Friday News And Views

The 2025 Gravel Earth Series Calendar

Gravel Earth Series Announces Official Dates For 2025:

The Gravel Earth Series has expanded its palette of offerings to the competitive gravel rider to include several new events to the series. 

Events now span the globe from the Philippines, South America, North America, Iceland, Europe, and Africa. The USA has six dates on the 26 event calendar alone. 

Most interesting to my local readers is that - as reported here previously - CORE4 in Iowa and Gravel Worlds in Nebraska are both Gravel Earth Series events. This will mark the first time that Iowa has figured into any international series or has gotten any spotlight in a world-wide stage, such as the Gravel Earth Series brings. 

More details can be found at the Gravel Earth Series site. 

Comments: This series is ambitious and seems to be aiming to be the preeminent series for gravel racing worldwide. There is, of course, the UCI Gravel World Series, but at this point, if plans come to fruition, the UCI series will have half the events that Gravel Earth Series has in the USA and the UCI has nothing in Iowa or Nebraska at this point. At least the Gravel Earth Series seems to place a heavy emphasis on the birthplace of the modern day gravel scene, both in having events on its calendar and in allowing those events to be what they are uniquely suited to be. 

Now the outlier here is the Life Time Grand Prix, which is a mix of MTB and gravel, but within its smaller series of events, it has a very lucrative payday and the "crown jewel" of gravel, the Unbound event in Emporia, Kansas.  "Crown jewel" in that it is regarded as the most prestigious Pro level event, but that is all. Whatever charm the event had in its early days is being heavily overshadowed or eliminated in favor of a focus on the highest levels of competition, media access, and prizing.

Schwalbe G1 RX gravel tire (Image courtesy of Schwalbe)

Schwalbe Announces G1 RX Gravel Tires:

On Tuesday of last week, Schwalbe announced new G1 RX gravel tires. The tread pattern is Schwalbe's most aggressive pattern for gravel tires. 

Schwalbe also considers this tire as the gravel tire in its range with the best traction and best cornering traction. They also claim good mud clearing abilities, but I wouldn't hold my breath there when it comes to Kansan clay or Iowa's black dirt. 

The G1 RX comes in 700 x 38mm, 700 x 43mm, and 700 x 50mm. Black or tan side walls. Webpage for the black version HERE. 

Comments: I am not all that familiar with Schwalbe gravel tires. I did try a set of their lighter weight MTB treads for my Fargo one year and had a poor experience so I haven't been all that interested in Schwalbe's offerings. There are a LOT of fans of Schwalbe tires, however, so they must be doing some things right. 

I'll have to try a set again someday just to see what the hype is all about. 

Image courtesy of Good Grief Bicycles

These Are Some "Nice Bars":

I follow "Fixie Dave" Nice on several different social media platforms. He has done Trans Iowa in the past and he really does ride fixed gear off-road and everywhere else all the time. Anyway, he was showing these handle bars recently and they struck me as being very familiar looking. 

In fact, they are a dead ringer for the original Jones H-Bars. I first saw those handlebars at the very first DK200 in 2006. I always thought those were cool, but they were expensive, being made from titanium, as they were. 

I ended up buying some Titec H-Bars, which were made out of aluminum and varied a bit from Jeff Jones' design by using a riser center section instead of a plain, straight section of tubing like Jeff Jones had been doing. It was ugly, but man! It was sure awesome on my OS Bikes Blackbuck. 

One thing led to another and those bars came off, others went on, and the Titec bars went to the recyclers. But when I saw these "Nice Bars", (yes- named after Fixie Dave, it seems), I thought I should try a sample, so I have purchased them. 

These are made from steel, not titanium, but the effect will be similar, I hope, to my old Titec H-Bar experience, which is when I thought the Blackbuck was at its best. I'll have more to say when I get them, but if you are curious, here is the website page. And it looks like my handlebars will be here on the 23rd. So, that's pretty quick service from a small fabricator/business. 

Rocky Mountain Solo Carbon 90 gravel bike.

Rocky Mountain Bikes Files For Reorganization:

News broke yesterday that Rocky Mountain Bikes has asked for a "Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act" from the Canadian government, according to this report on the "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" website. 

Citing the all too familiar story of a crash in sales post-COVID and a market-wide drop in pricing, Rocky Mountain hopes to avoid interruption of its business with this move.

