Brake Talk: Adjustments

 Monday's post about mechanical disc brakes was a pretty big hit with some of you readers. In that post I mentioned that one of the keys to a successful mechanical brake set up is getting the caliper aligned with the rotor correctly. A commenter requested a "how-to" concerning this. So, today's post will cover some tricks and tips on how to get the moist out of your mechanical disc brake set up. 

Some of these tips will cross over to setting up a hydraulic caliper as well. (I even will show one today) So, if you have flat mount or post mount calipers that are hydraulic, or semi-hydraulic, this could be for you as well. 

One other thing that bears mentioning before we dig in. The cable housing and levers you use will influence how your mechanical disc brake will feel and perform to a great degree. Pay attention to those things and you will reap the benefits. I am not going to cover any of that in this post. Finally, poorly maintained cables and housings will adversely affect mechanical disc brake performance, so that is also something to be aware of going forward. 

The Goal: The main goal here is to align the caliper to the rotor so that the pads are parallel to the rotor and hit the rotor without deflecting it. Perfect alignment may not be possible depending upon mounting points for the caliper not being properly aligned, poorly designed calipers that won't hold the pads correctly, or lack of facing the mounting points on a heavily painted frame, or when those points are slightly off. See a professional mechanic if any of these issues are preventing you from getting really close to a perfect caliper alignment. 

Tip #1: 

The basic alignment technique is to use the adjustment for the pads or to tie down the lever to activate the brake with a toe strap or a rubber band after you loosen up the calipers. This will align the pads with the rotors. 

If you use adjusters to move the pads against the rotor, (the main way to align an Avid BB-7, for instance), make sure that you use the adjusters evenly and that the caliper is as centered over the rotor as possible. 

Post mount calipers are easier to loosen because of how the fastener bolts face upward toward you, Flat mount calipers can be a real chore since many rear mounts pierce the chain stay and the bolt heads face downward. Some fork flat mount bolts are hard to access while others , as with my image above, pierce the fork. Get to know what you are dealing with, what wrench you require, and dial up your patience before attempting this!

Tip #2:

The image tells you all, but to reiterate, reefing one bolt down before the other on the caliper mount is a sure-fire way to twist the caliper out of alignment with the rotor. Once you release pressure that you applied either by using the levers or pad adjusters, the caliper will be out of alignment or rubbing the rotor on one side. 

The winning technique here is to gently apply torque alternately to each bolt. Maybe only turning the bolt head a few degrees at a time. First one - then the other, rinse and repeat until the caliper is firmly fixed to the frame or fork. 

In some rare cases I have had to apply a drop of chain lube under a bolt head for a caliper to prevent it from torquing my caliper off-axis. But generally speaking, using a gentle and alternating application of torque will yield the best results. 

Tip #3 For Avid Brakes or any Caliper That Uses Concave/Convex Washers:

A few things to know here about Avid calipers that use those pesky concave/convex washers. They are generally made from aluminum, and since they are of a softer metal, the effect of tightening them down against one another will make them take a set. What that means is that - even if you loosen the bolts, those washers may stick together, or go back to their original positions when re-tightened. 

To prevent this from happening, you should always make sure those washers are loosened from each other and rotated so that they won't just go right back where they were, preventing you from getting a good adjustment. 

This is important since Avid calipers, and some others that adopted this design, not only adjust side-to-side, but also adjust for vertical plane, This makes Avid calipers a bit more fussy, but if you follow this tip regarding the washers, you should have better chances for success, 

Finally, those washers can corrode and will eventually fail. Always inspect these washers for signs of corrosion or breakdown and replace them if you have any questions about them. You can get replacement washers from SRAM or in a pinch, you can use the concave/convex washers from a set of linear pull brakes. 

Okay, I hope those tips and tricks are useful. Let me know in the comments if you have any tricks or tips of your own. If you have any questions that you'd like me to answer in a post like this, just let me know there in the comments as well.

Using Old 29"er Wheels For Gravel

Older 29"er wheels make excellent gravel bike wheels.

While I was contemplating what to do with my wheel problem concerning the Raleigh Tamland Two, I remembered that my friend in SoCal, Grannygear, had written an article about how old 29"er wheels from around 2010 make great gravel bike wheels. 

The wheels I ended up putting on the Tamland are a great example of this idea. Plus, they came off a bike Grannygear had, so that is a bit ironic. They are Specialized Roval carbon wheels with DT Swiss hubs. 

So, what makes a wheel set like this so desirable for gravel? There are a few reasons that this might make sense for anyone to seek out.

First of all, they likely will not cost much, if you can track some down. Not long after 2010, MTB standards changed to a wider, "Boost" axle width which is not compatible with older wheel sets. This made a lot of really nice, top-tier wheels, like these Rovals, obsolete for current MTB's. 

But since gravel bikes went with the same standard as MTB was back around 2010, those "obsolete 29"er wheels" are perfect candidates for a gravel bike. Additionally, this was a time when many wheel sets were convertible from Quick Release to Through-Axle standard, which allows easy fitment to most any gravel bike whether they are QR or thru-axle.

The current look of the Tamland Two.

Finally, most early 29"er wheels were fairly narrow. A "wide" rim in the late 2000's was 28mm inner rim width and many, like these Rovals, were 24mm, or even 22mm inner rim width. Nowadays a 30mm inner rim width is "Cross-Country racing" width for a MTB!

But almost any of those older rims are prime candidates for gravel usage today. Take a look at the specs for most of today's crop of gravel wheels and you'll see that 25mm inner rim width is where most of those wheels land. A lot of 29"er wheels back ten years ago to fifteen years ago were right at that width, or at 23mm, which is still great for gravel travel. 

As long as the wheels weren't abused, you should consider taking a look at some older 29"er wheels to lighten up the old gravel rig, or maybe use as a race wheel set. The Rovals I have now could easily be a racing wheel set with the carbon rims, aero spokes, and excellent DT Swiss hubs bringing the heat. I say they could be good racing wheels, because the motor.....eh! That could use some work! Ha!

If you are using some late 2000's/early twenty-teens 29"er wheels in your gravel bike, let me know in the comments.

Brake Talk

Image courtesy of Paul Components

I was riding my King Fabrications "Honeman Flyer" the other day when I was struck by how much better my brakes were working compared to when I first put the bike together. Back at that time, I was pretty displeased with how they were working, or better said, not working! 

However; post-Mid-South, they started working really well, and now I would be hard-pressed to change them out for any reason. I had one stop the other day on that bike where I grabbed a bit too much front brake and I lifted the rear wheel off the ground. That's enough braking power for me! Especially when I think about using brakes on gravel. 

This brought me to a remembrance of conversations I had with Ben Witt of Heath Creek Cycles and also some of my research into flat mount calipers at that time. I thought that, perhaps, some of you might benefit from my thoughts on brakes and Ben's suggestions as well.

Growtac Equal Brakes. (Image courtesy of Velo Orange)

My comments and thoughts here are based upon my need for a mechanically operated flat mount caliper only. I may compare to a fully hydraulic system, but this is centered around cable operated brakes for the most part.

"Bougie" Brakes:

I did look at some expensive options for this custom bike because.....it was a custom built frame? I guess that I thought maybe a "high end" brake was fitting in this case. You know, kind of like wearing a silk tie with a tuxedo. You just don't do it any other way. 

But the prices for those calipers was, and still is, eye-watering. Wow! The Paul brakes would have been over one third the price of the frame alone. That didn't make sense to me. The Growtac Equal brakes were another high end offering that also gets rave reviews, but again, those were still pretty expensive. A little over one hundred dollars less than the Paul brakes, but yeah.... Why? 

You might say that "they work almost as well as hydraulic brakes and far better than other mechanical options.", but a fully hydraulic system, (With no shifting needs. This was for a single speed bike) like the TRP Hylex, which comes with levers and hoses, costs under $400.00 for a pair. So, right in line with Growtacs , which do not include levers, and less than Paul's which are caliper only. 

Shimano RS305 mechanical flat mount calipers. (Image from AliExpress)

Secret Weapon?:

Ben informed me of a mechanical flat mount caliper that I was unaware of previous to his telling me about them. The Shimano RS305 calipers, which Ben spoke pretty highly of, are dirt cheap. I've seen these for under sixty bucks for a pair! 

They come with resin pads with Ice Tech fins. Ben says they work very well. His word is good enough for me to say that I probably would have liked them on my new bike as well. That said, I wasn't 100% on-board with putting a cheap Shimano caliper on my custom bike. Yeah, probably a little bit of snobbery going on there, but mostly it was the look of that brake that turned me off. Too plain for this wild looking build!

I ended up with TRP Spyre calipers

So, I ended up with TRP Spyre calipers in the end. I already had them on hand, so that was a big reason why I went that direction with the brakes. As I said, they were not very impressive at first. So how is it that they are so good now? I think it all has to do with two things: Set up and bedding in of the pads with the rotors. 

Most of the issues with mechanically activated calipers, in my experience as a mechanic and personally, have been with how the brake caliper was set up to begin with. It is ultra-important to get this correct. The piston, or pistons, have to be set up so that the pads don't deflect the rotor when the brake is applied. Get that right and you are more than halfway there. 

Secondly, it is now my belief that getting your pads and rotors bedded in really well will bring your brakes to life. In my case, with the Honeman Flyer, I believe it was the abrasive red dirt of Oklahoma that helped get the pads and rotors happy with each other. That and the long descents which saw me dragging the brakes a bit more than I would in Iowa. 

Whatever the case may have been, it took a good bedding in to bring out the best in these brakes, and now I wouldn't change them out for anything else. And if I had to buy the Spyres? You can get a pair right now on eBay for under a hundred bucks and they are around $150.00 or slightly less for a pair at many online retailers.

Moving The Goalposts: Reactions

 Last Wednesday I posted my article here called "Moving The Goalposts" which covered  how the "DFL" celebrations might be getting "gamed" by riders. I also brought up the subject of moving or relaxing cut-off times for events overall and for checkpoints in events. 

There were some thoughtful comments on that piece from some of you and examples of how last placing an event draws out some negative actions in some cases. There was a comment to the effect that a cut-off time should be upheld despite the heart-tug to allow people to continue. 

Now, that said, there are a lot of people that likely feel contrary to those comments and feel that yes- last place should be celebrated and that cut-off times are arbitrary and dumb. I know this because that is feedback I got personally from people commenting on how I ran Trans Iowa. So, yeah, I know those people are definitely out there. 

Because it is pretty well known how I feel about those subjects, perhaps those dissenters did not bother to engage with me on those subjects, but in case you are not aware, my thoughts follow here. 

My over-arching theory on running a cycling event is that you have to assume that somebody, at some point, will try to cheat. People will do this at free events, events with no prizing, and events with zero media coverage. I know, because I have witnessed this over the period of my cycling career both as a competitor and as an event director. So, imagine the motivations to cheat if there is any sort of outside attention or valuable prizing at an event. Those chances of someone gaming the system, or outright cheating, is going to go way up. That is fact that cannot be disputed because we are talking about humans here. 

So, unless an event director is hyper-vigilant and ahead of the curve when it comes to cheating or gaming a system, you can bet that the cheating and gaming are happening. So, when comments dropped that people were noting that DFL prizes were being gamed, or whenever I hear that people cheat at events, I am not at all surprised. That's not only on the participants, it is also on the event itself. This is why I say that event directing is not for the weak of heart. It's no fun to find out people are cheating, gaming your event, or acting like a fool. It is really no fun to enforce rules, disqualify someone, or un-invite people to your event going forward, all things I have experienced as an event director. 

And if those things rub an event director the wrong way, then I would suggest that that person may not be cut out for the job, or doesn't care, or worse, both. I don't want anything to do with an event run like that. Your mileage may vary. 

Cut-off times are another thing I don't think should be messed with unless you want to change them for the following year. But during an event? No. That's not cool. That is definitely "moving the goalposts". And disregarding the cut-off for certain individuals is also wrong on many levels. Actually, holding to a faster cut-off time will eliminate people gaming to be DFL. That's my observation on the issue. Extending the cut-off, in my opinion, is not the way to do it. But I don't run events anymore, so whatever.... I'm just an old man with a blog, right? 

And finally, there are a LOT of gravel events everywhere. You do not have to do the ones with big, fancy promotions, triple-digit entry fees, and the ones the websites blather on about. Well, unless you want to do them, that's totally up to you. Don't let anyone dictate what gravel events are cool and what ones are "bucket-list" events because, well, those sites and media wonks don't know everything out there. There are many good events that are run well and cater to what you might like.

When To "Pull The Plug"

Scene from Trans Iowa v6. Image by Steve Fuller.

 It was about 6:30pm on Saturday April 24th, 2010. My co-director of Trans Iowa, David Pals, and I were scrambling around Iowa County trying to re-route the course to eliminate about four sections of Level B Maintenance roads on the original course that would have been unrideable. 

This was a full 14 hours after we had already experienced a massive thunderstorm before the Sun rose which dumped about two inches of rain in a little more than an hour's time accompanied by copious amounts of ground to cloud lightning which had competitors scrambling for cover in muddy ditches. 

A respite of cloudy skies, but no rain, then ensued until late afternoon when the storms came back with redoubled strength, In the meantime, David and I had been redirecting the course around several mud-laden roads and we were making our way toward our next checkpoint in Tama County when we got word from our volunteer, Paul Buchanan, that the road leading to the checkpoint was impassable and under several feet of flood water. 

David and I were at the end of our ropes. We were frazzled, tired, and not just a little scared. Scared for the riders, since it was under our directives that they would be put in some amount of peril going forward. We thought we might be able to save the event from being truncated, so we settled on putting the riders on a paved blacktop road to traverse around the carnage. On our way to check out this possibility, we were stopped dead in our tracks by rain coming down so furiously that we had to stop the car because we were blinded. 

I sat there listening to the fury of that storm briefly. My mind was racing. Should we keep pressing on or should we call this madness off. The car had nearly been blown off the road a few times and the gravel was so soft the car was nearly put into the ditch. The riders were in danger. We were in danger!

I looked at David and asked, "Do you really want to keep driving in this stuff?" And he looked at me and said , "No!", with no hesitation. And that was the moment when we decided to end Trans Iowa v6 at North English, Iowa. 

David Pals, (R) with Travis Braun at the makeshift ending of T.I.v6

It was interesting as we pulled the remaining riders off the road in North English. Some were thankful to make an end of a miserable day. But a few were dismayed that they weren't being allowed to continue. None more so than Jay Petervary. 

It took a little convincing, but he finally saw the logic in what we had decided. Besides, it was what it was. No reason to continue to argue about it.

This subject, the cancellation or ending of an event, has cropped up again with the cancellation of the Traka Gravel Adventure Race in Girona, Spain due to flooding. An article in "Bikepacking.com" entitled "Should Bikepacking Races Be Cancelled Due To Weather?" has stirred up debate on this topic. Thoughts range from agreement, to downright disdain for anyone thinking that an event of this nature should be cancelled. 

Even Jay Petervary has weighed in with his opinion that riders should have a final say in what they can handle or not, to a degree. (I am paraphrasing severely for the sake of brevity here) However; I feel that there is much more complexity to this subject than many are willing to consider here. And to be completely fair, even JP has voiced that this is much more nuanced than some make it out to be. 

I feel I have a unique perspective regarding this subject having run an event of like distance to the Traka Gravel Race which is listed as being about 349 miles in length. Some Trans Iowa courses were right around that figure as well. And of course, as I have outlined above, we had to deal with weather issues, flooding, and more over the course of 14 years of running that event. So, I will say a few words about this based upon my observations and experiences.

Trans Iowa v11 by Wally Kilburg

First of all, you have the rider's side of the story. Athletes who have invested copious amounts of time, effort, money, and thought into a singular event attempt. To have that ripped away from them by a cancellation or by a truncated course is a hard, hard pill to swallow. 

Sometimes the bitter taste of that pill should have been expected. Take the uproar over last season's Unbound where a muddy three mile stretch of road a short way into the 200 mile course ended a lot of folks days. The riders who damaged equipment there were livid and majorly disappointed. No wonder, since they had spent a large sum of money just to get there only to have it all dashed away by the course being routed on an unrideable section of road. I understand that 100%, but again, this is gravel and that does happen at gravel events like Unbound. So, there is a level of responsibility placed on the riders to understand what they are getting into. 

In the case of the Traka Gravel Race, the event was cancelled before anyone even had a chance to ride any miles. That makes that a different thing in the minds of many. But on the other hand, not a lot of that matters to a Race Director, or organization, as long as it is being run by people that care about the well-being of others. Derailleurs can be replaced. You can always try the event again someday. But loss of life, or the high probability of that happening? That's a tough balancing act for any race RD. 

Speaking only for myself, I was willing to take the heat from disappointed racers if I pulled the plug on any event I was involved in. I had to pull the plug on the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo in 2008, as an example, due to flooding, before the event happened. I've had to cancel an event due to a pandemic. So, yeah, I have been there, done that. I took some heat in both instances, but I don't care. At least I could go to sleep at night afterward knowing nothing could happen to people because I did not insist that "the show must go on". 

Dan Hughes marching up a muddy Level B Road during T.I.v13

However; sometime the show does go on. As has been stated, this is a nuanced subject. I've also been in charge of running an event which was on the knife edge of insanity and reason, as an example. I just wrote about such a thing recently here on the blog. You've got to have a stomach for gambling at times as an RD in these sorts of events to allow for competitors to have those experiences that, maybe, should not be allowed. But you roll the dice, no one gets killed, and the people all hold the event in legendary status. However; if one thing goes wrong and someone does die?

