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| 32" wheel of a SE Racing cruiser (Image courtesy of SE Racing) |
The MADE Show, which happened last weekend in Portalnd, Oregon, finished up with not much news other than the buzz surrounding a few 32 inch wheeled custom bikes which were on display.
The stories online were kind of interesting for the narratives which were being pushed. "Will this be the Next Big Thing?" is basically what was being asked coming out of this show.
Comments: This has been the cycling industry's question since the "Bike Boom" of the early to mid 1970's. What will drive sales in the future? The "next big thing" after the Bike Boom was MTB's, then it was 29"ers. Then the internet came along and pretty much flooded people's eyeballs with every sort of contraption known to mankind. This was when "The Next Big Thing" was pretty much killed. Fat bikes made a stab at it, but faded quickly. Gravel? This is more difficult in that there ended up being a bike for it, but Gravel, as a thing, predated the bike for it by several years. So I would be hesitant to point at a gravel bike and say it was the "last Next Big Thing". In my opinion, Gravel would have kept growing with or without a specific bicycle for the activity.
Now electric two wheeled contraptions have taken off, but this has been mostly outside of the traditional bicycle industry 'food chain'. (In the USA, at any rate) So, the 32"er comes along and people are seemingly thinking (in certain circles) that this will be the "Next Big Thing" like 29"ers were. Bzzzzt! I'm sorry, but this is incorrect. Next!
Why is this wrong? Look at most 32"ers and if you are paying attention you can see the ways these bikes are being designed to fit. Small to Medium folks? Not a chance this is a thing for you. Large? You are on the fringes. There just are not enough people who might benefit from this large a wheel. I think there will be a small, niche market for them, but like fat bikes, once those who benefit most from 32"ers have them, the market will nosedive significantly. I just don't see this as a sustainable market.
And searching for the "Next Big Thing" in terms of a type of bicycle in cycling is the wrong thing to pursue anyway.
Comments On 2025 Gravel Worlds:
Gravel Worlds happened last weekend, and while I was not there, I couldn't help but notice a few things. Mostly because of all the social media posts they put up. An odious amount of them, by the way.
First, there was some grousing about the muddy MMR road from the viewpoint of the Pro's and some media covering the event. I was pointed to a video on Instagram by N.Y. Roll concerning the woman's event. Yeah.... So here is a brief thought concerning this, which I have expressed here before.
Gravel events (The BIG ones getting all the media coverage now) used to be about Adventure, Challenge, Competition, and Camaraderie. The Pro/Monetary element, introduced to gravel events in a big way since COVID, has reduced some of these events to just being about Competition. So, there is no room for something as integral to gravel events as muddy conditions, or Challenges, or Adventure, not to mention Camaraderie. It's about Results, Money, and Competition at these events now.
So, they are not really "gravel events" anymore. They are merely Pro roadie events on a different surface. And that is my stance on this faction of so-called "Pro Gravel" categories. .(I'm not commentating on the other categories, which probably are not as affected)
Then there is all the coverage. Gah! You may have heard the theory which states that you should always leave people wanting more, yes? Well, I could not wait for my feed to clear out all the glut of Gravel Worlds coverage. Another interesting note was looking at the likes each post was getting, and in many cases it was less than 200, and in more than a few, less than 100. Maybe it's just me, but my money is on "less is more". And this goes for Mid-South and Unbound as well.
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| Wahoo BOLT 1 (Image courtesy of Wahoo Sports) |
Remember Y2K?
Maybe you are not old enough,to remember, but this recent story concerning original Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM, and BOLT GPS devices reminded me of those Y2K times. Apparently, a "limited ten bit clock" in those original Wahoo GPS devices ran out on time in mid-August, reverting the internal clocks to 2015. This caused the devices to fail in function, becoming essentially useless.
Fortunately, Wahoo has been able to update firmware for these old GPS devices and if you happen to own one of them, you can access the fix HERE. NOTE: This page only had firmware updates for the original ROAM and BOLT devices. They state they are still working on a firmware update for the ELEMNT at the time of this writing.
One wonders if the original developers of the Wahoo GPS devices figured that by now almost all of these platforms would be so out of date, or broken, that no one would care to be using them. Apparently there are more than a few folks still rocking these units.
Which, in a way, is heartening. I like that people want to extend the usage and lifespan on these as far as possible, and also I like that Wahoo is willing to help those people out with a firmware update. Wahoo did not have to do this. So, kudos to Wajhoo for being nice about this and not killing off these first gen units making them nothing but fodder for the landfill.
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| Image courtesy of Esker Cycles |
A dedicated to single speed bicycle is always going to grab my attention. This beauty was released by Esker Cycles on Wednesday this past week. Called the Solitaire, (Perfect name, by the way), this bike is based on their popular Hayduke model. Esker says there will only be 50 made and each will have a numbered Jen Greene headtube badge in brass.
Prices start at $1,250.00 and go up with options. See the details on Esker Cycles site HERE.
Comments: This is a cool looking bike with reasonable geometry which would work for a variety of off-road pursuits. There are plenty of accessory mounts, and the rigid "Fork-Yeah!" steel fork appeals to my sensibilities while the design does allow for a suspension device if so desired. Plus, it has clearance for up to 29" x 3.0" tires. Nice!
I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone for reading through the GTRFJ posts this week. This ride was important for me, which you probably can understand why this was the case, and for so many folks to have read through the report also was meaningful for me. So, thanks for doing that and for your support of myself and this blog.
As far as this Ride For Jacob thing goes, yes - It will happen again next year in August. Also yes - I am going to invite people along who may wish to join me in this ride to honor my son's memory. So, I will be talking about this next year and I will have details regarding the ride when I feel it is time to start talking about this ride again.
All I know now is a this ride is important to me. I want to share it with others, but I'm going to do it regardless of anyone else's attendance. So, mark it down for next August if you are interested and stay tuned for more on this in the future.
That is a wrap for this week! Get out there and ride those bicycles! Have a safe and fun Labor Day Weekend if you are in the USA!
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