On Tuesday of this week, White Industries released news concerning a limited run of Desert Sage components. This hue is a Cerakote finish, not an anodization, and a finish which White Industries claims is resistant to scratches, stains, and heavy usage.
Available on select White Industries components for a limited time only. Once the stock is gone, this color will not be offered again.
For details see White Industries website.
Comments: An interesting choice for a limited run. I tried wrapping my head around this color, but I am torn as to what I'd do with a head set, crank set, or hubs in a color which, for me, is akin to dried cow droppings. Maybe if I had a dark matte red frame, or an egg plant colored frame. I guess maybe it would work on my pink BMC, or an orange frame.
Anyway, it is a curious hue to offer, and a weird enough color that - on the right build - could be outstanding.
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| Image courtesy of English Cycles |
The handmade bicycle show is an idea which has always drawn plenty of attention. It used to be the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, but that show faded away. Now days the show which essentially is the same thing as the old NAHBS is called MADE and is held in Portland, Oregon every year.
Thanks to the wonderful immediacy of the innergoogles, one doesn't have to attend the show, or wait very long for imagery to pop up concerning the show. NAHBS moved around the country and provided regional access to seeing these creations with your own eyes, but these days I guess this doesn't matter.
Anyway, guess what everyone is saying the "big deal" will be for this year? You guessed it, I bet. Thirty-Two inch wheeled bicycles.
I wouldn't be surprised if those bikes garner a lot of attention, but I'll bet other wheel sizes will be shown with equally as cool frames and forks. What the "trends" will be is anyone's guess.
Notable: A recent Facebook post by NAHBS founder, Don Walker, indicates that 2027 will see the return of NAHBS as the NAHBS Reunion & Invitationsl. The date is set for August 6-8, 2027 at the Palmer Events Center in Austin, Texas. Stay tuned for more details in the future.
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| Image courtesy of Mosaic Cycles |
Mosaic Offers Production Spec 32"er:
Mosaic Cycles, a custom and boutique brand based in Boulder, Colrado, announced on Tuesday of this week that it now offers a "Batch Built" 32 inch wheeled drop bar bike.
Dubbed the GT-1 i55 32", this model will be built from double-butted titanium and features completely internal routing. A 1X only design, this bike will clear 32" x 55mm tires.
Using a T-47 bottom bracket and Mosaic's own 32" specific carbon fork, this model was conceived from the ground-up as a 32" wheeled bike. The wheel spec is 110F 148R, which seems to be the direction 32" bikes will take for the time being in terms of axle spacing.
For more details see Mosaic's page for this bike HERE.
Comments: I imagine this is not a moderately priced bicycle, but besides this, it seems to be the direction many custom builders are taking with what is being shaped as 32" wheeled "monster-gravel". The lack of narrower tires in this category kind of forces this trend, in my opinion. Not that anyone is upset about it, but one has to wonder if there were a few choices in 32" x 45mm tires if axle standards and geometry would be a bit different than what we are seeing.
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| Image courtesy of Industry Nine |
Industry Nine took the covers off a new offering they have dubbed "Hush 32 Carbon". Obviously the "carbon" bit is the rims. Otherwise this is a classic I-9 wheel set with their patented alloy spokes and alloy hubs available in several anodized colors.
The wheels are available now and run $2,199.00. USD.
Comments: What is weird about this wheel set, to my way of thinking, is the low spoke count. Twenty-four spokes seems like a bit on the edge for lateral wheel stiffness in a 32" hoop.
Industry Nine makes a nice riding wheel though. I've tested several sets and I own a really old set of I-9's. The alloy spokes may seem weird but they work. So, I'd have a fair amount of confidence in these it's just that the 24 spoke count gives me pause.
Interesting to see these debut now. I would not be at all surprised to see these wheels featured on something at the MADE Show this weekend.
This week also saw the release ofthe 700c based BERD Sparrow carbon wheels. These wheels use the fiber spokes by BERD and are laced to your choice of hubs listed on the Sparrow webpage.
Using BERD's own Talon hubs, a ring drive/ratchet style hub, the BERD spokes, and the new 50mm deep/30mm wide/25mm internal width carbon rims, you can realize a very light overall wheel weight. With tape and tubeless valves installed BERD claims the Sparrow wheel set weighs 1,068 grams.
