Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Mondraker

Olympics And Bikes!

Mondraker Shows Off Olympic Liveries:

Tuesday Mondraker Bikes showed off two Olympic liveries for two of their sponsored riders who are contesting the games in the XCO MTB category. The bike shown is the Mondraker F-Podium and this one is done up in a special livery for rider Bec Henderson who will represent Australia. 

Comments: The Olympics are a big deal in cycling and especially for MTB. I don't really follow Pro MTB anymore, so what struck me about this announcement was how much XC-ish bikes have changed in the last ten years or so. 

First of all, Bec Henderson is 5'2" tall, and she is on a 29"er. Now, I have been amazed by all the places 29"ers have made inroads, but the smaller riders still racing 29"ers has been something of a ongoing surprise for me. I know many women were really into the stability and safer feeling of the big wheels having been told this straight from some high-profile female racers back fifteen years ago now. (15 years ago!! What?!!) 

So, it's really something when you consider many would have said "No way women should be riding 29"ers, especially shorter women!", which is something I used to hear back then. Given the existence of performance oriented tires and wheels in 650B, that's even more crazy to consider. (And yes- I am aware some folks do use those wheels) 

And then there is the bike, a dual suspension model. A dual suspension XC racer wasn't super common, back in the day, but now it seems to be at least a fairly commonly chosen option. Anyway, just noting how things have changed in that scene.  

Image courtesy of KASK Helmets.

KASK Shows New Nirvana Aero Helmet:

Tuesday also saw the announcement by KASK Helmets who now offer a new aero helmet called the Nirvana. 

KASK used CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) programs to develop the Nirvana which KASK claims has displayed a 35% more reduction in  aerodynamic drag and a 19% increase in air-flow through the helmet to make this their most aero and comfortable helmet in the category. (Compared to "best aero helmets in the category" according to the press release)

KASK does its own internal safety testing which has resulted in their exclusive Multi-Pod Technology. A new design which incorporates a 3-D printed pad which KASK claims is resistant to rotational and linear impacts, yet allows direct airflow to the rider's scalp. 

The Nirvana is available in matte black, matte white, Cherry Burst, Blueberry Fade, and Ultraviolet. The US price for the Nirvana is $400.00.

Comments: Aero is a thing in gravel, although KASK doesn't market the Nirvana helmet as being a "gravel helmet". My bet is that the fast folks will show up with these at gravel events. Notice in the image how the helmet covers the tops of the ears? That's right folks! Your ears are not aero! (HA!) Of course, anyone who has noted the time trials in the TDF recently, or at any point in the last 40 years, has already been well aware of this. It is kind of strange to me that this sort of treatment and design hasn't been utilized in road helmets much, if at all. 

No MIPS here! And did you see that price? Ouch!  

Image courtesy of State Bicycle Co.

State Bicycle Co. Debuts Titanium AllRoad:

State Bicycle Co. announced a pretty compelling AllRoad variant in titanium on Tuesday of this week. The bike features double butted, "Gr9 3AL/2.5V titanium", according to State Bicycle Co. The frame also has internally routed cables, room for 50mm 700c tires, or 2.2" 650B tires, and it has PVD graphics over a sand blasted finish. 

The carbon fork has a stealth through-axle and flat mount brakes with a internally routed cable port. 

The bike can be had as a complete starting at $2,499.00 on up or as a frame only at $1,299.00 (no fork). There are a lot of options so check out the page for the bike HERE. 

Comments: Notice the maximum tire size? This will be the new gravel bike standard going forward. Long gone are the days of maximum tire clearances being under 45mm. These new gravel bikes will be criticized and said to be "drop bar MTB's" by many folks but that just doesn't quite fit here. Too many small details separate the two things. 

I like the aggressive pricing on this bike and most of the details. I do not see 650B as being a big deal for buyers anymore and while the ability to swap in those wheels once made sense it really doesn't anymore. Once you could get that 45+ millimeter tire by going to a 650B X 47mm tire, and maybe a bit larger, but with these new rigs handling 50mm+ sized 700c tires, the question becomes more about the size and height of the rider when it comes to using 650B wheels. I still think 650B makes a lot of sense for shorter riders, but most folks that can should ride larger diameter wheels for their inherent benefits. 

Because State doggedly sticks to their "two wheel diameter - one bike" marketing schtick they have to compromise on bottom bracket drop to allow for smaller diameter wheels. And that is the only thing that would keep me off this bike. There are just too many bikes hitting all the numbers for me to compromise on a design like this State AllRoad Ti. But that's me. I still think it is a smoking hot value. 

USA Gravel National Championships Adds Spots For UCI World Gravel Championship Race:

Besides a $40,000.00 prize purse split equally between the Men's and Women's Elite classes, now it has been revealed that there will be ten spots to the World Gravel Championships to be held in Belgium for those who win those spots. 

The USA Gravel National Championships will be held on a 131.1 mile course with an estimated 5,715ft of elevation gain. The event will be held again in Gering, Nebraska on September 8th. There will be three shorter courses available for amateurs as well. 

Comments: Interesting that the USAC event now is $20,000.00 poorer than last year's event was. But how does USAC/UCI fund racing in the USA with this kind of total competitive flavor? This has been the perennial issue with racing at this level for road for decades. I see no reason why gravel should be exempt when the pattern for everything USAC is doing in gravel mirrors everything they were doing with road events.

The pot was sweetened (or was it?) by the offering of spots to the 2024 World Gravel Championships to be held in October in Flanders. Of course, that sounds all good, but I'm betting the dime to get there is on the competitors, and you'd have roughly a month to come up with the dollars to fly back and forth, get lodging, and of course, food and drink. So, it isn't that big of a deal unless someone else is footing the bill, and I suspect no one is sponsoring this. Maybe a brand of one of the lucky winners would chip in, but with the cycling industry strapped as it is? I doubt it would happen.

Okay, that is a wrap on this week! Thank you for reading the Guitar Ted Productions site!

