Two Things

From the 2005 RAGBRAI

Cycling Season Is Over (Here)

In Iowa if you ride a bicycle you've probably been asked about RAGBRAI, the annual recreational, week-long ride across the state started in 1973. 

It's as if you don't ride a bicycle unless you are going on RAGBRAI. It gets annoying sometimes. I was asked this past Tuesday (while RAGBRAI was in progres), by a passing motorist if I was going on RAGBRAI. 

Ya know, people actually ride bicycles for more reasons than just RAGBRAI. But for the non-cycling public here, RAGBRAI is cycling. There is no other reason to ride a bicycle. That is fact, at least here it is. 

Another fact: Cycling season ends after RAGBRAI. Most roll their bikes into the garage after RAGBRAI and never look at those two wheels again until June of the following year. I know this as I was a retail bicycle mechanic for decades in Iowa. Other folks quit cycling as school openings approach, football season kicks into gear, and Fall yard work beckons. 

I see it every August. The precipitous fall off of cycling related activities, sales, and interest in the spot overall. The Collective just experienced one of its best months over the period I tracked from late June into July. This will be the pinnacle of our year. From here on out the business dwindles like the Sun in the horizon, with darkness coming sooner every day. 

I'll keep on riding all year, as I have, and as long as I can do that. But I'm a weirdo around these parts. 

Image courtesy of the Street Collective

Debate Rages On:

I've written a lot about conflicts between motorists and electrified vehicle users here already. I hate to have to continue this conversation,but this Summer the issue has reached a fever pitch here in Iowa. 

Local law enforcement departments across the state, local hospitals, and local cycling advocates are all voicing concerns over the sharp increase of wild, out of control use of electric scooters, e-Motos, and e-Bikes, mostly by under-aged folks who are not being safe in terms of themselves or others around them. 

Solutions voiced range from awareness/education to outright bans on cycling of any sort. The latter by ordinary citizens tired of dodging these vehicles.  

One hospital here in Waterloo had an emergency doctor advocating for motorcycle related helmets and full-coverage clothing for any two-wheeled electric device capable of going faster than 20mph. Some have advocated for users to have to obtain certificates by going through classes run by governments. Some are advocating for the licensing of the vehicles themselves, while others just want all of it to go away. 

 This issue has blown up this year to be a big-time problem and regular 100% human powered cyclists had best be aware of what is going on within their communities. If you ignore this issue you may find you are on the other side of the law when it comes to where you can ride and at what speeds you can ride at. 

I'm sure other parts of the USA are also wrestling with these issues. My gut tells me it won't be solved this year, at least here in Iowa, but when this all blows up again in 2027, and it will, something will have to give.  

Fleet Review: Part 3

 Finalizing the Fleet review today which will close out this look at all the bicycles I have at Guitar Ted Headquarters. This post will cover my "utility fleet" of bikes. Bikes with different purposes and uses. The last Fleet review can be seen HERE. A link on that post will take you back to Part 1. 

2020 Twin Six Standard Rando Fixed Gear:

When I received the Singular peregrine Mk4 last year, I retired the Twin 6 Standard Rando v2 bike. The entire point being that the Singular had better tire clearance and an even more classically inspired look than the T-6 did. Then I got an idea....

I retired my old Shogun fixie conversion due to its limited tire clearances and built up the T-6 Standard Rando as a disc brake fixie. I could run fenders with 37mm tires, and this was perfect for what I needed to get around in the city with. 

It has become a great commuter bike and errand bike. If anything it is too nice, as people might want to make it their own, whereas the Shogun looked old, and not very desirable. But be that as it amy, I do like the T-6 as a fixed gear bike. 

2012 Surly Big Dummy:

Back several years ago I obtained an Xtra Cycle long tail conversion and bolted it to a late 1980's Schwinn Sierra. My goodness! I was hooked, but I found the limitations of the set up rather quickly. The donor bike attached to the Xtra Cycle longtail conversion made for a flexy, not super-capable rig. I had cantilever brakes which weren't good enough, and the drive train was old as well. The purpose-built Surly Big Dummy sure looked a lot more attractive to me! 

Well, along about 20 16 I posted a "Wish List" all about wanting a Big Dummy. The post was read by a local, Mike Johnson, who just so happened to have a Big Dummy which he was willing to pass along. We negotiated a price, and by the middle of the Summer I had a Big Dummy! 

I use it most to do our recycling and to pick up items for the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. Once in a while I use it for another errand, but those are its main uses these days. 

The bike probably needs to have parts upgraded or replaced, since I haven't touched anything on it since I got it ten years ago! Better get on that! 

 2013 Singular Cycles Buzzard:

Well, this one came out of nowhere, seemingly, as I had not ridden this bike in years and, in fact, it had been retired for quite some time.  I had zero interest in bringing it back into the fleet until an idea popped into my brain one day back in 2024. "What if I had a bike which had front and rear identical wheel axle widths which could be swapped out like a Surly Pugsley's? 

I had a Salsa Cycles Enabler fork, the early fat bike fork in steel which was made to accept a 135mm quick release rear hub. This was an influence of the Surly Pugsley, which had swappable wheels in case your derailleur got whacked. The idea being that you had either a fixed cog on that front wheel, (really a rear wheel mounted on the front), or a free wheel single speed cog, and you could bail yourself out of a tight place.  

The Buzzard was just early enough that still had a quick release rear drop out. Perfect! So I got around to lacing up a new front wheel out of the old Buzzard front wheel. I used a thread-on rear hub for a single speed and there ya go! I had a swappable front wheel bike packing bike! 

Not that I've actually used this bike for anything. Well, anything other than testing. My intentions are to use it for an actual sub-24 event this year yet, So, stay tuned! 

