Electric Motors And Gravel Bikes

Ridley's new e-Aster gravel bike. (Image courtesy of Ridley Bikes)

 Of course, bicycles with electric motors in them are big business. However; some circles of cycling are not as hot with the trend as others. On one hand, you can hardly turn around and not hit a cargo bike with an electric motor in it. Ditto for many long-travel mountain bikes.

Now look at road cycling. Hmm.... Not a lot of movement in the e-Road bike market. There are some, sure, but you just do not see a lot of chatter about those bicycles. Same thing in the gravel cycling scene, at least for now. This may be changing soon.

 My friend, Ari Andonopoulos, calls road bikes "cheater bikes". I would guess this is because riding on gravel, which Ari loves to do, is met with more resistance and takes more effort than riding smooth(er) paved roads. I say this because I find it to be true as well. Gravel is not 'easy', and besides the technical skills needed to navigate loose crushed rock roads, the effort you must put in might be a bit daunting to some who know what road cycling is like.

Ribble Allgrit e-Gravel (Image courtesy of Ribble Bikes)

So, will something with assist for gravel riding be acceptable by those who want to ride gravel roads? I'm going to go out on a limb and say "no", if you are a traditionalist, long-time gravel rider. However; I would not be at all surprised to see some of these more "bicycle-shaped" gravel bikes with electric motors start to find appeal with many more riders, both aging and young.

Early gravel bicycles with electric motors looked....goofy. They did not appear to be the bicycle I'd want to be seen on. Vanity? Yes....I'll admit it. But how my bicycle looks matters, and something with a swollen, misshapen down tube and a "belly" where a motor resides is not my cup of tea. I don't care how good the motor and battery are. 

I will say the elegant Ridley e-Aster and the Ribble Allgrit e-AL models of e-gravel bikes are appealing. They are easy on the eye, and you get a modicum of assistance but not a motorcycle level  of power. Is a bicycle like this "the best of both worlds"? It could be for some, I think.

On the other hand, these bicycles could pose issues for race directors who, understandably, could miss detecting these bikes and have contestants in non-ebike categories taking advantage of the stealth nature of these bikes. Now....I have no horse in this race, and I don't really care, but some folks will cry foul. I can see how this might become an issue. But besides this, I would think these bicycles might have a chance at becoming something we see a lot more of out on the gravel. 

With more "normal" looking e-gravel bikes and, hopefully, lower price points, we might see the next mini-boom in cycling come from e-gravel bikes. Time will tell...

Two Things

 Saving Brooks:

Well, as I wrote some time ago now, I have been working to save this Brooks B-72 saddle from the edge of dry-rot oblivion.  It has been quite the process with multiple applications of Proofide and some rudimentary 'blocking' attempts to bring back some semblance of form to the formerly dried out chunk of cow hide.

The results are encouraging so far. I have been letting the saddle sit to dry out some, with occasional buffings. I also have to finish up taking care of the undercarriage, now that things are looking as though this activity will be worthwhile to do. 

Now, this might be the hardest part of all - What bike do I put this on? Plus, because this saddle uses a dual rail design, a sandwich clamp is used, which means I have to use a headless seat post. This limits how I can use the saddle, but fortunately I happen to know a place that has an alloy 27.2mm headless seat post on hand.

The B-72 requires an application where the rider sits more upright, so my gravel bikes are out, and probably so are my three fat bikes, which don't make sense anyway from the standpoint of cold, wet weather usage. Yeah, this may be something for someone else, but I would like to enjoy the 'fruit of my labors' for a little bit! 

 

Still work to do under here....

The cracks did not go away, but they are only in the upper layer or two of the hide, so I think this should work out fine, although it doesn't look 100% great. There is evidence here and there which I noted while restoring this saddle which leads me to believe it was originally black in color. If I am correct, then the condition I found this saddle in is even more remarkable as it did not look black at all when I saw it first. Far from it! I thought it was a honey colored saddle at first.

Well, whatever color it was when new, I am about ready to ride this saddle and see how it feels. Stay tuned for this and more about the saddle soon.

Buzzard's Beginnings:

I mentioned the 'crazy idea' I had on Monday and I started to act on it yesterday. My first order of business was to tear down the fat bike wheel with the 135OLD single speed rear hub laced to it and tear down the original Velocity Dually wheel for the rim.

The Dually still had the On One Chunky Monkey 29" x 2.4" tire mounted to it, so I had to remove this, the tape, and the valve stem to gain access to the spoke nipples. When I tore off the tubeless valve tape, I revealed the Velocity build sticker, which they sign and date when the wheel was built and by whom.

I had forgotten how long ago this wheel came to me! 2013! That seems like a long time ago now. I wonder if "Austin" still works at Velocity USA. Anyway...

Once I get everything apart, I can measure the hub, throw the ERD and all the other pertinent data into the wheel spoke calculator, press "Calculate", and then find out if I have the proper spokes or no. By the way, I forgot the original spokes Velocity used in this build are bladed. Hopefully I can reuse some of those.

Brakes will be next up after this, and then a bunch of smaller details. I won't do the eccentric right away. I want to do a 'proof of concept' ride or three after my initial build is complete to see how the bike handles and all.Then, if I am satisfied the bike handles well, I will order the eccentric and install the thing. But if this fails, I will go a completely different direction. We will see... 

I should have an update on this one soon. 
 

Gravel Grinder News: SRAM Announces Force & Rival AXS XPLR

Image courtesy of SRAM

Note: Information and images provided by SRAM 

Today SRAM announces that Rival and Force levels of AXS XPLR are now available. You might recall SRAM released Red AXS XPLR ten months ago. I have a complete report on this you can read up on HERE.

Concurrent with the XPLR release are AXS 2X compatible Rival and Force road groups Here in this report I will stick to the gravel-relevant XPLR versions.

Like Red AXS XPLR, Rival and Force levels will have Full-Mount,, hangerless, UDH only rear derailleurs, specific flat top chains, and one 10-46T cassette option for now. (460% gear range) Chain rings for the 1X only AXS XPLR groups will range from 38T  - 46T and a range from 44T - 50T will be available in aero rings.

