Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Colnago

 A Relatively Quiet Week Edition of the FN&V

Colnago Announces Rim Brake C 68 Frameset:

Rim brakes for road bikes have not been an option from many brands now for a few years. Especially on upper end bikes. This has raised some ire amongst road bike fans as the simplicity and - more importantly - lightweight of rim brake design, is still something many riders desire from a new road bike.

Now top-end brand Colnago has announced a US $7,750.00 carbon fiber rim brake frameset. The C-68 Rim Brake model is definitely a throwback to ten years ago when quick release wheels and non-hydraulic brake levers were still being offered in top-range drive train choices from Campagnolo, SRAM and Shimano. 

Comments: Should bikes like this still be considered range-topping bikes, or even bikes that average roadies could buy? The industry seems bent upon making every top-end bike, (and even mid-range bikes) 'feats of electronic technology and proprietary parts' instead of beautifully crafted, simple machines that draw the best out of humans. Bikes that show sustainability versus bikes that use batteries which will take energy and effort to recycle safely. 

Bicycles already have issues with being 'green' without the electronics and hydraulic fluids. Tires need to be recycled on a much larger scale than they are now, including tubes. This is happening, that is not the problem. The problem is that what is happening is a drop in the bucket. Then you have carbon fiber....

Ah! Do we need this Colnago to exist? Probably not. But at least it is an example that can be pointed to for the viability of mechanically operated brakes, at the minimum. 

Image courtesy of Iowa DNR

New Adventure Riding Opportunity In North Central Iowa:

A Facebook friend alerted me to a new opportunity for cycling in a reclaimed wetland wildlife preserve located just off I-35 near Swaledale and South of Thornton, Iowa. It is the Union Hills Wildlife and Waterfowl Production Area. 

Here is what was sent to me about the area and its cycling opportunities:

 " Just wanted to share an incredible ride that is now open at the Union Hills Wildlife Area south of Mason City and just west of I35. The DNR just mowed trails throughout the area that is one of the few places you get an idea of how North Central Iowa Looked like before settlement with pothole lakes and moraines with Bur Oak groves throughout."

 Area conservation groups and the State DNR have been working for several years to reclaim the area for wildlife and birding. The area boasts a section of native prairie that has never been plowed and many areas where one can "get lost" and feel as though they left civilization behind.

Apparently the trails are most easily ridden on fatter tires. So, a "plus bike" or fat bike might be best so as to not leave ruts and tear up the trails. This is a new opportunity, so don't "eff it up" folks. Keep your pizza-cutter tires on the gravel! Also, this area is heavily hunted during duck season, so please be aware of hunting seasons and maybe avoid this area then. Please be respectful of all the work that has gone into this and be kind to anyone you run across there if you go. If anyone has more information on this area and would like to share, let me know.

Image courtesy of Ritchey Design

Tom Ritchey To Show Off Brazing Skills At MADE Show:

In the beginnings of the modern mountain biking era, Tom Ritchey was single-handedly supplying frames, forks, and his "Bull Moose" handle bars for his customers. Tom hand-brazed each component and frame. Then the demand for his products took off and he was unable to keep pace with all the orders. Subsequently "a few hundred frames" were sold without their proper forks. 

Apparently, according to a recent Ritchey press release, Tom saw folks with his frames trying to source forks. “I've been witnessing this for years — where people don't have the fork or bar that was designed to go with their Ritchey frame, and they're scrounging around for them. I started seeing replacement parts for my frames that were missing details. They were made by others, and they weren’t doing them right. Now, after all these years I’m helping these fans do it right.” — Tom Ritchey

To help rectify this, owners of  original " Mountain Bikes by Ritchey " frames will be able to purchase Bi-Plane forks and Bull Moose bars brazed up by the man himself. Furthermore, Tom will be doing a seminar and lecture at the MADE show. He also can be seen brazing in the Ritchey booth, #358, on Saturday, August 24 at noon.

Ritchey will be doing this work under the moniker "Mountain Bikes by Tom" and a further announcement will be made at the show. For details on the MADE Show go HERE.

PCL Shirt Lands:

Ahoy! The newest PCL t-shirt has just arrived on the scene from Lincoln, Nebraska. This time I have one of the original logos for the Pirate Cycling League featuring a mustachioed skeleton astride a drop bar single speed. 