Pieces and Parts:  

No pictures,but I do have four frames sitting around here too. A Salsa Cycles Big Mama, a Gary Fisher HiFi, a Badger Cycles Dorothy, and a Mongoose All Mountain Pro. I also have an Ibis Trials Bike stuffed away somewhere down there that needs brakes. 

And that does it! Those are the bicycles I have. I'm working on whittling down the numbers of bikes, and in fact, I've already broken down one from the Part 2 of this series, the On One Inbred. So, this list should get smaller as time goes on. That's my hope, at least. 

GT's Ride For Jacob: Final Update

Well, this coming Saturday is the day for the Ride For Jacob, a 46 mile loop from Big Woods Lake, North of Cedar Falls, Iowa. 

I had really wanted to get out to ride the route to recon it, but between heat advisories, having to mow lawns at two different places, air quality issues, and work, I did not find any time for it. I'm not super concerned, as I know the roads and rode most of this last year. There is a small chance I get out today, or maybe Thursday, but unless there is some major rerouting needing to be done, the GPS file should not change. 

Speaking of that, here is the Ride With GPS page link. 

Details on how to get to the parking lot at Big Woods lake are HERE. Look for the July 10th update. 

Weather: As of now it is looking perfect.  

Finally, I've heard some rumblings about a few folks making a trip out to ride with me on this route Saturday. I'm sure some locals are thinking about the ride. I haven't gone out of my way to promote this other than on the blog here. So, I really cannot say how many folks will show up. I'm guessing it will be between 20-30 riders. 

If that is the case, that parking lot may get pretty full. If you are a local, please consider riding to the venue, or maybe park in Cedar Falls at the Gateway Park area which sits just across the Cedar River from downtown Cedar Falls. From there you can ride the Big Lake Loop bike path out to the North parking lot, adding maybe a couple of miles to your ride. 

Okay, so that's all I have for you. Again, if you want to do a virtual "Ride For Jacob" because you cannot make the trip to Cedar Falls you can do that. See the last FN&V HERE for more on that idea. Otherwise I'll see whomever shows up a little before 8:00am on Saturday. Thanks in advance for wanting to be a part of this. It means a lot to me and my family. 
 

A Case Study : Bicycle Ownwer's Manual

 I work at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective where we receive donations of bicycle related accessories, gear, and bicycles. Occasionally we get an interesting bit of bicycle related ephemera which enlightens me. Case in point: I checked the mail box on Saturday morning to find a bicycle owner's manual inside it. 

No notes. Just the manual. I almost tossed it, but then thought better of it, sat down with it, and checked out the contents. 

Typically, the bicycle owner's manuals I've seen have no real value. They were written as a kind of vague warning which gives lawyers an "out", I am sure, in case the company the manual represents gets in legal trouble with a consumer. There was never any useful knowledge between the covers.  

However; this CyclePro manual was different. It was a little instruction booklet. In fact,  if one had the correct tools, you could have easily built and adjusted a bike out of the box using those instructions, diagrams, charts, and images found on those pages.  

 Of course, the technology represented in the manual is so far out of date it is laughable, but in its day, this manual had value. In fact, it still does for teaching about bicycles, and for old-school knowledge which is becoming scarce these days. 

 There were even diagrams showing how to use some tools. This was a detailed manual, and it displayed a level of care and concern for the consumer which is sorely lacking in many bicycle shop/online transactions these days. 

 There was a section on sizing a bike to a person. There was another section concerning gear shifting, how and why you'd want to shift. This is stuff you never saw in manuals which came with bicycles when I was working in retail bicycle shops. 

A gear chart? Would the average consumer even know what to do with this?

 Anyway, I immediately thought about what you get today when you buy a bicycle. The companies selling stuff today are probably not doing manuals like this, and they are likely very similar to what I recall from the early 2020's. 

What if there were manuals like this included in bicycles sold today? Certainly the technical nature of the information would be deeper. It would have to be! Look at the hydraulic disc brakes, suspension forks, and electronic shifting. Look at the internal cable housing designs. It is a nightmare for mechanics. I don't suppose the average consumer could even start to want to dive into taking care of their bicycles. Not given how specific the tools have become to work on components and not so much when technical demands are so intense. 

Maybe this is a sign we've gone too far...... 

Selle SMP Pro Saddle: Part 2

 Note: This review is of a used Selle SMP saddle Guitar Ted purchased from the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. Selle SMP is not aware of this review and all opinions are Guitar Ted's.

It's another first impressions post on the Selle SMP Pro saddle. This is the second part of the initial review. You can see Par1 HERE. 

This saddle has been on several short test rides and now one two-hour ride to start seeing if I need to change anything about the saddle tilt or setback. 

I've used multiple surfaces to rest this saddle ranging from smooth pavement and bicycle path to dirt single track with gravel of several different types in there as well.

Noting I have the saddle tilted nose-down slightly, I find it rather surprising that I don't find this bothersome. Given I typically cannot live with a nose-down saddle position for any amount of time, I was taken aback by how natural feeling the SMP nose-down position felt. 

Secondly, I found the leather top to be really easy to reposition myself on without it feeling slippery or too grippy. It seems it is either way with most saddles - Too grippy or too slippery. This nice cover is also padded very nicely. 

The saddle feels sort of like a well-broken in Brooks leather saddle. There is a bit of a depression, or as I like to call it, a "bucket" you sit in. It isn't a "one-sweet spot" type of saddle either. You can find multiple small adjustments which all seemed to be as comfortable as the others, in my opinion. I like this as I cannot sit in one place, unmoved, for very long while riding a bicycle.