Finding Purpose

Last May I had a plan to go fixed gear on my Black Mountain Cycles "Monstercross" bike better known as "Orange Crush" on these pages. I've written a ton about this bike over the years, but if you are not familiar with it, see THIS post. 

Well, I think I am abandoning those plans to go with a fixed gear set up. The wheel set I was going to use is set up for 1/8th inch pitch chains and chain rings. That means I'd have to spend a bit of money on a chain ring and a chain and..... Well, I rode the bike again recently and thought I'd like to keep it as it is as far as the drive train goes. 

The plan a year ago was to make this bike a flat bar bike, and that fizzled out as well. I still have the brakes and levers for that project in the basement still in their boxes. So, why has it been so hard for me to get going with....anything, having to do with this bike?

The answer: Progress in this gravel bike field. The bikes I have now are light years better at what I am using them for and the Orange Crush is 'just okay'. That breeds apathy for the bike and that's not good. It makes it hard for me to find a purpose for the bike to hang around here. 

The big thing on this bike is the geometry. That's the deal-killer for me. The bottom bracket drop is 65mm, and that's ridiculously high these days. The front stack height is pretty low as well. To be perfectly fair, Mike Varley wasn't designing a "gravel bike" when he designed the Monstercross. It was, as the name might suggest, a variant of cyclo-cross bikes with wider tire capability allowing this bike to do some MTB-like trails.

Before there were "gravel bikes" this was my gravel bike.

But I got the Monstercross because there weren't any gravel bikes in 2011. You used whatever you could get that made sense at the time to ride gravel with. I used the Orange Crush. At the time, it made sense. Now? 

I would love the bike if it had about 10mm more bottom bracket drop and a degree slacker head tube angle, but it does not and will not ever be like modern gravel bikes. 

So I have spent the better part of three years trying to find purpose for this bike. I just cannot justify spending any money anymore on the bike. It has become an antique, of sorts, and even newer Monstercross bikes are not like mine. They changed, got better with the times, and maybe if I had one of those frames I'd just transfer over the parts and then ride on. But that would also be a big investment into a bike that still isn't quite what I'd want these days. 

Maybe it is time to retire this frame and fork. I might have to look into something I could transfer the parts to, or just get out of it altogether. I mean, it isn't like it is 2011 anymore around here. I've got plenty of gravel bikes. I don't really need a rim brake gravel bike. But if the right thing came along? 

Maybe then.

What's In A Name?

Video image grab from THIS YouTube video.

 NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Recently at Eurobike Scott Bicycles had a little surprise that was posted on a couple websites. This bicycle is interesting for one reason only. It is notable because of what Scott called the bike. The Scott Scale GR. (GR = "Gravel")

The bike caused an immediate uproar in the comment sections wherever it has been written about. Folks are arguing about what it is and how it should or should not be used. 

Look - this is all about names. That is all. It has absolutely zero to do with riding the bike the name is slapped on. We only have ourselves to blame for all of this nonsense. How certain bicycles came to be known in a general sense has done more to cause confusion, disruption, and unnecessary arguments than anything else about cycling has in the past or present.

Remember when these were called "snow bikes"?

One of the best and most rare examples of where a bicycle was named incorrectly and subsequently was renamed was when the fat bikes were first introduced in mass retail as "snow bikes". 

The name made sense because, at the time, fat bikes were revolutionizing Winter riding. However; consumers weren't getting the idea that Winter riding was "fun" and were relying on their shallow take, which was, 'bicycles were not ever ridden in Winter' and "Who would want to do that anyway?" The bike was discounted as a non-viable choice before a test ride could be offered. 

Retailers very quickly moved to "fat bike" to describe the corpulent-tired bicycles and focused on capability, fun, and stability as the message. And "...oh yeah, you can ride these in Winter if you want as well." This put the correct idea in the heads of many consumers and the fat bike revolution took off for a while there. Had we stuck with "snow bike" the amount of bikes sold would have been far, far less than what has been sold. 

And to the fat bike's benefit, the name it was finally saddled with did not describe where you rode it, which - in my opinion - is probably a good thing. Names matter. Words have power. Naming your bike a "snow bike" or a "fat bike" does different things in the mind of a human being. So too does "gravel bike". This is where the Scott Scale GR comes back into the story here. 

The Scott Scale GR obviously comes from a completely different evolutionary line of bicycles than does your typical "gravel bike". It doesn't take a genius to see that it is an XC racing MTB with a rigid fork that has "adventure nipples" attached to its legs. Scott can call their bicycles whatever they want as far as trademark law is not violated. And why wouldn't they call it a "gravel bike"? It is one of the hottest categories in cycling. Especially when one of their own has stated that they like using a MTB for gravel riding. 

Originally called "all-terrain bikes", these became known as MTB's.

So, what the heck is it anyway? Well, to answer that question, we have to go all the way back into early mountain bike (MTB) history when a company called "Mountain Bikes" existed. 

Yes, the term was a brand name. All other bikes of its ilk were known as "all-terrain bikes". However; the brand "Mountain Bikes", started by fat tire pioneers Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly, had too cool a name for just one brand to "own it" and suddenly everyone was calling their "all-terrain bikes" Mountain Bikes. Soon to be abbreviated to "MTB". 

Once again, a bad choice. Had "all-terrain" stuck instead of mountain bike, we maybe would have seen an even wider adoption of fat-tired 26" wheeled bikes across the nation, not just where there were mountains, or where younginz thought they could do "mountain bike things". Had all-terrain stuck I think "all-road" would have followed. But "gravel" got stuck to this drop-bar, all roads type of bike and so, well...... What the heck does "gravel" even mean? 

Getting back to the Scott bicycle. It is really an "all-terrain' bike, but yeah.... Good luck with that! It will never be known as that and people will attach "gravel" to a bike these days just because it gets the eyeballs and the comment sections going. Mountain bike? That would have done little to attract any attention. Scott marketers did exactly what a good marketing department should do. Use a name that gets attention. Whether that makes sense or not doesn't really matter.

