Before There Was "Gravel": Flared Drop Bars

 Continuing on with this series about the 'pre-gravel' days, I wanted to touch on the subject of the flared drop bar for bicycles. Now this one is a bit tricky, as it can be seen as a thing which grew out of the early 29"er scene. However; I think it has direct ties to the gravel rider, and I hope that this little historical ramble will bear that out for you. 

Going back to the early 2000's, 29"ers were the new thing which had been capturing the imaginations of the new internet forum folks. These big wheeled beasts were so odd that breaking conventions was part and parcel to the group of folks attracted to such things. So, the whole Pandora's box of ideas were open to discussion at the time. Old ideas, new ideas, dumb ideas, and some smart ideas were all bandied about back then. One of the old ideas which gained some traction again was the idea of drop bars for off-roading.

I won't get into a detailed history of that idea, but suffice it to say that those few who were into the 'dirt drop' back then had to scour the ebay, Craigslist, and local flea market newspapers for WTB RM-2 "Dirt Drop" handle bars. They were the only game in town for a mountain bike worthy, ergonomic drop bar for off-road pursuits.

A WTB Dirt Drop handle bar (Image courtesy of Mike Varley)

The idea got hatched then for a copy-cat bar to be made by On One. Some mountain bikers who were intimate with the WTB version were consulted. Most notably Don "Shiggy" Person, who along with On One's Brant Richards developed the first alternative drop bar, the venerable On One Midge Bar.

The Midge was essentially a modified WTB Dirt Drop bar which satisfied Person's desires for a perfected version of that handle bar. This allowed many would-be off-road experimenters to taste and see if dirt drop bars for off roading would be a thing for them. I happened to be one of those experimenters. I bought my first 29"er in 2003, a Campstove Green Karate Monkey, and I don't think I had it a year before it was fitted with Midge Bars. 

My Karate Monkey, circa 2006, set up with the On One Midge Bar.

Once the Midge became somewhat of a cult favorite, it didn't take long for Origin 8 to introduce the very similar, but wildly flared "Gary Bar". These early attempts at the drop bar for off road kept 'sweep' and 'flare' as part of the shallow drop, short reach formula for the off road drop bar. One thing some, including myself, complained about with these early flared drops was that the extensions were too short. Well, the next big moment in off road drop bars addressed this bit quite nicely.

The next 'big' moment for flared drop bars came when Salsa Cycles introduced the Fargo in late 2008. With its original use of the cyclo-cross inspired "Bell Lap" bar, it was okay, but Salsa folk claimed a purpose-designed bar for the Fargo was forthcoming. It took a little while, but at a Fargo Adventure Ride in 2009, I saw a prototype flared drop bar which was to be for the Fargo. It ended up becoming the polarizing Woodchipper Bar. It borrowed the flare and sweep ideas, but it added significant extension length to the design. However; Salsa's designers fell foul to choosing a poorly (my opinion) thought out radius to the drops, which made setting the bars up a royal challenge. 

Martin Bunge's Fargo displays the extensions issue caused by the poor radius of the Woodchipper Bar.

To get the ramps to hoods transition comfortable for riding, one had to rotate the Woodchipper in such a way that the brake lever body sat correctly for that. This, in turn, rendered the extensions useless since that generally pointed them down so steeply it would be uncomfortable to ride there for very long, or at all. Plus, many were turned off by the swept extensions, thinking them too goofy for fast paced riding. Had Salsa stopped here, I think they would have fallen off the radar from the perspective of flared drops for gravel.

But Salsa engineers solved this problem when they introduced the Bell Lap's replacement, the Cowbell Bar. With its minimal flare and nearly no sweep, it quickly was adopted by gravel riders as the perfect flared drop for faster paced gravel travel. Within a year of the Cowbell's release, there were several copy-cat bars which came about with between 12° and perhaps slightly less flare. But then Salsa Cycles was considering a replacement for the Woodchipper Bar, and at a Frostbike show in 2014 I was asked, along with Ben Witt, what that bar should be. We both agreed that a bar with longer extensions and a bit more sweep and flare than a Cowbell would be perfect. By 2015, the Cowchipper, a 'more Cowbell' bar, was out, and then that kind of spawned a slew of bars in a similar vein. 

By 2015, the 'gravel thing' was a thing, so I count the Cowchipper as being the last, real flared drop bar evolution 'pre-gravel' days. But it wasn't really a 'gravel thing' at first, as you can see from this brief history. 

Easton carbon drop bars introduced earlier this year.

Now we have carbon bars with flare and sweep with ergonomic moldings and thinned out sections for more flex leading to more comfort. A far cry from 2005 when this 'modern day gravel' scene kicked off. 

Back then many riders just used road drop bars, or maybe Salsa bell Lap bars, or Nitto randonnuer bars. But things swung to the flared drop bar side as Salsa started pumping out the Fargo, and even more so when the venerable Cowbell became available. The advent of the gravel bike, kicked off by Salsa Cycles, and then Raleigh and others, made the flared drop bar a standard issue item for gravel travel. 

There have been notable off-shoots along the way, but I count this as a main 'timeline/evolutionary' line from the WTB Dirt Drop to the myriad flared drop bars available now. What Salsa designed into the Cowbell, and then the Cowchipper, informed the flared drop bar offerings from almost every other company. It is hard to deny that Salsa Cycles had a huge influence on gravel handle bars. It also is hard to imagine a time when we could count how many flared drop bars you could get on three fingers, but it wasn't all that long ago!

Before There Was "Gravel": Flared Drop Bars

 Continuing on with this series about the 'pre-gravel' days, I wanted to touch on the subject of the flared drop bar for bicycles. Now this one is a bit tricky, as it can be seen as a thing which grew out of the early 29"er scene. However; I think it has direct ties to the gravel rider, and I hope that this little historical ramble will bear that out for you. 

Going back to the early 2000's, 29"ers were the new thing which had been capturing the imaginations of the new internet forum folks. These big wheeled beasts were so odd that breaking conventions was part and parcel to the group of folks attracted to such things. So, the whole Pandora's box of ideas were open to discussion at the time. Old ideas, new ideas, dumb ideas, and some smart ideas were all bandied about back then. One of the old ideas which gained some traction again was the idea of drop bars for off-roading.

I won't get into a detailed history of that idea, but suffice it to say that those few who were into the 'dirt drop' back then had to scour the ebay, Craigslist, and local flea market newspapers for WTB RM-2 "Dirt Drop" handle bars. They were the only game in town for a mountain bike worthy, ergonomic drop bar for off-road pursuits.

A WTB Dirt Drop handle bar (Image courtesy of Mike Varley)

The idea got hatched then for a copy-cat bar to be made by On One. Some mountain bikers who were intimate with the WTB version were consulted. Most notably Don "Shiggy" Person, who along with On One's Brant Richards developed the first alternative drop bar, the venerable On One Midge Bar.

The Midge was essentially a modified WTB Dirt Drop bar which satisfied Person's desires for a perfected version of that handle bar. This allowed many would-be off-road experimenters to taste and see if dirt drop bars for off roading would be a thing for them. I happened to be one of those experimenters. I bought my first 29"er in 2003, a Campstove Green Karate Monkey, and I don't think I had it a year before it was fitted with Midge Bars. 

My Karate Monkey, circa 2006, set up with the On One Midge Bar.

Once the Midge became somewhat of a cult favorite, it didn't take long for Origin 8 to introduce the very similar, but wildly flared "Gary Bar". These early attempts at the drop bar for off road kept 'sweep' and 'flare' as part of the shallow drop, short reach formula for the off road drop bar. One thing some, including myself, complained about with these early flared drops was that the extensions were too short. Well, the next big moment in off road drop bars addressed this bit quite nicely.

The next 'big' moment for flared drop bars came when Salsa Cycles introduced the Fargo in late 2008. With its original use of the cyclo-cross inspired "Bell Lap" bar, it was okay, but Salsa folk claimed a purpose-designed bar for the Fargo was forthcoming. It took a little while, but at a Fargo Adventure Ride in 2009, I saw a prototype flared drop bar which was to be for the Fargo. It ended up becoming the polarizing Woodchipper Bar. It borrowed the flare and sweep ideas, but it added significant extension length to the design. However; Salsa's designers fell foul to choosing a poorly (my opinion) thought out radius to the drops, which made setting the bars up a royal challenge. 

Martin Bunge's Fargo displays the extensions issue caused by the poor radius of the Woodchipper Bar.

To get the ramps to hoods transition comfortable for riding, one had to rotate the Woodchipper in such a way that the brake lever body sat correctly for that. This, in turn, rendered the extensions useless since that generally pointed them down so steeply it would be uncomfortable to ride there for very long, or at all. Plus, many were turned off by the swept extensions, thinking them too goofy for fast paced riding. Had Salsa stopped here, I think they would have fallen off the radar from the perspective of flared drops for gravel.

But Salsa engineers solved this problem when they introduced the Bell Lap's replacement, the Cowbell Bar. With its minimal flare and nearly no sweep, it quickly was adopted by gravel riders as the perfect flared drop for faster paced gravel travel. Within a year of the Cowbell's release, there were several copy-cat bars which came about with between 12° and perhaps slightly less flare. But then Salsa Cycles was considering a replacement for the Woodchipper Bar, and at a Frostbike show in 2014 I was asked, along with Ben Witt, what that bar should be. We both agreed that a bar with longer extensions and a bit more sweep and flare than a Cowbell would be perfect. By 2015, the Cowchipper, a 'more Cowbell' bar, was out, and then that kind of spawned a slew of bars in a similar vein. 

By 2015, the 'gravel thing' was a thing, so I count the Cowchipper as being the last, real flared drop bar evolution 'pre-gravel' days. But it wasn't really a 'gravel thing' at first, as you can see from this brief history. 

Easton carbon drop bars introduced earlier this year.

Now we have carbon bars with flare and sweep with ergonomic moldings and thinned out sections for more flex leading to more comfort. A far cry from 2005 when this 'modern day gravel' scene kicked off. 

Back then many riders just used road drop bars, or maybe Salsa bell Lap bars, or Nitto randonnuer bars. But things swung to the flared drop bar side as Salsa started pumping out the Fargo, and even more so when the venerable Cowbell became available. The advent of the gravel bike, kicked off by Salsa Cycles, and then Raleigh and others, made the flared drop bar a standard issue item for gravel travel. 

There have been notable off-shoots along the way, but I count this as a main 'timeline/evolutionary' line from the WTB Dirt Drop to the myriad flared drop bars available now. What Salsa designed into the Cowbell, and then the Cowchipper, informed the flared drop bar offerings from almost every other company. It is hard to deny that Salsa Cycles had a huge influence on gravel handle bars. It also is hard to imagine a time when we could count how many flared drop bars you could get on three fingers, but it wasn't all that long ago!

Where Once There Were None

Curve Cycles' Walmer Bar- Just an example of our drop bar rich times.

 As I researched my blog to make updates to the 'Archived Drop Bar Articles' page, I realized that in the last ten years the choices in drop bars for off-pavement riding have become so numerous it would be impossible to name all of them. What a big change from when I first started using off-road drop bars! 

Back when I started riding off-road, it was shortly after the 'drop bar craze' in MTB in the mid to late 80's. There were a few well known choices then. You could get maybe three, maybe four different bars, all based around the customized Cinnelli bars that Charlie Cunningham was making for his own custom bike line. Eventually, WTB, the comapny Charlie helped found, made a version of his bars, Specialized used something Nitto made, I believe, and there may be something I'm not remembering, but the off-road drop bar was a rare bar even then. 

WTB continued to produce their off-road drop bar well into the 1990's. I recall putting a few on one particular guy's bike back then. He got a new WTB Dirt Drop every year. Had I known then what I know now I would have hoarded all his take-offs! It wasn't maybe five years later, after WTB ceased production of the Dirt Drop, that the prices for used ones were around $150.00! This, in turn, prompted On One of the U.K. to collaborate with a few riders to develop the On One Midge Bar, a design with its roots in the WTB Dirt Drop and those older, 1980's dirt drop designs. 

Now by this time I had gotten on the internet and read up on all the old mountain bike stuff I could find. I was aware of the old dirt drop craze as I was heavily into mountain biking magazines back then. So, I sought out more information on folks like Charlie Cunningham, John Tomac, the Specialized Dirt Drop, Ibis, Salsa Cycles, and any other brands involved in the off-road drop bar craze. What I found and read up on changed my mind about using drop bars for off-roading. 

My Karate Monkey, circa 2006, with On One Midge Bars

I then took my Karate Monkey 29"er, which had flat bars originally, and I set it up with an On One Midge Bar. This would have been around 2005 or so. I was hooked, and with Trans Iowa sparking a love for gravel riding, the idea stuck with me as I found myself doing more gravel riding  every year. My love of the off-road drop bar deepened then, and I was trying every new flared drop bar I could. There weren't many either. 

There was the original Gary Bar from Origin 8, a fairly close rendition of the Midge, but with even more flare! There were maybe a couple of other odd-ball ones early on in the late 00's, but there wasn't a lot of traction behind the idea until late in the decade. This all started with a very influential bike model introduction.

Around 2006-2007, some in the gravel/MTB community were asking for something with big volume tires and a flared drop bar. Now, I was getting a ton of questions about my Karate Monkey set up with drop bars. I decided that I needed a 'real off-road drop bar bike', so in 2007, I decided to have not one- but two custom bikes made! Each would address issues I had with drop bars on a MTB-able bike. Well, as it turns out, I wasn't the only one thinking along these lines. 

You may have guessed it, but when Salsa Cycles came out with the Fargo, it was this bike that forced Salsa to design their own take on the flared off-road drop bar. At first, they had the old cyclo cross design called the Bell Lap Bar on the Fargo, but within two years the Woodchipper debuted and the race to develop bars with flare and sweep was on. Shortly thereafter, the Ragely Luxy Bar, the Origin 8 Gary II Bar, and the Salsa Cycles Cowbell appeared. Gravel cyclists gravitated to these bars and subsequently, any bike claiming to be a 'gravel bike' had to have a flared drop bar. It was one of the identifying characteristics of a gravel bike. 

The scene, and the bikes to support it, blossomed wildly in the late teens until we reached a point several years ago that there were so many new flared drop bars at every price point that it became bewildering. You can get cheapo, heavy aluminum dirt drops all the way up to high-zoot, ultra-light carbon flared drops. Widths between 40mm and 60mm are out there too. heck when I started out with these flared drop bars there was one width and we liked it! (HA!)

Oh! And those two custom bikes? One was my Badger and the other is my Pofahl, both of which I still own. Both have Luxy Bars too, which is pretty oddball. But anyway, I find it amazing that in 2021 we have all these choices. It truly is the golden age of flared drop bars.

Where Once There Were None

Curve Cycles' Walmer Bar- Just an example of our drop bar rich times.

 As I researched my blog to make updates to the 'Archived Drop Bar Articles' page, I realized that in the last ten years the choices in drop bars for off-pavement riding have become so numerous it would be impossible to name all of them. What a big change from when I first started using off-road drop bars! 

Back when I started riding off-road, it was shortly after the 'drop bar craze' in MTB in the mid to late 80's. There were a few well known choices then. You could get maybe three, maybe four different bars, all based around the customized Cinnelli bars that Charlie Cunningham was making for his own custom bike line. Eventually, WTB, the comapny Charlie helped found, made a version of his bars, Specialized used something Nitto made, I believe, and there may be something I'm not remembering, but the off-road drop bar was a rare bar even then. 

WTB continued to produce their off-road drop bar well into the 1990's. I recall putting a few on one particular guy's bike back then. He got a new WTB Dirt Drop every year. Had I known then what I know now I would have hoarded all his take-offs! It wasn't maybe five years later, after WTB ceased production of the Dirt Drop, that the prices for used ones were around $150.00! This, in turn, prompted On One of the U.K. to collaborate with a few riders to develop the On One Midge Bar, a design with its roots in the WTB Dirt Drop and those older, 1980's dirt drop designs. 

Now by this time I had gotten on the internet and read up on all the old mountain bike stuff I could find. I was aware of the old dirt drop craze as I was heavily into mountain biking magazines back then. So, I sought out more information on folks like Charlie Cunningham, John Tomac, the Specialized Dirt Drop, Ibis, Salsa Cycles, and any other brands involved in the off-road drop bar craze. What I found and read up on changed my mind about using drop bars for off-roading. 

My Karate Monkey, circa 2006, with On One Midge Bars

I then took my Karate Monkey 29"er, which had flat bars originally, and I set it up with an On One Midge Bar. This would have been around 2005 or so. I was hooked, and with Trans Iowa sparking a love for gravel riding, the idea stuck with me as I found myself doing more gravel riding  every year. My love of the off-road drop bar deepened then, and I was trying every new flared drop bar I could. There weren't many either. 

There was the original Gary Bar from Origin 8, a fairly close rendition of the Midge, but with even more flare! There were maybe a couple of other odd-ball ones early on in the late 00's, but there wasn't a lot of traction behind the idea until late in the decade. This all started with a very influential bike model introduction.

Around 2006-2007, some in the gravel/MTB community were asking for something with big volume tires and a flared drop bar. Now, I was getting a ton of questions about my Karate Monkey set up with drop bars. I decided that I needed a 'real off-road drop bar bike', so in 2007, I decided to have not one- but two custom bikes made! Each would address issues I had with drop bars on a MTB-able bike. Well, as it turns out, I wasn't the only one thinking along these lines. 

You may have guessed it, but when Salsa Cycles came out with the Fargo, it was this bike that forced Salsa to design their own take on the flared off-road drop bar. At first, they had the old cyclo cross design called the Bell Lap Bar on the Fargo, but within two years the Woodchipper debuted and the race to develop bars with flare and sweep was on. Shortly thereafter, the Ragely Luxy Bar, the Origin 8 Gary II Bar, and the Salsa Cycles Cowbell appeared. Gravel cyclists gravitated to these bars and subsequently, any bike claiming to be a 'gravel bike' had to have a flared drop bar. It was one of the identifying characteristics of a gravel bike. 

The scene, and the bikes to support it, blossomed wildly in the late teens until we reached a point several years ago that there were so many new flared drop bars at every price point that it became bewildering. You can get cheapo, heavy aluminum dirt drops all the way up to high-zoot, ultra-light carbon flared drops. Widths between 40mm and 60mm are out there too. heck when I started out with these flared drop bars there was one width and we liked it! (HA!)

Oh! And those two custom bikes? One was my Badger and the other is my Pofahl, both of which I still own. Both have Luxy Bars too, which is pretty oddball. But anyway, I find it amazing that in 2021 we have all these choices. It truly is the golden age of flared drop bars.

Friday News And Views

Can you or can't you ride your bike here?

Shelter In Place Rules Confusing For Recreational Activities:

There was another level of ratcheting up the closures of businesses in Iowa due to the pandemic and part of the recommendations for closure by the Governor was that public skate parks were now off limits, along with public playgrounds. In some other parts of the country parks are being closed, and in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, County officials are ticketing non-residents for coming to trail heads and other recreation areas.

It seems that every State has different interpretations of what "shelter in place" means and that this can vary on the County level as well. Can you ride where you like? Depends. Best to ask officials before blundering into a ticket, or causing a social media storm over your ignorance and/or indifference.

It's the "new normal" and, frankly, it stinks to high heaven. No one seems to really know just what they can and cannot do. But really, it is pretty simple. Don't do anything with people outside your immediate family unit. Don't gather for any reason. Keep local and keep yourself at home when you aren't outside. Wash hands often. Don't touch your face.

Specific to cycling: Be self-supported. If you don't know what that is, you probably should stay at home. 