The weird shaped nose is completely a non-issue. You wouldn't know it was bent downward like it is while riding it. Perhaps this is bent like it is if you are riding something steep and you get way up on the nose of the saddle? Not sure.... 

Okay, that is where I am at now with the SMP Pro. Longer rides to find out if there are any small issues or tweaks to be made are up next.  

American Competitive Cycling's Future

 What Does It Take To Grow Talent In Cycling Racing And Who Really Cares?

I noted a post on Facebook recently bemoaning the status of American competitive cycling and the lack of "opportunity" for talent to be discovered. The thoughts given were that if more barriers to participation were lowered, the more chances we'd get to see an American compete on the worldwide stage. (UCI Pro road, MTB, or gravel, most likely was the thought there)

That's a nice thought, and for sure lowering barriers to accessing racing for youngsters wouldn't hurt, but there are a few other bigger hurdles, in my opinion, which stand in the way of us seeing any significant discoveries of talent which might make a dent in the Pro levels of cycling. 

First of all, we are speaking of the current "ultimate" levels of the sport which is controlled by the UCI, because what else is there? 

And if this is true, then we need to consider what it takes to get to a level where anyone might get hired by a Pro level team to compete. Because that is an extremely high bar to overcome. Hours, hours, and more hours of dedication to the sport. Money, money, and more money on gear, which kids outgrow and need to replace. Racing fees. Places to actually race. (Rare to find on the roadie side, difficult on MTB side) And let's not forget the most important thing - The person has to want to do this. 

To my way of thinking, this quality in a person is the number one determinant for success in any sport. The "want to" factor can be pretty hard to spot for coaches, parents, team owners, and sponsors, because if this trait was easy to spot, well we'd not have any difficulties finding those who would rise to the top of any given sport. Sometimes it is easy to see in a person. Other times, not so much. 

You may think "talent" is all that is necessary, but I'd caution against putting all your chips on that bet. I personally have seen very talented athletes who did not have the "want to" who were never discovered, or never progressed,  in whatever sport they showed talent. So, to my way of thinking, the number one thing which will determine success for Americans in cycling on a worldwide stage is to find the person who wants to get there. Sure, they need talent, but talent is secondary, to a degree, to the mental side. 

And even then you still have all the financial, social, and opportunity barriers to hurdle after that. I mean, where does one go to even get road racing experience anymore? Especially here in the USA. Fortunately we do have some support on the off-road side, and even gravel has some opportunities for juvenile racers. But when people are getting smoked on road rides in rural areas, how do you think parents would feel about putting their kids out there for training? 

Even the Pros who are currently racing are expressing concerns over the intensity of being on the highest levels of the sport. Expressing concerns for mental and physical well-being, now you have to wonder if it is even a good thing for us to see an American at the top levels of the sport. Maybe we're just being selfish and desire this against the odds of the well-being of the riders?  

A recent post by "The Cycling Week" on social media quotes current road Pro Jonas Vinegegaard as saying, ""As a cyclist, you feel like you're constantly on a diet. You always have to think about your weight, and you're always out training," he said. He described the current demands (by teams) taking a toll on both body and mind". 

Finally, culturally we have no support whatsoever for road, MTB, or gravel racing in the USA.  Conversely, if you want to be a Tik-Tok star we have all kinds of peer support for that. Even traditional stick and ball sports have vastly more cultural relevance here than cycling does. A kid wanting to be a road racer, mountain biker, or gravel cyclist in 2026 is walking into a social and cultural vacuum of sorts. They would be declaring their freak nature simply by wearing Lycra bib shorts and a jersey. That doesn't sound like a winning strategy for being a teenager wanting to smoothly navigate adolescence to me, but I would certainly support such rebellion.  

Anyway, good luck and safe riding to any youngsters willing to tackle that path. I hope they are successful. I just do not feel there is an easy answer to seeing top cycling athletes in the sport coming from the USA. Not that it cannot happen, but it's gonna take a lot more than just lowering barriers to "finding talent". 

Friday News And Views

 

Image courtesy of Gravel Worlds

 

 Gravel Worlds Re-brands:

 On Friday of last week news broke concerning a re-branding of Gravel Worlds. The event held annually in Lincoln, Nebraska, is going on its seventeenth year. The event is generally held around the second or third week of August and the course is a loop in and out of Lincoln. 

 Citing Nebraska's status as a top beef producer, the agricultural nature of the Gravel Worlds course, and the fact that the roads Gravel Worlds uses are primarily farm to market roads, the team at Gravel Worlds has designed an iconic logo. A logo which embodies the spirit of these facts. It has also incorporated the name of one of Gravel Worlds sponsors, McGrills, an outdoor grill brand which is manufactured in Beatrice, Nebraska. 

Following is a review of old Gravel Worlds logos, just for kicks..... 

Gravel worlds branding used most through the 2010's

 

Garmin comes on as a sponsor

In 2018 the site header lost the rainbow colors due to a cease and desist from the UCI

 

Celebrating 10 years in 2019

Obviously....

Logo from 2024, the year the founders of the event left and when the current team took over the event.

2025 header/logo

That's a good overview of how this event branded itself for most of its existence. Originally it was just a Pirate Cycling League event and the logo used was the PCL logo, but I did not include those in this mini-review. 

Virtual Ride For Jacob:

I was thinking the other day that there may be a few of you who might want to do a "ride for Jacob" but cannot come to Cedar Falls on the 25th to join me. Well.....what about a virtual Ride For Jacob? 

Here's what you can do. Let me know you've dedicated a ride for my son and tell me a bit about it. I'll send you a "Jacob" sticker. 

