Friday News And Views

 Bicycle Sales Still Slumping:

You probably have noticed it. All the "Black Friday" sales stuff which kicked in right after Halloween was over here. We may as well call the month of November "Black Friday" and have no days other than Friday for 30 calendar days until December 1st.  

News coming out of all the trade publications are still showing sales numbers mostly down for the Summer. You can tell because some companies have been running ridiculous discounts for months already.  

There have been a few businesses shutting down, and many bicycle shops seem to be closing up across the world, not just here. I'm certain there are parts where shops are thriving and business is brisk, but this seems to be less common now. 

And there are "bicycle deserts" which are getting larger all the time. The city I live in currently has no bicycle shops at all. None. It's crazy to think about it. There are several places in Iowa which have no close local bicycle services at all. I'm sure nationwide it is commonplace. 

It will be interesting to see if 2026 brings any positive changes.  

Prototype known as "D62" Image courtesy of Brant Richards

Luxy Redux Update:

Last Friday I asked if anyone was interested in a Luxy Bar reissue. (IYKYK) I wanted to give those interested parties an update, as far as what I know. 

The Luxy Bar was sold through Chain Reactions Cycles, an online retailer which had many "in-house" brands. One of those brands was Ragley, and the main designer for Ragley Bikes at the time of the Luxy Bar's availability was Brant Richards. The Luxy was sold as a Ragley Bikes product. 

I do not know the particulars involved in a possible revival of a component which has a license through a company which went through financial distress and I do not know who owns the rights to the Luxy now. All I know is Brant is getting back into bicycle stuff again and asked if I thought the Luxy was a viable offering in 2025/26. 

I posted about this, as I stated, last Friday, and Brant has seen all of your comments. So, if those carry any weight, then .......maybe. Also, I did ask for a carbon version to which Brant replied to by saying, "You can ask. But I’m sticking with metal. Not plastic!"

You can read into this statement if you'd like. I am saying it still is a big "what if" until I see one for real. Stay tuned.....

Image courtesy of Ratio Tech

Ratio Mech Now Available:

Early in October I reported in another FN&V regarding Ratio Technologies stab at making a rear derailleur with an aim to be versatile enough to work with several different shifters. It appears now this component is now available from the U.K. based company and is called the "Mech".  

Riders can choose the correct Mech configuration for their preferred cassette and shifter right from the webpage.  The Mech can also be configured for traditional derailleur hangars or UDH style mounting. 

Comments: I think this sort of mechanical rear derailleur is really a thing filling a void. The major component makers have, for the most part, abandoned cable pull derailleurs. This Ratio offering fills a void in the marketplace for those who want 12 and 13 speed drive trains but do not want electronic shifting for whatever reasons they may have.  

The asking price of approximately $457.00 (based upon current exchange rates and no tariff or VAT) seems steep, but a SRAM AXS XPLR rear mech is only about one hundred bucks less. Given some competition in this space for high-end, cable pull rear mechs and some decent amount of demand, I could see this 457 number coming down. 

But who knows? Perhaps this will only be a niche offering for old-school, cable pull holdouts. Once the demand is met, and those folks age out, perhaps all we wil see is electronic rear mechs in the future.  Either way, it is nice to see a company offering an alternative to electronic shifting. 

Image courtesy of Ritchey Design

Ritchey Design Septimer Carbon Breakaway Frame:

Whoops! I had to redact this news last Friday because I didn't read the embargo date correctly, so if you've already seen this here, or thought you might have, you did!

My bad! Sorry Ritchey Design! 

So, anyway, the Septimer is a break-away frame design in carbon. Ritchey has its own design for travel frames which come apart and can be packed into a small travel bag which can be checked at airports as regular baggage, saving on shipping costs for folks who like to travel with a bicycle. 

If you are interested you can check out the Ritchey Septimer and all their other fine products HERE. 

More 32"er Watch Rumors:

I was pointed to a mtbr.com thread by fellow blogger Rich Dillen which detailed the latest in 32"er news. With Mike Curiak being the current "Central Scrutinizer" of all things 32" in the MTB world, at least here in the USA, it was enlightening.  

Apparently the scuttlebutt from Mike is that at least "5-6 new 32" tires " are due out next year. I would assume this would mostly become news around and at Sea Otter, given the MTB nature of the event in April. 

Chatting via text messenger with "Mr Vague Idea Racing", we both agreed gravel stands to be addressed with the 32" wand as well. What exactly becomes of this is anyone's guess as of now, but more companies than Maxxis will have to jump in to make this viable. My guess is the German based tire brands will not be included due to their notorious conservative natures, I'd look for brands like Kenda, (who could use a shot in the arm), Panaracer, or maybe WTB to be brands which come in with 32" offerings for tires in 2026. 

This 32 inch nonsense reminds me a LOT of the heady days of 29"ers, fat bikes, and early gravel bike tire threads online where certain individuals were looked to for breaking news and posters would theorize on stuff they had no idea about. Ah! I recall this sort of thing and I understand it is "fun", but I'm not going to press into this too hard myself. The rewards are ethereal and fleeting for the amount of "grind" one has to exert. But with this said, I will be keeping a close eye on things in relation to 32" wheels and gravel bikes. 

That is a wrap on this week! The FN&V will be taking a break next week (unless there is breaking news) for Thanksgiving. Look for the next FN&V to appear at the end of the first week of December. 

Now get out and ride those bicycles!  

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Wilde Bicycle Co. 

Wilde Bicycle Co. Announces Heighliner Titanium Adventure Bike:

Due to a leak of information, Wilde Bicycle Co has decided to release the information and pre-orders on its newest model dubbed the Heighliner. 

Featuring clearance for 29" 2.25" tires, fully internal cable housing, and UDH compatibility, this new model is Wilde Bicycle Co. head Jeffrey Frane's favorite bike currently. In fact, he designed the geometry himself. 

The frame has double-butted titanium tubing with a T-47 bottom bracket. There are two water bottle mounts in the front triangle, one Three-Pack mount under the down tube, and a top tube bag accessory mount on the top tube. 

The frame is made at the ORA factory in Taiwan. Pre-orders for a June 2026 delivery are open now. Price for the frame and fork is $3,300.00. The details can be reviewed on the webpage for the Heighliner HERE. 

Image courtesy of Moots

Moots Announces Scrambler Adventure Bike:

Moots released information yesterday on a new model called the Scrambler. This drop-bar, wide tired bicycle is designed around a 100mm travel suspension fork.  

Available as a frame only or with a Rock Shox SID fork and Shimano GRX/XT build, the bike will only be available for  -according to the press release - "a limited time".  (End of January 2026, to be exact)

Tire clearance is stated at 20" x 2.4" maximum. The frame is a Boost spaced frame. Completes will ship with Chris King MTN30 AL29" wheels. Tires will be the WTB MACRO 29" X 2.4".  

For details see Moots page for this model HERE.  

A Gen 2 Fargo pictured in 2015.

The "OG" Would Like To Have A Word:

This trend to 29"er MTB sized rubber, drop bars, and a penchant for telescopic front forks in the realm of "Gravel™" these days reminds me of something....

I cannot quite put my finger on it now. Was it some bike back in 2008 or 2009 with a marketing tagline which went something like "Adventure by Bike"?

Anyway, you get my point by now, I am sure. It was inevitable we'd see all things garvel eventually reach a point where the lines were blurred and what we were looking at now became what we already have seen for sixteen years now.  

You'll note I did not write any "Comments" for the first two entries. This is the comment section on those two entries. Welcome to "Adventure by Bike" Moots and Wilde. There's plenty of room on the couch here and for the rest of you brands who think they have discovered something here.  

I'm not criticizing here, but unless you remind people of the past, they will make up their own stories. So, check the history and be informed.  

Image courtesy of Vittoria Tire

Vittoria Announces Future Availability Of Eco-Friendly Brown Hued Tires:

On the heels of my recent post concerning these tires (HERE), it has come to light recently that Vittoria Tire is indeed going to sell the eco-friendly, brown gravel tires. Tires which have been claimed to be faster than their carbon black infused siblings. 

The full range of Vittoria's PRO gravel catalog will eventually be available in this compound and casing made with 92% renewable, recyclable materials. 

Vittoria claims this brown-hued compound is 5% faster, has 19% more grip, and has 18% better puncture resistance than its current gravel tire range. 

All this performance and earth-friendliness comes at a price though.  Tires in the range are well over $100.00 each at $112.99. This compares to Vittoria's current range which runs at $81.99 for each tire. 

Comments: Wooo! That's a big jump in performance at a big jump in price. Would you be willing to slap on nearly $225.00 of tires, (before shipping and taxes), and have your bike seen with brown rubber? Yeah..... That's a big ask, but I'm willing to bet a lot of people are going to give this a go on their gravel bike. 

A comment left indicating the Luxy Bar redux is a possibility. 

Do You Really Want It? Then Say So!

Thursday (yesterday) an long ago memory was stirred when I saw "Brant Richards" pop up in my email.  

Brant Richards was heavily involved in UK MTB as a writer and parts designer up until about seven years ago when he and a partner opened up a boutique clothing business called HebTroCo. But before the trousers came into Brant's life, he designed a lot of cool stuff like the On One Inbred, some nice forks, steel frames for trail MTB, and this odd flared drop bar called the Luxy Bar. 

Now Brant seems as though he's back into bicycles, at least for a bit. He hit me up yesterday asking what I thought about a reissue Luxy Bar. So lokk, if you ever wanted one, wanted another one, or are "Luxy-Curious", give a shout. Hit the comments and say something. 

If you don't ask, you won't receive anything.  

That's it for this week! Get out and ride those bicycles! 

Country Views: Hazy

Escape Route: Sergeant Road bike path.

 Recently we have been under a cloud of haze emanating out of Canada. Wildfires again. We had a similar June two years ago. Then it was quite nasty, but so far, this has only been an annoyance.

It gets old really quick though. Something about it casts a pall over the land and mentally this isn't the same thing as normal skies, so I don't really care for this at all. This is also responsible for lower air quality as well, which was forecast to worsen throughout the day on Monday. So, I decided I'd better ride in the morning.  That way I might get away with not having a scratchy throat and watering eyes.\

Welcome to The Haze!

 

There was another purpose for this ride. As I wrote in my "Two Things" post yesterday, I had installed some new bits on the handlebar of the Gryphon Mk3 and those needed a test run. So, this was the bike I rode and I only was out for a short run. 

 

So, there is a look at things as they are now. The test ride was successful and the Redshift Cruise Control bits are where they need to be. Oddly enough I found I was happiest when I "choked up" on the lower grip and when I hung about a quarter of my palm off the back end of the lower grip.

The upper grip was great to lay on with my forearms as a pseudo aero bar rest, and they were nice for upright climbing as well. By the way, I double wrapped about 3/4's of the bar from the extensions with some random cloth handle bar tape I somehow acquired. An old touring biker trick there. 

I was happy everything seems to be operating at a high level, so now I can put the bike set-up worries away and get on with getting myself tuned up for this little event! 

Was The Luxy Bar Ahead Of Its Time?

The now rare, unusual Luxy Bar as shown in 2012.

 I was over at N.Y. Roll's "Stone Castle Estate" to record a podcast the other day and I had ridden over on my Singular Cycles Gryphon Mk3 bike which is now set up with a Luxy Bar once again. 

I remarked to Mr. Roll that this handlebar is just what is in vogue now with the Pro riders - Narrow at the hoods, canted in levers, and wide at the drops. Could this be the coolest aero bar of them all, given what "The Rules" are now days? 

I find it sort of an ironic situation. That is because when the Luxy Bar came out, almost 15 years ago now, lots of folks scoffed at it. One of the biggest criticisms of this bar, and many others including the very popular, at that time,  Midge Bar, was that the hoods were canted weirdly and pointed inward. That was "dumb" and "who would find that comfortable?" Plus everyone said it just looked too weird to consider the Luxy Bar anyway. They dismissed this concept out of hand. 

Last year these started popping up.

The UCI has had to take into account a trend recently for Pro road riders to want to cant their levers inward in an attempt to gain an aerodynamic advantage. This coupled with super-narrow widths for the handlebars prompted a rule to be enacted regarding the possibility for these things to cause instability, broken handlebars, and crashes in the Pro ranks. 

Meanwhile gravel riders have also taken to canting their levers inward more with an aim to use a narrower flared drop. The thinking there being that a wider drops position is needed for descending sketchy terrain and for stabilizing the bike in looser conditions as well. The tops and hoods position can be narrower due to the narrower tops and canted in levers giving the rider an aero benefit without the aid of aero bars, which are prohibited at many gravel events. 

Imagine an updated carbon Luxy Bar with an aero/flattened tops section and maybe a bit less sweep to the extensions. Sounds like the perfect racing drop bar for gravel, right?

The good ol' Luxy Bar was perhaps just too far ahead of its time to click with the gravel riders out there, but it certainly does the things that many of the faster riders are looking for these days, it would seem to me anyway.

A Couple Of Changes

I promise this is THE seatpost now!

 There has been a couple of tweaks done recently on two of my bicycles that I thought bore mentioning. They aren't a big deal, necessarily, but I have my reasons that some might find interesting, or at least amusing. 

I will admit I may have a bit of the "Princess and the Pea" syndrome going on here, so please bear that in mind as I detail these changes. 

So I had a bunch of issues with the original seatposts I was trying to use with the Honeman Flyer and found out later that one, especially, was undersized. That slipping seat post thing drove me mad for a bit until I settled upon using a PRO Discover post I had when I realized that set-back seat posts weren't unusable with this new single speed bike. 

Then the Redshift ShockStop Endurance Pro post came along and next thing ya know I am swapping out seat posts with a "boing factor" left and right for a bit. I really thought I might have settled on the Redshift post, the PRO Race model, actually, but I just never really warm up to sus posts. I guess its the changing saddle height thing. It eventually gets on my nerves and I finally couldn't take it anymore with the Honemann Flyer. Especially because I do seated climbing on it more often than not, and you are mashing teh gear then, of course, which activates the post. Not good for me. (Remember - Princess and the Pea!)

So, I was scrounging around for something and came across my "extra" Salsa titanium Regulator post. Yes! It was an extra one because I have four of them! Anyway, I was appalled that it wasn't being used and as I had a search on for a post for the Honemann Flyer I was only too happy to swap the Redshift post out for this titanium one. Now seated climbing is great! 

It's titanium grey, and a bit out of place, maybe, but I don't care at this point. This is THE post now going forward. 

You cannot really see the stem, but it is different. Oh! And there is another Regulator post!

Then I had the case of the Singular Gryphon Mk3. Originally I had this bike set up with the Ragley Luxy Bar which determined the full-length housing runs for the brakes and derailleurs. Then I got that Tumbleweed handlebar, which was nice, really wide, and stressed the cable lengths badly. 

Eventually even a shorter stem wasn't going to help, and then I got the Redshift Short ShockStop Stem and while I was installing that I decided the Tumbleweed bar had to come off. I was not about to re-cable the entire bike for a wider bar. 

So, now I am back to that Luxy Bar and the cables and housings are all happy again. Plus I have the boinger stem on there which makes things extra-comfy. So, there is the Gryphon Mk3 as it stands now. 

Time to ride.

Circled Back

The Black Mountain Cycles "Monstercross", or as we know it, "Orange Crush".

 Back eleven years ago when I got this Black Mountain Cycles "Monstercross" frame, I didn't have the means to set it up as a geared bike. So in its first incarnation, this bike was a single speed. 

It spent many years as a geared bike, but a few years ago now I set it back up again as a single speed bike. I found some old Sugino touring cranks I had off an 80's Specialized Sequoia which were 180mm, and I stuck those on there. 

But I also had a different handle bar on the bike to begin with. I ran a Salsa Cycles Cowbell on this bike since that handle bar came out, but that wasn't the first one I used on the ol' Orange Crush. Nope! The first one was the mysterious Luxy Bar, which I have three examples of in my possession. Two are polished, one is black anodized. I had used one of these on my original build for the Orange Crush. 

So, something came in for testing for Riding Gravel which precipitated a handle bar swap on my Fargo, where one of my Luxy Bars has been since about 2016. I swapped that over to the Orange Crush over the weekend, and now this bike is practically what it was when I first rolled it out for a ride back in 2011. 

The Luxy Bar is weird in a very good way.

I like the Luxy Bar for single speed gravel riding a lot. I have one of my three on my Pofahl Signature custom single speed bike. I love the swept extensions for grinding up a climb, so ever since I've had the Orange Crush singled out, I've been thinking that it needed a Luxy Bar. This swap fixes that problem! 

I took it out for a neighborhood cruise yesterday and it was all very good. I think it will probably stay this way now for a long time. I may eventually lace up different wheels for it, but for the time being, these HED Ardennes+ are doing quite nicely. 

The levers are Gevenalle levers meant for shifters. You can see the perches on there yet. I either need to get silver bladed road levers or just take those mounts off. There would be a threaded hole left behind, but it would work just fine and save money. 

Oh, and that blue anodized thing is part of my Bar Yak cue sheet holder. I had that there on the Fargo and it transferred over with the handle bar swap. The handle bar tape is the Grepp bar tape I got to review. This is the third bike I've used that roll on and it still looks great and works like it did when new last year. Pretty cool to have that sort of versatility of use and lifecycle for a product that generally degrades and gets tossed in short order. 

Anyway, I like the stuff. 

And there ya go! The BMC Orange Crush, back the way it was, sort of! I hope to get this one out on a longer ride this Fall sometime before it gets too cold. Gotta see how it all works out on the gravel roads with the way it is set up now.

Note: Standard Disclaimer applies to the Grepp tape, Bar Yak, and Luxy Bar.

Circled Back

The Black Mountain Cycles "Monstercross", or as we know it, "Orange Crush".

 Back eleven years ago when I got this Black Mountain Cycles "Monstercross" frame, I didn't have the means to set it up as a geared bike. So in its first incarnation, this bike was a single speed. 

It spent many years as a geared bike, but a few years ago now I set it back up again as a single speed bike. I found some old Sugino touring cranks I had off an 80's Specialized Sequoia which were 180mm, and I stuck those on there. 

But I also had a different handle bar on the bike to begin with. I ran a Salsa Cycles Cowbell on this bike since that handle bar came out, but that wasn't the first one I used on the ol' Orange Crush. Nope! The first one was the mysterious Luxy Bar, which I have three examples of in my possession. Two are polished, one is black anodized. I had used one of these on my original build for the Orange Crush. 

So, something came in for testing for Riding Gravel which precipitated a handle bar swap on my Fargo, where one of my Luxy Bars has been since about 2016. I swapped that over to the Orange Crush over the weekend, and now this bike is practically what it was when I first rolled it out for a ride back in 2011. 

The Luxy Bar is weird in a very good way.

