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| Image courtesy of Shimano North America |
On December 16th, news came out regarding a new level of GRX gravel components from Shimano. This new GRX717 level is electronic, 12 speed, 1X only, and is priced to compete with SRAM's more entry level offerings.
The new 717 is wireless, just like its more expensive sibling. In fact, it is practically a mash-up of current 105/Deore wireless 12 speed components with GRX branding. The 717 rear derailleur features the same WideLink design, ability to reset after a blow to the cage, and the same low-profile design as Deore MTB Di2.
Levers are essentially 105 design, lacking the grippier hoods of the top-tier GRX Di2 12 speed. It bears mentioning the hoods are textured a little bit though.
Crank set options include a 40T and 42T option. The rear cassette is meant to be a 10-51T range 12 speed MicroSpline compatible cassette. It should be noted also that all 12 speed wireless Di2 is interchangeable. So....say you want flat bar GRX, you just add flat bar Di2 Deore shifters and you are there. Other possibilities are available as long as you stick to the Shimano 12 speed wireless Di2 ecosystem.
Comments: Prediction - Shimano sees more spec with this offering. They had ceded this segment of the market to SRAM by not having a more budget friendly option for electronic 12 speed shifting. Now that this is out there, Shimano only is missing a top-tier, super light Di2 gravel racing group.
I was made aware of a VTBRC report which may have been sent and was received in the spam folder of my email instead of the regular email folder. Now I am aware this is a possibility, and now I have to wonder if other reports went to the same folder. The thing is, I never look at what is in the folder, I simply delete the whole thing every day.
So, from comments left on the blog it seems at least one report met this fate and perhaps others have as well. I apologize for this! I was not thinking such a thing would become a problem, but there it is.
So, in the future I will be more careful when deleting the spam file during times I expect reports on rides like the VTBRC. I sincerely hope those of you who sent in reports will forgive me of this oversight and I would be 100% good with publishing those reports if you let me know you'd like to do this.
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| This little machine saved my bacon |
Fixed Gear Build:
The Standard Rando v2 is being converted into a fixed gear bike and things have been progressing slowly with this build all December long.
I ran into a situation which had me in a bit of a pickle. I was building the front wheel when I discovered one spoke was not accepting a nipple. This after I had everything laced up and ready to tension.
To make matters worse, it was the only silver spoke I had which would fit this application, and I did not have access to a bike shop, as this happened at an odd time.
So, I grabbed my Hozan Spoke Screwing Machine, an extra long silver spoke, and got to work. I first cut the spoke down to the proper length. Then I mounted the Spoke Screwing machine in my vise. A few minutes later and I had a replacement spoke ready to install. Problem solved!
These little machines can be a life saver. While one could thread spokes for an entire wheel build with this little guy, I wouldn't recommend it. This is best suited for spoke replacements running up to a handful of spokes in number. More than a half dozen and you'll get real tired, real fast of the tediousness of the process. You have to be patient with this machine!
These are still available, so if you think you'd like one, you should be able to find one easily enough. By the way, I'll have a lot more on this build coming up here on the blog soon.
I received an email a while back here from Jesse Petersen, a reader of these digital pages and a graphic designer, by the looks of it. He took my caveman drawing of the L.O.G. Ride logo, "cleaned it up a bit", and sent it my way so it can be used by the promoters of the ride.
(That is right, I'm not in charge of this ride. I just came up with an idea for a logo)
If you want to know more about the Legends Of Gravel Ride, seek the page out on Facebook for all the news. And thank you Jesse for an awesome "clean up" job on my artwork!
I did get confirmation that the registration should be up by now, or any day now. The Legends of Gravel will have two levels you can sign up for. One: Anyone wanting to stay at the Lodge, and Two: Those staying elsewhere, but wanting to join the ride. Sorry, this is all I know at this time, but you can check out BikeReg and search "Legends of Gravel" to learn more, or go to the Facebook group page for this event.
Adventure Cycling Debuts Golden Gravel Trail Route:
The Adventure Cycling organization is about to celebrate its 50th year. To do this they decided to draw up a mostly gravel road route from Oregon to the Mississippi River on Missouri's border. The route will total 3,700 miles and will be released to the public in March of this year on their Ride With GPS account.
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| Route diagram courtesy of Adventure Cycling |
The route is described on the Adventure Cycling blog page (HERE) as being somewhat similar to the Great Divide Route (Tour Divide), and riders should expect similar experiences.
Adventure Cycling reminds riders who want to ride this route that it is not going to be 100% perfect and will likely need tweaking in its infancy.
Comments: Obviously this is what Adventure Cycling is all about, but also it is noteworthy they chose a mostly (reportedly 70% gravel) gravel route. NOT a paved route. Also notable is their West-East routing versus what the Great Plains Gravel Route does, which is to meander North-South. Also, The Spinistry is developing a route which will traverse the entire nation East to West on mostly unpaved roads, (See the next story for more). So, the Adventure Cycling folks are not the only group doing things like this.
It stands to reason a route like this would be done, as gravel is more safely traversed these days due to distracted drivers on paved roads. But then again - You need to know even in the remotest places you could still get smoked by an inattentive driver. Just ask Jay Petervary.
So, when will the race be announced? (Only half kidding)
In other long route news of the unpaved sort, N.Y. Roll and I were able to pin down the industrious Kevin Lee of the Spinistry for a chat. Our conversation centered around the newest off-pavement route for bike packing and touring, the TUBA Trail.
Kevin and The Spinistry are no strangers to long off-pavement routes. They have developed the RAT 1000, a route across Texas and have been maintaining it for several years already. In fact, the RAT 1000 route idea is the genesis for the idea for the TUBA Trail.
I won't dive into too much of the detail on this new trail route, but you can check out the conversation we had with Kevin by listening to the latest Guitar Ted Podcast HERE. (Spotify home page link, but you can find the show on most major podcast platforms.)
I enjoyed hearing about how Kevin pays attention to details which I related to having routed Trans Iowa over the years I did that. I also appreciated Kevin's mentioning the costs involved in doing route finding, a thing most riders tend not to appreciate.
I also wanted to thank Kevin again for his time and for sharing the news of the TUBA Trail, which is set to be completed sometime this year.
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| Image courtesy of Singular Cycles |
The 32" Watch: One More For The Album:
Singular Cycles posted this image on their socials and asked for names for this new model with 32" wheels. Most Singular models are named for avians, so the bulk of the suggestions were of this nature.
Comments: This is a good look at what this model may look like in production. If I had to guess, this appears to be titanium. I hope Sam Alison is thinking about a steel version because a titanium version would be quite pricey. Nice, but expensive for sure.
I've no idea for a name for this, but I'm sure it will be appropriately named. One thing you can always count on from Singular Cycles, and that is they have always done things with class. From aesthetics to the names for their models, it is hard to find fault with anything the company has done. Not that Singular is perfect, mind you. Far from it. I will only say other "big wheeled" purveyors do not have the same level of attention to detail when it comes to how their products are presented and perceived in the marketplace. It doesn't hurt any to have bicycles which handle and ride nicely also, and Singular has a reputation for this as well.
So, I expect nothing less than a really well sorted and classy looking 32"er from Singular. My proclivities run more toward trying a 32 inch wheel out in a drop bar format. Maybe Sam could name it the "Hræsvelgr". I think that would be appropriate.
Give me that and a reissued Luxy Bar. I might have to get rid of a bike to bring one like this in.
Thanks for reading! Get out and put in your first ride of 2026, if you have not already!
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