New, beefier Fox 38 - Image courtesy of Fox

 Fox Shox Introduces New 38mm Long Travel Fork:

I know I don't do a lot of 29"er stuff here anymore, (they really became "just a mountain bike" a long time ago, which is probably why), but news that struck me as being somewhat noteworthy came from Fox Shox this week. They introduced a new enduro/long travel single crown fork called the "38", which indicates the stanchion diameter on this all-new fork.

The fork comes in three travel lengths: 160mm, 170mm, and 180mm, all available in 29" wheel size compatibility. You may think, "So what, Ted! Enduro forks all are long travel." Yes they are, but you miss the point.

Consider that 13 years ago Fox didn't make any 29'er forks, (but soon would be releasing them), and that a mere ten years ago the thought of a single crown fork for any wheel diameter that had 180mm of travel was somewhat daft. Sure, they existed, but they weren't considered very good at the time. Now throw in the 29'er factor, well........ You would have been considered to be a dreamer. There was no way that was ever going to happen.

So, not only is the 38mm diameter a big deal, but the mere fact that we can casually accept that a 29"er fork in a single crown type model with 180mm travel exists is something pretty remarkable. Especially when we were vehemently reprimanded for even floating the idea that 29'er wheels would be good at long travel ten years ago by the 26"er/27.5"er folks.

And by the way, I don't count myself as being one of those dreamers as I figured it was a bit of a pipe dream too. I post this to show how wrong we all were and those that did believe it could happen are having their day now. I think it is awesome. Nevermind the fact that I'll never need or want such a bike that might use a fork like that. It is great for those that do.

One other noteworthy bit about this fork. It seems rather minute in the scheme of things, but this is another "why didn't we have this before now?" moments, in my opinion. That detail would be the step shoulder through-bolt. Essentially this detail makes it so the hub gets pressed against a shoulder on the axle on one side and the drop out on the other, leaving one leg of the fork to settle in on the axle with no sideways forces exerted on it by the through bolt. This allows for the legs of the fork to not be "bent" inwards to pinch down on the hub when the axle bolt is tightened. This in turn keeps the legs parallel to one another, and keeps any premature wear and binding at bay. Great idea! this should become standard with all through bolt systems.

Ridiculously wide flared drop bars? Why yes! Image from Curve Cycles.

 As If Flared Drop Bars Weren't Already Weird Enough: 

Flared drop bars- Some say ya don't need 'em, some say they are stupid. Well, if you happen to like them, Curve Cycling from "Down Under" has decided you should let yer freak flag fly high. That's because they have made a flared drop bar so wide you could land an aircraft on it. (Not really, but you get the idea- or you will in a minute)

Yeah, yeah...So Salsa Cycles has a really wide Cowchipper and Cowbell now, but these Walmer Bars go to 60cm at the hoods and a full 75cm at the ends. So that's wide my friends! And never fear! There is extra long bar tape for these bars too. (Good thing!) Interested? You can get them here in the US.

Now I'm not sure I'd ever want any flared drop bar wider than a Cowchipper or a Luxy Bar which were pretty much 46cm at the hoods when that was as big as those came. But maybe you do? Maybe for a sleep roll, or stuff sack which could nest in there? I don't know. I just know that I've ridden 44cm bars and those are okay, but a tic wider was better, and I might like a 48cm bar, but I've never tried one. Maybe I should.........

The Kegeti

 Looks Fargo-ish To Me:

They say there is not a lot new under the Sun, but just a bunch of variations on a theme. So, this new Lindarets "Kegeti" bicycle seems to fit that theme well. Cutting a very late model Fargo-like profile, this is a drop bar bike which can be fitted with a suspension fork, lots of accessories via many mounting points, and can handle a 29" X 2.5" tire.

Price for a frame and fork lists at $2250.00, which is about $500 less than a Ti Fargo, but the Ti Fargo is arguably more versatile, since it can do 27.5 +/29+ tires, the Fargo can be single speed, and this Kegeti can not. But that said, this is a pretty cool bike for those who are looking for such a beast.

This bike also features that new T-47 style threaded bottom bracket standard. That may seem weird but I think it is a step in the right direction, as Lindarets says, you do not have to compromise on bearing size when you go with a big pipe spindle bottom bracket like a 30mm which several cranks use, or the new SRAM DUB which is pretty close to that.

As far as I'm concerned though, this bike is kind of an ugly duckling. It just looks like the lines are messed up and the front end is too high. meh!  The Black Mountain Cycles La Cabra I showed last week looks a lot nicer to me, and that doesn't have the "jacked up" suspension corrected look, which I find weird looking on this Kegeti. That's just my opinion though. You may love it. It's okay.....


Thanks for reading. I hope you all stay safe and healthy. Have a great weekend!

Friday News And Views

Can you or can't you ride your bike here?

Shelter In Place Rules Confusing For Recreational Activities:

There was another level of ratcheting up the closures of businesses in Iowa due to the pandemic and part of the recommendations for closure by the Governor was that public skate parks were now off limits, along with public playgrounds. In some other parts of the country parks are being closed, and in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, County officials are ticketing non-residents for coming to trail heads and other recreation areas.

It seems that every State has different interpretations of what "shelter in place" means and that this can vary on the County level as well. Can you ride where you like? Depends. Best to ask officials before blundering into a ticket, or causing a social media storm over your ignorance and/or indifference.

It's the "new normal" and, frankly, it stinks to high heaven. No one seems to really know just what they can and cannot do. But really, it is pretty simple. Don't do anything with people outside your immediate family unit. Don't gather for any reason. Keep local and keep yourself at home when you aren't outside. Wash hands often. Don't touch your face.

Specific to cycling: Be self-supported. If you don't know what that is, you probably should stay at home. 

New, beefier Fox 38 - Image courtesy of Fox

 Fox Shox Introduces New 38mm Long Travel Fork:

I know I don't do a lot of 29"er stuff here anymore, (they really became "just a mountain bike" a long time ago, which is probably why), but news that struck me as being somewhat noteworthy came from Fox Shox this week. They introduced a new enduro/long travel single crown fork called the "38", which indicates the stanchion diameter on this all-new fork.

The fork comes in three travel lengths: 160mm, 170mm, and 180mm, all available in 29" wheel size compatibility. You may think, "So what, Ted! Enduro forks all are long travel." Yes they are, but you miss the point.

Consider that 13 years ago Fox didn't make any 29'er forks, (but soon would be releasing them), and that a mere ten years ago the thought of a single crown fork for any wheel diameter that had 180mm of travel was somewhat daft. Sure, they existed, but they weren't considered very good at the time. Now throw in the 29'er factor, well........ You would have been considered to be a dreamer. There was no way that was ever going to happen.

So, not only is the 38mm diameter a big deal, but the mere fact that we can casually accept that a 29"er fork in a single crown type model with 180mm travel exists is something pretty remarkable. Especially when we were vehemently reprimanded for even floating the idea that 29'er wheels would be good at long travel ten years ago by the 26"er/27.5"er folks.

