Friday News And Views

 Great Iowa Fall Ride Slated For October:

Last year a big announcement was made to the effect that there would be a big three day ride out of Iowa Falls in the Fall of 2020. It was sort of an answer to RAGBRAI being cancelled and also another revenue stream for the RAGBRAI organization. However, restrictions due to COVID did not relax enough in time to hold that ride. Many have wondered since what, if anything, might become of this ride.

Well, earlier this week news was announced regarding the ride, but now it was going to start and end in Cumming, Iowa, a small village Southwest of Des Moines. The ride now would be a one day event, feature several bar/restaurant stops along its 37 mile loop, and feature a concert by the Iowa band, The Pork Tornadoes. 

The ride is on Sunday, October the 10th, and cost $60.00 if you beat the early-bird registration deadline. You can learn more about the Great Iowa Fall Ride here. 

Giro's new Latch shoe- Dampers for your feet. Image courtesy of Giro

Vibration Damping Idea Not For Gravel?!

The term "vibration damping" is a buzz-word in the gravel scene these days. Frames, tires, heck, even wheels claim to cut down on the buzz of crushed rock roads. So, when I see the term in someone's marketing chutzpah, I take note.

This time the product is shoes, but they are not aimed at the gravel market. The Giro Latch shoes are supposed to have a damping effect for riders of flat pedals on rough trails. They call the mid-sole material "Mute Foam". I'm surprised this has not been applied to Giro's shoes for gravel, to be honest. Well, perhaps I shouldn't be. I took a look at Giro's site and they do not have a category for 'gravel shoes'. Ha! Figures.....

Putting Andy To Work:

Once in a great while I get Andy from Andy's Bike Shop to test something for RidingGravel.com. Well, he hasn't had anything to test for about a year now, but that has changed since he has these new skins for his Twin Six Standard Rando. 

He chose to test out these new Maxxis Receptor tires. These were announced just last February and I wrote about them on an "FN&V" post here. They appealed to Andy as a tire he expects to be fast on pavement and decent on gravel. 

They certainly have that look. Smoother center, edge knobs for support. As I said in February, much like a WTB Byway, or maybe these have a passing resemblance to a Challenge Gravel Grinder model. But at any rate, they should be fast. 

As for how they mounted, I haven't heard about that yet from Andy. He'll let me know and I'll get something written up for the site soon, but hopefully they were not like the old Ramblers, which are a pain in the butt to set up tubeless. (UPDATE: Andy informed me that yes- these are just like the Ramblers and are really hard to mount tubeless. Yay!) Stay tuned for more on the Receptors soon.....

  Cycling Pros Start Red Bull Sponsored Gravel Event In Texas:

Colin Strickland and Payson McElveen have known Texas as home and want folks to get into it via a gravel event they have cooked up with their mutual sponsor, Red Bull. The event, to be known as the "Red Bull Rio Grande Gravel Event" is set to take place on November 13 with registration opening soon on September 17th. There is a 500 rider field limit for this 100 miler. The event will take place out of Marfa, Texas which is in the Big Bend region of the state. 

Comments: Marketing hype is big with this one. Keeping in mind that this race has never been run, even once, they say, " Bar none, the hardest 100-mile gravel race on the planet." Wow! But, whatever. They can say what they want to and ya know what? People that end up going to this will just believe it and no one else will care. So, there is that. Truth? Pfft! Doesn't matter anymore, I guess. 

Interesting side note: Red Bull was a sponsor of the very first modern day gravel event. I happen to know since I was there. So, Red Bull is no stranger to the gravel scene. They also prominently have sponsored other gravel events, most notably Rebecca's Private Idaho. Red Bull is into all sorts of stuff, so if you know anything about this company, it shouldn't be a surprise that they would sponsor a (soon to be big, I guess) gravel event in Texas. 

That's a wrap for this week! Have a great weekend and thanks for reading G-Ted Productions!

Friday News And Views

 Great Iowa Fall Ride Slated For October:

Last year a big announcement was made to the effect that there would be a big three day ride out of Iowa Falls in the Fall of 2020. It was sort of an answer to RAGBRAI being cancelled and also another revenue stream for the RAGBRAI organization. However, restrictions due to COVID did not relax enough in time to hold that ride. Many have wondered since what, if anything, might become of this ride.

Well, earlier this week news was announced regarding the ride, but now it was going to start and end in Cumming, Iowa, a small village Southwest of Des Moines. The ride now would be a one day event, feature several bar/restaurant stops along its 37 mile loop, and feature a concert by the Iowa band, The Pork Tornadoes. 

The ride is on Sunday, October the 10th, and cost $60.00 if you beat the early-bird registration deadline. You can learn more about the Great Iowa Fall Ride here. 

Giro's new Latch shoe- Dampers for your feet. Image courtesy of Giro

Vibration Damping Idea Not For Gravel?!

