Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Kona Bicycles

 Kona Offers Steel Drop Bar Mountain Bike:

Kona released news on Tuesday concerning a new steel framed drop bar mountain bike they are calling the "LBF" (Legend of Big Fork) 

This new model sees Kona adopting a rather "Fargo-like" bicycle with several features like multiple bosses for bottles or bags, a Rock Shox SID XC suspension fork, and 2.4" tires on Race Face rims. 

The drive train is from SRAM and features bits from their NX, GX, and Apex offerings. The brakes are SRAM four piston caliper/Apex lever units and the handlebar and stem are Ritchey Design models. With a slack head angle of 67° and a fork offset of 44mm this bike should be really stable on off-road trails. 

Retail is set at $3,699.00 USD and more details can be seen at Kona's webpage for this bike HERE.  

Comments: Again, another Fargo-like offering with a real focus on the MTB stuff. I'm all for this, but the tire choice seems narrow-ish and the price seems a bit steep. Is that just me, or is this bike pricey? I'm thinking it might be just me because I have an embargoed release set to go live next week with something sort of similar to this with a very similar price point. 

Guitar Ted On Substack:

Just a PSA concerning my work appearing on Substack. Right now I have only one article up, and it is something which appeared here already, so if you are a regular reader here, you've seen this before. 

I may not be posting there on the daily, in fact, I can tell you I will not be doing that. But I will post over there and it probably will be a bit different content. Stuff not necessarily bicycle related. I won't be doing a regular schedule either. I am not going to tie myself down in that regard. 

If you are interested in content from me which will likely range from the more personal side to maybe talk about other subjects I find interesting, such as guitar, music, and racing cars, well maybe this will be of interest to you. 

If you want to get notifications of anything which may pop up there please subscribe on Substack and you will be notified when I publish something. No charge. No big commitment. Thanks for considering this. 

Image courtesy of Wilde Bicycle Co,

Wilde Bicycle Co. Announces One "Just For The Fun Of It"

Wilde Bicycle Co. is headed up by Jeffrey Frane, who was the head of All City Bikes for QBP, and a Minneapolis cyclist for quite some time. One of his favorite bikes to get around on is an old Surly 1 X 1. So, it may not come as much of a surprise then that Wilde Bicycles is offering a cruiser inspired 26"er.  

The model, dubbed the "Moto Cruiser", will be offered as a frame/for/handlbar module or as a complete single speed or geared bike. 

Pre-orders are open now at Wilde Bicycle's site HERE.  

Comments: I loved my old Surly 1 X 1 cruiser when I had it even though it was a size too small for me. I could see this Wilde model being someones fun get-around urban bike in a similar way. The color of this bike is right up my alley too. But all this said, I have to keep calm and let it pass. I've just got too many bicycles already, and I need to cut down on the fleet as it is. 

I probably could cut one, maybe two out to bring the Moto Cruiser in, but I'd rather do the first part without the Moto Cruiser. We shall see if I can manage to trim down this year.  

Image courtesy of Wolf tooth Components

Wolf Tooth Updates Tire Pressure App:

Wolf Tooth just sent out news of an update to their tire pressure setting app. The app, which takes into account different specs and aspects of a rider's wheel/tire combo and riding style, helps riders to arrive at a recommended air pressure setting. 

New updates include: 

• Added MX/Mullet option for mountain
• Added 32” tire option for mountain and gravel
• Added radial tire casing option for mountain
• Added option to use casing width in inches for gravel
• Added tire width up to 3.3” for mountain
• Misc bug fixes

You can learn more about the Wolf Tooth Tire Pressure App HERE.  

Comments: I've heard good things about this app, (and the SILCA one), so I should probably give them a try. Might make for an interesting review later on.  If you've used one of these apps, or another I am unfamiliar with, let me know what you think of them in the comments. Thanks!

GRVL Apparel Company To Promote 12/24hr Gravel Challenges:

The challenge is a self-supported 12 or 24 hour ride on curated courses across the UK, Ireland, and Italy. 

From the press release: 

"Riders can select from a range of GRVL and Ambassador designed routes spanning iconic cycling regions including the Chilterns, Cornwall, North Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Peak District, Yorkshire, South Wales, Kent, and more."

Furthermore; the time when the challenge is attempted is optional (Editor's Note: I would imagine there are reasonable limits to the window for these challenges) The best times being Spring and Summer according to the press release. 

The challenge is dubbed "Nychthemeron", a word derived from the Greek meaning "Night and Day", or a complete 24hr period. If you want to learn more see the site link HERE. 

That is a wrap for this week! Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions. Now go ride a bicycle!

We Interrupt Normal Programming For A Special Announcement!

Ride support last June

Usually you dear readers are expecting to find the weekly FN&V here. However; today is my birthday. So, apologies if you were expecting a menu of cool bicycle related news and takes. You get me instead. 

I'm in the midst of blogging my twentieth year here. I find this amazing. Had you told me when I was 45 years old that I'd still be at this I would have laughed in your face. 

Yet......here I am. 

And I've logged another ride around the Sun. I'll not hide it - this past trip had many moments I care not to repeat again. But be that as it may, I am left to move onward, and this is what I am trying to do everyday now. 

Thinking about being 65 years old is weird. I remember seeing a few older cyclists back in the 1990's and thinking it would be cool to be able to be riding bicycles yet when I get to be their age. Well.....here I am. 

Yes - it is pretty cool. I was right about the thought I had 30 years ago. Back then I had no idea. No clue what I might be doing or where I'd end up. I have to say, I'm pretty satisfied with it all. And now I am at "retirement age", whatever "retirement" is, I do not know. 

You can rest assured I do not plan on knowing what that word means yet. 

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions. Have a great weekend, and keep on riding those bicycles!
 

While We Are Waiting

Winter. There are days you can get out and be somewhat 'okay' around these parts on a bicycle. However; there are a lot of days when getting out on a bicycle is not a great idea. 

Ice, wind, snow, cold rain, or lack of daylight can all factor in as possibilities for cutting rides short, redirecting where you ride, or just plain making riding not a smart choice. 

 Just last week we experienced 25mph winds out of the Northwest, gusting to over 40mph, and it was 13°F. That makes the wind chill temperature, (how it actually feels and what the consequences would really be for exposure) a balmy -17°F. 

In other words, it is a great time to be indoors and not out there on a bicycle. You get the picture, I hope. If you are siting there thinking those conditions are "no big deal" I hope you are signed up for IDITAROD. 

Then fast forward to today when it is supposed to be just above 40 degrees and very Spring-like. Yeah...today it would work. But days like last week's cold shot with wind has been more the norm since December started.  

Anyway, one can do nothing about a cold and windy weather situation with snow and ice. Folks here choose their own adventure instead. Many resort to other activities, like couch surfing, sleeping late, or seeing how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop. (Everyone knows the answer is three, right?) 
 

I suppose you could also go do other outdoors sports like XC skiing, hiking, or go to a gym and lift weights, swim, or enter a spin class. Many of you ride trainers and use services like Zwift, and others, to train and compete. 

Well, I've not tried everything, but I've tried indoor trainers and...... Yuck!  Not for this guy! So, I am either riding outdoors or I am descending into the nether regions of Guitar Ted Headquarters to tinker on bicycles. Snow sports used to be a part of my outdoor regimen in Winter, but with how things go now with snow.... Yeah. Not so much. 

I usually find something to keep me occupied. I can always clean. I also can always weed out things I should get rid of and either donate those things to the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective or toss them. 

I can always clean and tune up bicycles. You all know I have quite a few to mess with around here. This is no problem to get my spare time used up.  

And working on my bicycles is far better for my mind than spending time sweating in one spot, going nowhere. Oh.....sure! You "virtually"are going places and riding with "virtual" training partners. Notice: none of this is real riding with real friends. It is "riding" , of a sort, but as far as I am concerned, it is no match for riding outdoors with real human beings. Your mileage may vary. That is fine.....for you. 

I get out when the conditions are not stupidly cold, windy, or dangerous. Meanwhile, during those other times, I tinker around with my stuff. Like the recent building up of the Twin Six fixed gear bike. I spent some time accessorizing it as well.  

It needed fenders, lights, and a bag and a pump for repairs. These things all presented challenges. Some small, some requiring a bit of time away for thought on 'just how do I want to do this?' thinking. Eventually it all came together and now the Twin Six Standard Rando v2 can be grabbed and ridden at a moment's notice. 

And all this fussing and thinking and doing is one hundred times more enjoyable for me than sweating it out on a ride to nowhere.  Meanwhile if the weather is raging outside. It's okay. 

I can wait...... 

64 Times

Still rockin'

 Today is the day I cross the line for the 64th time. It's a number that I never thought I'd see attached to my name. 

I remember a rider back from the days when I was first doing bicycle work. He's a reader of this blog, so, John, if you read this, you might remember this story.

John used to take his lunch at the shop. He'd pull up a five gallon bucket, sit down, and have his meal. He'd chat us up for a bit and then take off back to work  

The shop guys revered John. He was a really good rider, and he was around sixty or so at this point in his life. I can remember thinking, "I sure hope I'm still riding strong at sixty!" 

Well, here I am. I'm probably no where near as "strong" as John was at my age, but hey! I'm doing okay. Better than I figured I would be. And I still am planning on doing this thing for a while. No reasons not to. 

Thanks for reading!

Thirty Years Later: A Perspective

An ancient Poloroid from 1996

My first gig as a bicycle mechanic started in late 1993, but it almost never happened. I noted that it was 30 years ago this month when something that I thought was terrible at the time happened to me. 

At the time, I had been working as a salesman/bench jeweler/designer for a local jeweler for about a decade already. I had gone through gemology school, was a second place finisher in a state-wide design contest, and I was the top salesperson in a three-store chain. Things were looking good, career-wise, and while I wasn't pulling down crazy money doing this jewelry job, I was making a decent living. I had no worries. 

But that all ended one day when I came into work in November 1993. A partner in the business, who was also an owner of a jewelry store in another city, but not directly affiliated with where I worked, had a love interest in my boss, and was jealous of all the time I spent with my boss. So, I was fired. 

And there ya go. I had no job for the first time since I was in the fifth grade. I was about 32 years old at this point, by the way. I was devastated. I had no idea what to do, but going on unemployment was where I ended up immediately afterward. 

Part of that entailed having to "look for work" so I could claim benefits to keep myself afloat until I figured out what to do. I had to turn in evidence of three applications for jobs every week. I was into cycling then, so I used my local bike shop, where I had purchased my 1992 Klein Attitude, as a reference. 

Since I didn't really have anything to do, I would stop by the bike shop last, and then I'd hang out until they closed. Finally, the owner sidled up to me one day and proposed that I might be able to get a job there, but it wouldn't be at the pay scale I was used to. I jumped on that immediately.

The rest, as they say, was history. I became an apprentice of the owner, learned a lot, and well, you probably can figure out some of the rest now. But if it hadn't been for a weird jealousy that motivated a firing, I might not be sitting here writing this blog post. 

And that whole ordeal turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me. Obviously, at the point when I was fired, you'd have been hard-pressed to convince me of that! But now? Yeah.... I'm very happy it all went down the way that it did.

Tire Religion: Part 3

There aren't many "klunkers" out there when it comes to tires.

Back again with some more opinions on how we as riders obsess and get far too passionate about our tires. If you missed my last post (Part 2) , click that link. There is also a link back to the first post in this series there. 

This should wrap things up in this series. In this post, I wanted to take a look at why there are so many different tires and if any of the differences really matter. 

First of all, let me just get this out of the way up front: There are a LOT of really, really good tires out there to choose from. Most you cannot really go wrong with, as long as you do not abuse them, or ride like a heathen goblin warrior with no skill set. Some of what I see and read about regarding tire failures, or "bad tires" is user error. 

That said, there are bad tires. Most are not what I would consider dangerous, but I've seen that as well. Usually though, it is just a design quirk, or a funky compound that makes a tire ride weirdly or behave in a certain manner that is not desirable.

Quite possibly one of the worst tires I ever tested.

An example of this would be an Intense Tire Systems tire I tried in the 2000's. It was a 29'er tire with what was supposedly a sticky rubber compound for better traction. What it ended up being was a tire that was far too heavy for its width, ponderous in terms of handling, and felt as though you may have thrown a cinder block behind you with a chain attached to your bike when it came to rolling resistance. 

It was truly awful! 

Another example was a tire I was sent to try out. This was a gravel tire from a company hoping to make a big splash in the gravel scene. The tread pattern was absolutely perfect, that is if your goal was to have a shower of gravel stones the size of peas or smaller thrown up in a hailstorm as you rode along. 

This was the tire I referred to as the "Gravel Flinger" in a few "Riding Gravel Radio Ranch" podcasts. What happened next was that I sent off an email to the brand saying that they could not release this tire as it was. I made some suggestions, and in about three months, a revised version of the tire showed up that actually worked. 

Interestingly enough, after all of that, the brand stayed pretty much as they had been- a manufacturer behind the scenes branding others names on their tires, and this tire I was helping out with came out in the guise of a distributor's house brand tire. 

But those sorts of things are rarities. Most of the time tires are barely different, one from another, when it comes right down to it. Compare tires at a certain price point, size, genre' and you'll find little tiny differences, but really? We're splitting hairs 80-90% of the time. The remainder are examples of tires that actually have something of benefit going on, or are exceptional in some way. 

In the case of Vittoria, there is something different going on here.

Take for instance Vittoria's usage of Graphene. This is a substance that is revolutionizing many facets of manufacturing and technology, but in the case of bicycle tires, and gravel tires in particular, Graphene infused tread does make a notable difference that can be felt. No other tires (yet) have this advantage. 

Then you have those tires that are driven by a desire to do one thing really well. Specialist tires, you might say. The designer takes one attribute and hyper-focuses on that to bring a tire to market that stands out in particular settings. Rene Herse tires would be a perfect example of a tire like this. Those tires are focused on ride feel, and sometimes that can be at the expense of other desirable attributes. 

Again- most tires are pretty darn good out there. Sure, there are a few models I wouldn't consider using for myself. But even those tires have their fans and people ride on them and those tires make them happy. It's really a personal preference thing, and a fashion thing. Fashion? In terms of tires? 

Yes.

I remember speaking with a tire company's lead designer at Interbike one year and he told me that tire tread patterns don't make a lick of difference in most cases. The only reason tread patterns have different shaped knobs and grooves is to conjure up a certain image in the mind of the rider to help fortify the claims that the marketing people come up with for how the tire is supposed to be of benefit. In other words, its all about how the tire looks in the rider's eyes. Fashion. 

If we were all about what was the ultimate tire for gravel? Well, there would be a refinement process that would lead us to a design that looked pretty much one way, and that would be how all brand's tires looked. And that would be a marketing nightmare. We cannot have that now, can we? 

Nope! Just remember: Most tires are good tires. And no tire is good at all unless you ride it- a lot- and you will hopefully wear it out. Don't be afraid to make a "wrong choice", but "test the spirits" (marketers), think things through, and above all- ride your bicycles and quit thinking about tires so much!

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Tire Religion: Part 3

There aren't many "klunkers" out there when it comes to tires.

Back again with some more opinions on how we as riders obsess and get far too passionate about our tires. If you missed my last post (Part 2) , click that link. There is also a link back to the first post in this series there. 

This should wrap things up in this series. In this post, I wanted to take a look at why there are so many different tires and if any of the differences really matter. 

First of all, let me just get this out of the way up front: There are a LOT of really, really good tires out there to choose from. Most you cannot really go wrong with, as long as you do not abuse them, or ride like a heathen goblin warrior with no skill set. Some of what I see and read about regarding tire failures, or "bad tires" is user error. 

That said, there are bad tires. Most are not what I would consider dangerous, but I've seen that as well. Usually though, it is just a design quirk, or a funky compound that makes a tire ride weirdly or behave in a certain manner that is not desirable.

Quite possibly one of the worst tires I ever tested.

An example of this would be an Intense Tire Systems tire I tried in the 2000's. It was a 29'er tire with what was supposedly a sticky rubber compound for better traction. What it ended up being was a tire that was far too heavy for its width, ponderous in terms of handling, and felt as though you may have thrown a cinder block behind you with a chain attached to your bike when it came to rolling resistance. 

It was truly awful! 

Another example was a tire I was sent to try out. This was a gravel tire from a company hoping to make a big splash in the gravel scene. The tread pattern was absolutely perfect, that is if your goal was to have a shower of gravel stones the size of peas or smaller thrown up in a hailstorm as you rode along. 

This was the tire I referred to as the "Gravel Flinger" in a few "Riding Gravel Radio Ranch" podcasts. What happened next was that I sent off an email to the brand saying that they could not release this tire as it was. I made some suggestions, and in about three months, a revised version of the tire showed up that actually worked. 

Interestingly enough, after all of that, the brand stayed pretty much as they had been- a manufacturer behind the scenes branding others names on their tires, and this tire I was helping out with came out in the guise of a distributor's house brand tire. 

But those sorts of things are rarities. Most of the time tires are barely different, one from another, when it comes right down to it. Compare tires at a certain price point, size, genre' and you'll find little tiny differences, but really? We're splitting hairs 80-90% of the time. The remainder are examples of tires that actually have something of benefit going on, or are exceptional in some way. 

In the case of Vittoria, there is something different going on here.

Take for instance Vittoria's usage of Graphene. This is a substance that is revolutionizing many facets of manufacturing and technology, but in the case of bicycle tires, and gravel tires in particular, Graphene infused tread does make a notable difference that can be felt. No other tires (yet) have this advantage. 

Then you have those tires that are driven by a desire to do one thing really well. Specialist tires, you might say. The designer takes one attribute and hyper-focuses on that to bring a tire to market that stands out in particular settings. Rene Herse tires would be a perfect example of a tire like this. Those tires are focused on ride feel, and sometimes that can be at the expense of other desirable attributes. 

Again- most tires are pretty darn good out there. Sure, there are a few models I wouldn't consider using for myself. But even those tires have their fans and people ride on them and those tires make them happy. It's really a personal preference thing, and a fashion thing. Fashion? In terms of tires? 

Yes.

I remember speaking with a tire company's lead designer at Interbike one year and he told me that tire tread patterns don't make a lick of difference in most cases. The only reason tread patterns have different shaped knobs and grooves is to conjure up a certain image in the mind of the rider to help fortify the claims that the marketing people come up with for how the tire is supposed to be of benefit. In other words, its all about how the tire looks in the rider's eyes. Fashion. 

If we were all about what was the ultimate tire for gravel? Well, there would be a refinement process that would lead us to a design that looked pretty much one way, and that would be how all brand's tires looked. And that would be a marketing nightmare. We cannot have that now, can we? 

Nope! Just remember: Most tires are good tires. And no tire is good at all unless you ride it- a lot- and you will hopefully wear it out. Don't be afraid to make a "wrong choice", but "test the spirits" (marketers), think things through, and above all- ride your bicycles and quit thinking about tires so much!

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Ted-terview: Guitar Ted Gets Interviewed: Part 2

 I mentioned in last week's FN&V that I had been interviewed by Haley Hunter-Smith and that it was a rather revealing interview. I have been given the green light to share the interview with you here on the blog.

This was/is a part of a research effort by the Queen's University and was an interview conducted by Haley Hunter-Smith with myself via a Zoom call. The transcript was then sent to me about one week later. 