Comments: This was the sort of thing I thought we might have seen more of earlier in 2024, but it seems that the end of the year has pushed some companies to the brink and now we are seeing the results expressed as financial troubles. 

One has to wonder when you see the brand being "closed out" on internet sites like Jenson USA where you can buy a Rocky Mountain gravel bike for 50% off. In fact, that retailer can sometimes be used as a barometer for what companies aren't doing so well by looking at the deeper discounted brands. 

Rocky Mountain isn't the only brand with recent troubling news. I'll have another brand featured in next week's "FN&V".

That's a wrap on this week. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions and remember: Get out there and ride those bicycles!

Friday News And Views

The Gravaa KAPS system explained. (Image courtesy of Gravaa)

Adjustable On-The-Fly Air Pressure For Cycling In The News Again:

 Almost a year ago now in a "FN&V" I wrote about the Scope Atmoz adjustable air pressure system. Now another company is in the news touting the benefits of adjustable on-the-fly air pressure hubs. 

Gravaa has a system called KAPS (Kinetic Air Pressure System) which is also hub based and allows the rider to adjust air pressure up or down at will while riding. The system is so promising that Team Jumbo-Visma of the Pro road circuit is trying it out for the Spring classics in Europe. 

Comments: Gravaa sells the system as a wheel set which costs approximately $4700.00 US, so it likely won't be seen a lot here, but this isn't fairy dust. It's real, and with two companies at it in this space, I suspect this idea will stick. There are claimed benefits which are too big to ignore for racing, that's for sure. And we all know that racing informs what becomes available in the high-end realm of cycling. 

Fat bikes, mountain bikes, cyclo cross, and gravel bikes probably will all have this option available to them in more slickly packaged, high-tech offerings in the near future. Unless the UCI bans this, which, you know, is entirely possible. That said, no other racing that occurs with pneumatic tires has this sort of technology that I am aware of unless it is off-road vehicles, which I could totally see being applicable. Point being, if it isn't allowable in most motorsports, I can see where the UCI might be against this. But for now, it is an intriguing option on the horizon for cyclists. 

Rocky Mountain Solo Carbon 90 (Image courtesy of Rocky Mountain Bikes)

Rocky Mountain Announces Carbon Fiber Gravel Bike:

Rocky Mountain Bikes exhibited a new carbon fiber frame/.fork gravel bike on their website last week and I thought that it was interesting for a couple of reasons. The bike can be seen on their website here in case you want to check it out further. 

Comments: So, one thing that I find fascinating is how a predominantly mountain bike brand interprets a "gravel bike". Do they go with the "mountain bike-ification" of gravel, or what? Are we going to see a suspension fork, 29'er tires, and a dropper post, like what Evil Bikes or some others are doing, or will this be a straight-ahead gravel machine? 

In this case, it is not only a straight-ahead gravel bike, but it has a couple features that I found intriguing. One is that Rocky Mountain opted for a 75mm bottom bracket drop. That's low and pretty much precludes usage of 650B rubber, which some MTB brands like to allow for on their gravel rigs. Not that you couldn't use 650B, but it gets dicey when you drop the BB height that low. 

The other thing was that Rocky did not spec a telescoping suspension fork. That's interesting, and while I could not find a fork specification, it doesn't appear that Rocky Mountain intended for this model to allow for one either. 

I like the geometry, and I think Rocky Mountain hit this one out of the ball park. Nice job! 

The Focus Atlas 8.8 (Image courtesy of Focus)

Focus Debuts Atlas Range With Boost Spacing:

Focus Bikes announced earlier this week that they have a new Atlas range of carbon fiber gravel bikes out which, amongst other things, features Boost axle spacing front and rear. There also is a unique bag carrying function which wasn't clearly spelled out on the webpage, but it may be something of interest. 

Comments: Again, I typically will not feature every press release with a bike for gravel here, but this bike has an obvious change which necessitates a bit of discussion. Boost, if you are not familiar with that term, is an axle spacing utilized by almost every mountain bike now and essentially adds 10mm of width up front and another 6mm out back on a through axle set up. So, 110mm front versus the road based 100mm and 148mm out back versus the typical 142mm through axle standard, which itself is based upon 135mm quick release dimensions. 

You may ask "Why?". Well, this allows for stronger wheels, by allowing for a wider distance between hub flanges to allow for a better spoking angle from hub to rim. Focus is billing this as an adventure bike, or a bikepacking bike, if that makes more sense to you. Loads on the frame typically will handle better with a wheel that has better lateral strength. So, this makes sense to me. 

But what I think this indicates is a wider move in the near future for all gravel bikes. It will make all previous "gravel wheel sets" obsolete, but this along with a move to the so-called direct mount rear derailleur standard is going to be here in the upper end offerings, in my opinion, very soon. 

Your current gravel bikes will be supported yet for a while, but this Boost spacing and direct mount rear derailleur thing is coming and honestly, I think road bikes will also be affected. Especially with the direct mount thing. Having no replaceable hangars will be a boon to future direct-to-consumer sales and self-service bike shop retail, which I believe is the future in cycling retail coming soon. The service industry side of repair/maintenance will benefit as well. 

As seen on Twitter Tuesday

Team Movistar To Add Gravel Squad With Valverde As Lead Rider:

Tuesday on social media news broke about formerly retired Pro Road rider Alejandro Valverde and Team Movistar joining forces to launch the new gravel team for 2023. 

According to this Yahoo Sports article, the 42 year old will be joined by men and women already on Team Movistar and in its esports program. 

Riders will begin by contesting events in Spain but are also aiming at being at the UCI's Gravel World Championships in Italy this Fall. 

Comments: So, is this where old roadies go out to pasture, or....? I think it would be easy to say that, but I think it has a way of giving the series and racing in Europe more legitimacy to the average European rider. Let's not forget that gravel racing is an American invention, at least in its current form, and traction amongst European cyclists for this genre is not anywhere near the fever pitch it is here in America.  

It also is a pathway for the UCI to grow the segment into the sort of professional stature that they are hoping it to become, with similar sponsorship opportunities and ties to the big organizers of cycling events in Europe. "Grassroots" organizing simply is far too difficult there in Europe and this will be how gravel racing is done in the future there, if it continues at all. So, expect similar types of racing, eventually, that you are familiar with on the paved side, if this takes off over there. 

Image courtesy of Panaracer

Panaracer Announced New Limited Edition Colors:

By now you probably are aware that Panaracer releases some colored rubber tires every year. This year's colors are Sunset Orange and Turquoise. You can get these in three models, the Gravel King SK, Gravel King SS, or Gravel King.  Sidewalls are in black or brown. Widths run from 32mm, 38mm, or 43mm. Price is $59.99 each.

You can check them out here. 

Comments: Is this the bicycle fanatic's version of Easter eggs? I mean, they released these on Thursday before Easter. Anyway..... Yeah....these are not my cuppa. Maybe this turns you on? Okay, I'm alright with that, but I find colored tires to be an acquired taste in most cases. Now, I would take a hard look at white or a cream colored tire. Maybe that red that Ritchey used to use, or maybe the Michelin green, so I'm not 100% against the idea. I just don't care for these at all. That's maybe just me....

I will say that I think the slick being named "Gravel King" is pretty goofy. For my money, the SK is where it is at, but those center blocks can have a tendency to fling gravel, so you have to watch out for that around anyone that rides a Gravel King SK.
 

That's it for this week. have a great Easter Weekend!

Friday News And Views

The Gravaa KAPS system explained. (Image courtesy of Gravaa)

Adjustable On-The-Fly Air Pressure For Cycling In The News Again:

 Almost a year ago now in a "FN&V" I wrote about the Scope Atmoz adjustable air pressure system. Now another company is in the news touting the benefits of adjustable on-the-fly air pressure hubs. 

Gravaa has a system called KAPS (Kinetic Air Pressure System) which is also hub based and allows the rider to adjust air pressure up or down at will while riding. The system is so promising that Team Jumbo-Visma of the Pro road circuit is trying it out for the Spring classics in Europe. 

Comments: Gravaa sells the system as a wheel set which costs approximately $4700.00 US, so it likely won't be seen a lot here, but this isn't fairy dust. It's real, and with two companies at it in this space, I suspect this idea will stick. There are claimed benefits which are too big to ignore for racing, that's for sure. And we all know that racing informs what becomes available in the high-end realm of cycling. 