The term "vibration damping" is a buzz-word in the gravel scene these days. Frames, tires, heck, even wheels claim to cut down on the buzz of crushed rock roads. So, when I see the term in someone's marketing chutzpah, I take note.

This time the product is shoes, but they are not aimed at the gravel market. The Giro Latch shoes are supposed to have a damping effect for riders of flat pedals on rough trails. They call the mid-sole material "Mute Foam". I'm surprised this has not been applied to Giro's shoes for gravel, to be honest. Well, perhaps I shouldn't be. I took a look at Giro's site and they do not have a category for 'gravel shoes'. Ha! Figures.....

Putting Andy To Work:

Once in a great while I get Andy from Andy's Bike Shop to test something for RidingGravel.com. Well, he hasn't had anything to test for about a year now, but that has changed since he has these new skins for his Twin Six Standard Rando. 

He chose to test out these new Maxxis Receptor tires. These were announced just last February and I wrote about them on an "FN&V" post here. They appealed to Andy as a tire he expects to be fast on pavement and decent on gravel. 

They certainly have that look. Smoother center, edge knobs for support. As I said in February, much like a WTB Byway, or maybe these have a passing resemblance to a Challenge Gravel Grinder model. But at any rate, they should be fast. 

As for how they mounted, I haven't heard about that yet from Andy. He'll let me know and I'll get something written up for the site soon, but hopefully they were not like the old Ramblers, which are a pain in the butt to set up tubeless. (UPDATE: Andy informed me that yes- these are just like the Ramblers and are really hard to mount tubeless. Yay!) Stay tuned for more on the Receptors soon.....

  Cycling Pros Start Red Bull Sponsored Gravel Event In Texas:

Colin Strickland and Payson McElveen have known Texas as home and want folks to get into it via a gravel event they have cooked up with their mutual sponsor, Red Bull. The event, to be known as the "Red Bull Rio Grande Gravel Event" is set to take place on November 13 with registration opening soon on September 17th. There is a 500 rider field limit for this 100 miler. The event will take place out of Marfa, Texas which is in the Big Bend region of the state. 

Comments: Marketing hype is big with this one. Keeping in mind that this race has never been run, even once, they say, " Bar none, the hardest 100-mile gravel race on the planet." Wow! But, whatever. They can say what they want to and ya know what? People that end up going to this will just believe it and no one else will care. So, there is that. Truth? Pfft! Doesn't matter anymore, I guess. 

Interesting side note: Red Bull was a sponsor of the very first modern day gravel event. I happen to know since I was there. So, Red Bull is no stranger to the gravel scene. They also prominently have sponsored other gravel events, most notably Rebecca's Private Idaho. Red Bull is into all sorts of stuff, so if you know anything about this company, it shouldn't be a surprise that they would sponsor a (soon to be big, I guess) gravel event in Texas. 

That's a wrap for this week! Have a great weekend and thanks for reading G-Ted Productions!

Friday News And Views

Maxxis Receptor- (Image courtesy of Maxxis)

Maxxis Debuts The Receptor Tire:

Last Monday news hit the web-o-sphere that Maxxis was debuting a new tire called the "Receptor". I took a look and said to myself, "Byway v2". It's no wonder that Maxxis, who haven't been a big player in terms of recognition in the gravel scene, wanted to pull a model out with a striking resemblance to one of WTB's best selling gravel tires, the Byway. 

I know at one point a few years ago, the Byway was the number one seller for WTB. So, with Maxxis not garnering a lot of buzz in the gravel scene, it makes sense, on one hand, to pretty much copy the Byway. Hopefully Maxxis gives this Byway-like tire a bit more volume than WTB gave the Byway, a tire that they are calling a 40mm tire. The Byway is pretty much a 38mm tire in 700c form, so it is a bit of a bummer if you are in the 40mm-43mm camp for a tire on your gravel bike. 

Of course, there is a 650B variant, a tire listed at 47mm, again, very Byway-like. The 650B one also is currently the only variant listed on the Maxxis website, although news regurgitations of the press release claim there will also be a 700c X 40mm black and skin wall version available at some point. (To be fair, the 700c sizes and skin wall options are mentioned in the video on the Receptor page.)

Comments: Smooth center + knobby edges = Gravel Tire® Seems to be the common tread design with variations on the theme ever since Challenge Tire's aptly named 'Gravel Grinder' tire came out about eight years ago now. The knobs on this Receptor tire look almost like an after-thought though. They come so far down the shoulders of the tire that, on a narrower 40mm carcass, you'd have to be in a pretty steep lean or in a really soft, loose terrain condition to even engage those tread features. This is what I would deem as a "Mental Insurance" tread feature. It makes you feel like you've got something other than a slick tire when in fact all you have is a slick tire with some ornamental tread blocks. To Maxxis' credit, these 'knobs' look pretty minimal, so they shouldn't add a lot of weight. 

