It's About The Tires

Schwalbe G One 29 X 2.25" - Going on the Fargo Gen 1

And Now, The Gravel Worlds Tire Choice!

Tires, tires, and more tires. The last thing to go on your wheels and the first thing that touches the surface of whatever you are riding on. Yes.....tires are important. I have tried hundreds of different tires, and while most are good, not many are great. I suppose this is why we keep searching for that "one" tire that will be "magic", whatever that might mean. I think that changes almost daily.

Anyway.......speaking of "one", I have chosen to try these new, poofy Schwalbe G One Allround tires for the Fargo Gen I bike. They are, of course, tubeless, and they are wider than anything I've had on this bike since......, I think I tried the 27.5 X 2.8" WTB tires on there but they were juuuust too big. And too small a diameter too. Anyway, big, floaty tires are going to be a good choice at Gravel Worlds because (a) I am big and need a bigger tire there, and (b), their gravel is looser and sandier than ours is here.

Wheels will be prepped and then tires will get mounted and tested out this weekend. I think I'll be using some wheels that might come as a bit of a surprise to some of you out there. Stay tuned for that....

Some Extraterrestrials will have a limited edition grey sidewall. Image courtesy of Surly

Surly Does Tubeless (Finally)

Okay, with that "exciting" news out of the way, (HA!), I have fund out just today that Surly have finally made their tire line tubeless. What'd that take? Only about five years too long, but at least they have done it. Yes folks- their entire folding bead tire line up is available tubeless now. You may find certain models "missing", and I would surmise that these have been discontinued. I had to wonder when I saw several e-commerce sites dumping certain Surly tire models at close out pricing a couple of months ago. I figured something was up and now we know. Those closed out tire models are the ones that aren't being carried over, so check out that link to find out if your favorite Surly tire model still exists.

They have the Knard 41's in tubeless now and a 42mm Extraterrestrial in tubeless as well. Both 700c, of course, but 650B variants also exist. I always liked that Knard 41mm tire but I always thought right along with that thought that this tire never should have existed non-tubeless. It was a big miss on Surly's part to not get that tire under more riders. Now? Pfft! There's a million other garvel tires these days. Getting that "foot in the door" opportunity has passed Surly by. But that said- you should try the Knard 41. 

And of all the tires to keep around, they kept the Nate? Weird. Anyway..... Another tire that always should have been tubeless- the 29" X 3" Knard. 'Bout time on that too. Ditto on Bud and Lou. Good job Surly! Hopefully not too late to matter.

Bigger EMP's:

Earlier this year I tried out some 700 X 38mm Donnelly EMP tires on my Black Mountain Cycles "Orange Crush" #49. In fact, I just rode on those tires again last Saturday, and don't ya know- I was wishing for wider ones? Well, wish granted. Donnelly announced a new choice in sizes for the EMP at 700 X 45mm and 650 B X 47mm.

Donnelly EMP tire

These tires are a bit more aggressively treaded than say, a Gravel King SK, or a Riddler for sure, so if you are not into that, look elsewhere, but if you run a lot of dirt roads, or if you get off on sketchier terrain often, give these a look. The 700 X 45mm size makes these a viable "MTB-Lite" sort of tire, I think.

Kind of like a WTB Nano 40, in that regard, which reminds me, I've seen a lot of bikes with Nano 40's lately, and not OEM stock ones either. Weird! The Nano 40 was one of the, if not the first tubeless ready gravel specific tire, and many folks still dig it, but as you know, you are only as good as anything else if you have the latest design in tires. Nano 40's look slow and too knobby to many, but hey! It's good to see folks still digging them and they are just fine on gravel. Especially looser, rockier stuff.

So, there is a bit of "tire news" for y'all. I know I generally keep "newsy" stuff back for Fridays, but this is specific to tires and I am sure I'll find something to jabber about Friday anyway. In fact, I already have two things waiting for Friday anyway.

As always- Thank you for stopping by today!

It's About The Tires

Schwalbe G One 29 X 2.25" - Going on the Fargo Gen 1

And Now, The Gravel Worlds Tire Choice!

Tires, tires, and more tires. The last thing to go on your wheels and the first thing that touches the surface of whatever you are riding on. Yes.....tires are important. I have tried hundreds of different tires, and while most are good, not many are great. I suppose this is why we keep searching for that "one" tire that will be "magic", whatever that might mean. I think that changes almost daily.

