Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Xfusion

Xfusion G.E.T. 30 Gravel Bike Suspension Fork:

A new choice in front suspension for a gravel bike is now offered by Xfusion, a company known maybe more for its value oriented MTB suspension fork offerings. The new fork, dubbed the G.E.T. 30, (Grand Epic Trail) is based on a 30mm diameter stanchion platform and is available in the aforementioned 30mm of travel but can be converted to have 40mm or 50mm of travel. 

The fork also features external rebound adjustment and a lock-out function. There is a "Qflip" lever, designed for drop bars, which can lock out the fork or be used as a dropper post lever which is available separately. 

The damper unit is based on an air spring design for lightweight. It also is adjustable. The damper is Xfusion's Finecut RL2 sealed cartridge design damper which offeres improved oil flow for better small bump sensitivity, according to Xfusion. 

Offsets are available in 45mm or 51mm. The fork with an uncut steer tube weighs a claimed 2.9lbs. Designed for 700c wheels and gravel tires in Matte Black or Gloss Sand.. The G.E.T. 30 starts at $659.00 USD.  

Comments: You all probably know I am not a fan of telescopic, short-travel forks for gravel riding. That aside, this seems like a good alternative to Fox and SRAM/Rock Shox if someone is convinced this is a good idea. (Having a gravel suspension fork.)  

Image courtesy of Stoll Bikes

The 32" Watch: Big Wheels Win, Are Faster:

In the new world in which we live now where 32"er bikes roll on this planet, we now can say one of these monster wheeled bikes has won something. 

The Cape Epic, a multi-stage MTB XC event saw rider Felix Stehli win Stage three with his partner rider. Stehli was riding a production Stoll Bikes 32"er FS bike. 

In other 32"er news, Trans Iowa veteran (v8) rider John Karrasch has an article up on "The Escape Collective" in which he shows his recent testing on the Maxxis Aspen 32"er versus the same model in 29".  

John does a lot of rolling resistance testing on MTB and gravel tires,. He also has a bike fitting business so check out his work  

English Cycles prototype 32'er. Image courtesy of English Cycles

English Cycles, a custom bike builder from Eugene , Oregon, has a new prototype 32"er built as a bike packing rig. 

When I interviewed Sam Alison for the Guitar Ted Podcast recently he mentioned bike packing as being one of the ways 32"ers would likely be used. 

Seems Rob English would agree. His proto is for his testing purposes. In a blog post on the English Cycles site, Rob said he tried to maintain the fit and proportions of his 29"er as much as possible. He goes into great detail about certain aspects of building around this wheel size which is interesting.  

Check out this bike in further detail on the English Cycles' site HERE. 

Heard From Mid-South: Teravail has two 32" tires coming out. They will be based on the Cannonball and Camrock models. 

Rumors: Salsa Cycles Fargo 32"er? Seems to be a rampant rumor and was heard on the Shiftless podcast a week ago. Also: Mavic is rumored to be looking into 32"ers. Stay tuned.... 

 Finally another small builder, BTCHN Bikes, has an Alpina 32"er hardtail available now which looks interesting. Available in Med, L, XL sizes only. Check out the details on their sire HERE.  

The USA Trail Coast to Coast News:

The Spinistry folks are letting their TUBA Trail supporters know that the recon of the route, mostly gravel and dirt, across the USA has been completed. 

We interviewed Kevin Lee of the Spinistry who is the main developer of this trail on our Guitar Ted Podcast earlier this year. (Listen to the episode HERE) Kevin was still in the final stages of the trail's development then, but you get a great idea from the talk we had as to what this trail will be like. 

The trail changed names from TUBA Trail, (Transcontinental Unpaved Bicycle Adventure) to the USA Trail Coast To Coast . The name change reflects this trails status as being the first coast to coast, mainly unpaved trail for bicycle travel/touring. Kevin Lee is quoted in a recent email to TUBA Trail founders which I was able to see as follows: "While there is plenty of room for unpaved riding, we need a name that eliminates confusion and immediately tells the world what we’ve built."

The next stage in this trail's development is a Fall 2026 "dress rehearsal" riding of the route to work out any bugs and then the trail will be formerly opened, barring any issues, afterward.  

For more details see the TUBA Trail Founders page HERE.  

Image courtesy of SRAM

Hammerhead Karoo Share: 

Now Hammerhead Karoo users can share ride routes between devices. SRAM announced the update to the Karoo yesterday in a press release. 

SRAM claims routes and profiles can now be shared "immediately" between Karoo devices. Last minute adds at start lines are now totally possible with Karoo. 

You can learn more about this update and Karoo devices at Hammerhead's site HERE. 

Comments: I tried a Hammerhead Karoo 2 several years ago now and was really disappointed in it. Hopefully SRAM's purchase of Hammerhead has upped the experience quality for users. If you have a Hammerhead, how has it been for you? Let me know in the comments. 

