Press Release: LOOK G85 Cezal Bike

 Note: LOOK Cycle provided all information and images in this article. Comments in Comment section are Guitar Ted's

The LOOK G85 Cezal 

Look Cycle  is showing its new gravel bike, the G85 Cezal, today at Sea Otter which will also be raced in the Sea Otter gravel event by Russel Finsterwald. The G85 Cezal features all the latest gravel tech for 2026.

The LOOK carbon frame is manufactured by LOOK in its french facility so all the technical and design details can be controlled carefully. LOOK went with a progressive geometry, featuring a short wheel base and a slack, 70° head tube angle. Tire clearance is 50mm in the rear (1X drive train only), and up to 57mm in the front with up to 60mm suspension fork travel being an option for the G85 Cezal rider. 

Of course, all cables route internally. There is ample storage in the down tube, and this storage space comes with a pouch for easy retrieval. LOOK also designed the stack and reach of the G85 Cezal so that various rider positioning set ups are possible. 

The frame uses a 27.2mm seat post, which is nice from a versatility standpoint. LOOK also utilizes a 3D Wave Flex System for the seat stays where LOOK claims a tube's shape dictates flexability LOOK employs a wavy shape to the seat stay which LOOK claims is 15% more flexible than a straight tube using exactly the same carbon layup schedule. 

Riders can choose one of two handlebar/stem combinations when picking out their G85 Cezal. One option utilizes LOOK's LS3 stem and Deda Superzero gravel bars which is a lean toward the more adventurous side. Serious racers may want to choose the LOOK fully integrated stem/handlebar option which adds about $940.00USD to the price tag. 

Two models exist in the range for the G85 Cezal. One is the Speckled Purple/Neon Orange SRAM 1 X 13 speed which features SRAM Force XPLR and Fulcrum Soniq Carbon 2WF wheels. This bike retails for approximately $7,650.00USD. 

The Shimano equipped model is the Speckled Sand/Black Shimano GRX Di2 2x12 bike. This one also features those wavy Fulcrum wheels and goes for approximately $6,755.00USD. 

There is also an all black Shimano GRX 800 1X12 mechanical shifted bike with Fulcrum Lite GR2WF traditional wheels and comes in at $4,115.00USD. Finally, a frame set with frame, fork, and through axles in black is available. This frame set is priced at $2,940.00USD. 

Comments:

A sleek looker here. I think LOOK has an interesting take on gravel racing with this bike.The slacker head tube angle being notable with the capability to handle a big 29"er XC racing tire. This speaks to how LOOK sees gravel racing world-wide, and not just a North American based sport anymore. World wide, courses are becoming more than just unpaved roads. So, things like up to 60mm travel gravel suspension forks and big rubber in a road bike racer package are probably going to be more commonplace than not, especially from the European brands. 

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Ritchey Design

Ritchey Design Announces Comp El Camino Handlebar:

Ritchey Design makes a lot of cool handlebars and is one of the brands which keeps the "alt bar" flag flying high. Their latest design hearkens back to cruiser bike design and is called the Comp El Camino. 

Featuring a generous 35° degrees of backsweep, 50mm of rise and a 750mm width, the Comp El Camino could be a great addition to many types of bicycles. 

The handlebar is constructed from double butted 6061 aluminum alloy which gets the weight down to a nice 340 grams (claimed) and should result in a nice ride quality. The bar comes in "BB Black" and is priced at $59.95 USD. (€51.90 (inc. VAT), £45.90 (inc. VAT))

Comments: This is a cool handlebar. I cannot count how many times I've seen similar handlebars at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective which were steel, chrome plated, with rust pits, and thought, "This would be such a great handlebar if it were modernized". Well, this El Camino design is about as close as you can get to that old shape but with modern appointments such as the 31.8mm clamp section, room to mount accessories, and in a decent width. 

Image courtesy of Life Time

Sea Otter Soon:

This time in two weeks we will be in the thick of Sea Otter craziness. Before this I would expect several press releases will go live. In fact, I know this because I am sitting on several. (Embargoed, don't cha know!)

Without giving anything away, what can we expect? 

Well, we all are waiting to see what gets shown in the way of 32"ers. I can say there will be news. It definitely will spark debate and attention. 

Besides 32"ers? Well......not a lot to be excited about, really. There is some component news, but nothing earth-shattering. I do suspect Shimano will drop something 13 speed, probably Dura Ace, I don't know, but Shimano typically announces stuff at Sea Otter and the road side is up for change after Shimano overhauled their MTB groups recently. 

SRAM typically has a big deal announcement at Sea Otter as well, so I'd expect something there, but again, we'd probably not be too surprised by anything they would announce either. At this point with electronically controlled shifting the only big surprise I could see would be wireless braking, which SRAM has worked on, and something I'd have ZERO interest in even looking at. Maybe I'm the odd man out. 

At any rate, stay tuned.... Things are going to be busy for a bit on the news front. 

Image courtesy of Vittoria Tires

Vittoria Offers Really Wide Road Tires:

Vittoria Tires says, " Road tires are getting bigger. Much bigger."

Several weeks ago I talked a bit on this site about the move many companies are making to include wider tire clearances on their "endurance" road bike models. 

Vittoria's introduction of a 700 x 38mm and 700 x 42mm Corsa Pro Control road tire points to this being a solid trend. Although it should be mentioned that Vittoria also sees these tires as being replacements for gravel treads where riders are focused more on pavement. 

I'll also mention a comment left on my February 19th post, (link above) mentioned the 42mm Corsa Pro was on a Cervelo as stock, but the person commenting did not know if the tire was available separately. It would appear that this is now the case. 

On their Facebook page, Vittoria posted about the Corsa Pro tires by saying the following: "Developed to bring race-level road performance to the new generation of crossover bikes, these slick tires are built to handle asphalt, pavé, cobbles, and compact gravel while preserving the speed and ride feel of the Corsa PRO family."

Comments: This also lines up with my thoughts of how the "road bikes for the people" will be wider tired, less racy bikes with a LOT more capability when it comes to terrain use. Honestly, a bicycle with 42mm tires like the Corsa Pro tires is right up my alley. There are a lot of times when a tire like this with a wide-range drive train makes tons of sense here, especially a bike that has fender mounts. 

In my opinion, most tread is useless on crushed rock roads. I've ridden a Donnelly tire which was very similar to this Vittoria tire on gravel here and it was fine. You can run the pressures down and on a wider rim something like this, with its lighter weight and nicer ride quality would be awesome. 

Image courtesy of Aeron TPU Tubes

Review Announcement: Aeron TPU Tubes:

 Today I should be receiving some Aeron TPU tubes in the post which I plan on reviewing here for GTP. 

You may have seen my Rene Herse TPU tube review from last year.  I've also looked at WTB TPU tubes, (With an update on those HERE) and the original TPU tube, Tubolito. 

As you might notice from looking at all those reviews and updates, if you do, you will mark a slow evolution in TPU tubes and performance. Most notably around the valve stem part of the TPU tube. 

Manufacturers are still dialing in and fine tuning TPU tubes to be reliable, easy to use, and have better features. My attention has been brought to bear on what Aeron is offering and I thought it would be good to see how this product stacks up against others in this field. 

The Aeron valve stem is partially threaded for grip when using friction interface pumps and screw-on pump heads.  The valve core is removable as well. Aeron claims their tube is a multi-layer construction and this allows the tube to fit anywhere from a 32mm tire to a 52mm tire. Quite a difference from previous TPU tubes I've tried. 

This and the price is just under 30 bucks a pop. So, there is a lot of promise there and the expectations are high. Stay tuned for this review to be started next week.  

That is a wrap for this week. Get out there and ride those bicycles! 

Sea Otter: Left-Overs

Vittoria's T50 gravel tire (Image courtesy of Vittoria)

Vittoria Simplifies Tire Names, Introduces New T50 Tire:

Vittoria is going to move away from its current naming conventions for its gravel tire line up. Apparently the Mezcal will also be switching to this new way of naming Vittoria's gravel range.

In effect, the new naming convention will help riders determine what tire is best for their riding intentions. So, a smoother, faster tire, like the Terreno Zero, will be a T10. Something more aggressive will have a much higher "T" score going all the way to 100. Vittoria will support this with a "tire-finder" on their site which will ask riders questions to help funnel them to tires which fit their riding needs best.

To illustrate this range we have the new Terreno T50, so, a tire right smack-dab in the middle of the new range and as one would expect, is being marketed as an all-arounder.  This tire is punture-protected, has a sidewall protection, and will come in a new "tan" sidewall along with the standard black. Gone are the grey sidewalls of the past. This tire currently is only offered in 700 x 40mm.

Comments: Okay...... I don't know if this new tire-finder way of naming these tires will make all that much difference. Initially, as Vittoria works through changing the range this Summer, my thought would be if someone is looking for a Mezcal and doesn't see any, (because now it is a "T" something tire), they won't buy Vittoria. But maybe the "Mezcal" part lives alongside the "T" bit for awhile, easing the transition. Otherwise, I don't see this "T" thing as a big benefit to the consumer. Most riders are going to listen to their group-think advisors online anyway, since bike shops are fading, and media cannot possibly cover every tire.

Moots Routt in the California Dreamin' ano scheme. (Image courtesy of Moots)

Moots Calfornia Dreamin' Limited Edition Routt:

Look at it. It is anodized titanium, high-end parts, and costs an eye-watering amount of money. Twenty-five will be made available by Moots. It's called "California Dreamin'". Got it....

Moving on.... 

Image courtesy of Maxxis Tires

Maxxis Debuts New Compound Across Gravel Tire Range:

Maxxis Tires announced a new compound for their rubber used across their four tire gravel range. Called "HYPR-X", this new compound is going to be integrated throughout the range during 2025.

The new compound borrows from Maxxis' HYPR road tire compound which is known for low rolling resistance. This is mixed with Maxxis' XC racing tire compound called "MaxxisSpeed". The result will be a tough, low rolling resistance compound for gravel.

Maxxis claims the new gravel oriented HYPR-X will lend riders 19% better cornering traction over the previous compound used and 25% less rolling resistance.  A new, even stronger Nylon will be used for the casings in the 120TPI tires which Maxxis says will "vastly increase tread durability". The EXO sidewall protection will also be applied to the range. All sizes in the gravel range will now be tubeless ready. Note the new tire hot patches, which will replace current branding. All tires will ship in new, recyclable paper packaging as well.

The Reaver and Rambler in 700 x 45mm will be the first to get the new compound  and casing with the other tires and sizes in the range to follow. See more on Maxxis' site. 

Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles

Salsa Revamps Full Sus Range:

Salsa Cycles announced last Thursday they had revamped the entire full suspension range of bikes, including e-bike FS. I'm not going to go into detail on the entire range, but I will speak to the one bike in the whole range which I found interesting: The 'entry level' Spearfish C Eagle Transmission.

 This bike has 120mm front/rear travel via Rock Shox SID range dampers. Decent wheels and tires, a good geometry, and that 'Dusty Rose' hue looks pretty cool.

Comments: I am amused this bike costs 5G. The range-topping Spearfish C DLX XO is over twice as expensive. So....I could buy two C Eagle Transmission models and have money left over compared to the XO model?

Ridiculous. How did we get here?  

Courtesy of Sage Titanium's Instagram

Sage Titanium "Dropinator" Points To MTB Trend In Gravel:

Sage Titanium showed off a new bike at Sea Otter which grafted gravel bike geometry with a 100mm suspension fork. The bike dubbed "The Dropinator" also has  a dropper seat post, 1X SRAM drive train, and Rock Shox Attendant Control electronics for the fork and dropper post. 

Comments: As I have often stated here on these digital pages, 40mm - 50mm of "gravel suspension fork t5ravel" is functionally useless. You can see here 100mm is where the action is going to be, that is if this takes off as a "thing".  

I've also said the Fargo/Cutthroat class of drop bar MTB was already doing this sort of job, but what I see here is a trend toward taking the concept to a racier, lighter chassis than a bikepacking bike has.

But in the end, this all points to what is happening in the upper echelons of Pro XC MTB, just with a drop bar variant thrown in. Keeping in mind this bicycle debuted at an event which had been a XC MTB event up until this year. Does this have any bearing on the reason the bike exists? Possibly, but I think more so this points, once again, to "gravel" being the hot ticket. If we can disguise a hard tail XC rocket ship as a drop bar gravel bike with a suspension fork and call it "monster gravel", or whatever they end up calling this concept, then you have something to get folks excited about.

In the end, I think this concept is fine. I did something similar with a Gen 2 Fargo and an 80mm travel Reba fork once. But it was not a "gravel bike".  It just wasn't the same on actual unpaved roads, which is where a gravel bike really shines. Drop bar MTB is really cool, and I do like it, but again - this Sage model and bikes like this are a drop bar MTB bikes. Let's not kid ourselves here.

Friday News And Views

WCS Mountain Adventure Fork (Image courtesy of Ritchey Design)

 Sea Otter Edition of the FN&V:

Today marks the second to last day of the Sea Otter festival at Laguna Seca Raceway. Here is the first item from Sea Otter for today from Ritchey design.

Ritchey design Releases Mt Adventure Fork, News On A Tom Ritchey Book:

 Today Ritchey Design released news on their new "WCS Mountain Adventure Fork". A carbon fiber fork meant to adapt 120-130mm hard tail 29"ers to full-rigid status. This fork is in a similar vein as the recently announced Wilde "Future Proof Fork".

Featuring rack and fender mounts, internal dynamo lighting route, accessory mounts on each fork leg, and capability to handle a tire up to 2.4" wide, this fork should find a home on bikepacker's rigs. It is light,as well being made from carbon, so the overall weight is listed at 565 grams with an uncut 1 1/8th to 1 1/2" tapered steer tube. Boost spacing should accommodate most modern MTB wheels. No price was listed for the WCS Adventure Fork in the press release but the fork is at Sea Otter in the Ritchey booth. Available from April 15th onward.

Image courtesy of Ritchey Design

Furthermore, Ritchey Design is proud to announce a new book detailing the story of Tom Ritchey's life in "cycling history, professional triumphs and rebounds from near devastating mishaps".

Ritchey is starting a Kickstrater to fund this project. Early adopters will be in for access to (depending on donor level) a choice of a special limited edition of One Ride Away, a discounted from MSRP standard edition or supporter shirt with their purchase.

Comments: The Adventure fork is interesting in that it has a tapered steer tube and is made from carbon fiber. The tapered steer tube would be a non-issue with any other brand, but Ritchey typically eschews this type of steerer saying the straight steer tube designs lend a better ride quality to rigid forks.

I think carbon forks are not that big of a deal when it comes to knocking about on a trail bike or for bikepacking, but a certain element of the cycling world does still have reservations when it comes to carbon. Of course, there are choices, so maybe these folks are more of the type which would choose the Wilde offering. 

Sea Otter Switches To Gravel:

Today the big event will be the kick-off to the Life Time Grand Prix series for 2025. Instead of the traditional XC MTB event, the riders will now be doing a "gravel race", although some of the course will be essentially from the XC event.  (??)

The riders will be taking on the 88.8 total miles on a loop course which is done three times. Prizing has been increased over 2024, so each event in the Grand Prix will now have a purse of  $30,000.00 evenly split between the Men's and Women's fields. That should spark some pretty motivated racing, if this is how you are funding Life through 2025.

Comments: It should be noted the series will also add a XC MTB event at the end of the series with the new "Little Sugar" mtb event which will be the penultimate event in the series which ends with the Big Sugar gravel event. Both of those events happening in Arkansas. 

This new "gravel" event at Sea Otter is kind of weird in that the terrain is super-hilly, but is dirt, pavement, and pretty tame looking gravel not unlike what we have around town here in our alleys. Obviously, they are doing their best to find some kind of a course and honestly, it looks tough. So, we'll see what folks think, but I saw the course preview on You Tube, and the climbing is no joke. Good luck to all that take this on.

Image courtesy of Continental Tires

Continental Introduces New MTB Tires:

Continental released information on three new tires for its MTB range which replace the Race King, Mountain King, and Trail King models. I will only be focusing on the new "Dubnital" XC race tire as it has direct crossover to gravel usage.

The new Dubnital has a fast, lower block tread and features Continentals "Rapid" or "Grip" compounds depending upon the model chosen. Then you can choose between Trail or Race casings. Trail being the tougher of the two with Race being the lightest. These come in black wall or Conti's "tan" wall. Sizes are listed as all 29"er with one exception in black wall/Trail casing/Grip compound for 27.5"ers. Prices are around 67 to 74 bucks each depending upon the model's features.

Comments: I think the go-to tire here would be a Rapid compound, Race casing Dubnital in the 2.20" size, while a Fargo rider might opt for the wider 2.4 in a Trail casing. But either way, these tubeless ready, hookless bead compatible tires look to find a home on many a gravel oriented bicycle's wheels. 

Image courtesy of Niner Bikes.

Niner Bikes Introduces the O.R.E. RDO Gravel Bike:

Niner Bikes announced a new model this past Monday. It is called the "O.R.E. RDO, in their typical acronym nomenclature. This model's name stands for "Off Road Explorer Race Day Only". The RDO part generally confers the carbon frame material in Niner's range.

The marketing on this bike is pointing straight at the mountain biker who is looking for their first gravel bike. A 69° head tube angle mated with a longer front-center establishes what Niner thinks will be an "at home feel" for the avid mountain biker coming over to gravel. Furthering the MTB-like appeal the O.R.E. RDO is suspension corrected for a 40mm travel gravel fork.

The bike will be available in a few complete build options and as a frame and fork in two colors. Frames start at $2,500.00. 

Comments: A "mountain biker's gravel bike". How many times has this line been used for a gravel bike by a predominantly MTB oriented company? I was a bit dismayed to see only 50mm tire clearance and a 70mm bottom bracket drop. That is not very progressive in this current evolution of gravel bikes, but it isn't terrible. I really scratch my head though when I see high bottom brackets like this, especially when short crank arms are all the rage with MTB'ers these days. That's a T47 bottom bracket, by the way. I like that.

