A Special Tribute To A Ridin' Buddy: Part 2

 In today's post I will cover Jacob's cycling from where he was gifted a Salsa Cycles Mukluk up through to his adulthood. Check out yesterday's post if you missed it for his beginnings in cycling. 

Picking up Jacob's Mukluk frame and fork in October of 2013

With Jacob's struggles with his old 24" wheeled bike becoming more troublesome and with his rapid growth, it became clear Jacob was going to need another upgrade in a bicycle. This time I envisioned a fat bike. More stability and capability in the design and wheels should allow Jacob to go wherever he wanted, or this was the thought, at any rate. 

So, I scraped and borrowed parts off my 2011 Salsa Mukluk, (The Snow Dog), to get this project going. I told Jacob about the bike late in Summer and finally, after the frame and fork arrived, and I was able to pay for it, we went down and picked it up. 

I put it together as best I could and I think it turned out pretty well. 

The first iteration of Jacob's Mukluk

Jacob's first ride on his new bike. 

I remember going to the shop, where I ended up finishing up the bike, and letting Jacob try out his new bike for the first time. He was barely able to stand over it, but it fit great when he mounted and rode it. I was chatting with a coworker as we watched Jacob take the new bike for a spin around the back lot behind the shop. I was too engrossed in the conversation to remember to tell Jacob how careful he needed to be when he dismounted. Unfortunately for Jacob, he jumped off the saddle and right on the ol' family jewels! 

A painful lesson learned!

It didn't take long for Jacob to become accustomed to his new rig. 

From a ride we took to see a cyclo cross race in 2014.

Jacob loved this bike. He continued to ask to go on adventures, night rides, and day trips while he still fit on the Mukluk. I ended up getting a different wheel set for it and eventually he graduated to flat bars as his reach increased with growth. 

He struggled a bit with the concept of a multi-speed crank set and rear cassette, but he began to figure this out. Once this occurred we had a lot more fun riding. 

 

At the Southern end of the Green Belt Trail system. 

The Mukluk opened up a whole new area for Jacob. We could ride off-road and even in the snow. I was really proud of his tenacity and will to go through more difficult terrain and longer distances. There were less tantrums and more fun times during this period. 

Snow was a challenge for Jacob to get through. 

Sub-zero wind chill and LOTS of ice here had us walking more than riding. I caught a LOT of grief for taking him on this ride!

My riding times with Jacob were really special to me, and they will always be a great memory. My daughter doesn't ride a bicycle. She never learned how to, or even wanted to learn. My wife has bad knees and is super busy all the time, so Jacob became my ridin' buddy in the family. I am really happy he wanted to do this with me. 

It could have been very different. Jacob could have hated bicycles and not want anything to do with me. I was blessed it wasn't this way. This is something I am especially grateful for to this day. 

Jacob really took to riding alleys. Guess he got that from me!

 

Jacob wasn't particularly in the mood here. It was hot, and the ride was long. 

Eventually Jacob was outgrowing the Mukluk. It would be time again to get him into something which would accommodate his growth. So, along about 2016, I came across a close-out Origin 8 Scout XLT fat bike frame. Meanwhile, Jacob's old Mukluk had a fork recall. I stuck on an Enabler fork on the bike while the stock fork was taken off. Once the new, carbon replacement fork arrived, I had a complete frame and fork for Jacob's new bike. I transferred over a lot of his old stuff, but I did also get a wheel set off of N.Y. Roll's Beargrease to use on the bike. This wheel set had green anodized Salsa hubs, so the bike was mostly flat black with green accents. It actually came out quite well. 

The Scout XLT right after I finished building it up. 

 

A visit to the Green Belt Lake with the Scout XLT in the foreground. 

By now Jacob was age 13 and growing up quickly. He was starting to find friends and wanting to do things with them. While our rides and adventures continued, they became fewer and further between. 

I recall one ride in the Green Belt when Jacob was about 14 or 15. He was getting bigger and stronger.We were working hard on some grassy stretch when I turned around to see he'd stopped and was fussing around with his bike. I rode back to find he had folded over his 1X chain ring! 

That turned into a long walk out of the woods. It also was one of our last bicycle adventures we went on. After I fixed the Scout, he started riding over to a friends house and spending time riding with another kid who was his age. It was all good. It was time for Jacob to make his own way. 

Those two used to ride quite a bit for a short period of time until his friend started driving. Once they got all turned around and ended up in Cedar Falls. I was actually kind of proud of them for figuring out how to get back home.  

One issue with the Scout XLT was that it was too nice. I would sternly advise Jacob anytime he went out for a ride on it not to allow it to sit unattended. Then when football practice demanded his time at odd hours, we had to find Jacob a bicycle he could use which wouldn't attract the "wrong" attention. Ironically this came in the form of the Sierra from the Xtra-cycle days. I took the Xtra-cycle attachment off, built up a heavy duty rear wheel, and sent Jacob off on that bike. This became his main form of transport and cycling then for several years until he started driving. 

The bike which Jacob ended up using as an adult was the front half of this cargo set up. 