Yeah, nobody wants that. So, can you blame RD's for cancelling an event a bit prematurely if you are an adventurous soul? You have to allow for the fact that not everyone is as crazy as you are. And that has to be okay. You don't go to bed at night hearing the voices in their head asking why they didn't do this or that after something goes wrong. The RD that cancels an event in stead of risking it all is only trying to keep their sanity and peace of mind so that they can live at peace and put on an event again in the future. 

Of course, if you do not agree with that you have options as a rider. You do not have to go to those events. And if you do, I would suggest that a little empathy for the race directors in any adverse situation that might arise is a good thing. There is a LOT more going on than you might think, and you may only know a small percentage of that. 

That's my take, but let me know what you think in the comments.

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Hutchinson Tires

Hutchinson Introduces New Gravel Racing Tires:

On Thursday news hit concerning a new gravel racing tire from Hutchinson, the French tire maker, called "Caracal Race". Caracal is a name of an African feral cat, by the way. You may also know it from open wheel auto racing circles as the name of a particular racing car chassis. 

The unique  tread of the Caracal Race was developed using Hutchinson's road racing tire technology and features only two overlapping casing layers under the tread and three in the sidewals making this tire very fast, but also not as tough as you might want for rugged, rough gravel. In fact, Hutchinson recommends this 475 gram tire (claimed weight) as only suitable for all-road and hard packed gravel tracks. There is a puncture protected version of the Caracal Race called just "Caracal" and that tire is claimed to weigh the same 475 grams for each tire. It is also a bit less expensive. The Caracal Race tire cost around $65.00 each USD. The Caracal and Caracal Race are only available in 700 X 40mm size. The "race" version being tan wall only while a black wall version is available in the Caracal version.

Comments: First of all, good luck finding these in the USA. Hutchinson essentially pulled its distribution of tires toward the end of the pandemic and has not reestablished any significant network of distribution here since. That isn't to say that you could not find these in a 'non-traditional' way, but these Hutch tires are not going to be widely available here. 

Now about that weight. The Caracal weighs the same as the race version? I doubt that is the case. If so, why bother buying the race version? This makes it seem like there is some missing information there. It may be true, but this strikes me as being odd from a marketing standpoint. 

The mere existence of a 'racing only' gravel tire seems pretty ironic to me. Maybe it is my particular perspective regarding gravel riding, but why spend well over a hundred bucks on a set of tires you are only going to use a handful of times, if they last that long. Then again, maybe you are a sponsored rider, or are chasing the money in bigger races. But for the average person? Maybe if a lot of your rides are pavement, then yeah, I could see this being your tire. Especially the puncture protected one. 

For what it is worth, I do love the Hutchinson Touareg which comes in a ton of sizes in 650B and 700c. It is amazingly air-tight when used tubeless and rolls very well on Mid-West gravel. It is puncture protected and you might be able to track down the 700 X 50mm size. That'd be cool!

Image courtesy of Wheels Manufacturing.

 Single Speed News From Wheels Manufacturing:

This is news leftover from Sea Otter, but since I love me some single speed action, I thought that this was interesting enough to put into today's FN&V. 

Wheels Manufacturing is making single speed cogs in various anodized colors now. But what is really cool is that they are coming out with a kit for Shimano Micro Spline hubs. You can see that version in the image here to the left. 

Wheels already has a kit for converting SRAM XD freehub bodies to single speed as well, so now all bikes can be single speed. Well.....okay, not Campy! Oh well....

Wheels also sells spacer kits in matching anodized colors. The new Solo cogs will also be available in Shimano Hyperglide cassette spline standard as well. Cogs vary from 16T to 23T in size. 

Is single speed making something of a resurgence? Is this all a reaction to the hyper-technology in racing bicycles costing well above 10K? I don't know but I cannot recall a time when so many companies were making anodized single speed gear for the cycling market. Can you? Let me know in the comments what you think. 

Image courtesy of Shimano.

Rebound '24 Aims To Hit The 10 Million Miles Ridden Mark:

Riders are invited again to join in with others around the world to ride gravel/non-paved tracks in the Rebound '24 event which happens world-wide June 1st. 

Shimano Gravel Alliance, in conjunction with Live Slow Ride Fast, invite you to participate in logging 25, 50, 100, or 200 miles starting at 6:00am your local time, (just like Unbound starts - or used to start, now its Pro only and staggered between men and women, and.....Never mind!)

Just make your own route and start at 6:00am, okay? Alrighty then! Shimnao wants to see the total from last year's Rebound event, which was 4,789,142, reach 10,000,000 miles this year. That's a BIG goal! 

Shimano only asks that you sign up HERE and track your mileage. Preferably doing the course you set up self-supported, (although the Pros at Unbound will have fully staffed aid at checkpoints, but......Never mind!) Anyway, check it out if you are so inclined and be a part of a global cycling event, which is kind of cool if you consider that. One thing is for sure, Rebound probably will cost you less than Unbound. Just a guess..... (sarcasm alert)

Propain Terrel CF Image courtesy of Propain Bikes.

More Gravel Bikes:

The influx of brands coming into the gravel market seems to continue unabated. New releases by current gravel brands also are keeping pace as well. The latest offerings from Ridley Bikes and Propain Bikes are prime examples. 

Ridley has a new line up in its Grifn range which is kind of an in between bike in that it isn't necessarily a gravel bike (limited tire clearances) but it is not an "endurance road bike" either. Ridley is saying it is more of an "all roads" bike. Funny how that is what I thought ALL fat tire, pavement to non-pavement bikes should be named. But here we are with "gravel". 

At any rate, Ridley added an eGravel bike in this family of bikes and also a more affordable aluminum bike as well. All have geometry which, in my opinion, isn't all that "gravel-ish" and with the limited tire clearances, these bikes have a weird place in the market. 

Now Propain, a brand mostly known for its aggressive downhill oriented MTB's, has a gravel bike in its range dubbed the Terrel CF. Many 'gravel' bikes emanating from traditionally MTB-specific brands can be wonky in the geometry department with super-slacked out head tube angles and whatnot. Not so with Propain's Terrel CF. 