These claims of having this "forward thinking geometry" make me laugh when I look at my Honeman Flyer with geometry that is similar in many ways to this bike and comes from the 1930's. Ha! 

Image courtesy of Velo Orange

Growtac Equal Friction Shifters:

Velo Orange released information on Tuesday for their new Growtac Equal Control Levers. They are friction shifters, which means you don't have any indexing - no 'clicks'. Essentially a rider moves the lever until the chain makes its 'shift' and then the rider can adjust, or 'trim' the derailleur, until the chain is centered over the gear selected. Front derailleurs are infinitely adjustable so rubbing chains can be a thing of the past.

It might sound hard, but once you get the hang of it, (yes- there is some skill involved and a learning curve), it becomes second nature. I used a friction shifting bike as a commuter for several years and it is amazing how 'in-tune' you get to the system over time.

Another bonus: You can mix and match previously unmatchable components. SRAM Eagle derailleur, eight speed cassette, and a triple crank with a Campy front derailleur? Yep. As long as the chain tension can be maintained by the rear derailleur, you are good to go with a friction shifter. 

The Growtac Equal levers are also available as a brake lever only. This makes 1X or single speed set-ups possible without having a need for the shifting bits. The levers look great, and the word from Velo Orange is that they work quite nicely with mechanical disc brakes. You can read more HERE from Velo Orange.

Comments: I am honestly kind of excited about these levers. But holy-moly, the price isn't cheap! At $212.00  per shift lever and $125.00 for each brake lever, these will test your commitment level to friction shifting! Still, a very cool alternative to have available. 

Image courtesy of Allied Bikes

Allied Bikes Debuts Able With Big Tire Clearances:

Allied dropped this new Able bike on Tuesday of this week which features clearances for up to a 57mm 29"er tire.  Boasting "gravel racing geometry", the bike has a 70.5° head tube angle, a 74° seat tube angle, and an 80mm bottom bracket drop.

Due to the massive bottom bracket drop Allied warns Able owners to not use any tire smaller than a 700 X 45mm. This is perhaps a first. A recommendation for minimum tire size! 

Able bikes are ready to be ordered and you can also get a frame set. A frameset will set you back a cool $4,500.00 for the base model and options can take it up from there. (And it isn't even a Made in the USA frame!) More information can be seen on Allied's site HERE. 

Comments: Woo! That is a large tire clearance! Drop bar MTB? Hmm.... I do like the geometry. Raleigh had a bike very similar to this several years ago. I forget the model's name but it was a quite displeasing shade of brown! Anyway, nothing new here in terms of the geometry, so saying things like "gravel racing geometry" is but another phrase from the Book of Marketing Chutzpah.

And yeah.....that's a lotta money for this bike!

That wraps up this FN&V. If I find more Sea Otter stuff to post I'll run another article tomorrow, maybe..... Get on those bikes and Ride!

Double-Duty

 In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

 There was a time on the blog here when I was doing "double-duty" as an onsite festival reporter AND preparing to unleash the ultra-distance gravel event called Trans Iowa within weeks of each other

Yeah.....that wasn't very smart of me to do. But, I lived through it all, and somehow I was successful. Obviously big props have to go to my volunteers for Trans Iowa at the time and to my co-director in those days, David Pals.

Hammer Nutrition for Trans Iowa v10

Late March and early April was the time I had a lot of things coming to a point. Getting sponsored items in for the event was one of the biggies.

This wasn't told on the blog here, but stacks of products and prizing usually took up plenty of space in the Guitar Ted Headquarters during early April. It was not very fun for the rest of the family who had to work around the inconveniences Trans Iowa put upon them. This only added to my stress in putting on this event, but ya know..... I did what I had to do!

The other part of all this was preparing the odds and ends many do not think about. Things like pens. Clipboards and tape. Making sure the truck was ready. Number plates. pipe cleaners, zip ties, and paper clips. Markers. Maps.

I had a checklist and I was constantly going over it. But again, not much about this was ever written up here at the time. But on top of all this, for three years in a row, I went to cover Sea Otter for "Twentynine Inches", the website I was contributing to at the time from 2007 - 2009 when I attended Sea Otter for the final time. After this time I was the sole proprietor of the site and I decided not to go, as I had a California based contributor who covered the event for me.

An extra windy day at Sea Otter in 2008

I was happy to have been able to go to Sea Otter for those three years. However; travel time and all the missed opportunities for being with my family and taking care of Trans Iowa business really made Sea Otter a pain for me. The experiences in the Monterrey area will be a highlight, for sure, but having Sea Otter right before Trans Iowa was really, really hard. In fact, I pushed the date for Trans Iowa v5 into the first week of May because of my previous two years of dealing with one week of separation between the two events.

Leaving Sea Otter in 2009. This was the last thing I saw at the venue on that day.

 Like the image above, my time at Sea Otter is a misty haze of memories. I'll likely never go back there again, and I am fine with this thought. I do also know I never made any effort to go back, mostly because of Trans Iowa, and because of this reason, I just got used to not having to be there with "boots on the ground" to cover any news coming from this show.

Of course, having my previously mentioned friend, Grannygear, there who was more than happy to go every year to cover news and send images was a huge help. However; even without the help, I wasn't planing on going there again as long as Trans Iowa was around.

But for three years, I was there and for many years afterward, Sea Otter news figured heavily in this blog's writings. And it probably still will as long as Sea Otter continues to be the place where cycling brands and marketers release information and new products. 

Friday News And Views

  A Very Gravel-filled FN&V!

Gravel Amplifier: The Skirmish:

The area around Northwest Arkansas is rife with mountain bike and gravel event activities, but how about something in Northeast Arkansas? That is where an event dubbed "The Skirmish" takes place. 

The event is being promoted as more than just a race. It will be a "festival" of gravel, and event promoters plan a multi-day experience for those who attend. Here is a bullet point list taken from an article seen on the "Arkansas Outside website HERE. 

• Live music on Friday night.
• A family-friendly “slow roll” ride through the Arkansas State University campus and downtown on Saturday.
• A vendor expo showcasing various products and services.
• Opportunities to meet and greet participating athletes.