Anyway.......speaking of "one", I have chosen to try these new, poofy Schwalbe G One Allround tires for the Fargo Gen I bike. They are, of course, tubeless, and they are wider than anything I've had on this bike since......, I think I tried the 27.5 X 2.8" WTB tires on there but they were juuuust too big. And too small a diameter too. Anyway, big, floaty tires are going to be a good choice at Gravel Worlds because (a) I am big and need a bigger tire there, and (b), their gravel is looser and sandier than ours is here.

Wheels will be prepped and then tires will get mounted and tested out this weekend. I think I'll be using some wheels that might come as a bit of a surprise to some of you out there. Stay tuned for that....

Some Extraterrestrials will have a limited edition grey sidewall. Image courtesy of Surly

Surly Does Tubeless (Finally)

Okay, with that "exciting" news out of the way, (HA!), I have fund out just today that Surly have finally made their tire line tubeless. What'd that take? Only about five years too long, but at least they have done it. Yes folks- their entire folding bead tire line up is available tubeless now. You may find certain models "missing", and I would surmise that these have been discontinued. I had to wonder when I saw several e-commerce sites dumping certain Surly tire models at close out pricing a couple of months ago. I figured something was up and now we know. Those closed out tire models are the ones that aren't being carried over, so check out that link to find out if your favorite Surly tire model still exists.

They have the Knard 41's in tubeless now and a 42mm Extraterrestrial in tubeless as well. Both 700c, of course, but 650B variants also exist. I always liked that Knard 41mm tire but I always thought right along with that thought that this tire never should have existed non-tubeless. It was a big miss on Surly's part to not get that tire under more riders. Now? Pfft! There's a million other garvel tires these days. Getting that "foot in the door" opportunity has passed Surly by. But that said- you should try the Knard 41. 

And of all the tires to keep around, they kept the Nate? Weird. Anyway..... Another tire that always should have been tubeless- the 29" X 3" Knard. 'Bout time on that too. Ditto on Bud and Lou. Good job Surly! Hopefully not too late to matter.

Bigger EMP's:

Earlier this year I tried out some 700 X 38mm Donnelly EMP tires on my Black Mountain Cycles "Orange Crush" #49. In fact, I just rode on those tires again last Saturday, and don't ya know- I was wishing for wider ones? Well, wish granted. Donnelly announced a new choice in sizes for the EMP at 700 X 45mm and 650 B X 47mm.

Donnelly EMP tire

These tires are a bit more aggressively treaded than say, a Gravel King SK, or a Riddler for sure, so if you are not into that, look elsewhere, but if you run a lot of dirt roads, or if you get off on sketchier terrain often, give these a look. The 700 X 45mm size makes these a viable "MTB-Lite" sort of tire, I think.

Kind of like a WTB Nano 40, in that regard, which reminds me, I've seen a lot of bikes with Nano 40's lately, and not OEM stock ones either. Weird! The Nano 40 was one of the, if not the first tubeless ready gravel specific tire, and many folks still dig it, but as you know, you are only as good as anything else if you have the latest design in tires. Nano 40's look slow and too knobby to many, but hey! It's good to see folks still digging them and they are just fine on gravel. Especially looser, rockier stuff.

So, there is a bit of "tire news" for y'all. I know I generally keep "newsy" stuff back for Fridays, but this is specific to tires and I am sure I'll find something to jabber about Friday anyway. In fact, I already have two things waiting for Friday anyway.

As always- Thank you for stopping by today!

Friday News And Views

Barren trees and tons of leaves. Fat biking conditions have been unusual here.

Weather Making For Unusual Conditions:

 As you will see in tomorrows "Minus Ten Review", it used to snow here. A lot. Now in recent times that doesn't seem as likely. Winter now means sporadic snows, maybe it will be cold, and lots of brown scenery.

In fact, my latest fat bike rides have been over grounds that are muddy, soft, and increasingly messy. We had a spate of really cold weather here that did freeze the ground back in late November, but since then things have actually been thawing out. It is really weird. It also is really tough on anyone wanting some off road bicycling around here. Either it is certain trails which we want to keep off of or it is the constant sticky mud that fouls up everything. Ice was an issue, but even that has disappeared lately with several days of 50's in a row, and now upper 40's.

