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| Image Courtesy of Wilde Bicycles |
Wilde Bicycles has released information on their soon-to-be-available Dark Star hardtail and Future Proof steel fork. First, let's look at the Dark Star, which is Wilde's take on an "everyday trail bike".
Wilde founder, Jeffrey Frane says the following about the bike and its his intentions for it:
"It (the Dark Star) bucks the current hardtail design trend of long wheel bases and super slack head tubes. These things make sense to me on my 150mm travel dual suspension bike, but on a 120-130mm travel hardtail I feel they miss the plot. I reach for my hardtail for typically two reasons, one it's the most fun on the tight techy singletrack (which we have a lot of around here) or two because I've got some pedaling to do and I want to do it fast and efficiently. Whether it's a big climb, riding to the trails, a local race, or simply a lot of ground to cover that day
The Dark Star is built with air-hardened BOSS tubing designed and spec'ed by Wilde Bicycles. The head tube angle is 66° and the bike has sliding rear drop outs for wheelbase adjustability or for single speed set-ups. Recommended fork travel is 120mm - 130mm. The Dark Star is made in Taiwan by the ORA factory. Dark Star frames start at $1,200.00 and the bike is available as a complete as well. Prices start at $3,600.00 for a Deore equipped bike. Other options are available.
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| The Future Proof Fork (Image courtesy of Wilde Bicycles) |
This fork is also made from steel, is Boost spaced, and has a 501mm axle to crown measurement which mimics a sagged 120mm suspension fork. Fork offset is 44mm.
The Future Proof Fork also has rack and fender mounts, the three-bolt accessory pack mounts on each leg, and has a straight, 1 1/8th steer tube so it can be fitted to any hardtail frame.
Tire clearance is for up to a 29" X 2.8" tire as well, so this would be a good fork for the appropriate hardtail in a bikepacking mode. Frane feels this offering is necessary to help keep older hardtails viable for such things as bikepacking, commuting, or for utilitarian purposes. He says in the press release, "We hate the notion that MTB standards change so quickly that in five years your new MTB may be “obsolete” as your trail rig. We don't believe in investing money or resources into anything that won't be useful for decades. This problem is easily solved though."
The Future Proof Fork might just be the answer to keeping you hardtail viable for years to come. Future Proof Forks go for $250.00 USD. For more on these and other Wilde Bicycle products see Wilde Bicycles site. https://www.wildebikes.com/
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| Image courtesy of PAUL Components |
Paul Components had a daring release on April 1st of their new 100% Crank Arm sets. These are even square taper (!!) which probably will make a lot of younger riders squint and shake their heads. However; square taper cranks work just fine, despite the horror stories you may have heard, as long as you install them correctly.
The 100% Pure Cranks come in anodized purple, *shown), black, silver, and pewter hues. Obviously, the best hue for maximum power output is purple, (IYKYK), so that is the color you should get. Really.... (HA!)
Arms come in lengths from 155mm to 180mm in 5mm increments. Cost is $308.00 and this is just for the arms. You'll have to get a ring and bottom bracket to go with this. Check out these on Paul Components' website here: 100% Pure Cranks
Comments: I have run various bikes with square taper crank sets for as long as I can remember. If you get into square taper, you can also find bottom brackets to customize your "Q" factor and clearance with frames, things hard to do, or which are impossible with other types of cranksets.
I was feeling these purple arms would look fantastic on the Honeman Flyer. I'll have to see if I can scrape up some scratch and get a set. If I do I'm going with 170's this time around.
Floating An Idea:
Okay, N.Y. Roll and I have been kicking this idea around and it has come to a point where we need to make a plan or another year will go by without this happening.
We have wanted to do a ride to "The Tree In The Road" for a while now. We also wanted to offer an opportunity to ride with N.Y. Roll and I which would be closer to our friends in Nebraska so they could make the trip with less travel time. I suppose Missourians and Kansans might find a bit more ease in coming with this idea as well.
The Tree In The Road is located near Exira, Iowa which is about halfway in between Des Moines and Omaha, Nebraska. Guitar Ted Productions friend, Rob Evans, has provided a nice route of around sixty-ish miles which we will likely use that starts in Atlantic, Iowa, (I think), but I'll have to get that suggested route from him again. I inadvertently deleted it!
