Air Pressure Is King: An Illustrative Story

During one of my Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals many years ago, we were cruising along a gravel road during a fine, hot morning when one rider asked me a question. "Hey! What air pressure are ya runnin?" 

This was probably sometime around the early 2010's, and gravel cycling was still in its "discovery phase", when people were still not really sure what worked best yet. Tubeless tires were rare, and you only had those if you were brave enough to convert some touring tires, or maybe you were running early 29"er tubeless ready stuff on a MTB. 

So that is the context for this story. Most of the riders were still running tubes on tires that were 35mm - 40mm wide. Of course, gravel was gravel. At least THAT hasn't changed! What was changing were people's perceptions of air pressure for these roads.

On that ride I mentioned, where the question was asked, a discussion arose and several of my riding companions agreed that the tire pressures to run on gravel were a lot lower than any of us would run on a typical hard surfaced road. The rider who initially asked the question was running about 20 psi higher than anyone else in the group.

We encouraged this rider to at least try running what we were running, and so he did eventually stop to adjust his air pressure to be more in line with the group. What happened next was pretty telling, at least as far as my understanding goes of the "typical cyclists mindset".  

After this rider had ridden a few miles on this lower air pressure he rode up alongside me with a puzzled look on his face. I asked him what he thought about this. Was it not better? 

He agreed it was better, but he said, "I just cannot wrap my mind around running THAT low of an air pressure". 

So, he stopped, aired back up to what he was used to, and finished the ride. Was that the "wrong" thing to do? Well, as I often say, "You CAN do a lot of things, but whether that is BEST is another question altogether." 

This traditionalist mindset is very present in much of cycling. Some of it is fine. Even good. Some of it is, like some old ways of doing things are sometimes, a bad thing to hold on to. Then there is the factor of "feeling fast". 

There is no doubt that if a tire, or bicycle, feels fast, cyclists will put up with anything negative that comes along with those feelings, even it those feelings make the rider slower. Front suspension on mountain bikes is a classic example of where riders pushed back hard against running those "heavy, inefficient forks", but later on found out those who did adopt the then new technology were most often faster than they were over the courses both were riding. 

This also happens with lowering air pressure. It does not have the effect of making a rider "feel faster", but in fact, it makes you faster more often than not. This is why many casual cyclists insist on the highest air pressures their tires are rated for. Science has debunked this notion, but the traditionalists still hang on to the old ways in some circles. 

Anyway, I could go down that rabbit hole, but since I am writing about air pressure, I'll stick to the story line here. My old riding friend? He eventually came along to agree that lowering air pressure was a good thing for his gravel riding. Change is some times hard to "wrap your mind around", even when you know it is a better way to go. 

Air Pressure Is King: There Is No "Correct" Air Pressure

 Ironically when I started thinking about this blog series I came across a post on social media where a user was contemplating a series on bicycle air pressures for their own blog. The idea put forth was to do a more "scientific" look at air pressure for cyclists and then there was a request for readers to give the poster their favorite air pressure calculator and why. 

And there isn't anything necessarily "wrong" with the approach this person wanted to pursue, however, I have always believed that there are so many variables to finding a "perfect, simple air pressure guide" that finding an answer is nearly impossible. 

What I mean by "nearly impossible" is that it would entail possibly millions of user's data, and thousands of hours of time with the detailed data recorded, to even approach anything useful to most cyclists. Plus variables would necessarily need to be accounted for which would possibly take finding an answer into rabbit holes we don't even consider now. Nevermind the expenses involved. 

Again, I'm not saying it cannot be done, but we're talking a major funded effort with real scientific equipment and oh.....how many users do you want to include? And after all of this would we get a hard number for any rider to use? So, yeah, good luck with that idea. And maybe something like this has been attempted. I don't know, but if it has been attempted the results are not widely distributed, or I would have thought I'd have come across them by now. If you are aware of a study which fits this criteria, answer in the comments, please. 

All the above does not mean you cannot do some thinking, experimenting, and come up with what works best for you. In fact, I am of a mind that personal experimentation is exactly what you should be doing. If you are not changing up air pressure from time to time, why not start now? You might learn something useful. 

Science can help. In fact, those air pressure calculators are not a bad place to get you in a ballpark. I tried SILCA's before and it was near enough to what I use most of the time to make me impressed. I wouldn't take the recommendation you might get as gospel though.

You still need to experiment. So much can affect where your air pressure should be set at. Tire construction - puncture protected or not? Rim width. Loaded down, no load, or something in between?  Rough surface, smooth surface, snow, mud, or dry? 

You get the picture. Air pressure should be changing for your rides all the time, especially the wider and more voluminous the tires. Roadies running the old 23mm tires had little room to adjust. However; even roadies should be thinking about adjusting their air pressures now with tires going from those skinny widths to 28mm and even as high as the mid-30's millimeters wide on today's road bikes.

I like to think there is no "correct air pressure" and no "wrong air pressure" for anyone. There is "air pressure that works this time", and maybe "most times", but air pressure should be something which is not locked on a single number no matter what. 

More tomorrow....

Friday News And Views

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rocky Mountain Announces Carbon Fiber Gravel Bike:

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

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

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

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

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

The Focus Atlas 8.8 (Image courtesy of Focus)

Focus Debuts Atlas Range With Boost Spacing:

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

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

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

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

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

As seen on Twitter Tuesday

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image courtesy of Panaracer

Panaracer Announced New Limited Edition Colors:

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

You can check them out here. 

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

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

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

Friday News And Views

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rocky Mountain Announces Carbon Fiber Gravel Bike:

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

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

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

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

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

The Focus Atlas 8.8 (Image courtesy of Focus)

Focus Debuts Atlas Range With Boost Spacing:

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

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

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

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

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

As seen on Twitter Tuesday

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image courtesy of Panaracer

Panaracer Announced New Limited Edition Colors:

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

You can check them out here. 

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

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

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

Friday News And Views

$800-plus bucks to save two watts? What?!

A Brief Look At What Has Been Done Before:

Last week you all probably saw this ridiculous rear derailleur cage from Ceramic Speed which has aero covers and is supposedly good for a two watt savings over something like 25 miles. Give or take. 

I know, it was probably one of the better click-bait things for many sites and it probably got a lot of tongues wagging about , "How stupid is that?!". 

I dunno..... Probably so 'stupid' that they'll sell every one of them that they make 'stupid', that's how stupid that is, most likely. 

If you believe it, it will work, most likely, and you'll pay that price for "speed". Seems to be the thing with cyclists for as long as I've been paying attention. (See the dropper post thing below)

The thing I saw when I noted that derailleur cage last week was that it wasn't the first attempt at making a rear derailleur more aero. Heck, some of you older folks probably remember the aero-rear derailleurs from Campy, Sun Tour, and others back in the 80's. Well, I thought about one effort to make components aero that was pretty involved and fell flat on its face. It was the Shimano Dura-Ace AX Series components. 

Shimano Dura Ace AX rear derailleur

The Dura Ace AX stuff was pretty radical back then. The brakes, the derailleurs, and even cable routing was considered and made to cut through the wind more smoothly. 

I cobbed a couple images for this segment from the 'innergoogles', and to the left here you can see how the upper jockey wheel is shrouded, but note that cable routing! No cable hanging out in the wind here! Due to the way derailleurs were made back then, the upper jockey wheel was deemed to be more important in an aero application than the lower one. See how all the derailleur edges are smoothed out too. 

Part of the reason Dura Ace AX fell flat with riders was its use of the new, at that time 10mm chain pitch called Dura Ace 10. Normal chains, in a metric measure, are 12.7mm in "pitch", which determines the distance between chain pins and cog teeth. If you want to take a deeper dive on why Shimano thought a 10mm chain pitch was better, read this. 

Anyway, I thought it might prove to be interesting to point out that these sorts of ideas have cropped up in cycling's past and that this Ceramic Speed idea is just a modern-day riffing on those old ideas.

