The event now is known as "Garmin Gravel Worlds Presented by Lauf". It is not known if any money was involved in this titling of Gravel Worlds, but one would assume that this was the case. 

Comments: I'm reminded of an e-mail I received years ago from the late DK200 co-founder, Joel Dyke. In it he was encouraging me to hold the line with my format for Trans Iowa. He mentioned something to the effect that "...when the money comes in, that's when gravel events will die." 

I don't know that he meant "gravel riding will end" as much as he was referring to the vibe and feel of the early gravel scene. Certainly he was referring to a change in the scene which he found distasteful. Somehow I feel as though this announcement would have found Joel feeling less than stoked. 

As for me, well.....things change, right? I've said this before. Things evolve and change and there is no way that we could ever say that gravel grinding is 'under the radar' anymore, like we used to say. No- it is a mainstream, big-time deal these days, and there is no going back to the way things once were within the entire sphere of gravel riding. Pockets of 'grassroots', hyper-local riding? Yes. That's always going to be there and will hearken back to the times when every gravel event was like that. But that doesn't reflect the reality of today. 

All that to say that the more Gravel Worlds changes the more disheartened I get about that event. This has absolutely nothing at all to do with their efforts to get women to ride and to be more inclusive. No, I'm all for that. (And Joel Dyke would have been as well, from all that I knew of him) I just don't feel great about all the trappings involved with event title sponsorship, marketing, money-generating, prize purses, and what not. The "hoopla" and big, slick production stuff- not my cuppa. It just doesn't make me feel like I belong there anymore. Just my take..... You folks out there don't have to follow my lead.

Okay, that's a wrap for this week. Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions!