Friday News And Views

Cervelo's new MTB: Image courtesy of Cervelo

Cervelo Debuts New MTB:

I saw where Cervelo entered the mountain bike market this past week with the unveiling of their newest bicycles, the ZHT-5 series MTB's. I honestly was a bit surprised that Cervelo did not already have a mountain bike in their history of manufacturing bicycles, but there you go. A new frontier for the company and I wish them well in this endeavor.

Comments: Umm....did you see the price for the top of the range? Nearly 10K?!! For a hardtail MTB? That's insane money. I get that it has electronic shifting and all, but wow! That's crazy in my opinion. Now it should be noted that if you take a step down you can spend $4,200.00 less for the GX Eagle AXS model. 

$4,200.00 less. 

I don't know about you, but that leaves me scratching my head. The economics of that makes little sense to my mind. Maybe I'm way off......

Riding Gravel News:

I recently added an update to the Shimano GRX Carbon wheel set review on Riding Gravel. You can go read that if you are interested in that HERE. 

They are pretty good wheels, in my estimation. You can spend less, and you can get lighter wheels at about the same price, but these are Shimano wheels which means that you should be able to get them serviced about anywhere if they would ever need to be serviced. That's kind of an intangible point in terms of value there. 

Also, I have another Riding Gravel Radio Ranch podcast up with my co-host, N.Y. Roll. If you want to listen to that episode the link is HERE.I've had a few questions about availability on different platforms and I understand that the old feeds aren't working. That's because the podcast is distributed completely differently now due to issues with getting my work posted via the old platform and process I was using. 

Basically, the podcast is starting again from scratch, but at least I know the content will get posted in a timely manner now because I have control over that now. I apologize to anyone who has been disappointed in the change, but it was necessary for me to make some kind of change so that things could flow in a manner that made sense and that was in my hands to do something about.That has happened now, and I understand that the podcast will have to basically grow again from zero.

Tiny Turdette:

I got an email earlier this week from Jen Reed, the RD of "Turds of Misery", (which was actually a rock band's name from the 1970's- really!), and she informed me that there will be no long course event this year. 

But in its place she came up with a 44 mile, filled with Level B Road course. The event is called the "Tiny Turdette", and you can ride it at no charge. Riders are asked to show up at Maquoketa Caves State Park Saturday, October 15th at 10am. 

Jen says that there are no resupply points along the course. It is a fully self-supported ride, and YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF.  That said, Jen says that there are 5 sections of dirt to enjoy along the course. So, check that out if you want to have a fun day on the bike next week. Wish I could be there, but I have to put in my time at the Collective. 

Garmin Gravel Worlds Announces Diversity Future Initiative:

From the press release:

  The Pirate Cycling League, hosts of Garmin Gravel Worlds, have announced their Diversity Future Initiative that will help foster the next generation of cyclists in Lincoln, Nebraska.

In 2023, Garmin Gravel Worlds will donate $2 per rider to a scholarship fund that will support young athletes (Age 12-18) from diverse backgrounds including the BIPOC community, low-income families, and non-binary gender expansive communities.

According to Garmin Gravel Worlds Executive Director and event founder, Corey Godfrey, the initiative is simply to help foster the next generation of cyclists.

“Cycling can be an expensive sport which can create a financial barrier for some,” Godfrey said. “We acknowledge that there are so many kids and families who will never have the opportunity to enjoy cycling because of the that financial barrier to entry. This Diversity Future Initiative and scholarship fund will help support those athletes and eliminate or reduce the financial barrier.”

Garmin Gravel Worlds Director of Operations and Marketing, Jason Strohbehn, said the Diversity Future Initiative will support several local athletes through the local Lancaster Composite team, which competes under the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA).

“Our goal is to raise well over $5,000 that should support 5-8 young athletes and get everything they need to succeed,” Strohbehn said. “Working closely with our local NICA team, this scholarship will provide a bike, equipment, clothing, cycling team, coaching, community, and a supportive environment.

“We want Lincoln, Nebraska to be at the forefront of supporting athletes who are too often left behind, and this scholarship fund could be life changing for many.”

Riders registering for Garmin Gravel Worlds will also have an opportunity to match Gravel Worlds’ $2 donation when they register for any cycling distance for the 2023 event

Comments: I think at one point I suggested that if an event really wanted to make a dent in terms of getting disadvantaged and under-represented folks to their event, maybe they might want to think about paying their way, getting them bikes, and transporting them to their events. Well, I am not suggesting that anyone at Gravel Worlds listens to me, or reads my rants, but this is spot-on to what I was referring to. 

Question: Is the UCI Gravel "World Championships" doing anything like this? How about other U.S. based gravel events? Hmm...... I'm thinking the answer is mostly a big fat "no" on that. Correct me please if I am wrong. I'd like that if I were wrong about that, by the way.  

The Otso "Arctodus" frameset- Image courtesy of Otso Cycles.

Otso Cycles Announces New Arctodus Fat Bike:

There has not been much going on in the world of fat bikes for several years in terms of innovations. However; Otso Cycles has found a way to advance the genre' a bit with the introduction of the Arctodus.

The Arctodus is a CroMoly frame with a carbon fiber fork that has been "future-proofed" to accept tires on 100mm fat bike rims that do not exist yet. But if they did, you could slot in 26" X 5.25'ers, 27.5" X 4.5"ers, or the already available 29"er X 3.0" tires.  

Featuring Otso's "Tuning Chip" rear drop out, owners of the Arctodus will be able to tweak the geometry slightly. The frame is said to accept up to a 36T round chain ring and clear 12 cog cassettes with no tire to chain interference. Otso managed this by offsetting the 12mm X 197 rear end to the drive side by 5mm. Owners will also be able to use an "angle changing head set" from Wolf Tooth to further change the head angle which is a slack, for a fat bike, 68.5°. The fork offset is 51mm. 

Comments: A steel frame set? Interesting. A nod to backcountry type riding and bikepackers should really like this frame for that reason. It'll be interesting also to see if this signals a bigger fat bike tire since they are really making a big deal about the clearances. We'll see, but I'm keeping an eye out here. My old Blackborrow can handle a bigger tire than a 4.8"er too, but maybe not that big!

That's a wrap for this week! Have a safe and happy weekend. Watch out for those harvesters! Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions!