Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Hope Tech

Hope Introduces New Carbon Crankset For Gravel Bikes:

Hope Technologies from Barnoldswick, UK, announced this past weekend their new crankset made from carbon fiber for gravel bikes. 

This new crankset features construction from "700 fiber" carbon with a foam core to help reduce vibrations induced by crushed rock roads and other irregularities. Featuring a 30mm spindle, the crank has the capability to have the spindle length swapped out to different lengths, the spiders are separate, and so Hope believes this should "future proof" the investment made into these cranksets by riders. 

These crank sets are available now in 165mm, 170mm, and 175mm lengths. Prices are set at  RRP £575.00 / €722.20 / $752.18 (ex tax) This includes no spider. That will be extra.

Comments: Carbon cranks that have adaptability are a nice thing and Hope is a reputable company, so I think these should be nice. However; why not price them with a spider? Seems odd. Then you have the lengths. It would seem that Hope did not get the short crank arm length memo and will not be offering these in anything shorter than 165mm. And it also seems odd not to offer a 172.5mm length, seeing as how that length is quite popular in road riding circles. 

Image courtesy of RTI Sports Group

Aeron/TPU Offers New TPU Tube With Aluminum Valve Stem:

One of the nits I have had with TPU tubes is the plastic/TPU material used for the valve stems. It is flimsy and easily damaged while trying to use a pump.  

RTI Sports Group, which also owns Ergon, says that the new Aeron/TPU brand will offer aluminum stems with removable valve cores in MTB, Road and Gravel sizes soon. 

These stems will only be found on the Superlight range of TPU tubes. These will appear in Spring for sale. A "more competitively priced" TPU stem variant will be available in May. Aeron/TPU says that these new tubes for gravel will weigh in at a paltry 30 grams! The TPU material valve stem range will weigh more.  

Comments: I hope to get a hold of a set to test out, but in the meantime, it is hard to imagine a 30 gram tube. The expense is not known yet, but I am a bit afraid to know seeing that normal TPU tubes are anywhere from $25.00 - $35.00 each. Stay tuned for more on these. 

The Salsa Cycles Tributary C GRX 820 (Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles)

Salsa Cycles Announces New Tributary Range:

Salsa Cycles announced on Tuesday of this week their new carbon fiber frame and fork Tributary eBikepacking bikes. 

The range consists of three spec levels with three different paint schemes.  The GRX 820, (pictured here) is made from a high-modulus carbon fiber and comes with the Bosch Performance Line Speed Mid-Drive electric motor. The motor has 85Nm maximum torque on tap with a 625WH internal battery. A battery extender is also available for extending the electric assist range. The other bikes in the range have suspension forks and otherwise similar electric motor and battery specs. 

The frame also has clearance for a 29" X 2.3" tire. The Tributary C has internal dropper post compatibility and is also UDH compatible. The other two models in the range are the Tributary C Rival AXS Sus, and Tributary C Force Sus, with the SRAM drive trains, obviously. 

Prices are as follows in the USA: Tributary C GRX 820 - $5,499.00. Tributary C Rival AXS Sus - $6,499.00. Finally, the Tributary C Force XO AXS Sus - $7,999.00. 

You can learn more about Salsa Cycles electrified bike range HERE. 

Image courtesy of UCI

UCI Loses Date For Gravel Worlds Championships:

In a somewhat shocking announcement on Tuesday the UCI announced that the date for the Gravel Cycling World Championships was taken off the calendar. 

In a story reported on several cycling websites it was said that the decision to take the date away from Nice, France was a mutually agreed upon decision and that several new venues were being considered. 

The original date for the championship event was to be in mid-October. No suggestions for where the championships will eventually be held was given at the time of this writing.

Comments: Well! I know where the UCI could bring this event (Iowa) and run it on "real gravel"! Ha! I'm sure that since the Nebraska version of Gravel Worlds has trade marked the name, "Gravel Worlds" in the USA, the UCI won't be too quick to visit us with this event. I also do not doubt for one second that if the UCI had its way that Unbound would happen in October and be the Gravel World Championships race. It would be a shortened version of the old DK200, probably somewhere around 120 miles, since the UCI likes their events to be around the 5 hour mark.  

This Gravel Worlds Championship Race would be televised and there would be follow cars, team cars and basically everything as it would be if the course was paved. It is what the UCI knows. A "real" gravel race? Not so much. It is not what I would do, but then again, every Pro rider would throw a fit and not come to an event as I would do it. Therein lies the point. 

Image courtesy of Singular Cycles

Singular Cycles Teases New Kookaburra Rim Brake Bike:

Did you get the Singular newsletter in your inbox yesterday? If you did, you saw the prototype for this new Singular model dubbed the Kookaburra. 

It is  a lugged steel, thin-tubed, one inch steer tube rim brake bike that reportedly will take a 700c X 55mm tire.  

There is no pricing or definitive delivery date on this model, but Sam Alison, of Singular, stated that he believes it will be in later this year. Sign up for the Singular newsletter and get updates on this model if you are interested as there probably will be a limited number of these made. 