In case you are newer here the Pirate Cycling League is a loose-knit band of cyclists who identify as gravel riders, (mostly) that typify the original free-spirit and independent nature of gravel cycling. The group grew out of training rides for mountain biking which were typically held on gravel roads around Lincoln. 

These cyclists, who were really thinking about getting in miles for racing on dirt originally, ended up becoming a prototype gravel group who then found themselves putting on semi-formal "events" throughout the year. The group eventually was responsible for Gravel Worlds existence, although the PCL has officially now parted ways with Garmin Gravel Worlds. 

Since the split, the group has been putting out the occasional t-shirt and riding kit as well. If you want to support the PCL and become a "member" of the group, you only have to be cool and buy a shirt or jersey when they put one out. I've been purchasing PCL jerseys and tees for over a decade. You can find the group on Facebook. 

Image courtesy of Tumbleweed Bicycles

Tumbleweed Sunliner:

Tumbleweed Bicycles announced their third model yesterday, a flat bar bikepacking bike with no suspension correction. The bike is called the Sunliner. 

With tire clearance for 29" X 3.0" tires, the Sunliner should appeal to anyone wanting a simple machine with big tire capabilities. That non-sus corrected fork also allowed Tumbleweed to maximize the space in the front triangle for the largest frame bag size. 

There are tons of rack mounts, bottle cage mounts, and fender mounts on the Sunliner. It should work great for carrying about anything you'd want on an off-road tour and with the design intent for a swept back handlebar, it should prove to be a comfortable, all-day riding bike. 

Frame and fork goes for US $1,400.00 with completes starting at $3,775.00.
 

Okay, that's a wrap on this week's news and my views. Keep ridin' those bikes!

Is The Cycle Complete When It Comes To Gravel?

Colnago's C68 Gravel (Image courtesy of Colnago)

 I ran across some news on "X" (formerly known as Twitter) the other day regarding a new gravel bike from Colnago. 

Colnago?

Yes, Colnago, the storied Italian bicycle maker whose bicycles have been ridden by the icons of road racing's past and present. THAT Colnago. 

So what? Well, to me, this signals a high-water mark in this segment of cycling I've been enjoying for nearly twenty years now. See, back then, "gravel bike" didn't mean anything. Now? It's the backbone of the industry, racing, and popular cycling nationwide, with the possible exception of urban areas. 

How'd that happen?

Before I answer that question, I want to go over a few of my feelings about this new Colnago and gravel cycling in general. Then we'll get to answering that question of how we got here and what that might mean.

Long-time readers of the blog might remember my Colnago seen here.

When I started in the bicycle business as a retail salesperson and mechanic, my boss at the time, Tom Webb, (RIP), was an avid road cycling fan. Now, this was at a time, in the early 1990's, when road cycling was at a nadir. Literally no one wanted a road racing style bicycle around here. Things may have been different where you lived, but here, in Waterloo and Cedar Falls Iowa? Forget about it. Road cycling was pretty much underground at that point.

This matters because I was a mountain biker guy and Tom got me to care about road bikes, Pro road racing, and why it was a beautiful sport. This was before I was jaded by all the doping madness, by the way. Anyhow.... The point is that Tom got me hooked on Colnago, which by his estimation, was the "pinnacle" of road cycling in terms of tech and tradition. 

So, there is my sift spot for Colnago, still within me, and maybe why it is that when I saw the C68 Gravel, I thought it was really something special. And it is, but the frame set cost seven thousand dollars plus! Gah! Guess I'll keep dreaming..... 

A "gravel mutt" from the 2019 Solstice 100

Fast-forward to the 2000's. I started riding gravel on what I had at the time for a bike. It happened to be a 29"er, but that is not important. We had bicycles and we were starting to discover not only gravel cycling, but what worked and what did not on gravel. 

Trans Iowa, April 2005: The gravel race that started it all had several mountain bikes, both 26"ers and 29"ers, cross bikes, and even a road bike show up for the 300+ mile slog across Iowa on gravel roads. It was the beginning of the stage in gravel where maybe it did not matter what bicycle that you were on, but it quickly became a matter of "hey! that bike seems like it is 'faster' and a better idea than mine."

That led to a winnowing out of the random weirdness that was commonplace in the 2000's and even up into the twenty-teens when you would see bicycles that looked like garage sale rejects converted to gravel duty. Many brands were making purpose-built gravel bikes by late into the last decade, but not the serious, big-time roadie brands. That would maybe never happen, right? I mean, we filthy, uncouth Americans came up with this crushed rock road madness, and that would never reach the highest pinnacle of cycling.

But it did.

Now, about that question, and what does it mean in the end?

Cycling has banked out on "gravel" Image from Merchant Cycles in Emporia, KS

I've been a part of two big 'waves' in cycling in the last 25 years. First it was 29"ers. The bicycling industry at the time that 29"ers became available was pretty complacent, and even dismissive of the trend. This turned out to be a bad business move and many companies were left behind in the rush to cash in on the big wheel trend of the late 2000's. 

That seemed to galvanize the industry's brands and when the "next big thing" hit the train wasn't leaving the station without them being onboard this time. So, a kind of manufactured "next big thing" was tried when the industry pushed 650B really hard in the early twenty-teens, but that did not go as well as hoped. Same thing with fat bikes, which flared up in 2011 and flamed out spectacularly by 2015. 

Gravel was being seen as a growing, grassroots sport at this time and several companies were dabbling in the segment by 2015. This suddenly awoke the giants of cycling and by the late twenty-teens they all were jumping on the bandwagon of gravel.

Trek and other big brands jumped into the gravel market in the late 2010's. Here is a Trek Checkpoint in 2018

Now with the "Big Four" brands offering gravel specific bicycles, only the high-end, "bougie" brands like Colnago, Pinarello, and the like were holding out. But when the UCI announced professional level racing in its Gravel World Championship events in 2023, the entire cycling industry capitulated to this form of cycling. Only electrified bicycles were matching the growth in sales. Gravel events were pulling big numbers world-wide, and money was being made. 

That's a short story on "how we got here" and why a storied road cycling brand like Colnago would even consider making such a high-end gravel bike. Imagine this happening ten years ago. Ha! 

So, what - if anything - does it all mean? Are we at a point that, much like 29"ers, a gravel bike is "just a road bike"? I mean, nobody distinguishes the wheel size on a mountain bike anymore as it is pretty much assumed that a "standard" MTB has 29"er wheels. If it does not, or if it has mixed wheel sizes, only then does that matter. Are we at the point where any drop bar bike for roads is "just a road bike"? 

I think we are getting really close to that when you see current road bike offerings accepting up to 38mm tires, when you see bigger gearing ranges on 'traditional' road bikes, (remember when ALL road bikes had a 53/39T chainset and 11-25T cassettes?), and when all road bikes have disc brakes. The distinguishing traits of a "gravel bike" and a road bike are being blurred now. Maybe these bikes that take 29"er rubber are where "gravel" is going, but then aren't those just really drop bar MTB's? 

I don't know, but I feel like the "cycle" the industry takes with any trend in cycling has just about come full-circle. We've only got to figure out a few small details and then? I think we are there. "Gravel bike" will just become "road bike" and you know what? I'm okay with that. 

Let me know what you think in the comments. Thanks for reading!

Colnago Fork Update

 I have a bit of a progress report and a big "Thank You" shout out to give on today's post. You may recall that recently I discovered my old Colnago's original fork while doing a deep cleaning of my shop. Well, I received a tip on how I might clean the rust up off this fork from one of you readers here. So, I gave that a try, and I am here to report on the results.

The tip was to take some wadded up aluminum foil and water and rub this on the affected area. It was an odd thought at first, but thinking about it further, this is kind of like using steel wool, right? With the exception that I was using water as a lubricant. 

Well, I modified this tip due to some things I have seen recently on an amplifier repair channel on You Tube. The amp repair guy I follow there uses alcohol to clean amplifier chassis a lot, so I figured exchanging the water for alcohol would be okay.  And it worked alright, but.....

This fork seems to be pretty corroded. Anyway, I wasn't seeing the results I had hoped for. It did remove the oxidation from the chrome though. That was a good thing. So I thought I'd dig out my Mother's Mag polish and see how that would do. I rubbed that on and it did take away some more of the actual corrosion. But.... Yeah, I'm not really satisfied with this. In my experience, this rust will come back rather quickly unless it is sealed away from the air or I get the fork re-chromed or painted. Well.....you take a look and see what I mean...