I don't plan on sharing the entire interview, and this will be the last post- most likely- to get through. I am going to lightly edit the interview for clarity and readability. 

The research was done in an effort to find out from many different individuals what the "Spirit of Gravel" might entail, why, or if it is important to preserve, and what- if anything- can be gained from that for future race directors, gravel enthusiasts, and more. 

Part 2: The Spirit Of Gravel

In this part of the interview, I get into my views on the "Spirit of Gravel" and what that means to me. 

Haley Hunter-Smith: I was going to ask this later on, but you've...we're kind of going in this direction right now. Anyway, so do you think that you are - are you able to articulate partly, or in full what you think
the spirit of gravel is? Or would, should we revisit that later?

Guitar Ted: No, I'm always ready to talk about that! First of all, I think that a lot of people get hung up by that word "spirit". You know, so much of Western culture isn't spiritual. They don't understand, I don't think, what they're even talking about, but that's a big part of the gravel scene. The spiritual nature of it. 

So people get connected to nature through being out in the in the back country, or, you know, rural areas. And it does change you to a degree, I think the more time you spend in nature, I think that's definitely a spiritual thing, and it's something that doesn't get talked a lot about, because you know, there's… You get a little bit too touchy feely about spiritual things, and some people are gonna back away from that. 

So when I hear the term "spirit of gravel", I always kind of smirk, because I wonder if people really understand what that means. Or have you been considering what that might mean? And so to me, um, all throughout my career, putting on events, the spiritual nature of what I was trying to accomplish was very important to me. I wanted people to be touched in that way, and be changed in that way, and I thought that- my hypothesis was that - If you put people in in a stressful situation where they're broken down physically and mentally, that they're more open to that kind of thing. So I found that to be true for a lot of people that participated in my events, and I think that's true for a lot of people who do gravel. 

But again, this is something that not a lot of people talk about. I think when people talk about the spirit of gravel, more often than not, they're talking about what their version of it is, and they want to protect that, you know. And so it comes down to things like, how, how are my events run technically. And how do I want to see my competition, you know, presented, or how do I want to be included? Or, you know, it comes down to things like that which I don't think… That's not necessarily this. A spiritual thing. That's more or less a cultural thing, you know. So I think that's all mixed up in this term. And my feeling is a lot of people don't really understand what they're talking about.

HHS: Okay, that's a unique perspective. I quite enjoyed that. So you you talk… you did mention that, so you, in your view gravel is a spiritual experience, and you mentioned that that is something that a lot of Western culture doesn't think about, we're not particularly spiritual. So is this… Do you have other experiences in sport? And is this spiritual aspect of it something unique to the gravel experience? Can you contrast those at all?

GT: Well, I think that if you're open to spiritual things and ideas, that if you participate in, it doesn't have to be cycling even. I mean, I'm sure people have had, you know, spiritual experiences running or rock climbing or wrestling, you know for that matter. It's, it's... or just walking. You know, out in nature. Obviously, there's spiritual houses of worship and things like that. So I think that, um, you know we don't have, you know, a hold of that idea 100% for gravel riding. It goes across all kinds of things.

 But you know, going back to my personal experience with it. I had done some self-supported cycle touring in the nineties. The thing that I always go back to is there was this particular day in the middle of South Dakota when I was dropped by my 2 companions and I couldn't see them anymore. And it was, it was probably a 100 mile day. We were crazy doing these 100 mile days, and I was very broken down mentally and physically at that point in time. I had a spiritual experience on the bike, and I thought that, uh, looking back on it, that was a very pivotal point in my life. That kind of sent my life off in a different direction because of that situation, and I thought more people should have the opportunity to experience that, than just myself. And so that was part of the motivation, for how I did my events, to kind of put people in those situations where they might come across that same experience that I did. 

But I think that, you know, I'm not unique in that sense. I think, you know, there's many people who have expressed feelings and ideas that I hear, and I read, and I'm like, “Yeah, that's, uh, that's pretty much where I came from as well. So, you know, by no means do I have a lock on what the spirit of gravel is, I think it's, it's an individual thing and unique across many different people that you know, they're gonna come to it in different ways, and express it in different ways. 

I think that's something that is there. And again, you know, being that we're, you know, more about, “If I can't touch it, it doesn't exist”, that kind of thing where Western culture is a lot like that. I think that it becomes very difficult for us to express those ideas. Where I think that comes a lot more naturally to other parts of the world. People from other parts the world go, "Well, yeah, of course, you know that's something that exists. And it's real, and we get it, you know". So I think that it's, it's very fascinating to me to see people in athletic competitions, or just riding, bike packing, you know, where you're just out there, and they come away from it with, you know, being changed in that way.  I enjoy that part of the scene.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Thank you to Haley Hunter-Smith for that great interview and the permission to share part of that with you all here. There is a lot more, she interviewed me for an hour, but much of that is about Trans Iowa and I've beaten that horse to death here. Plus I gave some thoughts on the big-time gravel scene as well. But, I think this was the most important stuff here which I have shared. 

If there is enough interest, I may post more. For now- Thanks again for reading!

Ted-terview: Guitar Ted Gets Interviewed: Part 2

 I mentioned in last week's FN&V that I had been interviewed by Haley Hunter-Smith and that it was a rather revealing interview. I have been given the green light to share the interview with you here on the blog.

This was/is a part of a research effort by the Queen's University and was an interview conducted by Haley Hunter-Smith with myself via a Zoom call. The transcript was then sent to me about one week later. 

I don't plan on sharing the entire interview, and this will be the last post- most likely- to get through. I am going to lightly edit the interview for clarity and readability. 

The research was done in an effort to find out from many different individuals what the "Spirit of Gravel" might entail, why, or if it is important to preserve, and what- if anything- can be gained from that for future race directors, gravel enthusiasts, and more. 

Part 2: The Spirit Of Gravel

In this part of the interview, I get into my views on the "Spirit of Gravel" and what that means to me. 

Haley Hunter-Smith: I was going to ask this later on, but you've...we're kind of going in this direction right now. Anyway, so do you think that you are - are you able to articulate partly, or in full what you think
the spirit of gravel is? Or would, should we revisit that later?

Guitar Ted: No, I'm always ready to talk about that! First of all, I think that a lot of people get hung up by that word "spirit". You know, so much of Western culture isn't spiritual. They don't understand, I don't think, what they're even talking about, but that's a big part of the gravel scene. The spiritual nature of it. 

So people get connected to nature through being out in the in the back country, or, you know, rural areas. And it does change you to a degree, I think the more time you spend in nature, I think that's definitely a spiritual thing, and it's something that doesn't get talked a lot about, because you know, there's… You get a little bit too touchy feely about spiritual things, and some people are gonna back away from that. 

So when I hear the term "spirit of gravel", I always kind of smirk, because I wonder if people really understand what that means. Or have you been considering what that might mean? And so to me, um, all throughout my career, putting on events, the spiritual nature of what I was trying to accomplish was very important to me. I wanted people to be touched in that way, and be changed in that way, and I thought that- my hypothesis was that - If you put people in in a stressful situation where they're broken down physically and mentally, that they're more open to that kind of thing. So I found that to be true for a lot of people that participated in my events, and I think that's true for a lot of people who do gravel. 

But again, this is something that not a lot of people talk about. I think when people talk about the spirit of gravel, more often than not, they're talking about what their version of it is, and they want to protect that, you know. And so it comes down to things like, how, how are my events run technically. And how do I want to see my competition, you know, presented, or how do I want to be included? Or, you know, it comes down to things like that which I don't think… That's not necessarily this. A spiritual thing. That's more or less a cultural thing, you know. So I think that's all mixed up in this term. And my feeling is a lot of people don't really understand what they're talking about.

HHS: Okay, that's a unique perspective. I quite enjoyed that. So you you talk… you did mention that, so you, in your view gravel is a spiritual experience, and you mentioned that that is something that a lot of Western culture doesn't think about, we're not particularly spiritual. So is this… Do you have other experiences in sport? And is this spiritual aspect of it something unique to the gravel experience? Can you contrast those at all?

GT: Well, I think that if you're open to spiritual things and ideas, that if you participate in, it doesn't have to be cycling even. I mean, I'm sure people have had, you know, spiritual experiences running or rock climbing or wrestling, you know for that matter. It's, it's... or just walking. You know, out in nature. Obviously, there's spiritual houses of worship and things like that. So I think that, um, you know we don't have, you know, a hold of that idea 100% for gravel riding. It goes across all kinds of things.

 But you know, going back to my personal experience with it. I had done some self-supported cycle touring in the nineties. The thing that I always go back to is there was this particular day in the middle of South Dakota when I was dropped by my 2 companions and I couldn't see them anymore. And it was, it was probably a 100 mile day. We were crazy doing these 100 mile days, and I was very broken down mentally and physically at that point in time. I had a spiritual experience on the bike, and I thought that, uh, looking back on it, that was a very pivotal point in my life. That kind of sent my life off in a different direction because of that situation, and I thought more people should have the opportunity to experience that, than just myself. And so that was part of the motivation, for how I did my events, to kind of put people in those situations where they might come across that same experience that I did. 

But I think that, you know, I'm not unique in that sense. I think, you know, there's many people who have expressed feelings and ideas that I hear, and I read, and I'm like, “Yeah, that's, uh, that's pretty much where I came from as well. So, you know, by no means do I have a lock on what the spirit of gravel is, I think it's, it's an individual thing and unique across many different people that you know, they're gonna come to it in different ways, and express it in different ways. 

I think that's something that is there. And again, you know, being that we're, you know, more about, “If I can't touch it, it doesn't exist”, that kind of thing where Western culture is a lot like that. I think that it becomes very difficult for us to express those ideas. Where I think that comes a lot more naturally to other parts of the world. People from other parts the world go, "Well, yeah, of course, you know that's something that exists. And it's real, and we get it, you know". So I think that it's, it's very fascinating to me to see people in athletic competitions, or just riding, bike packing, you know, where you're just out there, and they come away from it with, you know, being changed in that way.  I enjoy that part of the scene.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Thank you to Haley Hunter-Smith for that great interview and the permission to share part of that with you all here. There is a lot more, she interviewed me for an hour, but much of that is about Trans Iowa and I've beaten that horse to death here. Plus I gave some thoughts on the big-time gravel scene as well. But, I think this was the most important stuff here which I have shared. 

If there is enough interest, I may post more. For now- Thanks again for reading!

Ted-terview: Guitar Ted Gets Interviewed; Part 1

 I mentioned in last week's FN&V that I had been interviewed by Haley Hunter-Smith and that it was a rather revealing interview. I have been given the green light to share the interview with you here on the blog.

This was/is a part of a research effort by the Queen's University and was an interview conducted by Haley Hunter-Smith with myself via a Zoom call. The transcript was then sent to me about one week later. 

I don't plan on sharing the entire interview, and this will take a couple posts- at least- to get through. I am going to lightly edit the interview for clarity and readability. 

The research was done in an effort to find out from many different individuals what the "Spirit of Gravel" might entail, why, or if it is important to preserve, and what- if anything- can be gained from that for future race directors, gravel enthusiasts, and more. 

Part One: The Beginnings Of The Modern Gravel Scene:

Haley Hunter-Smith

The first part of the interview covered my introduction to gravel cycling. 

Haley Hunter-Smith: So. To kick things off, I was just wondering if you could tell me how you came to gravel.

Guitar Ted: Okay, well, that would be through well… there’s a couple different things I could say. First of all, I grew up in Iowa and we have upwards of seventy thousand miles of gravel and dirt roads here, so it surrounds you and it’s part of your life whether you want it to be or not. 

Many of my relatives lived on gravel roads, and so growing up when I went to visit them, a lot of our play was on gravel roads and, you know, I’m very familiar with gravel roads from that stand point. So that’s one thing. And the other thing would be that I fell in love with bicycling at a young age, and you know, just exploring and going adventuring and things of that nature were part of it. 

And then the, the thing that really kicked it off probably, was that I worked with another gentleman by the name of Jeff Kerkove in a bicycle shop in this area. We had our boss, and he’d done this stunt with three other gentlemen where they rode across Iowa on road bikes in a day. And he was very proud of that, and he let us know that repeatedly. We became very tired of the story, and after the retelling of it for the umpteenth time, Jeff looked at me and said, “Well, you know we could do something like that with mountain bikes, but we wouldn't want to do it on pavement. Do you think we could do this across Iowa off-pavement?” And I thought for a moment, and knowing, you know, what I knew about gravel roads and maps and things, I said, “Yeah, I think that's possible, I think we could do something across the State of Iowa on gravel roads. And so then he said,” Let's do it!”. And that kicked off the event called Trans Iowa, where we set up an event that went across the state on gravel roads. About 310 miles or so. 

And yeah, just through doing that event, and watching the athletes that we got to come to that first event, ride on gravel roads I was… Suddenly a switch went off, and I well, of course, why haven't I been doing this myself? And so that was when I got involved in putting on events, and participating as an individual, riding on gravel roads. You know, that was 2005, and so I 've been doing that ever since, right?

Jeff Kerkove (L) and GT at the pre-race meeting for Trans Iowa v1 in 2005

HHS: So you really were one of the very, very first, I can’t even call you an adopter… a founder!

GT: Well, uh, I 'm very quick to tell people that we weren't the first people to ride on gravel roads, or to even have an event, a competitive event, on gravel roads. These things were happening here and there, you know, and I could name several examples of that. But we were... What I would say, we were in the right place at the right time with technology, the way things were, and with a new idea of, to most people, for a bicycling event. And those two things combined, set up a lot of dominoes, set off a wave. 

It was like dropping a stone in the middle of a pond, and the influence of what we did went out into the community of cycling and caught on. So you know, I'm just very fortunate that I was in that place at that time, and you know, I like to say that was the moment "the modern gravel scene" started, and what you would know as gravel today was, that was the genesis of it. Back then in 2005.

HHS: Okay, well, thank you very much for starting this (laughs). When you think back to those early experiences, your early renditions of Trans Iowa as an event organizer, and also as a gravel participant, do you have specific emotions that you associate with those experiences?

GT: Yeah, I would say that there were two things that really struck me immediately. One was the camaraderie, and the openness to accepting people that were part of this. So to give you some context to that… I came into this as not really an athlete. I'd done some cross country mountain biking in the 90's, but I was more or less just, you know, a nearly 50 year old, bicycle mechanic that nobody knew, and I went to this event with Jeff Kerkove, who at that time- He was a very well known 24hr mountain biker, solo mountain biker, in the scene, and sponsored you know, and a lot of people knew who he was.

So he attracted all these ultra mountain bikers to our first event, and I was intimidated because I wasn't part of that scene, and nobody knew who I was. Yet, when I went there they were all like, Oh, yeah, this, you know, they're very kind to me, and very open and accepting of me, and complimentary to what we were doing. So I came away from that first event feeling very humble and very much excited, that I was you know, accepted as part of that scene. So that was probably the biggest thing to me that that impressed me at that point in time.

HHS: Okay. And are, are you still involved in gravel in any sort of capacity?

GT: Yeah, I retired from putting on events in 2019. Now I write for my own personal blog, which has been going on since 2005. Then I also am a co-owner of a site called Riding Gravel, where we review and test products for gravel cycling.

HHS: Okay. And so, from that perspective, having been a very early community member, and to what you're witnessing now, do you perceive any changes in the community?

GT: Well, it's become a lot more diverse and a lot bigger (laughs). Obviously, yeah, I, I just think I'm excited, because you know the things that I felt about the gravel scene, coming into it as an outsider, so to speak, and being accepted, I see that still happening. And that people are really pushing for that. I think of several different organizations and people that are really working hard to make sure that everybody's accepted into the gravel scene. And you know we, we talked a little bit about, before we started recording, about the spirit of gravel, and I think that's a really big part of it - That people are accepted for who they are and what they bring to the scene is okay, and that's what I'm really excited about as far as how things look today. I'm being completely blown away by how big it's got though (laughs).

_______________________________________________________________________________

Next- in Part 2 of the Ted-terview: On Saturday the interview will pick up and get into what I think about this whole "Spirit of Gravel" thing. Stay tuned....

Ted-terview: Guitar Ted Gets Interviewed; Part 1

 I mentioned in last week's FN&V that I had been interviewed by Haley Hunter-Smith and that it was a rather revealing interview. I have been given the green light to share the interview with you here on the blog.

This was/is a part of a research effort by the Queen's University and was an interview conducted by Haley Hunter-Smith with myself via a Zoom call. The transcript was then sent to me about one week later. 

I don't plan on sharing the entire interview, and this will take a couple posts- at least- to get through. I am going to lightly edit the interview for clarity and readability. 

The research was done in an effort to find out from many different individuals what the "Spirit of Gravel" might entail, why, or if it is important to preserve, and what- if anything- can be gained from that for future race directors, gravel enthusiasts, and more. 

Part One: The Beginnings Of The Modern Gravel Scene:

Haley Hunter-Smith

The first part of the interview covered my introduction to gravel cycling. 

Haley Hunter-Smith: So. To kick things off, I was just wondering if you could tell me how you came to gravel.

Guitar Ted: Okay, well, that would be through well… there’s a couple different things I could say. First of all, I grew up in Iowa and we have upwards of seventy thousand miles of gravel and dirt roads here, so it surrounds you and it’s part of your life whether you want it to be or not. 

Many of my relatives lived on gravel roads, and so growing up when I went to visit them, a lot of our play was on gravel roads and, you know, I’m very familiar with gravel roads from that stand point. So that’s one thing. And the other thing would be that I fell in love with bicycling at a young age, and you know, just exploring and going adventuring and things of that nature were part of it. 

And then the, the thing that really kicked it off probably, was that I worked with another gentleman by the name of Jeff Kerkove in a bicycle shop in this area. We had our boss, and he’d done this stunt with three other gentlemen where they rode across Iowa on road bikes in a day. And he was very proud of that, and he let us know that repeatedly. We became very tired of the story, and after the retelling of it for the umpteenth time, Jeff looked at me and said, “Well, you know we could do something like that with mountain bikes, but we wouldn't want to do it on pavement. Do you think we could do this across Iowa off-pavement?” And I thought for a moment, and knowing, you know, what I knew about gravel roads and maps and things, I said, “Yeah, I think that's possible, I think we could do something across the State of Iowa on gravel roads. And so then he said,” Let's do it!”. And that kicked off the event called Trans Iowa, where we set up an event that went across the state on gravel roads. About 310 miles or so. 

And yeah, just through doing that event, and watching the athletes that we got to come to that first event, ride on gravel roads I was… Suddenly a switch went off, and I well, of course, why haven't I been doing this myself? And so that was when I got involved in putting on events, and participating as an individual, riding on gravel roads. You know, that was 2005, and so I 've been doing that ever since, right?

Jeff Kerkove (L) and GT at the pre-race meeting for Trans Iowa v1 in 2005

HHS: So you really were one of the very, very first, I can’t even call you an adopter… a founder!

GT: Well, uh, I 'm very quick to tell people that we weren't the first people to ride on gravel roads, or to even have an event, a competitive event, on gravel roads. These things were happening here and there, you know, and I could name several examples of that. But we were... What I would say, we were in the right place at the right time with technology, the way things were, and with a new idea of, to most people, for a bicycling event. And those two things combined, set up a lot of dominoes, set off a wave. 

It was like dropping a stone in the middle of a pond, and the influence of what we did went out into the community of cycling and caught on. So you know, I'm just very fortunate that I was in that place at that time, and you know, I like to say that was the moment "the modern gravel scene" started, and what you would know as gravel today was, that was the genesis of it. Back then in 2005.

HHS: Okay, well, thank you very much for starting this (laughs). When you think back to those early experiences, your early renditions of Trans Iowa as an event organizer, and also as a gravel participant, do you have specific emotions that you associate with those experiences?

GT: Yeah, I would say that there were two things that really struck me immediately. One was the camaraderie, and the openness to accepting people that were part of this. So to give you some context to that… I came into this as not really an athlete. I'd done some cross country mountain biking in the 90's, but I was more or less just, you know, a nearly 50 year old, bicycle mechanic that nobody knew, and I went to this event with Jeff Kerkove, who at that time- He was a very well known 24hr mountain biker, solo mountain biker, in the scene, and sponsored you know, and a lot of people knew who he was.

So he attracted all these ultra mountain bikers to our first event, and I was intimidated because I wasn't part of that scene, and nobody knew who I was. Yet, when I went there they were all like, Oh, yeah, this, you know, they're very kind to me, and very open and accepting of me, and complimentary to what we were doing. So I came away from that first event feeling very humble and very much excited, that I was you know, accepted as part of that scene. So that was probably the biggest thing to me that that impressed me at that point in time.

HHS: Okay. And are, are you still involved in gravel in any sort of capacity?

GT: Yeah, I retired from putting on events in 2019. Now I write for my own personal blog, which has been going on since 2005. Then I also am a co-owner of a site called Riding Gravel, where we review and test products for gravel cycling.

HHS: Okay. And so, from that perspective, having been a very early community member, and to what you're witnessing now, do you perceive any changes in the community?

GT: Well, it's become a lot more diverse and a lot bigger (laughs). Obviously, yeah, I, I just think I'm excited, because you know the things that I felt about the gravel scene, coming into it as an outsider, so to speak, and being accepted, I see that still happening. And that people are really pushing for that. I think of several different organizations and people that are really working hard to make sure that everybody's accepted into the gravel scene. And you know we, we talked a little bit about, before we started recording, about the spirit of gravel, and I think that's a really big part of it - That people are accepted for who they are and what they bring to the scene is okay, and that's what I'm really excited about as far as how things look today. I'm being completely blown away by how big it's got though (laughs).

_______________________________________________________________________________

Next- in Part 2 of the Ted-terview: On Saturday the interview will pick up and get into what I think about this whole "Spirit of Gravel" thing. Stay tuned....

Friday News And Views

Esker's new 2023 Hayduke (Image courtesy of Esker)

Esker Introduces New Hayduke:

The newest Esker Hayduke for 2023 features a geometry centered around 29 inch wheels and an "all-day" ride feel in its ChroMo steel frame. 

The frame features all the mounting points you might want for bike-packing or adventure cycling. The frame is dropper post compatible and uses externally routed cables with full-run houings and an internally routed dropper post seat tube. The frame also uses the tried-and-true threaded type bottom bracket with a 73mm width. 

The Hayduke can also be fitted with recommended widths of 29'er tires of 2.2" - 2.8" in width. The wider end of that spectrum requires adjustment of the stepped, Portage Dropout to its longer settings. 

Esker offers frames or two different complete builds in three colors and five sizes. See the site for more details. 

Comments: This looks like a decent 29"er hard tail which, when set up with the recommended 120mm travel suspension fork, should handle most anything anywhere. Not too slack or low, and not too steep and short here. Just a nicely designed steel hard tail frame. 

The price seems reasonable at 1G for the frame too. I'd likely go for this if I was into a hard tail for MTB. But as it stands, I have a bike coming that would do similar things and I don't need a dedicated MTB hard tail at this point. Maybe you do? Check it out....

Haley Smith (Image courtesy of Maxxis Factory Race Team)

Interviewed Again:

Recently I was contacted by Haley Smith, of Maxxis Factory Racing, and a researcher at the Queen's University at their School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, for an interview which would be a part of a research study on gravel cycling, its culture, and concerning how that might be preserved and explained to future event RD's, team managers, etc. 

Now, bear in mind, when I was contacted by Ms Smith, I did not know anything about her, or that she has been and currently is an elite level mountain biker/gravel cyclist. 

I just thought she was a research student from Queen's University in Canada. Which, honestly, was a good thing. I went into this with zero preconceived notions about the study, what the outcomes may be, nor did I care, frankly. That's probably something that made this interview more worthwhile for both Ms Smith and I, in my opinion. I just let the hair down and was as "real" as I could be, which, if I had to guess, is exactly what Ms Smith would have been hoping.

Anyway, it was fun and if you know me, I like to talk, so it was easy as well. Okay, now what about this study? What does it mean? What will happen with all this research? 

I do not know, actually. I have a clue, a hint, but nothing more. But here is my takeaway- Colleges are doing freaking research into what makes the grassroots gravel thing tick! This is a new level of "I never would have guessed it" in terms of where this thing has gone and where it came from. College level, peer reviewed, scientific research? Are you kidding me? 

I am not the only person they are conducting interviews with either. The aim, according to what Ms Smith relayed to me, was to cast as wide a net across all classes and types of humans that are involved in gravel riding as possible. So, that's even radder than I would have imagined. Just really unbelievable.

I mean, ten years ago we were wishing we could get a good gravel tire or two! Just think about that for a minute! Now the gravel scene is being seriously studied at the collegiate level? Nuh-uh! No way! But it is......  

New S-Phyre glasses (Image courtesy of Shimano)

Shimano Announces Second Gen Eyewear:

The new Aerolite and S-Phyre eyewear pieces are out now from Shimano. The S-Phyre being the expensive, high-end glasses with the Aerolite being the more budget oriented option here. 

The big deal here, as I see it, is that the lenses, which are interchangeable via magnetic contacts, is that Shimano engineered the lenses to have specific functions. One of the six options is specified as being best for "gravel".

Well, that's a bold claim, and what it amounts to is a claimed ability to see contrasts in surfaces and to be able to be used across gravel, dirt, or pavement. I dunno..... This sounds more "all-around" than a glass that is for gravel specifically. 

And maybe I'll get to find out. Word is that Riding Gravel is getting a pair in to test. Stay tuned..... 

Image courtesy of Ritchey Design

Ritchey Announces WCS "Gravel Grip":

Looking a lot like a track grip, Ritchey Design announced on Wednesday a new drop bar grip they call the "WCS Gravel Grip". (Of course!) It is meant to slip on over the extensions of the drops and provide grip and vibration damping with its 4mm closed cell foam construction. They go for $14.95 a set. 

