Friday News And Views

BMC Two Stroke AL 24 (Image courtesy of BMC)

 BMC Does Something For The Kids:

Last week I received a promotion for BMC kids bikes. BMC is a high-end, bike shop brand from Switzerland, and are sold in the USA. 

The kids bikes are fine. Very well done and smartly designed without suspension forks, which are not very good at this level anyway. Plus they add a ton of weight. Well.....not an actual ton, but you understand what I mean, right? 

So, kudos to BMC for some smart work there. However.....

Comments: This is not the first time something like this has been tried. A "higher end" kids bike that will give a better experience than a department store boat anchor shaped like a bike. It is a noble cause, but we've seen this movie before in the USA. Ross Shafer of the original Salsa Bikes tried this, Trek tried this (along with Gary Fisher bikes in the 90's, also owned by Trek), and I probably am not aware of other companies that have tried to crack the code for selling "nicer" bikes to parents of kids. 

The reasoning for this is easy enough to understand. My son, who got his 24" Trek MT 200 in 2010 had outgrown it in two years. The BMC cost a penny less than seven hundred dollars. You can buy a 24 inch wheeled kids Ozark Trail MTB (Walmart) for under $150.00. You can buy bike shop brands like Specialized and others in 24 inch wheeled bikes for around $350.00 - $400.00. Which one will most budget-conscious parents choose? Probably the Ozark Trail, or an even cheaper Huffy, especially considering how fast a kid can outgrow a bike. 

Draugenklaw pogies from 45NRTH.

45NRTH Draugenklaw Drop Bar Pogies On Test:

I love pogies and I love drop bar bikes. But drop bar pogies are a bit of a weird product niche that not a lot of companies cover. 45NRTH is one such comapny and with a recent deep-discount sale on, I decided to try out a set of their Draugenklaw drop bar pogies. 

I'll have a detailed take on these in a separate post later, but right now I will say that this whole deep-discount thing with 45NRTH and some other brands I see doing this is a bit concerning. I mean, sheesh! This is a bit unprecedented and does not look 'good' to me. 

I'm trying these out soon and then I'll be back with a look at all the details and give you my impressions at that time. Look for this later in the month here. (Note: I bought the Draugenklaw pogies with my own money to use and review on the site here. 45NRTH has no idea I am doing a review nor do they have any say in what I am writing about the Draugenklaws. 

Background image by N.Y. Roll of a trail in New York.

The Guitar Ted Podcast Wraps Up Season #2:

Recently I spent part of an afternoon with N.Y. Roll and Mabel the Rhodesian Ridgeback recording the last episode of the podcast for 2024. 

We talked about all sorts of subjects including our own podcast stats, events and how they might be run in the future, and we discussed what bicycle retail might also look like going forward. 

Check it out at the link in the first paragraph.  

I wanted to thank N.Y. Roll for providing the venue to record at and for the various refreshments he provided for each recording session. Of course, I am grateful for his participation in the podcast as well.

We are taking a rest until sometime in January unless something comes up that we feel needs to be responded to immediately. I think mid-January seems like a good time to start cranking up things for the 2025 season of gravel grinding. Thanks for listening, if you do, and if you haven't, please give the podcast a try. We'd appreciate it if you would. 

Pirate Cycling League Garb Arrives:

Thursday I received my Pirate Cycling League (PCL) hoodie. It will go alongside my recently purchased PCL t-shirt and all my past PCL cycling jerseys and other cycling kit. 

So, if you don't know, the PCL is a "cycling league" in a loose sense that it is more of a theoretical group than it is one in reality. Essentially, if you admire the idea of grassroots, somewhat subversive, under-the-radar rides and ride culture, then you might identify with the PCL and want to rep the colors. It's really just that simple. 

Now, I may be speaking out of turn, but I've witnessed the PCL's comings and goings for around a decade and a half now, so I think I am in the ballpark here. 

At any rate, you maybe would like to be a cycling pirate, yes? If so, then all you need to do is pay attention to the Instagram account - https://www.instagram.com/pirate.cycling.league/# or check their Facebook page for their periodic releases of apparel. You can also check out my post from 2023 when the PCL offered up their 15th anniversary jersey HERE. 

That's a wrap on this week. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions and remember: Get out there and ride those bicycles!