BRAN Gravel: Decisions Made

 It is getting closer to crunch time and the bags need to be packed up. Decisions need to be made. Last week I wrote about bike choice and for myself, it came down to two bicycles.

The Salsa Cycles Fargo Gen I is a crowd favorite. I posted an image on Facebook and Instagram of that bike and it got a lot of views. It would be the "People's Choice" bike to take on BRAN for the gravel route. 

This may not be fair, as I did not post a similar image of the Black Mountain Cycles MCD.  The bike may have received as many views as the Fargo. I can only say the two bikes got a different take here on the blog as commenters seemed to lean toward the pink machine instead of the venerable veteran choice. 

And the MCD is actually the bike that is going to Nebraska this time. I thought about this a lot, but a couple of things came to mind which swung the pendulum towards the BMC. One of those has to do with tires and what I heard randomly at work last week. 

A man came in to the Collective who said he was from Northwestern Nebraska. We got to talking about things and the subject of goat heads came up. In case you are unaware, goat heads are round-ish, smallish thorny bombs of doom and can ruin a bicycle ride in a hurry. 

The man said that in Western Nebraska this year the goat heads are at a higher level than normal. He suggested to not even roll my bike through grass out there. And he strongly suggested I run a tubeless set up. 

Of course, both my bikes under consideration are tubeless currently. However, only one has puncture protected tires, and that is the BMC. I just mounted both sets up within the last few months, but I will inject just a little extra goop into the Schwalbes before I go. Plus I will take a Stan's DART tool, extra sealant, and valve cores. 

I also mounted my XTR 11 - 40T cassette which is paired with my 46/36T crank set. This gives me two gears of 1 to 1 or lower which should be enough to get me up any hill I encounter out there. As I (vaguely ) recall, the hills aren't super steep, but longer than we have out here in Iowa. The elevation profile on Ride With GPS also suggests this with climbs of a mile to a mile and a half in some places. 

You may be wondering if my GRX derailleur will actually work with this cassette. While Shimano does not suggest that it will, if you carefully choose the correct chain length and use the B tension screw you will find it shifts in and out of the 40T cog quite nicely.  I even still have a little B tension screw sticking out beyond the derailleur, but I wouldn't push the capacity any further than 40T and expect great shifting. 

 So, there is the bike I am taking and how it will look. The water carrying capacity is great. I have low enough gearing with fast enough road gearing to suit me. The Schwalbe tires roll excellently on pavement and there will be paved sections of this ride nearly every day significant enough in length that this will make a difference. 

There is a Redshift Sports ShockStop Pro stem on this bike which should help take the zing out of the gravel. The Ritchey Design Venturemax carbon handlebars will help as well. Their flattened ovalized top section will be a nice respite for tired hands on long climbs. 

Now I have to go through my tool roll and top tube bag to see what I do or do not have. I may need to get rid of some stuff as well. Otherwise this is it. Now on to packing the rest of the gear up! 

Schwalbe G-One Overland Tires 700 x 50mm: Final Verdict

 Note: Guitar Ted was gifted these tires by a friend for his Singular Peregrine Mk4 bicycle build. Guitar Ted is not being paid, nor bribed for this review. Schwalbe is unaware of this review and have no input in the content here. All opinions are Guitar Ted's. The introductory post can be seen by clicking HERE. A follow-up to the introductory post can be read HERE. 

I've been riding these Schwalbe G-One Overland tires on tons of shorter rides on all sorts of surfaces. Most of my previous impressions still stand. I will take this final look at the G-One Overland as an opportunity to add just a couple of notes to my impressions previous to this post.

First. the G-One Overland tires have not stretched one little bit since I measured them after mounting. These tires stubbornly have stuck at just a hair under the claimed 50mm width. I'm not saying this is a negative, but I am saying this is surprising. Most tires stretch a bit for a week or two before settling into what they will be for width. Not so with the G-One Overlands.

 The noted stiff casings of the G-One Overland tires worked better at lowered air pressures for me, but they never "broke in". I was a bit disappointed in the ride quality toward the end of this review because of this. The Hutchinson Touaregs did break in after several rides, a tire very similar to the G-One Overland. 

This was most notable when sharper hits from chunkier gravel were encountered. Also when cracks or broken pavement was encountered. The damping just was too harsh. It hasn't improved, and lowering the air pressure didn't help with this either. So, I went back up a few psi for speed, so at least there was this benefit. 

The wet weather I was hoping to test in? It never materialized at an opportune time, and now this area where I live is headed back to a moderate drought status. So, it is dry. The G-One Overland really does well when it is dry, so this was good. 

Final Verdict: This is a "good" tire overall. It is a great tire if all you care about is going very fast in the dry. I'm not crazy about the ride quality overall, and having all this volume and weight seems a waste if the tire doesn't damp out everything well. The G-One damps out some of the higher frequency stuff, but those sharper hits? No. 

I do appreciate the ability the G-One Overland tires have for air retention, their toughness, and their grip on dry dirt and gravel. These tires are remarkable on pavement as well.  

In the end, I don't think the value is there in the G-One Overland. Sure, it's a fast tire, but in most every other sense it is merely average on gravel. The 50mm WTB Resolutes ride better than these tires do, and the WTB tires have SG2 puncture protection belts in there, so it is more apples to apples than not.  

I'll probably swap my SOMA Cazadero 700 x 50mm tires with TPU tubes into this bike and park the Schwalbe G-One tires for now. If this says anything to you, you might understand what my final verdict on the G-One Overlands means to me. 

Schwalbe G-One Overland Tires 700 x 50mm: Ride Impressions

 Note: Guitar Ted was gifted these tires by a friend for his Singular Peregrine Mk4 bicycle build. Guitar Ted is not being paid, nor bribed for this review. Schwalbe is unaware of this review and have no input in the content here. All opinions are Guitar Ted's. The introductory post can be seen by clicking HERE.

Now with several rides in over various surfaces I have some performance and ride feel impressions to share. The G-One Overland tires at 50mm remind me of another old favorite tire of mine as well, which I will get to in the post later on. 