I like the Luxy Bar for single speed gravel riding a lot. I have one of my three on my Pofahl Signature custom single speed bike. I love the swept extensions for grinding up a climb, so ever since I've had the Orange Crush singled out, I've been thinking that it needed a Luxy Bar. This swap fixes that problem! 

I took it out for a neighborhood cruise yesterday and it was all very good. I think it will probably stay this way now for a long time. I may eventually lace up different wheels for it, but for the time being, these HED Ardennes+ are doing quite nicely. 

The levers are Gevenalle levers meant for shifters. You can see the perches on there yet. I either need to get silver bladed road levers or just take those mounts off. There would be a threaded hole left behind, but it would work just fine and save money. 

Oh, and that blue anodized thing is part of my Bar Yak cue sheet holder. I had that there on the Fargo and it transferred over with the handle bar swap. The handle bar tape is the Grepp bar tape I got to review. This is the third bike I've used that roll on and it still looks great and works like it did when new last year. Pretty cool to have that sort of versatility of use and lifecycle for a product that generally degrades and gets tossed in short order. 

Anyway, I like the stuff. 

And there ya go! The BMC Orange Crush, back the way it was, sort of! I hope to get this one out on a longer ride this Fall sometime before it gets too cold. Gotta see how it all works out on the gravel roads with the way it is set up now.

Note: Standard Disclaimer applies to the Grepp tape, Bar Yak, and Luxy Bar.

Where Once There Were None

Curve Cycles' Walmer Bar- Just an example of our drop bar rich times.

 As I researched my blog to make updates to the 'Archived Drop Bar Articles' page, I realized that in the last ten years the choices in drop bars for off-pavement riding have become so numerous it would be impossible to name all of them. What a big change from when I first started using off-road drop bars! 

Back when I started riding off-road, it was shortly after the 'drop bar craze' in MTB in the mid to late 80's. There were a few well known choices then. You could get maybe three, maybe four different bars, all based around the customized Cinnelli bars that Charlie Cunningham was making for his own custom bike line. Eventually, WTB, the comapny Charlie helped found, made a version of his bars, Specialized used something Nitto made, I believe, and there may be something I'm not remembering, but the off-road drop bar was a rare bar even then. 

WTB continued to produce their off-road drop bar well into the 1990's. I recall putting a few on one particular guy's bike back then. He got a new WTB Dirt Drop every year. Had I known then what I know now I would have hoarded all his take-offs! It wasn't maybe five years later, after WTB ceased production of the Dirt Drop, that the prices for used ones were around $150.00! This, in turn, prompted On One of the U.K. to collaborate with a few riders to develop the On One Midge Bar, a design with its roots in the WTB Dirt Drop and those older, 1980's dirt drop designs. 

Now by this time I had gotten on the internet and read up on all the old mountain bike stuff I could find. I was aware of the old dirt drop craze as I was heavily into mountain biking magazines back then. So, I sought out more information on folks like Charlie Cunningham, John Tomac, the Specialized Dirt Drop, Ibis, Salsa Cycles, and any other brands involved in the off-road drop bar craze. What I found and read up on changed my mind about using drop bars for off-roading. 

My Karate Monkey, circa 2006, with On One Midge Bars

I then took my Karate Monkey 29"er, which had flat bars originally, and I set it up with an On One Midge Bar. This would have been around 2005 or so. I was hooked, and with Trans Iowa sparking a love for gravel riding, the idea stuck with me as I found myself doing more gravel riding  every year. My love of the off-road drop bar deepened then, and I was trying every new flared drop bar I could. There weren't many either. 

There was the original Gary Bar from Origin 8, a fairly close rendition of the Midge, but with even more flare! There were maybe a couple of other odd-ball ones early on in the late 00's, but there wasn't a lot of traction behind the idea until late in the decade. This all started with a very influential bike model introduction.

Around 2006-2007, some in the gravel/MTB community were asking for something with big volume tires and a flared drop bar. Now, I was getting a ton of questions about my Karate Monkey set up with drop bars. I decided that I needed a 'real off-road drop bar bike', so in 2007, I decided to have not one- but two custom bikes made! Each would address issues I had with drop bars on a MTB-able bike. Well, as it turns out, I wasn't the only one thinking along these lines. 

You may have guessed it, but when Salsa Cycles came out with the Fargo, it was this bike that forced Salsa to design their own take on the flared off-road drop bar. At first, they had the old cyclo cross design called the Bell Lap Bar on the Fargo, but within two years the Woodchipper debuted and the race to develop bars with flare and sweep was on. Shortly thereafter, the Ragely Luxy Bar, the Origin 8 Gary II Bar, and the Salsa Cycles Cowbell appeared. Gravel cyclists gravitated to these bars and subsequently, any bike claiming to be a 'gravel bike' had to have a flared drop bar. It was one of the identifying characteristics of a gravel bike. 

The scene, and the bikes to support it, blossomed wildly in the late teens until we reached a point several years ago that there were so many new flared drop bars at every price point that it became bewildering. You can get cheapo, heavy aluminum dirt drops all the way up to high-zoot, ultra-light carbon flared drops. Widths between 40mm and 60mm are out there too. heck when I started out with these flared drop bars there was one width and we liked it! (HA!)

Oh! And those two custom bikes? One was my Badger and the other is my Pofahl, both of which I still own. Both have Luxy Bars too, which is pretty oddball. But anyway, I find it amazing that in 2021 we have all these choices. It truly is the golden age of flared drop bars.

Where Once There Were None

Curve Cycles' Walmer Bar- Just an example of our drop bar rich times.

 As I researched my blog to make updates to the 'Archived Drop Bar Articles' page, I realized that in the last ten years the choices in drop bars for off-pavement riding have become so numerous it would be impossible to name all of them. What a big change from when I first started using off-road drop bars! 

Back when I started riding off-road, it was shortly after the 'drop bar craze' in MTB in the mid to late 80's. There were a few well known choices then. You could get maybe three, maybe four different bars, all based around the customized Cinnelli bars that Charlie Cunningham was making for his own custom bike line. Eventually, WTB, the comapny Charlie helped found, made a version of his bars, Specialized used something Nitto made, I believe, and there may be something I'm not remembering, but the off-road drop bar was a rare bar even then. 

WTB continued to produce their off-road drop bar well into the 1990's. I recall putting a few on one particular guy's bike back then. He got a new WTB Dirt Drop every year. Had I known then what I know now I would have hoarded all his take-offs! It wasn't maybe five years later, after WTB ceased production of the Dirt Drop, that the prices for used ones were around $150.00! This, in turn, prompted On One of the U.K. to collaborate with a few riders to develop the On One Midge Bar, a design with its roots in the WTB Dirt Drop and those older, 1980's dirt drop designs. 

