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| State Carbon All-Road. (Image courtesy of State Bicycle Co.) |
The State Bicycle Co. announced this week that they now have a carbon version of their popular All-Road model for sale. It also can be had with SRAM's latest inexpensive Apex AXS electronic shifting group. Entry-level builds with this frame start at $1999.99.
You can check out the bike here on State's website.
Comments: Yes, it is a good value, but.... and this is my criticism of State's All-Road bikes overall: Their chosen geometry is not my recommendation for gravel riding. This is pretty much a geometry that leans into paved bicycle riding more than the unpaved. It may be totally right for you, but looking at the numbers (70mm bottom bracket drop = too high, 72.5° head tube angle in my size = way too steep) I wouldn't be at all interested in this bike.
I want to like their bikes because they look great and they seem like a good value for the money spent, but I already know I'd regret buying one due to the geometry. Spoiled brat? Probably. I know what I like though and this is not it.
HUNT 42 Limitless Gravel Adventure Wheels Announced:
Aerodynamics and cycling over longer distances are two things that go together like peanut butter and jelly. If you can optimize airflow around you and your wheels, you will expend less energy across a longer distance event than you might have with "regular ol' wheels".
I've been a believer in this concept for many years. I've seen what the wind can do at events like Trans Iowa, the DK200/Unbound, Gravel Worlds, and other like events. Events where there is always some wind, and long enough courses, to warrant paying close attention to aero concerns. And yes.....this matters. Even if you are going slow.
I've also said for many years that you'd start seeing more aero wheel sets and aero stuff in general in the future. Well, these HUNT wheels are just the most recent example of what I was talking about back then.
HUNT optimized these around a fatter gravel tire with tread, so even that old argument against aero-gravel wheels is being addressed now. I think that you'll see a LOT more of this in the future from other wheel companies to the point that this will start to look like triathlon in terms of wheel nerdery.
Wacky Weather:
So last month was all about wildfire smoke. You couldn't even go outside without breathing in ash tray smelling air and it was super dry to boot. We basically has zero rain the entire month of June.
July comes, the air clears up, but it rains nearly every day now. (It is raining as I write this) So, it becomes a dangerous thing to ride out in the country because we get some gnarly lightning here and well...... I don't want to be a lightning rod. I know. Crazy me.
This has thrown a wrench in plans to do that sub-24 overnighter and that's concerning me because pretty soon it's going to be Fall and then another Summer will have gone by and I'll have not much to show for it in terms of big rides.
The only bright spot in all of this is that I have sourced a match for my Salsa dry bag. I really don't know why I had only one, but, I had only one! But now I have a matching pair and that's good. Maybe a break in this madness will occur soon and I'll get that chance to use that dry bag without fear of being zapped by an angry thunderstorm.
More Industry Troubles:
This week revealed several stories of bad news for the cycling industry. First up was an upscale e-bike company named VanMoof that filed for bankruptcy protection. Then news came that Quality Bicycle Products and The Pro's Closet had laid off a significant number of employees this week.
In the case of QBP it was a 5% of the workforce reduction on top of reductions the company made previously in September of last year. Over-inventory was blamed.
Similar concerns were voiced by the general manager of The Pro's closet. Interestingly, a YouTuber I follow, who runs a shop in Florida, showed that inventory levels were ridiculously high by pulling one example of a component group, going to a few sites, and seeing how many he could order in total before the on-line cart would cut him off. In the case of distributors he used, the total number of units on hand was easily seen via his dealer portal. In all cases he was able to show hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of unsold inventory. The example he used? SRAM's top-tier road group, Red AXS 12 speed.
Comments: This over-abundance of inventory will affect the cycling industry for several years. New product will be put on hold and many bicycle companies will pare down new releases, have none at all, or they will be like VanMoof and file for protection from creditors.
It's affecting the used market also. Used bikes are a hot commodity now and many buyers are simply avoiding paying retail, or even discounted retail, and going with the slew of good, late model used bikes and gear that is all over the internet. Interestingly The Pro's Closet isn't really benefiting from this glut of used product. So, all this used market activity isn't really happening through channels like that.
It's going to be rough sailing in the cycling industry for a bit.
That's a wrap for this week. Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions
2 comments:
This is the first I've heard of VanMoof. A software app key for your e-bike that won't work if the servers go offline? Oof, no thanks!
Unfortunately it seems that the rain has been the main thing protecting us from the smoke. It’s been creeping back in again and it looks like it’s going to be a problem all summer. It’s still better than being affected by the fire directly though.
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