Shimano's new 105 Di2 group. (Image courtesy of Shimano)

New Shimano 105 Di2: It has been years since people wondered if Shimano would ever 'trickle-down' a Di2 105 level electronic group, and finally, the day is here. It happened this week, and what might be a big surprise to many, it isn't an older, 11 speed group, or a watered down version. Nope! Shimano went all-in and equipped the new 105 Di2 with the latest in Di2 technology and made it 12 speed! You've no doubt read all about it already, so on to the....

Comments: SRAM made inroads on the market with their lower priced AXS Rival stuff, and while their system is ballyhooed for its completely wireless set up, that can be a bit of a 'drag' in terms of shifting speed. Shimano went wireless where it meant the most- in the levers, and stuck with a wired derailleur system because they did not want to compromise the speed and efficiency of their already world-class Di2. And it seems many Pro cyclists and enthusiasts agree. However; to get in on Shimano Di2, you had to spend a pretty penny because it started at the Ultegra level. 

Now with Shimano 105 Di2, he prices are far lower, and in many individual component cases, less than SRAM Rival AXS. There is one area, however, where SRAM still holds a bit of an advantage and that is in the extended range that SRAM AXS Xplor has. 

But you have to assume that GRX, being held out as a separate category by Shimano, (Gravel, vs MTB or Road), will soon see a similar update, and when it does, I assume we will see a similar 12 speed set up with wide-range casettes to go along with that. Interestingly, Shimano chose to make Di2 105 backwards compatible with HyperGlide 11, 10, and some earlier free hub bodies. Will GRX stay that course, or will the 12 speed be MicroSpline, as it is with their MTB stuff?

My feeling is that Shimano sees GRX being more closely related to road bike componentry and therefor they will stick to the course set by Di2 DuraAce, Ultegra, and 105, in my opinion. Or.....Di2 105 is being stuck with the "old" free hub and newer road and GRX stuff will be MicroSpline. I can see it going either way. 

The bad thing here is that this may signal the end of high-end, mechanically operated drive trains. Now I mean from SRAM and Shimano. I think you'll always have stuff like Microshift around doing whatever the 'big guys' are not doing.  But there was no traditional 105 announced with this, so..... Makes one think.

SILCA's "The Truth" tire pressure gauge. (Image courtesy of SILCA)

You Can't Handle The "Truth"!:

Well, you can pre-order it for about $249.00 though! What am I talking about? This thing that SILCA has made for Pro and insider's use only for many years, that's what. 

Almost $250.00 for a tire pressure gauge? Yep! If getting every last bit of performance out of your tires is of paramount importance to you, this gauge will help you get that. 

I know.....I know... You squeeze your tires using that highly calibrated 'hand gauge' you've always used and head on out the door. Yeah, well- this ain't fer you. Racers, time-trialists, fat bikers, and anyone that wants to hit the 'sweet spot' on pressure every time they ride, this is for you. Yes- it is expensive. I'd counter that with the history of SILCA so far in the USA being one that has shown that it provides some pretty high-end, reliable tools and kit. Listen- The Pros wouldn't have been using this if it didn't hold up and do a good job.

I mean, this gauge compensates for temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity. That's more than I can say about myself, right there. If only I could compensate for humidity....... I know one thing I am going to compensate for, and that is using another type of gauge I can afford, (or already have) to compensate for the waaaay expensive SILCA gauge. That's what I am doing....

The "G Series" Dropper Post (Image courtesy of Enve)

Don't Stop Till You Dropper: 

Or something like that..... Anyway! The dropper post for gravel riding, or heck, even just road riding. I think it is a vastly underrated and misunderstood thing. Most, even Enve and others that promote the use of such lowering devices for gravel, think they exist to get you down a sketchy segment. Well.....yeah, but....

Aerodynamics. That's why you should be using a dropper post on a gravel bike. The rest of that nonsense is gravy. Dropping your tush on a long descent via the use of a dropper will make you leave your friends in your dusty contrail. That's if you just sit there and coast! 

 Don't believe me? Well, you go try it and get back to me afterward. I don't "think" you'll agree- I know you will. It's a thing. Better than a derailleur cage cover.....pffft!