Review: Delium Tires - Mid-Term

 Note: Delium Tire sent over two pairs of tires to Guitar Ted Productions at no cost. I am not being paid, nor bribed, for this review and I will always strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

A few weeks ago I received these Delium Tires and now that I have ridden them in some I have a bit more to share on them. If you missed my introduction to these tires you can find that HERE. Keeping in mind that these tires are more of a value oriented type tire I will be adjusting my review take slightly to accommodate that fact. These tires aren't equal to tires costing much more. They should do a decent job for those who cannot, or will not, spend a lot on tires. This is my expectation for the Delium Tires. 

In this post I will cover how the tires have been to 'live with' and how they have been performing so far in my testing. I would assume these tires would be upgrades from a stock entry level gravel bike, and perhaps going home to a first time tubeless user as well. The review will take a viewpoint from such a stance. 

Alright, let's take on that very derivative AllRounder model then. This 700c X 43mm tire is a dead-ringer for a Panaracer Gravel King SK. I happen to have a set of 650B X 50mm Gravel King SK's on a set of wheels in my possession, and so I was able to make a direct comparison. The resemblance is uncanny. So, does this AllRounder do the Panaracer dance? Well.....yes, sort of. 

It will fling a bit of small stone, it does pack up with tacky mud/dirt when that is encountered, and it rides well enough. So, in many ways, the experience is similar. However; you have that break-in period to get through which might be a bit depressing as this tire felt odd. Like a dragging brake was causing you to work a tiny bit harder. But miraculously the feeling changed during one ride recently and the tire felt just average from that point onward. 

Weird! But I'll take it. I tried the roll-down test again and it performed slightly better. What is going on here? My belief is the tire casing, which is fairly stiff when new, broke in and became ever so slightly more supple.
 

Now on to the Speed-X which has some slight similarities to a WTB Riddler. This tire, ironically, never felt 'draggy' like the AllRounder did. This tire did have a LOT of those mold-release "whiskers" on them which made the tire perform below average initially on the roll-down test. Once I rode the "shine" off them though, these tires picked up a lot on the roll-down test and are fairly impressive in that regard now. 

This tire also seems to have a bit better grip in hardpack corners and it also has a flatter crown which I prefer in loose, deep gravel. The ride is supple for such an inexpensive tire. (Same with the AllRounder) But both tires have a couple of traits that are a bit concerning.

One I mentioned already, and that is initial tubeless set up. Frankly, these tires would probably frustrate a new-to-tubeless user so badly that they'd likely swear off tubeless for good. I've set hundreds of different bicycle tires up tubeless and these Delium tires are some of the most difficult to set up tubeless I've ever dealt with. 

Then there is air retention. The Delium tires are not great in this regard, and each model has displayed a tendency to lose all of its air in the span of a few days time. One tire from each pair, so I am watching for this so as to see if it maybe is an actual characteristic of Delium gravel tires or if I just hit the flat tire jackpot within two days time. We will see.... 

So Far... Okay, I like the ride quality and the handling of these tires is fine, really. But these issues with the casings being hard to set up tubeless and the mysterious loss of air I noted in two of the tires is a bit concerning. Stay tuned for a few more weeks and I hope to get to the bottom of it all and have a final verdict for all of you that may be interested in these tires.

Review: WTB 700 X 50mm Resolute

 Note: WTB sent over one set each of the Vulpine S, Vulpine, and Resolute tires for testing and review to Guitar Ted Productions at no cost. I was not paid nor bribed for this review and I will always strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

I did a review of the three new WTB tires back in early July and now I want to break down the review into parts focusing on each tire in the release. In this post I am focusing on the Resolute in its new 50mm size.You can go back and see my previous take on this tire HERE.

The 700 X 50mm WTB Resolute with its familiar alternating tread block pattern

What About That Width?: The tire market for gravel has slowly been getting to the point where wider tires are more the norm than not. Ten years ago anything made for gravel tires was well under 45mm in width, with 38mm being the center of the width spectrum for tires made specifically (or marketed ) for gravel use. 

This was likely due to the fact that many companies were pivoting their cyclo cross frames to being marketed as "gravel" bike frames. The tell-tale was in the geometry charts and with regard to tire clearances, which limited these sorts of bikes to 40mm or so. However; savvy bike designers soon saw that wider tires for gravel were a good thing and bikes started being made to handle wider tires. We saw a surge of tires in the 43mm - 45mm range become available in the late 2010's. Then things slowly but surely have made their way to where now we are noticing even more bikes that can take 50mm+ wide gravel, or skinny 29"er, treads. 

The Resolute was introduced as a 42mm tire, but often times would end up being more of a 44mm tire on wider internal width rims. So, WTB jumped this tire straight to 50mm and as of now it stands as the widest gravel tire the company offers at the time of this writing. But if you read my previous update, you already know that the Resolute wasn't "measuring up". I was promised that it would stretch after usage. Did that happen? 

It took a while, but the Reso made it there!

As you can see by the image here, yes, the Resolute did actually make it to a 50mm width. It took a lot longer than I would have hoped and a lot longer to reach its stated width than the other two tires from WTB did which are in this test. 

If I were to venture a guess as to why that was, my guess would be that the full SG+ bead to bead puncture protection casing would be the reason why. The Vulpine and Vulpine S do not have a full layer of puncture protection, theirs is only a sidewall layer. My belief is that the full layer in the casing of the Resolute gave that tire a casing less prone to stretching. I could be wrong there though. 

Ride Performance: The Resolute was designed as an all-around conditions tire. I have had several Resolutes in the 42mm size on various bikes before and the overall impression I got of the Resolute was a tire that was kind of a jack-of-all-trades type tire. It did okay on pavement, but was probably best suited to dealing with loose, deeper crushed rock roads. 

I attributed this to the Resolute's flatter crown to the casing which helps the Resolute not cut into loose gravel and "hunt for the path of least resistance" but rather it seems to ride up over the top a bit better where the bike seems to react as being more stable. There is definitely a calmer ride quality to the Resolute in these situations. The wider Resolute does this even better. 