 

Treated fork leg on the left, what it looked like to begin with on the right.

Sure, it's 'better' than it was to begin with, but I cannot seem to get it any better than this with what I have now. Again, I am pretty sure, based upon my experience, that this won't hold up in the long term. Not that I will ride this bike a lot, but who knows? Once it gets back up and running, I might find that I really like it, and I may end up riding it a fair amount.

Thanks to one of my readers I have this quill insert.

Now on to the "Thank You" portion of this post. A regular reader and commenter on this blog, 'baric', asked if I might want to have this quill insert so I could use my current stem for the Colnago. The old fork is a threaded steer tube fork, so it requires a quill stem, which I don't have, and the current carbon fork is a threadless steer tube fork, which uses a completely different stem. 

So, I accepted the offer and there you can see the part which will hasten things along nicely toward a completion. 

I do have a head set, a Campy Athena threaded head set, so that part should be okay. I just have to swap everything over to the old (different) fork than I have now on there. 

But, I don't want to swap that all over until I get this chrome/rust situation settled. In my mind at this point I am thinking that I get this fork shined up as good as possible and then clear-coat it somehow and just live with the results. I do not plan on riding this bike in anything but blue-sky weather, so risking the finish against rain or inclement weather of any sort would be taken away. 

So, that's where I am at with the old Colnago at this point. By the way, if you are not familiar with this bike and the story behind it, here is the link back to that post where I talked about all of that. Okay, so if you have any advice, be sure to hit me up in the comments. Thanks to 'baric' again, and I'll have a new update on this bike in the near future,

Colnago Fork Update

 I have a bit of a progress report and a big "Thank You" shout out to give on today's post. You may recall that recently I discovered my old Colnago's original fork while doing a deep cleaning of my shop. Well, I received a tip on how I might clean the rust up off this fork from one of you readers here. So, I gave that a try, and I am here to report on the results.

The tip was to take some wadded up aluminum foil and water and rub this on the affected area. It was an odd thought at first, but thinking about it further, this is kind of like using steel wool, right? With the exception that I was using water as a lubricant. 

Well, I modified this tip due to some things I have seen recently on an amplifier repair channel on You Tube. The amp repair guy I follow there uses alcohol to clean amplifier chassis a lot, so I figured exchanging the water for alcohol would be okay.  And it worked alright, but.....

This fork seems to be pretty corroded. Anyway, I wasn't seeing the results I had hoped for. It did remove the oxidation from the chrome though. That was a good thing. So I thought I'd dig out my Mother's Mag polish and see how that would do. I rubbed that on and it did take away some more of the actual corrosion. But.... Yeah, I'm not really satisfied with this. In my experience, this rust will come back rather quickly unless it is sealed away from the air or I get the fork re-chromed or painted. Well.....you take a look and see what I mean...

 

Treated fork leg on the left, what it looked like to begin with on the right.

Sure, it's 'better' than it was to begin with, but I cannot seem to get it any better than this with what I have now. Again, I am pretty sure, based upon my experience, that this won't hold up in the long term. Not that I will ride this bike a lot, but who knows? Once it gets back up and running, I might find that I really like it, and I may end up riding it a fair amount.

Thanks to one of my readers I have this quill insert.

Now on to the "Thank You" portion of this post. A regular reader and commenter on this blog, 'baric', asked if I might want to have this quill insert so I could use my current stem for the Colnago. The old fork is a threaded steer tube fork, so it requires a quill stem, which I don't have, and the current carbon fork is a threadless steer tube fork, which uses a completely different stem. 

So, I accepted the offer and there you can see the part which will hasten things along nicely toward a completion. 

I do have a head set, a Campy Athena threaded head set, so that part should be okay. I just have to swap everything over to the old (different) fork than I have now on there. 

But, I don't want to swap that all over until I get this chrome/rust situation settled. In my mind at this point I am thinking that I get this fork shined up as good as possible and then clear-coat it somehow and just live with the results. I do not plan on riding this bike in anything but blue-sky weather, so risking the finish against rain or inclement weather of any sort would be taken away. 

