Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Lauf

A "Mountain" Of FN&V!

Lauf Announces An MTB To Their Range:

Lauf, previously best known for their funky leaf sprung forks and gravel bikes has just announced a new XC/Trail mountain bike called the Elja. (Say "ell-yah") 

A single pivot design in carbon fiber, this bike can handle up to 29" X 3.0" tires with no problem. Available in four colors and two spec levels, the Elja XC has 120mm of travel and is also available in a longer travel "Trail" version featuring 130mm of rear travel. Bikes are on a pre-order now for early 2025 delivery. 

Comments: I won't get into the weeds on specs and technical aspects of this design, but I highly encourage you to read Lauf's explanations of their choices for this bike. (You can find all of it on THIS LINK) Scroll that page and read it all. There is, in my opinion, a lot of BS debunking text to chew on there. I will share on example here concerning why vibration reduction is key to gravel bike design, not the "bump eating" types of suspension that are represented in telescopic gravel fork designs. Read this and think about it: (From Lauf's page on the Elja)

"Gravel bikes are mostly subject to vibration from rough surfaces. Gravel bikes benefit from a “low-pass filter”, that wipes out high-frequency “stuff” with minimal friction and energy loss. This is done efficiently by the undamped leaf-springs of Lauf gravel suspension forks."

Of course, Lauf is going to push their product, why wouldn't they? However; this fact applies across all gravel bikes and devices used to make riding more comfortable. What are we dealing with on gravel rides? Trail obstacles or high frequency vibrations? This is something that makes sense and is not what a telescopic gravel fork does best, or at all. 

But that's just one nugget from tat page. Again, it is worth your time to read their thoughts and think it over. A lot of horse sense is shared there and I found it refreshing. It's definitely NOT you average marketing drivel.
 

The Guitar Ted Podcast Episode #58:

N.Y. Roll and I got together again and laid down another podcast episode for you to check out HERE. We kind of go all over the place in this one, but N.Y. Roll texted me after I posted it and said he thought it was one of our best episodes. 

We covered tires, event production, bikes, and more. We especially are intrigued by the use of big tires by the "fast guys" (Pro gravel riders) Reminds me of something I read on Lauf's page linked above, actually now that I think about that. 

At any rate, there is another episode for you to chew on. let me know what you think if you listen to it. By the way, did you know that you can now leave comments on our Spotify page if you listen from there? Or you can comment here or email me also. I would love to hear any comments or suggestions for the podcast you might have. 

This season is coming to a close quickly for the podcast. We will plan on recording through November when we will sign off for a month and reconvene in January of 2025. I suspect we will get in about five, maybe six more episodes for the season. Thank you for listening, if you do. 

Image courtesy of Velo Orange

Velo Orange Announces New Gibbous Cage:

The 'big cage' for big containers and bottles range is getting hotter with new additions for bikepacking and long rides. Velo Orange has the excellent Mojave Cage which I reviewed here and now adds the Gibbous Cage, a side-loader design. 

The stainless steel cage is available in both left and right configurations. It also features several mounting holes in its base to accommodate different mounting positions or to take advantage of the "Three-Pack" bolt arrangements found on some bicycles. 

The cage costs $39.00 USD and you can get one from Velo Orange's site HERE. 

Comments: This cage, and several like it, are great ideas for increasing the water carrying capacity on bikes you may like that were designed before all the "adventure warts" became a popular choice for adventure bikes. Bicycles like my On One Inbred, as an example, could really benefit from having a cage like this on it. 

Image courtesy of Dennis Grelk's Facebook page.

Mind Blown....

I've mentioned the name of Trans Iowa v7 winner Dennis Grelk here before, but what you did not know is that Dennis is a mechanical mastermind the sort which used to be seen much more of in times past. This mind-blowing 2 wheel drive, 2 wheel steering, fully suspended, belt driven recumbent is such a cool machine that I thought it deserved a bit wider attention. I'm quite certain Dennis would not approve, but look at this! It is amazing, right? And it has been trail-tested. 

In a world of marginal gains and electrified everything, this bicycle stands out of the crowd as being something truly innovative. Yeah.....just amazing! Well done, Dennis! 

I'll leave you all with that bit of inspiration. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions! Get out and ride those bikes!