Iowa Wind and Rock Announces Virtual Challenge Opportunity: 

The annual Iowa Wind and Rock event had to be cancelled due to health concerns for the event director. (Fortunately we are expecting a full recovery) 

Instead of the actual event, IWAR is putting out the #NotIWAR challenge. where riders are asked to do a long ride on the weekend of April 17th -  19th. From their Facebook post:

"Although we had to cancel this year's event, there's no reason for your training and fitness to go unused. We'd like to see you, and some friends, challenge yourself with a long ride sometime during the weekend of April 17 - 19. Ideally 100 miles or more, but if the conditions are right, a shorter distance will do. Gravel, bikepacking, singletrack, or mixed surface - it's all good. Just get out and push your limits for a few, or many, hours.

While we're not able to get our community together this year, we think it would be great to have everyone share photos and be able to read stories about their rides! Email works, or better post to IG or FB and use the hashtag #NotIWAR. No promises, but we might try and send something for each one that's submitted as well as gather the submissions and post them on the website as a bit of race history."

So, if you are reading this and think it is a great excuse for a bicycle ride, please consider supporting this idea. Ride a long ride, submit some images and words with the #NotIWAR hashtag, and show some support for this longstanding ultra-gravel ride, and more so for the RD who is recovering from medical procedures which prevented this year's event from happening. 
 

That's a wrap on this week. Happy Spring! get out and ride those bicycles!

Gravel Grinder News: Iowa Wind And Rock Announces Registration

From IWAR's social media

 Iowa Wind And Rock Announces 8th Annual Event:

Gravel cycling on the big stage is kind of like ultra-processed cheese product these days. It tastes okay, it's really bad for you, but you melt it over nachos anyway and eat it. It's all you find at the concession stands, so what is a person to do?  

Of course, there are still people serving up "original recipes" for gravel events and one of those events is Iowa Wind and Rock.  I should know, for reasons many of you out there are aware of. And if you are not aware, well, what rock have you just come out from under? 

Anyway... Here's what their post on social media said:

"The 8th running of Iowa Wind and Rock. Eight points on a compass. What direction will we choose this year? The only way to find out is to sign up between Nov 1 and Dec 1, 2025 and show up on April 18th, 2026.

 https://www.bikereg.com/iowa-wind-and-rock

 

Remember: You Are Responsible For You" 

Comments: Eight years?! Wow..... Time flies by and all, right? I think it is an amazing accomplishment regarding the longevity of this type of event. Some have compared this style of gravel event to the Barkley Marathon, while others say it is incredibly stupid and "not racing". But this style of event, and many others which are based upon this ideal, were how Gravel™ got where it is today. Kind of like how cheese was made on the farm, then someone decided to copy the idea, then corporations got a hold of the idea, and well, you know what happened next. 

 

Cheese Whiz. 

 

Don't eat Cheese Whiz people. Get you some of that "Real Thing". Whether it be IWAR or something cooked up by people who are following the original recipes. Don't accept substitutes!  

Two Things

Back At It

Thursday N.Y. Roll and I recorded a new podcast. It was the first since my son died and it went fine. I'll come back around to this thought in a bit.

But first, I was surprised to learn CORE4 has over a thousand riders registered for today's event. That is certainly impressive! We talked about this on this episode, but I wonder if CORE4's rapid growth in numbers will start to bring with it some negativity. We will see. 

We also discussed this 'drop bar MTB/gravel' thing. I'm tempted again to drag this aging old 29"er I have in the Lab out and see if I couldn't convert it into such a rig for some testing. It is an old Gary Fisher HiFi FS 29"er from around 2008. It would be a perfect bike since it has XC geometry and short-ish travel. It isn't a tank, but I cannot imagine something like this not weighing in the low to mid 20's for weight no matter what I slide in there for wheels. 

I've got just about everything I'll need to swap over to a drop bar MTB set up, and why the heck not? Well, we'll see. It'd be a fun experiment, if nothing else. A project like this might help me too, since it will keep my mind employed and all this sitting around the past two weeks needs to come to an end.

But it was necessary time with the family and for myself. Getting the podcast going again is another step towards "new normal" around here. Of course, it will never be the same as it once was.  

Oh! And the link to the latest podcast on the Spotify site is HERE. 

Image by Greg Grandgeorge

Iowa Wind and Rock Announces 2026 Dates:

Iowa Wind and Rock (IWAR) has set the date for the eighth running  of this ultra-endurance test of physical and mental strength. The 300+ mile event will take place on Saturday - Sunday, April 18th - 19th. 

IWAR is the direct descendant of Trans Iowa, the event I put on for 14 straight years. This event is unique, very difficult, attracts few takers, and is one of the most unique and rare events in gravel cycling.

I used to hint and tease that some day there would be no more Trans Iowa, and that is true, but there is still a "Trans Iowa-like" event in IWAR. But this event this may be a thing of the past sooner than later.  

While this event is not attractive to most cyclists, if you even have a hint of "I want to do this some day", don't wait. Because I can tell you from experiences I have had with Trans Iowa's ending that regret is real and second chances don't always happen. In fact, I would wager that if IWAR ends, and it will someday, that no one else will ever put on an event like it in Iowa,m or anywhere, ever again. I was floored when IWAR started, to be honest. That a few folks want to even try doing this sort of event year after year besides me is beyond my comprehension. So, yeah.... 

This is a super-rare event which will change your life, if you toe the line. If it goes away before you decide to do it? I don't think you'll ever get the chance again. That's my take on things.