Just make sure I get an address to send it to. If you haven't seen one of these stickers they look like the sticker below. 

The story of your ride and why you did it can be sent to me at g.ted.productions@gmail.com.There is no time date stamp, so if you want to do this now, next week, or on the 25th, that is fine with me. I know of one fellow who is doing RAGBRAI who is dedicating a day to this. 

I guess if we want to make this a thing you could also send in a image or two and I'd post your story and images on the blog, much like I do for the Virtual Turkey Burn Ride. 

Or.....you don't have to do anything. Please do not feel obligated to write up anything, or even do a special ride. I'll still send you a sticker if you want one. 

Okay, that's really all I have for this idea. Thanks to "Tim" for the spark which led to this idea.  

Image courtesy of social media post

Wildfires In Northern Minnesota/Canada Affecting Air Quality:

Look, it's wildfire season again! And - of course - we need to be thinking about those losing their homes and livelihoods to these fires. And we need to be thinking about air quality. 

The map here is showing air quality for the Northeastern US for yesterday. Wildfire smoke issues are affecting a wide swath of this part of the nation. 

Whether or not we start seeing this in Iowa will depend on winds and air currents, but as of now we do not have issues here. However; we have had issues in the past and a few years ago, wildfire smoke pretty much shut down outdoor cycling for the month of June. 

Be safe out there! Inhaling smoke-riddled air is no joke, so consider not doing any cycling if your air quality is poor. 

 

Image courtesy of Trek Bikes

Trek Announces E-Fat Bike Models:

Trek announced a new e-Bike range on Thursday.. The new bikes are called "Borrego" and feature fat tires with a hub drive and 80mm suspension forks. 

Two models exist and the price starts at about $2,500.00.  

Comments: This looks a whole lot like the common e-Bike style we've seen from Radpower and other brands sold online. It's fairly obvious Trek is trying to reach those types of consumers here who would otherwise probably not look to Trek for an e-Bike at all.  

The price point may seem a bit steep, compared to the likes of other look-a-like e-Bikes, but here you have a dealer network and ostensibly a dealer network that will actually work on the bike when it inevitably needs work.  Try that with your Amazon sourced e-Fat bike. 

Maybe Trek will make a dent into this market, but it could be also that they are a little too late to jump on this bandwagon. I mean, this bike is totally ten years behind the times, in terms of tech and what is cutting edge now. We shall see how it goes....  

Not much else in the way of news for the week. So, that's a wrap for now. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions! Now get out there and RAGBRAI, or ride however you ride!

Used Fat Bike Market Crash

 Lately I've noted several way undervalued fat bikes for sale on Facebook Marketplace. BBikes with carbon frames for between 1K and 1.5K where any bicycle with a carbon frame these days costs 2K plus just for a frame and fork. 

Aluminum framed fat bikes are even worse. Most I see are well under 1K asking price. This seems weird to me. 

I know. I wondered if the whole fat biking thing was over a while back and wrote about it HERE.  This latest observation of mine concerning used prices seems to reinforce this feeling I have concerning fat bikes. 

As one commenter on that linked post wrote, "Fat bies are for nerds..." and most of us have our fat bikes. They do not go out of style and there hasn't been any real innovations in fat bikes for years. So, maybe the market isn't "dead" as much as it is stagnant. Of course, either way, both would lead to these smoking deals on fat bikes I am seeing now. 

I don't see much analogous to the fat bike used market with the possible exception of used plus bikes. Everything else seems about right in terms of pricing. And maybe all this devaluing of fat bikes just shows that it isn't what the frame and fork are made out of or even what group is on the bike. It's more about what the bike can do for the rider, or maybe more precisely- What the rider thinks the bike can do for them. 

I don't know, but I've seen some alarmingly low prices on some really nice fat bikes. That much I do know!  

Review: Aeron TPU Tubes Update #4

Last week I posted Update #3 of the Aeron TPU Tube Review. Click that link in case you missed it. The main theme of that update was to see if and how an Aeron TPU tube could be transferred from one tire to another. 

My test involved going from a bigger tire to a slightly less bigger tire. I was asked in the comments if the Aeron tube, which is rated for anything from a 700 X 32mm to a 700 X 52mm tire would actually work in something even less wide than I tried. This update will cover that use case. 

This particular Aeron TPU tube was previously installed in a 700 X 47mm Teravail Cannonball tire. I decided to try the Aeron tube in a 700c X 40mm tire I had laying around. It was an ancient 700 X 40mm Donnelly MSO tire. (Remember those?) 

So, following is a pictorial showing how things worked out. I'll have a bit more to say at the end, so check out the images and descriptions and look for further comments below.

This is the Aeron TPU tube with a minimal amount of air. Just enough to give it some shape. 

Aeron recommends a very minimal amount of air be inflated into the TPU tube to give the tube shape. You do not want to insert a TPU tube with no air in it! Damage could occur rendering the tube worthless or cause a flat while in use. 

You can see the residual talcum powder I put on the Cannonball tire's inner casing to allow the TPU and rubber casing to more easily move against each other while installing the tube and inflating it. You can also barely make out the reinforcement around the base of the very long valve stem. I was happy to see this as I've experienced failure of a TPU tube due to the valve stem coming off which wasn't reinforced at its junction with the TPU tube like this one is. 

Here you get some context for how wide the TPU tube from AERON is after being in a 700 X 47mm tire. 

 

The 700 x 40mm Donnelly MSO and the Aeron TPU tube installed inside of it. 

Here you see the side view of the Aeron TPU tube in the Donnelly tire

The one nit I have regarding these Aeron TPU tubes is that they are trying to be a solution for too many variances in tire size. As an example, you can see above how the TPU is peeking out of the left side of the Donnelly tire. This is due to Aeron's making this tube to be compatible with 650B diameter tires. 