Comments: Oh no....... This is right up my alley and would be a bike I would ride a lot. Especially if it were single speed compatible, which is usually a staple of Singular design, so I would suspect this model would conform to that pattern. 

At any rate, I was smitten by a Rivendell Atlantis at one point many years ago when I had to test ride a customers bike in for repair. The Atlantis was a unicorn bike for me and being a Riv, very expensive to boot. Needless to say I never ended up with one. However; that experience has haunted me and this Kookaburra could be the antidote to my missing out on an Atlantis. 

IF I were to bite on this I would immediately retire TWO bikes I have. This is a big "IF" though, as I have no idea what the Kookaburra will cost, and this will determine my decision. Needless to say, I am very interested.

Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions. Have a great weekend and ride those bicycles!

Friday News And Views

Coros Dura GPS computer. (Image courtesy of Coros)

Time to Navigate Through Another FN&V!

Coros Finally Unveils The Dura GPS Computer:

After teasing this GPS device since April the Coros Dura finally has been unveiled. This new entry in the GPS device market for bicycles has a big claim and looks to unseat your Garmin, Wahoo, and Hammerhead GPS devices from your handlebars. Is it really a contender? 

Well, Coros claims that with all systems on, and with no benefit from the solar charger, (more on that in a minute) you can squeeze 70 hours out of the device for run time. They claim that you can extend that to 120 hours, still without using the solar recharging function. Pretty impressive if true, and if you've already seen DC Rainmaker's review, it probably isn't quite there yet.

As stated, there is a solar recharging function. Coros claims that in full Sunlight, a rider going out for an hour will gain 2 hours of battery time. Again, very impressive. But that solar function comes at the cost of  space on your handlebar. (And the recharge rate hasn't been verified by independent reviewers yet.)

According to my quick measurements of my Hammerhead Karoo 2 and Wahoo Elemnt ROAM sitting here, the Dura is larger both in length and width than those two computers. The touch-screen of the Dura falls in between that of the Wahoo and Hammerhead with the Hammerhead edging out the Dura by just a hair. 

The Dura combines the touch-screen with a dial as well, so I'm not sure how the user interface will be here, (Again - not the greatest yet) but all this comes at a fairly reasonable price of $249.00 USD. Coros is taking pre-orders for July delivery now. By the way, the Dura has a lot more value if you also buy into the Coros smartwatch ecosystem. So, if you have not chosen a path in regard to a GPS device, this may alter your decision. Might want to wait until the bugs get worked out first though.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments. By the way, I'll have an update on my Wahoo experience coming soon. Stay tuned....

Gravel Worlds Announces Live Coverage Of 2024 event: 

From the press release:

"For the first time in the event’s 15-year history, the Garmin Gravel Worlds gravel road bicycle race will feature live-streamed video.

2024 Garmin Gravel Worlds event coverage will begin before the Men’s Pro 150-mile start Saturday, August 24, and end after the final rider has finished late into Saturday evening. The live coverage will include lead and follow motorcycles for both the Men’s and Women’s Pro fields, as well as a fifth camera focused on riders deeper in the pack. There will also be live commentating from beginning to end. The live stream video will be free for viewers worldwide.

Thanks to expanded sponsorship from Goodlife Brands, the event has also added $10,000 to its Women’s Pro prize purse, while adding a fresh twist to the racing. The first twenty Pro Women to arrive at the second race checkpoint ahead of riders from the general race field, which starts 25 minutes later, will receive $500, regardless of where they finish the race."

Gravel Worlds will employ staggered start times, much like Unbound has, for thge event which is scheduled to take place on August, 21 - 25, 2024 in Lincoln, Nebraska from their recently announced new starting area. 

Other recent Gravel Worlds news can be seen HERE and HERE.

Have You Heard About This?

I was sent an email on Wednesday informing me that some ultra-distance cyclists would be coming through the area soon. Like right down my local bike trail! 

Apparently it is all around a race called The Great American Wheel Race. Here's the description from the registration page for the event:

"The 2024 inaugural Great American Wheel Race is a 3,600 mile self-supported race that begins at the landmark Seattle Space Needle on June 9, 2024, and ends at the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. This fabulous and scenic route across the U.S. utilizes established Great American Rail-Trails across the U.S. while linking other bike trails and the safest less traveled roads possible. The route consists of gravel paths, paved paths, gravel and paved roadways, with a goal to be separated from vehicle traffic as much as possible with gentle grades. Come “Get Some” and enjoy this phenomenal race crossing the U.S. from the West Coast to the East Coast."

You can "dot watch" this event, but for whatever reason, the tracking page on the event site is not functioning. However; THIS ONE on Bikepacking.com does work. I'm going to try to see if I can intercept a racer or two on their way down through here. Stay tuned.... 

Image courtesy of Hope Tech.

Hope Tech Offers Durable Gravel Wheel Set:

Often times we all get caught up in the latest aero, carbon fiber, light weight wheel set for gravel and I even can forget about the riders that aren't looking for that. Thankfully companies like Hope Tech from the uK haven't forgotten that some folks would like a wheel set that they can actually ride on without having to worry about weight limits, durability, and still have some nice features. 

Hope offers up the RX24 wheel set for your consideration. I thought it was interesting that this wheel set can be ordered up with 32 spoke hubs and rims. That's getting rarer to find these days as what constitutes a "high spoke count" wheel in pre-builts now days is 28 holes, maybe, with 24 hole rims being the average anymore. 

The rims are 24mm inner width, great for most gravel tires. (Hope recommends up to a 60mm tire) Plus the total system weight (rider and gear) is 284lbs. That's not going to cover everybody, but it is better than a lot of the bling carbon wheels will allow. 

You also get the reliable, rebuildable Hope hub here, which I have ridden in the older Pro 4  form, and can vouch that they do well. But again, Hope does support their hubs with parts and even their legacy hubs are still supported. 

Prices are reasonable. Depending on spec you'll spend somewhere around $600.00 - $800.00 USD. Check them out here.
 

Guitar Ted Podcast Update:

We have a new podcasts up now and it is about the evolution of gravel bikes and how they are not really innovating anything. That one went up last week. You can listen to it HERE. Then N.Y. Roll and I decided to hit up another episode before he vacates the area for New York for a couple of weeks.

I may be putting out a solo podcast yet today at some point, so if you see another episode up, you'll know I decided to do that. Otherwise it may be a while before the next episode is out unless I can get an interview I've been thinking about doing. We will see.

That's a wrap for this week. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions! Get out and ride those bikes! The days are getting shorter starting now!

Friday News And Views

Testing the Topeak D-Flash "muck deflectors" on the Noble Bikes GX-5

Playing In The Mud:

Earlier in the week I got a chance to "muck about", in the muck actually, with a set of front and rear Topeak D-Flash mudguards. (Link to down tube mounted version)

There are a lot of bikes that do not support fenders, and a lot more people that think fenders are not cool. They look dorky, or they are issues for muddy riding, or they are not aero, so they do not want them on their bicycles. I used to be counted amongst these folk.

Then Ben Witt, now of Whiskey Cycles, but at the time, the proprietor of Milltown Cycles, convinced me that fenders were worthy of consideration. I ended up agreeing with him, and after spending a lot of time with various different solutions, I have landed on Planet Bike Cascadia ALX metal fenders. I also use those PDW Mud Shovel fenders on my fat bikes. So, I am a fender fan, (also a Fender fan, but that's another story!)

So, getting back to these Topeak sheilds.....deflectors? They aren't really "fenders". Anyway, I've found that if you are going with a deflection type device in the rear, it had better be long. The angle at which water, mud, and debris comes off a rear tire while it is spinning means that a deflector type device has to overhang the rear wheel by at least a few inches, and four is better. Otherwise you are still going to get wet, dirty, and if that's the case, what is the point? The deflector won't keep your bike or your drive train clean, so it had better keep the rider clean!

If you take a look at my image here of the Noble Bikes GX5, you can see that rear deflector is about at the same vertical plane as the right side of the rear rotor. Ain't gonna cut it, and I can tell you that it doesn't. Tried and failed. The front, down tube mounted deflector? Brilliant. Well done. Fortunately, the D-Flash products are available separately.

Note: Topeak sent over the D-Flash devices for test and review to RidingGravel.com at no charge. I was not paid, nor bribed for this review/post.

Forecast temps for this weekend in Waterloo, Iowa

 Spring Springs- Populace Loses Their Minds:

We have had a few days in a row of chilly, 30 degree highs here, but this weekend it will nearly be 60°F on each day, and you know what that means? It means cars and motorcycles will be zooming around like people have lost their minds.

Not to mention the Winter detritus along the sides of roads and in corners, which, if you are riding on the streets and roads, will catch you out if you are not careful. Just a friendly reminder that the roads are a mess and warmer temperatures bring out "The Crazy" in Iowans when they first appear after a long Winter. I expect to hear a LOT of ambulance sirens over the weekend.

Don't let one of those sirens be for you! Watch out for "Spring Fever", and if it has been cold where you live and warmer days are about to strike, be aware!

Hope components from the UK are pretty good looking. Seem well made too.

Hope UK Introduces A New Crank Set. Guess What It Is Called: 

I like Hope UK components. I've used their hubs before, and I have installed their head sets and MTB cranks in other people's bikes. The design, execution of design, and presentation of the finished products is second to none, in my opinion.

Well, guess what? They have a (did you guess the name?) GRAVEL crank set out now. (groan) Yep! I know...... A regrettable name for such a fine component, but, it looks ace, and it comes in Hope's six standard anodized colors. One of which is.......purple. 

While they say this RX crank set is optimized for single ring set ups, you can get it to work as a double. Of course, that's what I would want. I can totally imagine this in purple with a 46T/36T set up on my Black Mountain Cycles MCD. Pink and purple!

Maybe that would be too much. Hmm...... Color? No way! I'm talking about the money! these are not cheap crank sets! For that money I could go a bit more subtle and use a White industries VBC and add a touch of purple with chain rings, or something. Dreaming..... May not ever become reality, but those components are cool.

The Warakin Ti from Otso Cycles

 It Could Be A Contender:

If you've read about my quest for a replacement for the aging Raleigh Tamland, you've seen me pass over several entrants into the gravel bike scene. Now there is a new one out there, and it is related to one I already talked about. Added to that, I've already ridden this frame's geometry, and I happen to like it just fine. The bike? the new titanium version of Otso Cycles Warakin.

The change they made for this frame makes it even sweeter than that stainless steel version I rode in 2017. The frame now can handle 700 X 50mm or 650 X 2.1" tires. Pretty impressive, and it still retains a road based drive train with a maximum double chain ring size of 50T. That's plenty. I'd only want a 46T/36T set up anyway.

But as with the stainless bike, price is a big barrier here. $2800.00 for the frame and fork. Ouch! That's outside of my price limitations now. Guess I'll just have to drool and be happy with a steel frame from someone at some point. That Twin Six Standard Rando v2 is looking mighty close to being the choice. (WARNING! Scary picture on link. Click at your own risk)

Update On T-Shirt Idea: A while back now I floated an idea for a t-shirt to celebrate the 15 year anniversary of this blog. (Miss it? See HERE) Well, I got some initial interest, then things fizzled. But y'all maybe just forgot? So, I'm pimping this here one more time to gauge interest. The plan is to give it a week and then next friday I will give my verdict on whether or not this is going to happen.

Stay tuned.....


Okay, that's a wrap for this week. Thanks for reading! Get out and ride!

Friday News And Views

Testing the Topeak D-Flash "muck deflectors" on the Noble Bikes GX-5

Playing In The Mud:

Earlier in the week I got a chance to "muck about", in the muck actually, with a set of front and rear Topeak D-Flash mudguards. (Link to down tube mounted version)

There are a lot of bikes that do not support fenders, and a lot more people that think fenders are not cool. They look dorky, or they are issues for muddy riding, or they are not aero, so they do not want them on their bicycles. I used to be counted amongst these folk.

Then Ben Witt, now of Whiskey Cycles, but at the time, the proprietor of Milltown Cycles, convinced me that fenders were worthy of consideration. I ended up agreeing with him, and after spending a lot of time with various different solutions, I have landed on Planet Bike Cascadia ALX metal fenders. I also use those PDW Mud Shovel fenders on my fat bikes. So, I am a fender fan, (also a Fender fan, but that's another story!)

So, getting back to these Topeak sheilds.....deflectors? They aren't really "fenders". Anyway, I've found that if you are going with a deflection type device in the rear, it had better be long. The angle at which water, mud, and debris comes off a rear tire while it is spinning means that a deflector type device has to overhang the rear wheel by at least a few inches, and four is better. Otherwise you are still going to get wet, dirty, and if that's the case, what is the point? The deflector won't keep your bike or your drive train clean, so it had better keep the rider clean!

If you take a look at my image here of the Noble Bikes GX5, you can see that rear deflector is about at the same vertical plane as the right side of the rear rotor. Ain't gonna cut it, and I can tell you that it doesn't. Tried and failed. The front, down tube mounted deflector? Brilliant. Well done. Fortunately, the D-Flash products are available separately.

Note: Topeak sent over the D-Flash devices for test and review to RidingGravel.com at no charge. I was not paid, nor bribed for this review/post.

Forecast temps for this weekend in Waterloo, Iowa

 Spring Springs- Populace Loses Their Minds:

We have had a few days in a row of chilly, 30 degree highs here, but this weekend it will nearly be 60°F on each day, and you know what that means? It means cars and motorcycles will be zooming around like people have lost their minds.

Not to mention the Winter detritus along the sides of roads and in corners, which, if you are riding on the streets and roads, will catch you out if you are not careful. Just a friendly reminder that the roads are a mess and warmer temperatures bring out "The Crazy" in Iowans when they first appear after a long Winter. I expect to hear a LOT of ambulance sirens over the weekend.

Don't let one of those sirens be for you! Watch out for "Spring Fever", and if it has been cold where you live and warmer days are about to strike, be aware!

Hope components from the UK are pretty good looking. Seem well made too.

Hope UK Introduces A New Crank Set. Guess What It Is Called: 

I like Hope UK components. I've used their hubs before, and I have installed their head sets and MTB cranks in other people's bikes. The design, execution of design, and presentation of the finished products is second to none, in my opinion.

Well, guess what? They have a (did you guess the name?) GRAVEL crank set out now. (groan) Yep! I know...... A regrettable name for such a fine component, but, it looks ace, and it comes in Hope's six standard anodized colors. One of which is.......purple. 

While they say this RX crank set is optimized for single ring set ups, you can get it to work as a double. Of course, that's what I would want. I can totally imagine this in purple with a 46T/36T set up on my Black Mountain Cycles MCD. Pink and purple!

Maybe that would be too much. Hmm...... Color? No way! I'm talking about the money! these are not cheap crank sets! For that money I could go a bit more subtle and use a White industries VBC and add a touch of purple with chain rings, or something. Dreaming..... May not ever become reality, but those components are cool.