The daily schedule will look like this: 

• Thursday: Kick things off with a group ride to energize for the weekend.
• Friday: Enjoy two group rides, explore the vendor expo, meet the athletes, and attend a lively welcome party with free live music.
• Saturday: Participate in the main cycling event followed by a post-race celebration. Family-friendly activities will ensure everyone enjoys the day.
• Sunday: Wrap up the weekend with a relaxing short ride, followed by a video and photo montage showcasing the event’s highlights. Award ceremonies and prize distributions will mark the official closing.

The event will take place out of Jonesboro, Arkansas from May 29th - June 1st with the race date being Saturday, May 31st. The earlier you register the less the event costs, but overall this ranks pretty high on the dollar-per-mile scale I use to rank event value. 

Comments: Can't make it into Unbound, or has that event lost you with its growth and focus? Check out this event, held on the same date as Unbound, by the way. In my opinion this will have a feel much akin to Mid-South in that the community will show out for this, but it won't have a focus on the upper echelon of athletes to the point of ignoring the average rider. 

The last Gents Race logo. For real this time?

Gents Race Run Ends v2:

The event dubbed at first as The Renegade Gentleman's Race, but eventually was known as as just "Gents Race", has posted on social media saying that the event's run is over.

Thanking the past riders of the event in helping raise over $40,000.00 in donations for different causes, the directors of the event also rightly pointed out that the gravel calendar has become a rather crowded space in the Springtime when this event was held. 

Comments: Well, we've been here before with saying this event was over, and you never know, but this time the announcement has a bit of an air of finality to it. This makes me feel like the Gents Race is truly now gravel history. The event, started in 2011, was one of but a handful of gravel specific events held in Iowa at that time. Fast-forward to 2025 and there are two multi-event series on gravel held in Iowa plus many other events which were non-existent back in 2011. 

The Gents Race's unique structure, a team of five time trial, was open to interpretation enough that in some ways the event represented a "gravel RAGBRAI/party-pace event for many who participated in the event over the years. Of course, many also could take the racing part seriously, and did so, which is what made this a very unique and attractive event for many years in Iowa. It was an event challenging enough, (held during the first full weekend of April, metric century length) yet one that embodied the social aspect (party-pace option, mid-ride checkpoint at a winery, social bar time at the end), that there was an appeal across a wide section of society. 

I did a look back at my experiences with the Gents Race HERE in a post from 2023. Check those images out for a feel of what this event was about.
 

New Podcast Dropped:

N.Y. Roll had intended that we would talk about a few new things on the podcast including his pair of WTB i76 fat bike rims, his new Lake gravel shoes, and what we would do for a dream lighting set up for our bicycles. 

While we did get around to all of that, there is a fair bit of discussion and weirdness sandwiched in between those topics. N.Y. Roll bitterly rued our rabbit trail dives, but we made it through the episode. 

I think he's just being a bit sensitive concerning a comment we received saying we are just a couple of old men complaining. Which is rich considering that the comment is a complaint. Someone actually took the time and effort to let us know that. As if we weren't already aware that we complain. I mean, c'mon! If we said everything was roses we'd get lambasted for "not being real", right? Comments we make are our opinions, negative or positive. You can call that whatever you'd like. So, listen or do not listen. Complaining about our content isn't helping anyone. 

Check it all out HERE if you are interested in hearing two old men complain. I jest! But it is true.....

We're hoping to get a long-time guest on next and then start in with my talks with early gravel scene folks. If you have any suggestions for a guest that you'd like to hear from concerning the early days of gravel cycling, let me know in the comments.

Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame To Reveal 2025 Class:

Monday January 27th will be the day that the next class of inductees will be revealed that are going to be enshrined in the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame in late May in Emporia, Kansas. 

Electors were sent the nominees last December and asked to choose five from a long list. Of the five chosen, each had to be ranked 1 - 5 with the elector's number one vote being weighted more than the next and so on. The GCHoF board then compiled all the votes, added up their rankings, and chose three new inductees for the class of 2025.

With the announcement of the 2025 class the total number of individuals in the hall will be 19. The GCHoF started in 2021 and inducted its first class in 2022, which included seven people, including myself. 

Comments: I'll be keen to see which three of the list that was sent to me to vote on will be getting the nod this year. I will have a complete commentary on the 2025 inductees next week after the announcement on Monday. So, stay tuned for that as I will have some very interesting comments depending on how this class shapes up. 

Image courtesy of Life Time Sea Otter

Life Time Sea Otter To Feature Gravel Heavily:

Sea Otter began as a mountain bike festival. Then as the years wore on it took on road racing and other forms of cycling, especially at the expo. Now, in 2025, under Life Time's ownership, the festival will be gravel-centric. 

Life Time is holding its first Grand Prix event here and has switched it from a mountain bike event to a gravel event. 50 folks will take away free entry to Life Time's Unbound Gravel event. Furthermore, Life Time is promoting its expo as being home to "the cutting edge in gravel" components and bicycles. 

Meet-ups with top gravel athletes and gravel specific workshops will also be offered this year. Life Time predicts that upwards of 70,000 folks will attend the four day event which will be held April 18th - 21 at Laguna-Seca Raceway. 

Comments: With Sea Otter having taken over the role that Interbike used to have in regard to introducing new product and providing a meet-up for industry folks, it is no wonder then that "gravel" is taking over the festival. Gravel being really the only bright spot in the marketplace (besides electrified bicycles) and it certainly draws the most people in terms of events. 

Expect to see a lot of cycling media sites and YouTube accounts spilling coverage all over the place starting in April.
 

Special Thanks: Thanks to all those who commented on the post yesterday, or who have taken the time to give me a Happy Birthday shout-out on social media. I appreciated each and every one of your messages!

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions! Get out there and ride those bicycles!

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Rivendell Bikes

 A Corpulent Sea Otter Edition

Seven Speed Specific Hub From Rivendell:

I found this on Instagram recently. A seven speed specific rear hub from Rivedell. Why, in an era of 12 speed rear cassettes, would anyone want a seven speed hub? 