So, that's where I am at with the old Colnago at this point. By the way, if you are not familiar with this bike and the story behind it, here is the link back to that post where I talked about all of that. Okay, so if you have any advice, be sure to hit me up in the comments. Thanks to 'baric' again, and I'll have a new update on this bike in the near future,

Friday News And Views

From Peter Stetina's Twitter feed: A bull knocks down a rider at the Rock Cobbler event.

 That Was Bull!:

Last weekend on social media you may have noted a few images of people getting knocked down by a young bull during the Rock Cobbler event in California. Apparently there were no severe injuries and I did not see anything related to what the event director(s) may have stated afterward.

Comments: While every event is an expression of what the organizer(s) think is appropriate for a challenge, one has to wonder how this event will deal with the fall-out from the incidents of the past weekend during their event. My opinion is my own, but if I had to make a call here I would have possibly diverted the course around such a danger. 

I have, a few different times, been exposed to "open range" conditions at the event formerly known as The Dirty Kanza 200. I am not aware that any bulls were around, but I have seen cows right on the course we were directed to ride on. That's dangerous enough, as a cow can easily cause serious injury to a cyclist that is unaware of the dangers of cattle. 

And as a former director of events which were similar to the Rock Cobbler, I can tell you that some form of education prior to the event is necessary and must be repeated multiple times. Even then, you are not guaranteed the people in your audience are taking you seriously. That's why, (again- risk assessment comes into play), you as a Race Director are tasked with judging your course and the risks it may present with an ultra-critical eye. Getting outside advice is often wise as well, because no matter how 'cool' you may think a certain experience may be for your riders, you may be blinded to possibilities for things to get ugly. 

In the case of open range riding and bulls, I would submit that it is not a prudent idea to submit your riders to such possibilities for injury and harm. But that's just me......

Fork Update:

Thank you for all of the excellent comments about my recently discovered Colnago Super Fork from Monday's post this week. I really appreciated every one of the responses and considered each one. 

A few good points were made. Like how often this bike would see roads? And that is really a good way to look at this. Also, some suggested just trying to polish it out to get a better read on where I am at with it. Perhaps do that and seal it with a clear coat? 

And to be honest, those were the comments that resonated the most with me. Getting it painted, or re-chromed makes sense if I am creating a garage queen, or restoration of some sort, well then yeah. However; I am not at a point where I have the free cash or inclination to do a full-on early 80's restoration so I think that just getting it going with the least fuss possible is what makes sense here. 

Next I will do the clean up, polish, and inspect it from there. I think clear coating the lower fork legs is a good idea to arrest the rust pitting that will be there. I probably will touch up the yellow painted bits as well. Of course, I'll need that threaded Athena head set, but I almost forgot that I'll also need a quill stem now. Hmm..... I may have to do some more digging around in the shop!

Guitar Ted 'Lube-Off' Update:

Thanks to all those readers who commented on the post from Wednesday concerning lubes to test for the next Lube-Off. I got some solid votes on one brand and some advice on using the wax I mentioned I have.

So, it was crystal-clear that SILCA's "Super-Secret" lube should be in the next Lube-Off. So, I will get a bottle of that coming and I will likely install that with a new Shimano 11 speed chain I just received for my Raleigh Tamland Two. (Most likely anyway.) 

The wax is NOT going to make the cut in this round. One commenter saying, "Super secret is supposed to have most of the wax benefit without the hassle of actual waxing". Another commenter chimed in saying, "I also think sticking with a drip lube for your round up is the best option as most people have no desire to go through the tedious processes of maintaining a hot dip waxed chain every 200 or so miles."

That's enough reason there to convince me that using the Molten Speed Chain Wax is not really all that interesting to you- the readers- and it definitely is okay with me if I do not have to hassle with that stuff. That said, someday I'll try it. 

I will work on the compiling of all the "Lube-Off" results and post that soon. Stay tuned for that and the next round of the Lube-Off soon. 

New Polar water bottles from their Breakaway series.

Polar Bottle Debuts New Big Bottle:

On Tuesday of this past week, Polar Bottle introduced the new Breakaway series of bottles which includes a new 30 ounce size. 

Last year I did a bit of a series on water bottles and using larger sized ones. I found that by doing some careful tweaking utilizing some bottle mount expanders like the Wolf Tooth B-Rad, I could carry as much water on the bike as I could have with a hydration pack on my body. 