Now by this time I had gotten on the internet and read up on all the old mountain bike stuff I could find. I was aware of the old dirt drop craze as I was heavily into mountain biking magazines back then. So, I sought out more information on folks like Charlie Cunningham, John Tomac, the Specialized Dirt Drop, Ibis, Salsa Cycles, and any other brands involved in the off-road drop bar craze. What I found and read up on changed my mind about using drop bars for off-roading. 

My Karate Monkey, circa 2006, with On One Midge Bars

I then took my Karate Monkey 29"er, which had flat bars originally, and I set it up with an On One Midge Bar. This would have been around 2005 or so. I was hooked, and with Trans Iowa sparking a love for gravel riding, the idea stuck with me as I found myself doing more gravel riding  every year. My love of the off-road drop bar deepened then, and I was trying every new flared drop bar I could. There weren't many either. 

There was the original Gary Bar from Origin 8, a fairly close rendition of the Midge, but with even more flare! There were maybe a couple of other odd-ball ones early on in the late 00's, but there wasn't a lot of traction behind the idea until late in the decade. This all started with a very influential bike model introduction.

Around 2006-2007, some in the gravel/MTB community were asking for something with big volume tires and a flared drop bar. Now, I was getting a ton of questions about my Karate Monkey set up with drop bars. I decided that I needed a 'real off-road drop bar bike', so in 2007, I decided to have not one- but two custom bikes made! Each would address issues I had with drop bars on a MTB-able bike. Well, as it turns out, I wasn't the only one thinking along these lines. 

You may have guessed it, but when Salsa Cycles came out with the Fargo, it was this bike that forced Salsa to design their own take on the flared off-road drop bar. At first, they had the old cyclo cross design called the Bell Lap Bar on the Fargo, but within two years the Woodchipper debuted and the race to develop bars with flare and sweep was on. Shortly thereafter, the Ragely Luxy Bar, the Origin 8 Gary II Bar, and the Salsa Cycles Cowbell appeared. Gravel cyclists gravitated to these bars and subsequently, any bike claiming to be a 'gravel bike' had to have a flared drop bar. It was one of the identifying characteristics of a gravel bike. 

The scene, and the bikes to support it, blossomed wildly in the late teens until we reached a point several years ago that there were so many new flared drop bars at every price point that it became bewildering. You can get cheapo, heavy aluminum dirt drops all the way up to high-zoot, ultra-light carbon flared drops. Widths between 40mm and 60mm are out there too. heck when I started out with these flared drop bars there was one width and we liked it! (HA!)

Oh! And those two custom bikes? One was my Badger and the other is my Pofahl, both of which I still own. Both have Luxy Bars too, which is pretty oddball. But anyway, I find it amazing that in 2021 we have all these choices. It truly is the golden age of flared drop bars.

Updating Thoughts For The Fargo Gen 1

 

The excitement factor for the Fargo Gen 1 bike gets re-stoked from time to time, and I just never know where that stoke is coming from. This time a swap of tires has me wanting to make upgrades to the old bike. 

The 9 speed drive train that is currently on there is getting pretty tired. I've already stated that I wanted to swap back in the original XT crank set, (which I barely used, by the way), and a new chain and cassette, of course, would have to be put on as well. That also would include the green anodized Chris King bottom bracket I've had laying around for ever too. 

I swapped in a Brooks saddle, a C-17, which so far has been great in combination with the titanium Regulator seat post. So, that bit is relatively recent in terms of upgrades. I could see going with a high end WTB Volt saddle at some point though. The combination of 'give' that the Brooks has in conjunction with the seat post is really nice, so maybe not. 

My biggest beef as of now is with the brakes. I've fiddled and tweaked on the brakes for this bike for years. I think it is high time for a hybrid cable/hydraulic set up on here. I may just be getting something along those lines to solve my braking issues. I could migrate over my fully hydraulic set up on the Raleigh, but the length of the lines is maybe not right and well......that's messing with a good set up. I just do not wish to get that bike screwed up by taking off what works so well over there. 

Anyway, the biggest upgrade, and one I have been talking about as well, is the wheels. I think I need to go to a carbon rim with some really nice quick release hubs and build a set this Winter for this bike. That would go a long way toward making these Extraterrestrial tires worth the extra weight. So that would, obviously, be really expensive. So, while that would likely make far more difference than anything else on the table here, it may be the most difficult to pull off due to the expense. 

I can also see going for a carbon handle bar here also. If I did, it would be like the Whiskey bar I have on the pink MCD or a carbon Cowchipper, unless I can find something in carbon closer to the Luxy Bar. Like that would ever happen!

Updating Thoughts For The Fargo Gen 1

 

The excitement factor for the Fargo Gen 1 bike gets re-stoked from time to time, and I just never know where that stoke is coming from. This time a swap of tires has me wanting to make upgrades to the old bike. 

The 9 speed drive train that is currently on there is getting pretty tired. I've already stated that I wanted to swap back in the original XT crank set, (which I barely used, by the way), and a new chain and cassette, of course, would have to be put on as well. That also would include the green anodized Chris King bottom bracket I've had laying around for ever too. 

I swapped in a Brooks saddle, a C-17, which so far has been great in combination with the titanium Regulator seat post. So, that bit is relatively recent in terms of upgrades. I could see going with a high end WTB Volt saddle at some point though. The combination of 'give' that the Brooks has in conjunction with the seat post is really nice, so maybe not. 

My biggest beef as of now is with the brakes. I've fiddled and tweaked on the brakes for this bike for years. I think it is high time for a hybrid cable/hydraulic set up on here. I may just be getting something along those lines to solve my braking issues. I could migrate over my fully hydraulic set up on the Raleigh, but the length of the lines is maybe not right and well......that's messing with a good set up. I just do not wish to get that bike screwed up by taking off what works so well over there. 

Anyway, the biggest upgrade, and one I have been talking about as well, is the wheels. I think I need to go to a carbon rim with some really nice quick release hubs and build a set this Winter for this bike. That would go a long way toward making these Extraterrestrial tires worth the extra weight. So that would, obviously, be really expensive. So, while that would likely make far more difference than anything else on the table here, it may be the most difficult to pull off due to the expense. 