That's all well and good, but it makes getting this tube inside a 700c wheel and tire a chore. It also puts the user at risk of pinching the TPU material in a place where a patch probably wouldn't work well. Just make these 700c diameter and IF you feel you are missing sales because 650B exists, make some in that diameter. As far as I am aware, Aeron is the only TPU tube available which does things this way and I feel it is misguided and may cause unwanted issues. 

It should be noted that I did not want to use a 40mm tire with this tube so I ended up putting it in the matching Rene Herse tire mentioned in the previous update. I'll be running those wheels and tires as an alternate set for my Salsa Cycles Fargo Gen I. I will also be pitting these against the previously reviewed Rene Herse TPU tubes. 

Stay tuned for future updates to this review.  

The Problem Can Be Seen In The Mirror

From KCCI's social media

 NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Years ago, maybe around 2008 or so, a representative from a company called Day 6 Bicycles showed up at the shop. He had an example of a 'foot-forward' electrified bicycle. The idea was the bike could provide an extremely comfortable ride position along with electric motor assist which would make the bike easy to ride. 

My boss at the shop took the front wheel motor e-Bike out for a spin in the parking lot. I watched as he zoomed back and forth. I would estimate he was going well over 20mph and without pedaling. I was alarmed. 

Why? It looked like a ton of fun. The bike put the rider in a really easy to use position. Powered riding would get more folks outdoors, out of cars, and maybe into pedaling more. 

Maybe.... Pedaling. Yeah, that means working, and if you don't have to work? Well, why would you? This is what alarmed me. That and the immediate acceleration to top speed. Unskilled or inexperienced riders on a heavy-ish two wheeled electrified bicycle? I saw trouble ahead. 

The future of e-micromobility is murky at best

Just this past weekend I was waiting for my wife in the car as she picked up an item at a big-box store in town here. I noted movement in my right side field of vision and then noted three youth riding electrified two-wheeled contraptions. One was a mini-bike kind of thing and the other two were scooters. They were in perfect formation, the scooters flanking the mini-bike thing and flying across the parking lot at near 20mph. No helmets. No adults near by. No regard for parking lot traffic. 

Ooof!

 Municipalities in Iowa are currently wrestling with coming up with ordinances and laws to regulate these devices and differentiate them from bicycles which have electric assistance. I posted about this recently here. 

Most agree that education, parental involvement, and some knowledge amongst law enforcement about the differences between what are bicycles and what are not bicycles will help. Certainly, this makes sense. 

But you are speaking about humans, right? We cannot even expect humans to follow the rules when it comes to current usage of any of the vehicles we use.  So why can we feel safe with regard to any ordinance, law, or public education measures when it comes to electrified two-wheeled vehicles like e-Motos, e-Scooters, and the like? 

The problem probably cannot be rectified with enforcement of law and ordinance. You'll catch a few, but you won't stop them all. Getting any kind of stoppage of sales of these things would be great, but if people are making money off sales of these things, you'll have a hard time stopping the in-flow of the devices used to create these issues. And, of course, there are a lot of these things already here.

The final line of defense is relying on "people to do the right thing". This is the vibe I'm getting so far from these discussions. Sorry, but I cannot buy into this line of thinking. The problem with e-device abuse is what you see in the mirror. And to regulate that? 

I don't see the good solution yet.  

Update On The Ride For Jacob

GT's Ride For Jacob, Saturday, July 25th, 2026:

Where: North Parking Lot of Big Woods Lake, Cedar Falls, Iowa.. For detailed directions to the parking lot see the July 10th entry HERE

When: 8:00am

What: A no-drop gravel road ride of 46.3 miles which will pass through the towns of Janesville, Iowa, Shell Rock, Iowa, and New Hartford, Iowa. 

Why: A Ride to honor my son, Jacob Stevenson who died on August 2nd, 2025 at the age of 22 years. 

Expectations: Casual pace. Riders can resupply in Janesville, Shell Rock, and New Hartford. No-drop means we may stop at various times to gather up stragglers. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU! There is NO SAG SUPPORT. If you have to bail, quit, or cannot go on for some reason, then you will have to self-extract, or have a back-up plan in place. No one associated with me is going to come and pick you up. THIS RIDE IS FREE. No entry fees, and therefore there should be no expectations for anything other than for you to bring a good attitude, a capability to ride 40 miles of gravel and pavement, and to have tools, water, nutrition, and a way to communicate to the outside world, (smart phone usually...or you can choose smoke signals. You do you.), and have all this on a competent bike in good condition. 

IF you join me you assume all personal responsibility and will be held accountable for any and all actions you take, actions of others on the ride which may negatively affect you, or for any circumstances related to weather, traffic, and road conditions which may cause personal harm, injury, or death. In other words, I am not responsible for anything that happens to you if you come on this ride. IF you decide to ride with me, you assume all responsibility for YOURSELF. 

Okay.................with all this understood, here are the finer details.......

I did some tweaking of the original route. Here are some details on what to look for. First, we will be leaving going North on the bike path to Lone Tree Road, then continuing North to Dunkerton Road and going Right to get us across HWY 218/27. Then we will head North again on Symons Road. These three miles plus a little are all pavement. We should be single file, aware of our surroundings, and looking out for traffic until we reach the "T" intersection with Mount Vernon Road. 

Gravel starts here. I decided to take a Left and head up Leversee Road instead of what the original Ride For Jacob did which was to go North out of Waterloo up Burton Avenue. The start in Cedar Falls dictated this because it would make for an easier place to start, park vehicles, and return to. More so than almost any place in Waterloo would have for a start of a North route out of town. 