Well, if you asked that, glad you asked, because I can think of several reasons why you'd want this. 

First of all, and less obvious, these hubs have a shorter cassette body, just like the original 7 speed cassette hubs of the 1980's, and that allowed Rivendell to spec a wider hub flange spacing. This allows for a stronger, more reliable wheel, especially for carrying loads. Secondly, seven speed components, like the chain and cassette, have more material than current 11 and 12 speed chains and cassettes which is advantageous from a wear standpoint. Finally, if you get the right sort of cassettes, they can have shifting ramps that stand more proud from the cassette cog enabling better shifting under loads and longer wear as well. 

The Rivendell rear hub is available in silver and a light green anodized hue as shown. The cost is a reasonable $170.00 and they weigh  a claimed 314 grams. I'm not sure if there is a matching green ano front hub, and yes- rim brake only. This is Rivendell, after all. 

Image courtesy of Cane Creek

Cane Creek Debuts Invert Gravel Suspension Fork:

Monday of this week news dropped concerning the new Cane Creek Invert, a gravel suspension fork Cane Creek claims is the "first gravel suspension fork". 

Using a novel combination of a uni-crown style carbon crown and carbon steer tube mated to aluminum uppers and lowers, this fork utilizes an inverted telescopic design, thus the name, "Invert". 

Two models are in the range, one with lock-out, one without. The fork utilizes an air spring, oil bath lubrication, but no damper system as Cane Creek believes that things happen so quickly on gravel with regard to shock absorbing duties that a damper cannot keep up. In fact, their testing showed that a fork in prototype form utilizing a damper was not as satisfactory as one without. 

The travel is limited, as it is with all telescopic "gravel" suspension designs, to either 30mm or 40mm of travel. This forces the axle to crown to be at 425mm for the 30mm travel option, or 435 for the 40mm travel option. So, unless your gravel bike is designed for suspension forks, this will mess with your fit and handling to a degree. Most non-suspension designs for gravel will have an axle to crown of around 400mm, plus or minus a few millimeters.  

Cost is $1,099.00 for the Invert with no lockout, the lightest at 990 grams claimed weight, or $1,199.00 for the lock-out version which weighs a claimed 1,113 grams. 

Comments: Again, this is a telescopic fork, and I will refer you to what I wrote earlier about such forks HERE if you want my full-take on why these types of forks are not ideal for gravel use. I am not saying this, or any other telescopic gravel suspension fork will not work for gravel riders. I am saying this is not the best option for gravel. (See that link for why that is, if you want more on my thoughts) 

I will also point out here that - yes - the Invert has a service interval of every 50 hours for an "oil flush" and every 100 hours for "Full Service". So, keep that in mind when you are thinking about this option. Just to remind you, suspension stems do not have such limitations. Finally, while Cane Creek is to be commended for reducing the weight of this fork to a level that mimics a steel, uni-crown rigid gravel fork, the Lauf Grit weighs a claimed 936 grams right out of the box. Cane Creek is basing their claims on a cut, 165mm steer tube, so it is close to a Lauf but not quite, and the Lauf is maintenance free. 

Carbon Piedmont wheels Image courtesy of e'Thirteen

e'Thirteen Debuts New Piedmont Gravel Wheels:

Known more for their MTB components, e'Thirteen have just announced new Piedmont Gravel wheel sets in alloy and carbon. 

Utilizing straight-pull hubs with a 4 pawl, 3° engagement, the new rims are now 26mm inner rim width on the carbon and 24mm in alloy. The rims use a proprietary Quick Fill valve stem which is provided with the wheels.

The carbon rims have a 31mm profile height, are made from high-modulus carbon fiber with a hookless bead design, and have a lifetime warranty. The carbon rims weigh in at 340 grams each. Wheel set weight is estimated at 1400 grams for the set. 

The alloy rims have a 19.5mm profile height and weigh in at 415 grams each. The alloy rims are also a hookless design. Wheel set weight is estimated at 1500 grams a set. Hubs are identical on each set and the spokes are Sapim D-Lites at 24 count front and rear for both wheel models. The front hub is convertible with the supplied alloy end caps to be either 15mm or 12mm through axle compatible while the rear is a 142mm X 12mm only.

Prices are $1,679.90 for the carbon versions and $749.90 for the alloy versions. 

Image courtesy of Kona Bikes

Kona Ouroboros - Carbon Drop Bar Bike:

Kona announced a new model on Wednesday called the Ouroboros, a front suspended carbon framed "gravel/MTB" bike. 

Using the the Fox TC32 on the entry level $3,799.00 model and the Rock Shox Rudy XPLR Charger Race Day (really?!) fork on the range-topping $6,999.00 model, the bike will allow 40mm of front travel. There is a rigid fork model in between the front sus bikes at $4,799.00 which is also the only bike sporting a front derailleur (!!) All bikes feature wide gearing ranges from SRAM. 

Comments: This bike, I think, is the bike that someone from Kona tipped me off to last year, or was that 2022? Anyway, it was quite some time ago now. The point is, I've been patiently awaiting news of a new drop bar bike model from Kona for quite some time, and now it appears that it is finally here. 

There are certain things I see here that are great: Lower range gearing, big, 2.1" tire clearances, a decently low bottom bracket, and a slack, sub-70 degree head tube angle at a claimed 69.5°. However; by now you should all understand that I am not a fan of "under-traveled", 'gravel' suspension fork designs. Especially spec'ed on a bike aimed at mountain bikers who, for the most part, are not going to think 40mm of travel is enough when their forks are running three times that amount of travel, or more. And then you have the Salsa Cycles' Cutthroat, which actually does support a real MTB fork and has big tire clearances. 

So, in my opinion, this bike is kind of a weird fashion statement, and the real gem is the rigid bike. But maybe that's just me.....

But Wait! There's More! Apparently, according to a "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" report released on Wednesday, Kona had set up their Sea Otter booth and then tore it back down at the behest of their company overlords, Kent Outdoors. (Kona was sold a couple years ago by the originator's of the brand) Reportedly a group call will have been held on Thursday with the entire Kona staff and then..... Who knows? Maybe the Ouroboros won't be a thing after all.  UPDATED 4/20/24: Scuttlebutt on the social channels, with some claiming insider info, are saying Kona has been shut down by it's owners. This is not verified public info., Late Saturday evening "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" posted that the company would be put up for sale by its owner, Kent Outdoors. Se the article HERE.

