Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Hope Tech

Hope Introduces New Carbon Crankset For Gravel Bikes:

Hope Technologies from Barnoldswick, UK, announced this past weekend their new crankset made from carbon fiber for gravel bikes. 

This new crankset features construction from "700 fiber" carbon with a foam core to help reduce vibrations induced by crushed rock roads and other irregularities. Featuring a 30mm spindle, the crank has the capability to have the spindle length swapped out to different lengths, the spiders are separate, and so Hope believes this should "future proof" the investment made into these cranksets by riders. 

These crank sets are available now in 165mm, 170mm, and 175mm lengths. Prices are set at  RRP £575.00 / €722.20 / $752.18 (ex tax) This includes no spider. That will be extra.

Comments: Carbon cranks that have adaptability are a nice thing and Hope is a reputable company, so I think these should be nice. However; why not price them with a spider? Seems odd. Then you have the lengths. It would seem that Hope did not get the short crank arm length memo and will not be offering these in anything shorter than 165mm. And it also seems odd not to offer a 172.5mm length, seeing as how that length is quite popular in road riding circles. 

Image courtesy of RTI Sports Group

Aeron/TPU Offers New TPU Tube With Aluminum Valve Stem:

One of the nits I have had with TPU tubes is the plastic/TPU material used for the valve stems. It is flimsy and easily damaged while trying to use a pump.  

RTI Sports Group, which also owns Ergon, says that the new Aeron/TPU brand will offer aluminum stems with removable valve cores in MTB, Road and Gravel sizes soon. 

These stems will only be found on the Superlight range of TPU tubes. These will appear in Spring for sale. A "more competitively priced" TPU stem variant will be available in May. Aeron/TPU says that these new tubes for gravel will weigh in at a paltry 30 grams! The TPU material valve stem range will weigh more.  

Comments: I hope to get a hold of a set to test out, but in the meantime, it is hard to imagine a 30 gram tube. The expense is not known yet, but I am a bit afraid to know seeing that normal TPU tubes are anywhere from $25.00 - $35.00 each. Stay tuned for more on these. 

The Salsa Cycles Tributary C GRX 820 (Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles)

Salsa Cycles Announces New Tributary Range:

Salsa Cycles announced on Tuesday of this week their new carbon fiber frame and fork Tributary eBikepacking bikes. 

The range consists of three spec levels with three different paint schemes.  The GRX 820, (pictured here) is made from a high-modulus carbon fiber and comes with the Bosch Performance Line Speed Mid-Drive electric motor. The motor has 85Nm maximum torque on tap with a 625WH internal battery. A battery extender is also available for extending the electric assist range. The other bikes in the range have suspension forks and otherwise similar electric motor and battery specs. 

The frame also has clearance for a 29" X 2.3" tire. The Tributary C has internal dropper post compatibility and is also UDH compatible. The other two models in the range are the Tributary C Rival AXS Sus, and Tributary C Force Sus, with the SRAM drive trains, obviously. 

Prices are as follows in the USA: Tributary C GRX 820 - $5,499.00. Tributary C Rival AXS Sus - $6,499.00. Finally, the Tributary C Force XO AXS Sus - $7,999.00. 

You can learn more about Salsa Cycles electrified bike range HERE. 

Image courtesy of UCI

UCI Loses Date For Gravel Worlds Championships:

In a somewhat shocking announcement on Tuesday the UCI announced that the date for the Gravel Cycling World Championships was taken off the calendar. 

In a story reported on several cycling websites it was said that the decision to take the date away from Nice, France was a mutually agreed upon decision and that several new venues were being considered. 

The original date for the championship event was to be in mid-October. No suggestions for where the championships will eventually be held was given at the time of this writing.

Comments: Well! I know where the UCI could bring this event (Iowa) and run it on "real gravel"! Ha! I'm sure that since the Nebraska version of Gravel Worlds has trade marked the name, "Gravel Worlds" in the USA, the UCI won't be too quick to visit us with this event. I also do not doubt for one second that if the UCI had its way that Unbound would happen in October and be the Gravel World Championships race. It would be a shortened version of the old DK200, probably somewhere around 120 miles, since the UCI likes their events to be around the 5 hour mark.  

This Gravel Worlds Championship Race would be televised and there would be follow cars, team cars and basically everything as it would be if the course was paved. It is what the UCI knows. A "real" gravel race? Not so much. It is not what I would do, but then again, every Pro rider would throw a fit and not come to an event as I would do it. Therein lies the point. 

Image courtesy of Singular Cycles

Singular Cycles Teases New Kookaburra Rim Brake Bike:

Did you get the Singular newsletter in your inbox yesterday? If you did, you saw the prototype for this new Singular model dubbed the Kookaburra. 

It is  a lugged steel, thin-tubed, one inch steer tube rim brake bike that reportedly will take a 700c X 55mm tire.  

There is no pricing or definitive delivery date on this model, but Sam Alison, of Singular, stated that he believes it will be in later this year. Sign up for the Singular newsletter and get updates on this model if you are interested as there probably will be a limited number of these made. 

Comments: Oh no....... This is right up my alley and would be a bike I would ride a lot. Especially if it were single speed compatible, which is usually a staple of Singular design, so I would suspect this model would conform to that pattern. 

At any rate, I was smitten by a Rivendell Atlantis at one point many years ago when I had to test ride a customers bike in for repair. The Atlantis was a unicorn bike for me and being a Riv, very expensive to boot. Needless to say I never ended up with one. However; that experience has haunted me and this Kookaburra could be the antidote to my missing out on an Atlantis. 

IF I were to bite on this I would immediately retire TWO bikes I have. This is a big "IF" though, as I have no idea what the Kookaburra will cost, and this will determine my decision. Needless to say, I am very interested.

Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions. Have a great weekend and ride those bicycles!

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Industry 9

 I'm gone, but the FN&V rolls on!

Industry 9 Announces SOLiX Wheel and Hub Range:

Yesterday it was announced that a new range of wheels and hubs are now available from Industry 9. Dubbed "SOLiX", these wheels cover the needs of gravel, cyclo cross, and road riders. 

The range comes in two flavors - SOLiX SL and SOLiX G. The SOLiX SL wheels feature the new SOLiX hub with straight-pull Sapim CX-Ray spokes. The range of SOLiX SL wheels includes carbon and alloy rims with weights starting as low as  a claimed 1270 grams per set (carbon rims) to as much as nearly 1500 grams per set (alloy rims) and everything in between. Prices range from  just shy of 1300 bucks to around 2200 bucks. 

The SOLiX G wheels are the traditional aluminum Industry 9 spoked wheels you may associate with I9. Available in several anodized colors, these spokes make any bike 'pop' with their intensely colored aluminum spokes.  These wheel sets range in price from around 1500 bucks to a little over 2500. Weights go from a claimed 1320 grams per set on up. There is also a 650B option in this series as well. 

SOLiX hubs can also be purchased separately as the SOLiX Classic, which comes only in black and for "J" bend spokes. The new SOLiX hubs in all ranges are made with a new design that incorporates different pawl spring design, a new sealing design, and a new ratchet ring design which I9 claims makes the new SOLiX hubs quieter and better free-coasting than previous I9 hubs.

Rim, hub, and wheel spec can be seen at the Industry 9 website.  

Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles

Salsa Cycles Tributary e-Bikepacking Bikes:

Salsa announced the availability of its new Tributary models last week. Powered by Bosch mid-motor designs, the Tributary is an aluminum framed bike with 29" X 2.4" tires and is intended for gravel and bikepacking pursuits. 

Two models are offered in the range. A GRX 600 equipped rigid fork bike which goes for $5,499.00 or a Apex 1 equipped bike with a Rock Shox 35 Gold fork with 120mm of travel. This one goes for $5,999.00.

Tributary models can be accessorized with a range-extender battery pack at an extra charge. Maximum tire clearance is 29" X 2.6". The frames are internal dropper post routing compatible and SRAM UDH compatible. 

Comments: The Salsa site lists a "Canada" version and a separate US version, but I did not see an obvious reason why. I would have guessed the prices would have been different but the spec sheet looks the same between both. Anyway.... 

Definite Cutthroat vibes here. You are left to wonder "what if?" As in, "What if an aluminum Cutthroat 100% human powered bike been offered?" Gotta think that could maybe have been your entry level adventure bike, kind of like the Journeyer.  Squint hard and imagine the Tributary as a 100% human powered bike and you might see what could have been. But now you have a 5K+ rig that needs a 5 hour rest to recharge when the battery gets depleted. 

Image courtesy of Gravel Worlds

Gravel Worlds Registration Opens:

The Garmin Gravel Worlds registration announcement went out last Thursday and can be accessed HERE. The event is run out of Lincoln Nebraska and will occur on August 23rd - 24th. 

Many categories are available for contestants to choose from, and there are the Land Ho! running events also. The main fare consists of the traditional 150 miles of Nebraska rolling hills and gravel and will cost $165.00 to enter for 2024. The longer "Long Voyage" event of 300 miles will cost $180.00. 

There are shorter distances as well including the 75 miler and a 50K. Extra chippy folks can enter to do the 25K run on Friday and the 150 mile ride Saturday. 

Image courtesy of The Heywood's social media.

The Heywood Ride Registration Is Open: 

If Garmin Gravel Worlds is a little too spendy and "processed gravel" for you, check out The Heywood. It's coming up soon, (May 18th) and offers the rider a gravel course in several lengths and a much more grassroots, laid-back attitude. Registration is $25.00 and you can reserve a spot HERE. 

The Heywood is the spiritual descendant of the former Almanzo 100 event. (Chris Skogen pretty much handed over the reins to the Heywood's organizers back in 2019.) 

That should tell you that this event based out of Northfield Minnesota is not going to have the hoopla and high-competitive atmosphere of a Gravel Worlds. Not that you cannot race the Heywood, you can, but you don't have to, and honestly, you'd miss the point of the event if you did that. Anyone who rode the Almanzo could probably vouch for that. 

I will be hanging with the organizers even as you read this at Mid-South. Look for some reports headed to this channel coming up on Tuesday next week.

Leaked on Chinese social media.

Will SRAM Gravel Groups All Be "Transmission" Going Forward?:

Leaked on Chinese social media this past week and seen around many YouTube channels, this image of what looks to be a SRAM Red XPLR group was being talked about a lot. 

It is pretty obvious that it is a Transmission/UDH only compatible rear derailleur. This might be a sign that many new gravel bikes going forward will support this new standard. 

It also is speculated that the new Red level group will be lighter than Dura Ace and cost just shy of 5G USD. Others speculated that the brakes will be mineral oil, which would be in line with SRAM's latest enduro/DH brake introduction recently. 

Whatever it is, apparently all signs are pointing to a mid-May release date, so we won't have to wait long.

New Podcast Is Up!

The Mid South trip gets talked up a bit but N.Y. Roll and I ramble on about several other topics as well. 

We get on about why people ride gravel (Experience vs winning/podiums) We talk a bit about those WTB TPU tubes. We discuss an event that has a burrito bag as schwag and ask if a burrito should come with that. 

Yes, it gets weird in places, but ya know..... This IS N.Y. Roll and myself we're talking about here. If you want to - or dare to - listen, here is THE LINK.

That's a wrap on this FN&V! Have an awesome weekend and thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!