This bike has a 71° head tube angle, 72.5mm of bottom bracket drop, and the only thing on the chart that jumped out at me was the long effective top tub measurements. For instance, in my size, which typically runs anywhere from 57.5cm - 58cm, the Terrel has a 59.5cm measurement. That's going to require a short stem, but Propain says that they designed the bike so the axle appears a bit forward of the handlebar while riding. This, they claim, provides more stability in sketchy terrain.  

The gravel bike category just seems to be one of the only categories with any growth. You have to wonder when the growth will slow down. I just am not seeing it yet, and at a time when the rest of the industry is contracting, this growth in the gravel category seems pretty weird. 

Pirate Cycling League Merch:

As you may know, the Pirate Cycling League is now separated from Gravel Worlds. The PCL is now getting itself settled in on its own, once again, and has now announced some merchandise to mark this occasion. 

A couple of t-shirts and a hat are on offer now, (See HERE), and the word is that much more is in the works along with some other "new ideas" which will be coming in the future. 

I picked up a t-shirt and I will give my thoughts on that when it arrives. These new items are all pre-order for now, so I'll be waiting a bit before I see this shirt in hand.

That's a wrap on this week! Get out and ride those bikes! Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Two Things

Sorted for now.

Raleigh Tamland Two Tire Update:

The other day I posted about my wheel swap on the Raleigh Tamland Two and I stated that I needed to find some suitable rubber for the frame and fork that allowed more clearance. That has happened now.

The tires I chose from the stash were a pair of Donnelly USH 700 X 40mm tires that I received from Donnelly back in 2019 to review. (Standard Disclaimer) These tires have a file-like tread and are pretty much a low/no tread design. 

I like these tires,, at least that was my feelings about them when I thought about them the other day. You might not think that a "no tread" tire would be good for gravel, but I did not have any issues with that which I can recall now. Well, now we will find out, won't we! 

They are 40's..... Yeah, I would have rather have had 45mm tires but I don't have anything right now that I can put on this bike. There was a brief moment where I thought I was going to use my 700 X 47mm Teravail Rutlands but when I measured the Cazaderos on the Raliegh at that time they measured right at 47mm, so yeah, no go on the Rutlands.

New Podcast Episode:

On Tuesday I was able to interview Don Person, which is a name you may not know. However, if I said he goes by 'shiggy', that may ring a bell with you. He has been a legend in the tire testing/knowledge area, especially for anything off-road, for decades. 

You may also be interested to know that shiggy was also responsible for bringing the flared drop bar back to life in a collaboration with On One's Brant Richards in the early 2000's. At that time Brant had reached out to shiggy for design advice which in turn resulted in the venerable Midge Bar. That handle bar was arguably the genesis of flared drop bar usage in gravel riding as well as MTB. 

If you want to hear shiggy give the timeline and history on that subject, and hear his tales of tire design, see the link HERE. The episode is a long one, so be forewarned. I think it is our longest to date at about an hour and a half.

The first portion of the podcast features some talk about a new event format coming from The Spinistry down in Texas which I think is really creative and unique in gravel. Check that out and let me know what you think of that idea. Again, you can listen to "The Guitar Ted Podcast" wherever you get your podcast feed from or hit the link HERE to listen from Spotify.

Moving The Goalposts

Do certain 'celebrations' suck the air out of the challenge of gravel events, or does anyone care?

 NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Recently the Gravel Worlds event announced a "First To Last" initiative "which celebrates every participant’s unique journey", according to a press release sent out by the organization. This follows the well known "DFL celebration", a feature of Mid-South for a few years now. 

The recognition of last place in a cycling event on gravel has a long history. The roots of the phenomenon in gravel go all the way back to the first DK200 where David Pals, once a co-director of mine for Trans Iowa, survived heat, winds, dehydration, thunderstorms, and being hit by a car a few miles from the finish, to come in last place with a big ol' smile on his face. The gathered observers were giving David props for his plucky finish and were amazed that he showed little effect from being hit by a car.

The idea of a recognition of last place in a cycling event goes back further than the DK200 though, and probably the most famous of all of these recognitions is the "lanterne rouge" in the Tour de France. The romanticism of this concept in gravel events, especially early modern-day gravel events, was fairly commonplace. 

While no specific recognition in the form of a prize for this last place rider was noted amongst the early gravel events, it was something that was seen as being a badge of respect amongst fellow riders. That last place person was seen as someone who "gutted it out" and made the grade despite being out in the elements longer than anyone else. I'm not aware of the specifics regarding the genesis of what the Mid-South does with regard to its DFL celebration, but that event has popularized the concept of celebrating last place in a very high profile way. I suspect that the Mid-South's way of doing this grew out of the old "lanterne rouge" ideas.

Scott McConnell finishing up T.I.v12 hours after the official finishing time.

The early gravel events, at least the longer ones which were all well over 100 miles in length, had event cut-of times which put slower folk outside a time limitation. At events like Trans Iowa, sometimes people would go ahead and finish the route anyway, despite being outside the 2:00pm Sunday cut-off. This sort of practice in longer events brought out a slow moving of the goalposts.

In the past, certain event directors felt compelled to ease cut-off times and extended "official finishes" to riders coming in after published time cuts. This was all being done to recognize the efforts of more than just last place on time in an event. To be fair, even the Tour de France does this for certain stages of that event when commissioners feel there are extenuating circumstances

While it seems all-good on the surface, there is a possibility that more is going on here that is not being addressed. Taking a cue from history and the Tour de France's Lanterne Rouge, we can perhaps see what might be going on in the gravel scene - or perhaps soon will be - relating to contestants purposefully gaming to be last place in an event. From the Wikipedia page on the Lanterne Rouge. 

"Often the rider who comes last is remembered while those a few places ahead are forgotten. The revenue the last rider will generate from later appearance fees can be greater than if he had finished second to last, although this was more true when riders still made much of their income from post-Tour criteriums,"

Rumors are swirling around that have caught my ear here in Iowa that this laying in wait to be last place has been happening at Mid-South. Now, that is unsubstantiated rumor only, but it is entirely plausible that it might occur. Given the hoopla and resulting momentary spotlight given to the individual that attains such a "prize", it is not to be wondered at that someone might game the system to be 'that person'. I don't doubt that in today's social media culture, where being "viral" equates to some sort of digital populist celebrity status, that any kind of attention being offered for last placing in an event is something to be coveted.

Checkpoint 1 at T.I.v12: Image by Ari Andonopoulous

 The celebrations of last place are related to the extension of cut-off times by way of intent, and since that is the case, I see both of these things being related. 

Cut off times get attention at times when event directors feel the nudge to be more lenient towards those who are pushing up against the limitations of a challenge and don't want to be denied. "Goalposts" are hard and maintaining them isn't for the weak of spirit. However; while it may seem arbitrary and cruel to some to make a black and white call on a cut off, it does maintain the integrity and worthiness of any challenge. 

Take any stick and ball sport where rules are dissected to the nth degree and consider how much those calls matter to the integrity of a game. Gravel racing is not immune to such considerations and the integrity of challenge is definitely something that is a part of that. I will reiterate that this is my opinion, and that I have a certain viewpoint that might be seen as unique in gravel racing, but when cut-off times get extended it reduces not only the effort necessary for anyone to make the cut-offs but it lowers the status of your challenge as well. 

Does any of that matter? Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it is has an unconscious effect that plays into who is attracted to your event now versus previously. Or - Maybe that is intentional. Maybe it brings more people, and therefore more dollars, to an event. Maybe it is a marketing stunt. Maybe it is a conscientious effort to make more people feel seen and appreciated. 

This can all be debated, but moving the goalposts does have effects both obvious and not quite so obvious. Both good and bad. One thing is for sure, gravel racing and events are changing and evolving all the time. At the very least, we can perhaps all agree that gravel racing and cycling isn't under some rigid, universal overseer that makes up arbitrary rules for the sport. 

Well, at least not yet it isn't.

Fattening Up

Going back a year or so ago I rode the Tamland Two I have with a set of Irwin Cycling wheels. GX35's, I want to say, and while they had been great wheels up to that point, I noted an issue cropping up. The free wheel wasn't engaging correctly and I experienced a few "hiccups" in the engaging process after coasting. 

It had been extremely dusty up to that point and I thought that perhaps the grease in the free hub body was too thick due to dust intrusion which might account for my problem.

I got the bike back to my shop and re-greased the hub after cleaning it out. That seemed to have a positive effect as I did not notice any problems for several rides after that. However; on this latest ride I did, I noted the issue again, and this time it seemed worse. In fact, I thought that I may not make it back to the house. 

Well, that did it for me and those Irwin hubs. I cannot afford to get stranded out in the country by a sketchy hub that won't engage properly anymore. My plan was to swap out wheels and then do something with the Irwin carbon rims and another, new hub set, But in the meantime I wanted to get the Raleigh back up and running as soon as possible. The problem is that I've wholesale swapped over to through axle wheels, and quick release is almost a dead thing to me now. 

Fortunately I still have a few options in the house. One of them found its way onto the Raleigh, but now I have a different problem! The Raleigh was never meant for "fat" gravel tires, but they are so close to fitting that I had to give it a try.

The Tamland Two with some older Roval XC MTB wheels.

The plan entailed taking off these old Roval wheels I got from my friend in SoCal, Grannygear, and use the tires that were already mounted on them which are SOMA Cazadero 700 X 50mm tires. They looked a bit narrow on the Roval rims and so I thought maybe, just maybe, they might squeeze into the frame and fork. 

The Roval wheels are pretty much a set of DT Swiss carbon wheels seeing as how they have DT Swiss spokes and hubs and then you have the Far East manufactured carbon rim with Roval stickers slapped on there. The partially red theme works a lot better on the Raleigh than it did on the Fargo, where they were mounted previously. (More on the Fargo in a minute)

Obviously the wheels and tires went in, but that rear tire jussssst grazes the chain stay where the wheel is slightly out of true. Too little leeway to play with there, so a different set of tires will have to be mounted on the wheels. 

No daylight there!

Bummer! I was so hoping to ride fatter rubber on this bike, but hey, what do you expect? The bike was designed in 2012 and there weren't any gravel tires above 40mm - 42mm then. So, making clearance for 50's would not have even been imagined at that time. I get it. And I'll be okay. No big deal! 

Okay, so I'll have the Raleigh sorted soon with a wheel set that is reliable and won't cause me any worries in the hub department, at least. That ratchet design DT uses is pretty robust. But that wheel set came of the Gen I Fargo, and well, now what to do?

Fortunately, I still had the older wheel set I was using on the Fargo hanging in the rafters. That would only need to have the cassette swapped out to what I had been using on the Fargo and to have a tubeless sealant refresh. And this is what that will look like......

Tires so fat they wouldn't fit in the frame of the image!

The Surly Extraterrestrials on Duster rims fit here with room to spare. That's a 29" X 2.5" tire, and it slots in nicely between what I have going on with the Singular Gryphon Mk3 and the other gravel bikes I own. I just need to refresh the sealant and that one is good to go. I may end up doing a little tweaking on the stem/handlebar set up by reversing the ShockStop Stem to negative rise and lowering that stem on the steer tube by a couple of spacers. 

But otherwise this bike is set for some gravel touring duties and I intend to use it for that this year. The relaxed position, Redshift Shift ShockStop Stem, and those fat tires will make for a much more comfortable and smooth ride. Plus, it can carry a ton of water! 

Anyway, that's what I've been up to over these rainy days we've been having. I'll have an update on the tires for the Raleigh soon. Stay tuned.....

Review Redshift Sports Top Shelf Bar: Mid-Term

The new Redshift Sports Top Shelf Bar on the Tamland Two.