These wheels are pretty reasonably priced at $2.195.00 USD.
Apparently BERD is also offering this model in a 32" size.
Comments: N.Y. Roll actually saw a set of these being raced this past weekend at CORE4. The wheels also have been claimed to be good for rider comfort, and last weekend's event probably put that claim to the test.
I can vouch for the way BERD spokes reduce vibrations, though. I have a set of wheels from 2020 which have I-9 hubs, BERD spokes, and Atomik carbon rims. There is something to the vibration reduction claims.
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| Image courtesy of SILCA |
SILCA Offers Gravel Tire Range:
SILCA announced on Thursday it now has tires for sale. A range dubbed "Protocol" contains one road tire model and three gravel tires.
These tires all use premium materials, some in new ways, to provide claims of low weight, puncture resistance, and low rolling resistance.
Offered in black wall only with 45mm, 50mm, and 55mm widths in a range which is defined by a numerical rating. The Protocol RG-1, (shown here) is the all-out race tire with minimalist tread. There is no RG-2 (curiously), so the next one in the range is RG-3 which is meant for all around-conditions gravel. The RG-4 is a deeper tread pattern meant for wet/mud or rougher terrains.
There is even a 32" offering in the RG-3 HERE.
All Protocol tires are selling now on SILCA's site and cost $99.00 each.
You can see the entire range on this page. Check out the very informative explainer video HERE.
Comments: That explainer video is well worth your time. I guarantee you will learn something about tires from it. Josh, (SILCA head honcho) says they use a carbon fiber bead, and says they are making this tire the way they do "..because no one else is doing it." While this seems to be his messaging, I disagree with it. Maxxis has used a carbon fiber bead in some of its road and gravel tires for several years. So, this seems to be a bit of marketing-speak from SILCA on this point.
But the other data and evidence Josh speaks about in the video seems compelling. Well.....maybe not a hundred bucks a tire compelling, but I am not racing, so I am not the core audience for these tires. Racing is expensive, and these tires prove it.
I do like the "pseudo-radial" technology and the carbon fiber bead makes a ton of sense. Maybe some more moderately priced tires will eventually pick up on some of this new tech and become available in the near future.
No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is N.Y. Roll on the podium at CORE4 which occurred just this past weekend.
Despite the rains all last week, despite the course changes, and despite the chance the event conditions would be poor, N.Y. Roll showed up and finished the course. Because he did all of that, and was the only one in his category to do so, he won.
This kind of goes back to what I used to say about all the gravel riders in the earlier days of gravel riding. They showed up? They won. If they tried and couldn't finish? They won. If they finished, but were at the front, middle, or the back? They won.
Anyway.... Check out N.Y. Roll's conversation with me concerning his day and a whole bunch of other stuff HERE on the latest episode of The Guitar Ted Podcast.
And that wraps up another week here at Guitar Ted Productions! Thanks for reading. Now get out there and ride your bicycle!
16 comments:
I wonder why Silca specifies a 25 mm (inside) rim for all of the tires from 29 mm to 61 mm. That's within ETRTO standards but I'd expect the wider tires would work better on wider rims.
@Stuart- You suspect the tires would work better on wider rims? In what way?
Listening to the explainer video, I gathered that SILCA realized the best results on a rim of that dimension.
Of course, it is possible that they optimized their design for a rim of those dimensions on purpose. Perhaps seeing the market being flooded with rims of that size, they felt they had a better chance at selling the tires if they targeted rims of that kind.
@Stuart - I think the 25mm is just a standard from which to measure tire width across their product line. I don't take it as a necessarily a recommendation of what tire width to use for each tire.
@GT Good point on Maxxis using carbon bead. Speculation is that Maxxis (CST) is likely the manufacturer for these. Silca certainly isn't manufacturing themselves. And the fact that they offer a 32 sized tire and are made in Taiwan narrows the potential manufacturers quite a bit. The carbon bead is just one more data point.
@A-A=Ron - I concur. Especially when Josh stated the manufacturer was the top tire facility in Taiwan. It all points to Maxxis.