But a surprising result in my roll-down test was that this wider, heavier tire actually tested out as average on the paved section and above average on the gravel section. Resolutes have always been better on gravel than pavement, but I was expecting a below average paved test and maybe an average gravel test. So, that seemed to be a bit of a surprise for me there. 

Air pressure maters as it does in any tire and situation. What the wider Resolute allows you to do is to have a wider range of pressures to play with. Since the new Reso is almost a 29"er tire, I have been running it from around 30psi all the way up to around the high-30's psi. As the tire has broken in, and stretched a bit, this has allowed for an ability to make the tire fit the situation better. Lots of pavement? Go higher. Lot's of loose, silty, sandy dirt? Go lower. I have no doubt that this Resolute, with its higher volume of air in the casing, could be run in the upper 20's psi in the right situations for my weight and riding style. 

I cannot get away with that with a 40-43mm tire. Maybe with a 47mm tire, like the Teravail Rutland, which I think is really similar to the Resolute, I could get close. But now with an even wider, more voluminous Resolute? I think I have a Swiss Army knife of a tire now.

So Far... Now it will be time to play around with that ability to tune this tire to certain situations and conditions. I am excited to get out and try a few things with the 50mm Resolutes. Now, of course, this probably isn't the all-around tire in the sense that you could go fast and keep up with a paved group ride, most likely. No, that doesn't make sense, but with regard to all situations off-pavement, I am liking this tire's versatility and voluminous casing. 

I'll be back later in the Summer with a final word.

Some Musings From The Latest Podcast

The latest podcast from the "Guitar Ted Podcast" is up now and it is a pretty interesting show this time. My guest on the show was Kevin Lee of The Spinistry, the Texas based gravel event promotions company which has been doing gravel events since 2010. If you haven't heard this show you can listen by clicking THIS LINK which will take you to the Spotify home site for the podcast. 

If you don't listen to the episodes I have a few points to share today that I thought stoood out. It's interesting to see where the UCI is at with how they want to pursue the gravel scene in North America. 

I wrote a lot about this subject already HERE so I will try not to tread on the same ground again in this post. But the podcast is based upon a lot of what I wrote in the linked article. 

Okay, so with all the previous said, one of the more interesting tidbits for me was being told by Kevin that the UCI had actually pursued The Spinistry to have one of their events be a UCI sanctioned gravel event. I also know many other promoters had been asked to partner with the UCI and this was confirmed by Kevin as well as something which is true. I fully believe the UCI is still trying to convince event promoters to partner with them. In fact, the oft referenced "Marginal Gains" podcast with Erwin Vervecken as guest confirms this as well. 

Another interesting tidbit was the price to have a UCI sanctioned event, the fee for the UCI to even partner up with an event, was $40,000.00 in 2019. Forty thou?!! This doesn't include what you, as a promoter, would have to pony up to get your event up to UCI standards either. So, just from this point alone, it is pretty easy to see why there hasn't been a UCI sanctioned, large scale gravel event in the USA. And as Kevin Lee states in the podcast, the UCI isn't bringing anything to the table for the 40K licensing deal. Apparently prestige and legitimizing your event is what that does for you as an event promoter? Man! I can totally see why no event has accepted that offer! 

Then something Kevin was saying, (at about the 1hr mark of the podcast, by the way) struck me as one of the best descriptions about why the gravel scene is what it is and how the semi-Pro and Pro riders should regard that. I'm paraphrasing Kevin here, but essentially what he said was this gravel cycling scene isn't reliant on competition alone. It has an element of competition, but this is not what is most important. The sense that one can ride a bicycle on gravel - or anywhere, really - and have fun, is what is most important. This "fun" can be an adventure, social gathering, going fast, stopping often, and could include parts of some of this or all of these things. 

Actually, THIS is the latest podcast now!

As Kevin said, and I agree, the upper echelon of talent in today's gravel scene should never forget what they are privileged to be able to do at gravel events is built upon the foundation of those "12mph riders", as Kevin put it, making the events what they have become. It is this and the variety of events, which has always been a part of gravel, that makes "gravel" the sort of riding many are attracted to. 

Charging a lot of money to promoters to sanction an event is not going to work. Making events all similar in length and style, and forcing riders into a situation where it is all about top level competitors and "cat'ing up", as Kevin put it, is not going to foster growth in cycling here in the USA. It never really worked for road racing, MTB, or cyclo cross. How in the world does anyone think it would work in gravel cycling? It wouldn't. It would end up killing the gravel scene. 

Thanks again to Kevin Lee and The Spinistry for their support!

A Man, A Bike, And A Piece Of Black Electrical Tape

The only known shot of Jason Boucher riding "BET". Matt Gersib is on the right.

Sixteen years ago on July 16th, 2008, Jason Boucher rode from Waterloo, Iowa down to Hickory Hills park and the gathered riders there saw a bike that few had laid eyes on. A bike that would be the catalyst for a revival of a style of riding now known as "bike packing", which was formerly known as mountain touring, or off-road touring. This bike, and the man who pushed the idea through to get it made were responsible for the catch-phrase "Adventure by Bike" which became a movement and spawned an entire category of bicycles which are still being produced to this day. 

I've written reams of digital pages about this particular moment and the bike itself. It arguably is one of the most popular subjects on this blog with a page dedicated to this particular bike which gets views every week that top any other pages on this blog consistently. I am speaking, of course, about the Salsa Cycles Fargo. The man behind the ideas for this bike and the man who pushed it through to see the light of day is named Jason Boucher.

Jason Boucher in 2024.

I am not going to write a bunch of words today which already have been written here. I'll put some links down at the end of the post to direct you to where I have already opined about the importance of the Fargo. What I want to do here is to pull a quote from a recent Instagram post Jason made which will tell the story from his vantage point. I think that would be a good viewpoint to add to this story here. 

