Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Life Time Events

 Life Time To Offer Free Live Coverage Of Unbound Gravel

For the first time in the events history, Unbound Gravel will have live, start to finish race coverage of the Pro Men and Pro Women fields.

In a press release from Tuesday of this week, Life Time promised an approximately seven hour time slot for the  event, saying it will not end coverage until all podium interviews are completed.. 

The timing of coverage seems a bit odd in that the press release states in one place that coverage will start with a pre-race briefing on the event and then turn to the race reporters for an uninterrupted stream of the event on Life Time's You Tube channel. However; this coverage is stated to start at 10:00am CST, which is typically four hours after the event gets going. Further into the release it is stated that the time is yet to be determined. Here is the quote: "The program is due to commence at [insert time here] and conclude following the elite women’s post-race interviews." 

Comments: Obviously there was not a good job of editing before the release went out. If I get clarity on the timing of the coverage I will update this story. Maybe they won't cover the opening hours of the event?

(WARNING! Old Man Yelling At Sky) The release went on and on, with the expected self-congratulatory blather and stating the event is "..the world's premier gravel event". No real argument here, but the blathering and puffery gets a bit tiring. We get it, Life Time, you think highly of how you do things and this event, which you neither created nor elevated to be the World's Premier Gravel Event, was a nice purchase by the corporation. You've shepherded the asset well. I'm sure the shareholders are pleased. 

Now, back to our regularly scheduled gravel event coverage. Thanks to all our noisy helicopters and crews on vehicles scampering across what was once a peaceful prairie causing more mayhem than is necessary so we can be entertained. For "free". 

Image courtesy of Pony Express 150 Gravel event Facebook post.

Another "Mud Year"?

Speaking of Unbound Gravel, it might be that the motos and follow cars won't be able to cover certain portions of the course anyway. As seen in the accompanying image, courtesy of the Pony Express 150 event's Facebook feed, there appears to be an abundance of moisture in the Flint Hills of late.

 Of course, there is an entire week until the event, and things could change, and probably will. So, this may be much adieu about nothing. Then again it is supposed to be unusually cool and wet through the beginning of next week.  .

Definitely something to keep tabs on. The interesting thing is to see commentary over images like this from people who claim that "this isn't gravel racing!" or "whelp! I'm out!".  As I often point out, many of these folks don't know what they don't know. 2015 was a decade ago, and many of the infamous Trans Iowas longer ago than that, so how to deal with mud, or mentally handle it, are seemingly "lost arts" for today's riders.

It will be interesting to see if Unbound modifies the course if this mud persists. You might remember the fiasco from 2023.... We will see.

Image courtesy of Wolf Tooth Components

Wolf Tooth Bottom Bracket Surfaces:

I saw mention during Sea Otter of a new component from Wolf Tooth. A bottom bracket, but no sign of an image or mention of it on Wolf Tooth's site could be found. Well, on Wednesday that changed.

Now the bottom brackets are up on their site (HERE) and several choices of color and type are available, as one would expect from Wolf Tooth.

The 100% user serviceable units come in BSA threaded and T-47 versions now and prices are reasonable with a standard threaded outboard bearing model costing $129.00 USD. These bottom brackets are designed and machined in the USA.

Comments: Another addition to the Wolf Tooth range which makes sense. While their design is touted as "best in class", I really do not see a huge difference in their design versus most other "boutique" brand bottom brackets. It is a machined and anodized cup, a cartridge bearing, and a couple of plastic sleeves.

For my money the Enduro Bearings Max-Hit bottom bracket truly is a different design and one which you can visually see a difference and feel a difference when using it. I'm not saying these Wolf Tooth bottom brackets are "bad" nor that you shouldn't buy one, but they are not what I would call "innovative". They are likely far better than a box-stock OEM model though. So, check them out if you need a good bottom bracket and if you like a touch of color on your bike.

Image courtesy of Mondraker Bikes

Mondraker Offers Arid Gravel Bike In Aluminum:

Last November I posted a story about the new Mondraker Arid carbon gravel bike. I found the story interesting from two standpoints. One: Mondraker was primarily a mountain bike brand before the Arid was offered. Two: The company was making a bigger push into the United States market.  

Actually there was a third reason. I liked the design from a geometry standpoint. The Arid has a "gravel bike geometry". Bicycles which are not in the ball park in terms of geometry just will not see coverage here. I don't see the point of promoting "old" geometry or anything which is too road-ish or is really a cyclo cross bike.

Now Mondraker has offered the Arid, an aluminum version of the Arid C, and it has the same geometry specifications, A 75mm bottom bracket drop coupled with a 70 degree head tube angle. This is the sort of geometry I feel is "right" for gravel and will perform in a way which makes gravel riding more fun and safer.

Of course, an aluminum frame is going to bring the price down. Mondraker Arids start at around $2,500.00. But that isn't what I would call "budget friendly". Compared to carbon? It seems like a bargain. I just wish Mondraker would offer the Arid as a frame set. While it would likely still cost close to 2K, I would be more inclined to build up an Arid transferring parts from my Noble GX5, as an example, than buying an entire complete Arid model.  Of course, I likely do not represent one of a possibly large enough number of sales for Mondraker to pull the trigger on aluminum frame only offerings. (NOTE: You can find Arid carbon frame sets online for about $2.100.00)

An interesting plant is growing outside of the Collective!

Being A Responsible Steward:

Part of the mission the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective has relates to keeping bicycles out of the local landfill. To that end, we collect donated bicycles which are sorted for potential uses. If the parts or bikes are deemed not useful they go to a local metal recycler.

This past week has been a BIG recycling week at the Collective. We had a couple of organizations from Northeast Iowa discover what we are doing and they brought down 44 bicycles to be recycled. We also received nearly 60 bicycles from the local police department.

Of course, what we can save for use by people here in the Cedar Valley we will do, but obviously many bicycles are just not going to be savable. Fortunately many are, and these help underprivileged, destitute, immigrant, veterans in need, and low income folks get on two wheels. An example: We recently have put eight immigrants on bikes so they can get to jobs. We have sold several bicycles to folks recently who cannot afford new, bicycle shop quality bikes. We also have been busy supporting local school programs which have bicycle safety and phys-ed program needs with loaner bikes.

If you are a local reading this, please consider being a part of the efforts of the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. If you have a local collective, please consider supporting it. Help your local bicycle non-profits be good stewards of bicycles and bicycle knowledge!

Image courtesy of SRAM

Zipp Wheels Now Available With AXS Pressure Sensors:

Zipp announced on Thursday that their 353 NSW and 303 NS wheels will be available with AXS air pressure sensors embedded into the rims. The AXS sensors can send pressure monitoring information to a computer head, (Hammerhead is SRAM's preferred brand since they own it), which will allow riders to detect an issue more quickly. Riders can also set pressure levels which the AXS sensor can react to with a green light, letting the rider know the pressure has been set correctly.

Comments: This may seem unnecessary now, but I feel it is a portent of things to come. No doubt this sensor would be even more useful with a pressure regulating system so riders could air up or down while riding. This sort of system already exists and has been race proven in the Pro roadie ranks.

 I'm not sure how SRAM would do this. Perhaps a green light for your up or down settings and perhaps a red one for out of range indicating a problem? The possibilities are fascinating. Imagine a gravel racer with the ability to set a higher pressure for stretches of pavement and then being able to dump air out for the gravel, or rougher sections with less traction.

That is it for this week! Have a fantastic Memorial Day weekend, if you celebrate this holiday. Otherwise, get out there and ride those bicycles!