I can also see going for a carbon handle bar here also. If I did, it would be like the Whiskey bar I have on the pink MCD or a carbon Cowchipper, unless I can find something in carbon closer to the Luxy Bar. Like that would ever happen!

Dialing In The Set Up

The Fargo Gen I on the old Shirey Way.

Yesterday I spent some time setting up the Fargo Gen I for Gravel Worlds. I added a sixth bottle cage, took off the Revelate Tangle bag, and set the bike up with an alternate set of wheels I have sitting around. The wheels I want to use will be set up with the new Schwalbe G-One tires I have coming in which should be here tomorrow.

That said, this wheel and tire combo is one I would not mind using. The wheels are generic Formula hubbed, Weinmann rimmed affairs that came stock on my Tamland Two. They are not "bad" wheels at all, but they are not tubeless either, or at least I never saw anything that said they were rated for tubeless usage. So, I have them set up with some old, out of production 29" X 2.1" tires that I have always thought should have been marketed as gravel tires, but were ten years too early to market for that.

That tire would be the Vulpine, an XC racing tire that never really caught on with the MTB crowd. I got a pair to test for the old site I ran, "Twenty Nine Inches", back in 2008, or somewhere around then. Anyway, I recognized right away that this tread pattern was/is a great pattern for gravel road use. By the time the Vulpine had arrived on the scene as a 29" tire, I had the Fargo, and I put these very tires on the bike back then. Suspicions about the tire's performance traits on gravel were confirmed, and as I moved on to other tires for the Fargo, these Vulpines went on my custom Pofahl drop bar single speed. In fact, I set them up tubeless. (They are not tubeless rated), and then after a long while I pulled them off and these tires sat dormant for several years.

As an aside, (as if I weren't going down a rabbit hole already), I kept bugging WTB to make these again and make them for gravel bikes. My contact back then was Will Ritchie, and I pretty much wore him out on this subject. Ironically, just before Will left WTB, they found a single, NOS, Vulpine in their storage facility, (shed), and Will had it sent to me. Nice guy, that Will. (Thanks again, in case you happen to see this.)

If I told you this was the latest in gravel tread design, you'd probably believe it. It is over a decade old!

I think these Vulpines would survive another Gravel Worlds, so if the Schwalbe experiment looks sketchy, I will default back to these tires. Yeah.....I'll probably replace one of those old Vulpines if that needs to happen and put it on the rear. But we will see.

I rode the Fargo loaded down with all the water bottles filled and decided I needed to tweak on the Ragley Luxy bar a bit. Lately my hands have been sensitive, so I have moved a couple of my bars of late. Just a touch more downward angle to the extensions seems to do the trick. Then I also discovered that the "jerry can" bag I have on the top tube by the seat post bothers me when I pedal. My shorts juuuust graze the bag and it drives me up the wall. Like something is tickling me between my thighs and it ain't good. So, I am taking that bag off and since it holds repair stuff, I may dig out my Topeak aerobag and stick that behind/under the saddle. That should solve that issue.

I also think I will get some new brake pads installed. I don't know when the last time it was I put pads in those calipers. Maybe never? Brakes are good, so I better take care of that. I also need to put a new battery in the CatEye Velo 9 and re-calibrate it with whatever tires I end up going with. The CatEye is deadly accurate when you use your own roll-out number in the set up. Plus, I don't have to remember to turn it on, and it gives me exactly only the info I want. Mileage and time. I also need to install my Bar Yak cue sheet holder. Otherwise I think the bike is good to go

I've got one brand new one if I need it.

So, we will get those minor things attended to and wait to see what those Schwalbe tires can do. If I am not fully impressed I won't go with them. The Vulpines, or a set of tubeless 2.1" Nanoraptors I have, would be the go-to back up tires. That will all be decided upon this weekend and then I'l have a few days to make sure I am 100% dialed then Friday next week I will be on the road to Lincoln, Nebraska.

Dialing In The Set Up

The Fargo Gen I on the old Shirey Way.

Yesterday I spent some time setting up the Fargo Gen I for Gravel Worlds. I added a sixth bottle cage, took off the Revelate Tangle bag, and set the bike up with an alternate set of wheels I have sitting around. The wheels I want to use will be set up with the new Schwalbe G-One tires I have coming in which should be here tomorrow.

That said, this wheel and tire combo is one I would not mind using. The wheels are generic Formula hubbed, Weinmann rimmed affairs that came stock on my Tamland Two. They are not "bad" wheels at all, but they are not tubeless either, or at least I never saw anything that said they were rated for tubeless usage. So, I have them set up with some old, out of production 29" X 2.1" tires that I have always thought should have been marketed as gravel tires, but were ten years too early to market for that.

That tire would be the Vulpine, an XC racing tire that never really caught on with the MTB crowd. I got a pair to test for the old site I ran, "Twenty Nine Inches", back in 2008, or somewhere around then. Anyway, I recognized right away that this tread pattern was/is a great pattern for gravel road use. By the time the Vulpine had arrived on the scene as a 29" tire, I had the Fargo, and I put these very tires on the bike back then. Suspicions about the tire's performance traits on gravel were confirmed, and as I moved on to other tires for the Fargo, these Vulpines went on my custom Pofahl drop bar single speed. In fact, I set them up tubeless. (They are not tubeless rated), and then after a long while I pulled them off and these tires sat dormant for several years.

As an aside, (as if I weren't going down a rabbit hole already), I kept bugging WTB to make these again and make them for gravel bikes. My contact back then was Will Ritchie, and I pretty much wore him out on this subject. Ironically, just before Will left WTB, they found a single, NOS, Vulpine in their storage facility, (shed), and Will had it sent to me. Nice guy, that Will. (Thanks again, in case you happen to see this.)

If I told you this was the latest in gravel tread design, you'd probably believe it. It is over a decade old!

I think these Vulpines would survive another Gravel Worlds, so if the Schwalbe experiment looks sketchy, I will default back to these tires. Yeah.....I'll probably replace one of those old Vulpines if that needs to happen and put it on the rear. But we will see.

I rode the Fargo loaded down with all the water bottles filled and decided I needed to tweak on the Ragley Luxy bar a bit. Lately my hands have been sensitive, so I have moved a couple of my bars of late. Just a touch more downward angle to the extensions seems to do the trick. Then I also discovered that the "jerry can" bag I have on the top tube by the seat post bothers me when I pedal. My shorts juuuust graze the bag and it drives me up the wall. Like something is tickling me between my thighs and it ain't good. So, I am taking that bag off and since it holds repair stuff, I may dig out my Topeak aerobag and stick that behind/under the saddle. That should solve that issue.

