Friday News And Views

S-Phyre SH-RX910 (Image Courtesy of Shimano)

Shimano Offers New Range-Topping Gravel Racing Shoe:

Shimano quietly introduced a new range-topping gravel racing shoe this past week called the S-Phyre RX910. S-Phyre is typically reserved for all-out racing performance footwear in Shimano's nomenclature. 

Shimano gave the RX910 a slightly curved sole for better walk-ability.  Enhancing pedal stability was done by adding Shimano's "pontoon" plate under the cleats which features two rubber stabilizers adjacent to the cleat pocket. These stabilizers contact the SPD pedal body to give riders a better platform for pedaling. These also enhance off the bike walk-ability. 

The RX910's have a TPU upper, two drain holes in the soles to allow for faster drying of feet in case of wet weather, or water crossings, and on-the-fly adjustable BOA closures. The new SH-RX910 S-Phyre gravel shoes come in White, Black, Deep Sea Blue, and Blue. The RX910 has a suggested retail price of $480.00 USD. 

The Guitar Ted Podcast Episode #86:

A new episode just dropped this week where N.Y. Roll and I discuss the new Trek Checkpoint, new Surly Straggler, and that new, upcoming Salsa Cycles FS drop bar bike which should debut in a month. 

You can check out the Guitar Ted Podcast on most any podcast platform, or find the latest episode HERE on the Spotify page for the show.  

 I had a thought, which I expressed on this episode, which was about this new drop bar FS Salsa rig. I was wondering, "Is this going to be the Cutthroat FS?" 

If the image is true to the bike in the teaser, it is pretty plain to see this bike is no gravel bike. There is a decent amount of travel, a high bottom bracket, and beefy looking tires there. A bikepacking FS rig in carbon? To me this makes sense if it is a FS Cutthroat, but Salsa has probably decided upon some other name for this bike. 

We only have to wait one more month to find out.... 

Found On Ratio Tech's social media

Ratio Technology To Introduce T-Style Rear Mech:

There are many stories out now concerning Ratio Technology and their development of a T-Style mount rear derailleur. Ratio Technology already offers kits to convert SRAM components to have more speeds, or to be compatible with wide-range, 1X cassettes and drop bar levers.  

Digging a little further it appears as though this rear derailleur will also be compatible with regular hangars by removing the direct, co-axial mount and swapped out for a bit which will make the rear derailleur mount like traditional rear mechs. 

I also read on another post where this rear derailleur will be compatible with several drive train formats, making this perhaps the most versatile rear derailleur in existence. As long as you are pulling a cable, that is! 

There is even a hint of this thing being made in a silver color. That would be pretty radical! I'll be keeping my eye out for more about this system and I may get some Ratio bits in for testing for next season.  

From the GCHoF social media post

Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame Seeks Nominations:

The Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame soft-launched their window for nominations on October 1st. This will be open until November 30th according to a social media post put out by the GCHoF. 

The GCHoF does their nominations by a democratic process wherein anyone can send in a nomination with the following guidelines: 

"Your submission should clearly describe the nominee’s achievements and contributions, including specific examples such as events they have organized, races they have competed in, advocacy work, or initiatives that have helped grow and shape the gravel cycling community. "

Nominations must be at least 200 words long and up to 600 words in length, according to the GCHoF site. Click the link above for more details. 

Comments: It is no secret that (a) I am in the GCHoF, (b) that I have criticized their nomination process in the past, and (c) there is a glaring omission amongst the inductees. I will continue to hold my positions on these points until something changes to help me understand why certain alternatives are not explored for nominations. The way they do things now is a recipe for inclusion of folks at the exclusion of some who should be in the GCHoF from a historical and influential background. The Board knows my position, they know how I would like to see this handled, and this is all that matters. They can decide how this goes from this point on. 

But unless things change I don't see how there is any possibility for several seminal, pioneering gravel folks to ever see inclusion. It will become a "who's who" of gravel racers and promoters from the last ten years and forward. And I will leave it at this...... That is a sad state of affairs. 

Image courtesy of Canyon Bikes

Canyon Enters Wheel Market With Carbon Gravel Wheel Set:

Canyon, the direct-to-consumer brand, has just announced a new gravel wheel set. This complete wheel set will feature DT Swiss Spline 350 hubs, hookless rim design, and a 30mm deep rim profile. Boasting a 27mm internal rim width, these wheels will be good for the wider tire trend sweeping the racing fields at gravel events these days. 

The Canyon wheels, called the GR 30, will retail for around 1K here in the States but list for 899 Euros on Canyon's site HERE. Total weight for the set is claimed to be 1,600 grams by Canyon. 

Comments: You know Gravel™ is the hot ticket when a brand starts out by rolling out a new product and does so in the Gravel™ category first. This was my first impression. 

Secondly, these are not all that lightweight. There are alloy rimmed wheels which match this weight, so I'm not all that impressed by these wheels. Besides this, the entire hookless thing has me spooked and I'm not buying into the design. I just don't see why we need this and I'd rather stick with proven technology if the benefit is negligible or cancelled out by failures, which have been reported with hookless bead wheel sets. Finally, not all tires are hookless compatible, but all tires can be used with hooked design rims. I know which I'd rather be using. 

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