Air Pressure:

Everyone should be experimenting with air pressures to find what works the best for their riding style, terrain, and loading scenarios. This can vary with weather as well. So, when I talk about air pressure and tires, I purposely try to be somewhat vague because just sitting on a number for your air pressure - while easy - is wrong. At least from the standpoint of squeezing out the maximum amount of performance you can. Just think about any motorsport racing. Those vehicles never use the same air pressures for everything. Now, of course, if this doesn't matter to you, then by all means, set and forget. 

In my testing I vary the air pressure by allowing it to bleed off naturally over time until I like what I am feeling, then I check it.  Note: I tried using the SILCA and Wolf Tooth pressure calculators. SILCA's was.....I don't know. I couldn't get it to work. Wolf Tooth's works great but it has limited input data fields. So, I know people rave about the online pressure calculators, but they are barely a "guide" and by no means are they a "hard and fast" pressure setting which you would want to live by. Tires vary so much, for instance, that this variable alone would make any online guidance merely a starting point. 

Now, I started with 30psi in each tire and I did not add any air, or even check the pressure, until I felt what I wanted to feel out of these tires, which was a great ride quality with very good rolling resistance. Once the tires started behaving in a manner in which I was pleased with the overall riding performance, I checked the air pressures. I have arrived at a general starting point of 25psi as being where these tires work best for myself. This will change with temperatures, terrain, and if I add or subtract weight from my bike. So, I don't have a number, I have a range and again - This is for myself. Your pressures will vary, and that is as it should be. 

These are a lot of words to say the following: The Schwalbe G-One Overlands are a tire I have to run lower pressures in to get what I want out of them than I would with other gravel tires. You may recall my saying these tires had stiff sidewalls? This is probably the main reason for where I ended up on pressures. A tire with only under-the-tread protection, or no protection belting, would have scored differently. In this area the G-One Overlands are very much like the Hutchinson Touareg tires which also had very stiff casings. (I really liked the Hutch's, by the way)

Rolling Resistance:

In my roll-down testing I found the G-One Overlands to be impressive. I ran these tests over a period of a couple of weeks on the same track using the same methods I have since 2022. The G-One Overlands scored Very Good on pavement and Very Good on the gravel/dirt section of the test as well. Remembering these are 50mm wide and not all that light, with a mind to how stiff the sidewalls are, and I have to say Schwalbe has done an excellent job with the rubber compound and casing construction on this tire. 

This showed itself again anytime I coasted on hard packed gravel, dirt, or on pavement. There just was not any feeling of draggy, slower tires holding me back. Quite the contrary. The Shimano GRX wheels are pretty good wheels, but they are not as good a feeling wheels with other tires,  in terms of rolling resistance, as they are with the G-One Overlands. 

Ride Performance:

There are some who are trying to "categorize gravel" into neat little boxes so they can fit their findings into those categories. Things like "Category 4" gravel. This means nothing to me. 

On my rides I can easily come across five different "categories" of gravel in the first five miles. So, again, trying to make this easy is doing you, and those who read into these so-called "categories of gravel" a disservice. It is not this easy. It is very complicated. Most places I have ridden have their own, unique to the area, challenges which are not found elsewhere. 

I typically will show you or at least say how loose or not the gravel is in my area and you will have to judge for yourself whether or not this is relevant for you. I also ride in alleyways which typically are gravel here, but the gravel is decayed, and smoother. Less loose. I also ride test tires on dirt, sand, broken up pavement, and on pavement, of course. 

Most tires are okay. Some do well in certain areas. Some are not very notable. Overall, the G-One Overland, a tire I'd expect to be good at varying conditions and surface types, is a tire I've found little to complain about. The casing is a rounded crown type of tire, but it is not overly so. Not quite as crowned as the previously mentioned Hutchinson Touareg. This makes for better loose gravel control and feedback. I liked the stability this provided in looser gravel at higher speeds. 

I had feared the smaller, closely spaced tread blocks may be a cause for concern. Usually I find this sort of pattern type to be one which can grab a hold of smaller rocks and chips and fling them in the air. No such trouble was noted with the Overlands. 

During a sandy minimum maintenance road traverse, where the sand was very loose, fine, and deep, the G-One Overlands were stable and flotation was excellent. I was a bit surprised by this, to be honest. Most tires do not work this well in those conditions.

So Far...

At lower pressures, the G-One comes into its own in terms of ride feel. This usually also means you have a compromise in performance somewhere else. Most of the time this comes with a penalty in rolling resistance. However; this is not the case with the G-One Overlands. 

Now, everything I have tried with these tires so far has been done in very dry conditions. We are supposedly getting rain, cooler temperatures, and with this very different chances for testing. In my next, and final update, I hope to add my impressions of the G-One Overlands in softer dirt, mud, and wetter conditions.   

As of now these tires have been a pleasant surprise and since they are a reminder of the Hutchinson Touaregs, this pleases me. I can no longer get Touaregs here, so the G-One Overlands, being somewhat similar, but better, are a great find for myself. If you want an all-around conditions tire for the dry, these would be an excellent tire to consider. We will see what happens when I can try these in moist, wetter conditions.  

Singular Cycles Peregrine Mk4: I'm Done! (For Now)

Can you spot the changes?

 September has been a difficult month for several reasons, but from a riding perspective, it was a bummer month on top of it all. Then on September 12th I received the Peregrine Mk4 frame set. This was a bright spot, and I've had fun so far with the build and with what little riding I could squeeze in during the past couple of weeks. 

The thing was, the arrival of the Peregrine Mk4 coincided with the start of our complete bathroom remodel. As in, tear down to the lathe boards and build back out remodel. 

I had to be available throughout to provide access to the house, get odds and ends during the process, and to consult when problems arose. This meant I could only get away for short neighborhood cruises, for the most part, during this time. And if all this wasn't enough, Mrs. Guitar Ted had a knee procedure to clean up some tears in ligaments and to remove some "foreign bodies" in her left knee. So, I also had to be available for her when she needed me as she recuperated. (She's doing fantastic and is back to work now, by the way.)  

Meanwhile through sharing images of the Peregrine, my friend Ari Andonopoulos decided I needed silver anodized spacers and a handle bar in silver, so I received a few bits to spiff up the bike and make it look great. (Thanks Ari!!) 