And by the way, I don't count myself as being one of those dreamers as I figured it was a bit of a pipe dream too. I post this to show how wrong we all were and those that did believe it could happen are having their day now. I think it is awesome. Nevermind the fact that I'll never need or want such a bike that might use a fork like that. It is great for those that do.

One other noteworthy bit about this fork. It seems rather minute in the scheme of things, but this is another "why didn't we have this before now?" moments, in my opinion. That detail would be the step shoulder through-bolt. Essentially this detail makes it so the hub gets pressed against a shoulder on the axle on one side and the drop out on the other, leaving one leg of the fork to settle in on the axle with no sideways forces exerted on it by the through bolt. This allows for the legs of the fork to not be "bent" inwards to pinch down on the hub when the axle bolt is tightened. This in turn keeps the legs parallel to one another, and keeps any premature wear and binding at bay. Great idea! this should become standard with all through bolt systems.

Ridiculously wide flared drop bars? Why yes! Image from Curve Cycles.

 As If Flared Drop Bars Weren't Already Weird Enough: 

Flared drop bars- Some say ya don't need 'em, some say they are stupid. Well, if you happen to like them, Curve Cycling from "Down Under" has decided you should let yer freak flag fly high. That's because they have made a flared drop bar so wide you could land an aircraft on it. (Not really, but you get the idea- or you will in a minute)

Yeah, yeah...So Salsa Cycles has a really wide Cowchipper and Cowbell now, but these Walmer Bars go to 60cm at the hoods and a full 75cm at the ends. So that's wide my friends! And never fear! There is extra long bar tape for these bars too. (Good thing!) Interested? You can get them here in the US.

Now I'm not sure I'd ever want any flared drop bar wider than a Cowchipper or a Luxy Bar which were pretty much 46cm at the hoods when that was as big as those came. But maybe you do? Maybe for a sleep roll, or stuff sack which could nest in there? I don't know. I just know that I've ridden 44cm bars and those are okay, but a tic wider was better, and I might like a 48cm bar, but I've never tried one. Maybe I should.........

The Kegeti

 Looks Fargo-ish To Me:

They say there is not a lot new under the Sun, but just a bunch of variations on a theme. So, this new Lindarets "Kegeti" bicycle seems to fit that theme well. Cutting a very late model Fargo-like profile, this is a drop bar bike which can be fitted with a suspension fork, lots of accessories via many mounting points, and can handle a 29" X 2.5" tire.

Price for a frame and fork lists at $2250.00, which is about $500 less than a Ti Fargo, but the Ti Fargo is arguably more versatile, since it can do 27.5 +/29+ tires, the Fargo can be single speed, and this Kegeti can not. But that said, this is a pretty cool bike for those who are looking for such a beast.

This bike also features that new T-47 style threaded bottom bracket standard. That may seem weird but I think it is a step in the right direction, as Lindarets says, you do not have to compromise on bearing size when you go with a big pipe spindle bottom bracket like a 30mm which several cranks use, or the new SRAM DUB which is pretty close to that.

As far as I'm concerned though, this bike is kind of an ugly duckling. It just looks like the lines are messed up and the front end is too high. meh!  The Black Mountain Cycles La Cabra I showed last week looks a lot nicer to me, and that doesn't have the "jacked up" suspension corrected look, which I find weird looking on this Kegeti. That's just my opinion though. You may love it. It's okay.....


Thanks for reading. I hope you all stay safe and healthy. Have a great weekend!

Is The Un-Dark Component Era Returning?

Zipp now offers Service course level parts in silver ano.

Silver anodized parts used to be "normal". Back when I first got into working at bicycle shops, only mountain bikes used black on components and that was frowned upon as being "uncouth" by many roadies and even by some mountain bikers themselves. Heck, silver and black were often seen as "boring" while, you know "ultraviolet stems, cranks and every other bit.....well THAT was where it was at!

Then the 90's came to a close and silver stuff was relegated to road bikes, while black overtook the look of mountain bikes. By the mid-00's, even road bikes with silver bits were rare. It was black anodization or nothing. At least it seemed that way. There were a few islands in the darkness though.

There were companies like Velo Orange and Rivendell Bicycle Works holding down the old guard silver components parts, amongst some other smaller brands. But for the most part, no- you were getting blackened everything! No silver for you! But then things started to turn. Slowly, but surely, silver started popping up. Ritchey Design brought out a line of "Classic" bits, which I jumped on to outfit my Black Mountain Cycles "Monster Cross" rig. Later Salsa Cycles announced that the Cowbell and Cowchipper were available in silver. And now we see roadie stalwarts Zipp offering silver bits. It makes me wonder, "Are we turning a page and going back to silver anodized componentry?"

The ol' Orange Crush rig with silver anodized Ritchey stem, seatpost, and a rare silver non-series Shimano crankset. 

Of course, wheels have been available in silver for a while, mostly thanks to Velocity USA who do a polished silver look or silver ano on their rims, and they offer silver hubs as well. Some other companies are doing silver hubs, but there are not many rim choices, really. But, it's getting to the point again where a guy or gal can switch for some bright-work instead of the same ol' boring dark matter all over their bicycles.

All this mining of silver ano makes me wonder if we aren't on the cusp of a change. I hope that we are going to see silver make a big comeback. And if we are, can we have that pearly, glowing anodization they used to put on old Campy parts, Sugino cranks, and first generation XTR? Because THAT was silver ano done right!

A guy can wish........

Is The Un-Dark Component Era Returning?

Zipp now offers Service course level parts in silver ano.

Silver anodized parts used to be "normal". Back when I first got into working at bicycle shops, only mountain bikes used black on components and that was frowned upon as being "uncouth" by many roadies and even by some mountain bikers themselves. Heck, silver and black were often seen as "boring" while, you know "ultraviolet stems, cranks and every other bit.....well THAT was where it was at!

Then the 90's came to a close and silver stuff was relegated to road bikes, while black overtook the look of mountain bikes. By the mid-00's, even road bikes with silver bits were rare. It was black anodization or nothing. At least it seemed that way. There were a few islands in the darkness though.

There were companies like Velo Orange and Rivendell Bicycle Works holding down the old guard silver components parts, amongst some other smaller brands. But for the most part, no- you were getting blackened everything! No silver for you! But then things started to turn. Slowly, but surely, silver started popping up. Ritchey Design brought out a line of "Classic" bits, which I jumped on to outfit my Black Mountain Cycles "Monster Cross" rig. Later Salsa Cycles announced that the Cowbell and Cowchipper were available in silver. And now we see roadie stalwarts Zipp offering silver bits. It makes me wonder, "Are we turning a page and going back to silver anodized componentry?"

The ol' Orange Crush rig with silver anodized Ritchey stem, seatpost, and a rare silver non-series Shimano crankset. 

Of course, wheels have been available in silver for a while, mostly thanks to Velocity USA who do a polished silver look or silver ano on their rims, and they offer silver hubs as well. Some other companies are doing silver hubs, but there are not many rim choices, really. But, it's getting to the point again where a guy or gal can switch for some bright-work instead of the same ol' boring dark matter all over their bicycles.

All this mining of silver ano makes me wonder if we aren't on the cusp of a change. I hope that we are going to see silver make a big comeback. And if we are, can we have that pearly, glowing anodization they used to put on old Campy parts, Sugino cranks, and first generation XTR? Because THAT was silver ano done right!

A guy can wish........

Friday News And Views

Flared drop bars are not well understood. (Easton EA 70 AX bar pictured)

Flared Drop Bars - Hype Or No?

The other day I saw a few posts on social media from a few riders deriding the trend in gravel bikes using flared drop bars. The overall feeling was that they were completely foolish, unnecessary, and "who really stays in the drops in the rough stuff anyway?"

I restrained myself from trying to teach on the benefits of the flared drop bar, because really, in light of such ignorant and uninformed criticism, it was obvious I'd have been wasting my time there. But it does point out the fact that the mass adoption of the flared drop bar has been completely without any education, marketing of the benefits, nor with any historical context. If this type of bar had been detailed by brands in such a manner, then riders could make informed comments and choices. Unfortunately, the deafening silence on this type of bar, (and other facets of cycling in general), from brands that sell this stuff leads to the sort of worthless banter on components and bikes all over the internet. (Tires are the worst, for instance)

Standard race bred drop bars are perfectly fine, for what they were meant for, but gravel riding is a different animal, and therein lies the reasons for being when it comes to flared drop bars. Then there is the propensity for many drop bar bike owners to never use the drops in the first place. This also leads to a misinformed opinion on drop bars, because if the drops are something you'd rarely use anyway, well then, yeah.... Flared drops are pointless. But on the flip side, you should be using the drops a LOT, or why bother? Just cut them off, or use "bull horn" bars. It'd be lighter and those pesky drops wouldn't be in the way, using up bar tape when you could be double wrapping those bits by the levers. Or....maybe just use flat bars. 

Uneducated, misinformed opinions and takes on components abound on the internet. Flared drop bars are just one thing in the pile of parts that are not well explained, nor marketed correctly by the brands that spec them on their bicycles. I could write an entire series on this sort of thing, but the recent flared drop bar commentary I saw prompted me to post this time. I wish companies would see that they are doing a really poor job in this area.

The Cowchipper (shown here) and the Cowbell are now available in silver ano from Salsa Cycles.

 HiHo Silver!

I look at my Orange Crush BMC Monster Cross rig once in awhile and wish I had silver handle bars, but.....yeah. Silver flared drop bars aren't very common, and the ones that you can get in silver are not up my alley. It used to be that you could get the original Gary Bars in silver, and I may actually have a set somewhere, but no..... Cowbells or Cowchippers just blow those things away, at least for me.

So it was that I was rather excited to see that Salsa Cycles has now offered silver anodized Cowbell and Cowchipper bars in the "Deluxe" level. (7000 series aluminum, lighter weight) It looks like my dream of putting on silver flared drop bars on the BMC just might come true soon.

The Evil Bike Company's "Chamois Hagar" gravel bike.

 Wait.........WUT?!!

The other day I saw a Tweet about Evil Bike Company. You know.....the radical mountain bike, trail shredding brand? Well, they now have a "gravel bike". Yep! But check it out, because it is not a "me-too" bike at all.

Now y'all may wonder what I mean by "me-too" bikes. That was a term coined in the 00's for companies that were throwing together something with fat 700c wheels and calling it a 29"er, when in fact it was just a Taiwanese, or Chinese sourced "catalog" bike and was about as generic as they came. At one point I think there were a half a dozen brands using the same, or nearly the same, carbon hard tail from the same factory, but claiming differences. This also happened when gravel bikes took off four years ago and companies were slapping the gravel tag on cyclo cross bikes with terrible geometry for gravel roads.

I'm sure Evil Bikes sees the gravel scene as "the latest shiny object" like many bike companies do, and if you cannot afford, or want to deal with electrifying bicycles with motors, then gravel is your game. Evil Bikes took a very "clean sheet" on the design table and went nuts. Just what do we have here anyway? A new game in town- that's what.

Back when I was looking at what I thought would make for a really great gravel bike, I was advocating for a deeper bottom bracket height, slacker head tube angles, and longer fork offsets. In my mind, a 70° head tube angle and a 80mm bottom bracket drop was "pretty extreme". Ben Witt and I actually were toying around with having Mike Pofahl, a frame builder in Northfield, Minnesota, weld up a couple of these bikes. We were thinking fatter 700c rubber too. Maybe not 29"er sized, but bigger than 40mm for sure. At the time, (2010-2011), there just wasn't much of anything other than Bruce Gordon's Rock & Road tires, which were nominally 43-44mm wide, depending upon the rim you used. So, that was the tire Ben designed around. Unfortunately, we never got around to pulling the trigger.

But the "Chamois Hagar", (dumb name, but whatever), blasts past most of what we were thinking back then and sets a new bar. With a 66.8° head tube angle mated to a custom fork with 428mm axle to crown height and 57mm of offset, you could be excused for thinking this was a gravel bike designed by a trail shredder, because, well......it was! They used the 80mm bottom bracket drop too. And, with room for 50mm tires in 700c and 650B, the bike would be a pretty interesting rig in Iowa on a day where you had fast hills and fresh, chunky gravel.

What I don't know that I'd care for is the really low top tube. I know.....dropper post, but this makes the Chamois Hagar a bit less capable in terms of carrying along a top tube bag like a Revelate Tangle bag. But there is a lot to like, and more to be very curious about here.

That's it for this week! It's going to be nice this weekend around here and I hope to get some riding in. I hope that you do as well! 

Friday News And Views

Flared drop bars are not well understood. (Easton EA 70 AX bar pictured)

Flared Drop Bars - Hype Or No?

The other day I saw a few posts on social media from a few riders deriding the trend in gravel bikes using flared drop bars. The overall feeling was that they were completely foolish, unnecessary, and "who really stays in the drops in the rough stuff anyway?"

I restrained myself from trying to teach on the benefits of the flared drop bar, because really, in light of such ignorant and uninformed criticism, it was obvious I'd have been wasting my time there. But it does point out the fact that the mass adoption of the flared drop bar has been completely without any education, marketing of the benefits, nor with any historical context. If this type of bar had been detailed by brands in such a manner, then riders could make informed comments and choices. Unfortunately, the deafening silence on this type of bar, (and other facets of cycling in general), from brands that sell this stuff leads to the sort of worthless banter on components and bikes all over the internet. (Tires are the worst, for instance)

Standard race bred drop bars are perfectly fine, for what they were meant for, but gravel riding is a different animal, and therein lies the reasons for being when it comes to flared drop bars. Then there is the propensity for many drop bar bike owners to never use the drops in the first place. This also leads to a misinformed opinion on drop bars, because if the drops are something you'd rarely use anyway, well then, yeah.... Flared drops are pointless. But on the flip side, you should be using the drops a LOT, or why bother? Just cut them off, or use "bull horn" bars. It'd be lighter and those pesky drops wouldn't be in the way, using up bar tape when you could be double wrapping those bits by the levers. Or....maybe just use flat bars. 

Uneducated, misinformed opinions and takes on components abound on the internet. Flared drop bars are just one thing in the pile of parts that are not well explained, nor marketed correctly by the brands that spec them on their bicycles. I could write an entire series on this sort of thing, but the recent flared drop bar commentary I saw prompted me to post this time. I wish companies would see that they are doing a really poor job in this area.

The Cowchipper (shown here) and the Cowbell are now available in silver ano from Salsa Cycles.

 HiHo Silver!

I look at my Orange Crush BMC Monster Cross rig once in awhile and wish I had silver handle bars, but.....yeah. Silver flared drop bars aren't very common, and the ones that you can get in silver are not up my alley. It used to be that you could get the original Gary Bars in silver, and I may actually have a set somewhere, but no..... Cowbells or Cowchippers just blow those things away, at least for me.

So it was that I was rather excited to see that Salsa Cycles has now offered silver anodized Cowbell and Cowchipper bars in the "Deluxe" level. (7000 series aluminum, lighter weight) It looks like my dream of putting on silver flared drop bars on the BMC just might come true soon.

The Evil Bike Company's "Chamois Hagar" gravel bike.

 Wait.........WUT?!!

The other day I saw a Tweet about Evil Bike Company. You know.....the radical mountain bike, trail shredding brand? Well, they now have a "gravel bike". Yep! But check it out, because it is not a "me-too" bike at all.

Now y'all may wonder what I mean by "me-too" bikes. That was a term coined in the 00's for companies that were throwing together something with fat 700c wheels and calling it a 29"er, when in fact it was just a Taiwanese, or Chinese sourced "catalog" bike and was about as generic as they came. At one point I think there were a half a dozen brands using the same, or nearly the same, carbon hard tail from the same factory, but claiming differences. This also happened when gravel bikes took off four years ago and companies were slapping the gravel tag on cyclo cross bikes with terrible geometry for gravel roads.

I'm sure Evil Bikes sees the gravel scene as "the latest shiny object" like many bike companies do, and if you cannot afford, or want to deal with electrifying bicycles with motors, then gravel is your game. Evil Bikes took a very "clean sheet" on the design table and went nuts. Just what do we have here anyway? A new game in town- that's what.

Back when I was looking at what I thought would make for a really great gravel bike, I was advocating for a deeper bottom bracket height, slacker head tube angles, and longer fork offsets. In my mind, a 70° head tube angle and a 80mm bottom bracket drop was "pretty extreme". Ben Witt and I actually were toying around with having Mike Pofahl, a frame builder in Northfield, Minnesota, weld up a couple of these bikes. We were thinking fatter 700c rubber too. Maybe not 29"er sized, but bigger than 40mm for sure. At the time, (2010-2011), there just wasn't much of anything other than Bruce Gordon's Rock & Road tires, which were nominally 43-44mm wide, depending upon the rim you used. So, that was the tire Ben designed around. Unfortunately, we never got around to pulling the trigger.

But the "Chamois Hagar", (dumb name, but whatever), blasts past most of what we were thinking back then and sets a new bar. With a 66.8° head tube angle mated to a custom fork with 428mm axle to crown height and 57mm of offset, you could be excused for thinking this was a gravel bike designed by a trail shredder, because, well......it was! They used the 80mm bottom bracket drop too. And, with room for 50mm tires in 700c and 650B, the bike would be a pretty interesting rig in Iowa on a day where you had fast hills and fresh, chunky gravel.

What I don't know that I'd care for is the really low top tube. I know.....dropper post, but this makes the Chamois Hagar a bit less capable in terms of carrying along a top tube bag like a Revelate Tangle bag. But there is a lot to like, and more to be very curious about here.

That's it for this week! It's going to be nice this weekend around here and I hope to get some riding in. I hope that you do as well! 

Minus Ten Review 2009-26

The Woodchipper Bar was officially released at Interbike 2009.

Ten tears ago this week on the blog I released details for the fourth annual Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational. The ride was going to be held in a completely different area and as it turned out, it was one of my classic courses. One of my all time favorites, and also one of the hardest 100-ish mile courses I have ever ridden.

I also was pointing out that a new drop bar for off road was finally coming. It was in addition to the two basic bars we'd only had a choice of for several years. those would be the classic Midge Bar and the Gary Bar v1 by Origin 8.

Back story: The original prototype for what would become the Woodchipper was shown to several of us Fargo riders at a Fargo Adventure Ride earlier in the year. I remember seeing it and being a bit taken aback by the weird bend to the drop section and the extra long extensions. It wasn't at all what I had been hoping for in an off-road drop bar.

My first impressions of what became the Woodchipper were spot on. While I held out with some enthusiasm and hope that I'd eventually come around to love it, I just never got on with that design. I tried it on different bikes with different levers in different ways, but to no avail. I have come to the conclusion that my first impression was correct. It wasn't what I would have done for a dirt drop.

But that said, the Woodchipper was popular, and still is, with many riders. Then Salsa came out with the Cowbell, a slightly flared (12°) degree drop bar with a very comfy radius. At Frostbike one year, one of the Salsa product managers tasked with coming up with a potential redesign of the Woodchipper, asked myself and Ben Witt for our input on what Salsa should do for a Woodchipper v2. We both heartily asked for a more flared, more swept version of the Cowbell. The product manager was pleased and stated that this idea could become a new bar and that perhaps the Woodchipper didn't have to go away after all. That new bar, of course, is the Cowchipper. Now maybe you can see why it got its name.

Minus Ten Review 2009-26

The Woodchipper Bar was officially released at Interbike 2009.

Ten tears ago this week on the blog I released details for the fourth annual Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational. The ride was going to be held in a completely different area and as it turned out, it was one of my classic courses. One of my all time favorites, and also one of the hardest 100-ish mile courses I have ever ridden.

I also was pointing out that a new drop bar for off road was finally coming. It was in addition to the two basic bars we'd only had a choice of for several years. those would be the classic Midge Bar and the Gary Bar v1 by Origin 8.

Back story: The original prototype for what would become the Woodchipper was shown to several of us Fargo riders at a Fargo Adventure Ride earlier in the year. I remember seeing it and being a bit taken aback by the weird bend to the drop section and the extra long extensions. It wasn't at all what I had been hoping for in an off-road drop bar.

My first impressions of what became the Woodchipper were spot on. While I held out with some enthusiasm and hope that I'd eventually come around to love it, I just never got on with that design. I tried it on different bikes with different levers in different ways, but to no avail. I have come to the conclusion that my first impression was correct. It wasn't what I would have done for a dirt drop.

But that said, the Woodchipper was popular, and still is, with many riders. Then Salsa came out with the Cowbell, a slightly flared (12°) degree drop bar with a very comfy radius. At Frostbike one year, one of the Salsa product managers tasked with coming up with a potential redesign of the Woodchipper, asked myself and Ben Witt for our input on what Salsa should do for a Woodchipper v2. We both heartily asked for a more flared, more swept version of the Cowbell. The product manager was pleased and stated that this idea could become a new bar and that perhaps the Woodchipper didn't have to go away after all. That new bar, of course, is the Cowchipper. Now maybe you can see why it got its name.

Shimano Debuts New Flared Drop Bars Under PRO Brand

The PRO Discovery Series "Jumbo Flare" Bar

Shimano is arguably one of the biggest cycling companies in existence. Well.......cycling is a small part of what they do, actually. The fishing side is bigger and they do some other stuff as well. But the point is, Shimano is a major player. They do not do things "quickly" or without a lot of consideration.

Taking that into mind along with the fact that Shimano has their own component/accessory brand dubbed "PRO", this new introduction of handlebars and bike packing bags announced over the weekend is very interesting.

It says to me that Shimano feels that the future, (or at least one of the plausible futures) of cycling is in the adventure/all-road category. It has not taken all of this stuff going on with gravel cycling here lightly. For instance, their press release says, "A coupling of the latest technology from its range of high-performance road and mountain bike components and rider and category research, PRO introduces its first performance product range for gravel and adventure riding, including flared handlebars, bags,and dropper seat posts."

It's probably going to be seen as "marketing BS" by many of you, but I have had some limited contact with actual Shimano employees based both here and in Japan, and let me tell you, they are serious about what they do. I've no doubt this gravel thing they are embarking on is serious. Shimano brought over several employees from Japan recently to participate and observe at the Almanzo 100. Shimano even has a gravel road riding segment on their website now. It isn't there just to "hop on the bandwagon" either. These handle bars and the shoes I just got, and the Ultegra clutch style derailleur are all part of something bigger here. I think we're just seeing the beginnings of what Shimano has in mind. 

The PRO Discovery Medium Flare

So, about the bars. The Discovery series has a Jumbo Flare at 30° flare and a wight of 280 grams in aluminum. It comes in a 42cm and 44cm size only (No 46cm?!) The Medium Flare has 12° of flare, weighs in at a claimed 270 grams, and comes in 40cm, 42cm, and 44cm.

There was no prices or ETA on availability given in the press release I got.

The mind immediately goes to Salsa Cycle's offerings in this category when you look at these bars. Obviously the Medium Flare most closely aligns with the Cowbell and the Jumbo Flare with the Cowchipper. These could be good alternatives to Salsa's offerings if they are easier to get than Salsa's products are at times.

Okay, so there are bags and a dropper seat post. Those do not impress me, in terms of the bigger picture, as much as the handle bars do. Handle bars require tooling and a lot of investment. Shimano PRO already makes a dropper post. Bags are not that big a deal to have made. But making a handle bar, that's an investment that shows a certain level of commitment to gravel/all-road bikes that isn't easy to ignore.

Of course, the bars themselves are not all that innovative, but it shows that Shimano has made a choice to be a player in this niche. As a first effort, they look to be quite serviceable, although derivative, and uninspired. But I don't think that is the point we should be making note of here.

Shimano Debuts New Flared Drop Bars Under PRO Brand

The PRO Discovery Series "Jumbo Flare" Bar

Shimano is arguably one of the biggest cycling companies in existence. Well.......cycling is a small part of what they do, actually. The fishing side is bigger and they do some other stuff as well. But the point is, Shimano is a major player. They do not do things "quickly" or without a lot of consideration.

Taking that into mind along with the fact that Shimano has their own component/accessory brand dubbed "PRO", this new introduction of handlebars and bike packing bags announced over the weekend is very interesting.

It says to me that Shimano feels that the future, (or at least one of the plausible futures) of cycling is in the adventure/all-road category. It has not taken all of this stuff going on with gravel cycling here lightly. For instance, their press release says, "A coupling of the latest technology from its range of high-performance road and mountain bike components and rider and category research, PRO introduces its first performance product range for gravel and adventure riding, including flared handlebars, bags,and dropper seat posts."

It's probably going to be seen as "marketing BS" by many of you, but I have had some limited contact with actual Shimano employees based both here and in Japan, and let me tell you, they are serious about what they do. I've no doubt this gravel thing they are embarking on is serious. Shimano brought over several employees from Japan recently to participate and observe at the Almanzo 100. Shimano even has a gravel road riding segment on their website now. It isn't there just to "hop on the bandwagon" either. These handle bars and the shoes I just got, and the Ultegra clutch style derailleur are all part of something bigger here. I think we're just seeing the beginnings of what Shimano has in mind. 

The PRO Discovery Medium Flare

So, about the bars. The Discovery series has a Jumbo Flare at 30° flare and a wight of 280 grams in aluminum. It comes in a 42cm and 44cm size only (No 46cm?!) The Medium Flare has 12° of flare, weighs in at a claimed 270 grams, and comes in 40cm, 42cm, and 44cm.

There was no prices or ETA on availability given in the press release I got.

The mind immediately goes to Salsa Cycle's offerings in this category when you look at these bars. Obviously the Medium Flare most closely aligns with the Cowbell and the Jumbo Flare with the Cowchipper. These could be good alternatives to Salsa's offerings if they are easier to get than Salsa's products are at times.

Okay, so there are bags and a dropper seat post. Those do not impress me, in terms of the bigger picture, as much as the handle bars do. Handle bars require tooling and a lot of investment. Shimano PRO already makes a dropper post. Bags are not that big a deal to have made. But making a handle bar, that's an investment that shows a certain level of commitment to gravel/all-road bikes that isn't easy to ignore.

Of course, the bars themselves are not all that innovative, but it shows that Shimano has made a choice to be a player in this niche. As a first effort, they look to be quite serviceable, although derivative, and uninspired. But I don't think that is the point we should be making note of here.