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| Image courtesy of ROTOR |
ROTOR, the Spanish company best known for oval chain rings and crank sets, had Wheeltop, a Chinese component manufacturer, buy a majority stake in the company last year. Long rumored to be having an electronic group set in the making with Rotor branding, this now has become a reality with UNO.
The "Gravel Upgrade Kit" version of UNO consists of the levers, hydraulic brake calipers, and the rear derailleur. Compatible with 1X only and with a 46T rear cassette limitation, the group set will cost $948.42 USD (Odd pricing, but likely a conversion from a foreign currency figure)
The group set's rear derailleur is carbon with 7005 series aluminum bits. ROTOR claim the rear mech will shift up to 15,000 times on one battery charge. Interestingly, this group set is compatible with 10, 11, 12, and 13 speed cassettes as long as the rear cassette does not exceed a 46T low gear.
Comments: Well, another electronic, wireless choice which is breaking the 1K price point. Wheeltop's collaboration here is notable as previous efforts by ROTOR to make a group set were hydraulically controlled. This would appear to be more Wheeltop than not. Wheeltop users on the internet have reported mixed results with their group sets, and how ROTOR's UNO will fare is not known at this time.
We will have to wait for the results to come in via real world usage, but for now, this marks a further march toward a wireless bicycle era which will feature no cables on bicycles.
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| Image courtesy of Velo Orange |
Velo Orange Announces Raffle For Charity:
Here's a fun bit of news. Velo Orange is holding a raffle for a Neutrino rolling chassis which has been custom Cerakoted by Weichel Coatings and has components from ATW Builds . Each $5.00 chance gets you in line for possibly winning this size Large Neutrino partial build.
All proceeds go to helping out the mission of Happy Helpers of the Homeless, a charity who bring meals and support to homeless and poverty stricken men and women every weekend in the Halethorpe, Maryland area.
The raffle runs through now to October 15th. A winner will be chosen at random the week of October 20th. See all details and rules for this raffle HERE.
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| IMage courtesy of IRD Components |
IRD Components, who do a variety of niche items, have a new Airdrop dropper post which has a few unique features. You'll notice right away it is offered in a silver anodized finish rather than the common black anodization.
The Airdrop also has no cable running to it or a lever to deal with on your handle bar. Rather, it uses a simple lever located off the seat post head to raise and lower the post through its 100mm of drop.
The Airdrop comes in the common 27.2mm size only and has an overall length of 400mm. The maximum insertion is listed at 190mm and minimum insertion for the post is listed at 90mm.
The Airdrop is available on IRD's site and runs $129.00 USD.
Comments: This is kind of cool for anyone with a silver anodized build who may want to explore a dropper post on a gravel bike. Why would you want to do this? Well, for one, a dropper post can be used as a way to easily mount and dismount a bike by lowering the saddle when stopped. This is of particular benefit if you have a very heavily laden touring bike set up, or if you are bikepacking.
Secondly, lowering the post on any longer downhill will help you get lower on the bike, and more aero. You'll bomb hills far faster with a dropper post lowered than not. It can be rather eye-opening, actually. Of course, there is the benefit while descending steep, rough terrain as well.
On Wednesday, "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" broke a story in which Giant Bicycles is being investigated for forced labor practices at its Taiwan factories. As a result, all Giant product and other branded product made there is being held at port until the matter is solved. Giant is reportedly filing a petition to revoke the Withhold Release Order.,
You can read the story HERE.
Comments: This is an interesting development as it is widely known Giant also makes bicycles for several other well known brands. If, in fact, the Withhold Release Order is upheld, this could further disrupt the chain of supply and cause detriment to an already depressed economy for the cycling industry.
This could also be seen as a bad public relations event, if this ends up becoming a larger issue.
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| Image courtesy of Trek Bikes |
On Thursday Trek Bikes finally unleashed the Checkout SL- a 9K carbon fiber full-suspension gravel/bike packing bike. Replete with 55mm wide tires out of the box and the new Rudy XL (released yesterday) on the front. This bike has 60mm of travel up front, and according to a Instagram post I saw, 55mm in the back.
Rumors and images of this bicycle were floating around the web since around the Unbound event back in early June, so those who caught the pictures then probably are not surprised here.
And look at the flares and swept tops on this drop bar. Pretty radical for a 2025 release. I happen to like this sort of thing, but it does go in the opposite direction from the racing type handlebars on most newer gravel bikes.
Comments: Hmm.... Much can be said about a bicycle like this. I will say it looks a little ungainly and the "Miami Vice| color palette is not my cup of tea. (The Checkout SL 5 is a more subdued black, by the way) The images of this bike kitted out for bikepacking look great, but the bare bike is sort of jarring to the eye with the tipped forward rack and MTB-looking fork.
I could see an aluminum, more budget friendly version of this bike at some point if they sell these things. $8,999.00 for the Checkout SL 7 is no joke though, so you have to wonder if many of these will be sold. Mostly because (a) it is an oddball bike, not really XC MTB and not really gravel, and (b) it is a carbon frame bike. Most bikepackers are looking for Titanium or steel in this space. It is an interesting bicycle, nonetheless.
That's a wrap on this week's news and views. Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions. Get out and ride those bicycles!
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