So, at this point I think I have everything dialed in for the time being. I doubt any other major changes are in store for the short term. Following are a listing of tweaks and changes made with explanations for each. 

Salsa Cycles Cowchipper Bar, 46cm: I really have gotten on with the Cowchipper over the years and it is probably one of three handle bars I would choose as my best ever flared drop bars. (Ritchey Designs Venturemax, Cowchipper, Luxy Bar) 

Width is appreciated by me, but the recent fad of running really wide flared drops is kind of lost on me. 46cm is plenty of width for this fella! 

I also took the opportunity to rotate everything down and forward from my initial set up. Much better for all hand positions now! The previous set up rendered reaching the levers a bit awkward. Now everything is great in this regard. 

Additionally, but unintended when I chose the Cowchipper, it is the only handlebar, besides maybe the Luxy Bar, which I can ride when I injure my shoulders, as I have recently with my right shoulder. Not sure how I did it, but it was after hauling scrap out of the basement at the Collective and often times I have to hold weight out in front of me while climbing old, narrow stairs. So, I would guess it was when I tweaked something. At any rate..... The Cowchipper helps me keep riding. That's the story there. 

Ti Regulator Post, WTB Solano Saddle: 

I know I mentioned this in my last update on the Peregrine, but here is a bit more detail on this and how it rides. 

First of all, to reiterate, I needed to not have to buy, install, and bleed a new rear brake cable because, I didn't want to do that. Period. No other reason for this decision other than I really despise having to fuss with hydraulic brakes. If Shimano made this group with cable actuated brakes I would be a much happier camper. They don't do this, so here we are. 

So, keeping everything the same from the standpoint of how it was lengthwise off the Standard Rando, I necessarily had to use a stubby stem to use the system as it was. Therefore, to regain my reach, I needed to go with an offset seat post and a saddle which would accommodate some serious setback as well. So, you see the Ti Regulator and WTB Solano saddle has fit my needs perfectly. 

Seated on the bike, this puts my weight a bit off the front wheel and to be honest, it has helped with the shoulder issue so far as a side benefit.  But perhaps less obvious and more importantly, this levers the little bit of seat post extension and causes a bit of flex which translates to more comfort in the rougher road ways and on what little gravel I've been able to tackle so far. 

This seated position also mimics closely what I have on my Honeman Flyer, and I do like this from a seated climbing and just general riding standpoint. Maybe it looks goofy and maybe it won't work for many of you, but I am really pretty happy with it so far. 

I will say if I have to switch rear brake hose out, I will likely put on an 80mm stem and slide the saddle back forward to check out what the bike rides like with a more 'normal' set up, but it is not like I am secretly disappointed now. The opposite is true, actually.  

Just A Word On The G-One Overland Tires:

I will also mention these tires as I am reviewing them now. I want to wait until I can get in some real, decently long gravel rides in before I give a full update. With all which has been going on here, it was difficult, as I mentioned, to complete any real testing.

Now with the remodel finished, Mrs.. Guitar Ted back in swing, and my shoulder getting better, this will hopefully be a time for those rides to start happening again.  

Anyway, the Schwalbes! These are fast, fast tires. A fellow on Facebook, John Karrasch, has been doing some more intense, science based studies on various tires and his findings on the G-One tires seem to corroborate what I am feeling. In my testing, both paved and gravel/dirt, the G-One Overland is quite impressive. I wouldn't say it feels great to ride, but again, a tire which had as stiff a sidewall as these did new probably will break in after a 100 or so miles. We'll see about that! 

Overall:

The Peregrine is a great bike for me. It really seems to do all the things I'll want, and it looks great doing it too! The one time I was able to get out in the country on this bike was before I made some of my most recent changes, but even then I could see the potential and I was happy. Now I just need to get into more long gravel rides. Once this has happened I'll be back with another Peregrine update and - of course - Country Views and Brown Season reports to go along with those rides. 

Stay tuned....

Schwalbe G-One Overland Tires 700 x 50mm: First Impressions

 Note: Guitar Ted was gifted these tires by a friend for his Singular Peregrine Mk4 bicycle build. Guitar Ted is not being paid, nor bribed for this review. Schwalbe is unaware of this review and have no input in the content here. All opinions are Guitar Ted's. 

The Schwalbe G-One Overland tires were introduced back in early September. Due to having to wait for the bicycle I wanted to mount them on having to be shipped and built up, this post was a bit delayed. By the way, if you missed the intro, you can go back and read it HERE. 

Mounting & Initial Measurements: 

The Schwalbe site doesn't give us a lot of information on the casing for this tire, which is dubbed SUPERGROUND, by the way. I do know it has some level of puncture protection. Handling this tire, and many other tires with puncture protection in the past, has led me to a couple of conclusions.

First, despite whatever SUPERGROUND actually is, I believe it is a bead-to-bead puncture protection layer in the casing. I say this because the casing is very stiff, and this made the tire very difficult to mount. Maybe I am incorrect in this guess, but I think not. 

As I have mounted hundreds of different types of tires in the span of a 30+ year career as a bicycle mechanic, I can say these G-One Overlands rank high on the "difficult to mount" range. By the way, I was using a Shimano GRX carbon wheel, so this isn't some narrow, odd carbon rim.

 Secondly, as stated, due to the stiff nature of the G-One Overland tires, the casing felt plasticky, and not very rubber-like, despite the tread feeling grippy. This tire reminds me a lot of the Hutchinson Touareg tires, which also had a bead-to-bead puncture protection layer. I had to run those tires at significantly lower pressures to get a ride feel I wanted and the Hutchinsons took a while to stretch to their designated width as well. Likely due to the not very pliable, or stretchy puncture protection belt. I expect a similar experience with these Schwalbe tires. 

Once mounted, the tires aired up easily with a floor pump with the valve cores installed. This was a surprise as I would have guessed an air compressor would have been necessary to set the beads due to the very stiff sidewalls. However; it could be that the G-One Overland's tighter fit, (which also made these difficult to mount, by the way), allowed for the ease of setting the beads in place.

I set the tires up at 30psi each and after a few hours they measured at 49mm and 49.4mm each. This is a good sign for the Overland tires to reach their stated width of 50mm eventually. 