That is not a really big deal, but what is a big deal for some of you would be the date for this idea. N.Y. Roll and I are kicking around the date of June 28th, a Saturday. It would be the weekend before the 4th of July. We are not "set in stone" on this date, but if we do not get a lot of push-back, it will likely be on that date.
One other minor note: I don't have a car, so N.Y. Roll would be toting me and my stuff to this and back again. Part of this plan relies on his availability. Without his assistance, I'm not able to do this, or any other out of town rides for the foreseeable future.
With that I will leave you to consider the idea and, if you care at all, to leave a comment in the comment section or email me your thoughts. Thanks!
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| Image courtesy of Adidas |
New Adidas Eyewear:
Adidas has a new shield-type eye protection device out now called the SPO108. (Very inspiring name there!)
These have a few variants in terms of colors available, but all feature lenses that have undergone hydrophobic, oleophobic, scratch-proof and dust-proof treatments. The temples are adjustable for a better fit and the tips are grippy to prevent slipping. This style is also adaptable to prescription inserts.
Suggested retail is $160.00 USD although I've seen links with these going for substantial discount prices. So, look around if you are interested in these.
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| Image courtesy of KOM Cycling |
KOM Cycling Debuts 1000 Lumen Quick Release Light:
KOM Cycling just announced a new light which is compatible with Garmin and Wahoo type GPS mounts and their own KOM computer mount. Featuring 1000 Lumens with a claimed 2hr run time, the light also has a 30° adjustment feature so you can put the light right where you want it to be. (The end of the light unit swivels downward)
This would allow you to mount a GPS unit on the top of the light body, position it so you could see the face of the gPS, yet swivel the light head down so it aimed your light correctly, for instance.
The Quick Release Light 1000 also has five other modes, including three flashing modes. Run times for the nighttime modes are as follows:
- Low Steady 300 Lumens @ 7 hrs
- Medium Steady 600 Lumens @ 3.5 hrs
- High Steady 1000 Lumens 2 hrs
That's a wrap on this week. Next week a bunch of Sea Otter news is going to hit, so stay tuned. Until then, ride those bicycles!
7 comments:
June 28th - could be fun :)
Highly curious about that Paul’s square taper crank set, and all the movement around the square BB, specially by Rivendell. I don’t know why we move to the current BB from the square ones, or if it is a real advantage for amateurs normal people.
I’m down with June 28…
@Pedro - At the time when Shimano started to move on from square taper crank design, there were literally about 100 variations of square taper options in terms of length of spindles, offsets, and bearing race design.
Cartridge bottom brackets helped reduce this number substantially, but when Shimano first came out with a pipe spindle design, (Octalink V1) at the turn of the century, they initially wanted to limit the options to under ten. Essentially three spindle lengths for 68mm bottom brackets shells and three for 73mm bottom bracket shells. This may have stuck, but TruVativ/SRAM came along and everything changed.
This along with designs in carbon fiber which placed bearings directly into the carbon frame, along with an exploration of larger diameter spindles, (thanks Cannondale!), led to another explosion in variants in bottom bracket/crank set designs.
Then Boost and Gravel bikes blew this up even further. That's a short synopsis of where we are at. So, why go back to square taper?
Because it is VERY adaptable and can be used in multiple applications with the chance to customize Q factor and crank arm clearances ,plus in general, square taper has less resistance to spinning, all things lost when we went away from square taper design. The stiffness factor is so minimally different from pipe spindle design that most cyclists would never notice any big difference in this area. So, it is still a very viable way to attach a crank set and have a long-lasting, smooth bottom bracket.
I redid the route a little bit to cut out that section we discovered was private property and more clearly marked a few convenience stores that can be used as SAG stops and Darrell's Place, self proclaimed home of the original breaded pork tenderloin. Things bigger than the bun it comes on! Unfortunately June 28th is Coast to Coast so we'd be out for that date, sent the route and some other information to you via email.
@Rydn9ers- Thank you! I am sorry that date doesn't work for you, but I've taken note of what you suggested in your e-mail and I will consult with N.Y. Roll concerning those choices. I'll be posting more about this ride soon. Stay tuned! (And thanks again for the routing assistance!)
Uh ah uh! Thank you!!!! Great and clear explanation.
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