Friday News And Views

The lack of an industry wide tubeless standard is creating friction.

Just about a year ago now I posted up about the "State Of Tubelessness" in terms of gravel road going tires and rims. My take at that time, when a true tubeless system for gravel wasn't available, was that we were covering the same ground as 29"ers had about seven years prior. Riders were left to nebulous directions and self-experimentation which often led to disastrous results. Since that time, we've had progress. There are serious, systemic tubeless tire solutions covering both rim and tire which work perfectly. Then, as with tires for mountain biking, you have rim manufacturers that only do rims and tire manufacturers that only do tires making parts to be set up tubeless together. Sometimes the results are good, and sometimes they are so-so. In rare cases some tires and tubes simply do not work well together at all.

Yesterday I mentioned Taichung Bike Week, and in the industry magazine, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, there was an extensive article concerning tubeless tires and road and gravel applications.  In the article featuring TBW, tire manufacturers bemoaned the lack of standard rim and tire interface dimensions, tire width appropriate to rim width issues, and the proliferation of hookless bead carbon rims. This causes no small amount of "friction" when it comes to discussing wheels and how tires interface with them. Narrower rims and wider tires don't work as easily as an appropriately wide rim with the same tire. However; that same rim may not work well with a 28mm wide road tubeless tire at all. Then you have diameters of rims, tires, and even how the beads are constructed and from what materials, which lead to various issues. Carbon reinforced beads in particular are troublesome. However; they are deemed necessary when higher road pressures are contemplated.

Finally, there is the field serviceability factor. Say that your sealant fails, or that a tire gets cut beyond the sealants capability to seal it up. Then how the rim and tire fit can be a big issue. Too tight, which is great for lower pressures and security when it comes to tire roll over/burping, and then you may have a big problem even breaking the bead over the rim edge just to get a tube in. Conversely, a looser fit may cause burping and require higher pressures to maintain the tire's integrity in hard cornering. It's a tough nut to crack with the interfaces being all over the place dimensionally.

That's why it is still the best bet to seek out a true tubeless system that covers tire and rim. Like WTB's TCS system. Then you can have it all without being compromised in some way that may bite you in the butt down the road. Hopefully WTB and others will use the systemic approach to expand our choices by using tires and rims designed for each other.

The Ti Mukluk with the Cirrus Cycles Body Float post

 If Fat Bikes Could Float:

I got to ride the Ti Muk the other day after the big rain, and was reacquainted with the titanium shafted Body Float post by Cirrus Cycles again. It is a coil sprung suspension post that I had tried out on my Fargo last year at Odin's Revenge. I liked it so much that I ended up buying one and for now it lives on the Ti Muk.

The thing is pretty eye opening. For one thing, it obviously pretty much isolates you from all small chatter and small compressive bumps are almost erased. However, it also does something in regard to how you feel and absorb front end impacts and small compressive bumps that is hard to put into words. I'll just say it makes things "more better" and I like it. Now mind you- this is all at speeds I would term as "trundling" and anything faster is a different ball game. That's for off road- mtb type stuff. On gravel it just really takes out that frequency that buzzes your behind and pot holes and dips are dispensed with as mere annoyances as opposed to surprise shocks. It is not a rear suspension replacement. Maybe "soft tail like"? Okay, I could say that and live with it.

I will say that you just cannot really understand what it does for your riding until you have ridden it for a while and then ride a standard seat post. Suddenly the little bits of unweighting the bike and the times you level out the pedals and coast a micro-second to absorb a small dip which were unlearned while using the Body Float have to be relearned. Because of that, you suddenly become conscious of how much chatter you aren't trying to avoid with the Body Float that you have to when riding rigid posts. Then you have the "aha!" moment and the worth of the post becomes quite evident. My opinion is that during longer events, all that unweighting and leveling of the pedals a small fraction of a second wear you down. The Body Float takes that out of the equation, but you just don't realize how valuable that is until you try a Body Float and then get on a standard post.

