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| Ridley Kanzo Fast 2,0 (Image courtesy of Belgium Cycling Factory) |
Ridley announced yesterday a newly redesigned version of their gravel racing bike. The Kanzo Fast 2.0 has every new trend and technology for cutting edge racers onboarded with this new release.
Stating the Kanzo Fast has tire clearance for a 700 x 58mm tire front and rear, this 1X only bike has more than enough room for most any tire choice for gravel racing currently available.
Ridley then went to work on the aerodynamics to optimize the usage of those big tires and they managed to reduce drag in their testing over the outgoing Kanzo Fast 1.0 which was limited to 38mm tires. In fact, their numbers show a reduction of 13 watts with a rider onboard in the wind tunnel results published in the Ridley press release.
Comments: Amazing technology and design, to be sure. However; the actual benefits of this sort of bicycle is going to be lost on most gravel riders. Ridley is designing for Pro level racers who tune their physiques and minds for racing as fast as possible. Of course, your genetics play a big part in all of this as well. Say you are built like a - you know - regular human? Yeah....this does not seem like a good idea for most of us out there.
This image from Ridley above was specifically chosen by me to illustrate how this bicycle is supposed to be ridden. Now, I do not know you, dear reader, but I am willing to bet most of you are not the less than 1% of gravel riders who would even want to hold that position over miles of gravel.
Which (finally) brings me to my point: All the online media went whole-hog covering this release. Why are they focusing so much on the "pointy end" of gravel bicycles and ignoring what the vast majority wants/needs in a gravel bike? No shade on Ridley or their fine take on a gravel racing bike. It's just that this is such a niche bicycle and wrong for most people.
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| 750D (L) and 700c tires. Image provided by Mark Slate |
Recently while doing research watching Bikepacking.com videos, I saw a segment from the MADE Show featuring Neuhaus Metal Works and a bicycle they had at the show sporting 750D wheels.
Also known in some circles as 30.5", the 750D wheel was developed by WTB sometime around 2022/2023 as an alternative to 700c wheels. The wheel was paired with WTB's Nano tread in a 40mm casing which was claimed to be an overall diameter of 30". WTB had thought this wheel size would, ideally, fit into some 29"er hard tail frames seamlessly and turn those into a sort of gravel biking option.
But some builders, like Nuehaus, saw potential in this size to be a larger wheeled bicycle much more adept at fitting folks under 6 feet tall without compromising geometry. The hope Nuehaus has is that the tire selection would become more varied and include wider casings to make gravel and bike packing bikes attractive and be in a size which would fit more people than the now trendy 32"er wheels.
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| Chart courtesy of ICAN |
However; 750D failed to create any traction within the bicycle industry, so it was assumed by myself and many others to be a "dead wheel size", especially with the advent of 32" wheels in 2025. So, it came as a complete surprise to me that any company would be making a bicycle to fit 750D in 2026. Moreover; Nuehaus seems to have a small cache of Nano tires in 750D and seem to be advocates for the industry to begin exploring this wheel size more.
This may not go anywhere, but then again..... Who knows? The main point is 750D, while not 'dead', is hanging on by a thread thanks to at least one enthusiastic builder.
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| Image courtesy of Velo Orange |
Fresh off the MADE Show, Velo Orange shared some news with its mailing list this week concerning some interesting new products in the pipeline.
My favorite is what Velo Orange is calling the "Gravel Crankset". It is a square taper interface, silver crank which can be set up 1X/single speed or as a double chain ring crank. It utilizes the 110/74 BCD five bolt standard, so many chain rings will fit this crank. Plus Velo Orange will also be offering chain rings as well.
Lengths for the Gravel Crankset will be 165mm, 170mm, and 175mm. The crank set will be sold "ala carte" style so you can configure the crank set any way you'd like. Velo Orange is estimating the in-stock date for this product will be this Fall.
For details on this and the other cool upcoming stuff from Velo Orange click HERE.
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| Image courtesy of Wilde Bicycle Co. |
Wilde Bicycle Co. Offering A Take On Classic Mountain Bike Design:
One of the reported hits from the MADE Show floor was Wilde Bicycle Co's take on Joe Breeze's "Breezer" Series 1 mountain bike. Widely regarded as the first production mountain bike, Joe Breeze made a handful of these for various local Marin mountain bikers in the late 1970's.
Wilde's take on Breeze's design is one which cuts a very convincing profile but has all the modern touches you'd expect from a MTB in 2026. Things like disc brakes, Boost spaced hubs, a 1X drive train, through-axles, and electronic shifting.
Wilde didn't just make this as a one-off. You can order your own "Pleezer", as Wilde calls the model. They say the Pleezer is not a tribute to the Breezer Series 1, but its own thing. A frame, fork, and bull-moose style handle bar can be had for $5,800.00. For more details see Wilde Bicycle Co's page for the Pleezer HERE.
That's it for this week! Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions. Now get out there and pedal a bicycle around!
