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!