Friday News And Views

Twin Six 3X2 32"er frame set (Image courtesy of Twin Six)

 Order Up! 32"er Companies Pushing Big Wheels:

You may have noted some promotions over the past week, week and a half, by several small purveyors of 32"ers. The orders are going in and minimums must be met to get production started. 

Esker, Twin Six, Curve Cycling, and others were pushing social media posts hard recently in hopes of getting riders to bite on this enticing, (for taller folks, mostly) technology.  

I know someone who has an order in, and I'm sure many of you out there are either in line to get one, or are considering it. One thing to note here: 32 inch wheels will probably not have the "gen I issues" 29"ers had. So, biting on the 32'er bait shouldn't get you an obsolete rig in five years. 

Hopefully..... 

 I'm very curious about 32"ers. But I do not need another bicycle. Plus, I'm willing to wait to see how things shake out. If this is all that and a bag of chips, I can get one whenever I want in the near future. And this means that if things change in regard to geometry, etc with 32"ers, I will not have bought into something that will be obsolete. 

Maybe....

Seeing on social media that Trek will have hard tail and FS 32"ers out in February 2027. (Heard they were taking orders now.) Specialized, Pivot, and Ari Cycles are rumored to be doing 32"ers as well. So, perhaps it won't be obsolete right away.  

Probably..... 

Guitar Ted Approved:

Well folks, I found a silver seat post and a saddle and now the Singular Cycles Peregrine Mk4 is all finished (for the near future - I make no guarantees!)

The seat post is an old Campagnolo aero post. If you are familiar with those, you know they are not very long! I was able to get the correct seat height and still have the minimum insertion mark inside the seat tube, but only just! 

The saddle is a tried and true WTB Silverado, which has been my 'go-to' saddle of late. The two pieces cap of the build and now everything is ready to go for a longer gravel ride. 

The final 'approved by Guitar Ted' action was to sticker the frame up with a Trans Iowa sticker and a 'Jacob' sticker in honor of my late son. So I'm pleased with the switcheroo and all systems are go for gravel travel now. 

Image courtesy of Giant Bicycles

Giant Announces Revolt Advance SL Model With Carbon Hub/Spoke Wheel System

On Tuesday of this week online sites were going ga-ga over Giant's newest gravel bikes. The Revolt Advance SL is the range topper with racing focused geometry and parts. 

And how about those wheels? Carbon hubs and spokes with a wheel weight under 1,300 grams total for front and rear wheels.  

Comments: Fun stuff for the bike nerds to geek out over, but dive into the marketing, specs, and geometry and really let it sink in. This is a bike for the less than 1% of gravel riders. It is a Pro level racing bike and much of the "feature list" descriptions could have been pulled directly from marketing of Tour de France bikes from the 2000's. "Stiffer", "feedback from racers". and  aero everything, of course. 

Is this a bike for The Every-person? No. It is not. But that is who will end up buying this bike because "weight", "aero", and "Pro racing" sells bikes to.....I guess some folks? Anyway, congratulations on race-ifying gravel bikes, Giant.  

And is it just me, or does this bike resemble every Chinese brand gravel bike I've seen recently? Hmm.... 

Date Set For GT's Ride For Jacob:

Thanks to Nick from the Board of the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective, I have secured a date for GT's Ride For Jacob. We will be riding from the North parking lot at Big Woods Lake starting at 8:00am on Saturday, July 25th. 

The ride will consist of a loop from the parking lot at Big Woods Lake to gravel North of Waterloo, Iowa. We will pass through Janesville, Iowa, cross the Cedar River, then we will go on to cross the Shell Rock River and travel through Shell Rock, Iowa. From this most Northern point of the loop we will head West and South towards New Hartford, our last pass-through town. 

The ride will end by coming into Cedar Falls from the West toward downtown on mostly bike path. There could be a stop downtown if folks are so inclined. The ride from downtown to the parking lot at Big Woods Lake is a short one all on bicycle path.  

Stay tuned for any further updates here or on the ride site.  

Image courtesy of WTB

WTB Teases New Unreleased Hub, Hints At New Wheels To Come:

A press release from WTB on Wednesday pointed out a new hub WTB has designed which is being used by the Cannondale Factory Race Team and won with at a recent Elite XCO World Cup event.

Looking through the release I was able to glean out that the rear hub will use a "DLC ratchet ring-drive system". It may be similar to DT Swiss' ratcheting drive design. This is a fairly commonplace move since the patent ran out on the design formerly held by DT Swiss. 

Dubbed "Frequency 7X" hubs, the set for MTB usage is a claimed sub 300 grams for the pair. These hubs spin on "oversized Enduro bearings" and are claimed to be tough enough for World Cup MTB while being amazingly light. 

The press release hinted that these, as yet unreleased hubs, will appear with new carbon rims for MTB and gravel use. So, look for some news on the wheel front from WTB in the near future. Another tidbit I gleaned from a thread on social media is that WTB is also working on an aero gravel tire design. Could it be that the new rims, hubs, and tire will be presented as a racing wheel system for gravel which is very aero? 

Could be a thing. 

That's a wrap on this week! If you are a US citizen, enjoy a safe and enjoyable 4th of July weekend! Get out there and ride some bicycles! 

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of ROTOR

ROTOR Unveils UNO Electronic Shifting Group Set:

ROTOR, the Spanish company best known for oval chain rings and crank sets, had Wheeltop, a Chinese component manufacturer, buy a majority stake in the company last year. Long rumored to be having an electronic group set in the making with Rotor branding, this now has become a reality with UNO. 

The "Gravel Upgrade Kit" version of UNO consists of the levers, hydraulic brake calipers, and the rear derailleur. Compatible with 1X only and with a 46T rear cassette limitation, the group set will cost $948.42 USD (Odd pricing, but likely a conversion from a foreign currency figure) 

The group set's rear derailleur is carbon with 7005 series aluminum bits. ROTOR claim the rear mech will shift up to 15,000 times on one battery charge. Interestingly, this group set is compatible with 10, 11, 12, and 13 speed cassettes as long as the rear cassette does not exceed a 46T low gear.

Comments: Well, another electronic, wireless choice which is breaking the 1K price point. Wheeltop's collaboration here is notable as previous efforts by ROTOR to make a group set were hydraulically controlled. This would appear to be more Wheeltop than not. Wheeltop users on the internet have reported mixed results with their group sets, and how ROTOR's UNO will fare is not known at this time. 

We will have to wait for the results to come in via real world usage, but for now, this marks a further march toward a wireless bicycle era which will feature no cables on bicycles. 

Image courtesy of Velo Orange

Velo Orange Announces Raffle For Charity:

Here's a fun bit of news. Velo Orange is holding a raffle for a Neutrino rolling chassis which has been custom Cerakoted by Weichel Coatings and has components from ATW Builds . Each $5.00 chance gets you in line for possibly winning this size Large Neutrino partial build. 

All proceeds go to helping out the mission of Happy Helpers of the Homeless, a charity who bring meals and support to homeless and poverty stricken men and women every weekend in the Halethorpe, Maryland area. 

The raffle runs through now to October 15th. A winner will be chosen at random the week of October 20th. See all details and rules for this raffle HERE. 

IMage courtesy of IRD Components

Airdrop Seat Post Provides Dropper Feature In Silver Ano:

IRD Components, who do a variety of niche items, have a new Airdrop dropper post which has a few unique features. You'll notice right away it is offered in a silver anodized finish rather than the common black anodization. 

The Airdrop also has no cable running to it or a lever to deal with on your handle bar. Rather, it uses a simple lever located off the seat post head to raise and lower the post through its 100mm of drop. 

The Airdrop comes in the common 27.2mm size only and has an overall length of 400mm. The maximum insertion is listed at 190mm and minimum insertion for the post is listed at 90mm.  

The Airdrop is available on IRD's site and runs $129.00 USD. 

Comments: This is kind of cool for anyone with a silver anodized build who may want to explore a dropper post on a gravel bike. Why would you want to do this? Well, for one, a dropper post can be used as a way to easily mount and dismount a bike by lowering the saddle when stopped. This is of particular benefit if you have a very heavily laden touring bike set up, or if you are bikepacking. 

Secondly, lowering the post on any longer downhill will help you get lower on the bike, and more aero. You'll bomb hills far faster with a dropper post lowered than not. It can be rather eye-opening, actually. Of course, there is the benefit while descending steep, rough terrain as well. 

US Customs Cites Giant For Forced Labor Practices, Holds Imports:

On Wednesday, "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" broke a story in which Giant Bicycles is being investigated for forced labor practices at its Taiwan factories. As a result, all Giant product and other branded product made there is being held at port until the matter is solved.  Giant is reportedly filing a petition to revoke the Withhold Release Order.,

You can read the story HERE.

Comments: This is an interesting development as it is widely known Giant also makes bicycles for several other well known brands. If, in fact, the Withhold Release Order is upheld, this could further disrupt the chain of supply and cause detriment to an already depressed economy for the cycling industry. 

This could also be seen as a bad public relations event, if this ends up becoming a larger issue. 

UPDATE: 9/26/25:  (From Bicycle Retailer and Industry News X Account) UPDATE: Giant clarified to BRAIN this morning that CBP is currently not holding any shipments from the company. The CBP's Withhold Release Order announced Wednesday applies to any products arriving after the order.

Image courtesy of Trek Bikes

That Full Suspension Gravel Bike From Trek Finally Is Official:

On Thursday Trek Bikes finally unleashed the Checkout SL- a 9K carbon fiber full-suspension gravel/bike packing bike. Replete with 55mm wide tires out of the box and the new Rudy XL (released yesterday) on the front. This bike has 60mm of travel up front, and according to a Instagram post I saw, 55mm in the back. 

Rumors and images of this bicycle were floating around the web since around the Unbound event back in early June, so those who caught the pictures then probably are not surprised here. 

And look at the flares and swept tops on this drop bar. Pretty radical for a 2025 release. I happen to like this sort of thing, but it does go in the opposite direction from the racing type handlebars on most newer gravel bikes. 

Comments: Hmm.... Much can be said about a bicycle like this. I will say it looks a little ungainly and the "Miami Vice| color palette is not my cup of tea. (The Checkout SL 5 is a more subdued black, by the way) The images of this bike kitted out for bikepacking look great, but the bare bike is sort of jarring to the eye with the tipped forward rack and MTB-looking fork. 

I could see an aluminum, more budget friendly version of this bike at some point if they sell these things. $8,999.00 for the Checkout SL 7 is no joke though, so you have to wonder if many of these will be sold. Mostly because (a) it is an oddball bike, not really XC MTB and not really gravel, and (b) it is a carbon frame bike. Most bikepackers are looking for Titanium or steel in this space. It is an interesting bicycle, nonetheless. 
 

That's a wrap on this week's news and views. Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions. Get out and ride those bicycles!
 

Friday News And Views: Eurobike Edition

Eurobike Madness in Today's FN&V!

Image courtesy of Classified

Classified Introduces Gravel Group With TRP:

Classified and TRP have teamed up to offer an electronically shifted 12 speed rear, 2 speed internal rear gear system leveraging TRP's brake and lever technology in conjunction with Classified's current 12 speed rear cassette and two speed internal hub gear system. 

Comments: The press release had a provocative headline declaring the system dubbed "Vistar" as having a "1 X 16" drive train. Of course, that's a bit confusing when the cassette is only a 12 cog stack. 

Digging into the release reveals that what the headline really means is that the system 'can have' 16 distinct gear choices, no overlap. That's for the 'road' version too. The 'gravel' version has 15 distinct gear choices. Obviously, the entire system has 24 options in total for gears, or if you'd rather look at it this way: 12 speeds with two ranges. 

Clever marketing, but definitely not a 16 gear cassette, as the headline reads. Also, that Classified rear wheel and cassette are proprietary components. You'd have to "buy into the idea" to use it. (Sorry about the pun!) 

Interestingly the TRP electronic levers are also being configured to work with Rohloff 14 speed internal geared hubs as well as a few other applications. 

Stan's Launches Line Of Cleaners, Lubes, Oils:

Stan's does more than sealant and wheels these days. The brand which pioneered tubeless sealant now has a line of cleaners, lubes, and greases out. 

The press release boasts: "All of Stan’s Biobased Bicycle Care products are made from organic ingredients that cause less harm to the people who use them and the nature around us."

Comments: I'm seeing a lot of companies doing "bio-friendly" products in this area of maintenance products, but what hits me here is the offering of chain lube. Talk about a crowded market for a product to get into! 

Rabbit Trail Alert! And really, this entire segment of the market is just slammed with choices. I find, in my experience, most people are totally clueless that this stuff even exists. This includes regular cycling people. How can it be that with dozens of types of degreasers, cleaners, sprays, and - not to mention chain lubes, that most people haven't heard of any of these things? 