While not everyone can use bigger capacity bottles, perhaps due to shorter frames or specific frame limitations, those who can may want to look into that. It works out well in practice on longer rides and I have seen the benefits of not having a heavy hydration pack on my body. 

I get that hydration packs have their fans and reasons for being a great choice. One, and maybe the biggest reason of all to use a hydration vest or pack, is that you can drink 'on-the-fly' easily and that this promotes better hydration. That's an excellent case for using a hydration bladder somewhere on your body or bicycle. However; those systems have some pretty significant drawbacks as well. 

Keeping the hoses clean, the bladders clean, having weight on your back, (if it is traditional system) and having more of a hassle in filling a bladder in the field are but a few of the concerns.  "End-of-service" life of hydration packs is also a bit more difficult than with bottles, and is a subject not many consider when thinking about bladders and packs. 

At any rate, it is nice to see options in bottles now.

The new Surly Bikes Ghost Grappler

Surly Bikes Debuts The Ghost Grappler Drop Bar Trail Bike:

A bit of a surprise here from Surly. A drop bar trail bike that has a very familiar look to it if you are a Fargo aficionado. It is a bike designed around a drop bar for bike packing, trail riding, and gravel with a focus on versatility and 27.5" wheels. Steel, of course, and it has several interesting features.

Besides looking like a Gen I Fargo, the Ghost Grappler has through axle capabilities with Surly's "GnotBoost" rear spacing, a Boost spaced fork which is not suspension corrected, and new bottle mounts on the seat stays near the drop outs. Stealth dropper post routing is also offered along with rack, fender, and Three-Pack mounting options on the top and bottom of the down tube. 

Tire clearance is 27.5 X 3.0" or 29" X 2.5". The frame has a straight, 1 1/8th head tube and the fork, called the Surly "Dinner Fork", is available separately. 

Comments: Yeah, if Salsa Cycles had ever done a Fargo Gen I reissue, this Ghost Grappler would be pretty much what I would have expected from them. It's very close, in my opinion, to what a Fargo should be now days. 

But hold on- That name! Yes, this is Surly Bikes, after all, but still. Weird. I guess that's the whole point? Anyway...... GnotBoost rear spacing? Rear facing, track fork style drop outs? Uggh! In some ways Surly's bent to be the most versatile bike choice is also its undoing. If you've ever dealt with their various versions of multiple-standard rear drop out designs, you'll understand. A Salsa version would have been elegantly executed with their Alternator Drop Out. But this is Surly's way.... 

After checking out the geometry, this really isn't all that far off from the Gen I Fargo. Tweaked for the modern day trail rider, yes. And I like what Surly has done with the geometry. Tire sizes that can be used here are also very appropriate, in my view. 

Some will grouse and say that the Gen I Fargo had a better drive train compatibility, but with Boost spacing? You are not going to get old, triple crank drive trains, or even a double with a big drive ring, on a bike like that. Boost pretty much kicked all that to the curb and so 1X is pretty much going to be the jam here, unfortunately. 

Finally- A straight steer tube MTB in 2022? I did not see that coming. I think that's a big mistake, but whatever. It should ride better, and maybe that's one reason Surly did that. It also pretty much takes the whole, "Can I put a suspension fork on this?" question off the table. Regarding the fork: It is soooo short, axle to crown, that anyone thinking it might work for their Gen I Fargo, or an older 29"er should reconsider that. Axle to crown is a short 420mm, which was the old sus corrected length for 26" wheeled rigid forks. It'll clear a 29"er wheel/tire, but juuust barely. Plus, because it is a short fork it would really steepen most 29"er bike's head angles to the point that you would negatively affect handling. (I know- I've tried it before.)
  

That's a wrap for this week! Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions and I hope that you get out for some riding this weekend!

Friday News And Views

From Peter Stetina's Twitter feed: A bull knocks down a rider at the Rock Cobbler event.

 That Was Bull!:

Last weekend on social media you may have noted a few images of people getting knocked down by a young bull during the Rock Cobbler event in California. Apparently there were no severe injuries and I did not see anything related to what the event director(s) may have stated afterward.

Comments: While every event is an expression of what the organizer(s) think is appropriate for a challenge, one has to wonder how this event will deal with the fall-out from the incidents of the past weekend during their event. My opinion is my own, but if I had to make a call here I would have possibly diverted the course around such a danger. 