I also think I will get some new brake pads installed. I don't know when the last time it was I put pads in those calipers. Maybe never? Brakes are good, so I better take care of that. I also need to put a new battery in the CatEye Velo 9 and re-calibrate it with whatever tires I end up going with. The CatEye is deadly accurate when you use your own roll-out number in the set up. Plus, I don't have to remember to turn it on, and it gives me exactly only the info I want. Mileage and time. I also need to install my Bar Yak cue sheet holder. Otherwise I think the bike is good to go

I've got one brand new one if I need it.

So, we will get those minor things attended to and wait to see what those Schwalbe tires can do. If I am not fully impressed I won't go with them. The Vulpines, or a set of tubeless 2.1" Nanoraptors I have, would be the go-to back up tires. That will all be decided upon this weekend and then I'l have a few days to make sure I am 100% dialed then Friday next week I will be on the road to Lincoln, Nebraska.

Minus Ten Review 2009-28

Production prototype code name- "D-62", otherwise known as the Luxy Bar

Ten years ago on the blog I was finally able to reveal a drop bar designed for off road that I had been asked to make suggestions for. Brant Richards, then formerly of On One and running his own design firm dubbed "Shedfire", had sent me an email asking me "what would you do if you could design a dirt drop bar?", but he probably asked me in a more English way than that. I cannot remember now! The image I have today is courtesy of Brant and he sent along several others which I shared in a post here ten years ago.

What I saw was not what I was expecting, not at all! My idea was more closely related to what the Cowchipper ended up being. This bar, which ended up becoming called the "Luxy Bar", after some pub/bar Brant was familiar with somewhere, ended up being sold through the Ragley brand, which was connected to Chain Reaction Cycles UK.

It was heavily influenced by Sam Alison from Singular Cycles, who had the most input, as I understand it, as to the final form of the bar. What was finally decided upon remains the most radical, useful, and unique dirt drop bar ever released. Oh.......there have been weirder ones, but they were imminently unusable designs for one reason or another. No.....this one nailed so many things missing in dirt drops. The radical sweep is probably the number one thing here that separates the Luxy from all other flared drop bars. I liken this bar to how Jeff Jones might have designed a drop bar to be. Fair assessment or not, the swept extensions of the Luxy are very reminiscent of the Jones Bar.

The Luxy immediately made me think of all the failings of the Woodchipper. This was what the Woodchipper should have been. Usable extensions that kept your levers up and the brake levers reachable from the drops. No weird ramps and the bend of the drop was perfect. In fact, the Luxy had really minimal drop, which is another awesome feature of it. The final icing on the cake was the straight 31.8mm top section which, up until that time, I'd never seen before.

The total package was brilliant. I was very sad when the bar, after a run, maybe two, was no longer in production. If you missed the initial selling of the bar, you missed it. And despite some solid promises over the years, Brant hasn't been able to, or won't, bring it back again. Too bad. The Luxy is truly one of the classic flared drop bar designs. Nothing else comes close.

Minus Ten Review 2009-28

Production prototype code name- "D-62", otherwise known as the Luxy Bar

Ten years ago on the blog I was finally able to reveal a drop bar designed for off road that I had been asked to make suggestions for. Brant Richards, then formerly of On One and running his own design firm dubbed "Shedfire", had sent me an email asking me "what would you do if you could design a dirt drop bar?", but he probably asked me in a more English way than that. I cannot remember now! The image I have today is courtesy of Brant and he sent along several others which I shared in a post here ten years ago.

What I saw was not what I was expecting, not at all! My idea was more closely related to what the Cowchipper ended up being. This bar, which ended up becoming called the "Luxy Bar", after some pub/bar Brant was familiar with somewhere, ended up being sold through the Ragley brand, which was connected to Chain Reaction Cycles UK.

It was heavily influenced by Sam Alison from Singular Cycles, who had the most input, as I understand it, as to the final form of the bar. What was finally decided upon remains the most radical, useful, and unique dirt drop bar ever released. Oh.......there have been weirder ones, but they were imminently unusable designs for one reason or another. No.....this one nailed so many things missing in dirt drops. The radical sweep is probably the number one thing here that separates the Luxy from all other flared drop bars. I liken this bar to how Jeff Jones might have designed a drop bar to be. Fair assessment or not, the swept extensions of the Luxy are very reminiscent of the Jones Bar.

The Luxy immediately made me think of all the failings of the Woodchipper. This was what the Woodchipper should have been. Usable extensions that kept your levers up and the brake levers reachable from the drops. No weird ramps and the bend of the drop was perfect. In fact, the Luxy had really minimal drop, which is another awesome feature of it. The final icing on the cake was the straight 31.8mm top section which, up until that time, I'd never seen before.

The total package was brilliant. I was very sad when the bar, after a run, maybe two, was no longer in production. If you missed the initial selling of the bar, you missed it. And despite some solid promises over the years, Brant hasn't been able to, or won't, bring it back again. Too bad. The Luxy is truly one of the classic flared drop bar designs. Nothing else comes close.

Review Of Parts Past: Ragley Luxy Bar

Today we are going to take a look at something you cannot get anymore. Parts and pieces that graced our rides in days past that were noted for some special characteristic, either good or bad, will be featured in this recurring theme from time to time here. I call it "Review Of Parts Past", but that will get shortened to "ROPP", so there! Today's featured part is the Ragley Luxy Bar.

My 2007 Badger Cycles Drop Bar Custom with a Ragley Luxy Bar

This "ROPP" is all about a drop bar that was in production for maybe less than a year. In fact, the rumor is that only one production run was ever made of this bar. I've written reams about the mysterious Ragley Luxy Bar, but maybe I haven't explained exactly why it is that I, and many others, really like this bar. 

The Luxy Bars as seen on my Gen I Fargo. That is a Bar Yak set up attached to it as well.

 First of all, the Luxy Bar did two things that previously available drop bars for off road did not do: They had swept extensions and really shallow drop. Here in my image to the left you get a feel for how much sweep the extensions have. This puts your hands, forearms, and upper arms in a very natural position that I find extremely comfortable.