So, Enve has seen that from a more MTB perspective, and totally missed the boat on the best reason to use one of these, but whatever. They will catch on someday. The point here is that Enve has developed an "upside down" dropper for a bicycle. They call it the "G Series Dropper Post".

You can read why they did what they did here. I think it is an intriguing way to do this idea. It allows for saddle bags, for one thing, and it seems that this design may indeed do what Enve claims in terms of keeping the muck out and the durability high for the internals. 

Yes- it also is quite expensive. But it weighs less than 400 grams, which in dropper post terms is ultra-light weight. So, you do not pay much of a weight penalty here, and once again: Aero! Free Speed! And an additional note. I thought this was a unique design, but as it turns out, DT Swiss makes one like it. It's even more expensive!

 That's all for this week. Have a safe, fun, and happy 4th of July weekend (If you live in the USA), and if you don't celebrate that, have a great weekend anyway and get out and ride! Thanks- as always- for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Friday News And Views

$800-plus bucks to save two watts? What?!

A Brief Look At What Has Been Done Before:

Last week you all probably saw this ridiculous rear derailleur cage from Ceramic Speed which has aero covers and is supposedly good for a two watt savings over something like 25 miles. Give or take. 

I know, it was probably one of the better click-bait things for many sites and it probably got a lot of tongues wagging about , "How stupid is that?!". 

I dunno..... Probably so 'stupid' that they'll sell every one of them that they make 'stupid', that's how stupid that is, most likely. 

If you believe it, it will work, most likely, and you'll pay that price for "speed". Seems to be the thing with cyclists for as long as I've been paying attention. (See the dropper post thing below)

The thing I saw when I noted that derailleur cage last week was that it wasn't the first attempt at making a rear derailleur more aero. Heck, some of you older folks probably remember the aero-rear derailleurs from Campy, Sun Tour, and others back in the 80's. Well, I thought about one effort to make components aero that was pretty involved and fell flat on its face. It was the Shimano Dura-Ace AX Series components. 

Shimano Dura Ace AX rear derailleur

The Dura Ace AX stuff was pretty radical back then. The brakes, the derailleurs, and even cable routing was considered and made to cut through the wind more smoothly. 

I cobbed a couple images for this segment from the 'innergoogles', and to the left here you can see how the upper jockey wheel is shrouded, but note that cable routing! No cable hanging out in the wind here! Due to the way derailleurs were made back then, the upper jockey wheel was deemed to be more important in an aero application than the lower one. See how all the derailleur edges are smoothed out too. 

Part of the reason Dura Ace AX fell flat with riders was its use of the new, at that time 10mm chain pitch called Dura Ace 10. Normal chains, in a metric measure, are 12.7mm in "pitch", which determines the distance between chain pins and cog teeth. If you want to take a deeper dive on why Shimano thought a 10mm chain pitch was better, read this. 

Anyway, I thought it might prove to be interesting to point out that these sorts of ideas have cropped up in cycling's past and that this Ceramic Speed idea is just a modern-day riffing on those old ideas.

Shimano's new 105 Di2 group. (Image courtesy of Shimano)

New Shimano 105 Di2: It has been years since people wondered if Shimano would ever 'trickle-down' a Di2 105 level electronic group, and finally, the day is here. It happened this week, and what might be a big surprise to many, it isn't an older, 11 speed group, or a watered down version. Nope! Shimano went all-in and equipped the new 105 Di2 with the latest in Di2 technology and made it 12 speed! You've no doubt read all about it already, so on to the....

Comments: SRAM made inroads on the market with their lower priced AXS Rival stuff, and while their system is ballyhooed for its completely wireless set up, that can be a bit of a 'drag' in terms of shifting speed. Shimano went wireless where it meant the most- in the levers, and stuck with a wired derailleur system because they did not want to compromise the speed and efficiency of their already world-class Di2. And it seems many Pro cyclists and enthusiasts agree. However; to get in on Shimano Di2, you had to spend a pretty penny because it started at the Ultegra level. 