The Warakin Ti from Otso Cycles

 It Could Be A Contender:

If you've read about my quest for a replacement for the aging Raleigh Tamland, you've seen me pass over several entrants into the gravel bike scene. Now there is a new one out there, and it is related to one I already talked about. Added to that, I've already ridden this frame's geometry, and I happen to like it just fine. The bike? the new titanium version of Otso Cycles Warakin.

The change they made for this frame makes it even sweeter than that stainless steel version I rode in 2017. The frame now can handle 700 X 50mm or 650 X 2.1" tires. Pretty impressive, and it still retains a road based drive train with a maximum double chain ring size of 50T. That's plenty. I'd only want a 46T/36T set up anyway.

But as with the stainless bike, price is a big barrier here. $2800.00 for the frame and fork. Ouch! That's outside of my price limitations now. Guess I'll just have to drool and be happy with a steel frame from someone at some point. That Twin Six Standard Rando v2 is looking mighty close to being the choice. (WARNING! Scary picture on link. Click at your own risk)

Update On T-Shirt Idea: A while back now I floated an idea for a t-shirt to celebrate the 15 year anniversary of this blog. (Miss it? See HERE) Well, I got some initial interest, then things fizzled. But y'all maybe just forgot? So, I'm pimping this here one more time to gauge interest. The plan is to give it a week and then next friday I will give my verdict on whether or not this is going to happen.

Stay tuned.....


Okay, that's a wrap for this week. Thanks for reading! Get out and ride!

Shake Down Ride Shakes Something Out: Part 2

Stuck On You Part 2!

Okay, a week ago I had a great Fall ride on the Fargo Gen 1 when at the end of it all I had something odd happen with my rear wheel. (See the post here) Well. yesterday I got around to sussing that issue out, and here's how it went down.

The Subject: A Hope Pro Evo II hub with a SRAM 9 speed cassette with the individually mounted cogs. Yes......they were stuck on! It wasn't critical to getting to the bottom of my problem, but you'd rather not have to deal with those teeth. At least I didn't. The Hope Pro evo II has removable/swappable end caps for quick release or through axles, so you simply pop off your end cap. Then this allows a tool free removal of the cassette free hub body, which reveals the free hub mechanism. You can see what that looks like on the left here.

Now I could remove a couple of the smaller cogs off the cassette and then bang on the backside of the cassette with a rubber mallet to push off the cassette and get that out of the way.

Cassette removed!

The Diagnosis:  Once the cassette is removed I could handle the free hub body much easier and get to cleaning the old grease away so I could see if I either had a breakdown or just some stuck pawls. I employed some foaming degreaser of the citrus variety from Tri-Flow. I had to do this about three times to begin with. Whatever grease those U.K. blokes put in there is pretty tenacious!

As I worked more and more grease away from the mechanism, I noticed two things. One- The grease coming off was silvery. That's never a good sign! This means the grease is contaminated with metal. Hopefully just worn metal from years of coasting!

Two- The pawls were not "springing back to life", and this was cause for concern. Maybe something really did break. More applications of degreaser and the mystery was solved. I had a complete failure of all four pawl springs!

It's a dead parrot! No! Its pining for the fjords, or simply stunned!

Bummer! Well, as I stated last week, better to find out about it before the Geezer Ride! Had I not done the 32 mile pre-ride shake down cruise, I would have had the failure on the ride, and that would have been disastrous. Or at the very least, it would have provided quite the story! 

The Solution: Well, now its on to the solution. I have a spare Hope Pro Evo II wheel sitting around that I could scavenge the free hub body off of, but I am not desperate to ride the Fargo just now. So, I won't be stealing that free hub body now. My second option, of course, is to just replace the whole shootin' match with a steel free hub body and that would also solve my issues with the cassette digging into the alloy bodied free hub. I'm thinking this sounds like the reasonable choice, given that I typically don't buy XT level cassettes for my gravel/rough stuff bikes. It really doesn't weigh all that much more either. I'd gladly trade off the minimal gain in grams for the ease of servicing the cassette/free hub.

So, I think a steel free hub body will soon be on its way, and this nearly seven year old hub will be back in service again on the good ol' Fargo Gen 1 rig. I won't necessarily be needing the old bike for a bit, so I'll be okay with waiting on that. Heck- it's getting to be fat biking season, and the single speed bikes are all ready to roll in the meantime. Fall is definitely single speed time around here anyway.

Shake Down Ride Shakes Something Out: Part 2

Stuck On You Part 2!

Okay, a week ago I had a great Fall ride on the Fargo Gen 1 when at the end of it all I had something odd happen with my rear wheel. (See the post here) Well. yesterday I got around to sussing that issue out, and here's how it went down.

The Subject: A Hope Pro Evo II hub with a SRAM 9 speed cassette with the individually mounted cogs. Yes......they were stuck on! It wasn't critical to getting to the bottom of my problem, but you'd rather not have to deal with those teeth. At least I didn't. The Hope Pro evo II has removable/swappable end caps for quick release or through axles, so you simply pop off your end cap. Then this allows a tool free removal of the cassette free hub body, which reveals the free hub mechanism. You can see what that looks like on the left here.