The casing has a rounded look on these 25mm inner width GRX rims. Again, very reminiscent of the Hutchinsons. The center tread section should be speedy due to this casing shape, and unless my pressure setting is too low, I will be expecting a speedy roll on hard pack or pavement.  

Coming Up:

I'll be spending a lot of time with the bicycle the G-One Overlands are on so these tires should get a fair shake before Winter sets in. I think I'll learn everything I can about the Schwalbe G-One Overland tires by the time the leaves are off the trees, so expect a final verdict around that time. 

The Singular Peregrine Mk4 mounted with Schwalbe G-One Overland tires.

 I probably will also post a mid-term update once I have several rides on these tires, so look for this update coming in soon. Until then, all I can say is I can totally see why mechanics or average riders who do their own tubeless set ups may not like these tires much from an installation standpoint. I used this mounting tool to set the Overlands up with and without it I would have been very frustrated. Besides the difficulty in mounting, the airing up and setting of the beads was a cakewalk. So, some bad, some good there. 

Stay tuned for more soon.  

Schwalbe G-One Overland Tires 700 x 50mm: Review

 Note: Guitar Ted was gifted these tires by a friend for his upcoming Singular Peregrine Mk4 bicycle build. Guitar Ted is not being paid, nor bribed for this review. Schwalbe is unaware of this review and have no input in the content here. All opinions are Guitar Ted's.

Schwalbe G-1 Overland 700 X 50mm tires.

 The wheels I am using for my upcoming Singular Cycles Peregrine MK4 build need tires, and when I recently saw Schwalbe has a G-One Overland tire in a 700 x 50mm size, my interest was piqued. I asked a mechanic friend about these tires, if he had heard anything good or bad about them, and he then offered to send me a set for this new build.

This was a nice gesture for this bike build I am dedicating to my son, Jacob's memory. So, I thought as long as I was going to be getting acquainted with these new-to-me tires, you all out there might also want to know about them. So, I am going to share my thoughts and opinions on these tires with you over the coming weeks and months. 

What It Is: The G-One Overland was introduced in 2022 by Schwalbe, rounding out its offerings for gravel tires. It is designed to be an all-around tire, good for pavement and gravel, dirt roads, and wherever the road goes ahead of you. They are limited to being available in 700 X 40mm, 45mm, and 50mm widths in black only. They are expensive tires, compared to many, at around $90.00-ish a piece. 

The tires have an overall "arrow", directional shape to the tread pattern. This is made up of various trapezoidal blocks which are bordered along the tire's shoulder by laterally placed rectangular knobs. The tread is tightly packed which should lend a speedier roll to these once ridden, especially on harder surfaces. 

I always like to see lateral edge blocks, like the G-One Overland has, but these do not protrude out far enough, nor are they spaced away from the central tread enough that I would think they will do much for lateral stability in looser gravel. However; they may come into play when cornering on dirt, or smoother, harder packed gravel.

Schwalbe says these Evolution range tires have their ADDIX Speedgrip rubber compound. They do feel a bit grippier in the hand than many tires do. The tires also feature Schwalbe's SUPERGROUND casing, which I cannot seem to find any clear information on. It seems to have some sort of puncture protection, but this is all I could uncover.

Of course, the G-One Overland is tubeless ready and I do intend on running these tires as tubeless. 

Interestingly, the G-One Overland is eBike certified, so I suspect a bit of the weight these tires have is due to the beefing up of the overall construction to withstand the rigors of electric motor usage. My pair weighed in at 663gm/671gm which is more akin to what I would expect from a 29" x 2.2" XC MTB tire. As a comparison, the WTB 700 X 50mm Resolute tires weighed in at 608gm/609gm each. The Resolute at 50mm also featured WTB's SG+ casing, a full protection belted tire. 

First Impressions:

The Schwalbe G-One Overland tires remind me a bit of the Pirelli Cinturato H tires I tried out a few years ago. Both are tires for similar uses and come in similar widths.If the Overalnd version of the G-One range is anything like the Cinturato H, I'd be happy. I liked those tires quite a bit and they were tough, resilient, but nice riding tires for all-around riding.

The G-One's have a nice feeling casing, while perhaps a bit on the thicker side, but again - this is likely due to the eBike intentions on the part of Schwalbe. I would be willing to bet Schwalbe could lighten these tires up a fair amount if they were not eBike rated.

As an example, the Schwalbe G-One Allround 29" X 2.25" tires I tried back in 2019 were weighed in at 553gm/556gm. Quite a difference there with a tire which was actually larger in volume than these G-One Overlands. So, I think my guess as to why the casing is thicker and why the tire is heavier is partially due to this eBike certification.

But if this makes the G-One Overland tires tougher, I am okay with this. My intentions for the Peregrine Mk4 is that the bike will be an all-around exploration machine and tougher tires are welcomed in this scenario.  

My expectation is the tires will roll pretty fast for what they are. I think the closely spaced tread might be a cause for concern with chipped gravel getting lodged in between those trapezoidal tread blocks. We will see about this soon enough, I hope. 

The Peregrine Mk4 is in transit to me as of this writing, so until this bike gets built up, we will have to wait for any updates on the tires. 

Stay tuned..... 

Note: There is an embargoed press release coming this morning at 9:00am CST.  

Incoming: Scwalbe 700 x 50mm G-One Overland Tires

Image by Ari Andonopoulous. 

 With the new Singular Peregrine Mk4 coming in, I thought it might be nice to get a new set of tires to test out on it. I had heard recently about Schwalbe's new G-One Overland tires and these being available in a 50mm width. So, I asked my friend Ari about them and he got a set coming in for me. 

I do have Vittoria Terreno Dry tires in 29" X 2.2" which is the Peregrine's maximum tire size. So, I thought maybe something more in the 50mm range might actually be good to try first, just to make sure I can ride the bike right away. I can always try the Terreno Dry's on another wheel set for a test.  

So, why the Schwalbe G-One Overlands? I had tried Schwalbe  G-One tires back in 2019 and I had a terrible experience with them regarding the mounting of the tires. They had a very loose fit and were so poor I ended up giving them away to someone, (I think, I cannot remember) Anyway, I was pretty burnt by this experience to the point I wasn't ever going to buy anymore Schwalbe tires again. 