 Once Jacob got into college and was driving he rarely took bicycle rides. Then he got his job as a CNC machinist and life took him in a different direction. Maybe he would have come back to cycling at some point in the future, I don't know. 

Never will know... 

 I do know he still wanted to spend time with me. Instead of riding we'd often go on walks. Spending time chatting and just being quiet together replaced the wind in our ears and pedaling. 

I also do know Jacob was looking for opportunities to get out in nature with me. He asked if we could go fishing a few weeks before he died. I told him if he got a license we'd go.  

It never happened.  

I am still really sad and I will miss Jacob sorely, but I am so blessed we got to be ridin' buddies for as long as we were. I learned a lot from Jacob during those times. How to be amazed at little things. How he saw nature and how he overcame his struggles with riding are all inspirations to this day. 

I miss my ridin' buddy......

A Special Tribute To A Ridin' Buddy: Part 1

I started writing more about the people I know from cycling last year.in these end-of-year posts  Usually these posts are about people I have ridden with, or knew through cycling. This year I wanted to dedicate a couple of special posts to one of those people. My "ridin' buddy". Obviously, he was much more than just a ridin' buddy, but I think you all will understand. As you may have guessed, this is about my son, Jacob Stevenson. He died August 2nd of this year due to unknown causes.  I wanted to share my times riding with Jacob and those memories with you all in these two special tribute posts. 

Jacob on the day he learned to ride his bike

I was blessed to have a child who wanted not only to spend time with his Dad, but liked bicycling. Well....mostly he liked bicycling. There were some tough times in there where he would get very frustrated and want to give up. 

I cannot recall when we purchased his first bicycle, but I do remember it was a Trek with 12" wheels and it also had training wheels on it, of course. Beyond this, I barely remember even having that bicycle around. I know he outgrew it fairly quickly though. 

His next bicycle was an all black 18"er of indeterminate branding. I cannot tell from my old images here what it was exactly, nor do I even remember it. Obviously it had training wheels to start out, but at around seven years old he learned to ride without the training wheels and it was "on" from this point. 

Maybe it was because he knew I went on stupid-long adventures by bicycle, or maybe he was just wired this way, but he loved to get me out on the bicycle and go somewhere. Anywhere. One time, when he was around seven or eight, both Mrs. Guitar Ted and my daughter went shopping. Jacob then realizing it would just be us guys piped up and said to me, ""Dad, let's go! Adventure awaits us! If we don't go now, adventure won't wait."

Sometimes his clarity and directness was astounding for a kid his age. And yes - I went on that adventure on that particular day along with several other days as well. 

When Jacob was young he would often ask for rides on this "two-seat bike", as he called it. Image by Mrs. Guitar Ted

When Jacob was young, all the way up to his graduating from 5th grade, he would often ask for rides on the "two-seat bike", as he referred to my Xtra-cycle Schwinn Sierra. He caught on pretty quickly to the fact I could ride a lot further than he could at the time. So, Jacob would sit back there and goad me into riding further and to places he hadn't been to in Waterloo by bicycle. 

This ended when he got around on his own bike well enough I could convince him to ride his own bicycle, but he still insisted that I pick him up from school with this rig right through his 5th grade year. I recall on his last day of 5th grade picking him up and telling him he'd better remember this ride because it wasn't going to happen ever again. 

I probably said that more for myself than I did for him, if I am being honest. 
 

Jacob, his new Mongoose, and family friend Dee Dee who gifted it to him on his eighth birthday.

Jacob's next bike was a 20" single speed Mongoose department store bike which our family friend at the time bought him for his birthday. She did this without consulting my wife or myself, seeing as it was to be a surprise and all. 

Well, that it was. Not a good one either. This sort of bicycle is really not what kids need. Heavy, weird, twitchy geometry, and over-geared. Jacob had a really hard time keeping up on rides especially if there was anything resembling a hill. He'd pitch a huge fit, throw his bike down and refuse to go anywhere. It was almost as if a mule had possessed my son at times! 

We worked through it, but that bike! It was the one Jacob crashed on and the handle bar end punctured a hole in his pelvic area just below the belt line. Even though handle bar plugs were in place, it pushed a quarter-sized hole there with a flap of skin attached with a fair layer of fat underneath like the lid of a half open can of tuna. 

I had him pull his pants down so I could determine what was hurting him and when he saw the wound he blurted out through his tears, "Is that my guts coming out!"I literally had to turn my head away from him to choke back my laughter. Of course, he was traumatized and it was a serious thing, but that moment was really funny to me. He ended up with a few stitches and was fine in the end. But that bike!

A new bike for Jacob's 9th birthday.

I determined Jacob needed to get off that 20" Mongoose and get a decent bike he could actually have fun on. So, since I worked at a Trek dealership, I got him a 24" wheeled Trek MT-200. A seven speed bike which was much lighter, easier to ride due to this and its geometry, and one which would serve him well for several years. 

I do have to tip my hat still to this day to Jacob because he found a needy kid in our neighborhood who wanted a bicycle badly. Jacob asked if we could give the old Mongoose bike to him, and I was proud to help him do this. So, the Mongoose went to a good place in the end. 

Night riding was one of Jacob's favorite things to do on a bicycle. 