Maxxis gravel tires used to be a real treat to mount tubeless due to their carbon fiber strand bead.  Maxxis makes no mention of this feature on their site, so if they are not doing that anymore, all the better. I'm keenly interested in the 700 X 40mm size, because if it is really 40mm, then it would leap into my favorites category, assuming all else was up to snuff. With Maxxis, there really is no reason to believe it wouldn't be.

A Tweet from Panaracer's social media 2/15/21

Panaracer Drops Sponsorship of Gravel Racing Team:

One of the first industry sponsored gravel racing teams had its former title sponsor drop out for 2021. The new Abus Pro Gravel racing team was announced February 10th with no mention of Panaracer's involvement anymore. 

Panaracer, on the other hand, started putting out feelers for brand ambassadors on February 1st. Panaracer posted on their Facebook page the following: "As a Panaracer ambassador, we will support you in your riding adventures in return for your original content, stoke and feedback." Applications for brand ambassadorship closed on February 14th.

Comments: Obviously Panaracer is taking a much different approach to sponsorship going forward.  You may have heard about "direct to consumer" type retail, well this might be seen as 'direct to consumer marketing' since the company seems to be cutting out any 'traditional' types of athlete activation. Obviously, getting content and tester feedback for a few sets of tires and "social media fame" will be a good trade off from what is spent on traditional marketing. Remember the old saw: "I owe my soul to the Company Store"? Kinda smells like that to me. Also noteworthy of thought: I don't know what types of events Panaracer will be involved in going forward, but it wouldn't surprise me to see that Panaracer becomes a grassroots events sponsor, if they do anything at all. 

 Also, as seen in the Tweet shown,  Panaracer will have a 'new, modernized look', whatever that means. (Actually, we get to find out Monday- I got an embargoed press release) and it will be interesting to see how their marketing changes going forward.  

The new Pivot Cycles E-Vault. (Image courtesy of Pivot Cycles)

Pivot Cycles Introduces New E-Vault Gravel Bike:

Tuesday news broke that Pivot Cycles has introduced a HPC (motorized bicycle) that is meant for city and gravel usage. It's dubbed the E-Vault. 

This Hybrid Powered Cycle (HPC) features a Fazua motor which has three levels of assist, adjustable on the fly. The motor also features a complete decoupling mode for 100% human powered cycling with no drag from the motor's internals. (Of course, you still have to overcome the extra weight) The frame is carbon fiber and it features top-shelf components from Shimano and others. Pivot lists the starting price at $9,999.00USD. 

Comments: There were a few items I was curious about concerning this bike. How far could you go on a charge? What sort of weight are you pedaling around in decoupled mode? What's the geometry like? Well, besides the geometry, which you have to scroll down the page for, the other two question's answers were buried in the FAQ. 

The geometry is okay. It is what I am starting to feel like is "Gravel Bike 1.0 Geometry". 72° head angle, 70mm bottom bracket drop. Pretty 'five years ago' geometry there, and as far as I am concerned, a geometry that wasn't right from the get-go. But that said, it's okay. It works alright but there is a better way to go. 

Now the weight- almost 30lbs. Not bad for a HPC, but hold on here. This is important. In the FAQ Pivot claims they could get about 45-50 miles in a single charge with less than 4,000ft of climbing. They do not give an indication of what percentage of that was boosted riding versus non-assisted, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say it was 100% boosted for that amount of mileage/climbing. That's not very impressive. Not when you consider how easily one can accumulate 4,000 feet of climb in a state like Iowa on a 50 mile ride. Oh.....and wind is a factor too. That isn't accounted for in this measure for all we know here. 

And the bike is ten grand minimum. Ouch! HPC's are going to get people out of their cars and riding more? Not in this case, I don't think that is the idea.  

That's a wrap for this frigid week! Let's hope warmer weather is on the way!

Friday News And Views

Maxxis Receptor- (Image courtesy of Maxxis)

Maxxis Debuts The Receptor Tire:

Last Monday news hit the web-o-sphere that Maxxis was debuting a new tire called the "Receptor". I took a look and said to myself, "Byway v2". It's no wonder that Maxxis, who haven't been a big player in terms of recognition in the gravel scene, wanted to pull a model out with a striking resemblance to one of WTB's best selling gravel tires, the Byway. 

I know at one point a few years ago, the Byway was the number one seller for WTB. So, with Maxxis not garnering a lot of buzz in the gravel scene, it makes sense, on one hand, to pretty much copy the Byway. Hopefully Maxxis gives this Byway-like tire a bit more volume than WTB gave the Byway, a tire that they are calling a 40mm tire. The Byway is pretty much a 38mm tire in 700c form, so it is a bit of a bummer if you are in the 40mm-43mm camp for a tire on your gravel bike. 