I have been fat biking the last couple of weekends as an alternative to my gravel road stuff. I just needed a break for a bit. That said, the rides have been not anything like what I would expect for December. I ended up doing some trail work on various bits of the Green Belt. I also cleared up my old trail, "Marky-Mark", and ended up rerouting about ten yards of it to get around a knot of dead fall and vines that had blocked a portion of that trail. So, on one hand, this weird weather has allowed for some trail maintenance.

It isn't supposed to get really cold, snowy, or anything like Winter for at least another week. Looks like it'll be a "Brown Christmas" around here.

Shifty bits be gone!

As Promised- Gears Removed From The "Orange Crush":

As many of you long term readers know, I had threatened to make my BMC "Orange Crush" rig into a single speed once I had the pink MCD up and running. Well, last weekend I took an afternoon and did the deed. No more gears!

Yes...... it took an entire afternoon to strip off components and replace them with single speed stuff. Why? Wouldn't that be a simple job? Well, you'd think so.

There is a bit more to it than meets the eye though. Both in the bits needed to convert to single speed and the finding of those bits! Having been a single speed aficionado for the better part of my cycling career, I have accumulated a lot of single-speedy stuff. I have a drawer dedicated to bits for single speed. Stuff like cog spacers, cogs, free wheels, and the elusive single speed specific chain ring bolts. I've got crank sets, and I've got chain rings. I even have spare White Industry chain rings that are specific to their crank.

Weird, huh?

Well it is weird until you need the stuff! Then you are glad you have it. But even though I have a drawer full of the bits, you still have to "spec" correctly. So, in the case of the Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross conversion, I had a set of 180mm cranks from, (I think), an old Specialized Sequoia touring bike from the early 80's. It was ginormous in size, so it had been spec'ed with these old Sakae 180mm cranks. Of course, back then everything was square taper, (check!) and took a long spindle, (also Check!), so that bottom bracket had to be tracked down, (UN-52, natch!), and then I had to find some crank bolts, and then....... Well, you get the picture. Time consuming, it was. Nuff of that, here's the pic......

There she is!

I'm running a 40T steel chain ring I got........somewhere. I cannot recall now, but the last time I used this was on a single speed 29"er ten years ago. The crank is the aforementioned Sakae unit in 180mm length. Those old components have an ano process that left a pearlescent glow that I miss. Man is that pretty! The rear cog is an 18 tooth Boone Titanium cog with the matching titanium spacers. I just recycled the chain I was using, an old 9spd SRAM unit, shortened to work with the set up.

There is one minor thing I may do yet and that is to get some standard aero brake levers, so I can get the Gevenalle mounts/levers off the bike to clean things up a bit more. That'll require new brake cables, so I may wait on that till Spring.

Donnelly's new "EMP" tires

Donnelly New "EMP" Tire, Now On Test/Review:

A week or so ago I posted about this new tire from Donnelly. It is the new "EMP", named after Emporia, Kansas, which is, as Donnelly states on the tire's hang tag, "Home of the world famous gravel roads that reach out to the sky."

No mention of Dirty Kanza? Yep..... You know why, right? Licensing agreements. Meaning that to use the name in Donnelly's marketing, they probably would have to get a license to allow that from DK Promotions. I'm assuming that this is the case, so don't take that for gospel, but I would be willing to bet that is the case here.

Anyway...... I just found that interesting. Nothing to do with the tire, per se', but it is designed with the DK 200 in mind, so it has a tough, aggressive looking tread and a puncture protection belt too. I put up an introductory post on RidingGravel.com here.  Check that out for details. I will say that for now, it looks like a good tire for packed snow, which we should have now........ Bah! Anyway, I'll likely get these on the single speeded Orange Crush soon enough and start trying them out. I figure it can't be long before fenders and aggressive tread will be necessary! And if it continues as it has been, well, I'll have "hero gravel" to ride, most likely. That isn't all bad.

 

Fyxation's new through axle fork for gravel/adventure bikes.

Fyxation Announces New Gravel/Adventure Forks:

Wednesday news came down about Fyxation's new gravel/adventure forks, dubbed the Sparta FCR and Sparta QR. The FCR variant is your typical through axled, tapered steer tubed, three boss on a side fork with full carbon construction and a pretty light weight. But it is the other fork I am thinking is pretty cool.

The "QR" model is what you think- a quick release model. A straight steer tube, QR wheel fork with carbon blades and an aluminum steer tube. Why? I saw a lot of commentary saying it should have had a through axle. Not QR. Hmm......

Well, it turns out the fork asked for already exists.  Thanks to a commenter on the Riding Gravel facebook page for pointing this out.

  Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Friday News And Views

Barren trees and tons of leaves. Fat biking conditions have been unusual here.

Weather Making For Unusual Conditions:

 As you will see in tomorrows "Minus Ten Review", it used to snow here. A lot. Now in recent times that doesn't seem as likely. Winter now means sporadic snows, maybe it will be cold, and lots of brown scenery.

In fact, my latest fat bike rides have been over grounds that are muddy, soft, and increasingly messy. We had a spate of really cold weather here that did freeze the ground back in late November, but since then things have actually been thawing out. It is really weird. It also is really tough on anyone wanting some off road bicycling around here. Either it is certain trails which we want to keep off of or it is the constant sticky mud that fouls up everything. Ice was an issue, but even that has disappeared lately with several days of 50's in a row, and now upper 40's.

I have been fat biking the last couple of weekends as an alternative to my gravel road stuff. I just needed a break for a bit. That said, the rides have been not anything like what I would expect for December. I ended up doing some trail work on various bits of the Green Belt. I also cleared up my old trail, "Marky-Mark", and ended up rerouting about ten yards of it to get around a knot of dead fall and vines that had blocked a portion of that trail. So, on one hand, this weird weather has allowed for some trail maintenance.

It isn't supposed to get really cold, snowy, or anything like Winter for at least another week. Looks like it'll be a "Brown Christmas" around here.

Shifty bits be gone!

As Promised- Gears Removed From The "Orange Crush":

As many of you long term readers know, I had threatened to make my BMC "Orange Crush" rig into a single speed once I had the pink MCD up and running. Well, last weekend I took an afternoon and did the deed. No more gears!

Yes...... it took an entire afternoon to strip off components and replace them with single speed stuff. Why? Wouldn't that be a simple job? Well, you'd think so.

There is a bit more to it than meets the eye though. Both in the bits needed to convert to single speed and the finding of those bits! Having been a single speed aficionado for the better part of my cycling career, I have accumulated a lot of single-speedy stuff. I have a drawer dedicated to bits for single speed. Stuff like cog spacers, cogs, free wheels, and the elusive single speed specific chain ring bolts. I've got crank sets, and I've got chain rings. I even have spare White Industry chain rings that are specific to their crank.

Weird, huh?

Well it is weird until you need the stuff! Then you are glad you have it. But even though I have a drawer full of the bits, you still have to "spec" correctly. So, in the case of the Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross conversion, I had a set of 180mm cranks from, (I think), an old Specialized Sequoia touring bike from the early 80's. It was ginormous in size, so it had been spec'ed with these old Sakae 180mm cranks. Of course, back then everything was square taper, (check!) and took a long spindle, (also Check!), so that bottom bracket had to be tracked down, (UN-52, natch!), and then I had to find some crank bolts, and then....... Well, you get the picture. Time consuming, it was. Nuff of that, here's the pic......

There she is!

I'm running a 40T steel chain ring I got........somewhere. I cannot recall now, but the last time I used this was on a single speed 29"er ten years ago. The crank is the aforementioned Sakae unit in 180mm length. Those old components have an ano process that left a pearlescent glow that I miss. Man is that pretty! The rear cog is an 18 tooth Boone Titanium cog with the matching titanium spacers. I just recycled the chain I was using, an old 9spd SRAM unit, shortened to work with the set up.

There is one minor thing I may do yet and that is to get some standard aero brake levers, so I can get the Gevenalle mounts/levers off the bike to clean things up a bit more. That'll require new brake cables, so I may wait on that till Spring.

Donnelly's new "EMP" tires

Donnelly New "EMP" Tire, Now On Test/Review:

A week or so ago I posted about this new tire from Donnelly. It is the new "EMP", named after Emporia, Kansas, which is, as Donnelly states on the tire's hang tag, "Home of the world famous gravel roads that reach out to the sky."

No mention of Dirty Kanza? Yep..... You know why, right? Licensing agreements. Meaning that to use the name in Donnelly's marketing, they probably would have to get a license to allow that from DK Promotions. I'm assuming that this is the case, so don't take that for gospel, but I would be willing to bet that is the case here.