I have, a few different times, been exposed to "open range" conditions at the event formerly known as The Dirty Kanza 200. I am not aware that any bulls were around, but I have seen cows right on the course we were directed to ride on. That's dangerous enough, as a cow can easily cause serious injury to a cyclist that is unaware of the dangers of cattle. 

And as a former director of events which were similar to the Rock Cobbler, I can tell you that some form of education prior to the event is necessary and must be repeated multiple times. Even then, you are not guaranteed the people in your audience are taking you seriously. That's why, (again- risk assessment comes into play), you as a Race Director are tasked with judging your course and the risks it may present with an ultra-critical eye. Getting outside advice is often wise as well, because no matter how 'cool' you may think a certain experience may be for your riders, you may be blinded to possibilities for things to get ugly. 

In the case of open range riding and bulls, I would submit that it is not a prudent idea to submit your riders to such possibilities for injury and harm. But that's just me......

Fork Update:

Thank you for all of the excellent comments about my recently discovered Colnago Super Fork from Monday's post this week. I really appreciated every one of the responses and considered each one. 

A few good points were made. Like how often this bike would see roads? And that is really a good way to look at this. Also, some suggested just trying to polish it out to get a better read on where I am at with it. Perhaps do that and seal it with a clear coat? 

And to be honest, those were the comments that resonated the most with me. Getting it painted, or re-chromed makes sense if I am creating a garage queen, or restoration of some sort, well then yeah. However; I am not at a point where I have the free cash or inclination to do a full-on early 80's restoration so I think that just getting it going with the least fuss possible is what makes sense here. 

Next I will do the clean up, polish, and inspect it from there. I think clear coating the lower fork legs is a good idea to arrest the rust pitting that will be there. I probably will touch up the yellow painted bits as well. Of course, I'll need that threaded Athena head set, but I almost forgot that I'll also need a quill stem now. Hmm..... I may have to do some more digging around in the shop!

Guitar Ted 'Lube-Off' Update:

Thanks to all those readers who commented on the post from Wednesday concerning lubes to test for the next Lube-Off. I got some solid votes on one brand and some advice on using the wax I mentioned I have.

So, it was crystal-clear that SILCA's "Super-Secret" lube should be in the next Lube-Off. So, I will get a bottle of that coming and I will likely install that with a new Shimano 11 speed chain I just received for my Raleigh Tamland Two. (Most likely anyway.) 

The wax is NOT going to make the cut in this round. One commenter saying, "Super secret is supposed to have most of the wax benefit without the hassle of actual waxing". Another commenter chimed in saying, "I also think sticking with a drip lube for your round up is the best option as most people have no desire to go through the tedious processes of maintaining a hot dip waxed chain every 200 or so miles."

That's enough reason there to convince me that using the Molten Speed Chain Wax is not really all that interesting to you- the readers- and it definitely is okay with me if I do not have to hassle with that stuff. That said, someday I'll try it. 

I will work on the compiling of all the "Lube-Off" results and post that soon. Stay tuned for that and the next round of the Lube-Off soon. 

New Polar water bottles from their Breakaway series.

Polar Bottle Debuts New Big Bottle:

On Tuesday of this past week, Polar Bottle introduced the new Breakaway series of bottles which includes a new 30 ounce size. 

Last year I did a bit of a series on water bottles and using larger sized ones. I found that by doing some careful tweaking utilizing some bottle mount expanders like the Wolf Tooth B-Rad, I could carry as much water on the bike as I could have with a hydration pack on my body. 

While not everyone can use bigger capacity bottles, perhaps due to shorter frames or specific frame limitations, those who can may want to look into that. It works out well in practice on longer rides and I have seen the benefits of not having a heavy hydration pack on my body. 

I get that hydration packs have their fans and reasons for being a great choice. One, and maybe the biggest reason of all to use a hydration vest or pack, is that you can drink 'on-the-fly' easily and that this promotes better hydration. That's an excellent case for using a hydration bladder somewhere on your body or bicycle. However; those systems have some pretty significant drawbacks as well. 