I also tweaked the route coming out of Shell Rock. Instead of going West I decided to go South out of there to cut off a big loop I did last year which wasn't all that interesting. We will cross that old gabled bridge over the West Fork of the Cedar River though. And we will still be taking the short bit of pavement from the North into New Hartford to go by the convenience store there. 

Finally, I did not like how I used a bit of Union Road last year and coming in on a great bike path on West First Street which dwindles down to crappy sidewalk seemed like a poor idea for a group of cyclists. So I rerouted out in the country to bring the ride back in on West 12th, then hitting that bike path to Hudson Road, and then continuing down 12th to State Street after the round-a-bout so we can go through downtown. 

IF the group feels the itch to stop at, oh say....Second State Brewing Co., or something along those lines, we could do that. Then it is a short jaunt from there via bike path to the end where we started. 

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE ROUTE.  

The route is on Ride With GPS. Please download the file into your device if you are planning to come, or even if you are not coming, this would make a fun route to ride out of Cedar Falls and back again. 

NOTE: I have not reconned this route yet and I plan on doing this before the 25th. IF there are any route changes I will announce this after recon. I do not anticipate there being anything different though.  

Questions? Hit me up at g.ted.productions@gmail.com or here in the comments.  

XLBird Review

The swap to the XL sized Peregrine Mk4 frame was covered earlier HERE and HERE. Then I posted a quick take on the build HERE. This post will cover everything I've learned since then and will suffice as the final update on the switch from the Large size frame to the XL sized one. 

My original reasoning for getting this bike was to satisfy my craving for a "classic" looking gravel bike which had up to date tire clearances. My previous choice, the Twin Six Standard Rando, is, at this time, not capable of having any tire much wider than a 43mm gravel tire in the back. I loved the look of the T-6, and it rode fine, but I wanted wider tires, so..... 

The size Large was, on paper, the right size for me, but in reality the bike felt cramped when I rode it, and I had a nagging feeling the frame wasn't quite "right" in reality. This led to - thanks to Matt Gersib and Sam Alison - to getting the size XL instead. 

Now with everything set up as I like it, I have to say this size feels a LOT better when I'm riding it. I feel more in between the wheels instead of on top of them. The Luxy Bars, ironically inspired by Sam Alison of Singular's input, is perfect for this bike. I'm so glad I had Luxy Bars in silver ano for this build. Riding in the drops is really good and the hoods are hand savers. They may look weird to a traditionalist, but when I am riding gravel these handle bars are so nice. I really wish someone could make these again. 

Which makes one wonder: Would the size Large have been okay with Luxy Bars? The bike would have been better, no doubt, but still not "right". Luxy Bars wouldn't have fixed the slight cramped feel the size Large had. 

I wanted this bike to become the one I'd pull out most often, and I think this will be the case going forward. Now, I have some other nice bikes as well, and I will be riding those also, but my hope is the Peregrine will become a bicycle which won't grow stale and be a steady, easy to ride bike now and in the future. I do think it handles very well. It feels smoother than the T-6 ever did and it is better than the size Large Peregrine was.  

So far it has been a very successful move. I do not feel any of the old niggles I had with the size Large and for this I am very grateful. Mk4's are gone now, but if you are interested in a Peregrine Mk5, I would highly recommend one, but do pay attention to the sizing chart. Be aware this is a classically inspired design, which means "not much exposed seat post" for you, in all likelihood. The new Peregrine is also a Maxway factory made frame and fork. In my opinion, the Maxway factory is a superior place to have frames and forks in steel made. So, that is a good thing. 

If I Had To Guess....

Image courtesy of Singular Cycles

The buzz over the 32"ers hasn't died down much since Sea Otter and some folks are already in line waiting on delivery of the ultimate wagon-wheeled bicycle. But what intrigues me the most is how these bikes will be received after the initial wave of enthusiasm over them wanes. 

I see some signs of momentum, (no pun intended) for 32"ers and gravel cycling. I see some interest in the wheel size for bike packing. Of course, the initial buzz was created by XC MTB and 32 inch wheels. 

I have a couple of reasons to believe that 32 inch wheels will be more popular in gravel and bike packing than they will be for mountain biking. I think it comes down to two physics related issues. 

Larger wheels hold momentum better than smaller ones do given similar set ups. Now this is a good thing for gravel riders. It may also come in handy for a bike packer, depending upon the area being ridden. Mountain biking can be a momentum driven sport, but more often than not, you are dealing with stopping quickly, or lots of deceleration, and then lots of little accelerations. Especially in Mid-West single track. Stop - Go - Stop - Go. Tight corners, not much "flow". 

I can see 32 being good on some flowy stuff, but on "real" single track? I gotta think it would be better on a 29"er. Maybe I am way off. Of course, it's all just speculation as of now. 

The other thing I see is just how darn big the rear wheel is and how dropping into steeps and trying to get your butt low and back is going to be a hindrance on a 32"er. The shorter you are, the worse this will be, in my opinion. 

Screen grab from a Trek video showing their 32"er FS proto

Gravel cycling, and to a degree, bikepacking, probably are not as affected by those two things as MTB will be. Add on the fact that below a medium sized bike your geometry will necessarily be wonky with 32"er wheels and the market for big wheeled 32"ers seems a bit limited. So, for MTB, I don't see 32"ers being super-popular. 

Trek and a couple others are banking on the MTB 32"er, and maybe they will be "right", or at the least, okay with whatever they put out eventually. Uniquely, Twin Six has a design which could be either MTB or gravel/bike packing.  Other brands, like Singular, have a model for MTB and one for gravel. Most brands seem to be hedging toward MTB as of now. 