Image courtesy of Munich Composites

More Wheel News:

More introductions concerning wheels happened this week. One of the most interesting to my mind was the acquisition of Munich Composites, a company from Germany, by the Cardinal Group and Boyd Cycling. This new arrangement will bring carbon wheel manufacturing to North Carolina where a state of the art facility will begin producing carbon fiber wheels made with continuous strand technology. 

The patented technique is said to produce a stronger, lighter rim without the use of sheets of pre-preg carbon which then has to be laboriously laid up in a mold. The technique utilized by Munich Composites braids the rim together instead. (See image) The company hopes to have rims produced in the  USA by mid-Summer.

Classified, the internal geared rear hub maker, has just announced that they are now partnering with Enve to offer their proprietary hub, cassette and shifting system in Enve wheel builds. The press release also said that the wheels would also be available on Enve carbon bike model "rolling chassis" options as well. Prices are, as one would expect, on the upper end of what wheels cost these days, but you are getting a partial drive train and shifting system as well. 

Image courtesy of Ritchey Design

Ritchey Design Offers New Butano Ridge Super-Logic Bar/Stem:

Ritchey Design announced a new carbon stem/handle bar with its latest offering, the Butano Ridge Super-Logic 

The design features internal cable routing which can be accessed by a removable cover, a "flattened round" shaped top section, and low weight, of course. The 44cm wide, 110mm length stem version weighs in at 417 grams. 

The Butano Ridge has a 17.5° flare and comes in a matte UD finish. Price in the USA is $599.00. See Ritchey Design for more details on options for sizes of this bar. Keep your eyes peeled for some other Ritchey news in the near future that I think many will be interested in. 

Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles

Salsa Cycles Debuts E-MTB's:

Salsa Cycles continues to roll out their electrified bicycle models and at Sea Otter they are featuring two new MTB eBikes.

The first, here shown to the left, is the Notch, a 160mm travel enduro bike which features a 65 watt/hr Bosch mid-mount motor producing up to 85Nm of torque. 

The other model is the all-mountain Moraine with 145mm of Split-Pivot suspension and a Fazua motor. Each model comes in two spec ranges and each model starts at $4,999.00 and tops out at $5,999.00. See these and other Salsa eBikes HERE. 

Image courtesy of Delium Tires

New Gravel Tire Brand Delium Debuts:

Another gravel tire brand hits the market at Sea Otter and their name is Delium Tires. There are some Delium MTB tires already out there, but these three new models are their first foray into the gravel market. 

To the left here we see the AllRounder, a tire meant for multiple surface types. If you thought it was a Gravel King you could be forgiven, but it isn't a Gravel King. 

The Delium AllRounder comes in 38mm, 43mm, and 50mm widths, all folding bead and tubeless ready with a medium dual compound rubber. 

The next tire up is the Delium SpeedX. This one excels on dry terrain and hard-packed conditions. This model has a triple-compound rubber with a softer, grippier center tread. It comes in a 38mm, 40mm, and 45mm widths. 

SpeedX image courtesy of Delium Tires.

The final tire in the new trio of gravel treads from Delium is the Loamer. This model is all about grip in looser dirt and - the company claims - wet dirt. 

This one has the dual-compound rubber like the AllRounder and also comes in the same sizes as the AllRounder. 

Casings for all three tires have what Delium calls a 'Dual Zone" construction with the side walls being a cut-resistant material and the top of the casing being a more supple construction for lower rolling resistance, grip, and comfort. All three models have 62TPI casings. All three tire models are e-bike certified and cost $49.99 each no matter the model.

Comments: "Tire tread designs are purely fashion". That's what one famous designer of tires told me one time, and well, I think the eye-test for Delium shows that they have hit on some "fashionable" looking tread designs. 

Delium Loamer. Image courtesy of Delium Tire.

That said, it is how a tire feels to ride that matters. If the tire doesn't do anything weird in terms of handling, if it feels good......what's not to like? Looks? Price? I'm going to take a stab here and say that if the Delium tires work out in terms of ride feel, looks, and weight, then the cost makes these pretty desirable. The sizes are right, the tread designs are spot-on, and the only thing missing is where you can get them at. 

About that: Hitting up their site, all three gravel tires are "pre-order" status only, and not all the sizes are available. (No 50's? Boo!) That's not a great start. 

Final Quick Hits: TIME has a revamped gravel pedal line. Looks nothing like the original gravel pedal from them and is essentially a two-sided Xtrac variant that is very expensive. Hope has a new aluminum 24mm internal width wheel with their signature hubs and new valve stems to match. Maxxis is making their Team Issue XC MTB tires available for a limited time. DT Swiss unveiled a ne 90T Ratchet free hub. 

Good luck to all the team at Iowa Wind and Rock this weekend. I hope all the riders are safe and have a great ride.

Whew! That's a wrap on this edition of the FN&V. Have a great weekend and good luck to all the Iowa Wind and Rock riders and volunteers!

News Season: Sea Otter 2023

I still haven't seen much about this since Thursday last week.

 Sea Otter is over for another year. This was probably, and arguably the first "real" Sea Otter since 2019. Vendor participation was almost back to pre-pandemic levels. So that meant that a lot of new items debuted throughout last week and at the show in conjunction with the festivities. 

And let us not forget that there was racing, and Life Time's "Grand Prix" kicked off there this past weekend. Of course, if you haven't heard, Life Time owns Sea Otter now, so they can do what they want in that regard. 

Okay, this will be a post of things I thought were interesting using images caught by my friend Grannygear who was in attendance at the show and forwarded me the images you see here today, except where indicated. We also collaborated on a post on Riding Gravel, so you may have seen some of these already.  I'll stick mostly to the gravel stuff and commentary here, but there may be an oddball thing or two that I post also. Okay, here we go.....

BlackHeart titanium gravel bike.