Comments: Honestly, not a new idea here. I am pretty sure ESI makes, or made a grip similar to this which I was using back ten years ago or more. (Note: Yes, these are still available here) I also used an ergonomic style grip from Redshift Sports here. 

The idea is sound, but unless you - you know - actually use the drops, this idea is lost on you. Many people could just as well cut off the drops below the levers and never miss a beat. So, this is a limited use idea, and while it may sound appealing, one needs to review how they use a drop bar to begin with. 

But if you do use the drops a lot, this is a nicely priced option. They look great, and I suspect they do what is claimed, based on my experiences with the ESI and Redshift options I have used. 

Guitar Ted has a "Garage Sale"!

Guitar Ted's Garage  Sale:

Just a quick reminder that I maintain a "Garage Sale" page here on this blog where I list items I want to move on from. The items get changed from time to time, so it is worthwhile checking back to see if I posted anything new for sale there.

I've put a bunch of new items in there recently in case you haven't looked in a while. All items are either gently used or N.O.S. items I have been collecting over the years. I will and have had anything from bikes, frames, forks, and even accessory items like tents and clothing in there from time to time.

That's a wrap on this week. Have a great weekend and start off February right with a bike ride!

Friday News And Views

Esker's new 2023 Hayduke (Image courtesy of Esker)

Esker Introduces New Hayduke:

The newest Esker Hayduke for 2023 features a geometry centered around 29 inch wheels and an "all-day" ride feel in its ChroMo steel frame. 

The frame features all the mounting points you might want for bike-packing or adventure cycling. The frame is dropper post compatible and uses externally routed cables with full-run houings and an internally routed dropper post seat tube. The frame also uses the tried-and-true threaded type bottom bracket with a 73mm width. 

The Hayduke can also be fitted with recommended widths of 29'er tires of 2.2" - 2.8" in width. The wider end of that spectrum requires adjustment of the stepped, Portage Dropout to its longer settings. 

Esker offers frames or two different complete builds in three colors and five sizes. See the site for more details. 

Comments: This looks like a decent 29"er hard tail which, when set up with the recommended 120mm travel suspension fork, should handle most anything anywhere. Not too slack or low, and not too steep and short here. Just a nicely designed steel hard tail frame. 

The price seems reasonable at 1G for the frame too. I'd likely go for this if I was into a hard tail for MTB. But as it stands, I have a bike coming that would do similar things and I don't need a dedicated MTB hard tail at this point. Maybe you do? Check it out....

Haley Smith (Image courtesy of Maxxis Factory Race Team)

Interviewed Again:

Recently I was contacted by Haley Smith, of Maxxis Factory Racing, and a researcher at the Queen's University at their School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, for an interview which would be a part of a research study on gravel cycling, its culture, and concerning how that might be preserved and explained to future event RD's, team managers, etc. 

Now, bear in mind, when I was contacted by Ms Smith, I did not know anything about her, or that she has been and currently is an elite level mountain biker/gravel cyclist. 

I just thought she was a research student from Queen's University in Canada. Which, honestly, was a good thing. I went into this with zero preconceived notions about the study, what the outcomes may be, nor did I care, frankly. That's probably something that made this interview more worthwhile for both Ms Smith and I, in my opinion. I just let the hair down and was as "real" as I could be, which, if I had to guess, is exactly what Ms Smith would have been hoping.

Anyway, it was fun and if you know me, I like to talk, so it was easy as well. Okay, now what about this study? What does it mean? What will happen with all this research? 

I do not know, actually. I have a clue, a hint, but nothing more. But here is my takeaway- Colleges are doing freaking research into what makes the grassroots gravel thing tick! This is a new level of "I never would have guessed it" in terms of where this thing has gone and where it came from. College level, peer reviewed, scientific research? Are you kidding me? 

I am not the only person they are conducting interviews with either. The aim, according to what Ms Smith relayed to me, was to cast as wide a net across all classes and types of humans that are involved in gravel riding as possible. So, that's even radder than I would have imagined. Just really unbelievable.

I mean, ten years ago we were wishing we could get a good gravel tire or two! Just think about that for a minute! Now the gravel scene is being seriously studied at the collegiate level? Nuh-uh! No way! But it is......  

New S-Phyre glasses (Image courtesy of Shimano)

Shimano Announces Second Gen Eyewear:

The new Aerolite and S-Phyre eyewear pieces are out now from Shimano. The S-Phyre being the expensive, high-end glasses with the Aerolite being the more budget oriented option here. 

The big deal here, as I see it, is that the lenses, which are interchangeable via magnetic contacts, is that Shimano engineered the lenses to have specific functions. One of the six options is specified as being best for "gravel".

Well, that's a bold claim, and what it amounts to is a claimed ability to see contrasts in surfaces and to be able to be used across gravel, dirt, or pavement. I dunno..... This sounds more "all-around" than a glass that is for gravel specifically. 

And maybe I'll get to find out. Word is that Riding Gravel is getting a pair in to test. Stay tuned..... 

Image courtesy of Ritchey Design

Ritchey Announces WCS "Gravel Grip":

Looking a lot like a track grip, Ritchey Design announced on Wednesday a new drop bar grip they call the "WCS Gravel Grip". (Of course!) It is meant to slip on over the extensions of the drops and provide grip and vibration damping with its 4mm closed cell foam construction. They go for $14.95 a set. 

Comments: Honestly, not a new idea here. I am pretty sure ESI makes, or made a grip similar to this which I was using back ten years ago or more. (Note: Yes, these are still available here) I also used an ergonomic style grip from Redshift Sports here. 

The idea is sound, but unless you - you know - actually use the drops, this idea is lost on you. Many people could just as well cut off the drops below the levers and never miss a beat. So, this is a limited use idea, and while it may sound appealing, one needs to review how they use a drop bar to begin with. 

But if you do use the drops a lot, this is a nicely priced option. They look great, and I suspect they do what is claimed, based on my experiences with the ESI and Redshift options I have used. 

Guitar Ted has a "Garage Sale"!

Guitar Ted's Garage  Sale:

Just a quick reminder that I maintain a "Garage Sale" page here on this blog where I list items I want to move on from. The items get changed from time to time, so it is worthwhile checking back to see if I posted anything new for sale there.

I've put a bunch of new items in there recently in case you haven't looked in a while. All items are either gently used or N.O.S. items I have been collecting over the years. I will and have had anything from bikes, frames, forks, and even accessory items like tents and clothing in there from time to time.

That's a wrap on this week. Have a great weekend and start off February right with a bike ride!