Anyway...... I just found that interesting. Nothing to do with the tire, per se', but it is designed with the DK 200 in mind, so it has a tough, aggressive looking tread and a puncture protection belt too. I put up an introductory post on RidingGravel.com here.  Check that out for details. I will say that for now, it looks like a good tire for packed snow, which we should have now........ Bah! Anyway, I'll likely get these on the single speeded Orange Crush soon enough and start trying them out. I figure it can't be long before fenders and aggressive tread will be necessary! And if it continues as it has been, well, I'll have "hero gravel" to ride, most likely. That isn't all bad.

 

Fyxation's new through axle fork for gravel/adventure bikes.

Fyxation Announces New Gravel/Adventure Forks:

Wednesday news came down about Fyxation's new gravel/adventure forks, dubbed the Sparta FCR and Sparta QR. The FCR variant is your typical through axled, tapered steer tubed, three boss on a side fork with full carbon construction and a pretty light weight. But it is the other fork I am thinking is pretty cool.

The "QR" model is what you think- a quick release model. A straight steer tube, QR wheel fork with carbon blades and an aluminum steer tube. Why? I saw a lot of commentary saying it should have had a through axle. Not QR. Hmm......

Well, it turns out the fork asked for already exists.  Thanks to a commenter on the Riding Gravel facebook page for pointing this out.

  Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Friday News And Views

The new Donnelly "EMP" gravel tire

Look Out Kansas! Another Tire Has Been Influenced By You!

First there was the "Official Tire of Dirty Kansas", the Teravail Cannonball. (remember that?) Then there was the Flintridge Pro, another tire from Kenda Tires which was influenced by the Dirty Kanza 200. Now you can add another tire which has taken its cues from the flinty roads around Emporia, Kansas.

Donnelly's Donn Kellogg had told me about a new tire which would be named after Emporia's airport code, (that's how all Donnelly tires are named, by three letter airport codes) and here it is, the "EMP". It is supposed to be Donnelly's "most aggressive gravel road tire". It'll be out right around now in a 700c X 38mm size and next Spring in a 700c X 45mm size. Tubeless and folding beads at $72.00 and $47.00 respectively. No word on a 650B variant or skin walls. (Boo!)

This sounded like a good time, so I signed up.

Signing On:

Over the past weekend I signed up for two events that are happening next year. The first is the brand new Prairie Burn 100 which is happening in Grinnell, Iowa on June 8th, 2019. That's a week after the Dirty Kanza 200, in case you were wondering.

The Prairie Burn is going to be a loop format/lap type event. Non-competitive too. You just go out for a ride on 25-ish mile loops which all bring you back into Grinnell so if you want to stop after, 25, 50 miles, well, you can. Music and food with beverages of different sorts will also be going down at the same time in the city park. I plan on riding a single speed, so we will see how that goes!

The other event I signed up for is Gravel Worlds which will happen on August 17th. Of course, if you have been following this blog at all, you already know what I think about Gravel Worlds. The big deal this year is that Gravel Worlds is in its tenth year, so that's a big deal and I wanted to be a part of that. So far as I know now, I will contest that one on the "Bubblegum Princess". But that's nine months from now. Who knows what might happen......

Four season pogies?

Bike Iowa Pogie Lites:

First off, if you haven't checked out BikeIowa.com and you are a cyclist in Iowa or close to this state, what the heck are you doing? All the pertinent cycling news, events, and more is there for this state. Check it out.

Bike Iowa's own Scott Sumpter helped design,  test, and manufacture these new handle bar accessory items called "Pogie Lites".  They are coverings which are supremely versatile. Tested in the worst of conditions at Trans Iowa, Land Run 100, Winter events, and more, these items are refined and ready to help riders get more riding in under adverse conditions.

Scott and his partner, Jess, make these and sell them direct, or at select bike shops. I was sent a pair to test and review for here and RidingGravel.com. (Read about disclaimer below) I've been very intrigued by this product and have watched as Scott and Jess have tweaked out the design. The Pogie Lites are wind-proof, water resistant, and will fit on drop bars, staright bars, and Jones Bars. Whatta ya know! I have all of those!

So, be on the lookout for my thoughts on this product here and at Riding Gravel. I suspect they will prove to be a valuable asset for cold weather riding, which is what we have on tap now. I'll also say up front that I am not a big fan of traditional pogies as seen on fat bikes. For me, they just get in the way, and they are bulky, clunky things. I know many of you would never consider riding without them. I get it, as I have some traditional pogies and I have ridden with them. I'll definitely be doing a compare and contrast between the two types.

And Now For A Public Announcement: You've often seen my disclaimers- The "gloppy dollops of my opinion", the "I bought this with my own damn money", or the "I received this from XYZ for test and review at no charge. I will strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout".

Well, I have recently learned about how You Tubers are being paid by companies to receive products in return for positive reviews, mentions, and in some cases, to denigrate competitors products. I thought that was super crazy. I also am probably naive, behind the times, and not very smart. Anyway, I was sent an e-mail by a company just the other evening about a CBD product with a proposal that would include my receiving said product free and being paid in return for a review.

I flatly refuse to ever do such a thing for anybody. 

Just so you know.

Have a great weekend!

Friday News And Views

The new Donnelly "EMP" gravel tire

Look Out Kansas! Another Tire Has Been Influenced By You!

First there was the "Official Tire of Dirty Kansas", the Teravail Cannonball. (remember that?) Then there was the Flintridge Pro, another tire from Kenda Tires which was influenced by the Dirty Kanza 200. Now you can add another tire which has taken its cues from the flinty roads around Emporia, Kansas.

Donnelly's Donn Kellogg had told me about a new tire which would be named after Emporia's airport code, (that's how all Donnelly tires are named, by three letter airport codes) and here it is, the "EMP". It is supposed to be Donnelly's "most aggressive gravel road tire". It'll be out right around now in a 700c X 38mm size and next Spring in a 700c X 45mm size. Tubeless and folding beads at $72.00 and $47.00 respectively. No word on a 650B variant or skin walls. (Boo!)

This sounded like a good time, so I signed up.

Signing On:

Over the past weekend I signed up for two events that are happening next year. The first is the brand new Prairie Burn 100 which is happening in Grinnell, Iowa on June 8th, 2019. That's a week after the Dirty Kanza 200, in case you were wondering.

The Prairie Burn is going to be a loop format/lap type event. Non-competitive too. You just go out for a ride on 25-ish mile loops which all bring you back into Grinnell so if you want to stop after, 25, 50 miles, well, you can. Music and food with beverages of different sorts will also be going down at the same time in the city park. I plan on riding a single speed, so we will see how that goes!

The other event I signed up for is Gravel Worlds which will happen on August 17th. Of course, if you have been following this blog at all, you already know what I think about Gravel Worlds. The big deal this year is that Gravel Worlds is in its tenth year, so that's a big deal and I wanted to be a part of that. So far as I know now, I will contest that one on the "Bubblegum Princess". But that's nine months from now. Who knows what might happen......

Four season pogies?

Bike Iowa Pogie Lites:

First off, if you haven't checked out BikeIowa.com and you are a cyclist in Iowa or close to this state, what the heck are you doing? All the pertinent cycling news, events, and more is there for this state. Check it out.

Bike Iowa's own Scott Sumpter helped design,  test, and manufacture these new handle bar accessory items called "Pogie Lites".  They are coverings which are supremely versatile. Tested in the worst of conditions at Trans Iowa, Land Run 100, Winter events, and more, these items are refined and ready to help riders get more riding in under adverse conditions.

Scott and his partner, Jess, make these and sell them direct, or at select bike shops. I was sent a pair to test and review for here and RidingGravel.com. (Read about disclaimer below) I've been very intrigued by this product and have watched as Scott and Jess have tweaked out the design. The Pogie Lites are wind-proof, water resistant, and will fit on drop bars, staright bars, and Jones Bars. Whatta ya know! I have all of those!

So, be on the lookout for my thoughts on this product here and at Riding Gravel. I suspect they will prove to be a valuable asset for cold weather riding, which is what we have on tap now. I'll also say up front that I am not a big fan of traditional pogies as seen on fat bikes. For me, they just get in the way, and they are bulky, clunky things. I know many of you would never consider riding without them. I get it, as I have some traditional pogies and I have ridden with them. I'll definitely be doing a compare and contrast between the two types.

And Now For A Public Announcement: You've often seen my disclaimers- The "gloppy dollops of my opinion", the "I bought this with my own damn money", or the "I received this from XYZ for test and review at no charge. I will strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout".

Well, I have recently learned about how You Tubers are being paid by companies to receive products in return for positive reviews, mentions, and in some cases, to denigrate competitors products. I thought that was super crazy. I also am probably naive, behind the times, and not very smart. Anyway, I was sent an e-mail by a company just the other evening about a CBD product with a proposal that would include my receiving said product free and being paid in return for a review.

I flatly refuse to ever do such a thing for anybody. 

Just so you know.

Have a great weekend!