In my limited personal experience a very supple 48 mm tire on a 21 mm (inside) rim was excessively sensitive to pressure. It would either bounce or weave. It handled much better on a 25 mm rim. The 48/21 ratio is between 55/25 and 61/25 so I assume those larger tires might also handle better on wider rims. Also 61 mm is a MTB size and 30 mm rims seem to be common on new MTBs.
My observations may not apply to stiffer tires or to bikes never ridden on pavement. Also I don't ride fast enough to worry about aerodynamics, which I understand improve with wider rims.
IME a wider rim makes a tire feel firmer at the same pressure.
You “can” lower the pressure to regain the “cush” feel, but the sidewall is more likely to collapse in hard corners or hits. And the sidewall is more exposed to cuts and abrasions.
I never suffered as many pinch flats and sidewall cuts—on the road, and trail—as when using relatively narrow tires on wide rims. Included 28mm tires on 22mm rims, 2.5” tires on 39mm, 3.0” on 44mm, and 4.0” on 75mm.
With the narrower rim and a rounder casing shape ( “O” rather than “U”) you run a “higher” pressure without reducing “cush” and the sidewalls remain stable in cornering..
Mostly I use 20-23mm rims with 38mm to 2.4” tires, 25mm rims with 42mm to 2.6” tires, and a 30mm wheelset with 2.2-3.0”.
Plus I feel the track and handle better.
Will add the a supple tire SHOULD be sensitive to pressure changes! Means it can actually flex and conform. Will need higher pressures compared with a stiffer tire as the pressure provides more of the support.
A stiffer tire has more mechanical support but is way less resistant to collapsing when used at low pressures
On price, the Silca tires are not wildly out of line.
Both Pirelli and Vittoria have models in the $104-128usd range
I went to the MADE show for a day last year, and I’m having FOMO this year.
While the photos galleries are great it’s still nothing like being there, seeing the bikes (the 1978 Cunningham was stunning) and assorted bits, plus the people.
I really wanted to return this year and participate in the surrounding activities. Rides, gatherings, parties, rides to the gathering…
Just couldn’t swing it this time
If it is Maxxis I find it odd that the factory told Josh they had a “faster” rubber that nobody was willing to pay the extra $2 for (likely production cost), considering that their tires rarely rank highly for RR in testing.
Let’s talk mosaic. One of the reasons people gush is the stack height. Look to Twin Six 3x2 as well. Stack heights are both sub 500mm. I believe T6 is at 490 vs Mosaics 480. In short they are a spacer off from each other. Being sub 500 will be key.
Mr Roll, you may want to check again.
For the smallest 32” frames I see 650mm stack for Twin Six and 570 for Mosaic.
490 is the A-C length of the T6 fork
You are correct. The point I am trying to convey is the fork needs to be low as possible to fit more people on the 32 platform.
Definitely NOT Maxxis, and yes, carbon bead was developed more than 20 years ago by Toray for Hutchinson's first tubeless tires, it has been used here and there (and many companies use it in their world tour or pro racing tires) but has never before been commercialized across an entire range of tires like this because it adds a few bucks per tire which pretty much assures that no OEM will ever be willing to buy those tires. Similarly, our tires are at the same MSRP as pretty much everyone else, but because those OEM prices are so low, tires bleed out into the grey market and the street price for most $99 tires is really like $69 on Amazon because some OEM is buying them for $23 and can make money on it, while a bike shop might have to pay $55 for that same tire direct from the brand. During our development we purchased about 30 pair of competitive tires to test and in almost every single case they were cheaper on Amazon than they were at QBP or direct from the tire company.
No other brand will tell you what their measurement standard is, so we are leading with that.. all tires based on 25mm hooked inner bead width rims as those are the most widely used and manufactured currently for both road and gravel, but we also provide a chart showing the actual tire measurement on other rim widths.. the goal here is transparency, as it's infuriating to get a 55mm tire and realize it measures 58 because the brand based that on a 21mm inner bead and now it rubs your chainstay..
@Josh at SILCA - Hey, thank you for jumping in here to give us all a clearer picture of your tire offerings and the marketplace in general. Much appreciated!
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