Now with Shimano 105 Di2, he prices are far lower, and in many individual component cases, less than SRAM Rival AXS. There is one area, however, where SRAM still holds a bit of an advantage and that is in the extended range that SRAM AXS Xplor has. 

But you have to assume that GRX, being held out as a separate category by Shimano, (Gravel, vs MTB or Road), will soon see a similar update, and when it does, I assume we will see a similar 12 speed set up with wide-range casettes to go along with that. Interestingly, Shimano chose to make Di2 105 backwards compatible with HyperGlide 11, 10, and some earlier free hub bodies. Will GRX stay that course, or will the 12 speed be MicroSpline, as it is with their MTB stuff?

My feeling is that Shimano sees GRX being more closely related to road bike componentry and therefor they will stick to the course set by Di2 DuraAce, Ultegra, and 105, in my opinion. Or.....Di2 105 is being stuck with the "old" free hub and newer road and GRX stuff will be MicroSpline. I can see it going either way. 

The bad thing here is that this may signal the end of high-end, mechanically operated drive trains. Now I mean from SRAM and Shimano. I think you'll always have stuff like Microshift around doing whatever the 'big guys' are not doing.  But there was no traditional 105 announced with this, so..... Makes one think.

SILCA's "The Truth" tire pressure gauge. (Image courtesy of SILCA)

You Can't Handle The "Truth"!:

Well, you can pre-order it for about $249.00 though! What am I talking about? This thing that SILCA has made for Pro and insider's use only for many years, that's what. 

Almost $250.00 for a tire pressure gauge? Yep! If getting every last bit of performance out of your tires is of paramount importance to you, this gauge will help you get that. 

I know.....I know... You squeeze your tires using that highly calibrated 'hand gauge' you've always used and head on out the door. Yeah, well- this ain't fer you. Racers, time-trialists, fat bikers, and anyone that wants to hit the 'sweet spot' on pressure every time they ride, this is for you. Yes- it is expensive. I'd counter that with the history of SILCA so far in the USA being one that has shown that it provides some pretty high-end, reliable tools and kit. Listen- The Pros wouldn't have been using this if it didn't hold up and do a good job.

I mean, this gauge compensates for temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity. That's more than I can say about myself, right there. If only I could compensate for humidity....... I know one thing I am going to compensate for, and that is using another type of gauge I can afford, (or already have) to compensate for the waaaay expensive SILCA gauge. That's what I am doing....

The "G Series" Dropper Post (Image courtesy of Enve)

Don't Stop Till You Dropper: 

Or something like that..... Anyway! The dropper post for gravel riding, or heck, even just road riding. I think it is a vastly underrated and misunderstood thing. Most, even Enve and others that promote the use of such lowering devices for gravel, think they exist to get you down a sketchy segment. Well.....yeah, but....

Aerodynamics. That's why you should be using a dropper post on a gravel bike. The rest of that nonsense is gravy. Dropping your tush on a long descent via the use of a dropper will make you leave your friends in your dusty contrail. That's if you just sit there and coast! 

 Don't believe me? Well, you go try it and get back to me afterward. I don't "think" you'll agree- I know you will. It's a thing. Better than a derailleur cage cover.....pffft!

So, Enve has seen that from a more MTB perspective, and totally missed the boat on the best reason to use one of these, but whatever. They will catch on someday. The point here is that Enve has developed an "upside down" dropper for a bicycle. They call it the "G Series Dropper Post".

You can read why they did what they did here. I think it is an intriguing way to do this idea. It allows for saddle bags, for one thing, and it seems that this design may indeed do what Enve claims in terms of keeping the muck out and the durability high for the internals. 

Yes- it also is quite expensive. But it weighs less than 400 grams, which in dropper post terms is ultra-light weight. So, you do not pay much of a weight penalty here, and once again: Aero! Free Speed! And an additional note. I thought this was a unique design, but as it turns out, DT Swiss makes one like it. It's even more expensive!

 That's all for this week. Have a safe, fun, and happy 4th of July weekend (If you live in the USA), and if you don't celebrate that, have a great weekend anyway and get out and ride! Thanks- as always- for reading Guitar Ted Productions!