I blame the breakdown of the way we get information about cycling. It used to be that we had a handful of magazines and bike shops which we relied upon to tell us about "What's new?". I remember that being the first thing shoppers would ask when they came into a shop. Now?

Ha! There are probably literally thousands of ways that anyone with a computer/smart phone can access new information now. Accessing that information was once fun and an advantage, but people have grown weary of the internet. They don't visit bike shops. They are distracted by social apps and binge-watching garbage shows on their smartphones and laptops. How do you reach these addicted minds? It ain't easy.... And that's my theory on why these brands get lost in a haze of information these daze...... End Of Rabbit Trail!

Image courtesy of Schwalbe

Schwalbe Shows Off New Valve Type:

As a mechanic for over 30 years, I have witnessed the confusion and frustration of cyclists who struggled to understand and use Presta valves on bicycles. Apparently, this observation struck Schwalbe's partner in this launch, Clik Valve inventor John Quintana, as well. He observed his children struggling to inflate bicycle tires. So he invented the new Clik Valve to be as easy to use as possible. Simply click the Clik Valve design pump head on the Clik Valve and pump. Disengagement is as easy as well. 

But you might ask, "Is this something completely different and incompatible with older designs?" Actually, it is backward compatible with the current Presta valve. You only need to install a Click Valve core into your valve stem, or there is an screw-on adapter. Same with the pump head, an adapter is all that is required that fits nearly all existing floor pumps and most portable pumps as well.  Schwalbe offers conversion kits for both valves and pumps. Schwalbe will be producing Clik Valve tubes soon. Pump manufacturer SKS is already producing Clik Valve pumps and Schwalbe promises that more manufacturers will follow. 

Benefits not only include super-easy usage, but a claimed 10% higher airflow should attract tubeless users as well. You can learn more about Clik Valve at Schwalbe's site HERE. 

Image courtesy of Schwalbe.

 Comments: Okay, new standards (usually) really bug me, but this one seems to have promise to be actually a better way to go, if in fact it works as advertised. I will say that it looks like it is essentially a mini-Schrader valve with some kind of 'click-on' retention mechanism to hold the pump head on the valve so it doesn't blow off during inflation. 

Secondly, I did not know until I read the press release that a Presta valve, or sometimes known as a French Valve, was technically called a "Sclaverand Valve" after its inventor, Etienne Sclaverand. (The more you know....) Also - These valves will be in for testing soon. Stay tuned....

Image courtesy of Giant Bicycles

Giant Unveils 4th Gen Revolt Gravel Bike:

Giant has had a gravel bike for many years now as they were one of the first "big" brands to jump on the gravel train. That bike was called the Revolt, and it is now in its 4th generation as shown Wednesday of this week by Giant.

The bike is carbon fiber and offered in two models. (There is also an aluminum Revolt) The two Advance models are equipped with SRAM AXS components. The $7,000.00 Advance Pro 0 is equipped with Force while the $5,800.00 Advance Pro 1 is equipped with Rival. Both have completely integrated cabling, frame storage in the downtube, and clearance for up to a 53mm wide tire. Most unique here, in my opinion, is the "flip-chip" rear drop out which lengthens or shortens the wheel base and affects tire clearance.

Comments: The Advance models are interesting from a couple of standpoints. Giant claims to have worked closely with its sponsored athletes to develop the new Revolts. This would be something we might assume has affected some geometry choices. If you look at the charts for these two bikes, a couple of things stand out right away for me. 

The head angle is nominally 72° across the size range. Which is kinda steep these days. However, the bottom bracket drop is, depending upon the rear drop out chip setting, about 76mm-80mm. A drop  which is pretty deep. But when considering the spec here that this bike can take up to a 53mm wide tire, essentially a 29"er tire, then things start to make more sense. That steeper head angle is "first gen 29"er geometry" all the way, and paired with 50mm of fork offset, the trail figure will be reasonable for a gravel bike with big tires mounted to it. The same thing goes for bottom bracket drop, which should be more for a bike with big tires.  

All that points to the trend of bigger tires for gravel and this bike has obviously been designed to be set up this way. It comes with 40mm tires mounted, curiously enough, but I suspect that will be the narrowest tire that any gravel racer would put in this bike. One final comment- I love this Meteor Storm color on the Advance Pro 1.

That's a wrap on this week. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!