The MTB bikes will certainly garner a lot of sales and attention on the front end of 32"er sales, but I feel gravel/bike packing will eventually become where 32"ers are at their best. We've already seen 32 inch wheels do well at Unbound. Of course, 32"ers have already been seen at the front of some XC events as well. So maybe none of those results is a good indicator for 32"er sales in "the real world". 

Again, I have nothing in terms of hard data to say one way or the other. But if I had to guess now, my gut feeling is 32'ers are going to become a bigger deal in gravel and bike packing than they will be for mountain biking.  

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of the Polk County Health Department

E-Bike/Scooter/Moto Issues Reach Fever Peak In Iowa:

I realize this is a nationwide issue, but my focus here is on Iowa as it relates to the debate and concerns over electrified two and three wheeled devices. 

Reports of crashes, injuries, and damage are on the uptick. I saw a recent post by an ED professional (Emergency Department = ED) who was stating a case for helmet usage and proper education of children and adults concerning electrified vehicles. Stating a strong uptick in ED visits due to usage of these devices, the individual was pleading with parents, especially, to educate themselves and their children on the proper usage of these devices. 

Many municipalities in Iowa are also posting on social media concerning either education, laws currently on books, or about impending city ordinances which are being considered to regulate this surge of electric vehicle usage on streets and trails. 

Comments: The issues facing many cities are beyond the scope of control, in most cases, in my opinion. In view of how people are using these vehicles, it is my opinion that there are three basic user groups. One: Youth who are looking for easy transportation, thrills, and freedom from having to beg rides from parents or older siblings. Two: Low income people, either coming out of the legal system, or from other countries, who either cannot afford a car/truck, or cannot legally operate a car/truck, or both. Three: recreational cyclists who use e-bikes as a way to exercise and enjoy the outdoors who would not otherwise be doing so without an assisted bicycle or tricycle. 

Most concerns I see being voiced are over misuse or ignorance (or both) and point at the underage crowd on these vehicles as being a menace to society. I do not see much concern over low income/disadvantaged folks using even the vehicles which are prohibited by law to be ridden without a license and insurance. That said, there are probably a few instances where these folks are causing problems. Most assuredly most of this segment is on these electrified vehicles because they cannot get, or afford insurance and/or a license. The third crowd, the e-bikers with assisted pedaling platforms, are generally no big deal to anyone. 

What will likely happen? Smaller communities with limited resources will likely ban them all. Most of these cities and villages don't even have police. They just won't have any other way to enforce or apply any laws/ordinances. (Unless they lump the e-motor vehicles in with side-by-sides) At the very least, the laws and ordinances will keep the city/village governments out of liability in case of crashes, injuries, or deaths. Bigger cities may try separating the assisted vehicles from the non-assisted ones, but again, enforcement will be limited due to limited resources. Police are already spread thin, and asking them to separate goats from sheep is not going to be efficient. Maybe states will get involved, like New Jersey did, but I think this will be hit or miss based upon the specific cases each state is seeing rise through their judiciary systems. 

My gut tells me the issue will become solved, mostly, when either states, or the Federal government steps in at the behest of insurers to make all electric assist and e-motor equipped two and three wheeled vehicles illegal unless they are licensed and insured. Essentially following the New Jersey example, if it is a successfully implemented law there. 

Time will tell, but I think it will have to be solved sooner than later. 

Substack Story:

Some of you here may already have noted my Substack account, maybe you follow it, but if not, I just wanted to point it out. 

I don't post there a lot, but when I do it usually is something I don't publish anywhere else. Recently I wrote a bit more personal story about BRAN and why I went on the trip. If you want to check it out, Click Here.  

If this sort of thing intrigues you and you like my writing, please consider subscribing to my Substack. It's free, and there is no obligation.  

Update On Chris King Hub/Wheel Build:

A slow news week here folks! So, I am going through the archives and making sure nothing gets left behind. I did come across the Chris king hub story from back in April. (Here) 

The hang up is in regard to rims and what I want to spend. Carbon is nice, it builds a strong, lightweight wheel, and is my preference. However; they are expensive for anything with a reputation for quality and durability. 

For instance, I can buy two Velocity Blunt SS aluminum rims for a little bit more than I can buy one decent carbon rim in a few cases, and for less than many single carbon rims in the size and spoke count I need.  

So, seeing as how money has been tight, or allocated elsewhere of late (BRAN), I haven't made any decisions for those hubs yet. I probably will not make a decision on rims for quite some time yet. 

Update On Ergon Review:

Another thing I need to get back on is the review of the Ergon SR AllRoad Pro Saddle and the BT OrthoCell Handlebar Tape.  Those items are on the Honeman Flyer and I switched out to ride the bikes I was considering for BRAN shortly after the review kicked off. 

Now it is time to switch over to these products n the Honeman Flyer to conclude the review. I have another item coming in I cannot speak about yet which will help push these reviews up my "to do" list. 

Interestingly, I have used the Honeman Flyer as a training bike for BRAN and since I've returned several times. I just haven't done any longer rides out in the country. I do have a bit of feedback, even from ny shorter rides, so it hasn't been as though I don't have any time on these products. I just don't have the gravel time I like to get before I write up anything. 

So, stay tuned for updates on both products here from Ergon very soon.  

And That's A Wrap! 

I know.....The tour is on now. (May as well hand Pogačar the trophy now) But I have almost zero interest in Pro road racing these days, so you are not going to see much coverage of it here. With that, I want to thank you for checking out Guitar Ted Productions today. I hope you all get out for a ride this weekend.  

