Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Drought.gov

 Drought To Start The Year:

As of December 20th or so, Waterloo Iowa was experiencing its driest December on record. That obviously changed when we got significant rains over Christmas. However; we aren't getting any snow (yet) and if we don't see rain by Spring, well..... 

Obviously that's going to make for a bad set-up for farmers, wildlife, and probably everyone living around here. From a gravel rider's standpoint, it may mean more of conditions like last year, and frankly, the year before that as well. Loose, deep gravel, lots of dust, and none of that classic "three-track" that we all love to ride on here. 

And then again by March we may be dealing with flooding. But not likely as this "El Niño" we are in now is said to be a pretty strong one and that usually means warmer than normal and sometimes not very much precipitation. With the base levels of water in the area at very critically low levels, it is going to take quite a wet spell to catch us up. 

Meanwhile I will try to enjoy what I am handed. A milder January may be just what I need to get a jump-start on mileage for 2024. We'll see.....

The new Velo Orange eccentric BB (Image courtesy of Velo Orange

A New Way To Create A Single Speed Device:

Got a traditionally threaded, 68mm/73mm bottom bracket shell on your bicycle? Want to make that bike a single speed? One of your options is from Velo Orange. For about a hundy, you can convert your bike to a single speed with this eccentric bottom bracket which supports any 2-piece, 24mm spindle cranks. 

The bottom bracket comes with a tensioniing tool as well, which is pretty cool. Unfortunately, at the time of this posting, the part is out of stock, but if you subscribe to Velo Orange's newsletter, you'll get notice when it comes back into stock. You can see more on this part HERE. 

Comments: Some folks give eccentrics a bad rap, but I've used a Wheels Manufacturing part similar to this and it works great. Use grease when installing, torque the part to spec, and it shouldn't make a peep. I don't need another single speed, but if I wanted to turn a vertical drop-out bike into a single speed and it had a traditionally threaded bottom bracket? Yeah, I would give this part a go. 

Also, having a drop out like that with an eccentric is, in my opinion, the very best way to have a single speed. Especially with a disc brake set-up. There are zero issues with resetting brakes, lining up the wheel in the frame, or moving swinging bits and locking them back down again. You just pop a QR and boom! Done and done. My OS Bikes Blackbuck MTB is like this and it is a joy to work on.

Alt Derailleur From Rivendell?

If you are a follower of Rivendell, or Grant Petersen, then you may have seen this prototype rear derailleur that Rivendell is working on. Called the OM-1, it is a "rapid-rise" design, meaning that the spring pulls the derailleur into the lowest gear, not the smallest cog/highest gear. Not like 99.9% of derailleurs you've ever seen. 

You can read the minimal amount of info out on this HERE, (Scroll down the page)

Comments: I've worked on a LOT of the old "Rapid Rise" rear derailleurs Shimano produced in the early 2000's. The high-end XT, LX, and such were rare. They didn't last long in the marketplace. But the Nexave, Altus, and CX-30 types were made a little longer, and in much higher production numbers. It was these derailleurs that I saw most often. 

I'll get this out of the way up front: I really don't like Rapid Rise. It was super-finicky to tune and you are working against gravity and friction, a pretty heady combo, when trying to dial in one of those Shimano variants. Additionally, the Nexave and definitely the CX-30 variants were inevitably corroded and and their parallelogram's pivots would have high friction. Sometimes so bad you'd have to replace the derailleur. 

Now, Grant and his team are probably well aware of all of that, but there is a LOT of "uphill battle" here, and I mean that in the best sort of way. I get that people are excited for a very versatile derailleur, but there are literally thousands of great 7,8,and 9 speed derailleurs floating around out there waiting for you. That and Shimano CUES, which is also 8,9,10, and 11 speed compatible all in one derailleur. (Don't "at me" with your pull ratio excuse. Use friction shifters!) 

So, with all of that, I wish Rivendell well in their tilting at windmills. I have a hard time seeing the point in this exercise, but maybe this trips your trigger? Good on ya.

Shimano Re-ups Rebound Virtual Gravel Challenge:

Last year, Shimano announced a virtual gravel event called "Rebound" which asked riders from all over the world to join in and ride gravel on June 3rd, 2023. The ask was simple and rides would be compiled on Strava. Here was the basic premise:

"In the spirit of Unbound, we encourage you to pick one of the following distances: 25 miles (40 km), 50 miles (80 km), 100 miles (160 km) or 200 miles (320 km). "

Well, Shimano wants to see if this can become even larger than last year and they are promoting the idea again for 2024. (See the site HERE) This year the ride is happening on June 1st.

Comments: You can read what I said about the idea last year HERE.  This year I feel the same, and I would join in on this but for the fact that I'll probably be in Emporia, or just back from there, that day. Otherwise, I'd love to participate in this. (Again, read my comments from last year as to why that is)

I guess my only other thought on this is a question: "Does this event happen without what we went through with the pandemic?" Virtual events were nearly unheard of previously to that, and certainly the whole idea of the "getting together of the gravel family" aspect did not lean toward a virtual event format. 

But I think Rebound exists because we had to do virtual events in 2020 and 2021 to some extent. We are more open to that concept, and it feeds the American mindset of independence and self-sufficiency which, I cannot say exists in the rest of the world, but for sure it does here. That is neither an indictment or supportive of self-support, independent riding, or virtual events, its just my observation. I just cannot help but think that without 2020-2021, rebound doesn't happen. 

Season 2 Has Started!

The Guitar Ted Podcast (GTP) has kicked off its second season already with a new episode sponsored by CORE4.

This time N.Y. Roll and I speak to the group etiquette and tactics which seem to be somewhat of a missing link in gravel circles and on some road group rides. 

I think we are pretty clear in saying we are not "The Experts". but we wanted to kick off a conversation regarding group ride technique so that information gets disseminated that may help someone avoid serious injury or death. We feel riding skills are important, and that some folks don't know, or haven't practiced those time-honored skills that make group riding safer and less stressful. 

You can find the podcast at THIS LINK or wherever you get your podcast feed from. Thanks to CORE4 for the sponsorship! 

That's a wrap for the first FN&V of 2024! Have a great weekend and thanks for reading G-Ted Productions!