" It was 14 or 15 years ago today that I was riding a prototype bike to @g.ted.productions Death Ride. A bike I drove and helped create. That weekend it got labelled the “black electrical tape” bike. A coworker at the time called it the ugliest bike he had to own. Many said they didn’t need a drop bar mountain touring bike. Others said it’s a cool concept but touring doesn’t sell. "

And the Fargo was very hard for a lot of people to wrap their minds around. Of course, we need to keep in mind a couple of things to gain the correct context here. First off, 29"ers were not a "done deal" at that point in time. Sure, they had gained a toe-hold, but that wheel size was still roundly being criticized and put down as a fad that would fade away by riders and industry folks alike. Some brands were stating publicly that they would never, ever make a 29"er. (Looking at you Specialized, Yeti, and Giant)

Drop bars and fat tires were very odd  in 2008. Only weirdos and alt-bar freaks would put drop bars  on a MTB, much less one with wagon wheels. Drop bars were for road bikes and cyclo cross bikes! (And maybe touring bikes, but no one was doing that anymore!). Then there was the whole touring aspect, as mentioned, which everyone thought was a dead category.

The Fargo I was given by Jason in late 2008 as seen today.

The bike almost did not happen. It was resisted by higher-ups at Jason's place of employment at the time. It was seen as a bit of a losing prospect, as you can read from Jason's quote above. More from Jason:

"We did it anyways. Inspired by many drop bar bikes, touring bikes, and mountain bikes that came before it. It was the product that drove me to rebrand Salsa to Adventure by Bike. In many ways I still believe its the purest execution of the ethos of that tagline (IMHO) and I admit I am a bit biased."

 Of course, the entire bikepacking scene may have happened anyway at some point. Even without the venerable Fargo and its "Adventure by Bike" ethos. But I don't think the reach of that style of riding would have been as deep and far had the Fargo been nixed and never seen the light of day. I know it was a very popular choice for gravel riders, tourists that were looking for a bit more upright position, and it was popular with 29"er fans. 

In my opinion, the Fargo took a while to catch on, but when it did, the model pretty much had its way with the market until the late 2010's when other companies started jumping into the space the Fargo occupied. Now we have several "Fargo-like" choices, and probably the best of those is the Esker Lorax and the Tumbleweed Stargazer models. Ironically, Jason does some work with Tumbleweed these days. 

So, in closing I just wanted to post this to give Jason his flowers and shine a light on the man and the vision that brought the Fargo to life, and arguably was the catalyst for much of what came afterward in the bikepacking category as far as bicycles are concerned. 

Links to previous stories about the "Black Electrical Tape" bike and origin story. 

"The GTDRI Stories: Black Electrical Tape"

"Minus Ten Review - 29"

"The GTDRI Stories: The Fargo Comes Home"

"Fargo Riders Reunion Ride"

Update: Jason Boucher left a comment on this post which maybe won't be seen by many, so I thought I would add it to the post as it pertains to the Fargo and its genesis story. Here it is:

"I need to add a little more detail here. As memories fade it's important to write them down to both remember and document history. I certainly feel directly responsible for both the Fargo and Adventure by Bike. Yet, it isn't those two things that I remember as the most important. It's the people. The Fargo would not have happened without really good & talented people and partners, both inside the organization as well as outside.

Bikepacking.com just posted something on drop bar mountain bike just yesterday and one of the other really important people to this Fargo story is Joe Meiser. I recall one day chatting with Joe about a bike that I would want if I ever did my Alaska to Utah bike trip again (something I did after attending college). Joe was just then setting his sights not the Tour Divide. He wanted something special too. We schemed. One day Joe showed up to work and said "I drew the bike last night". We were both giddy. We looked. I suggested some changes from my personal experience and desire for this product.

Joe and I made changes. Buttoned it up. Ordered frames for us to build & ride. It was a product that was not on any product map or wasn't ever talked about as a product. We just did it. I'm forever grateful that that moment happened. I'm forever grateful of the team of people on our small Salsa team. I'm forever grateful for the people this idea and concept of adventure brought into my life. It changed me forever.

Also a fun fact, Fargo was not the original name. There was a different name that was changed to align with Adventure by Bike. I think only 3-4 people know what that name is........"

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Madrone Derailleur

 We Can Rebuild It!

Madrone Derailleur Shown:

In the "I Missed This Earlier" files we have today the item originally shown this past April at Sea Otter called the Madrone Derailleur. 

This alternative to SRAM or Shimano for 12 speed MTB is rebuildable, according to Madrone, who also makes replacement parts for 12 speed SRAM AXS and Eagle rear derailleurs along with sealed bearing pulleys. 

This new complete rear derailleur can work with SRAM or Shimano by simply swapping out the cam on the derailleur body. 

The Madrone Derailleur is still in the prototype stage and is promised to be available later in the year. Asking price is $395.00USD.

Comments: These "alt derailleurs" always fascinate me, I don't know why, because they are very expensive and typically don't hold up well or are "unobtanium" for the average rider. Maybe Madrone's efforts will prove otherwise. I know that the INGRID rear derailleur, for instance, an all-CNC'ed piece, is about $750.00 and supposedly rebuildable also, but man! A Di2 GRX 12 speed rear mech is just over four hundred bucks. Mechanical GRX is just over a hundred bucks. Hard to justify these alt rear mechs that may or may not hold up under stressful gravel use. 

From Mid-South's Instagram

Mid-South Announces Mega-Mid-South For September:

Many "big-time" gravel events have added 300-ish mile, self-supported gravel challenges in recent years. The first to do it was DK200/Unbound with the originally named DKXL, (now just Unbound XL). Then Gravel Worlds popped off with "The Long Voyage", a 300-ish mile loop. Now it is Mid-South's turn and they are dubbing their event the "Mega-Mid-South". 

