Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Wilde Bicycles

Wilde, Cane Creek Team Up On One Inch Head Sets:

With the sub-culture of restoration of late 1980's mountain and road bicycles being quite popular now, and with a certain special project from Wilde on the horizon, Wilde Bicycles and Cane Creek have teamed up to release a limited time option to get yourself a Cane Creek 110 quality threaded headset in one inch size. 

Why Wilde Bicycles? Well, they have a project called the Side Quest which will be using these head sets. To get the MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) to green light the project, Wilde is offering the chance to purchase a one inch threaded headset from Cane Creek. 

The Wilde X Cane Creek 110ZN headsets will be offered in black or silver and the cost is projected to be $120.00 USD. The head sets will be a pre-book and should be delivered in October. 

Specs:

● Fork type: 1" English threaded
● Stack height: 41mm
● S.H.I.S. Upper: EC30 / 25.4-24tpi
● S.H.I.S. Lower: EC30
● Crown Race: ISO (26.4mm)
● Machined from 7075 series aluminum
● ZN40 Sealed Cartridge Bearings
● Weight: 91g 

Get in on the action at www.wildebikes.com

Image courtesy of Merit Bikes

Czechoslovakian Company Merit Goes 750D Gravel:

Now you can buy a 750D wheeled gravel bike from Merit Bikes which they call, appropriately, the "Merit Jumbo 750d Gravel Bike". Never heard about 750D wheels? I last wrote about them in a "Two Things" post in July which you can read HERE. There are further links back to other posts I have written about these bigger wheels to be found there as well. 

Merit is a Czech based company and has been making high-end titanium and carbon bikes for gravel for a while now. This time they are offering pre-orders for October delivery for this carbon frame and fork gravel bike with the bigger 750D wheels being provided by WTB. They are currently the only manufacturer doing these bigger wheels and tires. 

The Jumbo comes in three sizes: Large, XL, and XXL. Obviously Merit feels this wheel size caters to a taller rider. For reference I ride a 58cm bike at 6'1". The Merit Jumbo size Large would work for me, but the others are way too big! 

The approximately $4,350.00 bike (at current exchange rates) features the aforementioned carbon frame and fork, SRAM Rival drivetrain, and Ritchey Design cockpit parts. The geometry is interesting as the bike is said by Merit to be able to handle 50mm wide 700c tires and wheels along with the 750D X 45mm WTB tires. The numbers on the geometry all are pretty spot on though with a surprising low stack height for the bike that would fit me. 

This, in my opinion, is going to be a litmus test for 750D wheels and tires. If more companies jump on this idea, WTB will not be the only game in town for these tires and wheels for long. But that all remains to be seen. Stay tuned....

Image courtesy of Velocity USA

Velocity USA Refreshes AERO Model:

Velocity USA announced on Tuesday of this past week that they have a newly refreshed version of their original rim, the AERO, out now. Velocity partnered with Arizona based Profile Precision Extrusion to bring a Velocity USA exclusive alloy for this new design. 

Velocity says on the webpage for the AERO rims the following: "6069 alloy offers improved resistance to denting and fatigue damage. Riders who are tough on wheels will enjoy greater impact resistance; those who pile on miles can expect a longer service life compared to traditional 6061 or 6063 alloy."

Velocity states that, besides the traditional offerings, they will have 36 hole and 40 hole versions of the AERO also. They also said all their Deep Custom options can be applied to this model as well, which includes some wild anodized colors and schemes. Stock rims will be available in Silver, Black, or Polished. 

Velocity states that this rim is optimized for tire widths from 28mm - 50mm and will be available in 650B and 700c diameters. The AERO weighs a claimed 500 grams each and is priced at $198.00 USD each. 

Comments: I gotta admit, when I saw the price for this rim I was a bit surprised. Apparently it is this new tougher alloy that makes the price what it is. I like that Velocity is trying this because it makes a lot of sense for heavier riders or touring/bikepacking applications where wheel failure is not an option. I'd gladly pay the price for that peace of mind. My only wish is that Velocity would do a wider internal width in a similar rim. Heck, just looking over their "gravel" rim range makes me wish that Velocity would do this with the entire range. 

As it stands now I am really only interested in using Blunt SS rims from Velocity for gravel. The inner rim width is a bit wider at 26.6mm which is kind of a sweet spot for tires in the 43mm - 50mm range.

Salsa Shows Off 2025 Cutthroat C Force XO AXS Transmisson Bike:

Salsa Cycles showed its latest incarnation of its long-running Cutthroat bikepacking/adventure/gravel bike. The elongated named Cutthroat C Force XO AXS Transmission (whew!) is set up with - obviously - SRAM's new 12 speed Transmission rear drive train components and an Eagle Transmission crank with a 34T ring onboard. 

You get a UDH compatible frame, and the "Road Boost" set up which allows a maximum 50T/34T crank set up. All that and the typical Cutthroat amenities you've become accustomed to at a price of  $7,499.00 USD. 

Comments: Well, what the heck is "Road Boost" anyway? Yep! Get used to seeing that as this is where we will start to see a move in gravel bikes away from the old 100mm/142mm through axle standard. Frame makers will adopt this "new" 110mm/148mm "road" spacing as a way to better accommodate the trend for riders to gravitate toward fatter gravel tires in the 45mm+ range up to 2.2" 29"er rubber. 

This all started with Shimano offsetting GRX 2.5mm outboard and then SRAM doing a similar thing as well to get better clearances for bigger gravel tires, at that time in the 45mm - 47mm range. But with the big switch to top-tier gravel riders riding 2.2" wide XC rubber on gravel bikes this "Road Boost" thing has legs and whether the meat and potatoes of gravel riders wants it or not, this is how the bicycle industry has always operated - At the whim and fancy of the high-end competitive fields in any discipline. They call it "progress", but it is really just another marketing tool in the end. 

Whether or not anyone likes it, it will be the next trend in gravel bikes. At least the comments sections of social media will be interesting for the short term future. 

Okay, that's a wrap on this week! Get out and ride those bicycles!