By the way, the areas I usually ride the fat bike are all flooded now. Unfortunately the Body Float seat post doesn't help out with that. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out the rest of the Winter, but it might end up becoming a massive broken up ice field out there and fat biking will have to take place somewhere else this Winter.

Stud. The tire, not you, silly!

Gnarwalls Landed:

Studded fat bike tires are something of a rarity, yet high in demand, or so it would seem. Whenever we have been asked about them at the shop where I work, and we go to order some, no one has them in stock.  So we started just ordering in a pair to have around whenever we could get our hands on a pair. We heard about the Gnarwall last August and put an order in for a pair whenever they might come up as being available. Well, recently they popped up on the warehouse inventory at Trek, so we grabbed this single pair, one of which I have pictured here. We checked yesterday, and poof! Zero availability. Amazing!

45NRTH is like this as well. Anyway, we have a pair and I am sure they won't last long, especially with the conditions we're likely to have this Winter locally after the flood waters freeze up.

I know a lot of folks were dismayed at how the Gnarwall has fewer studs than what 45NRTH uses on the Dillinger, but when you take a look at the Gnarwall you see how the designer focused the stud pattern where the tire contact patch is, and not where it isn't. Makes sense. Anyway, also consider the tubeless ready nature of the Gnarwall and suddenly it starts to look pretty darn attractive as an ice/icy snow conditions tire.

Yes.......it is expensive. Just about the same as a Dillinger studded tire. That's kind of a bummer, but the Gnarwall was designed as an ice/icy snow tire and being that they don't produce thousands of these, the price isn't really out of line. Since there probably aren't very many of these tires made year to year, that also contributes to the difficulty in getting them. Did I mention that they are spendy? Yeah?....... Okay then. If you gotta ride on ice or on icy snow, nothing beats a tire that was designed to be studded like this one was.

Have a great weekend! Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

 

Friday News And Views

The lack of an industry wide tubeless standard is creating friction.

Just about a year ago now I posted up about the "State Of Tubelessness" in terms of gravel road going tires and rims. My take at that time, when a true tubeless system for gravel wasn't available, was that we were covering the same ground as 29"ers had about seven years prior. Riders were left to nebulous directions and self-experimentation which often led to disastrous results. Since that time, we've had progress. There are serious, systemic tubeless tire solutions covering both rim and tire which work perfectly. Then, as with tires for mountain biking, you have rim manufacturers that only do rims and tire manufacturers that only do tires making parts to be set up tubeless together. Sometimes the results are good, and sometimes they are so-so. In rare cases some tires and tubes simply do not work well together at all.

Yesterday I mentioned Taichung Bike Week, and in the industry magazine, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, there was an extensive article concerning tubeless tires and road and gravel applications.  In the article featuring TBW, tire manufacturers bemoaned the lack of standard rim and tire interface dimensions, tire width appropriate to rim width issues, and the proliferation of hookless bead carbon rims. This causes no small amount of "friction" when it comes to discussing wheels and how tires interface with them. Narrower rims and wider tires don't work as easily as an appropriately wide rim with the same tire. However; that same rim may not work well with a 28mm wide road tubeless tire at all. Then you have diameters of rims, tires, and even how the beads are constructed and from what materials, which lead to various issues. Carbon reinforced beads in particular are troublesome. However; they are deemed necessary when higher road pressures are contemplated.

Finally, there is the field serviceability factor. Say that your sealant fails, or that a tire gets cut beyond the sealants capability to seal it up. Then how the rim and tire fit can be a big issue. Too tight, which is great for lower pressures and security when it comes to tire roll over/burping, and then you may have a big problem even breaking the bead over the rim edge just to get a tube in. Conversely, a looser fit may cause burping and require higher pressures to maintain the tire's integrity in hard cornering. It's a tough nut to crack with the interfaces being all over the place dimensionally.

That's why it is still the best bet to seek out a true tubeless system that covers tire and rim. Like WTB's TCS system. Then you can have it all without being compromised in some way that may bite you in the butt down the road. Hopefully WTB and others will use the systemic approach to expand our choices by using tires and rims designed for each other.

The Ti Mukluk with the Cirrus Cycles Body Float post

 If Fat Bikes Could Float:

I got to ride the Ti Muk the other day after the big rain, and was reacquainted with the titanium shafted Body Float post by Cirrus Cycles again. It is a coil sprung suspension post that I had tried out on my Fargo last year at Odin's Revenge. I liked it so much that I ended up buying one and for now it lives on the Ti Muk.

The thing is pretty eye opening. For one thing, it obviously pretty much isolates you from all small chatter and small compressive bumps are almost erased. However, it also does something in regard to how you feel and absorb front end impacts and small compressive bumps that is hard to put into words. I'll just say it makes things "more better" and I like it. Now mind you- this is all at speeds I would term as "trundling" and anything faster is a different ball game. That's for off road- mtb type stuff. On gravel it just really takes out that frequency that buzzes your behind and pot holes and dips are dispensed with as mere annoyances as opposed to surprise shocks. It is not a rear suspension replacement. Maybe "soft tail like"? Okay, I could say that and live with it.

I will say that you just cannot really understand what it does for your riding until you have ridden it for a while and then ride a standard seat post. Suddenly the little bits of unweighting the bike and the times you level out the pedals and coast a micro-second to absorb a small dip which were unlearned while using the Body Float have to be relearned. Because of that, you suddenly become conscious of how much chatter you aren't trying to avoid with the Body Float that you have to when riding rigid posts. Then you have the "aha!" moment and the worth of the post becomes quite evident. My opinion is that during longer events, all that unweighting and leveling of the pedals a small fraction of a second wear you down. The Body Float takes that out of the equation, but you just don't realize how valuable that is until you try a Body Float and then get on a standard post.

By the way, the areas I usually ride the fat bike are all flooded now. Unfortunately the Body Float seat post doesn't help out with that. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out the rest of the Winter, but it might end up becoming a massive broken up ice field out there and fat biking will have to take place somewhere else this Winter.

Stud. The tire, not you, silly!

Gnarwalls Landed:

Studded fat bike tires are something of a rarity, yet high in demand, or so it would seem. Whenever we have been asked about them at the shop where I work, and we go to order some, no one has them in stock.  So we started just ordering in a pair to have around whenever we could get our hands on a pair. We heard about the Gnarwall last August and put an order in for a pair whenever they might come up as being available. Well, recently they popped up on the warehouse inventory at Trek, so we grabbed this single pair, one of which I have pictured here. We checked yesterday, and poof! Zero availability. Amazing!

45NRTH is like this as well. Anyway, we have a pair and I am sure they won't last long, especially with the conditions we're likely to have this Winter locally after the flood waters freeze up.

I know a lot of folks were dismayed at how the Gnarwall has fewer studs than what 45NRTH uses on the Dillinger, but when you take a look at the Gnarwall you see how the designer focused the stud pattern where the tire contact patch is, and not where it isn't. Makes sense. Anyway, also consider the tubeless ready nature of the Gnarwall and suddenly it starts to look pretty darn attractive as an ice/icy snow conditions tire.

Yes.......it is expensive. Just about the same as a Dillinger studded tire. That's kind of a bummer, but the Gnarwall was designed as an ice/icy snow tire and being that they don't produce thousands of these, the price isn't really out of line. Since there probably aren't very many of these tires made year to year, that also contributes to the difficulty in getting them. Did I mention that they are spendy? Yeah?....... Okay then. If you gotta ride on ice or on icy snow, nothing beats a tire that was designed to be studded like this one was.

Have a great weekend! Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

 

Friday News And Views

Trek's Gnarwall studded fat bike tires should be available this Winter

Fat Bike Tires:

Yesterday I learned that the new Gnarwall studded fat bike tire will be available this Winter and the retail should be about $245.00 each. Ouch! I was hoping that these might be a bit better priced, since the other tires out there for fat bikes with studs aren't cheap either. However; one can hope that you will actually be able to get these tires, unlike the competition's offerings.

 Trek will also have the 4.7" "Barbegazi" tires available aftermarket, which are nice looking treads. I'd be interested in these because of their tubeless compatibility, despite their not being as big as maybe the Lou tires are. Finally, I also saw that the 27.5 X 3.8" "Hodad" treads will be available aftermarket too, but obviously that may not be a hot seller right away! 27.5" diameter fat bike tires seem like an odd deal, and without anyone else moving toward that size, (as yet, anyway), I have to wonder how long that will last as a tire size for fat bikes.

On the 29+ front, Trek seems to be cautiously watching where the trends are going. It seems that the vibe I'm getting is that Trek is taking a wait and see approach before doing anything more with that format. Obviously, the trend industry-wide isn't backing Trek up on the 29+ front, so it should be interesting to see where 29+ goes in a couple of years from now. Right now all I hear is positives about the Stache 29+ bikes and that seems to be about the only 29+ rig out now that anyone is buzzing about, besides the touring/bikepacking Surly ECR and upcoming Salsa Deadwood bike.

Surly's new "Wednesday" (Really! That's its name) fat bike.

New Surly Fat Bike:

Surly Bikes unleashed a rather strangely named fat bike Wednesday at Eurobike dubbed the.....Wednesday. Yes, it is real. The bike is named after a day of the week.

Apparently the weekend days were trade marked already!

Anyway, what we have here is a continuation of Surly's updating throughout the line which started with the resurrection of the Instigator and then the ICT, Karate Monkey, and now the newest bike, the Wednesday which features many of the small details that Surly has been using of late. This one has geometry that reflects the Krampus and Instigator bikes with a slacker front and shorter rear/center. The 26 X 3.8" tires/wheels are the realm of this number and obviously, that makes it a primo candidate for a 27.5+ conversion. The front fork is "Bluto spaced" at 150mmOD, so the Bluto fork is an easy swap here.

I find this bike to be a great addition to Surly's line up, albeit about two years too late, and it brings up the question: "Where does this leave the venerable Pugsley?" Also, how is it that the Ice Cream Truck doesn't make the Moonlander obsolete? Anyway, I feel that at some point push is coming to shove and the offset fat bikes Surly has now will be a thing of the past.

MOBD fat bike rims from Surly- Coming Soon!!

Surly Announces New Fat Bike Rims: 

One of my biggest complaints against Surly fat bike rims was that they were not tubeless ready. Well, that is all about to change here very soon. Just announced at Eurobike, we can expect the "My Other Brother Darryl" rims to be coming out sometime in the near future.

These will be offered as stock on Wednesday bikes, but those will be pinned rim versions and you won't be able to purchase those separately. The aftermarket MOBD rims will be welded seam rims. There is also a difference in cut outs which reflects how the rims can be laced. The hexagonal hole MOBD rims can be offset laced to Pugsleys and Moonlanders. The ones with triangular shaped cut outs are meant for symmetrical fat bikes like Wednedays, ICT's, Mukluks, etc. Finally, you can get them polished or in black anodized finishes. Weights are claimed to be in the sub 700 gram area, but we'll see about that. If so, that is very competitive with the carbon fiber rims out of China. Obviously those carbon rims do not require rim strips, but the Surly ones will. I think a bit of color in the rim strips showing through is cool, so I'm okay with that.

I don't know much else about these now, but the polished ones would be cool on the Snow Dog.That and a good set of tubeless tires and a 1X set up..... That may become a new project bike.

And Finally.....

 I was reminded yesterday of the short time we have on this Earth when I learned of the death of one of my Uncles. Don't waste anymore time and say those things you should say to the ones you love, spend time doing the things that bring you joy, and try to do something nice for someone everyday. You never know when your time is done here.....

Have a great weekend!