It will be a 300 mile loop that will encompass some of the previous Mid-South routes. The event will occur September 18th, 2024 and will start at 8:00am in front of District Bicycles in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The event has no entry fee and will require all participants to be responsible for themselves. Featuring over 15,000ft of elevation, this event will be held in the heart of central Oklahoma on Oklahoma's red dirt roads. 

Comments: I have no idea if any of these longer routes these gravel events put out there are inspired by Trans Iowa, with the exception of the XL (DKXL), which I was told directly from the RD at the time (Jim Cummings) was inspired by Trans Iowa. But I gotta believe a little of what Trans Iowa stood for is embodied in those events. Especially when I see "You Are Responsible For Yourself" used in the marketing. And I know Bobby Wintle is well aware of what Trans Iowa was and is a fan. Maybe....

But whatever. This is right up my alley. I love the idea. My only thing would be to have NO GPS files and make everyone use a cue sheet navigation with cues not available until they left. But hey! I am an old school, lost soul in a techno-world. I get it. You cannot fathom doing a course by paper cues. It makes your brain hurt thinking about it. I say, "Exactly!" But yeah....

Image courtesy of Esker Bikes

Esker Announces Steel Lorax, Smokey Frames And Completes:

Esker Cycles announced on Tuesday of this week that their Smokey hard tail MTB and their Lorax adventure bikes would now be offered in steel framed versions. These models are also available in titanium. 

Emphasizing ease of maintenance both models feature external cable routing (!!) and threaded bottom brackets. 44mm head tubes will also be used across both models. Both models feature many accessory mounting points as well. 

The steel Smokey will be available as a frame only for 1K. Then both the Smokey and Lorax can be had with forks at $1,600.00 or starting at $3,000.00 for completes. See Esker Cycles for details. 

Comments: I took a look at the Esker Cycles Lorax and liked a lot about that bike. However; the sizing is weird. I am at the extreme end for a large at 6'1" and smack dab in the range for an XL. Then I look at the differences and the XL seems too big, but.... I don't know. I remember Salsa Cycles back around the late 2000's and their sizing which was putting me in a similar pickle between their Medium and Large. Neither was really "right" for me. Maybe that's where I am getting the weird vibes about Esker's sizing. 

Image courtesy of fizik.

fizik Introduces New "Road Meets Gravel" Shoe:

Combining elements of the latest road shoes with a walkable sole and two-bolt cleat interface, fizik launched their newest shoe called the Beat on Wednesday of this week.

The uppers are fabric and have a lace-up closure, The soles are a Nylon reinforced TPU, (yes, the same stuff those tubes are made from), and the shoe comes in a white, a beige/tan that fizik calls "Desert", and black with the white and tan shoes having multi-colored soles. All three retail for $179.99USD.

The stiffness rating of the sole is "4", so not the stiffest soles out there. fizik claims this will aid in comfort over rougher roads. The Beat also features a wider toe box, according to the press release, which fizik claims is a new shape for the company.  The shoes weigh a claimed 355 grams. 

Image courtesy of fizik.

Comments:

Look! A white shoe for gravel! This gets the "Jeff Kerkove" seal of approval for hot weather riding. (He told me the reasons for white shoes a year ago that made a lot of sense.) 

I'm not sure about those TPU multi-colored soles though. Pick orange or purple, but the fade? Meh... It probably won't matter once they get scarred up from pedal mashing, walking on concrete and gravel, and with a nice coating of limestone dust all over them. 

It's a bit curious that fizik went with such a flexible sole. But at this price-point, you don't normally get a lot of features and expensive materials. So, if the idea was to reach the more recreational, "semi-serious" rider, this shoe makes sense. You get what looks like a top of the range road shoe at a much nicer price and a shoe that could cross over to gravel, road, or adventure cycling where walking is a much bigger part of the picture. 

Image courtesy of fizik

Getting back to that theory of Jeff's concerning white shoes. He told me a year ago while we were riding the GCHoF ride in Emporia that white shoes were preferable because the typical black shoe uppers were heat absorbers and as Jeff said to me then, "Who wants hotter feet? I know I don't!". 

So, on one hand this seems to make sense. On the other hand, my gravel shoes look dingy and cruddy 90% of the time and washing them is not all that effective in bringing back the "new". So, I could imagine what a white shoe will end up looking like after a few rides. Maintenance city, man! Too much fussing around for me. 

But I get it. I understand the heat absorption thing. I was standing outside the other day when it was 90-something degrees and the humidity was pretty bad in a dark colored t-shirt and you could feel the shirt start to cook in a few minutes. So, I buy into that theory, Jeff, I just don't know if I could put up with white shoes after a few rides on our gravel roads and then have to look at those dingy shoes afterward.

That's a wrap on this week. Good Luck to all the RAGBRAI riders! Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Country Views: Moody

Escape Route: Burton Avenue

The weekend and first day of this week were brutally hot and I did not venture out of town on the bike at all. But after a severe storm outbreak, from which we barely escaped damage, the weather cracked. 

It was cooler on Tuesday and still humid, but a refreshingly cool Northwest breeze was in the air and I felt like I needed to get out there again and enjoy some riding. Plus I'd be able to inspect the countryside for any damage after the storm. 

Since the breeze was out of the direction I mentioned, I went into it first, which meant that I had to ride North out of town. I decided this breeze wasn't too bad, so the "Northwest Passage" out of the wind to get to gravel would not be necessary this time. I meandered around town and ended up on Burton Avenue going straight North..... Well....not exactly straight, but definitely North.

As you can see, Burton Avenue is not very straight to begin with!

Things started out windy and mostly Sunny.

With all the rains we've had, and the last night's rain being a particularly hard one, the roads have come out nicely. No fresh gravel to speak of, hardly any dust, and smooth going, for the most part. I'm still marveling at the conditions of the gravel roads this year because it has been a long, long time since they've been this good. 

There was a little traffic out here on Tuesday.

East Janesville Church

I had the Wahoo Elemnt ROAM with me on this ride and I was having some fun watching the climbing add up, the elevation readout, and the gradient readout. Of course, I did not need a GPS device to tell me riding out North on Burton was mostly uphill, but it was nice to see some hard data on this fact. 

I've done some elevation hunting South of Waterloo, but not really anything North of town. I was wondering if I'd see anything close to 1,000ft elevation, and in fact, I did. I saw 1,014ft! I know.....it's nothing, but when you live in a state where the highest elevation is a little over 1,600ft, you know you are not going to see big numbers around here. What you will see in Iowa is that to get to 1,014ft from about 800ft where I live, you will ride upward over 1,000ft in less than 30 miles. It was a lot of "up and down"! It's worse in other places in Iowa. And half of the route I rode was against the wind, so there was that to contend with too. 

I didn't realize that the clouds were gathering behind me

Heading back South I had the wind at my back.

It was cheery looking going North and when I went back South the skies were all moody and grey-blue. A random drop of rain would strike me from time to time, but it never even got close to a sprinkle. There was a chill in the air, probably because it felt less like 100 degrees, like it had for days, and was feeling more like the 70's now. But I was reminded that Fall is only a couple of months away. 

I ran across this large dog in a random place.

As I crossed Bennington Road I saw something very large and whitish at the edge of the ditch. At first I thought it might be a large bag, or a piece of abandoned furniture. But as I approached I saw that this was a large dog. A very large dog. 

It sat there and looked at me sheepishly. As I got closer it ran out into the road, but not at that "attack angle" you might have experienced. It looked like it wanted to run with me. I was having nothing to do with that idea! 

So I stopped and began talking to the dog nicely. It stopped and gazed at me as if he were listening intently. As I looked at this animal, it seemed to have characteristics of a Great Pyrenees, but it had a different face. Almost Labrador-ish. Maybe it had a Labrador personality? I wasn't all that interested in finding out, so I turned and went back to the intersection and went around the mile instead. 

The rest of the ride was pretty non-descript. As I said, it never really rained, but I was getting random drops on me the rest of the way home. It was good to get out into the countryside again. Can't wait for the next ride....

Review: Redshift ShockStop PRO Endurance Seat Post - Final Word

Swapping out elastomers is easy, if not a bit messy!

 Note: Redshift Sports sent over the new ShockStop PRO Endurance seat post for test and review to Guitar Ted Productions at no cost. I was not bribed nor paid for this review and I always strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

In my last update on this post from about a week ago, (seen HERE) , I said that I would be getting a stiffer elastomer in from Redshift Sports and that then I was confident that I could better evaluate the post. This happened Saturday and I was able to swap out the elastomer and test the bike a couple of times since then.  

First I should touch on the process of swapping out parts in the PRO Endurance post. The access to the innards is from the bottom of the seat post shaft where the adjuster is. You can use a small screw driver shaft or smaller hex key shaft to help turn the adjuster out and then access the elastomer that you should swap. 

The first thing that comes out is a - what looks like a pvc pipe - spacer. This spacer has a diagram on ot for the proper assembly order of parts inside the post. Nice touch there Redshift! The elastomer may be a tad resistant to coming out but a slight tapping of the post on my cloth-covered bench provided the trick to getting the elastomer to slide down and fall out of the post along with the spring stack and upper elastomer. 

As you can see from my image, things are a bit greasy! But this is important for the post to work correctly, so do not clean it off and don't allow dirt, etc to get in that grease! Assemble the post innards according to the diagram and install the desired elastomer. One trick to getting the adjuster cap started is to make sure that the parallelogram  part of the post is fully extended. You can do this by pulling upward on the saddle. This will allow the innards to be pushed in far enough that you can safely screw in the adjuster. Adjust the post according to Redshift's instructions and done! 

Now I had a supportive post, but the suspension action wasn't bottomed out so easily. Again, I'm sticking with my initial take that this post is kind of a "best-of" mix of Redshift's previous ShockStop posts. You get the active, vibration eating characteristics of the Endurance post, but you also don't get bounced up off the saddle because, like the PRO Race post, this post feels more damped. Plus the PRO Endurance weighs a bit less than the Endurance post, so it really does hit the groove of all the best attributes of Redshift's line up. 

So....why would you look at the other posts Redshift offers? Right. Great question. I think that there are reasons to go with the Endurance post over this new one. First off, if you are heavier, or carry a backpack/hydration pack, the Endurance post is more adept at handling that heavier weight. The springs are theoretically going to last longer and act more consistently over a longer period of time as well.  

You might choose the PRO Race for its more supportive pedaling platform and lighter weight. In my opinion, the PRO Race post is great for anyone that is more sensitive to changing saddle to bottom bracket length. These posts all have that characteristic baked into their design which will shorten the saddle to bottom bracket length as they work through their travel. The PRO Race is not as active a post, so you can tune it to only work when you really want it to, which may be more amenable to sensitive types in this area. 

Of course, the PRO Race is the lightest choice of the three as well, so that definitely may figure into your choice here. 

Final Word: All three ShockStop posts are well designed, well supported products and I feel like all of them should last a rider a long time as far as usage goes. Kudos to Redshift for their attention to detail. Things like the instructions on the pvc spacer inside the post, the hash-marked seat post shaft, and the markings on the adjusters all make owning this post a lot easier. 

While this review was for the newest post, it has kind of become a review of all three of the ShockStop posts. I was happy to get the two older designs out again and ride them. So, you may wonder, which one is my favorite? Well, that honor goes to the PRO Race post. 

My saddle height is kind of sacred, so I notice the slightest change in saddle height and to be honest, if it changes it really gets under my skin. So the entire idea of having a moving saddle height, as you will have with any suspended seat post, doesn't appeal all that much to me. So, the minimalist PRO Race is the post here for me. I have used it on longer gravel rides in the past and plan on doing so in the future.

However; the new PRO Endurance post does have some nice attributes and for the rider that is looking for that isolation from vibrations and a less bouncy ride quality, this post does that thing well. Given the stout construction, ease of use/set-up, and adjustability, I cannot find a fault that would keep me from recommending this post to any rider seeking a more comfortable gravel riding experience.

Review: Ritchey Design SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax Handlebar: Final Word

 Ritchey Design sent over a SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax Handlebar for test and review at no charge. I am not being paid nor bribed for this review and I will always strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout. Also, make sure to read the newly revised "Drop Bar Terms Defined" section to better understand this review. 

The time has come to give you my final verdict on this handlebar from Ritchey Design. Before I dive into that, you should check out my previous post on this bar HERE and my introduction to the bar with all the specs HERE. 

The one thing that kind of bothered me about the SuperLogic was that I just was not finding that "sweet-spot" in the drops like I was finding with the aluminum Venturemax. Everytime I rode the bike with the aluminum bars I was hitting that nice grip in the drops that made my hands happy. But with the SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax (SLCV) I wasn't getting that 'happy-place' feeling. But these Bio-Bend things weren't that different on the SLCV, were they?

I was determined to try anything to find out if I could replicate my experiences on the aluminum bar with that carbon bar. I went out on a ride recently and without changing a thing, hey! Suddenly I was hitting that spot and I feel that perhaps some hand injury I experienced at work during the time I was testing  the SLCV may have been the culprit. 

Whatever it was, the SLCV really did feel like the aluminum bar as I gripped the extensions. Yes - You still have to pick up your hand and move deep into the drop to use the levers. That is one thing I'd change about the Venturemax in both of its iterations if I could. 

The SLCV has a really well done flattish "flats" section from the stem to the ramps. It is shaped and tilted 'just so' and that felt right to my hands and arms. The section is wide enough to lend good hand support yet not so wide that you cannot get a grip on the tops to control the bike. 

Those ergonomically flattened sections past the stem are done quite well.

The overall ride quality is .....fine. I mean, the SLCV is maybe a tic more compliant than the aluminum bar, but I probably couldn't tell the difference if I was blindfolded and rode both bars back-to-back. So, if you were hoping that the SLCV was going to be a vibration absorber, well, I don't know that it would be quite all that. 

It is lighter than an aluminum Venturemax and it has more features due to the use of carbon fiber. In that sense, it is "the better bar" of the two versions, but it does cost well above what an aluminum Venturemax bar would cost. Here you would need to value the ergo tops, the hidden cable routing, and the lighter weight of the SLCV. 

One more thing that may cause you to choose another bar is if you need to clamp on accessories to the handlebar. As you can see from the above image, the SLCV lends little space for your accessory mounts. 

And that Bio-Bend. You have to get on with that, and this facet of the design, more than anything else, is probably going to be the fork in the road for accepting the Venturemax design or not at all. I can only speak for myself and say that this feature is one of the things I do like about the Venturemax design. So, from my viewpoint, it is a positive thing. 

Final Word: The SuperLogic Carbon Venturemax is an evolution of a design that might fit your needs and in my opinion is a very comfortable handle bar in all positions. The Bio-Bend thing is divisive and does cause one to have to adjust for reaching the levers a bit, but if the carbon features appeal to you, and you ride mostly from the hoods anyway, that may not matter to you. In my opinion it is definitely a step up from the aluminum bar and this would make a fine addition to that nice carbon or titanium gravel bike, a great choice for fine steel handmade bike, (or a Ritchey, of course!), or just a general upgrade to your gravel bike, whatever it may be.

Checking In From The Collective

With heat indices above 100° over the weekend I decided to lay low and not do any big rides out in the country. Younger folks with less heat related failures can do that stuff. I'm passing on those experiences these days! 

That doesn't mean I haven't been riding. I have. I just haven't been out on anything longer than an hour or so ride just to keep from getting too hot and probably more importantly, because I've been busy with things relating to my job at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. 

Recently the Collective had another donation from the Waterloo Police Department of bicycles that they pick up which were abandoned in most cases. Occasionally a bike comes through a court case, but typically, in my opinion, these are stolen bikes that are ridden for a bit and then abandoned. I could be wrong about that but.....

Most of these bikes are really pretty used up or just deteriorated from having been made so poorly, out of rust-prone materials, that they are scrapped immediately. One in about every four is a keeper. These bikes get harvested for parts or refurbished and sold to the local population at reduced rates. Some are donated to immigrants, homeless, veterans in need, or are donated to other charitable organizations to help families in need.

This is still a bit of a mystery.

Donations also come through the Collectives front door. Last week was a pretty rare week where we were gifted a lot of parts and bicycles from the public. These get used up as the bikes from the police department do, and the parts are squirreled away for fund raisers like bicycle parts swaps the Collective puts on from time to time. Most of the usable parts get stored for use later on refurbished bikes or marked for sale to customers looking for parts or accessories for older bikes. 

Once in a while something shows up that is a mystery. This happened last week. This strange cage marked with a hand-written tag that said "King Cage Gear Pack SS Handmade USA" on it. I Googled and searched but to no avail. Then I put it out on social media. 

One responder said it was a mount for a tool roll that fit into the open space and that a water bottle cage could go on top. One said it was a tubular tire holder. Both explanations make sense. 

But one person said that King Cage marks their product on the mounting "bridges" with a maker's mark that doesn't exist on this piece. Another person pointed out the "cobby welds" and questioned whether that is congruent with typical King Cage quality. 

Well, I may be a bit closer to finding out what this was for and who made it, or not. I don't know. But it is a curious piece and who knows..... All I can say is that it is hard to know what to do with items like this that come into the Collective when you have no good idea about what it is or how valuable - or not - the thing might be. 

On another front, I have been trying to have a regular schedule of educational classes at the Collective. I've settled on a three hour "Bike 101" class teaching the care and feeding of a typical bicycle, including flat repair, and a break-out of just the flat repair section in its own right. Things around this area are not like other towns and cities, and the populace here doesn't seem to be all that interested in either class, which are free, by the way. But those that do show up are very grateful, for the most part, and that gives me some hope. 

And that's a look at how things are going down at the Collective.