 

Once Jacob was accustomed to his new bike we went further afield. 

During this time I was able to accommodate Jacob with gear like backpacks, gloves, and different saddles and grips to keep him happy and wanting to ride. His worldview was becoming larger. At one point, not long after he got the new Trek, he was remarking on the geared drive train and what it could do. He stated, "Dad, this can go up hills with these gears. It's a "hill bike"! I said, " Yeah, it is. Well, actually it is a mountain bike." To which he gasped at, then said, "I could go up a mountain?!" 

It's an amazing thing to live life through the eyes of a child.  

Sometimes we pushed the limits of those 24" wheels!

This was the start of many rides with my son which were a lot of fun. I was pushing him to go further afield and try new things, and he responded pretty well. There were times he was extremely frustrated with me, but a few days would pass and he'd ask to go on another ride. So, he kept at it, and I kept accepting his invitations to go on these adventures whenever he wanted to go. 

Gettin'aero!

 

Here he said "This bike isn't strong enough" for the rough grass. LOL!

That Trek MT-200 was an awesome bike, but it was becoming apparent Jacob was frustrated by its limitations and he was getting to a point where he was going to need a new bike soon. I had some ideas, but this was going to be a really big deal, and it took quite a bit to pull it all together. 

Jacob's one and only gravel ride. It was nearly a disaster!

 

Jacob took the opportunity to ride through puddles whenever he could.

The plan was to get a new Salsa Mukluk frame and fork in a size Xtra-small. Juuuust small enough that I could make Jacob work on it. This was going to be a huge challenge as I did not want to tip Jacob off on this birthday/Christmas gift. This bike would also be kind of a demarcation line between his early cycling days and his latter ones. So, with seeing the story this far, I will break for now and Part 2 will pick up the story with the Mukluk.  Click HERE for Part 2

Bikes Of 2025: Singular Cycles Gryphon

 It's another end-of-year period on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2025. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up.

 The Singular Cycles Gryphon Mk3 is a bicycle I have which is part modern and part throw-back. With its 29" X 2.8" wheels and tires, drop bar specific design, and through axles it is right up to date with current trends in adventure bikes. But I have kitted it out with a 3X chain set, 9 speed shifters and derailleur, and a friction shifted front derailleur. 

It's perfect.

I used this bike on some demanding gravel out in Westcentral Iowa for the Tree In The Road Ride. The bike was absolutely no problem. I could access all the gears and the granny was definitely a low enough ratio I could crawl up the steep gravel hills there even though the Sun was baking me alive. 

I regret I don't have enough time to ride this bike more. It is a really comfortable bike. I added a Redshift Sports ShockStop stem, one of the new short versions, and it really helps out smoothing the vibrations to almost nothing on the hands. I have a Luxy Bar on it as well, which also helps me out ergonomically. (I hope they reissue this as rumored)

So, there is not much of anything I'd change with the Gryphon. I would like to add something to its versatility though. An alternate wheel set. 

The Gryphon utilizes a 15mm through axle standard up front, so I happen to have a spare DT Swiss hub which would match. I'd just need a nice rear hub, a set of pretty wide rims, and then lace those up. I then could use different tires. Maybe something not as wide and faster. I don't know. It is jus6t an idea, not anything I would be super-pressed to do anytime soon. 

More than changes to the bike, I need to change how much it gets used. As in "more", that is all!  

Top Ten Most Influential Posts Of 2025

 Two years ago I introduced a new end-of-year feature which showed you the top ten most viewed posts for the year. This was easy to determine off my stat counter on the back end of the site. However; this changed in 2025.

With the rise of artificial intelligence and the scraping of information to "teach" AI how to write articles, my site, as well as several other blogger's sites, were hit with bots. These artificial "hits" drove the numbers to heretofore unseen heights. The numbers were simply unbelievable.  

So, I knew I could not use my stats as a measure of "true" human interaction. However; these bots did not comment, and I can see posts with the most comments. So, it is with this measuring stick with which I have come up with my Top Ten Most Influential Posts for 2025. 

I'll list each with a link, date, and a bit of commentary. I won't list these in any order, so don't think the "number one" post received the most comments or that number ten received the least. I'm not going to rank these in that way. I am just going by what seemed to be the most influential by way of impact which motivated comments. 

 Welcome To The Twentieth Year: May 11th, 2025: The milestone of 20 years of blogging here started on this date last May. I had a series of posts celebrating this feat of writing a daily blog and shared historical high points and images from the days gone by. 

A Tree In The Road Ride Report: Technical Snafus & Heat: July 1st, 2025: The post in the series of ride report posts from one of my highlight rides of 2025. It seemed many of the regular readers here and some from the ride itself were trying to figure out why the GPS units at the ride were giving wonky information. To be fair, anytime I post about troubles with my GPS usage those posts seem to get a lot of attention. This one was no different in this regard. 

The Original Mukluk Reviewed With Perspective: January 20th, 2025:  The bike I call The Snow Dog has been around here a while now and since I had it out for a fair amount of rides in early 2025, I thought a review with a mind to the original intentions for the design might be enlightening. Also, one cannot discount the context of the times when this bike was released. 

Let's Talk About The New Surly Straggler: September 30th, 2025:  Surly redesigned the Straggler after ten years and it showed up as a completely different bike in terms of "Surly DNA", which the new design was pretty much devoid of, in my opinion. I asked what "you thought", and boy! Did I get an earful! 

Two Things: February 5th, 2025:  I write a semi-regular series here called "Two Things" which typically has, (surprise) two subjects which I riff on and pontificate upon. They are one of the most popular series posts I do besides the FN&V posts. This particular Two Things touched a nerve concerning Jim Cummings exclusion from the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame, events and how they are promoted, and the Pirate Cycling Leagues then recent split from Gravel Worlds, an event created by PCL members. 

The Future Of Inflation: April 2nd, 2025: Inflation and TPU tubes were BIG subjects on the blog in 2025. This post about mini-inflators caused a lot of commentary. This was kind of an uncommon thing yet in early 2025. Now these devices have become ubiquitous and you can't hardly get away from these things now. 

Friday News And Views: November 14th, 2025: The weekly, (nearly so) post on news and opinions is always a big numbers getter here. However, when I announced the possibility of a Luxy Bar redux and mentioned Brant Richards, the Luxy Bar designer, would be reading the comments, well this FN&V suddenly got a lot of comments! 

Drop Bars To Take Over Leadville 100: August 8th, 2025: A polarizing subject for some. One commenter in particular took some umbrage to my take on this subject. It was an interesting discussion. 

64 Times: January 23rd, 2025:  My birthday post. Lots of well wishes. Again, Thank you!

A Loss: August 8th, 2025: The post telling you all about my son, Jacob's death. You know, I find it wild I was able to write this at all. But then again, I was in such a state of shock when I wrote it I was numb to emotions. I couldn't process anything about the event. So, maybe this explains how I was able to get through writing this post. Anyway.... Thanks so much for your concerns, prayers, words, and efforts to help out during that terrible period. 

Honorable Mention: Is This Some Kind Of Game? January 12th, 2025:  A post about the explosion in costs for gravel bicycles on the high end. 

A Quick Catching Up Post

Paul Components WORD Fixed Disc hub

 Hey! I wanted to sneak in here amongst all the end-of-year madness going on this blog to give you readers an update on a project and a couple of other things going on around Guitar Ted Headquarters. 

First, I have decided to turn my old Twin Six Standard Rando v2 into a fixed gear bicycle, as I told a week ago or so in the last FN&V. The process has begun already with the main ingredient being a Paul Components WORD Fixed Disc rear hub. 

Oh, and it is a through-axle hub as well. A true "unicorn" in the bicycle component world. I am not aware of any other choices in something along these lines. Good thing it is a high-quality, reliable component! 

The rear hub is built up already on a Velocity USA Blunt SS rim. The front wheel will be a Stans hub with the same Velocity USA Blunt SS rim. What is fun about the fixed hub is it will be interchangeable with  the Honeman Flyer, so I can set up either bike fixed or free. 

The corresponding move here will be the elimination of the Shogun 100 from the stable. It will likely go back to the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective as a donation. At this point, I need to start whittling down the fleet, not add to it. 

I'll have more on this bike after the New Year.

This snow is almost gone now with the warmer weather!

The 4Runner got a new end gate. When Jacob bought the vehicle I kind of let him be in charge of questions and looking everything over. So, it wasn't until afterward, when he lifted the end gate one day, that I heard a weird noise from inside the end gate and looked up to see a big hole in the bottom of the end gate where moisture had rusted through from the inside. 

I figured at some point Jacob would have to decide  to have this repaired, but then he died and when I got the vehicle the repair fell to be my responsibility. So, anyway, it has been done and now the vehicle is in excellent shape. 

Ironically the end gate was so rusted, and the rest of the vehicle wasn't, that the body shop guys were puzzled. Even the rear speakers had rusty voice coils and were inoperable. So, I got new rear speakers as well. But now it is all good to go, so I've got a vehicle now I can rely on.  

Besides those things I have just been doing a little bit of fat biking, dodging ice patches, and going to work at the Collective where I am catching up on closing up the books for 2025. Mid-January will mark my fourth year working there! 

Okay, there is a quick update. Expect the next update after the New Year once all the end-of-year stuff is out of the way. 

Thank you for reading Guitar ted Productions! 

Bikes Of 2025: Singular Cycles Buzzard

 It's another end-of-year period on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2025. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up.

 This bicycle hasn't been featured on this list in years. I had it torn apart and the frame was in mothballs for all this time waiting for someone to buy it. Trouble was the bike was designed during a transition period for 29"ers. 

We were just coming out of the era of "Gen I" geometry for 29"ers and the progression toward slack, low, and long geometry, which we still have today, was just beginning. Furthermore, trail bicycles were all going to through axle rear ends. The Buzzard came out with a QR rear drop out arrangement. You can kind of see where Sam Alison was caught in between changes as the Buzzard does have a bit lower bottom bracket and a bit slacker head tube angle. There was no dropper post routing, or consideration for long-travel droppers as those items were just coming on the scene, or would in a few years after the Buzzard's release. 