BlackHeart Bikes: I'd never heard about this company before seeing the image here. Cool looking bikes and all. The company mission statement I read said that they wanted a bike that struck a middle ground between gravel and road bikes. (??) Hint: A "gravel bike IS a road bike. 

Anyway.... Checking the specs on the three thousand dollar frame and I see that it is, in fact, a road racing bike. "Square" geometry in the most classic road bike style, it has a 72.5° head angle and a pretty shallow bottom bracket drop with a maximum tire clearance of 40mm. 

Not an "all-roads bike". I mean- you can ride this down your local single track, for all I care, but this is not "all-road" bike geometry for the masses. So, looks good - not gonna cut the mustard around here. 

This was seen on a Fezarri gravel bike

UDH Ready: Trends? How about UDH, the SRAM acronym for "Universal Derailleur Hangar". Seems that a lot of smaller companies are moving toward using this as it cuts down on expenses and, probably more importantly, is a sign of a future sea-change in drive train technology. 

I expect more will become clear on this in the Fall of this year. Stay tuned....

Another USA based aluminum rim maker? Yes!

Boyd Cycles Starts Up US Rim Production: News broke at the onset of the show that Boyd Cycles, the wheel purveyor from the East, was working on a manufacturing facility in South Carolina while COVID was going on and now that facility is up and running. This is pretty good news, I think.

Of course, it brings us up to two rim manufacturers in the US with Velocity USA having been here cranking out rims for quite a few years already. Boyd included in their press release that they are open to doing rims for other companies as well, so hey! Maybe a renaissance of sorts is happening with US based wheel making? Perhaps. 

You might have spied out above that the wheels set shown is $425.00 for the set, so they aren't just making high-end stuff there. Nice!

Hunt To Sell Straight Pull Hub Sets:

A lot of pre-built wheels come with cool hubs that you only can have if you buy the entire wheel. Sometimes you might want the hub, but maybe you want a 650B wheel, or even a 26"er. Well, now you can buy a Hunt Sprint SL set of hubs for that purpose and more.

Of course, they are disc and through axle only, so there is that, but most modern bikes are those standards anyway. You can get a couple different bearing types and the prices are not too bad. The "Ceramic Coated" bearing versions are $249.00 for the set. 

Straight pull spokes are not real commonplace, so I checked the innergoogles and found that I should have no fear. Lots of choices. Mostly DT Swiss and Sapim. Both solid choices there. 

The only caveat? You can only get these hubs in 20F/24R or 24F/24R spoke drillings. That probably limits these hubs appeal to the racing and lightweight freaks. But if that is you, hey - there you go!  I might keep these in mind for converting some older wheels I have to through axle and a better freehub system. 

Kenda "4titude" Tires:

I've opined on this channel about how those in the industry on the one hand are trying to pull gravel biking into mountain biking territory. Well, as with the BlackHeart bike above, there are those that don't understand "gravel" as a niche/type of bike and want to pull it back toward road racing. Another example is the Kenda "4titude" tire, developed in tandem with riders of the Belgium Waffle Ride. 

You might be thinking, "But wait! Isn't BWR a gravel series?" Well, BWR would love it if you thought so, but many of their events have higher than 50% pavement courses. That's NOT gravel, my friends. 

Not that it is wrong, but if you ride mostly pavement, you end up back in a road racing mindset, if you are in the cycling industry. It's like they cannot help themselves.... 

Anyway. The tire. Back to the tires! 

These will be available in a 35mm and a 40mm. I happen to actually like the tire by the looks of it. This type of tread pattern can be very fast around here at times. Probably not if it was like last Summer in Southern Black Hawk County, but maybe elsewhere and hopefully this year! (I can hope!) 

I have a set of Donnelly USH 40's that look similar to these Kendas that I think are great. So, I welcome tires in this vein. Big, poofy road tires, any road tires, are always a good deal. 

American Classic is now offering 700 X 45's

American Classic Offering A 700 X 45mm Tire Now: So, here's another smoother treaded tire I like a lot, the American Classic Kimberlite. They were offering it in a 700 X 35, 40, and 50mm sizes. But now you can get a 45mm! 

This is great. American Classic tires took a step up when they did their redesign last year and I tried Kimberlites in the 50mm size. The 45mm would be the deal for folks on a budget. The American Classic Kimberlites in this size should fit a ton of bikes out there and should roll like a champ. 

This isn't what I expected from Salsa back in the day, but now? Yes. I understand.

And A Few More Opinions On The E-Salsa Bikes:

I still think the shocker of the show was the Salsa e-bike deal. However; you hardly saw anything on this from mainstream cycling pubs and sites. Weird! Maybe there is a hidden reason for that? I don't know, but typically Salsa sends out press releases ahead of big announcements like this. I do not think that they did that this time.

Comments I saw regarding this on posts I put on social media and here ranged from quiet approval to outright disdain. There once was a Salsa Cycles that stood for ideals that many folks that I know were attracted to. And you'd think something like an e-gravel bike would fit the old "Adventure by Bike" philosophy that was once the province of this brand alone for a time. But something has changed since those days.

I think it is a lot of things, and the evolution of this brand has left a bad taste in the mouths of some. People have left the brand since those days, and that certainly has had an effect. The parent company has changed, and their values have changed, and that certainly has had an affect as well. Is any of this negative or positive? That's for you to decide.

But it "is". That's the point, and of course, the entire electrification of bicycles and the sea change in retail has affected this brand to a large degree as well. Like I said, it's a LOT of things all together that have brought Salsa Cycles to a place that has the brand at a bit of a crossroads in my opinion. I think this is what you see reflected in the comments on the electric Confluence gravel bike. The bike itself is neither here nor there. It's just a signpost of the brand and where it is at in 2023. 

UPDATED: 4/24/23 @ 12:00 NOON CST:

A Salsa eMTB as shown from Sea Otter on a QBP employee's Instagram page.

 An anonymous source tipped me off to the existence of a Salsa eMTB, still in development, apparently, with a Bosch mid-drive motor. The source also confirmed that the Confluence is indeed real and was also puzzled by the lack of media interest. 

So, how about them apples?

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions.