Friday News And Views

SRAM Force AXS crankset.

A Hit And A Miss:

SRAM's wireless road group has been a pretty big hit with the road going crowd. The new AXS has a lot of folks excited. The recently announced Red version was pretty stylish looking. But people were hanging on for SRAM to trickle down the tech into a more reasonably priced range. Well, their wishes on the pricing have come true. Too bad it looks like a department store group.

I mean, look at this. Could it look anymore bland and....plasticky? It's as if they were out to "out-Tourney" Shimano in the "Mart Bike" category. If this had a bolt on chain guard it would be a dead ringer for an entry level crank set.

But, it is "wireless", and there are no cables, and it shifts whenever, blah, blah, blah. I get it. But why does good design and high tech have to be mutually exclusive? It's as if they tried to make it ugly. Wait....... I hadn't thought of that. Okay, never mind.

But beyond its looks, there are really some limited gearing options if you want to have sub-1 to 1 gears, and that battery on the front derailleur is said to only clear a 40mm tire. Plus, it's hanging out there right where all the dirt, muck, and mire is going to bathe it, collect on it, and gum up the works. That said, I actually got a close up look at the Red AXS group (the GOOD looking one), on a bike with a 40mm tire. (Thanks SRAM Rep Dan!) The issues with clearances are there with big tires, so that still concerns me. However, SRAM has modified the mount for the battery somewhat which should make it so that heavy debris from off the rear tire will not dislodge the battery from its mount. I was also told that this system is imminently weather-proof. Well......we'll see. I still say the Force AXS group needs a re-do, and while you are at it, please put away your ugly stick. Thank you.

23mm inner rim width was once mtb territory. Now it is barely a gravel rim!

The Inner Width Story:

Several years ago mountain bikers saw a move from the old, narrow rim widths and road bikes followed to a degree in that move also. When "gravel" rims were hitting the shelves a few years ago, they started out being marketed as something wider, suitable for the bigger tires gravel riders wanted to use. Typically these were in the 21mm-23mm range. Funny......that was the old mtb inner widths. Anyway, it didn't take long for gravel riders to start seeing bigger tires, and wider inner rim widths. I built a set of wheels a few years ago with WTB i25 KOM rims, and I thought I was pushing the envelope. Now, that is considered about par for the course.

So, I have to shake my head when one of these smaller wheel companies hits me up about checking out their wheels for RidingGravel.com and the inner rim width is under 20mm. Really? That's road racing width from the 00's. That is basically antique, and the marketing is saying it is a "wider rim" suitable for gravel?

I don't know, but information is easy to find these days and I've seen a lot of it for rims. I'm not anybody special in regard to this knowledge- it's there for anyone to see, so I have to chalk that up to just plain not doing the research. Based on that marketing faux pas alone you have to question the company and the product. The story has changed and companies need to keep up on them, or get left behind.

Renegade Gents run amok.

Renegade Gent's Race 9.0:

Well, it is that time of the year again. The Renegade Gent's Race is Saturday. This has been something that is near and dear to my heart, as many long time readers here know. I really look forward to this event and I plan on having a lot of fun.

This will be my 9th time. Yep! I'll have been to every single running of this event. I guess I'll count my lucky stars too, because I easily could have missed any one of them. 9 times to an event without a break is an unusual thing, and I am happy to have seen this through. The event sure has changed, and now the scrum of folks it draws is a mighty throng. The Renegade Gent's Race is one of those things you can enjoy in many ways. I think that is what makes it work for so many folks. That and it kind of kicks off the "normal" season of gravel riding here.

The weather should be darn near perfect too. 70's? Are you kidding me? I better bring some Sun tan lotion. I'm likely to get burnt! This might be the best weather since the first Gent's Race back in 2011. I think there will be some wind out of the South, but whatever. This should be a great day on the bike.

Stay tuned for a race report Monday. Till then, have an awesome weekend! 

Friday News And Views

SRAM Force AXS crankset.

A Hit And A Miss:

SRAM's wireless road group has been a pretty big hit with the road going crowd. The new AXS has a lot of folks excited. The recently announced Red version was pretty stylish looking. But people were hanging on for SRAM to trickle down the tech into a more reasonably priced range. Well, their wishes on the pricing have come true. Too bad it looks like a department store group.

I mean, look at this. Could it look anymore bland and....plasticky? It's as if they were out to "out-Tourney" Shimano in the "Mart Bike" category. If this had a bolt on chain guard it would be a dead ringer for an entry level crank set.

But, it is "wireless", and there are no cables, and it shifts whenever, blah, blah, blah. I get it. But why does good design and high tech have to be mutually exclusive? It's as if they tried to make it ugly. Wait....... I hadn't thought of that. Okay, never mind.

But beyond its looks, there are really some limited gearing options if you want to have sub-1 to 1 gears, and that battery on the front derailleur is said to only clear a 40mm tire. Plus, it's hanging out there right where all the dirt, muck, and mire is going to bathe it, collect on it, and gum up the works. That said, I actually got a close up look at the Red AXS group (the GOOD looking one), on a bike with a 40mm tire. (Thanks SRAM Rep Dan!) The issues with clearances are there with big tires, so that still concerns me. However, SRAM has modified the mount for the battery somewhat which should make it so that heavy debris from off the rear tire will not dislodge the battery from its mount. I was also told that this system is imminently weather-proof. Well......we'll see. I still say the Force AXS group needs a re-do, and while you are at it, please put away your ugly stick. Thank you.

23mm inner rim width was once mtb territory. Now it is barely a gravel rim!

The Inner Width Story:

Several years ago mountain bikers saw a move from the old, narrow rim widths and road bikes followed to a degree in that move also. When "gravel" rims were hitting the shelves a few years ago, they started out being marketed as something wider, suitable for the bigger tires gravel riders wanted to use. Typically these were in the 21mm-23mm range. Funny......that was the old mtb inner widths. Anyway, it didn't take long for gravel riders to start seeing bigger tires, and wider inner rim widths. I built a set of wheels a few years ago with WTB i25 KOM rims, and I thought I was pushing the envelope. Now, that is considered about par for the course.

So, I have to shake my head when one of these smaller wheel companies hits me up about checking out their wheels for RidingGravel.com and the inner rim width is under 20mm. Really? That's road racing width from the 00's. That is basically antique, and the marketing is saying it is a "wider rim" suitable for gravel?

I don't know, but information is easy to find these days and I've seen a lot of it for rims. I'm not anybody special in regard to this knowledge- it's there for anyone to see, so I have to chalk that up to just plain not doing the research. Based on that marketing faux pas alone you have to question the company and the product. The story has changed and companies need to keep up on them, or get left behind.

Renegade Gents run amok.

Renegade Gent's Race 9.0:

Well, it is that time of the year again. The Renegade Gent's Race is Saturday. This has been something that is near and dear to my heart, as many long time readers here know. I really look forward to this event and I plan on having a lot of fun.

This will be my 9th time. Yep! I'll have been to every single running of this event. I guess I'll count my lucky stars too, because I easily could have missed any one of them. 9 times to an event without a break is an unusual thing, and I am happy to have seen this through. The event sure has changed, and now the scrum of folks it draws is a mighty throng. The Renegade Gent's Race is one of those things you can enjoy in many ways. I think that is what makes it work for so many folks. That and it kind of kicks off the "normal" season of gravel riding here.

The weather should be darn near perfect too. 70's? Are you kidding me? I better bring some Sun tan lotion. I'm likely to get burnt! This might be the best weather since the first Gent's Race back in 2011. I think there will be some wind out of the South, but whatever. This should be a great day on the bike.

Stay tuned for a race report Monday. Till then, have an awesome weekend! 

Rim Width And Gravel Tires

Internal rim width- How wide is too wide?

It is no secret that rims have been getting wider. It also is no secret that we have pretty much quit focusing on external rim width and now pretty much speak in terms of internal rim widths. Why? Also, you may wonder why any of this matters. Wide rims are......well, wider, and that's that, right?

Well, not so much. Actually, wider rims do some beneficial things for riders of any bicycle, but I am going to keep the focus on gravel travel here. That said, much of what I am writing about today can be transferred to other types of bicycles and other genres of riding.

First, let's get into why rims were, for the most part, narrow. One must remember it wasn't always the case that rims were narrow. Way back they were wider because tires were bigger and more material was necessary to keep rims strong. Old tolerances were not as tight either, so width helped support the tires that didn't necessarily fit the greatest.

Note the difference in outer rim width versus inner rim width. Image courtesy of Velocity USA.

Then tolerances got tighter and materials technology advanced enough that things swung the other way. To cut weight, both the rim and the tires went on a diet. Rim widths got ever narrower until the 80's/90's when internal rim widths on some XC MTB rims was sub 20mm! That's for 2" plus wide tires!

Road rim widths, internally, were 17mm-19mm wide and stayed that way for a few decades. But then something happened which, in my opinion, opened the door wide for experimentation on rim width. During the late 90's, early "oughties", the down hill mtb scene started to push rim widths out to better support tires in corners and hard landings. Other MTB disciplines started looking at this and with a helping hand from materials technologies, once again, rims started getting wider for mountain bikes.

29"ers were something that also started companies walking down that wider rim lane. I recall when Salsa Cycles announced their Semi (30mm outer) and Gordo (35mm outer) rims, Velocity USA announced the Blunt  (28mm outer) and then the Blunt 35, (Obvious, innit?), and we all started thinking harder about wider rims. Keep in mind that about 12 years ago internal rim widths for most 29"ers was still around 20mm, give or take a millimeter. These new rims were mind blowingly wide.

Tubeless stuff also made wider rims more popular. The whole idea with tubeless was that one could lower air pressures, get more traction, and have similar or lower rolling resistance as with tubes. But, without a wide, stiff foundation for the tire to work from without a tube in it, the problems of burping tires and rolling tires off rims was commonplace. This moved companies to start taking a look at wider rims. Weights went up, for sure, but with new technologies, that weight wasn't as great as it would have been in the decades previous. The ubiquitous usage of disc brakes and the problem solving that came with wider rims brought a new focus on what mattered- inner rim width. 

With tubeless tires, inner rim width is important to note.

 With no regard for cantilever brake's limitations on rim widths, designers of mountain bikes were free to widen the inner rim widths to better support tubeless tires. No longer were riders considering rims only for the lightest weight, like back in the 90's. Now try and find a MTB rim with an inner width below 20mm. Not gonna happen!

In fact, try and find a current, tubeless compatible gravel/all road wheel with an inner rim width of less than 20mm. Yep! Pretty much a unicorn at this point nowadays. So, with the bonus of a good foundation for tires to work off of, and weight penalties being minimized, is there a point where tires and rims don't work as well when inner rim widths get really wide? In fact- yes. There is a point where rims can be too wide.

Now, as I've stated, I'm not going to go all in on mountain bike, fat bike, or road rim widths and tire matching to those. That's a HUGE subject which could fill a book. I'll just keep the focus on my experiences with gravel tires and rims meant for that pursuit.

I've used very narrow, 20-ish millimeter wide rims all the way up to 25mm internal rim width rims with tires ranging from 32mm through 50mm. Basically the gamut of tire widths used for gravel travel. In my opinion, some matching of tire to inner rim widths makes sense here. So, to put a 32mm CX tire on a rim with a 25mm inner width isn't a great idea. the tire casing flattens out, the overall height/volume of the tire suffers, and some elements of "self-steer" will rear their ugly heads on set ups like that. Self-steer is where your wheel kind of has a mind of its own and goes not where you want to point it. I know......that's a pretty technical explanation. Sorry! I would take the time to break that down, but this post is getting long as it is!

Of course, you can put a 50mm tire on a very skinny rim, and I've done that too. You end up having to use a higher pressure to mitigate tire squirm and possibility for roll-offs, and your ride quality will suck. Again- technical speak. But I think you get the picture here. Extreme match-ups are to be avoided. Try to use a wider tire with a wider internal rim width and vice-versa.

A good, all around internal rim width for almost any gravel tire, in my opinion, is 24-25mm. It would seem that most manufacturers agree with that. A few years ago I built up a set of wheels I dubbed the "Project Wide Gravel Wheels". I used a WTB KOM i25 rim set. Yes......that's 25mm inner rim width. I figured I was pushing the limits of "good" and maybe went over the line. Let's keep in mind that even three years ago 22-23mm was considered "really wide" for gravel. But I found that i25 rims were actually ideal for the 40mm-45mm tires I was using. That size even works well for up to 50mm tires, as I have found by using a set of 24mm inner width rims with 650B X 47mm tires.

So, would something even wider work? Maybe for the wider gravel tires, yes, it might. I am thinking about pushing a wheel set out and using internal 30mm width rims, like the Blunt SS shown above. It might prove to be interesting to try that out. You may say, "Well, that's a mountain bike rim!", and it is, technically. But take a look at what mountain bikers are using now and much of what you will find makes an internal 30mm wide rim look "skinny".

There is more to this rim width subject, but this post is already at "novel" length, and either your coffee is gone already, or it's cold. Sorry about that...... I'll update this subject down the road if there seems to be enough interest. I could even upgrade my "Project Wide Gravel Wheels" to "Project Even Wider Gravel Wheels" and maybe that is what I should be doing here. Real world test that idea!

Rim Width And Gravel Tires

Internal rim width- How wide is too wide?

It is no secret that rims have been getting wider. It also is no secret that we have pretty much quit focusing on external rim width and now pretty much speak in terms of internal rim widths. Why? Also, you may wonder why any of this matters. Wide rims are......well, wider, and that's that, right?

Well, not so much. Actually, wider rims do some beneficial things for riders of any bicycle, but I am going to keep the focus on gravel travel here. That said, much of what I am writing about today can be transferred to other types of bicycles and other genres of riding.

First, let's get into why rims were, for the most part, narrow. One must remember it wasn't always the case that rims were narrow. Way back they were wider because tires were bigger and more material was necessary to keep rims strong. Old tolerances were not as tight either, so width helped support the tires that didn't necessarily fit the greatest.

Note the difference in outer rim width versus inner rim width. Image courtesy of Velocity USA.

Then tolerances got tighter and materials technology advanced enough that things swung the other way. To cut weight, both the rim and the tires went on a diet. Rim widths got ever narrower until the 80's/90's when internal rim widths on some XC MTB rims was sub 20mm! That's for 2" plus wide tires!

Road rim widths, internally, were 17mm-19mm wide and stayed that way for a few decades. But then something happened which, in my opinion, opened the door wide for experimentation on rim width. During the late 90's, early "oughties", the down hill mtb scene started to push rim widths out to better support tires in corners and hard landings. Other MTB disciplines started looking at this and with a helping hand from materials technologies, once again, rims started getting wider for mountain bikes.

29"ers were something that also started companies walking down that wider rim lane. I recall when Salsa Cycles announced their Semi (30mm outer) and Gordo (35mm outer) rims, Velocity USA announced the Blunt  (28mm outer) and then the Blunt 35, (Obvious, innit?), and we all started thinking harder about wider rims. Keep in mind that about 12 years ago internal rim widths for most 29"ers was still around 20mm, give or take a millimeter. These new rims were mind blowingly wide.

Tubeless stuff also made wider rims more popular. The whole idea with tubeless was that one could lower air pressures, get more traction, and have similar or lower rolling resistance as with tubes. But, without a wide, stiff foundation for the tire to work from without a tube in it, the problems of burping tires and rolling tires off rims was commonplace. This moved companies to start taking a look at wider rims. Weights went up, for sure, but with new technologies, that weight wasn't as great as it would have been in the decades previous. The ubiquitous usage of disc brakes and the problem solving that came with wider rims brought a new focus on what mattered- inner rim width. 

With tubeless tires, inner rim width is important to note.

 With no regard for cantilever brake's limitations on rim widths, designers of mountain bikes were free to widen the inner rim widths to better support tubeless tires. No longer were riders considering rims only for the lightest weight, like back in the 90's. Now try and find a MTB rim with an inner width below 20mm. Not gonna happen!

In fact, try and find a current, tubeless compatible gravel/all road wheel with an inner rim width of less than 20mm. Yep! Pretty much a unicorn at this point nowadays. So, with the bonus of a good foundation for tires to work off of, and weight penalties being minimized, is there a point where tires and rims don't work as well when inner rim widths get really wide? In fact- yes. There is a point where rims can be too wide.

Now, as I've stated, I'm not going to go all in on mountain bike, fat bike, or road rim widths and tire matching to those. That's a HUGE subject which could fill a book. I'll just keep the focus on my experiences with gravel tires and rims meant for that pursuit.

I've used very narrow, 20-ish millimeter wide rims all the way up to 25mm internal rim width rims with tires ranging from 32mm through 50mm. Basically the gamut of tire widths used for gravel travel. In my opinion, some matching of tire to inner rim widths makes sense here. So, to put a 32mm CX tire on a rim with a 25mm inner width isn't a great idea. the tire casing flattens out, the overall height/volume of the tire suffers, and some elements of "self-steer" will rear their ugly heads on set ups like that. Self-steer is where your wheel kind of has a mind of its own and goes not where you want to point it. I know......that's a pretty technical explanation. Sorry! I would take the time to break that down, but this post is getting long as it is!

Of course, you can put a 50mm tire on a very skinny rim, and I've done that too. You end up having to use a higher pressure to mitigate tire squirm and possibility for roll-offs, and your ride quality will suck. Again- technical speak. But I think you get the picture here. Extreme match-ups are to be avoided. Try to use a wider tire with a wider internal rim width and vice-versa.

A good, all around internal rim width for almost any gravel tire, in my opinion, is 24-25mm. It would seem that most manufacturers agree with that. A few years ago I built up a set of wheels I dubbed the "Project Wide Gravel Wheels". I used a WTB KOM i25 rim set. Yes......that's 25mm inner rim width. I figured I was pushing the limits of "good" and maybe went over the line. Let's keep in mind that even three years ago 22-23mm was considered "really wide" for gravel. But I found that i25 rims were actually ideal for the 40mm-45mm tires I was using. That size even works well for up to 50mm tires, as I have found by using a set of 24mm inner width rims with 650B X 47mm tires.

So, would something even wider work? Maybe for the wider gravel tires, yes, it might. I am thinking about pushing a wheel set out and using internal 30mm width rims, like the Blunt SS shown above. It might prove to be interesting to try that out. You may say, "Well, that's a mountain bike rim!", and it is, technically. But take a look at what mountain bikers are using now and much of what you will find makes an internal 30mm wide rim look "skinny".

There is more to this rim width subject, but this post is already at "novel" length, and either your coffee is gone already, or it's cold. Sorry about that...... I'll update this subject down the road if there seems to be enough interest. I could even upgrade my "Project Wide Gravel Wheels" to "Project Even Wider Gravel Wheels" and maybe that is what I should be doing here. Real world test that idea!

Bikes Of 2017: Raleigh Tamland 2

It is that time of year when I start reviewing the bikes that got me through 2017. Many of these bikes have been tweaked and changed so I will talk about that and why they were important to me this past year.

Yep, another familiar face here. The Raleigh Tamland 2 has been a good rig for me over the years. I was amused recently when one of you commented here that the only thing original to the bike anymore is the frame and fork. Well, you could be forgiven for thinking as much, but while that is close, it isn't quite the case.

Just for the record, the frame, fork, head set, bottom bracket, crankset, seat post, and rear derailleur are still stock on this bike. That's not much, granted, but it is a fair amount of the original build! I still have the wheels and I still have the original brakes. I still have the original saddle also.

Speaking of saddles....I finally got what I needed on there after fiddling around with other saddles for a couple of years. The WTB Pure, (Pure V originally), is the bomb for my behind. Love that saddle. Now that this conundrum has been solved, I don't really need anything else different here.

Changes recently have been the Gevenalle HYDRAULIC brake system and the Ritchey Venturemax bar. These items were added as test items for review on RidingGravel.com and have been so good they are staying on long term. The brakes also changed up my shifting to the excellent Gevenalle system which also includes the Burd front derailleur. The shifting is so light and precise it is uncanny, and that system is nearly indestructible.

Finally the tires and wheels. I built up these White Industries/WTB i25 KOM wheels last year and these have been awesome wheels. I should build up another set just because. Anyway, I got to test these Trans Iowa inspired treads from WTB, the Resolutes, and they are fantastic on this bike.

Bikes Of 2017: Raleigh Tamland 2

It is that time of year when I start reviewing the bikes that got me through 2017. Many of these bikes have been tweaked and changed so I will talk about that and why they were important to me this past year.

Yep, another familiar face here. The Raleigh Tamland 2 has been a good rig for me over the years. I was amused recently when one of you commented here that the only thing original to the bike anymore is the frame and fork. Well, you could be forgiven for thinking as much, but while that is close, it isn't quite the case.

Just for the record, the frame, fork, head set, bottom bracket, crankset, seat post, and rear derailleur are still stock on this bike. That's not much, granted, but it is a fair amount of the original build! I still have the wheels and I still have the original brakes. I still have the original saddle also.

Speaking of saddles....I finally got what I needed on there after fiddling around with other saddles for a couple of years. The WTB Pure, (Pure V originally), is the bomb for my behind. Love that saddle. Now that this conundrum has been solved, I don't really need anything else different here.

Changes recently have been the Gevenalle HYDRAULIC brake system and the Ritchey Venturemax bar. These items were added as test items for review on RidingGravel.com and have been so good they are staying on long term. The brakes also changed up my shifting to the excellent Gevenalle system which also includes the Burd front derailleur. The shifting is so light and precise it is uncanny, and that system is nearly indestructible.

Finally the tires and wheels. I built up these White Industries/WTB i25 KOM wheels last year and these have been awesome wheels. I should build up another set just because. Anyway, I got to test these Trans Iowa inspired treads from WTB, the Resolutes, and they are fantastic on this bike.

Project Wide Gravel Wheels: Update

Up at East Janesville Church the other day.

The idea was to run wider rims than maybe what any cyclo crosser or roadies would ever consider for a gravel road bike and see what, if any performance advantages there are when running those wider rims. Once again, I tried the WTB KOM i25 rims which, as the name implies, have a 25mm inner rim width. Keep in mind that many rim companies are saying "wide" for a road rim is 20mm, maybe 21mm, of inner rim width. Yes, the KOM i25 is "really" a 29"er rim, but hey! That's a minor detail, and so I used them anyway.

One other thing I did here was that I did not weigh the wheels. I did this because I think it might affect the way I look at this project, if I knew, and I really think a good set of wheels with a reasonable weight is going to feel great no matter. So, I don't have a weight on these wheels, and weight wasn't the biggest concern here, quite honestly. I was mostly wanting to see how, or even if, tire performance could be enhanced.

That said, here are a few things I've noticed about these wheels, and a comment about what they do to tires so far.

The White Industries XMR hubs are amazing. Normally, you probably do not think much about your hubs, and that would be considered a great thing in a hub. These hubs I actually do think about once in a while because I could see how much better they spin, and that translated in to a faster coast with longer times off the power without losing ground to other riders or slowing down too much. The build is solid. I have had no issues with the wheels at all, but I will say that the KOM rims are a pretty lightweight extrusion. I wouldn't place any bets on how long they will last, but so far, so good. And I have pounded these wheels doing curb hops, bunny hops, and generally banging them around.

So, anyway, the tires...... Well, I've only mounted one set so far, so I have to reserve judgement on the tire part. That said, I feel they have made a big tire less crowned, wider, and more stable in the loose stuff as a result. The tubeless factor makes for lowered pressures and I have found that makes these wheel great over rough terrain and deeper grounds, like sand, and really deep gravel.

So far so good, like I say. More soon.......

Project Wide Gravel Wheels: Update

Up at East Janesville Church the other day.

The idea was to run wider rims than maybe what any cyclo crosser or roadies would ever consider for a gravel road bike and see what, if any performance advantages there are when running those wider rims. Once again, I tried the WTB KOM i25 rims which, as the name implies, have a 25mm inner rim width. Keep in mind that many rim companies are saying "wide" for a road rim is 20mm, maybe 21mm, of inner rim width. Yes, the KOM i25 is "really" a 29"er rim, but hey! That's a minor detail, and so I used them anyway.

One other thing I did here was that I did not weigh the wheels. I did this because I think it might affect the way I look at this project, if I knew, and I really think a good set of wheels with a reasonable weight is going to feel great no matter. So, I don't have a weight on these wheels, and weight wasn't the biggest concern here, quite honestly. I was mostly wanting to see how, or even if, tire performance could be enhanced.

That said, here are a few things I've noticed about these wheels, and a comment about what they do to tires so far.

The White Industries XMR hubs are amazing. Normally, you probably do not think much about your hubs, and that would be considered a great thing in a hub. These hubs I actually do think about once in a while because I could see how much better they spin, and that translated in to a faster coast with longer times off the power without losing ground to other riders or slowing down too much. The build is solid. I have had no issues with the wheels at all, but I will say that the KOM rims are a pretty lightweight extrusion. I wouldn't place any bets on how long they will last, but so far, so good. And I have pounded these wheels doing curb hops, bunny hops, and generally banging them around.

So, anyway, the tires...... Well, I've only mounted one set so far, so I have to reserve judgement on the tire part. That said, I feel they have made a big tire less crowned, wider, and more stable in the loose stuff as a result. The tubeless factor makes for lowered pressures and I have found that makes these wheel great over rough terrain and deeper grounds, like sand, and really deep gravel.

So far so good, like I say. More soon.......

Switcheroo

Tight!

Okay, so I've had these Gravel King 40's on for a bit, (See my review of them so far HERE), and I put them on the Twin Six Standard Rando first. I thought that is where they would fit the best, since these tires have less tall tread blocks than the Nano 40 TCS tires have. Those Nanos ended up being 42mm on the wide, KOM i25 rims, so the thinking was that the GK's would be better here and I thought everything was going to work out. Bzzzt! Wrong!

The GK's stretched, a lot! Initially they did look better, and there was a decent air space there under the momo-stay and fork crown. However; that all disappeared within about 24 hours of having mounted them. The measurement just after inflation wasn't taken, but I am going to say these things grew at least a couple of millimeters all around. I was floored when I put the calipers on them and they read 43.11mm!

Well, that was just too much for the ol' Standard Rando as I said last Saturday here. Something had to be done about that. I couldn't be having small chunks of gravel jamming in between the tire and fork crown or under the mono-stay in the rear. They already were doing that with the Nano 40's. So, I did the ol' switcheroo. It occurred to me that now I have two eleven speed wheel sets. I had almost forgotten about the Tamland Two's Ultegra 11 speed drive train.

Big tires? Not a problem here!

I had tried out some 2.0" 29"er tires on a whim on the Tamland once. They were WTB Nineline tires. They were too big, because they had no mud clearance at all, but they both spun in the frame freely! That knowledge suddenly came back to me as well, so I already knew these GK's would work. I simply swapped wheel sets and bam! There ya go. Clearance for days and the Standard Rando has the tires on it that it should have now.

MUCH better now!

Lesson learned. Bigger gravel tires go on the Tamland, 35mm-38mm tires go on the Twin Six. The wheels that were on the Tamland are nothing spectacular, but they are decent wheels, as I have had zero issues with them in two years of pretty demanding riding at times. The wheels are set up with tubed Challenge Gravel Grinders, and those are really pretty nice tires. I've never even thought about converting those wheels to tubeless, and I don't think I will. If anything, I'd just re-lace the hubs to new tubeless ready rims at some point.

But that's for another time. Now I have the wheel set with the big meats in a frame and fork where everything fits comfortably, and the Standard Rando is fit to be ridden without fear of tearing up tires, the frame and fork, and me! This is a good thing. Now I did set up those wheels for the Standard Rando, but they always can be switched back and mounted with, say the 36mm Clements, and I think that should fit just fine. I think I may do that eventually.

Now I just have to decide upon which bike I want to ride at the upcoming Gents Race. I wanted to run my new wheels and tires in the T-6, but those are on the Tamland now, so maybe I'll just go with that. Or I could just ride the old standby- the Black Mountain Cycles "Orange Crush" rig. Heck, that's the bike I've used the most down there for that event. It's almost a tradition!

Switcheroo

Tight!

Okay, so I've had these Gravel King 40's on for a bit, (See my review of them so far HERE), and I put them on the Twin Six Standard Rando first. I thought that is where they would fit the best, since these tires have less tall tread blocks than the Nano 40 TCS tires have. Those Nanos ended up being 42mm on the wide, KOM i25 rims, so the thinking was that the GK's would be better here and I thought everything was going to work out. Bzzzt! Wrong!

The GK's stretched, a lot! Initially they did look better, and there was a decent air space there under the momo-stay and fork crown. However; that all disappeared within about 24 hours of having mounted them. The measurement just after inflation wasn't taken, but I am going to say these things grew at least a couple of millimeters all around. I was floored when I put the calipers on them and they read 43.11mm!

Well, that was just too much for the ol' Standard Rando as I said last Saturday here. Something had to be done about that. I couldn't be having small chunks of gravel jamming in between the tire and fork crown or under the mono-stay in the rear. They already were doing that with the Nano 40's. So, I did the ol' switcheroo. It occurred to me that now I have two eleven speed wheel sets. I had almost forgotten about the Tamland Two's Ultegra 11 speed drive train.

Big tires? Not a problem here!

I had tried out some 2.0" 29"er tires on a whim on the Tamland once. They were WTB Nineline tires. They were too big, because they had no mud clearance at all, but they both spun in the frame freely! That knowledge suddenly came back to me as well, so I already knew these GK's would work. I simply swapped wheel sets and bam! There ya go. Clearance for days and the Standard Rando has the tires on it that it should have now.

MUCH better now!

Lesson learned. Bigger gravel tires go on the Tamland, 35mm-38mm tires go on the Twin Six. The wheels that were on the Tamland are nothing spectacular, but they are decent wheels, as I have had zero issues with them in two years of pretty demanding riding at times. The wheels are set up with tubed Challenge Gravel Grinders, and those are really pretty nice tires. I've never even thought about converting those wheels to tubeless, and I don't think I will. If anything, I'd just re-lace the hubs to new tubeless ready rims at some point.

But that's for another time. Now I have the wheel set with the big meats in a frame and fork where everything fits comfortably, and the Standard Rando is fit to be ridden without fear of tearing up tires, the frame and fork, and me! This is a good thing. Now I did set up those wheels for the Standard Rando, but they always can be switched back and mounted with, say the 36mm Clements, and I think that should fit just fine. I think I may do that eventually.

Now I just have to decide upon which bike I want to ride at the upcoming Gents Race. I wanted to run my new wheels and tires in the T-6, but those are on the Tamland now, so maybe I'll just go with that. Or I could just ride the old standby- the Black Mountain Cycles "Orange Crush" rig. Heck, that's the bike I've used the most down there for that event. It's almost a tradition!

Wheels For The Standard Rando: Update

Okay folks, here it is, the Standard Rando is back up and running with my new wheel set. These are White Industries XMR hubs laced with Wheelsmith spokes and nipples to WTB KOM rims in the "i25" flavor.

I waffled for a time considering what color to get, but after seeing these on the bike I am glad I ended up choosing black. Twin Six made the scheme black and green, and I just feel that by even putting a white seat on it, I have went beyond the intended color palette for this rig.

There will be tweaking of parts. I have already said that I am not 100% in love with the saddle, and the stem may need to be a tad shorter. The levers need to be tweaked out as far as position goes. Small things like that. Nothing unusual. The main thing is that it is up and running and the wheels are set up with WTB Nano 40TCS tires, which is the first in what I hope to be a series of tires to be set up on these rims to see what effects can be derived by using a wider rim with 35mm to 40mm tires.

Of course, the WTB tires and rims are a dead ringer fit. That wasn't unexpected. I used Caffe Latex for sealant here, as that is being tested for RidingGravel.com as well. Everything else was WTB product though- rim strip, valve stems, and the aforementioned tires and rims.

Puffed up: The WTB Nano 40TCS tires take on a bigger profile on the wide KOM i25 rims.

So, the importatnt bit- just what did this do to the tires? I noted immediately that the Nano 40's didn't look over-stretched or too flat in profile. I was a bit concerned that the wider profile rim might flatten out the casing to the extent that all the tread was hitting the ground, which would have been quite a drag- literally. However; I didn't notice that at all. What I did see was that the bead of the tire seemed lined up more with the edge of the tread area. The sidewalls of the tire were arching from the rim to the tread area quite nicely, which kept the round-ish profile to the tread area intact. Good stuff!

I measured the tire at work and it came out to 42.11mm wide at the widest part of the casing. So, that makes these as big as Bruce Gordon Rock & Road tires on a narrower rim. I would venture to say that the Nano 40 has more volume to the casing as well. As a reference, the Nano 40's have measured out right at 40mm on a WTB Frequency i23 rim for me in the past, so a 2mm inner rim width dimension increase ended up yielding a 2mm+ width increase. I have also thought that the Nano 40's seemed "tall" in profile for their width, but this wider rim has rounded out the casing really nicely. We'll see how that affects ride quality soon.

Stay tuned......

Wheels For The Standard Rando: Update

Okay folks, here it is, the Standard Rando is back up and running with my new wheel set. These are White Industries XMR hubs laced with Wheelsmith spokes and nipples to WTB KOM rims in the "i25" flavor.

I waffled for a time considering what color to get, but after seeing these on the bike I am glad I ended up choosing black. Twin Six made the scheme black and green, and I just feel that by even putting a white seat on it, I have went beyond the intended color palette for this rig.

There will be tweaking of parts. I have already said that I am not 100% in love with the saddle, and the stem may need to be a tad shorter. The levers need to be tweaked out as far as position goes. Small things like that. Nothing unusual. The main thing is that it is up and running and the wheels are set up with WTB Nano 40TCS tires, which is the first in what I hope to be a series of tires to be set up on these rims to see what effects can be derived by using a wider rim with 35mm to 40mm tires.

Of course, the WTB tires and rims are a dead ringer fit. That wasn't unexpected. I used Caffe Latex for sealant here, as that is being tested for RidingGravel.com as well. Everything else was WTB product though- rim strip, valve stems, and the aforementioned tires and rims.

Puffed up: The WTB Nano 40TCS tires take on a bigger profile on the wide KOM i25 rims.

So, the importatnt bit- just what did this do to the tires? I noted immediately that the Nano 40's didn't look over-stretched or too flat in profile. I was a bit concerned that the wider profile rim might flatten out the casing to the extent that all the tread was hitting the ground, which would have been quite a drag- literally. However; I didn't notice that at all. What I did see was that the bead of the tire seemed lined up more with the edge of the tread area. The sidewalls of the tire were arching from the rim to the tread area quite nicely, which kept the round-ish profile to the tread area intact. Good stuff!

I measured the tire at work and it came out to 42.11mm wide at the widest part of the casing. So, that makes these as big as Bruce Gordon Rock & Road tires on a narrower rim. I would venture to say that the Nano 40 has more volume to the casing as well. As a reference, the Nano 40's have measured out right at 40mm on a WTB Frequency i23 rim for me in the past, so a 2mm inner rim width dimension increase ended up yielding a 2mm+ width increase. I have also thought that the Nano 40's seemed "tall" in profile for their width, but this wider rim has rounded out the casing really nicely. We'll see how that affects ride quality soon.

Stay tuned......

Project Wide Gravel Wheels

Well.......look at that, would ya?

Okay.......White Industries came through. I have the hubs in hand and now, as I am wont to do, I have instigated another "project". This one will be a wheel build to test my theory on wide rims for gravel.

Before I get into my hypothesis, let's take a look at these gorgeous black anodized goodies here, shall we? Of course, they are from White Industries and are their new disc hubs dubbed "XMR". What does that stand for? Who knows! I would say, "good looking", sleek", and light weight, but none of those terms start with "X" "M" or "R". White Industries says the hubs have a 6-4 titanium free hub body, a six bolt disc rotor interface, available swappable end caps for through axle compatibility, or as in my case, the standard traditional quick release caps which are included, and an 11 speed compatibility with backwards compatibility to 10 speed and 9 speed cassettes via an included spacer. Pretty swank looks, if I say so myself, with laser etched graphics, and an availability in a few different anodized hues to boot. I chose black so I can swap these wheels, when they are built, between multiple bikes if I so choose and they will look great in all of them. I must say that I was sorely tempted by the option of getting White Industries XMR hubs in luscious purple ano though!

These hubs came highly recommended to me, but of course, there are more things to a wheel than hubs. I also chose WTB's KOM i25 rims for this build, and here's where it gets interesting, as far as my theory goes here. First, you need to know that WTB KOM i25 rims are 25mm inside width, so they are pretty wide rims! Keep in mind that most road-ish, cyclo-cross rims run in the 17mm-19mm inner rim width territory. Yeah......these are wide rims!! Well, for 35-40mm tires, they are wide rims. And see......that's the thing, everybody is going wide and wider off road, so why not for gravel? I mean, a 30mm wide rim is considered XC-ish these days and 35-40mm inner rim widths are commonplace on trail bikes. Every road rim that is introduced gets wider as well. So, it only follows that gravel riders might be benefiting from the same ideas, right? Well, we will see......

KOM rims come in several widths and diameters, but I chose the biggest and widest!

I figure we can look at gravel road tires as "plus sized road tires", so wider rims make sense to me in that vein. My hope is that the wider KOM i25 will do for the 38mm-40mm tires I intend to use on them what the wider mtb rims and 27.5+ tires did for my "Fat Fargo". Those corpulent wheels transformed the Fat Fargo into a rough terrain eating machine. Maybe wider rims will help stabilize gravel tires and help them roll over loose, deep gravel at lowered pressures better than they do on more traditional width cyclo-cross or road rims, the likes of which I have been using. Maybe that will translate into a more comfortable, less fatiguing ride quality which will help me out on longer rides. That's the hope and what I intend on finding out.

So, stay tuned for a detailed wheel build post, then I'll pop on some bigger gravel going rubber and then these will be featured first on my Twin Six Standard Rando, but I fully expect to also use them on my Raleigh Tamland Two and my Gen I Fargo.

Project Wide Gravel Wheels

Well.......look at that, would ya?

Okay.......White Industries came through. I have the hubs in hand and now, as I am wont to do, I have instigated another "project". This one will be a wheel build to test my theory on wide rims for gravel.

Before I get into my hypothesis, let's take a look at these gorgeous black anodized goodies here, shall we? Of course, they are from White Industries and are their new disc hubs dubbed "XMR". What does that stand for? Who knows! I would say, "good looking", sleek", and light weight, but none of those terms start with "X" "M" or "R". White Industries says the hubs have a 6-4 titanium free hub body, a six bolt disc rotor interface, available swappable end caps for through axle compatibility, or as in my case, the standard traditional quick release caps which are included, and an 11 speed compatibility with backwards compatibility to 10 speed and 9 speed cassettes via an included spacer. Pretty swank looks, if I say so myself, with laser etched graphics, and an availability in a few different anodized hues to boot. I chose black so I can swap these wheels, when they are built, between multiple bikes if I so choose and they will look great in all of them. I must say that I was sorely tempted by the option of getting White Industries XMR hubs in luscious purple ano though!

These hubs came highly recommended to me, but of course, there are more things to a wheel than hubs. I also chose WTB's KOM i25 rims for this build, and here's where it gets interesting, as far as my theory goes here. First, you need to know that WTB KOM i25 rims are 25mm inside width, so they are pretty wide rims! Keep in mind that most road-ish, cyclo-cross rims run in the 17mm-19mm inner rim width territory. Yeah......these are wide rims!! Well, for 35-40mm tires, they are wide rims. And see......that's the thing, everybody is going wide and wider off road, so why not for gravel? I mean, a 30mm wide rim is considered XC-ish these days and 35-40mm inner rim widths are commonplace on trail bikes. Every road rim that is introduced gets wider as well. So, it only follows that gravel riders might be benefiting from the same ideas, right? Well, we will see......

KOM rims come in several widths and diameters, but I chose the biggest and widest!

I figure we can look at gravel road tires as "plus sized road tires", so wider rims make sense to me in that vein. My hope is that the wider KOM i25 will do for the 38mm-40mm tires I intend to use on them what the wider mtb rims and 27.5+ tires did for my "Fat Fargo". Those corpulent wheels transformed the Fat Fargo into a rough terrain eating machine. Maybe wider rims will help stabilize gravel tires and help them roll over loose, deep gravel at lowered pressures better than they do on more traditional width cyclo-cross or road rims, the likes of which I have been using. Maybe that will translate into a more comfortable, less fatiguing ride quality which will help me out on longer rides. That's the hope and what I intend on finding out.

So, stay tuned for a detailed wheel build post, then I'll pop on some bigger gravel going rubber and then these will be featured first on my Twin Six Standard Rando, but I fully expect to also use them on my Raleigh Tamland Two and my Gen I Fargo.

News And Views

The best Fall colors tree I've seen is on my way to work in the mornings.

Fall presses onward and now whatever trees are turning will be at their peak in the next few days. We are expecting our first freeze this weekend, so that will likely drop a lot of leaves when that happens. Then it will be the downward spiral towards "brown" when Fall comes to its ends and everything is dormant until next Spring.

My plan is to get up early Saturday, brave the chill, and get in some riding, although I am not sure where it is yet that I will be going. I'll likely be out on the Grava Bikes Revenuer to get some miles piled on that rig for the review I am doing. This time I will be certain to fill the water bottles! Maybe I will see which way the wind is blowing first and then decide!

Otherwise I would dearly love to get out on my Singular Cycles Buzzard and hit some trails. I don't see that happening on Saturday though. Maybe on Sunday, then I might get out. The good news is that we are to remain high and dry, so wet weather cancellation seems highly unlikely at this point. I gotta say it again- what a spectacular Fall we are having for cycling! Could it be the oncoming of the "El Nino" weather pattern, or just a turn we have in drier conditions. I don't know, but I am trying to squeeze what I can get out of it before it all goes pear shaped in a cloud of freezing Northwest wind driven snow.

Hoopty! WTB KOM i25 rims for the Twin Six Standard Rando have arrived.

Wheel Dreams: 

Long time readers probably have figured out by now that I dream of wheels. Big, small, and medium wheels, it doesn't matter. I like to build wheels as well, and in the realm of doing that, I have something to look forward to. Actually, more than one set!

First I have to talk about what showed up yesterday. I received some i25 KOM rims from WTB. These rims are really meant for XC 29"er use, but as with road and mountain biking, all the trends point to wider rims. I think the same is true for the gravel bike rigs I like to ride. In fact, I did use some WTB Frequency i23 rims with WTB Nano40 TCS tires, and that was a spiffy set up. The tires take on a nice, wide stance, giving them nore volume, more support from the sidewalls, and a bit flatter profile which I find is good in looser gravel.

However; those rims aren't all that light weight. So, when I found out that WTB was doing the KOM in a inner width of 25mm, I jumped at the chance to get a set to ace up to some nice hubs for my Twin Six Standard Rando. Now I need to decide which hubs I want to get! The competition has been narrowed down to White Industries XMR hubs or Chris King R45 hubs. Which one! I have to try to decide that, then which color to get! 

Whatever it is I decide to do, I already know that I am putting on some Nano 40TCS tires and going tubeless, of course. Those tires just do a workmanlike job on most any gravel road and with the tubeless set up, I have a cushy ride with no chance of pinch flatting.  The other thing is that the Standard Rando has a bit tighter clearances than either of my other gravel rigs, so a 40mm is best and that still gives me ample room for mud and rocks to get through the stays without getting stuck.

 I did mention I have more than one set of wheels to build up, but I am waiting to talk about that next set for just a bit now. It shouldn't be long, and I will be able to reveal what that is all about. The good news there is that I already have a set of hubs waiting in the wings to lace up to these new hoops that are coming.

Okay, that's a warp for this week. Stay tuned for Trans Iowa v12 news tomorrow.

News And Views

The best Fall colors tree I've seen is on my way to work in the mornings.

Fall presses onward and now whatever trees are turning will be at their peak in the next few days. We are expecting our first freeze this weekend, so that will likely drop a lot of leaves when that happens. Then it will be the downward spiral towards "brown" when Fall comes to its ends and everything is dormant until next Spring.

My plan is to get up early Saturday, brave the chill, and get in some riding, although I am not sure where it is yet that I will be going. I'll likely be out on the Grava Bikes Revenuer to get some miles piled on that rig for the review I am doing. This time I will be certain to fill the water bottles! Maybe I will see which way the wind is blowing first and then decide!

Otherwise I would dearly love to get out on my Singular Cycles Buzzard and hit some trails. I don't see that happening on Saturday though. Maybe on Sunday, then I might get out. The good news is that we are to remain high and dry, so wet weather cancellation seems highly unlikely at this point. I gotta say it again- what a spectacular Fall we are having for cycling! Could it be the oncoming of the "El Nino" weather pattern, or just a turn we have in drier conditions. I don't know, but I am trying to squeeze what I can get out of it before it all goes pear shaped in a cloud of freezing Northwest wind driven snow.

Hoopty! WTB KOM i25 rims for the Twin Six Standard Rando have arrived.

Wheel Dreams: 

Long time readers probably have figured out by now that I dream of wheels. Big, small, and medium wheels, it doesn't matter. I like to build wheels as well, and in the realm of doing that, I have something to look forward to. Actually, more than one set!

First I have to talk about what showed up yesterday. I received some i25 KOM rims from WTB. These rims are really meant for XC 29"er use, but as with road and mountain biking, all the trends point to wider rims. I think the same is true for the gravel bike rigs I like to ride. In fact, I did use some WTB Frequency i23 rims with WTB Nano40 TCS tires, and that was a spiffy set up. The tires take on a nice, wide stance, giving them nore volume, more support from the sidewalls, and a bit flatter profile which I find is good in looser gravel.

However; those rims aren't all that light weight. So, when I found out that WTB was doing the KOM in a inner width of 25mm, I jumped at the chance to get a set to ace up to some nice hubs for my Twin Six Standard Rando. Now I need to decide which hubs I want to get! The competition has been narrowed down to White Industries XMR hubs or Chris King R45 hubs. Which one! I have to try to decide that, then which color to get! 

Whatever it is I decide to do, I already know that I am putting on some Nano 40TCS tires and going tubeless, of course. Those tires just do a workmanlike job on most any gravel road and with the tubeless set up, I have a cushy ride with no chance of pinch flatting.  The other thing is that the Standard Rando has a bit tighter clearances than either of my other gravel rigs, so a 40mm is best and that still gives me ample room for mud and rocks to get through the stays without getting stuck.

 I did mention I have more than one set of wheels to build up, but I am waiting to talk about that next set for just a bit now. It shouldn't be long, and I will be able to reveal what that is all about. The good news there is that I already have a set of hubs waiting in the wings to lace up to these new hoops that are coming.

Okay, that's a warp for this week. Stay tuned for Trans Iowa v12 news tomorrow.