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| From Ingrid Components Instagram account |
At the Bespoke show, which is Europe's biggest handmade bicycle show, Ingrid Components showed this angular, brutalist looking brake/shift lever combination. Seen hooked up to a brake caliper and Ingrid's own rear derailleur, the only clue given by Ingrid in the post was that the brake was produced " with a little help from our friends @rideformula".
Brake/shift levers for drop bars are a difficult thing to produce without some clever workarounds due to Shimano, Campagnolo, and SRAM patents. It very well could be that Ingrid is using the flat bar shifter internals that they already make. Yes - this is a mechanical lever.
Comments: The comment section under the post had a few references to the Cybertruck and Minecraft aesthetic. Yeah, I get that as well. But you have to hand it to Ingrid for being true to their design language. It is also fairly obvious that the design language is more important than ergonomics. No word on availability, price, or other details yet.
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| Image courtesy of Life Time Events |
Unbound To Offer Prize Money For First Time In 2025:
In an announcement that came out a little over a week ago, it was revealed that Life Time Events will offer a new prize structure for their Grand Prix events in 2025.
Besides offering equal prize money to the top ten men and women at the end of the series, the following events will also offer prize money for the first time: Unbound Gravel, Leadville 100, and Big Sugar Gravel.
Comments: First of all, I will admit that most riders really do not care what these people get paid. (Are they "employees" of this series?) So, it is kind of weird that anyone thinks this is "news". What difference to anyone, outside of the actual competitors, does this make? I guess it is lost on me. Maybe more money somehow equals "better/more competition"? So, you are saying you can "buy yourself a meaningful race by waving cash around"? Gotcha.... Again, I don't care. I don't think most people care either.
But all this aside, my main reaction is that by offering prize money at Unbound the organizers have finally wiped away the last remaining tent pole of meaning which the original founder's had put in place for the event. Not looking for a monetary "prize" meant that riders were finding other "rewards" for choosing to take on the challenge of 200 miles of Flint Hills gravel. Not anymore. At least not for the elite athletes. And really, if you read what the pundits write about Unbound, well you might think that all there are there riding are elite athletes. At least those folks who are not getting the red carpet elite athlete treatment are not getting paid for placing. So there is still meaning there, perhaps.
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| Image courtesy of Chris King Precision Components |
Chris King Seat Post Collars:
Seat post collars are an important part of a bicycle. It also is a part you would have thought Chris King Presicion Components would have made by now. That wasn't the case until just recently.
Now you can have more Chris King on your bicycle, or maybe look at this as your first Chris King part, seeing as it is reasonably inexpensive relative to all the rest of Chris King's catalog at $48.00 each.
They come in 10 anodized colors and four sizes to fit most frames. The Chris King Seat Post Collar is made in the uSA and comes with a Lifetime Warranty. See their webpage for more here.
Comments: I never really thought about this not being a Chris King thing before until now. It makes all the sense in the world that Chris King should offer this, and why they hadn't before now seems almost silly. At least the maximum torque rating is a realistic 6nm instead of what Thomson seat post collars are rated at. (Yes, I have some beef with that component)
Mason Cycles just introduced a new hard tail MTB model they call the Macro. And calling it a mountain bike is probably not what Mason would like here, but it does take a MTB drive train, so....
Mason says it is the most configurable adventure hard tail bicycle you can get. So, you could go with their own design carbon fork or a suspension fork. You can load it up with the many accessory mounts for touring, go with a bagged bikepacking set up, or use it as a fast XC hard tail.
The frame is aluminum and the Mason fork is carbon, if you want that, or it can be ordered with a suspension fork. There are complete options as well. A basic frame/fork package runs approximately $1,625.00 USD at the time of this writing. (Mason is based in the UK)
Comments: There are not too many high-end hard tail bikes designed for all-around, versatile usage these days. The Macro is such a bike. I think it could work for gravel to all-day mountain riding and everything in between. It strikes me as kind of the modernized equivalent of the once ubiquitous 90's steel hard tail MTB's which were super-versatile and capable bicycles.
This is kind of a "missing link" bike. A bicycle that isn't a long travel, down hill oriented hard tail, but it also is not a bike that would shy away from a rowdy MTB trail. (with a suspension fork, most likely) Now what I'd like to see is more of this sort of thing at a more entry level price point with decent components made to work everywhere. Maybe even a bike with a (gasp!) multiple ring crank set and front derailleur.
Outrider Components - Tire Pressure Sensor Tech For Bicycles:
Your newer vehicles all have tire pressure sensors which alert you to low air pressures in vehicle tires, or sudden losses of air pressure, in case of a flat tire. Now this type of technology is available from Outrider Components for your bicycle. Or it soon will be.
The company has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for their device which promises to alert your Garmin device in case of a puncture, or it can be used to monitor air pressure.
The device is designed to run for up to two years on replaceable coin style watch batteries. The device attaches to your existing valve stem and sits inside the rim well of the wheel.
Comments: I suppose we all should have guessed this was coming. It does make sense, and while I am not a fan of more lithium type batteries, this system would probably be a big hit if it works in the real world and if it could be used across many different wireless computer brands.
That's a wrap on the last full week of October! Get out and ride those bicycles!
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