However; lately Schwalbe tires have seemed to have been well received by many and the Overland model of the G-One range is meant for road and gravel. Pretty much exactly the surfaces I ride, so when I asked about what my friend Ari had heard about them he asked if I wanted to order a set and well..... here we are.

The tires in the image are mine, but are pictured on Ari's bench, so as of this post they are in transit to Guitar Ted Productions. When they get here I will start a review and give you all my impressions of them, ride reports, (later on) and a final verdict on them when Winter sets in, if all goes well. 

Stay tuned..... 

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!

Randomonium

NOTE: Okay folks, if you haven't been around long enough here to know what a "Randomonium" post is, then here is the deal. I ramble, rant, and randomly moan about all things cycling in one, incohesive, bizarre post. "Randomonium", okay?

The Fargo has new - old - shoes. 

 Fargo Back Up & Running:

This past weekend I got the Fargo sorted with some different tires that actually worked. The solution I found worked super easily. I forgot I had a pair of used Donnelly MSO 700 X 50mm tires. They went on the i23 Team Frequency rims with a burp from an air compressor and have been rock solid since mounted.

I tried the Schwalbe G-Ones on that wheel set that is based upon a Stan's rim dimension and, while I got them on with a plastic tire lever, they are what I would deem as being too tight. Not good if anything were to happen that required a tube to be inserted to continue going. But, that mere fact that the tire went on a Stan's dimension rim tells me it would definitely be too loose for most modern tubeless ready rims. Again- in my opinion- this is inexcusable in 2019.

My Schwalbe may have been an outlier, maybe from a bad batch? Hard to say, but for what I spent on them, I am not willing to take another shot at trying anything from Schwalbe. That brand has been struck from my "willing to buy" list. In 2019, and beyond, there will be, and are now, many, many choices in tires that will work as advertised set up tubeless easily. I know this because I get to try a LOT of tires out in my reviewing gig. If a tire takes multiple tries to get set up the first time, and then will not set up at all after one dismounting, well...... Hard pass. Nuff said.

Rendering of a Scott's Oriole

A Bird Lost? 

(NOTE: This isn't about cycling. So, it is even more random!) Sunday I walked out on the porch and I saw a flash of yellow and black. It was a bird I spooked out of the flower bed. It was so stunning and outstanding in appearance that I thought I had seen a vision. But it was real. It quickly hid in the thick cover of a tree across the street. Hmm...weird, but maybe just something I dreamed up? I still wasn't sure that I saw what I had seen. It was just so yellow and intensely colored that it didn't look real at all.

Then Monday, my wife and I walked out onto the porch and the same thing- An intensely yellow colored and black patched bird jumped out of the flower bed and quickly took cover in the same tree across the street.  Okay- this time I had a witness. I wasn't crazy. There was a weird bird and neither one of us had seen anything like it.

I did some checking online, and the closest thing I could find to what we had seen was a rendering of a Scott's Oriole. It seems to have the same pattern and intensely yellow coloring of the bird we saw. However; the range for this species is no where near Iowa. In fact, it is over a 1000 miles away from its Northernmost range to Iowa. Is this a Scott's Oriole that we had seen, or maybe something else? Is it a lost bird? Maybe.

I wish I would have gotten a picture, but as skittish as this bird was, I am lucky to have seen it twice!

Another drop bar hits the market.

The Off-Road Drop Bar Becomes Commonplace:

With over ten years of blogging here I can go back and see how things have changed over time. One of the things that's changed a ton is the amount of off-road, flared drop bars that are available.

When Trans Iowa started, and when I started riding a lot of gravel, you had about two choices for this type of bar. I used an On One Midge bar. You could get an Origin 8 Gary Bar, (the original one), and there was the odd WTB bar which had survived and were going for $150.00 a pop.

Now that gravel has become such a "thing" we have soooo many more flared drops that it is bewildering. A new one is out now from Shimano's PRO Brand which is called the Discover Big Flare Bar. It's an interesting handle bar that has some cool features- the 30° flare, the nice sweep- and some straight up roadie drop bar parts, like the weird radius to the drop and the shorter extensions. It's an unique bar in that it has such odd bits paired together.

I've yet to use it on gravel, but I'm sure it has its good and bad features there as well. The funny thing is, every bar has to be different, or it is a copy, and that won't do now, will it? No. So we get these weird things put out there at times that, well........they just do not work. And that's the thing with these flared drops. Not all of them really work, and so you get just a few that become the "standards" of the industry. Bars like Salsa Cycles' Cowchipper and Cowbell, which have spawned more than a few near-ripoffs. Or the previously mentioned On One Midge Bar, which spawned an almost perfect knock-off bar by another company, and inspired a few other bar designs. 

Once in a great while you get the super-weird bar and it works, for some reason. The Woodchipper and Luxy Bar come to mind here. But those are certainly acquired tastes, and it is easy to see why those bars are so polarizing.

Anyway, what a long way we have come! I never would have guessed that in 2019 there would be so many choices for off-road and flared drop bars as there is now. I'm still amazed by it all.

Randomonium

NOTE: Okay folks, if you haven't been around long enough here to know what a "Randomonium" post is, then here is the deal. I ramble, rant, and randomly moan about all things cycling in one, incohesive, bizarre post. "Randomonium", okay?

The Fargo has new - old - shoes. 

 Fargo Back Up & Running:

This past weekend I got the Fargo sorted with some different tires that actually worked. The solution I found worked super easily. I forgot I had a pair of used Donnelly MSO 700 X 50mm tires. They went on the i23 Team Frequency rims with a burp from an air compressor and have been rock solid since mounted.

I tried the Schwalbe G-Ones on that wheel set that is based upon a Stan's rim dimension and, while I got them on with a plastic tire lever, they are what I would deem as being too tight. Not good if anything were to happen that required a tube to be inserted to continue going. But, that mere fact that the tire went on a Stan's dimension rim tells me it would definitely be too loose for most modern tubeless ready rims. Again- in my opinion- this is inexcusable in 2019.