Notable with the Rival aluminum crank set is that the DUB spindle is longer and compatible with Road or MTB frames. Also noteworthy is the Rival crank set which has a "windowed" arm now and which SRAM claims is their lightest aluminum crank set. 

The new "windowed" Rival AXS XPLR crank set. Image courtesy of SRAM

 The levers are completely redesigned, having textured group patches on the hoods and on the lever tips and shifter buttons. Like Red, there will be an auxiliary button which can be configured to operate various functions like GPS, lights, or act as an auxiliary shifter.

SRAM also mentions these groups are not compatible with a frame with shorter than 415mm chain stays or frames with rear suspension because they may alter chain length. (Note the image above is of a Cannondale Topstone with rear suspension)

Battery life is stated to be 6 to 24 months for the lever and 15 to 60 hours for the rear derailleur.

Image courtesy of SRAM

Comments: Obviously these  groups follow the well-worn SRAM road of "trickle-down" tech. So, much of what my reaction to this is similar to my reactions from last year. However; one would suspect these Rival and Force offerings will be less expensive. (NOTE: I could not find the prices in the press release sent to me, but others may have this information)

The only thing I will mention is the proprietary nature of these groups. You must use a flat top chain from SRAM. These cassettes fit only on XDR free hubs. There is ONE ratio in the 13 speed cassette to make the adjustless rear derailleur work. SRAM is pushing the Hammerhead Karoo GPS device as the head unit, (they own Hammerhead), and they point you to a link to find out how to pair up other devices, but they do not strictly say you can use other devices from Garmin, Wahoo, and others. Of course, they wouldn't, and this makes sense, but the implication is the Hammerhead is the best choice. Compatibility with other devices seems "less desirable" here. It is the message, really, which bothers me more than the reality. 

AXS XPLR for the masses? Maybe. There is still a large contingent of riders who will not want to rely, or deal with batteries, and since none of this is mechanical, they may opt out. However; we all know SRAM does offer a hangerless, UDH style Transmission group for MTB. Can a drop bar, mechanical XPLR version be far behind? One would think this is a distinct possibility. Of course, since Shimano still offers a mechanical GRX, it would make sense for SRAM to also compete there as well.

Quick Shop Update

 Since I will have a special report coming up at 9:00am CST this morning I'm posting this for you early-bird readers of the blog. Don't forget to check back later for the press release and my comments.

Last week, and truthfully, the past two weeks, have been nuts down at the shop. We have received over 200 bicycle donations and we are barely keeping our heads above water as we have limited space in our basement to store all these bicycles.

The mass numbers of two-wheeled objects happened to come in due to three major donations, two from the same outfit. These are mostly bicycles people purchased and then ended up parking somewhere, leaving them for dead. Then the people who owned them ended up relieving themselves of these burdens once the opportunity arose to do so via a few organizations we have worked with.

I know it might sound exciting and all, but the reality is we probably get five to eight "keepers" out of every batch of fifty bikes we receive. Most of those are not very exciting, but will service needs in our communities well. The rest? Parts harvesting, opportunities for John Deere volunteers to come in and do community service by stripping these bikes down, and we keep it all out of our local landfill.

My over-all feeling about this is one of sadness. To think of the thousands of dollars burnt up on cheap, barely usable bikes, and bicycles which are fine, but never were put to their potential. I find it to be a sad commentary on consumerism. The waste is hard to look at sometimes.

So, I know what we are doing is a good thing, and I certainly find satisfaction in doing this, but what if I did not need to be employed at all doing what I do? Wouldn't that mean we would be living in a better world? I think so, and so yeah...... It is very thought provoking and humbling. 

Okay, I Have This Crazy Idea...

My idea is inspired by this venerable bike. 

Once in a while I get these crazy ideas for bicycles. Sometimes I act on them and you end up seeing the results here. Bikes like my Pofahl Signature, or the latest to be realized, the Honeman Flyer. 

Sometimes they remain in my mind never to be realized. Which, in some cases is probably a good thing! It doesn't help things when I have several frame sets around and lots of parts not doing anything. I naturally want to just find creative ways to put this stuff together and see what the outcome might be.

Lately I have had this idea percolating in my head which was inspired by the venerable Surly Pugsley. That weird, versatile, early fat bike option which had some unique design features. First of all, you could use parts from a hard tail MTB to build one up, including the hubs. Well, the rear hubs. See, the Pugsley was designed specifically to utilize two rear hubs so a rider could have a geared hub as the main drive wheel, and the front would be set up with a single speed free wheel 'just in case of emergency'. Say you whack the rear dangly bit off. Well, you simply swap wheels, utilize the Pugsley track ends to tension the shortened chain, (you did remember the chain tool, right?), and you can then pedal your way out of a tight spot.

This idea spawned my thoughts regarding my forlorn, but rare, Singular Buzzard frame. I was trying to sell it for a while, and I actually had some interest in it, which then pushed me over the edge to jump off and do this idea. (Apologies once again to the person who expressed interest)

Anyway, check this out. It's just a mock-up. A sketch, if you will. I'll explain after the image.

Okay, so here we have the Buzzard, a hard tail MTB with a kind-of slack geometry. This bike was designed just previous to the radical "long/slack/low" geometry craze we all know these days, so the head angle is not super choppered out, but it is slacker than older 29"ers. The top tube is not crazy long, but it isn't short. This is kind of a transitional design from the early "first gen" 29"er to what we have out there now. 

Now, it is not a typical Singular in that the frame is not single speedable. This is a critical factor in my idea. Fortunately Velo Orange makes an eccentric which accepts a 24mm spindle, two piece Shimano crank set. Now, the next critical piece is the front wheel. I happen to have this oddball single speed 135mm rear hub laced to a Marge Lite rim. This happens to work really well with this old Salsa Cycles Enabler fork I have lying around. The plan is to re-lace the red single speed hub into the old front wheel from this bike, which matches the rear wheel, and is a Velocity Dually. The rear is laced to a Velocity geared rear hub. Also of importance: The fork is a rear brake standard. So, I can use two rear hubs, one geared, one single speed, and if something went wrong on a ride? I could use the Velo Orange eccentric bottom bracket and swap wheels.

Crazy, right?  

Weekly Top Five

 Welcome to the weekly Top Five" showing links to five of the week's most read articles on the blog.
Sometimes those will be current posts, but sometimes not. I will also post commentary with perspective on some of the older posts, and try to give some context as to why I wrote what I wrote then, which may not reflect what I'd say in 2025. With all of the above said, here is this week's list.

 Continental Terra Adventure 700 X 45mm Tires Review: Update 2 - Tuesday, June 10th, 2025: The latest on the new Conti tires. My final review will be forthcoming on these tires in about a month from now.

Aero & Gravel Cycling: Thursday, June 12th, 2025 - The effects of aerodynamics on cycling have pervaded every corner of thye sport. I take a look here at why gravel cyclists should pay attention to this, even if you are slow. 

Friday News And Views: Friday, June 13th, 2025 - You know it, you love it. The latest FN&V is your number three on the list of the Top Five this week. 

Review: Camp Snap Camera: Thursday, May 16th, 2024 -  This review of the inexpensive, first version of the Camp Snap camera garners consistent views and is almost always in my Top Ten most viewed psots. I would like to stress that this product has been updated since my review of the V1 of this camera, so my take may be irrelevant by this point.

Tips On Dealing With The Mighty Red Winged Blackbird: Thursday, July 9th, 2020 - It is still Red Winged Blackbird season out there. This post will likely persist on the top of the most viewed posts rankings until these critters gather for migration later this month. At least here in Iowa.  

Happy Father\s Day!

 Happy Father's Day!

Guitar Ted is taking the day off today to enjoy his family for Father's Day. If you are a father, I hope you take a moment to reflect on the blessings and responsibilities you have as a Dad. 

I know sometimes days like these can be bummer reminders of bad experiences and fathers lost. I can sympathize having lost my Dad several years ago now. However; whether directly or indirectly, you are affected by fathers out there, and today is the day to celebrate the good and pray for the not so good regarding fathers out in the world today.

I'll be back tomorrow with a regular blog post. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions! 

Bike Shop Tales: Times Are A Changin'

Fully-stocked bike shops may become a thing of the past.

The other day down at the Collective I had an interesting conversation with a man who donated a bicycle to the organization. After chatting about his bicycle, he mentioned a local shop and how he had a "bad experience" (his words), and wasn't ever going back again.

Unfortunately, I hear this more and more, and not all specifically tied to one shop, but across all the shops in our area, to be honest.

The stories are similar: No good selection of wanted items, or none at all. Poor customer service. Poor outcomes with mechanics. It is a sad state of affairs, and things do not seem to be getting better.

Now, I don't know if this is something seen in other areas, (you, dear reader, can chime in on this in the comments if you'd like.), but I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that this isn't just an Eastern Iowa thing.

So, what is going on here? Well, from my own personal viewpoint, I can say a few things. First, getting good help has been a perennial problem with local bicycle shops. Low pay due to low charges for labor to customers makes holding on to even the decent mechanics and sales people really difficult. This has been going on in shops for decades, yet no one can seem to crack that nut to get to a place where bicycle mechanics and sales floor help can be paid enough to stick around, and be worth putting teaching resources in to.

A pumpkin I carved at work in 1996.

I was apprenticed under a very smart, patient owner of a bicycle shop starting in 1993. Most shop owners were not like this man, and many are not able to hold a mechanic's hand to get through all the little things a seasoned mechanic should know. I was very, very fortunate to have had my career in bicycles start off with this mentor.

Now, I would have loved to have mentored other mechanics, but my owner during the majority of my mechanic career was not interested in paying me to do this. It was assumed I would do this out of charity. Amazing....

So, in our area I have noted a dearth of any "good" young mechanics. I have seen a similar noticing of a lack of good young mechanics elsewhere. In my opinion, it is not because younger folks do not want to work. I would say, again, in my view, that a lack of opportunities is more to blame, and the bicycle industry bears the brunt of this blame.

Finding knowledgeable sales people falls into a similar  pattern. All of this leads to poor customer experiences. Of course, there are exceptions, but we needn't go over all of that here. Those examples are going to become fewer and further between. They already have.

So, the young man I spoke with at the Collective, a bicycle enthusiast in the making, by the sounds of it, has taken matters into his own hands. He told me he can get pretty much whatever he wants with his smart phone, have it shipped to him, and use You Tube videos to learn how to repair and adjust his bicycle. Okay, so maybe he won't get things quite right, but he can blame himself and try again. He's learning a new skill, and eventually he'll likely get it "good enough" that a bike shop won't be in his future. And I think he's aiming for exactly this.

Compound this sort of thing with youth who visit me at the Collective asking for electrified bicycles and scooters. I show them the 100% human powered bicycles we have at really affordable prices, but these things are not what they want.

Again, these are just my experiences, but I'd be willing to put money down to say this is something more common than we think.

And the future of bicycle shops hangs in the balance...... 

Friday News And Views

Gravel Amplifier:  Farmhouse Classic

Many years ago gravel events were much more intimate and often reflected a very personal touch which was imprinted on the event by the organizer. It was not uncommon for the event to start at a home, for instance, or start at someone's private property.

Such was the case with the early Farmhouse Classic gravel event organized by Joe Fox, owner of Cycle City bicycle shop now in Kansas City, Missouri. Joe had the event start at a farm in Northwest Missouri, not far from Kansas City. While I never had the chance to ride the event then, it did have a high reputation as being one of those  events you thought of when thinking about "grassroots gravel".

Last year, on our way down to Mid-South, we stopped in at Cycle City and I had the chance to chat with Joe Fox. Joe has been a gravel rider in many events going way back, including Trans Iowa, the event I used to run. During our conversation, I mentioned the Farmhouse Classic and I told Joe he should consider bringing it back again. Joe quickly brushed the suggestion off and made a few remarks about it being a big commitment and how he was pretty tied up running a shop nowadays. Totally understandable stuff

But, for whatever reasons, I see now that Joe has indeed resurrected the Farmhouse Classic. (I'm sure my suggestion had little to do with this happening, by the way)  It is set up now to be a benefit for the Parkhill Bison Composite NICA Team. There are 68 mile, 35 mile, and 20 mile ride options. The event will occur on July 19th out of Lathrop, Missouri, which is located Northeast of Kansas City, Missouri.

Journeyer CUES 11 Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles

 Journeyer CUES 10 & 11 Speed Bikes:

Salsa Cycles announced this week the availability of Shimano CUES groups on their Journeyer gravel/adventure bike frames. CUES is Shimano's group set specifically made to work through several speed and set up types. So, there is a 9 speed, 10 speed, and 11 speed CUES all with cross compatibility using derailleurs, shifters, and crank sets across the range including drop bar and flat bar versions.  For a more detailed look at CUES see my article on the group HERE.

The drop bar CUES was a highly anticipated version of this mechanical shifted group as it was hoped that it would reduce costs and make a gravel bike more accessible to the masses. Salsa has dropped both 10 speed and 11 speed CUES equipped Journeyers now, so how do they stack up?

Journeyer CUES 10 (Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles)

Well, for context here a frame set is available foor the Journeyer which includes a carbon Waxwing v2 fork. The cost for the frame set is $799.00. The CUES 10 equipped version clocks in at $1,699.00 and the 11 speed CUES Journeyer is $1,999.00.

Okay, bicycle prices have increased by quite a bit. It used to be you could get an entry level road bike for under 1K. This Salsa model was called the Journeyman when it came out in the late twenty-teens and the base model was under 1K.

Comments: So, we're still talking base, entry level stuff here and now - just to get in on a Salsa, you are looking at over $500.00 more these days. This is if you want a Salsa Cycles bike. Plus, CUES is not getting rave reviews on the bicycle mechanic pages I scroll routinely. 

Of course, alternatives exist and one no6table choice in this category is State Bicycle Co.  Their All-Road 6061 gravel bike compares with the CUES 11 Journeyer. It has a 1X 11 speed "State Bicycle Co." drive train, (read: MicroShift Sensah derailleurs and shifters. Also a group set with mixed reviews), and a carbon fiber fork as well. It retails on State's site for $300 bucks less than the Salsa CUES 10 Journeyer. So, a pretty competitive price, but you do not get a dealer back-up, and all that might come with that. So, yeah..... Apples and oranges, but this is how the market stacks up these days on the entry level gravel bike end of things.

Image courtesy of TRP

Vistar/Classified Wireless Group Set Details Announced:

TRP sent out an email blast to its customer email list last week detailing its Vistar wireless group sets for gravel and road. Featuring wireless shifters and rear derailleur, the group is also paired with Classified's two speed internal geared rear hub. 

Users can leverage the TRP Vistar app to customize shifting, set up the system as a sequentially geared system, or use it manually as a 2 X 12/13. Cassettes are made from one block of metal and there are two ranges each for road and gravel to choose from. 

Comments: Since the system is app based, it probably will be upgradeable to future 13 and 14 speed systems. The Classified rear hub is kind of an acquired taste in that you need to buy into the limited range of Classified compatible wheel sets, although the choices are expanding all the time at this point. Still - none of your old wheel sets will work. Plus you have to buy a "Smart through axle" which acts as the receiver for the signal to make the rear internal gear switch. ($165.00) Plus a bar-end mounted controller unit as well. ($65.00)

If one could just use the system as a 1 X 12 and buy the derailleur, shifters, and controller unit, the price isn't so bad, but to get a two gear addition, equivalent to a front derailleur, which requires a special wheel and cassette? I still do not see the value in this way of doing things. 

NOTE: There is something you'll hear about next week which will really make Vistar/Classified look less attractive. Stay tuned.... 

Portrait of Charlie Farrow at Trans Iowa by Michael Roe

Tailwinds To Mr. Farrow On His Tour Divide Attempt:

Tour Divide starts today and one of the participants in this year's running is Charlie Farrow of Duluth, Minnesota.

You may not know Charlie, and I don't blame you. I know him from his participation in Trans Iowa for several years. Charlie has forged a legendary status just within the confines of Trans Iowa, but there is so much more to the man. Most people are completely unaware of his feats of cycling endurance. I wrote a bit about Charlie specifically in my Trans Iowa Stories series. This post gives you a taste of what Charlie's legacy is, and his story is still being written. 

As with many great figures in sports and elsewhere, Charlie Farrow would not like this being said of him. He would pass it off as his being just a guy living his life, most likely, if I know him at all. In my opinion, Charlie is a "cycling renaissance man", eschewing the electronic gadgets, latest gear, and instead he does things in his own, unique way. For instance, Charlie never used a cell phone during Trans Iowa, even though it was required equipment. Once, during Trans Iowa v8, he was so lost he had to wait until he reached a small town to use a phone so he could call me to get directions from where he was back to the course.

I have been told by my friend Ari Andonopoulos, a good friend of Charlie's, about Charlie's Summer rides where he takes off, with out connections to the World other than a sending of a post card occasionally from his route as he piled on the miles. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Charlie does Tour Divide without a GPS tracker and no cell phone. It's just the way he rolls.

Tailwinds, Charlie! I hope you reach your goal!

That's a wrap for this week! Get out there and ride those bicycles!
 

Aero & Gravel Cycling

The new Miche Graff Aero 48 wheel (Image courtesy of Miche)

 Five years ago I was testing an aero wheel set for Riding Gravel. It was a wheel set from FLO Cycling, a then player in the triathlon market that was trying to make a mark in the gravel cycling niche.

I wrote an article here detailing how many negative comments were being made about aero gear for gravel, and later on in 2020 I made the bold statement that we would see "a lot more companies jumping in on aero" products in the future. 

Anyone who pays attention to gravel cycling gear now knows aero is an entrenched facet of the genre. You don't have to agree with the concepts, nor believe the benefits, but I don't think anyone can say it doesn't exist and would agree that it is here to stay. 

This was not the case five years ago when comments were being made to the effect that the aero concept was merely another invention of marketers to take your money. Or, this one: "Aero doesn't matter to me because I am slow".

I'm going to make a few feathers ruffle, perhaps, but all of the negative thoughts concerning aero - whether it is merely a rude to make money, or that it doesn't matter at slower speeds, are wrong.  Aero matters on gravel roads. Especially in the Mid-West. Probably in other places too. You know, wherever you have air to move through? There it matters.

FLO Cycling wheels on the Noble GX5 in 2020.

 Of course, there are diminishing returns, and limitations to aero exist when conditions get weird, like with heavy winds and the like, but aero is a thing for gravel and I have always believed this. So, I don't get too bent about aero this-or-that when it comes to gravel cycling. There is a place for it even for a guy like myself, who admittedly is not all that fast.

Besides, we do ride on roads, of a sort, so it only makes sense to pay attention to some aerodynamic benefits. If you can avail yourself of these benefits, why not do that? And if some of this is in components, or what you wear, like my aero helmet, then I think it deserves some consideration for all gravel cyclists.  

Tree In The Road Ride: Route Info

 The Tree In The Road Ride, happening on June 28th at 8;30 am from Atlantic, Iowa, will leave from the parking lot behind a Mexican restaurant on the corner of IA HWY 6 and Hickory Street. For more on this ride go back to my last update on June 1st which has links to all the other previous posts on this ride. (LINK)

In this update I will share the route link and talk a bit about parking, what the route will be like from data I've checked, and contingencies for weather related circumstances.

Parking: I do not know how many people will be showing up for this ride. It is not a ride which has any organization, so there is no registration, and YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN ADVENTURE if you show up to ride a bicycle at the same time in the same place as I do. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU. This goes for parking as well. And since I don't know how many cars will show up, and since the ride starts in a restaurants parking lot, I suggest you park in random places on the street or wherever you feel comfortable parking at. Make a bad decision and you may get towed, get a ticket, or maybe worse. I don't know and this is going to be something you have to figure out for yourselves. 

Route: The planned route I am riding is 74 miles or so. Here is a Ride With GPS link for this route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50514296  There are not going to be cues handed out, so if you prefer to navigate by cues, or have cue sheet back up, then you'll have to make your own. 

Route Details: I've taken some time to delve into some climbing data for this route. Climbs in this area tend to be longer than they are around the rest of the state. I counted 10 climbs of over 100 feet elevation gain. (I know.....mountain climbs measure in much more gain at times.) These ten climbs account for 1,512 feet of gain which is just over half of the ride total given by RWGPS for the entire route. There are four other climbs equaling 300 feet of gain. Most of this is all on the front half of the route since a large chunk of miles coming back is on paved bicycle path. (Approximately 21 miles) 

 

What this means is that if you decide to ride this route you'd better bring your climbing legs and a bike that has a gear to climb in, (or three!). Now, we are stopping for stragglers and we will be making various stops along the way, (see previous updates), so this is by no means a "race", or even a fast paced group ride. N.Y. Roll and I are taking this in as a tour of sorts.

 

Attendance: As of this writing I only know of three other folks coming to try this out besides N.Y. Roll and myself. Judging from past rides I've been a part of like this. I'd expect anything from around six to ten or as high as twenty-five riders. But again, I have absolutely no idea who is showing up beyond a few who have told me already that they plan on showing up. 

 

Weather: Right now this ride looks to occur in typically hot and humid weather. However; in case of inclement weather or if some kind of weather event presents itself during the ride, N.Y. Roll and I will be cutting the route short, or making necessary changes to assure our safety. You probably should have a plan for yourself if you decide to ride this route. 

 

That's probably it for updates on this ride for us. We have a motel room reserved in Atlantic for the evening before the ride. If you happen to be around, and want to meet up, let me know. Otherwise I'll probably not post again on this ride until afterward. I may make a mention in the FN&V about any interesting tidbits related to the ride, if need be.

 

Questions? Comments? Hit me up....  

Continental Terra Adventure 700 x 45mm Tires Review: Update 2

 Note: Continental Tires sent Guitar Ted Productions two Terra Adventure 700 X 45mm tires for test and review at no charge. Guitar Ted was not paid, nor bribed, for this review. All opinions are Guitar Ted's.

Not quite a month ago I posted the first update to this review. I wanted to do two things after the update. One - I wanted to switch wheel sets to one with a wider internal rim width. Second - I wanted to do some more dirt and single track testing with these tires. Their aggressive tread and intended use seem to call out for this sort of a test, in my opinion.

I have had the chance to do both since the last update, so in this update I will give my opinons on how the Terra Adventure responded to a different wheel set and how I found their performance to be on dirt and single track.

The Wheel Change: If I had to choose a "standard" for gravel cycling wheel sets, I'd likely look at 24mm - 25mm inner rim width as that "standard". I'd have liked to have put the Terra Adventures on a wheel with 25mm inner rim width, but all I had available to me at this time was a Irwin Carbon Aon 35 wheel set with 24mm inner rim width rims.

So, a one millimeter wider inner rim width. Whatever.... But you know, it did make a difference. Using 30psi, I now measure one tire at juuusst over 45mm and the other a bit under. So, I am confident in saying the Terra Adventure tires would end up being 45mm+, eventually, on 24mm - 25mm inner rim width rims. Plus, I think you could afford to go to something wider, say in the 27mm - 28mm inner rim width range, because the Terra Adventure has a pretty significant 'crown' to them, which a wider inner rim width would flatten out a bit.

The Terra Adventure has a very damped quality which is great on chunky, loose gravel. 

