Friday News And Views

The "Ozark Trail" model in 27.5 wheels.Image courtesy of Walmart

Walmart Introduces "Ozark Trail" MTB Bikes:

A few industry sources have published this announcement of the Walmart "Ozark Trail" line of mountain bikes. Company officials say that, "Many of the bikes in this sport come with a high price point. We wanted to offer our customers a more affordable option while maintaining the quality and versatility that the sport requires, and I think we've done that with the Ozark Trail bike." This according to a "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" article. 

The 27.5"er retails for $298.00 and the 29"er retails for $398.00. Both come with 1X drive trains and suspension forks. The frames are aluminum. The bikes come in Small, Medium, and Large sizes according to the webpage on the bikes. The 27.5 model, the "Vibe", clocks in at 37.5lbs, claimed weight, and the 29"er does not show up currently on the Walmart site at all. (?) 

Comments: Okay, so a lot of chatter on social media concerning these bikes was centered on how the Walmart family has promoted cycling, how the Walmart family has enhanced Northwest Arkansas, specifically Bentonville, and how these bikes will be a gateway to making cyclists out of non-cyclists. So, it's okay that these bikes exist. Ahh......no. I'm not buying any of this. 

Why? Because at this price-point, which if you have not noticed yet, is now what most "box store" mountain bikes are going for now, these bikes are nothing different than what you have seen proffered before in the aisles of places like Target, Costco, Walmart, etc. In other words, this is not the bike that gets more people to ride on a regular basis. It is that bike that most often ends up rusted, neglected, and in a landfill before long. It is that bike that the under-privileged, lower income folks have to buy because there is nothing at this price-point or cheaper that is better.

That the Walton's did 'this-or-that' in NW Arkansas has absolutely no bearing on what this product is all about. It is a poorly designed, low-spec "mountain-bike-shaped-object" that follows right in line with its MTB-BSO predecessors. With that said....back to your regularly scheduled program....

Revel Ranger FS 29"er. Image courtesy of Revel Bikes.

Revel Bikes Announces Revised Ranger FS Bike:

I see a lot of mountain bikes come and go in the press. I often think whether or not I might like them, but maybe 90% of the time these are bikes built for raging bike parks, going way fast downhill, or they have some goofy thing that turns me off.

Then every once in a while a bike comes along that makes sense to me. The Revel Ranger is that MTB right now. 

The geometry is reasonable. Not really slack and long travel. Heck, you can even fit three water bottles on the frame in size Large! A threaded bottom bracket? Yes. Internal cable guides so I don't have to fish cables through a frame? Yes. 29" wheels? Yes. 

That last point: It's really interesting to me now that to find out if this was a 29"er I had to go all the way down to the spec sheet for the tire size. No where else is that mentioned. Why? Because a 29"er is a mountain bike, of course. What else is there? (I kid, but only a little bit, you 27 fiver folks!) 

I didn't look at the price, because, well why? I cannot afford it, and also, I don't need it. But "if" I were to buy a MTB tomorrow? I'd be hard pressed not to want that Ranger. You can read more about it here.

Mavic's electric motor. Image courtesy of Bike Radar's social media feed

Mavic Working On New Motor For Lightweight Applications:

According to a "Bike Radar" article recently, Mavic have been quietly working on an electric motor with Swiss bicycle manufacturer BMC. The results so far would point to something rather impressive. A 21lb bicycle with on-demand power assist. While the article says there are still hurdles to overcome to make the system consumer ready, they are on-track to place this in rider's hands perhaps as early as 2025.

Comments: That's a light bike for having a motor, and with the on-demand feature, it is reasonable to think that this would be palatable for cyclists to have on-board for anything from group rides to competitions. Which, if the system can be made to be nearly undetectable while riding, is another problem for event promoters to deal with in terms of keeping the playing field level. 