Secondly, the extremely shallow drop is unrivaled by any other bar, with the possible exception of the original, (and also unavailable),  Gary Bar. Check out the shallowness of the Luxy's drop in the top image. This was important in that the shallower drop requires a less tall stem on many bikes to make it work. Note also in my image of the Badger that the drops end up just a few inches lower than my saddle. Perfectly where I would have straight bars on any "normal" hard tail. Yet, the drop bar has other positions the traditional mountain bike bar cannot begin to offer a rider. Finally, the extensions and the top/ramps of the bar are parallel to each other and the extensions don't point downward at a weird angle, like Woodchippers extensions do. This makes set up far easier and the extensions stay usable. This is the fatal flaw with Woodchippers and it is why I do not like them at all.

The Luxy Bar did two other things which I haven't found in any other off road drop bar. One was that despite the extreme sweep and the super shallow drop, the brake/shifter controls don't end up in a super odd position which compromises their functionality or comfort. The levers get laid over a tad, for sure, but there are other bars that had far worse positioning for the controls. The aforementioned Gary Bar being one of the worst in that regard.

The width of the Luxy Bar makes for a great drop bar for a single speed.

The other thing which no other off road drop bar does, or any road drop bar, to my knowledge, is the 31.8mm diameter of the entire bar top. The Luxy is a fat bar all the way to the ramps, and when you use the tops for an extended climb, or just for cruising, that 31.8mm diameter feels right in the hand. Plus, it doesn't waste space with a taper that robs you of precious real estate for mounting accessories, should you desire to do that. Honestly, it is such a brilliant idea that I am amazed that more companies don't employ the design.

The Luxy was not perfect, by any stretch. It was only ever offered in one width, to my knowledge, and that extreme sweep was an acquired taste, for sure. However; it did so many things so "right", I cannot imagine any off road bar that comes close to the Luxy's practicality and comfort. The best bar available today, in my opinion, is Salsa Cycles Cowchipper. It has a really good design, but it has more drop and a tapered top from 31.8mm to the traditional 23.8mm for the control clamp size. The sweep is no where near the same either, so for those looking for a great bar to use on a single speed set up, the Cowchipper is a tough sell. However; the Cowchipper's  less extreme sweep is a selling point for many that use geared set ups.

The Luxy Bar is, by a country mile, the most innovative off road drop bar since Charlie Cunningham bent Cinelli bars to his taste for his self-branded aluminum mountain bikes in the early 80's. Nothing ever was made like it before or has been since. Apparently, Chain Reaction Cycles UK, the parent company of Ragley Bikes, holds the original tooling and license for the design hostage to this day. Having new Luxy Bars would be a great thing, but don't hold yer breath. I doubt they will ever be produced again.

But I've been wrong before.

Review Of Parts Past: Ragley Luxy Bar

Today we are going to take a look at something you cannot get anymore. Parts and pieces that graced our rides in days past that were noted for some special characteristic, either good or bad, will be featured in this recurring theme from time to time here. I call it "Review Of Parts Past", but that will get shortened to "ROPP", so there! Today's featured part is the Ragley Luxy Bar.

My 2007 Badger Cycles Drop Bar Custom with a Ragley Luxy Bar

This "ROPP" is all about a drop bar that was in production for maybe less than a year. In fact, the rumor is that only one production run was ever made of this bar. I've written reams about the mysterious Ragley Luxy Bar, but maybe I haven't explained exactly why it is that I, and many others, really like this bar. 

The Luxy Bars as seen on my Gen I Fargo. That is a Bar Yak set up attached to it as well.

 First of all, the Luxy Bar did two things that previously available drop bars for off road did not do: They had swept extensions and really shallow drop. Here in my image to the left you get a feel for how much sweep the extensions have. This puts your hands, forearms, and upper arms in a very natural position that I find extremely comfortable.

Secondly, the extremely shallow drop is unrivaled by any other bar, with the possible exception of the original, (and also unavailable),  Gary Bar. Check out the shallowness of the Luxy's drop in the top image. This was important in that the shallower drop requires a less tall stem on many bikes to make it work. Note also in my image of the Badger that the drops end up just a few inches lower than my saddle. Perfectly where I would have straight bars on any "normal" hard tail. Yet, the drop bar has other positions the traditional mountain bike bar cannot begin to offer a rider. Finally, the extensions and the top/ramps of the bar are parallel to each other and the extensions don't point downward at a weird angle, like Woodchippers extensions do. This makes set up far easier and the extensions stay usable. This is the fatal flaw with Woodchippers and it is why I do not like them at all.

The Luxy Bar did two other things which I haven't found in any other off road drop bar. One was that despite the extreme sweep and the super shallow drop, the brake/shifter controls don't end up in a super odd position which compromises their functionality or comfort. The levers get laid over a tad, for sure, but there are other bars that had far worse positioning for the controls. The aforementioned Gary Bar being one of the worst in that regard.

The width of the Luxy Bar makes for a great drop bar for a single speed.

The other thing which no other off road drop bar does, or any road drop bar, to my knowledge, is the 31.8mm diameter of the entire bar top. The Luxy is a fat bar all the way to the ramps, and when you use the tops for an extended climb, or just for cruising, that 31.8mm diameter feels right in the hand. Plus, it doesn't waste space with a taper that robs you of precious real estate for mounting accessories, should you desire to do that. Honestly, it is such a brilliant idea that I am amazed that more companies don't employ the design.

The Luxy was not perfect, by any stretch. It was only ever offered in one width, to my knowledge, and that extreme sweep was an acquired taste, for sure. However; it did so many things so "right", I cannot imagine any off road bar that comes close to the Luxy's practicality and comfort. The best bar available today, in my opinion, is Salsa Cycles Cowchipper. It has a really good design, but it has more drop and a tapered top from 31.8mm to the traditional 23.8mm for the control clamp size. The sweep is no where near the same either, so for those looking for a great bar to use on a single speed set up, the Cowchipper is a tough sell. However; the Cowchipper's  less extreme sweep is a selling point for many that use geared set ups.

The Luxy Bar is, by a country mile, the most innovative off road drop bar since Charlie Cunningham bent Cinelli bars to his taste for his self-branded aluminum mountain bikes in the early 80's. Nothing ever was made like it before or has been since. Apparently, Chain Reaction Cycles UK, the parent company of Ragley Bikes, holds the original tooling and license for the design hostage to this day. Having new Luxy Bars would be a great thing, but don't hold yer breath. I doubt they will ever be produced again.

But I've been wrong before.