Update On The Top Shelf Bar:

 Note: Redshift Sports sent over their Top Shelf drop bar for test and review at no charge to Guitar Ted Productions. I am not being paid, nor bribed, for this review and I will always strive to give you my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

It has been about a month and a half now that I have been riding the Top Shelf Bar from Redshift Sports. You can see my introduction and initial impressions of this handlebar HERE. 

This update on the handlebar comes at a time where this option is in short supply. Apparently, Redshift Sports has a hit on its hands with the Top Shelf bar. I've seen replies to comments on social media threads on the Top Shelf from Redshift saying more handle bars are incoming, so while you may not be able to get one right now, these will be in stock, hopefully, very soon. 

This reaction to the Top Shelf Bar has caught me a bit by surprise, to be honest, but as I thought about that, I feel as though it has to do with Redshift Sports' design decisions and from their basing the design for the Top Shelf on the popular Kitchen Sink Bar, which was a smart thing to do. The design of the Top Shelf Bar doesn't do that much different than other riser drop bars, in terms of easing rider positioning, but it does have a very different look and functionality than its competition. 

The main difference is that the central section of a Top Shelf Bar is usable for accessories like GPS heads, lights, or even a bell, if you roll that way. The competitor's handle bars mid-sections have too many curves to be usable for most accessories, and that can present problems that the riser bar section causes even though the position for the rider may be improved. 

One more thing that I'll mention that I've seen brought up in online comments and that is to reiterate that the Top Shelf Bar has exactly the same flare, reach, and drop dimensions as the Kitchen Sink Bar. So again - If you have ridden the Kitchen Sink Bar, or thought that it might be a good option, the Top Shelf should serve you similarly. 

My continued riding on the Top Shelf Bar has only reinforced my earlier opinions on it. Of course, since I got on so well with the Kitchen Sink Bar, I would naturally be inclined to like the Top Shelf Bar as well. It only makes sense. But what about that rise? 

I think there are use cases where that riser section makes sense. Perhaps you have a bike that you have had for years, but now you aren't quite in the same physical shape you once were in and a riser bar might just breathe new life into that old bike. Or perhaps you are going to do a very long distance event and a bit of a more relaxed position would be a boon to helping you be successful in that endeavor. Bike packing situations and the Top Shelf Bar would make a lot of sense. I am probably going to get a handle bar bag in soon to help illustrate that option. 

So, yeah.....Again I am just impressed with the design, ride quality, and options that the Top Shelf Bar provides. Stay tuned for more in the near future.

Country Views: Necessary Medicine

Escape Route: Unnamed bike path

Thursday was THE day. Yes, the only day that would work. That's because the weather is taking a turn for the wet and windy for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Huh.......you'd think it was Trans Iowa weekend or something! 

And traditionally speaking, it would have been scheduled for this weekend. My, my! This would have been quite the epic edition of T.I. had I still been doing it. 

But of course, that is not happening and so it is just a note to make mentally. This time of year the thoughts about the old event are inescapable for me. There are reminders everywhere I turn concerning the event. 

And to top it all off Wally Kilburg's untimely passing only added to my mental state. I don't blame him, certainly, it was just the way it all worked out, but the timing of his death was sort of ironic in that it happened between Iowa Wind and Rock and what would have been T.I. weekend. It all just fits too well, if you ask me. 

It bothers me - all of that stuff does, and I needed to get away for a minute or two. A bicycle ride almost always cleanses the palette, so to speak, and this ride was about that, mostly. I just needed a break and a reset.

The Cedar River at Evansdale

The Cedar Valley Nature Trail

To get out of town to gravel going East takes a lot of riding. Same thing going West. The wind was pretty brisk out of the Southeast so heading into that wind first was a priority. The dirt roads Southewast of Waterloo were the target. That meant a LOT of paved bicycle trails.

A smaller planting rig which would have been considered huge when I was a child!

The farmers were well aware of this impending storm system and they were hot on the trail to get things planted so that this rain would be a benefit to them. There were tractors and whatnot crawling around all over out in the country. 

I was hot on the trail to get a ride in, and I was working against that stiff breeze the whole way out. The first dirt road was McKellar Road and I was still going into the wind! That said, it was still fun!

McKellar Road: Dirt dead ahead!

Seen off Weiden Road.

I went South on Weiden Road's dirt section, past Washburn, Iowa's grass airfield, and then a bit East on blacktop to turn out of the wind, finally. The road was Golinvaux Road, which isn't long, but it has got to be the coolest named road in Black Hawk County. 

Weiden Road's dirt section.

Gollinvaux Road. Cool name - short road.

The tail wind push was awesome. The condition of the gravel was as well. However; there wasn't a lot more gravel to enjoy. Soon it would be back to the bike paths and back home. I tried to enjoy the scene while I could and soak it in. 

It isn't as though I hate pavement. It is just that most of my life has been along, on, or near gravel roads. Ever since I was a kid staying in the Summer on relative's farms, seeing my first serious girlfriend who lived on gravel, or ever since I rediscovered gravel riding in the early 2000's, I have seemed to have an affinity for the country and Iowa gravel. I enjoy the solitude, the closeness to nature, and even the wind and hills. 

Now I am old enough that my friends I made because of gravel are starting to die and disappear. That's sad, but at least I had the opportunity to have been touched by their lives and especially because it was due to gravel riding. I hope I have touched others lives as well.

 I thought about that a bit on this ride, and I came to the conclusion that it was all good. Things come, stay for a while if you are lucky, and like a puff of crushed limestone dust, it all blows away in a second. But that road you are on doesn't stop. Not yet......

So, I keep riding. It\s the medicine I need. It's where I need to be to strengthen my spirit.

It Has Been Ten Years Already?! Part 3

Just what an event director doesn't want to see.

So, just one more tale from a decade ago. Gosh! A whole ten years has flown by since this dramatic night I and a bunch of goofy gravel riders survived. I have to say, I would not recommend doing what any of us did to anyone out there. 