Friday News And Views

Trek's Gnarwall studded fat bike tires should be available this Winter

Fat Bike Tires:

Yesterday I learned that the new Gnarwall studded fat bike tire will be available this Winter and the retail should be about $245.00 each. Ouch! I was hoping that these might be a bit better priced, since the other tires out there for fat bikes with studs aren't cheap either. However; one can hope that you will actually be able to get these tires, unlike the competition's offerings.

 Trek will also have the 4.7" "Barbegazi" tires available aftermarket, which are nice looking treads. I'd be interested in these because of their tubeless compatibility, despite their not being as big as maybe the Lou tires are. Finally, I also saw that the 27.5 X 3.8" "Hodad" treads will be available aftermarket too, but obviously that may not be a hot seller right away! 27.5" diameter fat bike tires seem like an odd deal, and without anyone else moving toward that size, (as yet, anyway), I have to wonder how long that will last as a tire size for fat bikes.

On the 29+ front, Trek seems to be cautiously watching where the trends are going. It seems that the vibe I'm getting is that Trek is taking a wait and see approach before doing anything more with that format. Obviously, the trend industry-wide isn't backing Trek up on the 29+ front, so it should be interesting to see where 29+ goes in a couple of years from now. Right now all I hear is positives about the Stache 29+ bikes and that seems to be about the only 29+ rig out now that anyone is buzzing about, besides the touring/bikepacking Surly ECR and upcoming Salsa Deadwood bike.

Surly's new "Wednesday" (Really! That's its name) fat bike.

New Surly Fat Bike:

Surly Bikes unleashed a rather strangely named fat bike Wednesday at Eurobike dubbed the.....Wednesday. Yes, it is real. The bike is named after a day of the week.

Apparently the weekend days were trade marked already!

Anyway, what we have here is a continuation of Surly's updating throughout the line which started with the resurrection of the Instigator and then the ICT, Karate Monkey, and now the newest bike, the Wednesday which features many of the small details that Surly has been using of late. This one has geometry that reflects the Krampus and Instigator bikes with a slacker front and shorter rear/center. The 26 X 3.8" tires/wheels are the realm of this number and obviously, that makes it a primo candidate for a 27.5+ conversion. The front fork is "Bluto spaced" at 150mmOD, so the Bluto fork is an easy swap here.

I find this bike to be a great addition to Surly's line up, albeit about two years too late, and it brings up the question: "Where does this leave the venerable Pugsley?" Also, how is it that the Ice Cream Truck doesn't make the Moonlander obsolete? Anyway, I feel that at some point push is coming to shove and the offset fat bikes Surly has now will be a thing of the past.

MOBD fat bike rims from Surly- Coming Soon!!

Surly Announces New Fat Bike Rims: 

One of my biggest complaints against Surly fat bike rims was that they were not tubeless ready. Well, that is all about to change here very soon. Just announced at Eurobike, we can expect the "My Other Brother Darryl" rims to be coming out sometime in the near future.

These will be offered as stock on Wednesday bikes, but those will be pinned rim versions and you won't be able to purchase those separately. The aftermarket MOBD rims will be welded seam rims. There is also a difference in cut outs which reflects how the rims can be laced. The hexagonal hole MOBD rims can be offset laced to Pugsleys and Moonlanders. The ones with triangular shaped cut outs are meant for symmetrical fat bikes like Wednedays, ICT's, Mukluks, etc. Finally, you can get them polished or in black anodized finishes. Weights are claimed to be in the sub 700 gram area, but we'll see about that. If so, that is very competitive with the carbon fiber rims out of China. Obviously those carbon rims do not require rim strips, but the Surly ones will. I think a bit of color in the rim strips showing through is cool, so I'm okay with that.

I don't know much else about these now, but the polished ones would be cool on the Snow Dog.That and a good set of tubeless tires and a 1X set up..... That may become a new project bike.

And Finally.....

 I was reminded yesterday of the short time we have on this Earth when I learned of the death of one of my Uncles. Don't waste anymore time and say those things you should say to the ones you love, spend time doing the things that bring you joy, and try to do something nice for someone everyday. You never know when your time is done here.....

Have a great weekend!