Friday News And Views

Gary Fisher And Trek Part Ways:

In a recent article posted on "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News", it was revealed that Trek and Gary Fisher have parted ways since March of this year. The 71 year old Mountain Bike Hall of Famer and general icon of the mountain bike and 29'er scenes, is now reportedly having fun "...being Gary Fisher". 

The article also indicates that Fisher is open to collaborating with other brands on ideas now and has spent a lot of time talking with several companies at the recently completed Eurobike show. 

Comments: I've said it before here on the blog, but I've met Gary Fisher several times before in the past. One of those times was back in the late 2000's at a press camp in Santa Cruz, California. At a special introduction for Trek product, Gary Fisher was in attendance. As we spent time in between presentations, I noted Gary bending the ears of several of the Trek engineers and product managers in attendance. One of them, who managed to break away from Gary's banter, mentioned to me that Gary was well known to the engineering department for having many great ideas. So many, in fact, that the engineer told me it was overwhelming and made him weary. 

So, at 71 I do believe that Gary Fisher still has something left to do in the cycling industry, or, as he indicated in the linked article, in the field of advocacy. I would not at all be surprised to find Gary's name on some future cycling product either. 

Finally, I am still baffled that Trek squandered the equity they had in the Gary Fisher bicycle brand. In 2010, they folded the brand into Trek, naming some of their models as being in the "Gary Fisher Collection", which now has been phased out of existence as well. How a brand like Gary Fisher is excluded from being a part of mountain biking in some form is a crime. I suppose one could say that about Klein as well, while Le Mond lives on separately and Bontrager is a well known accessory and component brand. C'mon Trek! This is more than a missed opportunity, it is criminal. 

A 3D printed bicycle frame in Aluminum. Image by Gary Fisher

3D Aluminum Printed Frame By Canyon & More Eurobike Interesting Things:

 I figured something was up with Gary Fisher as he was posting images from Eurobike like a madman, which he did not used to do when he was with Trek. (Probably not allowed to) Anyway, Gary posted this weird canyon 3D printed Aluminum frame which was shown at Eurobike. 

It totally reminded me of the fringe aisles at Interbike, (or better yet, the old basement floor vendors in the Sands Convention Center) where you could often see ideas that were interesting. Sometimes these ideas were better off unseen, but the Canyon bike seems to have its redeeming qualities. As an exercise to see what you could do, it may result in some interesting products down the road. 

There wasn't much of interest in terms of innovation coming out of this show, and that may be due to the supply chain pressures most industry companies face. Why show new things when you cannot even get the current stuff out? But there were a few other interesting bits I saw online.

• FSA 12spd Electronic Shifting Group: It is a new generation of FSA's electronically shifted drive train. Oh? You didn't already know that FSA has an electronic drive train option out? Exactly.....
• Classified Expands Brands That Make Their Rear Hub/Wheel System: I've talked about the Classified rear hub here before. I didn't think it would get anywhere without more widespread industry support. Now they number seven brands that will have their wheel/hub system available including FSA, DT Swiss, and Spinergy. This will go a long way toward reaching that goal. However; you still will have the inefficiencies of a 1X chain line and proprietary cassettes. 
• Scope Cycling Atmoz Air Pressure Changing System: Recently used at Paris-Roubaix, the new hub mounted system from Scope Cycling has wireless controls for up or down pressure on the handle bars and the actual air pressure read-out can be displayed on most Bluetooth compatible GPS computers. This might have legs for Pro level gravel racing. Bears watching......

Ridley Kanzo Fast with aero Apidura frame bags. Image courtesy of Ridley

Aero Gravel: Get Ready, Here It Comes:

 Aero Gravel- I've said it was a thing for years, and I was scoffed at, made fun of, and dismissed. People said that Gravel™ doesn't need "aero". "It'll ruin everything", they said. 

But take a look at what is happening now in the field of gravel racing. (Note- This is quite different from Gravel Riding, which is what most of us do) Gravel events are quickly being pushed into the divisions of "Pro" and "Everything Else" categories when it comes to events. I doubt I'll see a whole lot of "aero-gravel" stuff at most events I attend in the future, but now you may have that "wannabee" dude that shows up with something like this Ridley Kanzo Fast decked out with aero bags from Apidura. 

Will stuff like this "ruin" gravel riding? No. It's the people that do that. 

So, I don't have a problem with aero stuff being employed in the gravel scene. If it makes sense, who am I to argue with the math and science stuff behind it? I've tried a few aero things on gravel, and I am here for it. It seems to make things a bit less hard. I like that. And if someone shows up with a slick, aero set up, and is cool with everyone and whatnot, well, I'm not going to say that "aero stuff ruined Gravel™".

But if I see someone come to a gravel event, look down their nose at my mostly inefficient rig while they walk by with an aero gravel bike acting like they are all that and a bag-o-chips? That's where Gravel™ loses. That's when the scene becomes just another ego-boosting, exasperating scene like XC MTB was in the 90's and road racing was for most of the last three decades. 

Remember, it isn't about the equipment. It's about the People. And when the People quit being cool, then the Scene will Die. 

UCI Gravel Series Not Making Much Noise:

I'm not sure how it is going elsewhere in the World, but as far as coverage of chit-chat about the inaugural UCI gravel series goes, it is pretty minimal. 

Obviously this months events in that series go up against the Tour de France, and well.... You aren't going to get much coverage, if any, during this month in traditional cycling media unless you are connected to that titan of cycling events. So, recently this is no surprise. 

But even in previous months, this tour hasn't gotten the coverage I thought it might from traditional cycling media. Maybe it will take some time to catch on, or perhaps this will fade away and not have much impact. 

"Gravel" cycling in its competitive form still seems to be mostly a North American thing, even though there are Italian and other European based gravel events that get some nods here. Still, it would seem that the focus is on traditional road race competitions and the rising women's Pro scene has a lot to do with that, I think. We'll see, but for now, the whole UCI/USAC getting into gravel doesn't seem to be having the effects that many in the gravel riding scene thought it might.

That's it for this week! Have a fantastic weekend, stay cool if you can, and get out and ride. Good luck and good riding to anyone doing RAGBRAI next week!