Review: Aeron TPU Tubes Update #3

 Note: Guitar Ted received Aeron TPU tubes and a patch kit at no charge for test and review from Aeron. Guitar Ted is not being paid, nor bribed for this review and all opinions are Guitar Ted's. 

 I've been testing the Aeron TPU tubes most of this season already. The last update came back in early May. Then the whole BRAN thing happened and I was off doing things in preparation for that trip. Now that I'm back in a regular routine again I have had time to do an experiment with the Aeron tubes to check out something I was curious about. 

That being how an Aeron tube would respond to being taken out of one tire and being put into another. Would the tube be too stretched out to use in a smaller volume tire? Would the TPU be stressed or damaged easily by handling it after having been inflated and ridden a while? 

To learn the answers to these questions I took the front wheel I had been using with these tubes on my Black Mountain Cycles MCD, a wheel with a WTB Nineline 29" X 2.25" tire, and swapping that Aeron tube to a narrower tire. I also decided to go with a different wheel as well, just to make this even a bit more interesting. 

 The tire I chose is a Rene Herse Fleecer Ridge 700 X 55mm tire. The Fleecer Ridge is actually a bit narrower than claimed and in inches would be a 2.1" tire, so slightly narrower than the 2.25 WTB tire, which measured out right at its claimed width. 

The wheel changed from a WTB Proterra i23 to an ancient HED Belgium+ design rim called the Ardennes wheel. It is slightly narrower than the WTB rim internally as it is 21mm internal width. With an obvious change in inner rim profile and a narrower tire, would the Aeron tube be compatible after having been in a larger space? 

Removing the Aeron tube, I noted that it felt very delicate. Maybe it thinned out a bit? But when I aired it up enough to give it some shape for installation in the Rene Herse/HED combination, I observed that the tube was not oversized for the new application. Installation was easy, but it was a delicate operation.  It should also be noted again that these Aeron tubes are spec'ed to work with 650B diameter tires as well as 700c tires. The tube was not stretched out to a 700c diameter requiring a bit of finessing to get the tube into the Fleecer Ridge casing. 

My conclusion is then that - at least for the Aeron TPU tubes - they do stretch to fit a larger tire but they do not stay stretched out if removed. These examples, at least, show some return to original size out of the box, despite their feeling thinner than new as I recall things. 

This is an interesting finding since it would seem that, as long as one handles the TPU tube with care, Aeron TPU tubes can be safely transferred from one wheel to another. The main point being that you have to be very careful with the TPU material and see to it you do not damage the tube by removing it and reinstalling it. 

So, I think the Aeron tubes retain their shape to a degree that you can use a tube from a slightly larger tire and put it into a slightly narrower one. However; I do feel it would be rather easy to damage the TPU material while doing a swap-over. 

More riding will be done soon and I will return with another update later into Summer.  

Selle SMP Pro Saddle: Part 1

  Note: This review is of a used Selle SMP saddle Guitar Ted purchased from the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. Selle SMP is not aware of this review and all opinions are Guitar Ted's. 

Last week I introduced to you the Selle SMP saddles, if you were not already aware of them.  As it turned out, several of you were aware of the brand and are current users of an SMP saddle. If you missed last week's post, click HERE. 

One of the comments I received on that post was a quite informative one. In the comment was a link to professional bike fitter, Steve Hogg's article on SMP saddles. It is a deep-dive into all of Selle SMP's models and where they are best applied, in Hogg's opinion, amongst various cyclists. (Click HERE for Steve Hogg's SMP post) Beware! It is technical, long, and may be more of a rabbit hole than you may want to dive into! 

I found it to be very informative and instructive as to how to set up an SMP saddle. According to Hogg, the "Pro" model is a bit of an outlier in SMP's range, but a very comfort oriented choice nonetheless. To my way of thinking, it fits best for the common, non-racer cyclists who want a saddle to relieve numbness and promote comfort on long rides. So, I think I fell into a good choice with this Pro model. 

I decided to mount the Pro on my 2014 Raleigh Tamland Two, as it is set up in a bit more of a tourist/comfort/endurance way than some of my other gravel bikes. All that to say the Tamland is set up for comfort on longer outings. Perfect for this review. 

I did have an issue with wheels though, and this took several days to sort out. I do not have many choices in quick release wheels anymore! Additionally, I have few bikes which use quick release drop outs anymore, so this complicated matters a bit. In the end, I did find a set of wheels and if the tires seal up (tubeless) and I don't have to revisit that, we're good to go now. 

As you can see here I have the Selle SMP Pro nose down just a bit, as my friend from Nebraska, Jayme said I should do. The seat post is a two bolt design which allows easy micro-adjustments. So the next phase in testing will be to go on a ride and take a wrench with me to adjust the post as necessary. Initially I can say it feels "right", but things can change while riding a longer time than just around the block. 

 I did note something when I got the bike outdoors and test rode the set up. The leather SMP uses is very soft and luxurious feeling. In fact, it was startling compared to other saddles I have. I'm not sure this will have any effect upon riding, but it is noteworthy. For being a used saddle, it sure looks almost new, so I don't know that this softness was a wear-in effect, and I'm inclined to think this is just how the Pro is out of the box. But this is speculation. Perhaps someone out there can comment if they have any experience with this. 

In the Hogg article, it was noted the SMP saddles have longer saddle rails than many other saddles do, and I think you can see this from my image above. I agree, the rails are long. Finding a saddle set-back appropriate to your fit shouldn't be an issue. You can see how I slid the Pro up a bit, compensating for the longer offset of this carbon post I'm using. 

Okay, so that is all I have for you on this SMP saddle today. I'll get some riding done and will report back again soon. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!