Of course, there is a 650B variant, a tire listed at 47mm, again, very Byway-like. The 650B one also is currently the only variant listed on the Maxxis website, although news regurgitations of the press release claim there will also be a 700c X 40mm black and skin wall version available at some point. (To be fair, the 700c sizes and skin wall options are mentioned in the video on the Receptor page.)

Comments: Smooth center + knobby edges = Gravel Tire® Seems to be the common tread design with variations on the theme ever since Challenge Tire's aptly named 'Gravel Grinder' tire came out about eight years ago now. The knobs on this Receptor tire look almost like an after-thought though. They come so far down the shoulders of the tire that, on a narrower 40mm carcass, you'd have to be in a pretty steep lean or in a really soft, loose terrain condition to even engage those tread features. This is what I would deem as a "Mental Insurance" tread feature. It makes you feel like you've got something other than a slick tire when in fact all you have is a slick tire with some ornamental tread blocks. To Maxxis' credit, these 'knobs' look pretty minimal, so they shouldn't add a lot of weight. 

Maxxis gravel tires used to be a real treat to mount tubeless due to their carbon fiber strand bead.  Maxxis makes no mention of this feature on their site, so if they are not doing that anymore, all the better. I'm keenly interested in the 700 X 40mm size, because if it is really 40mm, then it would leap into my favorites category, assuming all else was up to snuff. With Maxxis, there really is no reason to believe it wouldn't be.

A Tweet from Panaracer's social media 2/15/21

Panaracer Drops Sponsorship of Gravel Racing Team:

One of the first industry sponsored gravel racing teams had its former title sponsor drop out for 2021. The new Abus Pro Gravel racing team was announced February 10th with no mention of Panaracer's involvement anymore. 

Panaracer, on the other hand, started putting out feelers for brand ambassadors on February 1st. Panaracer posted on their Facebook page the following: "As a Panaracer ambassador, we will support you in your riding adventures in return for your original content, stoke and feedback." Applications for brand ambassadorship closed on February 14th.

Comments: Obviously Panaracer is taking a much different approach to sponsorship going forward.  You may have heard about "direct to consumer" type retail, well this might be seen as 'direct to consumer marketing' since the company seems to be cutting out any 'traditional' types of athlete activation. Obviously, getting content and tester feedback for a few sets of tires and "social media fame" will be a good trade off from what is spent on traditional marketing. Remember the old saw: "I owe my soul to the Company Store"? Kinda smells like that to me. Also noteworthy of thought: I don't know what types of events Panaracer will be involved in going forward, but it wouldn't surprise me to see that Panaracer becomes a grassroots events sponsor, if they do anything at all. 

 Also, as seen in the Tweet shown,  Panaracer will have a 'new, modernized look', whatever that means. (Actually, we get to find out Monday- I got an embargoed press release) and it will be interesting to see how their marketing changes going forward.  

The new Pivot Cycles E-Vault. (Image courtesy of Pivot Cycles)

Pivot Cycles Introduces New E-Vault Gravel Bike:

Tuesday news broke that Pivot Cycles has introduced a HPC (motorized bicycle) that is meant for city and gravel usage. It's dubbed the E-Vault. 

This Hybrid Powered Cycle (HPC) features a Fazua motor which has three levels of assist, adjustable on the fly. The motor also features a complete decoupling mode for 100% human powered cycling with no drag from the motor's internals. (Of course, you still have to overcome the extra weight) The frame is carbon fiber and it features top-shelf components from Shimano and others. Pivot lists the starting price at $9,999.00USD. 

Comments: There were a few items I was curious about concerning this bike. How far could you go on a charge? What sort of weight are you pedaling around in decoupled mode? What's the geometry like? Well, besides the geometry, which you have to scroll down the page for, the other two question's answers were buried in the FAQ. 

The geometry is okay. It is what I am starting to feel like is "Gravel Bike 1.0 Geometry". 72° head angle, 70mm bottom bracket drop. Pretty 'five years ago' geometry there, and as far as I am concerned, a geometry that wasn't right from the get-go. But that said, it's okay. It works alright but there is a better way to go. 

Now the weight- almost 30lbs. Not bad for a HPC, but hold on here. This is important. In the FAQ Pivot claims they could get about 45-50 miles in a single charge with less than 4,000ft of climbing. They do not give an indication of what percentage of that was boosted riding versus non-assisted, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say it was 100% boosted for that amount of mileage/climbing. That's not very impressive. Not when you consider how easily one can accumulate 4,000 feet of climb in a state like Iowa on a 50 mile ride. Oh.....and wind is a factor too. That isn't accounted for in this measure for all we know here. 

And the bike is ten grand minimum. Ouch! HPC's are going to get people out of their cars and riding more? Not in this case, I don't think that is the idea.  

That's a wrap for this frigid week! Let's hope warmer weather is on the way!