Fat bikes, mountain bikes, cyclo cross, and gravel bikes probably will all have this option available to them in more slickly packaged, high-tech offerings in the near future. Unless the UCI bans this, which, you know, is entirely possible. That said, no other racing that occurs with pneumatic tires has this sort of technology that I am aware of unless it is off-road vehicles, which I could totally see being applicable. Point being, if it isn't allowable in most motorsports, I can see where the UCI might be against this. But for now, it is an intriguing option on the horizon for cyclists. 

Rocky Mountain Solo Carbon 90 (Image courtesy of Rocky Mountain Bikes)

Rocky Mountain Announces Carbon Fiber Gravel Bike:

Rocky Mountain Bikes exhibited a new carbon fiber frame/.fork gravel bike on their website last week and I thought that it was interesting for a couple of reasons. The bike can be seen on their website here in case you want to check it out further. 

Comments: So, one thing that I find fascinating is how a predominantly mountain bike brand interprets a "gravel bike". Do they go with the "mountain bike-ification" of gravel, or what? Are we going to see a suspension fork, 29'er tires, and a dropper post, like what Evil Bikes or some others are doing, or will this be a straight-ahead gravel machine? 

In this case, it is not only a straight-ahead gravel bike, but it has a couple features that I found intriguing. One is that Rocky Mountain opted for a 75mm bottom bracket drop. That's low and pretty much precludes usage of 650B rubber, which some MTB brands like to allow for on their gravel rigs. Not that you couldn't use 650B, but it gets dicey when you drop the BB height that low. 

The other thing was that Rocky did not spec a telescoping suspension fork. That's interesting, and while I could not find a fork specification, it doesn't appear that Rocky Mountain intended for this model to allow for one either. 

I like the geometry, and I think Rocky Mountain hit this one out of the ball park. Nice job! 

The Focus Atlas 8.8 (Image courtesy of Focus)

Focus Debuts Atlas Range With Boost Spacing:

Focus Bikes announced earlier this week that they have a new Atlas range of carbon fiber gravel bikes out which, amongst other things, features Boost axle spacing front and rear. There also is a unique bag carrying function which wasn't clearly spelled out on the webpage, but it may be something of interest. 

Comments: Again, I typically will not feature every press release with a bike for gravel here, but this bike has an obvious change which necessitates a bit of discussion. Boost, if you are not familiar with that term, is an axle spacing utilized by almost every mountain bike now and essentially adds 10mm of width up front and another 6mm out back on a through axle set up. So, 110mm front versus the road based 100mm and 148mm out back versus the typical 142mm through axle standard, which itself is based upon 135mm quick release dimensions. 

You may ask "Why?". Well, this allows for stronger wheels, by allowing for a wider distance between hub flanges to allow for a better spoking angle from hub to rim. Focus is billing this as an adventure bike, or a bikepacking bike, if that makes more sense to you. Loads on the frame typically will handle better with a wheel that has better lateral strength. So, this makes sense to me. 

But what I think this indicates is a wider move in the near future for all gravel bikes. It will make all previous "gravel wheel sets" obsolete, but this along with a move to the so-called direct mount rear derailleur standard is going to be here in the upper end offerings, in my opinion, very soon. 

Your current gravel bikes will be supported yet for a while, but this Boost spacing and direct mount rear derailleur thing is coming and honestly, I think road bikes will also be affected. Especially with the direct mount thing. Having no replaceable hangars will be a boon to future direct-to-consumer sales and self-service bike shop retail, which I believe is the future in cycling retail coming soon. The service industry side of repair/maintenance will benefit as well. 

As seen on Twitter Tuesday

Team Movistar To Add Gravel Squad With Valverde As Lead Rider:

Tuesday on social media news broke about formerly retired Pro Road rider Alejandro Valverde and Team Movistar joining forces to launch the new gravel team for 2023. 

According to this Yahoo Sports article, the 42 year old will be joined by men and women already on Team Movistar and in its esports program. 

Riders will begin by contesting events in Spain but are also aiming at being at the UCI's Gravel World Championships in Italy this Fall. 

Comments: So, is this where old roadies go out to pasture, or....? I think it would be easy to say that, but I think it has a way of giving the series and racing in Europe more legitimacy to the average European rider. Let's not forget that gravel racing is an American invention, at least in its current form, and traction amongst European cyclists for this genre is not anywhere near the fever pitch it is here in America.  