My Schwalbe may have been an outlier, maybe from a bad batch? Hard to say, but for what I spent on them, I am not willing to take another shot at trying anything from Schwalbe. That brand has been struck from my "willing to buy" list. In 2019, and beyond, there will be, and are now, many, many choices in tires that will work as advertised set up tubeless easily. I know this because I get to try a LOT of tires out in my reviewing gig. If a tire takes multiple tries to get set up the first time, and then will not set up at all after one dismounting, well...... Hard pass. Nuff said.

Rendering of a Scott's Oriole

A Bird Lost? 

(NOTE: This isn't about cycling. So, it is even more random!) Sunday I walked out on the porch and I saw a flash of yellow and black. It was a bird I spooked out of the flower bed. It was so stunning and outstanding in appearance that I thought I had seen a vision. But it was real. It quickly hid in the thick cover of a tree across the street. Hmm...weird, but maybe just something I dreamed up? I still wasn't sure that I saw what I had seen. It was just so yellow and intensely colored that it didn't look real at all.

Then Monday, my wife and I walked out onto the porch and the same thing- An intensely yellow colored and black patched bird jumped out of the flower bed and quickly took cover in the same tree across the street.  Okay- this time I had a witness. I wasn't crazy. There was a weird bird and neither one of us had seen anything like it.

I did some checking online, and the closest thing I could find to what we had seen was a rendering of a Scott's Oriole. It seems to have the same pattern and intensely yellow coloring of the bird we saw. However; the range for this species is no where near Iowa. In fact, it is over a 1000 miles away from its Northernmost range to Iowa. Is this a Scott's Oriole that we had seen, or maybe something else? Is it a lost bird? Maybe.

I wish I would have gotten a picture, but as skittish as this bird was, I am lucky to have seen it twice!

Another drop bar hits the market.

The Off-Road Drop Bar Becomes Commonplace:

With over ten years of blogging here I can go back and see how things have changed over time. One of the things that's changed a ton is the amount of off-road, flared drop bars that are available.

When Trans Iowa started, and when I started riding a lot of gravel, you had about two choices for this type of bar. I used an On One Midge bar. You could get an Origin 8 Gary Bar, (the original one), and there was the odd WTB bar which had survived and were going for $150.00 a pop.

Now that gravel has become such a "thing" we have soooo many more flared drops that it is bewildering. A new one is out now from Shimano's PRO Brand which is called the Discover Big Flare Bar. It's an interesting handle bar that has some cool features- the 30° flare, the nice sweep- and some straight up roadie drop bar parts, like the weird radius to the drop and the shorter extensions. It's an unique bar in that it has such odd bits paired together.

I've yet to use it on gravel, but I'm sure it has its good and bad features there as well. The funny thing is, every bar has to be different, or it is a copy, and that won't do now, will it? No. So we get these weird things put out there at times that, well........they just do not work. And that's the thing with these flared drops. Not all of them really work, and so you get just a few that become the "standards" of the industry. Bars like Salsa Cycles' Cowchipper and Cowbell, which have spawned more than a few near-ripoffs. Or the previously mentioned On One Midge Bar, which spawned an almost perfect knock-off bar by another company, and inspired a few other bar designs. 

Once in a great while you get the super-weird bar and it works, for some reason. The Woodchipper and Luxy Bar come to mind here. But those are certainly acquired tastes, and it is easy to see why those bars are so polarizing.

Anyway, what a long way we have come! I never would have guessed that in 2019 there would be so many choices for off-road and flared drop bars as there is now. I'm still amazed by it all.

Friday News And Views

WTB Hints At 700c Versions Of Popular Road Plus Models:

While at Gravel Worlds last Friday, my friend Tony and I visited several company's booths. One of the most intriguing stops was at the WTB booth.

Of course, WTB's main business is tires and saddles which were both on display there. Tony stepped up and asked something about them making a 700c X 50mm Byway. The rep had a very interesting answer. 

"Keep an eye on our website for the next couple of weeks."

Now, you can read all sorts of things into that remark, but here are a few facts that might help support my guess, which I will share here in a bit:

First off, WTB has already told me that a 700 X 42 and 700 X 50 Venture tire was due this Summer. (Obviously- that hasn't happened yet) At the time that was announced, there was no word about any other of the Road Plus tires being brought to 700c. However; the rep at Gravel Worlds said the Byway is their number one selling tire. Hmmm....

Also, considering the fact that Eurobike is about to happen starting on September the 4th, an announcement of something new around that time would be totally believable. Many companies announce product ahead of shows so dealers will look for it when they attend a show. That would put an announcement "in a couple of weeks" in the perfect time window for Eurobike.

Finally, WTB, who arguably single handedly made 650B tires a "thing" for gravel with the Road Plus line, have none of those models available in 700c, which is the diameter of tire most gravel bikes come stocked with. Original Equipment (OE) contracts with manufacturers are what makes new product roll into the marketplace. So, if a manufacturer says, "Hey, WTB! Make us this Byway in a 700 X 50 and we'll buy thousands of them.", what do you think WTB would say?

Put all that together and what do you come up with? I am saying that the entire Road Plus line will be announced in 700c sizes. We'll see.......

For more of what I saw at the Gravel Worlds Expo, check out my RidingGravel.com report here.

A Shimano PRO Koryak external actuated dropper post in 27.2mm.

The Dropper Post Cometh:

Have you noted that many new gravel bikes come with dropper post routing but that you almost never see the actual dropper posts on any of these bikes? Yeah.....me too, but that is about to change.

One of the big reasons why this has been is due to the size of almost all gravel bikes internal diameter (ID) on the seat tube. Traditionally this has been 27.2mm. The reason why dropper posts haven't been prominent on gravel bikes is because most dropper posts are 30.9mm and 31.6mm in size, which reflects what an MTB bike's seat tube ID is most commonly.  There are 27.2mm dropper posts, of course, but generally speaking, the dropper range is either too much, the post is too expensive, (Thomson and Fox being prime examples of 27.2mm dropper posts here), or the quality is so poor, that manufacturers are possibly avoiding spec'ing them.

However; and this has been my experience using a dropper post on gravel, the component is something that would be a huge asset to anyone that rides on gravel. Free speed is there for the taking and I, for one, will eventually own a gravel bike with a dropper post. It isn't just a little bit faster on downhills, it is dramatically faster. 

"But", you may be thinking,"a dropper post is only for off road, or racers." Think about this scenario then: My fastest downhill speed at Gravel Worlds last weekend was a tic under 40mph. There is no doubt in my mind, based upon my experience riding a dropper post on gravel, that the max speed I would have seen had I been using a dropper post would have easily been closer to 45mph. Think that might affect average speed a bit? Multiply that over tens of down hills where I reached speeds of around 30mph regularly, and it doesn't take a genius to realize that the effect on overall time and speed on course would be greatly affected in a positive way simply by using a dropper post. All that with practically zero energy expenditure to gain that speed and time.

Now with several manufacturers stepping up with quality dropper posts in 27.2mm size, and more gravel/adventure bikes coming with the internal routing for these components, my bet is that dropper posts will become very common at rides in 2020 and beyond. I saw several in use at Gravel Worlds. No longer will you have to sacrifice your nether regions to the abuses of sitting on your top tube, ala Pro roadies, on descents. (And please- don't do that on gravel. It isn't really very safe on pavement!

The fargo Gen I with the Schwalbe G-One tires mounted.

I Missed You, Knobbies, I Missed You:

One thing I wanted to cover before moving on from Gravel Worlds was the gear I used. and in particular, the Schwalbe G - One 29" X 2.35 tires. Of course, you all that have been reading along already know about the issues I had with air loss in the rear tire.

The culprit ended up being a failed rim strip over a spoke hole. That was my fault since that wheel only had one run of tape, and I should have laid down two. Most times I do it that way, but for whatever reasons I had then, I didn't when I built up that wheel set.

Now- I'll talk about the performance of the tires, because I am taking them off this wheel set, and I'll tell you why in a minute. First- these tires are very light and very fast! I weighed them in at 553 and 556 grams. They had absolutely blazing downhill speed and I was able to out-coast anyone around me. That said, I had to really be careful in Nebraska's looser, sandy corners. These tires have very little grip unless the surface is hard and smooth. So, not much to dislike there, but I would also surmise that in Iowa's looser, deep gravel these tires would also be a handful.

Now, as to why I won't be keeping them on this wheel set. First off, these are WTB i19 rims you see in the image and they typically fit tubeless tires from several manufacturers really well. I've used these rims for at least 7 years, I think it has been, and all sorts of different tires have been mounted on these. And.....they all mounted pretty easily. Not so these G - Ones. They were utter Hell to mount because they were too loose! I had to take eight stabs at mounting one of them last week. Eight! I almost gave up. The other one took a few tries. Now that they have been on there, and that I had to dismount the one that gave me the most trouble, it- of course - is looser than when it was new. It's silly. I cannot mount it, nor would I leave it on,  if it would go, because of fear of blowing it off at some point. Of course, I tried it, it will not mount, and there is just no way I am going to fight to make that work. Not in 2019.

So, I have a Stan's based wheel set, a Sun Ringle' pre-built wheel set, and I'll try mounting them on there, but I am in no hurry to do this. Despite the speed and the size of these, I think I wasted my money if all they will securely fit is a Stan's based rim.  I think that is despicable these days. There is no reason for a tubeless tire manufacturer of Schwalbe's stature to have such poor tolerances in their product on the market. Bottom line- If the G - One 29" X 2.35" tires are all like mine, and unless you use Stan's rims, these tires are not recommended.

Note- I spent my own damn money on this product and was not paid, nor bribed for this opinion. 

Thanks for reading. have a great weekend!

Friday News And Views

WTB Hints At 700c Versions Of Popular Road Plus Models:

While at Gravel Worlds last Friday, my friend Tony and I visited several company's booths. One of the most intriguing stops was at the WTB booth.

Of course, WTB's main business is tires and saddles which were both on display there. Tony stepped up and asked something about them making a 700c X 50mm Byway. The rep had a very interesting answer. 

"Keep an eye on our website for the next couple of weeks."

Now, you can read all sorts of things into that remark, but here are a few facts that might help support my guess, which I will share here in a bit:

First off, WTB has already told me that a 700 X 42 and 700 X 50 Venture tire was due this Summer. (Obviously- that hasn't happened yet) At the time that was announced, there was no word about any other of the Road Plus tires being brought to 700c. However; the rep at Gravel Worlds said the Byway is their number one selling tire. Hmmm....

Also, considering the fact that Eurobike is about to happen starting on September the 4th, an announcement of something new around that time would be totally believable. Many companies announce product ahead of shows so dealers will look for it when they attend a show. That would put an announcement "in a couple of weeks" in the perfect time window for Eurobike.

Finally, WTB, who arguably single handedly made 650B tires a "thing" for gravel with the Road Plus line, have none of those models available in 700c, which is the diameter of tire most gravel bikes come stocked with. Original Equipment (OE) contracts with manufacturers are what makes new product roll into the marketplace. So, if a manufacturer says, "Hey, WTB! Make us this Byway in a 700 X 50 and we'll buy thousands of them.", what do you think WTB would say?

Put all that together and what do you come up with? I am saying that the entire Road Plus line will be announced in 700c sizes. We'll see.......

For more of what I saw at the Gravel Worlds Expo, check out my RidingGravel.com report here.

A Shimano PRO Koryak external actuated dropper post in 27.2mm.

The Dropper Post Cometh:

Have you noted that many new gravel bikes come with dropper post routing but that you almost never see the actual dropper posts on any of these bikes? Yeah.....me too, but that is about to change.

One of the big reasons why this has been is due to the size of almost all gravel bikes internal diameter (ID) on the seat tube. Traditionally this has been 27.2mm. The reason why dropper posts haven't been prominent on gravel bikes is because most dropper posts are 30.9mm and 31.6mm in size, which reflects what an MTB bike's seat tube ID is most commonly.  There are 27.2mm dropper posts, of course, but generally speaking, the dropper range is either too much, the post is too expensive, (Thomson and Fox being prime examples of 27.2mm dropper posts here), or the quality is so poor, that manufacturers are possibly avoiding spec'ing them.