Gravel and Single Track Performance: The Terra Adventure was put to the test on gravel, naturally, and while the damped quality of the casing was very much appreciated, the high-crowned casing caused a bit of a nervous, looser feeling on loose, chunky crushed rock road. Again, putting this tire on a rim with a wider inner rim width might help smooth things out in this area.

 I thought the tread pattern was nothing which held me back. I suppose a smoother tire with a more supple casing might prove to be faster, but if I was looking for a tire which could go off-road, on dirt, and even single track? I'm okay with how the Terra Adventure handles gravel roads.

And speaking of single track, if you have the will to go fast on your drop bar bike in the woods, I think you'll find the Terra Adventure is up to the task. Keeping in mind this is a 45mm tire, and the knobs are not huge. Obviously there are limitations, but on smooth, buff single track? I think you might find yourself faster on the gravel bike fitted with Terra Adventure tires than you are on a mountain bike.

The grip these tires have on dirt is really quite good, but I wouldn't probably go with quite the same speed and gusto on loose over hard pack or chunky, rock infested single track, so choose wisely here. Most of the time you'd be better off with an actual mountain bike, but the Terra Adventure is capable on dirt in the right situations. Fortunately, our river bottom single track is perfect for this tire, so I enjoyed using them on our dirt trails.

So Far... I like this tire a lot. It has one of the best feeling casings I've been on in a while. On our typical gravel roads, it does a good job. It would likely be great on wider rims than I am using, so this is something to consider with the Terra Adventure.

I really was impressed by the dirt/single track performance. If I had one bike, and I had to use it on both gravel and dirt, I would opt for a drop-bar gravel bike that could fit the 50mm Terra Adventure and ride everywhere. The grip is pretty good, and while it is not a single tracking all-around tire, it can hold its own on dirt.

I'm using Orange Seal for sealant in these tires and I am noting the tires do not hold air pressure as well as some of my other set-ups do. Just something to note. Otherwise living with the Terra Adventure tires is pretty easy.

I'll have a final verdict in my last update on this review in a month or so. 
 

Two Things

 KOM GPS Mount:

So, I was looking for a GPS mount for the Wahoo Elemnt Roam and all of them I have are being used. I wanted to put the Roam on my Gryphon Mk3 for the upcoming Tree In The Road Ride.  Well, since I was unwilling to dismount any of the mounts I have in place now this left me with no other option than to order a new one.

Shopping online led me to KOM Cycling. I've had good performance and experiences with their products such as their tubeless tools, saddle roll, and tube pack. They offer GPS mounts as well, so I decided to roll with one of their Wahoo compatible mounts. The price is very reasonable, and it comes in colors, so this was appealing also.

The mount is made of injection molded plastic. It seems reasonably lightweight, and it has these killer rubber shims for smaller diameter mounting points. They are molded rubber in a cicular shape, and split, so you can slip one over a bar and not have to hold it in place while trying to mount the GPS holder. These are probably the best shims I've ever seen for an accessory.

Which is kind of sad since I didn't need to use either one sent! The GPS mount has an embedded rubber strip for grip if you do not need those impressive shims. The mount uses the ubiquitous single 3mm hex head bolt to clamp down the mount, and with the embedded rubber strip, this clamp feels rock-solid. I expect no movement there. And the Roam fits snugly with no wiggle or chance it would randomly twist out of the mount. So, I am satisfied and I would buy one again if I need to for another bike.

Image from Facebook post.

Trek Full-Sus Gravel Bike Spotted:

Recent ultra-distance events have revealed a Trek branded full-suspension bike which is not in their catalog as of this writing. 

The bike appears to use a linkage driven rear shock tucked up underneath the junction with the top tube and seat tube. The tires look pretty beefy, which is the trend for adventure bikes, and the bike appears to have geometry which would be more mountian-bikish rather than gravel race/riding geometry.

Apparently there is a Reddit thread on this bike where users claim the name of the model is "Checkout".

Comments: Interesting.... My observation is the average bikepacker is looking for less complexity and ease of field repair. While suspension forks are typically used by many bikepackers, a short travel gravel fork seems, well......pointless.No one has convinced me yet that 40mm of travel can do what 100mm of travel does. The reality is 40mm of travel is handcuffing yourself to a compromise which has the same weight, complexity, and maintenance factors as a 100mm fork which, as well all know, actually works. 

I am not against this idea, however, full-suspension hasn't been a hot bikepacking choice, not that I've noted, so acceptance of a model like the Trek shown here doesn't seem a slam dunk. Obviously, we don't know details either, but if the bike has a high bottom bracket and leans into MTB geometry, with its paltry suspension travel, (at least up front), it would seem to be an odd-ball offering.

But I don't know, it could be a big deal. What do you think? 

Weekly Top Five

 Welcome to the weekly Top Five" showing links to five of the week's most read articles on the blog.
Sometimes those will be current posts, but sometimes not. I will also post commentary with perspective on some of the older posts, and try to give some context as to why I wrote what I wrote then, which may not reflect what I'd say in 2025. With all of the above said, here is this week's list.

 Tips On Dealing With The Mighty Red Winged Blackbird: Thursday, July 9th, 2020: Here's a perennial seasonal Top Five post since I posted it in 2020. The Red Winged Blackbird is a common bird species across the North American continent. It also has a propensity for buzzing cyclists out in the country in order to protect their territories during nesting season. 

Friday News And Views: Friday, June 6th, 2025: This past week's FN&V. No surprise here. 

Tree In The Road Ride: Update & Bike Choice: Sunday, June 1st, 2025: The upcoming ride for June 28th will have another update post this week. 

Where We Came From: "I guess You Had To Be There": June  5th, 2025: An opinion piece regarding the differences in gravel grinding culture and racing from the early years to now.

Tifosi Moab Lite: Review: June 4th, 2025: My first look at the newest Tifosi eyewear model. More on this from another viewpoint coming soon. Stay tuned...  

That's a wrap for this past week's most read posts on Guitar Ted Productions. Thank you for checking these and other articles out on teh site!  