So, the Buzzard is an oddball. No one seems to want a bicycle like this, unless..... unless you turn it into a bike packing bike. Then a lot of the geometry makes sense. A quick release rear end is not a big deal, and with the mid-slack head tube angle, it wouldn't handle like a wheelbarrow and it would play nice with a front load. 

The use of a fat bike fork and rear specific hub made this idea unique. 

 I suddenly had a crazy idea. What if I laced up a single speed, quick release or bolt-on hub and used my old Salsa Cycles Enabler front fork for the Buzzard? The idea being if a rear derailleur failed I could swap wheels and have a single speed "bail-out" feature. 

Usually Singular has a single speed option for their models, most commonly in the form of a bottom bracket eccentric. However, this is not the case with the Buzzard. So, I got a Velo Orange eccentric bottom bracket and stuck this in the bike in case of a need to tension a chain for single speed bail-out situations. Although, I have to say I was disappointed in this product and I will likely be packing a Singulator as well just in case the eccentric doesn't work, or in case, (more than likely) I replace the Velo Orange unit. 

Anyway, the idea came together and it was a success overall. I need to square away a few details, but the bike is rideable and handles really well. The big thing here is I actually have to go on a trip. That would probably help.  

Bikes Of 2025: Surly Big Dummy

  It's another end-of-year period on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2025. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up.

Cycling to recycle

The Surly Big Dummy has been around for a while here at Guitar Ted Productions and while you blog readers do not see much of the bike, I do use it quite often. 

This bike goes on nearly weekly trips to the recycling station. I get a lot of odd looks when I haul all my cardboard, plastic, and cans over the river and to the nearest station to me. I don't mind the stares. 

But I also use this bicycle occasionally as the delivery bike for the Collective. However; this year I only did this trip once as we cut way back on ordering stuff. So, there wasn't a lot of hauling action for this bike from the Collective. 

I did get the chance to haul tools and a repair stand to a nearby bike check at the Public Library. That was interesting! I always find it to be fun to figure out how to carry different things on te Big Dummy. 

The saddest cargo I carried this year, or in any year, was the body of our cat which died suddenly in June. Felix the Cat got a last ride in a long, black "bicycle hearse" with wide white walls. Fitting for a black cat, I'd say. That was one tough ride on the big Dummy. I don't care to ever repeat it. 

Another recycling run

The repair stand and tool box loaded on the Big Dummy.

The interesting thing about the big Dummy is in all the years I've had it, I've never replaced or done any deep maintenance on anything on the bike. I did get a flat tire on the front this year. The first flat ever for the bike. Otherwise, it runs fine, but there are hints telling me things need looked into. 

So, in 2026 I plan on doing deep maintenance on this bicycle to get it up to snuff. It won't be fun to take off the bags and work around the Big Dummy's clumsiness in a repair stand, but it must be done. Otherwise this bike is doing great.  

Bikes Of 2025: Karate Monkey

 It's another end-of-year period on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2025. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up.

 My 2003 Karate Monkey is still rolling along in 2025 after 22 years of service. It is my bicycle which I have had running the longest out of any I have now. This is also my first ever 29"er, the bike I rode the longest in one sitting, (around 160+ miles), and was my first gravel grinder bicycle. 

For most of its time with me it has had drop bars. I changed to a flat bar when I got in the Good Grief Cycles "Nice Bar" and installed it back in January of this year. It also was mostly used with disc brakes until a couple of years ago. 

As far as uses went this year I very briefly had this out on gravel, but for the most part it was a commuting bike used on the occasions when I wasn't riding fixed gear. I did put a computer on the bike this year as well. An older, NOS Cateye Velo 5. I recently put an old, reconditioned Brooks saddle and silver post on the bike but I am going back to what you see here in the Ritchey post and apple green Brooks B-17. 

One weird fact about this bike is the head set. It is a Race Face head set which I purchased in 1996 for a Diamondback full suspension XC bike I used to have. I used this head set when I first built this bike up in March of 2003. It is a turquoise anodized head set and it works perfectly on the bike to this day.  

In the future I have contemplated going back to disc brakes, but this would require a new wheel set, or.....I still have the original wheel set. It was a Paul Components WORD hubbed, Alex disc rim wheel set. I need a couple of parts for the Paul rear WORD hub to make it right again, but I hear Paul still will service these older hubs. I have to look into this. 

As far as the bars go, I like them, and the fact the Nice Bar is an angled extension bar makes me more likely to stick with it. Otherwise I think I'd go back to a drop bar again. 

I also need to find a new set of tires for the KM. I have on a set of old Vulpine 2.1" tires which are kind of weird handling and not the greatest for what I want out of this bike. 

I likely won't ever get rid of this bicycle until I cannot ride anymore. It is not just significant to me, but these first gen Karate Monkeys were the bikes a lot of custom frame builders used as a template for their early 29"er custom bikes. I'd go so far as to say this model was the most copied bicycle in modern times, from a geometry and style point of view. The first Karate Monkeys were most definitely a boon to the acceptance of 29"ers at that time and later. 

So, I am happy to have this bicycle yet, and it will be getting miles in 2026 as well. 

Bikes Of 2025: Shogun Fixed Gear

 It's another end-of-year period on the blog. You know what that means? Yep! Another round of my bikes I used in 2025. This round-up will not include some of the bikes I did not use this year much, or at all. I focus only on the bikes that played a big role in my riding during this year.  As always, any changes or future plans for any bike I feature will also be detailed. I hope that you enjoy this year's round-up.

 Last year I found a Shogun road bike from the 1980's which had been donated to the Cedar Valley Bicycle collective. I looked it over and determined it would be a great fixed gear bicycle candidate. As it turned out, I was correct. I bought the bike, stripped it down, and re-fitted it with new wheels and handle bar/stem. The old crank I used but I did remove one ring. 

I used a cheap, Bell department store 1 1/8th pitch chain and I used some Fyxation Mesa pedals. The Brooks saddle was on the bike when it came in, by the way. So was the water bottle cage. I did use one of the original caliper brakes but the front one was not able to clear the 30mm Panaracer Pasela tire, so I went with one brake actuated by a single Velo Orange lever. 

I also added the awesome and highly recommended Velo Orange Burrito Supreme handle bar bag.  I also added on a sweet sounding brass bell. 

I got to where I would find excuses to ride this bike. I did all of my main commuting in warmer weather on the Shogun. It used to be I liked fixed gear in smaller doses, but this bicycle really turned me on to wanting to ride fixed gear more and more. 

So much so I was wishing the Shogun had clearances for wider tires to ride out on the gravel. This led me on a few internet seeking sessions and after a chat with my good friend Ari, I have decided on a course of action to satisfy an itch. 

All of which to say that the Shogun will, most likely, be scuttled to make way for a special project which will bring a bicycle I already have back to life again and become my fixed gear gravel cruiser. (Plus still be a very capable urban commuter!) 

I think this may be the last you see of the ol' Shogun. While it did not last for long with me it did spur a love for fixed gear riding which has led to something new and better. (I hope!) Stay tuned....
 

Rear View 2025: Summer

 Hello! it's time again to review the year on Guitar Ted Productions. The "Rear View" has been a staple of the blog since almost the very beginning. This year will feature  five Rear View posts looking back on   End of Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, and  Beginning of Winter. I'll also have a post looking ahead at 2026. Enjoy the look back and thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

The Summer was a contrast of high and low. The high started out in July with the recapping of the Tree In The Road Ride. The trip to Atlantic was a memorable one and a chance to reconnect with dear friends. 

Then I had a pretty nice 4th of July ride with a decently long course. I was able to get out one other time after this in about three weeks though because the weather pattern went hot, windy, and rainy. The bad days seemed to always fall on days I could ride, so I was a bit on the frustrated side during the latter half of the month. So much so I posted about being happy July was going away. Man..... Hindsight is 20 - 20, they say. I'd take that post back in a heartbeat today. 

During July I started a project which used my old Singular Cycles Buzzard hard tail trail bike. I replaced the front wheel to a rear single speed hub and used my old Ti Muk 1's steel Salsa Enabler fork to make an odd wheel-swappable bike for bike packing. 

It turned out really well, but like every other year, I never actually went anywhere to use it. I know it sounds like a broken record to you long-time blog readers, but I have that route ready for a two-day gravel bikepacking outing, and I still intend on doing it. 

The last image I took of my son. 7/25/25

Of course, losing your only son with no warning and no reason found for his death was devastating. This changed everything after August 2nd, 2025.

I could say a lot of things here, and I have already said a lot of things here on these digital pages. I am torn as to how much I should write here about the death of Jacob and how it has affected me. What I am not hesitant to write about and share here is how several people have come through and supported me through this time. 

Many of you dear readers are amongst this number of people who have done over and above anything I could have imagined. Kind words, gestures, and more have been consistently received here since August's tragedy in my life. I appreciate each and every thought, prayer, kind words,shared, and more. 

I guess there are a few folks out there having a hard time "reading me" and how I am actually doing here. I just want to address this by saying there are days of tears..still. There are days of being just "okay". I laugh. I enjoy riding bicycles. I cherish friends and family maybe a bit more these days. I lean on my Faith, I pray a lot more. There is a lot of heartache and pain, but there also have been plenty of amazing experiences right alongside of those painful emotions and memories. It's weird, and I don't know how to fully express what I feel and am going through. 

So, that is how I am doing. 
 

In honor of my son, I did a ride in late August I dubbed "The Ride For Jacob". I usually go for one long ride in the Summer which I had always called "The Death Ride" because I would ride until I was about dead. In light of what had recently happened this name did not seem right. So, I renamed it "Ride For Jacob" and this will be how I name this ride going forward. 

Anyway, it turned out to be the longest ride I will get done in 2025. A metric century. A healing ride. A way to honor my son and the man he turned out to be. 

I used the old Gen I Fargo for this ride. I also had 180mm long cranks on it! I made it through with no issues, really, but I did learn I prefer shorter cranks than 180mm. 

Otherwise the Fargo was stellar, Even with that heavy wheel set and thick Surly Extraterrestrial 29 x 2.5" tires. I won't lie, I was cooked after the effort, and a lighter wheel set with lighter tires probably would have been better, but I was fine and the tires did soak up a lot of gravel vibrations. This will be the bike for the upcoming L.O.G. Ride in April next year, and I may have to build that lighter wheel set before I take off for the Flint Hills where there will be a LOT more elevation! 

 Next up in the Rear View will be the months of September and October. Look for the next Rear View 2025 in a week from now. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions.

Friday News And Views (Monster Year-End Edition)

Image from Innova Super Gravel webpage.

 Call It "Gravel™" And It Will Sell:

What happens when you take an XC racing chassis, slap a drop bar on it, and call it a "gravel bike"? Well, apparently you sell bicycles. That is what it looks like judging from a few bicycle brands out there now who are trying to figure out how to "innovate" the gravel bike into something the marketing departments hope you will see as a "must have bike". 

The recently released Trek Checkout, and a few other bicycles like this Innova Super Gravel (shown here) seem to have a very striking resemblance to 29"er XC racing bikes from five to ten years ago. 

I wrote up a comparison of the Trek Checkout with an old Gary Fisher XC Trail bike back at the end of September. If you missed the comparison, it may be enlightening to go back and read the article as it will shed some light on what it is that is going on here with these supposed "category defining" gravel bikes. 

I think this is happening due to a few things. One - Road bikes are encroaching on territory formerly covered by the gravel category. Many road bikes can now fit 35mm road tires, which were "gravel tire" widths in the 2010's. Some road bikes in the "road endurance/all-road" category fit even wider tires. No one wants to call these "gravel bikes", even though for a lot of people out there, this is all they would ever need to ride any road they come across. 

Two - "Gravel" is not everywhere. Many places have back roads, pavement, or dirt roads, but many "paths" cross over to single track/MTB type riding. Wider tires, more aggressive trail geometry, and suspension fit this terrain better. The marketing for the Innova Super Gravel shows it on rocky paths and more MTB/XC type terrain. Actual crushed rock roads (gravel) are no where to be seen.  Perhaps this reflects what seems more enticing to ride and this new style of 'Gravel Bike", which is really just XC MTB with drop bars, is what will motivate folks to pop the credit card number in for a charge. 

Three: "Adventure" was removed from XC MTB bikes when racing-focused products took over and gravity oriented machines became the guise entry level MTB bikes took on, if only in form. Part of this swing toward drop bar MTB is labeled as "adventure biking" because MTB has abandoned this adventure off-road category for years. Bike packing was, and is, a partial beneficiary to this as well. However; the lighter, more svelte "gravel bike" with a suspended front end seems to be filling this void where once the mainstay of MTB was residing. News about the 2026 Focus Atlas adventure bike brings to mind the original Fargo, a bicycle who's tagline was "Adventure by Bike" and which created this drop-bar, MTB based adventure category nearly 20 years ago now. 

All these things are being drenched in "gravel" because this is the magic word which conveys a sense of thrill, adventure, and does not carry the pretenses of road cycling or MTB racing/mountain riding. Even though much of what is being put out there as "new", "category defining" and "adventure" is derivative and old news. 

For more on this, see my take on another bike in this vein below....... 

Guitar Ted Podcast To Take Winter Break:

N.Y. Roll and I recorded the final episode of the Guitar Ted Podcast for this season recently. We will be taking our annual Holiday break and recharging the batteries for another season of the show being planned now. 

2025 was a year of growth, according to our end-of-year stats we received recently from a couple of our podcast platforms. We thank you for listening - if you did - over the past year. I have a review of the year on the podcast which will post the last week of this month, so do look for that. 

Season 4 (!!) will start in January with......well, I don't know just yet! We will come up with something, I am sure. We have received a few great suggestions for the podcast and future episodes, and if you would like to voice your opinions on the direction of the show, please do by leaving a comment here or by email @g.ted.productions@gmail.com. 

Image by A. Andonopoulos

Fixing The Bus

What is my friend Ari holding in his hand here? Well.....it is what I am going to "fix the Bus with." 

Yep! The old Twin Six Standard Rando, or what I called "The Gravel Bus", due to its yellow and black paint scheme, is going to become my new fixed gear bicycle. 

Since I stripped the bike down and used its parts to build up my new Singular Cycles Peregrine Mk4, I thought I was just going to sell this frame and fork off. However; I ended up contemplating how I could make a fatter tire fixed gear bicycle. Something akin to the Shogun, but with beefier tires which I could ride on gravel with. This led me to the Paul WORD Fixed Disc Hub and the possibility of converting the Gravel Bus to direct drive.  

Oh....and in case you are not familiar: Fixed gear means you have a cog on a hub which is locked together. You cannot coast. Every inch the wheel travels the cranks are spinning. It is how all bicycles once were in the late 19th Century. Track bikes are still this way. Just thought I'd throw this out there in case you were new to the concept. 

By the way, single speed free wheel bikes are NOT like fixed gear bikes.They are completely different animals. If you have never ridden fixed gear, you should try it out. It really is amazing and you'd get why it is so different straight away. I love riding this way, and so this new build will be getting used quite a bit,, I think. Stay tuned for more on this bike soon. 

Virtual Turkey Burn Ride Recap:

All the reports are in and published. This year we had ten reports and all from the USA. Most everyone had an issue with the big storm which rolled into the country just in time to affect rides for the challenge.

However; I was encouraged greatly because despite the fact many of the challenge takers did not log the mileage to reach a century, either metric or standard, they reported anyway and shared their rides here. I think this is perhaps even more inspiring, since these folks went out in the face of adversity to ride anyway. 

Feedback from the riders was positive and it looks as though many want to participate in this again next year. Whether you reported or not, if you took inspiration from this challenge and rode, ran, swam, or walked outdoors after Thanksgiving, I appreciate this very much. This is the entire motivation for me - To get folks outdoors and trying to stretch themselves a bit physically instead of sitting around, being sucked into the marketing machine, or whatever. Thanks everyone! We'll plan on doing this again next year then!

 

Image courtesy of Knolly Bikes

Knolly Bikes Releases Updated Cache "Gravel" Bike:

The new Cache drop bar bike in titanium is now available from Knolly Bikes, a predominantly mountain cycling oriented company.  

Their geometry isn't anything crazy with a 70.5° head tube angle, 75mm of bottom bracket drop, and 422mm chain stays. But with many companies going wider on tires, you might expect an increase in maximum tire size over the outgoing Cache, and you'd be correct. Now with clearance for a 29" X 2.3" front and a 29" x 2.1" rear tire (1X and 2X), and suspension fork compatibility, ("gravel travel" suspension only), 

Comments: Okay, I don't really care about big tires or not on gravel rides, you can decide on this idea for yourself. However; at the point where companies are going now with 29"er tires, I have to make a demarcation. 

For myself, and going forward, any "gravel bike" with suspension correction and wider than 2.1" rear tire clearance is technically a mountain bike with drop bars. I mean, call a spade a spade.  Personally, I would rather say a bike like the Cache is a "bad Fargo take", or a poor Cutthroat in the case of carbon frames, but this maybe just me being grumpy today. 

Legends Of Gravel (L.O.G. Ride) Update:

I have a few more details to share concerning the April 17th-18th Legends Of Gravel Ride event. Once again - I am not in charge of this ride. So, if you've got beef with anything concerning the ride, I am not the person to bother with those complaints. Just so we are clear.... 

I am being feted at this event, for further clarity, and I was asked to share this information here, since many of you readers of Guitar Ted Productions just might be interested in this subject. 

Finally, the information I was asked to share: An event site is now live and will be updated with specifics on how you can participate in this event if you want to do so. The site is on Facebook, full disclosure, and I know some of you don't travel in the 'metasphere', which is understandable. Have a friend keep tabs on things then. Don't ask me! 

Here is the link. 

Comments: There is a plan for a group lodging opportunity which would cost $100.00/night to stay which includes meals. The ride itself, if that is all you need, is going to be $50.00/person. This is to help defray costs and gets you an event t-shirt. I know, I thought the ride was free at the onset, but I was wrong, and again - I am not one of the organizers. Any event details, costs, or times are subject to change by the organizers. Be aware! 

I think there is a groundswell of interest in this thing, so if you are at all interested it probably would behoove you to pay attention to that Facebook event page. My part in this is to get there and show up ready to ride a couple of days. That is all I am going to do. So, from this point onward I may mention this event in passing, but do not expect timely updates from me. 

From Singular Cycles' social media

The 32 Watch: Singular Cycles Proto

Recently Singular Cycles posted an Instagram story/reel which showed the bike to the left here with the comment: "It's surprisingly normal looking." Reading into it, I assumed this meant "surprisingly normal" because it was a 32"er. I "liked" the post and Sam Alison replied back in a pm confirming my suspicions. I will stop right there. 

Comments: Sooooo...... One would assume this might just be an actual thing, coming from Singular, who are not in the position to just randomly see if something is going to work or not. It would be reasonable to assume this is in an effort to confirm suspicions the idea is marketable.  

I have to thank my brother, MG, for capturing this image. You know, Insta stories go dark after 24hrs. So, here is the evidence which was provided, but only for a short period of time, preserved now for your consideration. What do you think? Would you be interested in something like this? (I have no horse in this race, by the way.)

I think it bears watching. I would be a lot more interested in a drop bar, gravel crusher, but that is just me. I'd want to see wider spaced hubs than 29"ers have. Thinking out loud, I'd want 150mm front and rear spaced. I would think with the longer chain stays this wouldn't be an issue with cranks and it would build a way stronger wheel. The front matching would allow front to rear wheel swaps. You might want this if a cassette failed, or a derailleur failed, and your front, (actually a rear standard) set up with a single speed cog could swap in as a bail-out. Weird? Maybe, but why not? The stronger wheels would be worth the effort with such a big diameter rim. 

And I don't give a rip about telescopic front suspension forks, so there!  

Programming Note: There are two Friday's left in the year. Usually industry news tails off for the holidays, so unless there are compelling reasons to report news or opinions I will likely post end-of-year articles on the following December Fridays. The FN&V will return the first week of January, 2026. 

Have an awesome weekend! Get out and ride those bicycles!