Now I could remove a couple of the smaller cogs off the cassette and then bang on the backside of the cassette with a rubber mallet to push off the cassette and get that out of the way.

Cassette removed!

The Diagnosis:  Once the cassette is removed I could handle the free hub body much easier and get to cleaning the old grease away so I could see if I either had a breakdown or just some stuck pawls. I employed some foaming degreaser of the citrus variety from Tri-Flow. I had to do this about three times to begin with. Whatever grease those U.K. blokes put in there is pretty tenacious!

As I worked more and more grease away from the mechanism, I noticed two things. One- The grease coming off was silvery. That's never a good sign! This means the grease is contaminated with metal. Hopefully just worn metal from years of coasting!

Two- The pawls were not "springing back to life", and this was cause for concern. Maybe something really did break. More applications of degreaser and the mystery was solved. I had a complete failure of all four pawl springs!

It's a dead parrot! No! Its pining for the fjords, or simply stunned!

Bummer! Well, as I stated last week, better to find out about it before the Geezer Ride! Had I not done the 32 mile pre-ride shake down cruise, I would have had the failure on the ride, and that would have been disastrous. Or at the very least, it would have provided quite the story! 

The Solution: Well, now its on to the solution. I have a spare Hope Pro Evo II wheel sitting around that I could scavenge the free hub body off of, but I am not desperate to ride the Fargo just now. So, I won't be stealing that free hub body now. My second option, of course, is to just replace the whole shootin' match with a steel free hub body and that would also solve my issues with the cassette digging into the alloy bodied free hub. I'm thinking this sounds like the reasonable choice, given that I typically don't buy XT level cassettes for my gravel/rough stuff bikes. It really doesn't weigh all that much more either. I'd gladly trade off the minimal gain in grams for the ease of servicing the cassette/free hub.

So, I think a steel free hub body will soon be on its way, and this nearly seven year old hub will be back in service again on the good ol' Fargo Gen 1 rig. I won't necessarily be needing the old bike for a bit, so I'll be okay with waiting on that. Heck- it's getting to be fat biking season, and the single speed bikes are all ready to roll in the meantime. Fall is definitely single speed time around here anyway.

Wheels & Tires

Honey Badger 2.2"ers

It's kind of funny now how certain things have really changed in the span of four to five years. Back then a really wide rim and a really wide fat, 29"er tire was the hot set up. Now we have 29+ and fat bikes and Dirt Wizards coming. A big, voluminous 29"er tire on a fat rim is not news worthy anymore, or so it would seem.

Maybe that makes my excitement over the Kenda Honey Badger and my old Salsa Cycles Gordo rims a bit odd for most of you out there. I had been running the Kendas on a Velocity Blunt SL wheel set. Well.....why not? They were listed as 2.2"ers, which in tire parlance means 2.15"ers, maybe.  But lo and behold! The Honey Badger lived up to its billing, but what was even more impressive was the Kenda's "poof factor"- These are voluminous tires!

So, the Gordos, long left on a hook, were called back into "active duty" yesterday. The Blunts were just too narrow for these meats. I swapped end caps from the 20mm through axles I was using before on the Hope hubs that are laced to the Gordos. (Wait! Does anyone still roll with a 20mm thru anymore? ) I only have 9mm QR end caps to swap over to, since at the time I bought the hubs, 15QR was but a pipe dream! Oh well, that only meant that these wheels and tires would be going back on my beloved OS Bikes Blackbuck. It's almost like old home week!

OS Bikes Blackbuck, circa 2010

Back around 2008-2010 I ran these wheels pretty much exclusively on the ol' Blackbuck with big, voluminous tires. Most of that time I had an old WTB WeirWolf LT on the back and a Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4"er up front. I loved the way the bike ran with those big meats. It was awesome.

Now the Kenda Honey Badger mounted up on that old Gordo reminds me a ton of the old Schwalbe Racing Ralph and I can't wait to get out there on these wheels and tires to see if I can bring back a bit of the "good old days" and have that fast, cushy, fully rigid feel again.

Wheels and tires: They can really make or break any bike. It makes a lot of sense too, because that's what makes a bicycle roll, and we all want to roll fast, right? Fast, with grip and comfort, and that equals fun. That's what I remember best about the old Blackbuck set up. It was a hoot to ride.

I've got a little tweaking to do before I can get the rig out, but I haven't been excited about tires like this in a while. Well, there is the Rock & Roads on the BMC. Those babies are great too. Can't tell I like wheels and tires, can ya? Ha!

Wheels & Tires

Honey Badger 2.2"ers

It's kind of funny now how certain things have really changed in the span of four to five years. Back then a really wide rim and a really wide fat, 29"er tire was the hot set up. Now we have 29+ and fat bikes and Dirt Wizards coming. A big, voluminous 29"er tire on a fat rim is not news worthy anymore, or so it would seem.

Maybe that makes my excitement over the Kenda Honey Badger and my old Salsa Cycles Gordo rims a bit odd for most of you out there. I had been running the Kendas on a Velocity Blunt SL wheel set. Well.....why not? They were listed as 2.2"ers, which in tire parlance means 2.15"ers, maybe.  But lo and behold! The Honey Badger lived up to its billing, but what was even more impressive was the Kenda's "poof factor"- These are voluminous tires!