It Is Time For Pro-Only Unbound

From the 2024 UNBOUND Gravel highligths video by Life Time Events

 The fall-out from this year's Unbound Gravel is still coming down and once again, there is "beef", as it has been called in the past. Meaning that there were circumstances which the Elite Women's field saw which prompted some articles online afterward disparaging how the event is set up for Elites and for how support is rendered in a couple of different instances. In today's post I want to, once again, discuss the idea that Pro/Elite racing, which is a job/money-making venture for most in this field, is not compatible with the amateur/original intentions for this event.

First, I want to point out a few previously published articles on this subject which I have written. The most directly related of which is one I wrote three years ago now entitled " State Of The Gravel Scene: Mid-Term 2022- Is It Time To Separate The Pros From The Rest?" . The next article which pertains to this year's "beef" is entitled "UNBOUND Makes Changes To Event But Will It Matter?". That one is also from 2023. Finally, another related article is entitled "Unbound Gravel: The Real Heroes of the Event", also from 2023. I will be drawing from these articles for the following thoughts I have concerning the issues brought forth this year.

Briefly, let's touch upon "the beef" part. What is going on which is making waves? I'll hit some Googled results for "Unbound issues/news". Here are the top four results:

• From Cyclingnews:  "Unbound Gravel 'needs standards, not red tape' "Elite riders feeling the squeeze in Kansas amid lightly vetted fields and chaotic aid stations"
• From Outside:  "Unbound Gravel Is Becoming More Dangerous Every Year" "Many riders had safety concerns after Saturday's race, between the feed zones, sizes of fields, and the aggressive racing."

• Again - From Cyclingnews:  'Good day until blood came out' - The Unbound Gravel ...   "A catalogue of the crashes, broken wheels, barbed wire encounters and wrong turns that ended races and curtailed results."

•  From Cycling Weekly: Unbound rider left injured, in ditch for 90 minutes before ..  "Klara Sofie Skovgaard (Canyon Factory Racing) suffered a serious crash early in the women's elite race at Unbound Gravel on Saturday, ..."

From social media: Roads were troublesome all week.

The fifth return was an Outside feed for the event but was tag lined with the same news about the Elite woman rider's crash and being in the ditch.

So, let's clear up a few things here. All of the following five points are big parts of what Unbound is today and figure heavily into what is seemingly going on there. 

 One- The event payed out for placings, for the first time, if I am not mistaken. Of course, Unbound figures heavily into brands, teams, and other sponsors marketing for the year in gravel also. The event now is a plum prize in terms of how athletes can be rewarded financially and by other means. Basically, the perception is that Unbound is important to success for athletes and cycling related business. 

Two: The event was purchased by Life Time Events as a turn-key, ultra-distance format gravel event, primarily focused on amateur athletes, but with a distinct Pro/Elite presence at the front of the field. The event was not as large as it is now. In 2018, when Life Time purchased the Dirty Kanza Productions company, the event hosted 2,500 riders in total. Now, in 2025, the event has an estimated 5.000 riders. In 2018, the event was seen as a challenge, there was no prize purse, and there was no separate field for Elite athletes.

Three: The Dirty Kanza 200, the event which eventually became Unbound in 2020, was based on a couple of other events. One called Trans Iowa, and another called the Flint Hills Death Ride.  These were events which were based on self-reliance, risk-taking, and adventure. The founders of the DK200 took these elements, infused them into their event, and added elements to appeal to business and to enhance the riders finish line experience. A focus on all rider's experiences was top of mind in those days.

Four: It is undeniable that the DK200 revitalized Emporia, Kansas in several ways. Unbound has pumped even more economic impact into the area. According to this article in the "Emporia Gazzette", Unbound gravel is estimated to have a 21.7 million dollar impact on the economy of the city.  So, the health of this event is important to the businesses in the area which are affected by Unbound's impact.

Image courtesy of Life Time

 Finally: I could add a fifth category here, and this would relate to how Unbound Gravel is a platform for people to overcome 'mountains' and stretch their perceptions of what their bodies and minds can handle. There are several stories from this year's event which show this to be true. People overcoming inhibiting factors like cancer, age, and disabilities. I've seen stories concerning all of these factors and more, which are inspiring, and obviously immensely meaningful to the participants, their friends, and families. This, in my estimation the most important aspect of Unbound, is often not reported in the major news outlets for cycling, (as noted above).

What To Do? 

The trouble seems to come with the doubling of riders since 2018 and the demands from professional riders who want to have every advantage when competing, and if something looks unfair, you are going to hear about this. I would submit that the medical issues regarding response to the woman who was "left in a ditch" (a bit over dramatic there, in my opinion as "the ditch" is not the awful place to wait it is made out to be. I know, having sat in several myself.) could be mitigated in the future. Actually, I think a simple solution to much of the issues here would be to have women and men Elites race on separate days and the amateurs on their own day as well.  Medical response times would be reduced for the Elites, since there were only 76 starting women and 143 starting in the Men's field. (Numbers taken from Life Time results page) An ambulance could be the sweep vehicle, or at least follow the field closely.

Now, I know, having ridden there, that there are "roads" which you just cannot get a vehicle down unless it is a Jeep, an off-road 4X4, or an ATV.  Conditions play into this also. So, a certain amount of risk has to be assumed by the rider, given the terrain and circumstances of any particular day. This is why follow cars and team vans are ....well, stupid at Unbound. Not to mention all the unnecessary dust. 

There was concern over the |F-1 style pit stops" at aid/support points. In the former days of the event, this sort of thing was highly frowned upon as well. So, make it self-supported by drop bag. Really self-supported. This would even the playing field as every rider would have to take care of their own bottles, food, wheels, bike, or whatever you allow to be changed out.

Some complained about "not very well vetted competitors". Supposedly Unbound does vet the Elite field, so whatever measuring stick they use there may have to be discussed, but you will get people making mistakes in big races. It happens at UCI sanctioned Pro road events all the time.  Relegations for poor sprinting, bad maneuvers in the field bringing riders crashing down, and other miscues happen every year in these sanctioned and sanitized events. What makes anyone think it can be "cleaned up" for Unbound by vetting riders? Even the best make mistakes. Riders will be crashed out of events, cut off from chase groups, and more.