Obviously, we have no idea what the price would be for such privilege, but one would assume this is going to be very expensive to purchase. That said, if you will be able to buy it, it will show up at start lines. Will this bring back the days of "motor doping" as we saw in the twenty-teens? Perhaps, but it is a fascinating development. 

Ritchey Announces Updated Ascent Model:

This week Ritchey Design quietly introduced a new update to their Acsent model. Now in a "Desert Sand" color, the new Ascent has "Three-Pack" bosses on the fork blades and underneath the downtube. 

The bike has a maximum tire clearance of 2.6" whether you run 29"ers or 650B tires. It also s a Boost spaced bike. You can see more details on the bike at the webpage here. 

Comments: This is about as close to a Gen I Fargo as you can get with modern through axles and Boost spacing. (The Tumbleweed Stargazer is another good example of this type of bicycle) I'm kind of flabbergasted that Ritchey would even bother to list a 27.5" tire size if it wasn't wider than what you could run with a 29 inch wheel. Seems odd to me.....

But yeah, this is a very Gen I Fargo type bike. Especially since Ritchey added the Three-Pack style mounts on the fork blades. Which, by the way, have a nice appealing curve to them. I like that. It makes the Ritchey have a bit of a throw-back flair to this design.

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions! Have an excellent weekend.

Friday News And Views

The "Ozark Trail" model in 27.5 wheels.Image courtesy of Walmart

Walmart Introduces "Ozark Trail" MTB Bikes:

A few industry sources have published this announcement of the Walmart "Ozark Trail" line of mountain bikes. Company officials say that, "Many of the bikes in this sport come with a high price point. We wanted to offer our customers a more affordable option while maintaining the quality and versatility that the sport requires, and I think we've done that with the Ozark Trail bike." This according to a "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" article. 

The 27.5"er retails for $298.00 and the 29"er retails for $398.00. Both come with 1X drive trains and suspension forks. The frames are aluminum. The bikes come in Small, Medium, and Large sizes according to the webpage on the bikes. The 27.5 model, the "Vibe", clocks in at 37.5lbs, claimed weight, and the 29"er does not show up currently on the Walmart site at all. (?) 

Comments: Okay, so a lot of chatter on social media concerning these bikes was centered on how the Walmart family has promoted cycling, how the Walmart family has enhanced Northwest Arkansas, specifically Bentonville, and how these bikes will be a gateway to making cyclists out of non-cyclists. So, it's okay that these bikes exist. Ahh......no. I'm not buying any of this. 

Why? Because at this price-point, which if you have not noticed yet, is now what most "box store" mountain bikes are going for now, these bikes are nothing different than what you have seen proffered before in the aisles of places like Target, Costco, Walmart, etc. In other words, this is not the bike that gets more people to ride on a regular basis. It is that bike that most often ends up rusted, neglected, and in a landfill before long. It is that bike that the under-privileged, lower income folks have to buy because there is nothing at this price-point or cheaper that is better.

That the Walton's did 'this-or-that' in NW Arkansas has absolutely no bearing on what this product is all about. It is a poorly designed, low-spec "mountain-bike-shaped-object" that follows right in line with its MTB-BSO predecessors. With that said....back to your regularly scheduled program....

Revel Ranger FS 29"er. Image courtesy of Revel Bikes.

Revel Bikes Announces Revised Ranger FS Bike:

I see a lot of mountain bikes come and go in the press. I often think whether or not I might like them, but maybe 90% of the time these are bikes built for raging bike parks, going way fast downhill, or they have some goofy thing that turns me off.

Then every once in a while a bike comes along that makes sense to me. The Revel Ranger is that MTB right now. 

The geometry is reasonable. Not really slack and long travel. Heck, you can even fit three water bottles on the frame in size Large! A threaded bottom bracket? Yes. Internal cable guides so I don't have to fish cables through a frame? Yes. 29" wheels? Yes. 

That last point: It's really interesting to me now that to find out if this was a 29"er I had to go all the way down to the spec sheet for the tire size. No where else is that mentioned. Why? Because a 29"er is a mountain bike, of course. What else is there? (I kid, but only a little bit, you 27 fiver folks!) 

I didn't look at the price, because, well why? I cannot afford it, and also, I don't need it. But "if" I were to buy a MTB tomorrow? I'd be hard pressed not to want that Ranger. You can read more about it here.

Mavic's electric motor. Image courtesy of Bike Radar's social media feed

Mavic Working On New Motor For Lightweight Applications:

According to a "Bike Radar" article recently, Mavic have been quietly working on an electric motor with Swiss bicycle manufacturer BMC. The results so far would point to something rather impressive. A 21lb bicycle with on-demand power assist. While the article says there are still hurdles to overcome to make the system consumer ready, they are on-track to place this in rider's hands perhaps as early as 2025.

Comments: That's a light bike for having a motor, and with the on-demand feature, it is reasonable to think that this would be palatable for cyclists to have on-board for anything from group rides to competitions. Which, if the system can be made to be nearly undetectable while riding, is another problem for event promoters to deal with in terms of keeping the playing field level. 

Obviously, we have no idea what the price would be for such privilege, but one would assume this is going to be very expensive to purchase. That said, if you will be able to buy it, it will show up at start lines. Will this bring back the days of "motor doping" as we saw in the twenty-teens? Perhaps, but it is a fascinating development. 

Ritchey Announces Updated Ascent Model:

This week Ritchey Design quietly introduced a new update to their Acsent model. Now in a "Desert Sand" color, the new Ascent has "Three-Pack" bosses on the fork blades and underneath the downtube. 

The bike has a maximum tire clearance of 2.6" whether you run 29"ers or 650B tires. It also s a Boost spaced bike. You can see more details on the bike at the webpage here. 

Comments: This is about as close to a Gen I Fargo as you can get with modern through axles and Boost spacing. (The Tumbleweed Stargazer is another good example of this type of bicycle) I'm kind of flabbergasted that Ritchey would even bother to list a 27.5" tire size if it wasn't wider than what you could run with a 29 inch wheel. Seems odd to me.....

But yeah, this is a very Gen I Fargo type bike. Especially since Ritchey added the Three-Pack style mounts on the fork blades. Which, by the way, have a nice appealing curve to them. I like that. It makes the Ritchey have a bit of a throw-back flair to this design.

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions! Have an excellent weekend.

Friday News And Views

Ritchey finally has their gravel road bike available.

Ritchey Announces Availability Of Their Gravel Bike:

From the company whose head honch said, "All road bikes are gravel bikes", comes a bike designed specifically for gravel road riding.

I know........I know. 

Marketing 180's and trends aside, here are a couple of things I noted about this bike now that it is out and the geometry and spec has been revealed.

First of all, it is a 1X specific bike. (Note- While the videos I saw showed the bike as a 1X I have been corrected and it is front derailleur compatible. Thanks to you commenters for being astute and pointing that out) That is certainly on trend, but it is certainly a deal killer for many folks. We can debate the 1X vs 2X for gravel all day long, but here is my take on that in a nutshell: 1X designs cater to the gravel rider with mtb leanings. Whether or not 1X for gravel makes any sense or not is another debate, but simply from the mtb side, you can see why 1X is being pushed here. It indicates to me that several companies aren't sure what a gravel bike is so they are shooting darts at a target they cannot see. In the end, they interpret the genre' from their viewpoint. Ritchey is based on the West Coast, they are a mountain bike heavy company, and their lens for seeing the gravel world is West Coast based. Taken in that light, I get it. Again- whether or not that is right is some other discussion. UPDATE: So, I got that part wrong. However; as stated all the press release stuff I've seen shows the bike as a 1X with no technical bullet points leading me to believe otherwise. But I never saw the website on the bike, and that's my fault. Sorry about the misinformation here. Perhaps, as one commenter implied on a post earlier, I am getting senile. Oh well! That said, because the bike is featured as a 1X in the promotions for this rig, I will still leave in my take on why the Ritchey folks set it up that way.


Secondly- This bike has zero braze ons. None other than water bottle mounts. This also speaks to the Ritchey design type over the years where a race focused, stripped down, purposeful bike has been the norm rather than the exception from that company. However; in my opinion, it limits the appeal of the bike. The Ritchey Ascent, another "adventure based" design, seems to have all these braze on points, but it is only offered in the Breakaway version which adds a lot of cost to the frame and fork. It looks like "Riding Gravel" is going to get a go on one of these Outbacks, so stay tuned for that if it happens.

I attended a People For Bikes Draft meeting Thursday evening.

 Let's Talk Bikes:

The organization, "People For Bikes", is well known amongst those who stay close to advocacy issues for cyclists. Recently they have helped organize "meet ups" where local cycling communities can gather for beers and conversations to get to know what is up in their area as far as cycling initiatives go. They call it "Draft"

I went to the Waterloo, Iowa event held at Single Speed Brewery. There I learned why the Park Avenue bike lanes seem so jacked up, (they are just a beginning and a work in progress), I learned about a new bike share company called "Koloni", (aiming at getting low cost bike shares at trail heads and communities outside of large metropolitan areas), and how the Cedar Valley Nature Trail needs funds to maintain and repair infrastructure that will make it a complete trail again. Plus I heard from a couple of local State legislators on issues concerning cyclists in Iowa. I met a few folks and hung out with some acquaintances.

Oh......and I had a few beers!

The meeting was well attended and received. I thought I came away from it enriched and more knowledgeable in our areas cycling culture. There will be a Draft meet-up in Des Moines on January 25th, so you folks down that way should show up and check it out. It is good stuff. Draft is also being held in other communities across the nation. Check it out here.

Fairies wear booties. Just ask Ozzy.

Okay......One More Time!

I used to wear booties, or "shoe covers", if you'd rather, all the time whenever the weather got cold. They pretty much sucked. All of them. Then came the 45NRTH boots with the "shoe cover" built in. Wow! What an improvement.

Yes, those boots had their issues, (I still rock them, by the way), but the basic premise was brilliant. While it meant that you had to buy another pair of cycling specific footwear, who doesn't like shoes and boots? Okay, maybe if you are a Hobbit, but otherwise......

So, I swore off booties and I figured as long as I could get these "tweener" season boots, I was going to go that route. Then came these Bont shoes in for review on Riding Gravel. Obviously, going deeper into Fall and approaching Winter fast, those shoes weren't going to be optimal without additional armoring against the bitter winds and cold, frosty air. That's when I figured I had better take another look at booties. (Apologies to those who say "shoe covers". For me, these will forever be "booties")

I work at a Trek/Bontrager dealer so I took home these Bontrager RXL Waterproof "booties". Well, I must admit. Things have changed a bit since I last wore these accursed booties of doom. They are actually not too bad. A big pain to draw over your shoes, but they look well designed and as long as they do not come apart, expose my toes, or get snagged in the drive train, I'll be good. Time will tell.

Okay, that wraps up another Friday News And Views. Take care and have an awesome weekend!

Friday News And Views

Ritchey finally has their gravel road bike available.

Ritchey Announces Availability Of Their Gravel Bike:

From the company whose head honch said, "All road bikes are gravel bikes", comes a bike designed specifically for gravel road riding.

I know........I know. 

Marketing 180's and trends aside, here are a couple of things I noted about this bike now that it is out and the geometry and spec has been revealed.

First of all, it is a 1X specific bike. (Note- While the videos I saw showed the bike as a 1X I have been corrected and it is front derailleur compatible. Thanks to you commenters for being astute and pointing that out) That is certainly on trend, but it is certainly a deal killer for many folks. We can debate the 1X vs 2X for gravel all day long, but here is my take on that in a nutshell: 1X designs cater to the gravel rider with mtb leanings. Whether or not 1X for gravel makes any sense or not is another debate, but simply from the mtb side, you can see why 1X is being pushed here. It indicates to me that several companies aren't sure what a gravel bike is so they are shooting darts at a target they cannot see. In the end, they interpret the genre' from their viewpoint. Ritchey is based on the West Coast, they are a mountain bike heavy company, and their lens for seeing the gravel world is West Coast based. Taken in that light, I get it. Again- whether or not that is right is some other discussion. UPDATE: So, I got that part wrong. However; as stated all the press release stuff I've seen shows the bike as a 1X with no technical bullet points leading me to believe otherwise. But I never saw the website on the bike, and that's my fault. Sorry about the misinformation here. Perhaps, as one commenter implied on a post earlier, I am getting senile. Oh well! That said, because the bike is featured as a 1X in the promotions for this rig, I will still leave in my take on why the Ritchey folks set it up that way.


Secondly- This bike has zero braze ons. None other than water bottle mounts. This also speaks to the Ritchey design type over the years where a race focused, stripped down, purposeful bike has been the norm rather than the exception from that company. However; in my opinion, it limits the appeal of the bike. The Ritchey Ascent, another "adventure based" design, seems to have all these braze on points, but it is only offered in the Breakaway version which adds a lot of cost to the frame and fork. It looks like "Riding Gravel" is going to get a go on one of these Outbacks, so stay tuned for that if it happens.

I attended a People For Bikes Draft meeting Thursday evening.

 Let's Talk Bikes:

The organization, "People For Bikes", is well known amongst those who stay close to advocacy issues for cyclists. Recently they have helped organize "meet ups" where local cycling communities can gather for beers and conversations to get to know what is up in their area as far as cycling initiatives go. They call it "Draft"

I went to the Waterloo, Iowa event held at Single Speed Brewery. There I learned why the Park Avenue bike lanes seem so jacked up, (they are just a beginning and a work in progress), I learned about a new bike share company called "Koloni", (aiming at getting low cost bike shares at trail heads and communities outside of large metropolitan areas), and how the Cedar Valley Nature Trail needs funds to maintain and repair infrastructure that will make it a complete trail again. Plus I heard from a couple of local State legislators on issues concerning cyclists in Iowa. I met a few folks and hung out with some acquaintances.

Oh......and I had a few beers!

The meeting was well attended and received. I thought I came away from it enriched and more knowledgeable in our areas cycling culture. There will be a Draft meet-up in Des Moines on January 25th, so you folks down that way should show up and check it out. It is good stuff. Draft is also being held in other communities across the nation. Check it out here.

Fairies wear booties. Just ask Ozzy.

Okay......One More Time!

I used to wear booties, or "shoe covers", if you'd rather, all the time whenever the weather got cold. They pretty much sucked. All of them. Then came the 45NRTH boots with the "shoe cover" built in. Wow! What an improvement.

Yes, those boots had their issues, (I still rock them, by the way), but the basic premise was brilliant. While it meant that you had to buy another pair of cycling specific footwear, who doesn't like shoes and boots? Okay, maybe if you are a Hobbit, but otherwise......

So, I swore off booties and I figured as long as I could get these "tweener" season boots, I was going to go that route. Then came these Bont shoes in for review on Riding Gravel. Obviously, going deeper into Fall and approaching Winter fast, those shoes weren't going to be optimal without additional armoring against the bitter winds and cold, frosty air. That's when I figured I had better take another look at booties. (Apologies to those who say "shoe covers". For me, these will forever be "booties")

I work at a Trek/Bontrager dealer so I took home these Bontrager RXL Waterproof "booties". Well, I must admit. Things have changed a bit since I last wore these accursed booties of doom. They are actually not too bad. A big pain to draw over your shoes, but they look well designed and as long as they do not come apart, expose my toes, or get snagged in the drive train, I'll be good. Time will tell.

Okay, that wraps up another Friday News And Views. Take care and have an awesome weekend!