It also is a pathway for the UCI to grow the segment into the sort of professional stature that they are hoping it to become, with similar sponsorship opportunities and ties to the big organizers of cycling events in Europe. "Grassroots" organizing simply is far too difficult there in Europe and this will be how gravel racing is done in the future there, if it continues at all. So, expect similar types of racing, eventually, that you are familiar with on the paved side, if this takes off over there. 

Image courtesy of Panaracer

Panaracer Announced New Limited Edition Colors:

By now you probably are aware that Panaracer releases some colored rubber tires every year. This year's colors are Sunset Orange and Turquoise. You can get these in three models, the Gravel King SK, Gravel King SS, or Gravel King.  Sidewalls are in black or brown. Widths run from 32mm, 38mm, or 43mm. Price is $59.99 each.

You can check them out here. 

Comments: Is this the bicycle fanatic's version of Easter eggs? I mean, they released these on Thursday before Easter. Anyway..... Yeah....these are not my cuppa. Maybe this turns you on? Okay, I'm alright with that, but I find colored tires to be an acquired taste in most cases. Now, I would take a hard look at white or a cream colored tire. Maybe that red that Ritchey used to use, or maybe the Michelin green, so I'm not 100% against the idea. I just don't care for these at all. That's maybe just me....

I will say that I think the slick being named "Gravel King" is pretty goofy. For my money, the SK is where it is at, but those center blocks can have a tendency to fling gravel, so you have to watch out for that around anyone that rides a Gravel King SK.
 

That's it for this week. have a great Easter Weekend!

Another Strange Message

Rocky Mountain Bicycles Solo 70. Image courtesy of RMB

Another gravel/adventure bike hits the market. This time from mountain biking stalwarts, Rocky Mountain Bicycles. I posted on the bikes yesterday on Riding Gravel so I will not go into a ton of detail on the bikes here. Click the link if you would like to know about the finer details on this rig.

Okay, now for that famous disclaimer......

NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

So, I get a lot of press release stuff. These come from one of two sources, most generally. One source is the marketing departments of the brand in question. The other source is generally an agency that may represent several brands and handles all the media contacts, press release stuff, etc for those brands. Okay, so one of the two, but generally speaking, all press releases have a lot of images, excited language that speaks to romanticized feelings that marketers think consumers may relate to, and some dry, technical data. You learn how to read these after a while. Much of the hyperbole and strained metaphors are easily picked out and tossed aside for whatever "meat" they decide to throw you. Usually, it ain't much. But you have to see the details that matter and cast aside the rest as "marketing fluff".

Yeah......this is what a lot of folks will do with this bike. Totally. Image courtesy of Rocky Mountain Bicycles

Then there is the "marketing fluff" in the imagery. Take this shot of Sam Hill raging a corner on a canned adventure Rocky Mountain Bicycles had him do with a photographer along a route from Montana to the Mexican border. It shows him up on the bars, sliding through a corner, dramatically roosting dust and dirt into the air. I'm sure a few Rocky Mountain Solo bikes will get used this way. Maybe......

But just as the language of marketing has a lot of stuff that isn't very realistic, so too do the images of marketing. Of course, this isn't relegated to bicycles either. Literally everything is sold to us in unrealistic terms, and yet we swallow these strange messages as if they were totally true. I mean, can't you see yourself shredding that corner in the remote Western wilderness with that dramatic Sun flare making you look heroic? 

Ah! Consumers! We're an odd lot.

They dubbed this color "Billy Ocean Gloss". Hilarious! Image courtesy of RMB

As far as the bike goes, yeah..... Rocky Mountain did a great job on the geometry, in my opinion. I like that most of the line is sporting slacker head angles. The XL gets a 72° head angle, but everything below that is 71° and slacker. "Three Pack" bosses on the fork is another awesome touch. I don't think that a tapered steer tube carbon fork with gigantic cross section, straight legs is the way to go. I'd be really surprised if that fork didn't act like a big lever on the top and down tubes instead of being compliant. Compliant forks seem to be out of fashion these days, even though that is exactly what a gravel bike needs. If you want to know where this talk about front suspension for gravel bikes comes from it is because designers have been scared away from doing compliant forks by legal departments and testing standards. I don't think it is even possible for such a fork to be included on a bigger brand's bike anymore. Thus the jackhammer carbon forks we typically see. Don't believe for a second that they "absorb vibrations". That there is "marketing fluff", my friends.

I don't blame these designers for using these forks because, probably, their hands are tied. I think it is unfortunate that we cannot figure out how to do this without fear of people breaking forks and damaging themselves though. That is disappointing.

There was one other weird message in the press release, which had me scratching my head, but isn't an uncommon thing in these deals. There was a heading which read "Ultimate Comfort". Hmm.... So, you might be thinking how this rigid, carbon forked, aluminum framed rig is going to accomplish that claim. Then you read on......and they don't tell you. Nope. All the paragraph contained under the heading was a bunch of technical details related to frame through axles, chain stay length, and dropper post compatibility, although neither bike is offered with a dropper post.

What?! 

Strange messages indeed!  

 

Another Strange Message

Rocky Mountain Bicycles Solo 70. Image courtesy of RMB

Another gravel/adventure bike hits the market. This time from mountain biking stalwarts, Rocky Mountain Bicycles. I posted on the bikes yesterday on Riding Gravel so I will not go into a ton of detail on the bikes here. Click the link if you would like to know about the finer details on this rig.

Okay, now for that famous disclaimer......

NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

So, I get a lot of press release stuff. These come from one of two sources, most generally. One source is the marketing departments of the brand in question. The other source is generally an agency that may represent several brands and handles all the media contacts, press release stuff, etc for those brands. Okay, so one of the two, but generally speaking, all press releases have a lot of images, excited language that speaks to romanticized feelings that marketers think consumers may relate to, and some dry, technical data. You learn how to read these after a while. Much of the hyperbole and strained metaphors are easily picked out and tossed aside for whatever "meat" they decide to throw you. Usually, it ain't much. But you have to see the details that matter and cast aside the rest as "marketing fluff".

Yeah......this is what a lot of folks will do with this bike. Totally. Image courtesy of Rocky Mountain Bicycles

Then there is the "marketing fluff" in the imagery. Take this shot of Sam Hill raging a corner on a canned adventure Rocky Mountain Bicycles had him do with a photographer along a route from Montana to the Mexican border. It shows him up on the bars, sliding through a corner, dramatically roosting dust and dirt into the air. I'm sure a few Rocky Mountain Solo bikes will get used this way. Maybe......

But just as the language of marketing has a lot of stuff that isn't very realistic, so too do the images of marketing. Of course, this isn't relegated to bicycles either. Literally everything is sold to us in unrealistic terms, and yet we swallow these strange messages as if they were totally true. I mean, can't you see yourself shredding that corner in the remote Western wilderness with that dramatic Sun flare making you look heroic? 

Ah! Consumers! We're an odd lot.

They dubbed this color "Billy Ocean Gloss". Hilarious! Image courtesy of RMB

As far as the bike goes, yeah..... Rocky Mountain did a great job on the geometry, in my opinion. I like that most of the line is sporting slacker head angles. The XL gets a 72° head angle, but everything below that is 71° and slacker. "Three Pack" bosses on the fork is another awesome touch. I don't think that a tapered steer tube carbon fork with gigantic cross section, straight legs is the way to go. I'd be really surprised if that fork didn't act like a big lever on the top and down tubes instead of being compliant. Compliant forks seem to be out of fashion these days, even though that is exactly what a gravel bike needs. If you want to know where this talk about front suspension for gravel bikes comes from it is because designers have been scared away from doing compliant forks by legal departments and testing standards. I don't think it is even possible for such a fork to be included on a bigger brand's bike anymore. Thus the jackhammer carbon forks we typically see. Don't believe for a second that they "absorb vibrations". That there is "marketing fluff", my friends.

I don't blame these designers for using these forks because, probably, their hands are tied. I think it is unfortunate that we cannot figure out how to do this without fear of people breaking forks and damaging themselves though. That is disappointing.

There was one other weird message in the press release, which had me scratching my head, but isn't an uncommon thing in these deals. There was a heading which read "Ultimate Comfort". Hmm.... So, you might be thinking how this rigid, carbon forked, aluminum framed rig is going to accomplish that claim. Then you read on......and they don't tell you. Nope. All the paragraph contained under the heading was a bunch of technical details related to frame through axles, chain stay length, and dropper post compatibility, although neither bike is offered with a dropper post.

What?! 

Strange messages indeed!