Friday News And Views

HiRide fork: Image courtesy of HiRide

 What Is Old Is New Again:

Back in the days when mountain bike design was a hot stew with ever changing ingredients, there was a company known as ActionTec. They were the purveyor of an unusual suspension fork design called the "Pro Shock" which consisted of a coil sprung design based around an extended steer tube and encased within the head tube of a mountain bike. 

The design was somewhat well received and copied when Cannondale came out with a similar idea called a "HeadShok". This idea of a head tube based telescopic suspension fork design had a lot of promise for the gravel bike scene, but both ActionTec and Cannondale's HeadShok were gone before the gravel bike became a hot ticket item in the cycling industry. 

But good ideas never die, they just get re-imagined and turn up again. The case of the head tube based, telescopic suspension fork is just one example. Here we have a new take on the old design called HiRide. 

The HiRide fork uses a similar design but limits travel to a manageable 20mm. This should make it an appealing design with regard to aesthetics and from a geometry perspective where changing the fork axle to crown length/head tube angle/bottom bracket height via fork travel is not conducive to fast paced road/unpaved road riding. 

Comments: The desire to mitigate vibrations is a bit different than absorbing bumps and obstacles on a dirt trail. There is overlap here, to be sure, but tackling what a gravel rider/allroad cyclist needs for more smoothness and less vibration induced fatigue by way of mountain bike suspension philosophy is wrongheaded. Besides, despite the claims on HiRide's site, it shouldn't come as a surprise that if the design is tuned so it doesn't bottom out harshly, your last several milimeters of travel are not going to be effective over anything but harsher bumps. That means that you really have a lot less travel to deal with vibrations than you might think.

Add in the fact that this fork weighs about twice that of a good carbon rigid fork and now you are looking at a penalty that may not be worth the trouble. (The suspension component of the HiRide weighs a claimed 850 grams- That's without the fork) Again- a suspension stem like the Cane Creek or Redshift types is a better way to go here. You're adding maybe a 100 grams over a traditional stem, and getting the same amount of travel tuned for vibration reduction. Seems like a no-brainer to me, but this fork is pretty cool. 

Trek's New Checkpoint ALR driftless model (Image courtesy of Trek)

Trek's New Checkpoint ALR Driftless Shows What 3G Will Get You:

Since the pandemic hit we've heard a lot about this concept of "new-normal", or alternatively, you might think of the "Great Resignation". However you term the sudden change in.....well, about everything! It is apparent that, yes, things are not the same in the '20's as they were in the teens of the 21st Century.

To help illustrate this I present to you an interesting specimen of a gravel bike, the Trek Checkpoint ALR Driftless special edition bike. This bike runs at just shy of 2900 bucks. So, with tax you are looking at plus-3G and change. What do you get for that coin these days?

Well, the bike has GRX 800 bits sprinkled throughout, which is good. I noted that the brake rotors are pretty much bottom of the barrel Shimano ones though. You get a special paint scheme and a frame bag. Okay.... Looking deeper I see a Praxis T-47 bottom bracket, which might be okay, but Praxis stuff doesn't have a very consistent reputation for high quality bits. The wheels are run of the mill Bontrager branded hubs and rims, and the cockpit parts are as well. Then you have the frame. 

It's a highly formed aluminum piece mated to a carbon legged, aluminum steer tube fork. Nothing crazy here. Just pretty straightforward production level fare from a big bicycle brand. Paint notwithstanding, there is nothing really all that great here. So, 3g? 

Hmm, I guess that's where we are at now these days. That's quite a hike in price for what would have easily been 2G five years ago. I just know that I won't miss the guy that wants to have the shop keep the frame bag and knock off $200 bucks off the price and not charge him sales tax. 

Image courtesy of Wolf Tooth

Wolf Tooth Introduces "Espresso" Ano Parts:

Wolf Tooth has been on a color adding spree when it comes to their components that they offer. Recently they added an olive green, and now there is a brown anodized color they are calling "Espresso". 

You can get this option across their range. Take a look here if you are interested. 

Comments: So.....Is Wolf Tooth the new Chris King? With all these anodized color choices, a (mostly) made in the USA manufacturing process, and competitive pricing, I'd venture to say, "Yes". 

While Wolf Tooth doesn't make hubs, they make a lot of other stuff, and in my experience, their product is pretty tough, long lasting, and performs at a high level. I've been very pleased with all the Wolf Tooth products I have either bought, or reviewed. (See Standard Disclaimer for my position on reviewed product)

Now brown ano? Yeah.... Not my thing, but on the right frame set? Could be a killer look. I like the brighter, shouty anodized bits like purple, gold, blue, and the like. But then again- I came up through the 90's MTB scene! That may be why I am about the brighter anodized colors. 

A meme which used an image from the 1st GTDRI

GTDRI Series Starts Sunday:

The 'Trans Iowa Stories" series finished up last Sunday, but have no fear! If you are wondering what you'll read instead of that series, well I have already been hard at work on the next thing.

It's going to be the tales, the behind the scenes stories, and historical significance to the gravel scene which is bound up in the "GTDRI Stories" series. 

Readers will also learn how Trans Iowa and this 'no-drop group ride' held every Summer from 2006 through 2019 are interconnected as well. So it is only fitting that this series follows on the heels of the Trans Iowa series. 

There is no other reason to tell these stories about the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational other than that it has significance to the early gravel scene, some connection to industry changes, and just the shenanigans behind this ride which many have never read about before. 

So, I hope that you enjoy this series which should appear every Sunday here for the foreseeable future. 

Rad Power bikes is being sued for a claim of wrongful death 

U.S. Electrified Bike Market May Be Affected By Litigation:

A wrongful death claim against Rad Power Bikes may affect the future of HPC/electrified bikes in the US dependent upon the outcome of the litigation which is taking place soon. 

An unfortunate fatality has led the parents of a 12 year old girl, who died as a passenger on a Rad Power bike, to file a wrongful death claim against Rad Power, according to this "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" article. 

 Apparently, as part of the lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that the Rad Power bike had poor geometry and features which were pushed by Rad Power regarding the bike's design that led to a death in this instance. One could see how the outcome of this suit might influence lawmakers to look a bit more closely at the way HPC/electrified bikes are sold and how they are not regulated at this point, despite the "three class" system we have in place now. It also would not be out of the question to see insurance companies start to push for more stringent legislation which would further codify these bicycles as "motor vehicles" with all the attendant safety regulations attached. 

Such insurance law was narrowly avoided in Europe recently, which had it been enacted, may have damped sales of electrified bikes to a detrimental degree, according to industry players. Of course, nothing like that may happen at all here in the U.S., but it doesn't take much of a leap to see how it could, since now we have a high-profile case with a child's death attached to it. Similar issues plagued the moped market in the 1980's leading to its demise. 

Time will tell, but this bears watching. 

Note: "HPC" is my term. It stands for "hybrid powered cycles" since these two-wheeled vehicles have a hybrid of human and electric motor power.

That's it for this week. Have a great weekend and get out and ride! Fall is coming!