As many of you know, I get in a fair amount of stuff to review and sometimes just to give feedback on/test for others. I figured I may as well shoot a few words this way on some things being currently tested and reviewed by giving a few, brief thoughts on those items. As always, The Standard Disclaimer applies.
I did a "Two Things" post on these grips a while back, but now that I have several rides in using them and one or two on gravel as well, I can finally chime in with my verdict here.
They are very much like the original grip, but a bit better. A bit better feeling, a bit more forgiving, and a bit better design as well. Nothing "earth-shattering" here, but if you are an Ergon GP 1 user, and you need new grips, these will make you very happy. They didn't "screw them up". These are actually an evolutionary change for the good.
And if you've ever wondered what the fuss was about, well, while there are a lot of imitators out there, the Ergon GP1 Evo is what those grips are all chasing after, and none have done it any better, or as in many cases, they don't even come close to being what a GP1 Evo is.
One thing I've found that trips a LOT of people up with regard to an Ergon grip, especially the winged ones, is that they are very position sensitive. You really have to spend some time dialing them in because if you do not, the Ergon grip may actually seem like the worst grip ever. There is a 'sweet-spot' and it pays to search for it, because once you do, it will make all the difference in the world.
State Bicycle Co All Road Disc Brake Calipers:
I posted back in August about my first impressions concerning these brake calipers. (See that HERE) Since then I have ridden these mostly in a loaded (the bike had a fully racked and bagged set up with cargo) state. That, I figured, would test these calipers in a more stressful state than just riding them with an unloaded bike.
First of all, I think it bears consideration that your levers , cable, and housings will have a great bearing on braking feel and performance. As well, so will the way that they are set up, So, there are a lot of variables here that could negatively or positively affect the outcome of the braking performance.
In my case I was using standard, box-stock brake housing, brass ferrules, and standard stainless steel cables. I have had the pleasure of setting up hundreds of mechanical brake calipers over the years. So, I kind of know what it is I am looking for in a set up. It really makes a big difference in feel and performance, so if you aren't getting what you are after, maybe someone else that has experience with setting up various brakes can help. Just a thought to chew on....
Now, with all that in mind I will say that these brakes are really quite good. I am sure some of my "modulation feel" I am getting is actually losses in the standard cable housing, but even so, the hydraulic caliper makes up for some of that by increasing efficiency in use to the point that I found it very easy to apply more than enough power to haul me and my rig down to zero mph in a big hurry.
And fine-tuned braking was top-notch as well. So, no "on-off", no modulation feel here. No "super-mushy", low power affair either. But these work pretty much like a lot of drop bar, fully hydraulic set ups will work. And they are really quiet. At least my set up is.
The All Road Calipers are no slouches then, and the most stunning thing is that you can score a pair for a "C note". That's just outrageous, in my opinion. Out of all my bikes, the Shimano GRX brakes are really the only brakes I have (disc brakes) that I would say are really better brakes than these are. But again - The set up, the cables, housings, ferrules, and levers all will affect the outcome, and that is a LOT of variables. So, let's say that the potential for great performance is here.
But for a hundred bucks? You could do a lot worse, and many competing products are much more expensive. So, consider these with the advisement that you will need to have good complimentary components in the system to get the most out of the All Road Calipers.
Ponderosa Panniers:
I wrote the introduction for the Ponderosa Panniers (HERE) earlier this year and since then they have lived on the Singular Gryphon fully packed. Several test rides later, I can say the following....
These are good panniers.Maybe even great ones. I feel like you need to have a set of panniers through a few trips before you can really say any pannier is "great". I will say that the Ponderosa Panniers are trending in that direction though.
They stay put on a rack, which is job number one for a pannier. Loose panniers really hurt handling, not to mention cause one to wonder how many times you'll have to stop to tighten them up, or if they will just randomly fall off. I'd rather have panniers I never have to worry about at all. The Ponderosa bags seem pretty much like "that" pannier to me.
These bags have tightening straps to cinch the bags against the rack, which work great. The remaining, extra lengths of those straps are supposed to be rolled up and held in place by two short bits of Velcro material. Nice idea, but in practice these can be knocked loose and then you have a streamer waving in the wind. I'd rather see some other more secure way of dealing with the loose ends.
I mentioned in the intro that the Ponderosa was hard to mount, and because of that, I never tried taking them off, and I wouldn't on a tour. In fact, I would dread having to do that. Not ideal there. It isn't that you can't mount them, but wow.... Is that a tough thing to do or what? Loaded bags would be almost impossible to do without a companion helping to support the bag while you threaded the upper straps to the rack from behind the rack and between that and the rear wheel.
Yeah.....
But other than that, the Ponderosa Panniers are very well made, they are easily opened and closed, and they really can be cinched down tight for single track usage or rough road riding. Your contents won't be jostling around in a cavernous space here. I just wish that Old Man Mountain could redesign that upper rack mount to be easier to use which would encourage removal when you need to work on the bike, or allow you to take the panniers off and put them in a tent, for instance.
Notice: There may be long-term updates on any of these items in the future here on the blog. Use the search function in the header to find those posts.
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