However; and this has been my experience using a dropper post on gravel, the component is something that would be a huge asset to anyone that rides on gravel. Free speed is there for the taking and I, for one, will eventually own a gravel bike with a dropper post. It isn't just a little bit faster on downhills, it is dramatically faster. 

"But", you may be thinking,"a dropper post is only for off road, or racers." Think about this scenario then: My fastest downhill speed at Gravel Worlds last weekend was a tic under 40mph. There is no doubt in my mind, based upon my experience riding a dropper post on gravel, that the max speed I would have seen had I been using a dropper post would have easily been closer to 45mph. Think that might affect average speed a bit? Multiply that over tens of down hills where I reached speeds of around 30mph regularly, and it doesn't take a genius to realize that the effect on overall time and speed on course would be greatly affected in a positive way simply by using a dropper post. All that with practically zero energy expenditure to gain that speed and time.

Now with several manufacturers stepping up with quality dropper posts in 27.2mm size, and more gravel/adventure bikes coming with the internal routing for these components, my bet is that dropper posts will become very common at rides in 2020 and beyond. I saw several in use at Gravel Worlds. No longer will you have to sacrifice your nether regions to the abuses of sitting on your top tube, ala Pro roadies, on descents. (And please- don't do that on gravel. It isn't really very safe on pavement!

The fargo Gen I with the Schwalbe G-One tires mounted.

I Missed You, Knobbies, I Missed You:

One thing I wanted to cover before moving on from Gravel Worlds was the gear I used. and in particular, the Schwalbe G - One 29" X 2.35 tires. Of course, you all that have been reading along already know about the issues I had with air loss in the rear tire.

The culprit ended up being a failed rim strip over a spoke hole. That was my fault since that wheel only had one run of tape, and I should have laid down two. Most times I do it that way, but for whatever reasons I had then, I didn't when I built up that wheel set.

Now- I'll talk about the performance of the tires, because I am taking them off this wheel set, and I'll tell you why in a minute. First- these tires are very light and very fast! I weighed them in at 553 and 556 grams. They had absolutely blazing downhill speed and I was able to out-coast anyone around me. That said, I had to really be careful in Nebraska's looser, sandy corners. These tires have very little grip unless the surface is hard and smooth. So, not much to dislike there, but I would also surmise that in Iowa's looser, deep gravel these tires would also be a handful.

Now, as to why I won't be keeping them on this wheel set. First off, these are WTB i19 rims you see in the image and they typically fit tubeless tires from several manufacturers really well. I've used these rims for at least 7 years, I think it has been, and all sorts of different tires have been mounted on these. And.....they all mounted pretty easily. Not so these G - Ones. They were utter Hell to mount because they were too loose! I had to take eight stabs at mounting one of them last week. Eight! I almost gave up. The other one took a few tries. Now that they have been on there, and that I had to dismount the one that gave me the most trouble, it- of course - is looser than when it was new. It's silly. I cannot mount it, nor would I leave it on,  if it would go, because of fear of blowing it off at some point. Of course, I tried it, it will not mount, and there is just no way I am going to fight to make that work. Not in 2019.

So, I have a Stan's based wheel set, a Sun Ringle' pre-built wheel set, and I'll try mounting them on there, but I am in no hurry to do this. Despite the speed and the size of these, I think I wasted my money if all they will securely fit is a Stan's based rim.  I think that is despicable these days. There is no reason for a tubeless tire manufacturer of Schwalbe's stature to have such poor tolerances in their product on the market. Bottom line- If the G - One 29" X 2.35" tires are all like mine, and unless you use Stan's rims, these tires are not recommended.

Note- I spent my own damn money on this product and was not paid, nor bribed for this opinion. 

Thanks for reading. have a great weekend!

Dialing In The Set Up: Part 3

Getting the dashboard set up for Gravel Worlds

Monday the course cues for Gravel Worlds were released into the wild. I did what I always do- I printed them, folded them, and covered them in packing tape. This year there are a few more cues, so not as many big, long straight sections.

I set up everything on the bike as I will have it Saturday and took a short cruise to ensure nothing is going to tick me off. I'll also do a short gravel cruise today to test out the stability of everything. Gravel is like a paint shaker. If it isn't attached securely, there will be trouble!

So, here's a good example of why I love the Luxy Bar. I really get annoyed if I have to set up my light off-center. So, the way I have my Bar Yak cue sheet holder set up means the cues have to be offset to the left side of the bar. That means the Lezyne GPS mount has to go on the right side. To allow enough room for the light and the GPS to co-exist, I had to slide the mount over to the right on the bar. Now, notice that my mount for the GPS is a 31.8mm clamp mount. See how far to the right that mount clamps? Try that with a tapered center bar from any brand. Ain't-a-gunna work. The Luxy Bar, with its full 31.8mm diameter from ramp to ramp, makes this a non-issue.

The cues are such that when I get one sheet done I just flip the card over, re-clamp it, and I'm good through the next page, then I can take that page, once front and back cues have been passed, and discard it. The funny thing about the first page is I probably won't even need to use it. I'll just follow the stream of blinky lights. Last year I think I was in the middle of the second page before I figured I probably should start paying attention to the road names. It's not an issue as long as you remember to start your computer at the start line. I forgot to do this in 2017, and it made for some "interesting" calculations out on the course that day.

I had a little bit of a scare Tuesday morning on the commute to work. I had to negotiate the presence of  a couple of construction vehicles on the "island" at the interchange with Greenhill Road and University Avenue. The position of the vehicles was such that I had a strip of ground about two to three feet wide between the curb and traffic and the vehicles. As I passed by, something flipped up and severely smacked my bottom bracket and left crank arm. It was like someone hit the bike with a ball peen hammer. Immediately afterward I felt the rear tire go all squishy. I made it to work, but when I checked the pressure it was around 10psi.

Did I destroy a brand new Schwalbe G - One? I checked the tire over and found no outward visible evidence of sealant leakage. Either I burped the tire or I had an internal failure in the rim strip which healed itself. At any rate, I pumped the tire up at 9:00am to 30psi and its been good since.

Today I go shopping for nutrition and start packing. It's very nearly go time.