So, the Gordos, long left on a hook, were called back into "active duty" yesterday. The Blunts were just too narrow for these meats. I swapped end caps from the 20mm through axles I was using before on the Hope hubs that are laced to the Gordos. (Wait! Does anyone still roll with a 20mm thru anymore? ) I only have 9mm QR end caps to swap over to, since at the time I bought the hubs, 15QR was but a pipe dream! Oh well, that only meant that these wheels and tires would be going back on my beloved OS Bikes Blackbuck. It's almost like old home week!

OS Bikes Blackbuck, circa 2010

Back around 2008-2010 I ran these wheels pretty much exclusively on the ol' Blackbuck with big, voluminous tires. Most of that time I had an old WTB WeirWolf LT on the back and a Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4"er up front. I loved the way the bike ran with those big meats. It was awesome.

Now the Kenda Honey Badger mounted up on that old Gordo reminds me a ton of the old Schwalbe Racing Ralph and I can't wait to get out there on these wheels and tires to see if I can bring back a bit of the "good old days" and have that fast, cushy, fully rigid feel again.

Wheels and tires: They can really make or break any bike. It makes a lot of sense too, because that's what makes a bicycle roll, and we all want to roll fast, right? Fast, with grip and comfort, and that equals fun. That's what I remember best about the old Blackbuck set up. It was a hoot to ride.

I've got a little tweaking to do before I can get the rig out, but I haven't been excited about tires like this in a while. Well, there is the Rock & Roads on the BMC. Those babies are great too. Can't tell I like wheels and tires, can ya? Ha!

Salsa Cycles Gordo: El Grande Fun!

<====The Salsa Cycles Gordo rims laced up.

I spent the weekend "blog free" but it didn't help with cycling outside much since all the trails were muddy. I did do some wheel building though! I got the Salsa Cycles Gordo rims laced to a set of Hope Pro II's with some Wheelsmith 14/15 double butted spokes and alloy nipples. I used the "Mike Curiak" method of throwing a bunch of different colored nipples in a bowl ( In this case, the colors were green, red, and gold) and blindly fishing them out at random. Whatever color I grabbed I used. It turned out pretty well, I must say! (You can click on the picture to enlarge it. That way you can see the colored nipples easier, if you care to.)



<===The red anodized Hope Pro II's are LOUD!!

The build went really smoothly. The Gordos were straight and I hardly had to make any corrections at all. The tension came up very evenly, especially on the rear wheel. All in all, they were as good if not better than say, a DT Swiss rim, which I have used before. This Gordo and those DT Swiss rims are the best I've ever built with.

The Gordo is decidedly a "trail" rim with its huge width, (35mm) and sturdy weight, (780 grams a rim). That's okay for its intended use. It isn't a cross country, weight weenie rim. I did find that it built up a set that was 100 grams lighter than a WTB rimmed stock wheel set off my Raleigh XXIX+G though! The kicker here is that the inner rim dimension of the Gordo is wider than the outer width of the WTB rim!

You may ask, "Why is the overall rim width such a big deal?". Fair enough. Consider that the wider the rim, the more it supports the tire laterally. It also spreads out the tread surface on the terrain better, offering better grip. These are both good things when traversing demanding off road terrain. Not only that, but wider rims also allow you to run low, low pressures without rolling off the tires, and getting you even more traction.

The tires I mounted onto the Gordos were the tires off those previously mentioned WTB rims. They are a WTB Weir Wolf LT 2.55" tire and a Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4" tire. Each tire measured about 56. 4mm in width on the WTB's. On the Gordos, they each measured 59.7mm in width. Big difference! You can actually see that the tread is "flatter" to the ground as well. This should garner me gobs of traction.

Now, here's the deal on the tubeless situation. Salsa says "no!" They have a sticker right around the valve hole that says, "Do not use with tubeless systems." I used tubes to start with. Let me start out with tire fit here.

The tires I used have been on and in use for almost a year with the Schwalbe, and over a year on the WTB. These tires are stretched out! The fit of them on the Gordos was about what I experience on other tubeless systems with tubeless ready tires. The last four inches of bead that needs mounting is not hard to get over the rims edge, but you have to put a little effort into it. So, nothing unusual, but with a new tire it definitely would have been harder to mount on the Gordo. I'd give the Gordo an above average grade here. Airing up the tire was no problem as the beads sat right up into the "channel" extruded into each side of the inner rim well. Again, if the tires were new, they would have "snapped" in place with an audible sound. The tires I used did do this to a very small extent. Tire mounting: Above average grade here, as well.

In my estimation, judging from how the tires mounted and by the design of the Gordo, I'm going to say that they will probably be an easy and very successful tubeless conversion. In fact, I'm betting you won't even have to do anything but put a Stan's yellow strip in, or maybe go "ghetto" and use some strapping tape. That's it. A tubeless valve stem should seal on this rim with no problems at all. In this regard, I give the Gordo another above average grade. Remember though kiddies: Salsa Cycles says you shouldn't use the Gordo tubeless. So don't go and complain to them if your tire blows off the rim while riding, okay? Okay! That's on you, my friends.

So, I threw these on the OS Bikes Blackbuck for now. Wheel weights were rear: 1160 grams, and front: 1070 grams. That may sound like a lot, but for burly, strong, and wide, you are not going to get lightweight too, unless you go to a carbon fiber rim. (Read: Rob a bank to afford!) The MSRP on the Gordo is $125.00, which again, may open a few eyes up wide, but these rims are top notch quality, technologically designed for 29"ers, (Find another rim that is), are without peer in width, (Unless you count a unicycle rim that's out there) , and are reasonably light. Really, I don't see this as outlandish for the best trail rim made for 29"ers available today.

Stay tuned for further updates on Twenty Nine Inches

Salsa Cycles Gordo: El Grande Fun!

<====The Salsa Cycles Gordo rims laced up.

I spent the weekend "blog free" but it didn't help with cycling outside much since all the trails were muddy. I did do some wheel building though! I got the Salsa Cycles Gordo rims laced to a set of Hope Pro II's with some Wheelsmith 14/15 double butted spokes and alloy nipples. I used the "Mike Curiak" method of throwing a bunch of different colored nipples in a bowl ( In this case, the colors were green, red, and gold) and blindly fishing them out at random. Whatever color I grabbed I used. It turned out pretty well, I must say! (You can click on the picture to enlarge it. That way you can see the colored nipples easier, if you care to.)



<===The red anodized Hope Pro II's are LOUD!!

The build went really smoothly. The Gordos were straight and I hardly had to make any corrections at all. The tension came up very evenly, especially on the rear wheel. All in all, they were as good if not better than say, a DT Swiss rim, which I have used before. This Gordo and those DT Swiss rims are the best I've ever built with.

The Gordo is decidedly a "trail" rim with its huge width, (35mm) and sturdy weight, (780 grams a rim). That's okay for its intended use. It isn't a cross country, weight weenie rim. I did find that it built up a set that was 100 grams lighter than a WTB rimmed stock wheel set off my Raleigh XXIX+G though! The kicker here is that the inner rim dimension of the Gordo is wider than the outer width of the WTB rim!

You may ask, "Why is the overall rim width such a big deal?". Fair enough. Consider that the wider the rim, the more it supports the tire laterally. It also spreads out the tread surface on the terrain better, offering better grip. These are both good things when traversing demanding off road terrain. Not only that, but wider rims also allow you to run low, low pressures without rolling off the tires, and getting you even more traction.

The tires I mounted onto the Gordos were the tires off those previously mentioned WTB rims. They are a WTB Weir Wolf LT 2.55" tire and a Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4" tire. Each tire measured about 56. 4mm in width on the WTB's. On the Gordos, they each measured 59.7mm in width. Big difference! You can actually see that the tread is "flatter" to the ground as well. This should garner me gobs of traction.

Now, here's the deal on the tubeless situation. Salsa says "no!" They have a sticker right around the valve hole that says, "Do not use with tubeless systems." I used tubes to start with. Let me start out with tire fit here.

The tires I used have been on and in use for almost a year with the Schwalbe, and over a year on the WTB. These tires are stretched out! The fit of them on the Gordos was about what I experience on other tubeless systems with tubeless ready tires. The last four inches of bead that needs mounting is not hard to get over the rims edge, but you have to put a little effort into it. So, nothing unusual, but with a new tire it definitely would have been harder to mount on the Gordo. I'd give the Gordo an above average grade here. Airing up the tire was no problem as the beads sat right up into the "channel" extruded into each side of the inner rim well. Again, if the tires were new, they would have "snapped" in place with an audible sound. The tires I used did do this to a very small extent. Tire mounting: Above average grade here, as well.

In my estimation, judging from how the tires mounted and by the design of the Gordo, I'm going to say that they will probably be an easy and very successful tubeless conversion. In fact, I'm betting you won't even have to do anything but put a Stan's yellow strip in, or maybe go "ghetto" and use some strapping tape. That's it. A tubeless valve stem should seal on this rim with no problems at all. In this regard, I give the Gordo another above average grade. Remember though kiddies: Salsa Cycles says you shouldn't use the Gordo tubeless. So don't go and complain to them if your tire blows off the rim while riding, okay? Okay! That's on you, my friends.

So, I threw these on the OS Bikes Blackbuck for now. Wheel weights were rear: 1160 grams, and front: 1070 grams. That may sound like a lot, but for burly, strong, and wide, you are not going to get lightweight too, unless you go to a carbon fiber rim. (Read: Rob a bank to afford!) The MSRP on the Gordo is $125.00, which again, may open a few eyes up wide, but these rims are top notch quality, technologically designed for 29"ers, (Find another rim that is), are without peer in width, (Unless you count a unicycle rim that's out there) , and are reasonably light. Really, I don't see this as outlandish for the best trail rim made for 29"ers available today.

Stay tuned for further updates on Twenty Nine Inches