Image courtesy of Life Time

Obviously Unbound is far too important to Emporia, and to the huge field of amateurs, to let it fade away, or stop. Life Time likely doesn't want to see any shrinkage of the event either as it probably has a big impact on their bottom line. So, all this complaining and problems brought on by a small percentage of the riders (Elites) which gets over-amplified by media, seems a bit much. Yes, there needs to be some examination of how things are done, and in my opinion, Life Time could easily clean this up with a few decisions which - if enforced with impunity - would clear up any future concerns.

Starting with a separation of days for Elites and amateurs would be a big one, and honestly, I really do not think this idea is the negative some make it out to be. For an example: Have the Amateur race on Friday, the Women's on Saturday, and the Men on Sunday. You'd be out of there by dinner time on Sunday after awards. Oh, and hold awards for each group immediately after their event, with the amateurs awards being on Saturday morning as the women race. That's just one idea. I'm sure others smarter than I could come up with solutions which would not only work, but actually enhance the experiences for all involved.  

It's A Revival

 Not long ago I saw a bike come into the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective which, as is the case with many of our donated bicycles, was a bike that had been sitting dormant for probably decades. On the dust-ridden specimen was a saddle which looked like a brown blob. Misshapen and dried up, it probably would have flown under the radar of many people, A saddle worth nothing and being an item worth nothing more than to be trashed. However; I was able to recognize it for what it really was - a severely neglected Brooks leather saddle. 

Brooks B-72 model. (Image courtesy of  Brooks)

I wish I had the presence of mind to have taken an image of this saddle when I started trying to revive it.  Unfortunately I was so wrapped up in the thoughts of just how to approach this dried out hunk of cow skin that I did not take an image at the beginning of the process. And that is what this thing looked like, a patch of dried out leather strung over a steel framework.

The sides were flayed outward, the middle of the saddle was bowed upward, due to the effects of shrinkage while attached to the steel saddle framework. It was severely cracked, and probably too far gone, but this is just the sort of challenge I am attracted to: A project with nothing to lose and everything to gain. I was, at the very least, going to learn something, and that is worth making this project happen.

Reviving a Brooks leather saddle is nothing new. In fact, if you were to think of the saddle as it really is - dried out skin- and if you treated it as such, there is a good possibility you might end up becoming successful in your endeavors. And there are a lot of people with various opinions on just how to do a Brooks saddle revival. So, I hopped online and took a gander. I ended up approaching this with a technique which resonated with my intuitions ahead of looking for help.

Brooks makes a leather treatment they call "Proofide" I just so happened to have a partial tin and another new tin of the stuff on hand. (I own and ride four other Brooks leather saddles already) So, this process relies on a liberal usage of Proofide, time, and a toe strap or two.

Proofide is highly recommended for Brooks saddles and it does what you need it to when you want to recondition a saddle. But this was an extreme case, and I was a bit skeptical if this was going to get me anywhere. However; the advice I read online insisted this would work, and the example saddle I saw was actually in worse shape than the one I had in hand. So, again, I had nothing to lose but a little Proofide, time, and effort.

The first application of Proofide, top and bottom, by the way, was sucked into the dried up skin much like dry wood sucks up paint. And it barely did anything, but again, this leather was bone dry. I waited a couple of days and applied a second coat top and bottom. After this the saddle started to become compliant. So I decided to pull in the sides with some toe straps to help form, or as the leather experts would say, "block up" the piece into a shape which I wanted the leather to go.

When Proofide is applied, a slight haze is supposed to develop over the surface of the leather when it dries, and this is to be buffed off with a soft cloth. After two applications, I was not seeing this haze develop, and when I tried buffing off the saddle it really did not do anything. I applied another layer of Proofide then, and I waited.....

A week later I applied yet another layer of Proofide as the previous application had dried up - again with no hazing. I waited about a week and a half longer, and when I checked it out on Thursday two weeks ago, it had hazed over!

So, I buffed it out, and then I noticed that I could see pores in the skin where I could not see this before. I think this is a good sign and shows that the leather is responding now in a way which leads me to believe the saddle just might end up becoming useful at some point.

My research turned up a point I was happy to learn, but I do not know yet if this will actually turn out in practice. I had read that cracks in the surface of the leather would eventually blend into a smoother surface after Proofide treatments. Maybe they will, but I do know that these cracks seem to have lost their "flakiness" and are more like lines in the surface of the saddle now. Not a section which might tear off, or crack more deeply, at any rate. Still, there is a long way to go before they would "blend in" to the surface, as I had read they should do.

I took off my toe straps to see how the skirts were reacting. When I started, they were almost sticking straight out, at about the same plane as the top! They are holding their shape much better than I had expected, only springing back a few millimeters when I removed the straps. I re-strapped it a bit differently, and I will put more Proofide on soon. This process is going to take a while!

By the way, in case anyone was thinking of this, there is no tension  on the top right now, and the tensioning nut was backed off all the way when I found the saddle, making me think it hadn't ever been adjusted. Sad to think this B-72 hadn't really ever been used as it should have been.

I've got time, so this is not a problem for me. I am hopeful it works out, as this was a piece that was headed for the recyclers if I hadn't decided to try this out.

And what if it does work out? Well, on the chance this ends up becoming a useful saddle, I will have to consider where it will end up. I would give a donation to the Collective, and I probably would put this on a bike I sit more upright on. Fortunately this saddle still has the sandwich clamp. The B-72 has double saddle rails, so this was a boon to my wanting to make this work out.

I'll also admit the other motivating factor here is that a new B-72 costs $190.00, so making this old one work would be a nice score.

I'll have an update on my progress later on. Plus, if anyone has any tips, I'm all ears. So far this has been working out well. The leather has actually swollen and gotten thicker, more pliable, and looking more like a Brooks saddle than a hunk of beef jerky.

Stay tuned....