Friday News And Views

Riding Gravel Radio Ranch:

The newest "Riding Gravel Radio Ranch" Episode #103, is out now. (You can get the link here) We're podcasting about once every two weeks now and have the podcast moved to Anchor.fm hosting for a better, more timely distribution of the episodes than we experienced it before. 

I've had some concerns voiced over access. Well, we are growing the podcast from 'ground zero' now and that means our old access was gone and we had to start small and grow it. We are now on Apple podcast as of this episode, so that should help. We are also on Google podcast and on Spotify also. 

So, give it a listen, spread the news, and help this thing grow. I'll have more things to offer in the future, so stay tuned for that as I get to it. As always, please make comments and suggestions if you are so inclined.

From Surly's social media on Tuesday this week.

What's Up At Surly?

These days, social media is the prime vehicle for spreading news and for keeping brands in front of people's eyes.You don't have any media on paper anymore to do that. So, there are no ads to read. There are no "catalogs" either. Independent bike shops don't give you any bandwidth since there are far less of them than there used to be. So, the various social media marketing opportunities are all you really have these days. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Maybe Tic-Tok and Reddit. If a brand isn't on YouTube you seem to be missing something .

This is why what was witnessed on social media on Tuesday was so puzzling. Surly's social media person posted that - apparently- they were leaving the brand, which, in and of itself, is not such a big deal. But the line that indicated that "It is possible this channel will not be monitored for some time.", that was a bit concerning. Without any new content, that "channell" will go dead really fast. People won't see "Surly" and the brand will fall away from the forefront, because if you don't have it shoved down your eyeballs on socials, then it doesn't exist.

This Surly product was intro'ed by the QBP social, not Surly's

Comments: Of course, what that actually means in terms of Surly the brand and business is purely speculation at this point. But if I were a Surly dealer or fan, this would raise some red flags with me. It'll bear watching, for sure. 

Then again, it all could just be a program to bring all QBP's social media under "one roof", as it were. QBP has mostly run each brand it has as a separate company under the umbrella of QBP. But that may be getting streamlined as cost-cutting measures take hold of the cycling industry.  It would seem foolish, perhaps, to run separate social media departments when you could get that job done by a single department, for example. 

QBP has already had a round of lay-offs. Does this point to more? Could be. We're seeing many companies laying off from all sectors. Saris went bankrupt, The Pro's Closet, an online entity, cut staff, Thule cut 34 jobs and moved its R&D to Swedish headquarters from the USA. MIPS, the helmet technology supplier, saw sales dip 39% in the third quarter according to an industry report. So, if QBP has more cost-cutting to do, it would come as no surprise. Or- Is this a result of the recent lay-offs? That could very well be also.

Shimano RX801 Shoes On Test:

Well, Shimano made some big news this week about its shoe line. They updated the RX8's with the new 801's, but what probably was a bigger deal here was the RX8R, a shoe that adds in a feature found on many Enduro cycling shoes. That would be a "cuff" that is supposedly there to keep debris out and your feet dry. 

It may not seem as though the new RX801's are any different than their predecessor was, but upon careful inspection I found several differences. This is more of an 'evolution' of the RX8. A slightly "tweaked" version of the original, if you will.

One thing I didn't like about the original RX8 was that it was a bit of a pain to put it on and take it off your foot. Shimano addressed this by removing that elastic strap that held the top of the upper to the footbed inside the shoe and by separating the over-flap into what is more like two straps over the instep. 

At first glance, this new shoe seems like no big deal, but when you put the old one on one foot and the new one on the other, you feel a tremendous difference and the new one is definitely better. By the way, MG has the new RX8R, the one with the ankle-high cuff, and he says much the same as I am about the refinements. More soon.... (Standard Disclaimer applies) 

Schmidt Edelux II Dynamo Light. (Image courtesy of Cycle Monkey)

Need A Light:

So, you may recall that my Busch and Mueller IQ-X went belly-up on the Ti Muk II so now I need a light unit for that bike which runs a SON dynamo hub. The logical choice is a Schmidt light to stay with the hub brand I already have. 

I have settled on getting the Edelux II with the Co-Axial Adapter. This new connector set-up looks more durable than the old blade connectors and those fine wires. 

I just have to decide what orientation I want the light in. (You have to chose due to the cut-off beam) So, when I do that, I am going to pull the trigger. That will get me back on the Ti Muk II and that needs to happen sooner than later since, well, you know.  Winter, that's why. 

Otherwise that bike is all good to go. I had just redone the drive train and had just done the hub service. So, having the light go down on me right after all of that was kind of a deflating experience. I guess I was a bit disappointed and, maybe even more so, I was just down about looking at spending a couple hundred plus more than I was prepared to spend. But it isn't as if I don't have the funds now. I just need to do it.

Okay folks, that'll do it for this week. I hope that you all get out for a ride. We're to have our "false Summer" spree here with temps in the 80's for the weekend. The Spotted Horse riders will melt! (Good luck to anyone doing that event this weekend, by the way.) 

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!