That said, this was what I would call one of those life-memories that you treasure because it was so dumb and dangerous. Some would call it "adventure". Some would call it downright negligence. 

The image here to the left pretty much is the mark where everything went upside down and is probably where a lot of people would have said, "Welp! This looks like a good place to call it all off!", but I wasn't one of those people. 

Neither were the 40-ish people still riding in the event. As evidenced by the images I saw later. Some I'll post here for the first time ever below. Let's just say that we probably weren't being very sane or safe at all, but again, I doubt any of us would trade the experience for anything. It is that way with events like this. 

Well, I suppose there are a few who don't know about that night of Trans Iowa v10. For a taste of this crazy night you can go back and read my initial report filed on that particular night just afterward HERE. 

For images, see below....

A previously unpublished image by Steve Fuller. That's current Iowa Wind and Rock director, Sarah Cooper to the left.

Another previously unpublished image by John Mathias

The storm we rode out together in the middle of the night of April 26th-27th was a pretty bad one. Lightning, high East winds, rain, and night time conditions all conspired to drive the riders to seek shelter wherever they could find it. I heard of several barns being commandeered. Obviously this abandoned home, above, was one such refuge. I also heard about a couple of guys getting into a corn crib to ride out the worst of it. 

By about 2:00am or maybe 2:30am the storm had subsided and the riders all started making their way again against a brutal wind South and East to Grinnell Iowa and an old red barn outside of town a few miles. Fortunately there was no loss of life, no injuries, and no harm done to property or possessions. I seriously doubt any of the landowners of those barns and homes knew of the passing of these strangers in the night. To them, they were perhaps just ghosts. Spirits bourne upon a howling wind and lightning only to be seen if they had dared to go out in the weather. 

No, they probably never knew anything about that passage of the Trans Iowa riders in the night. But yes - that doesn't make it "right" either. I understand the dichotomy of what it is the letter of the law says and what the letter of the Spirit is. If you ask me, I think the more important things were followed that evening. 

I wouldn't have wished for an evening like that to happen at my event ever. But am I glad it happened? Yeah...... Yes, I am glad it happened. Those things those people and myself along with the volunteers experienced? Those are treasured memories that can never be replicated, and I am pretty sure each man and woman that participated in those events that weekend knew that deep inside. 

Were the evening's events stupid, dangerous, and unnecessary? Probably...... Yes. That's the paradox of it all. That evening probably should not have gone down like it did. Maybe the event should have been truncated. Everyone sent home, safe, warm in a motel room and cursing the weather that took away their chances to finish a Trans Iowa again. 

But that ain't how it happened.

A Celebration Of Life: Wally Kilburg

I'm taking a break from Friday News and Views this week to do a special post for my old friend and Trans Iowa volunteer/photographer/advisor Wally Kilburg who died last Monday. (You can read my eulogy HERE) 

Taken as I left Wally and his friend George the last time I spent time with Wally.

Wally was a special person in my life, and while I did not know him very long or all that well, he still managed to touch my life in a way that I did not expect. Of course, his elevation of Trans Iowa via his imagery was stellar. It is probably what he is most well known for by cyclists and since that is the case, I wanted to share my favorite Wally images today to celebrate a man and a life well-lived. 

These are going to be mostly Trans Iowa images, so many of these have been shown before, but I still wanted to share them with you today and to remind us all that we should take time to see, call, or get in touch with friends and family. If you get nothing else out of this post, I hope that it is that you act on that thought today. 

And with that.... (All Images by Wally Kilburg )

Current Iowa Wind and Rock RD, Sarah Cooper at a Trans Iowa start line.

 

Trans Iowa v9

Trans Iowa v9

Trans Iowa v10

Trans Iowa v10

T.I.v10

Trans Iowa v12

Trans Iowa v10

Trans Iowa v12

Trans Iowa v11

Current Iowa Wind and Rock RD, Steve Fuller finishing T.I.v9

Trans Iowa v9

Trans Iowa v12

Trans Iowa v9

Trans Iowa v12

The last shot here is really special to me. I never have had anyone capture myself and Trans Iowa in a way that made us all look like rock stars, but Wally did it and what a brilliant shot! Wally, being the sweetheart that he was, printed this out in large format and sent it to me for free. What a guy! What a gift! I look at this image on my wall often and I thank Wally every time for that. 

Goodbye Wally! I will miss you!

The last time I spent any significant time with Wally, and George Keslin, of course, the two were nearly inseparable, was at the end of checking cues for Trans Iowa v13. That was when Wally was just starting to deal with his wife Irene's failing health. 

It was a difficult day, at times, but we made it through and at the end of it all I sat out in the back of the motel that Wally and George were spending the night at for a bit of a chat. 

Wally was smoking a cigar, as he was wont to do, and we had a few beers at a picnic table sitting near a farm field facing East. I remember the breeze and the grass waving in the wind. It was a great day for mid-April, and it was warm enough to sit outside for quite some time. And that is exactly what we did.

Wally and George were quite a pair, and anyone who knew them could tell you that these two guys were two peas in a pod. They had shared many an adventure, and the stories were almost too wild to be true. I enjoyed being regaled by them with their tales. 

On one hand, I felt honored to be in the presence of such fast friends who were willing to share with me their lives. On the other hand I felt as though I was unworthy of being their friend. My life was a boring story compared to these two troopers! But Wally would not have had it any other way than to have me sitting there that evening. And I know that, if it were possible, he would have spent even more time with me. But it wasn't to be.

I saw Wally briefly at the very start of festivities for Trans Iowa v13, but he had to get back to Chicago to take care of Irene, and that journey was just beginning for him. In the end, it turned out to be the last time I spoke to him. 

So, I will always treasure that warm Spring evening at that picnic table out back of a motel in Grinnell. At least I had the chance to sit and relax once with Wally and his friend George and just put everything aside that had to do with Trans Iowa and just be with them. 

Rest easy, Wally! Thank you for all you did to enrich my, and others lives the way that you did.