Keeping the hoses clean, the bladders clean, having weight on your back, (if it is traditional system) and having more of a hassle in filling a bladder in the field are but a few of the concerns.  "End-of-service" life of hydration packs is also a bit more difficult than with bottles, and is a subject not many consider when thinking about bladders and packs. 

At any rate, it is nice to see options in bottles now.

The new Surly Bikes Ghost Grappler

Surly Bikes Debuts The Ghost Grappler Drop Bar Trail Bike:

A bit of a surprise here from Surly. A drop bar trail bike that has a very familiar look to it if you are a Fargo aficionado. It is a bike designed around a drop bar for bike packing, trail riding, and gravel with a focus on versatility and 27.5" wheels. Steel, of course, and it has several interesting features.

Besides looking like a Gen I Fargo, the Ghost Grappler has through axle capabilities with Surly's "GnotBoost" rear spacing, a Boost spaced fork which is not suspension corrected, and new bottle mounts on the seat stays near the drop outs. Stealth dropper post routing is also offered along with rack, fender, and Three-Pack mounting options on the top and bottom of the down tube. 

Tire clearance is 27.5 X 3.0" or 29" X 2.5". The frame has a straight, 1 1/8th head tube and the fork, called the Surly "Dinner Fork", is available separately. 

Comments: Yeah, if Salsa Cycles had ever done a Fargo Gen I reissue, this Ghost Grappler would be pretty much what I would have expected from them. It's very close, in my opinion, to what a Fargo should be now days. 

But hold on- That name! Yes, this is Surly Bikes, after all, but still. Weird. I guess that's the whole point? Anyway...... GnotBoost rear spacing? Rear facing, track fork style drop outs? Uggh! In some ways Surly's bent to be the most versatile bike choice is also its undoing. If you've ever dealt with their various versions of multiple-standard rear drop out designs, you'll understand. A Salsa version would have been elegantly executed with their Alternator Drop Out. But this is Surly's way.... 

After checking out the geometry, this really isn't all that far off from the Gen I Fargo. Tweaked for the modern day trail rider, yes. And I like what Surly has done with the geometry. Tire sizes that can be used here are also very appropriate, in my view. 

Some will grouse and say that the Gen I Fargo had a better drive train compatibility, but with Boost spacing? You are not going to get old, triple crank drive trains, or even a double with a big drive ring, on a bike like that. Boost pretty much kicked all that to the curb and so 1X is pretty much going to be the jam here, unfortunately. 

Finally- A straight steer tube MTB in 2022? I did not see that coming. I think that's a big mistake, but whatever. It should ride better, and maybe that's one reason Surly did that. It also pretty much takes the whole, "Can I put a suspension fork on this?" question off the table. Regarding the fork: It is soooo short, axle to crown, that anyone thinking it might work for their Gen I Fargo, or an older 29"er should reconsider that. Axle to crown is a short 420mm, which was the old sus corrected length for 26" wheeled rigid forks. It'll clear a 29"er wheel/tire, but juuust barely. Plus, because it is a short fork it would really steepen most 29"er bike's head angles to the point that you would negatively affect handling. (I know- I've tried it before.)
  

That's a wrap for this week! Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions and I hope that you get out for some riding this weekend!

Lost And Found

 

Yesterday I mentioned that I had been busy in my shop doing some organizing and cleaning up. Well, that process is ongoing and late Sunday I came across something stuck back in the dark shadows of the Lab. It was a fork! One that I thought I had gotten rid of years ago, but obviously, I hadn't. I just didn't remember squirreling it away there under the bench and I had not looked into this area keenly for years and years, obviously. 

This fork goes with my Colnago Super, which I wrote about in this post from last December. You can check that out if you'd like. In that post you'll note that I stated that it was determined that this fork was too rusty to use anymore, but upon close inspection, I am giving that some reconsideration. 

For sure, it is pitted and the chrome is in bad shape. No wonder, as I stated in the earlier post that this was a Winter hack for the previous owner. But the damage is not structural, at least I cannot see that it is, and the fork crown looks to be a solid, perhaps forged crown, so I don't see any reason not to trust it.

So, I was considering what- if anything- I should do here. Use it? Get it re-chromed? Sand it down and paint it? Stick with the current carbon fork? Hmm.....

What I'd like to see is if this fork clears the tire I am using and I already know it is wide enough for that tire, so that's not an issue. Brake clearance and crown clearance? Might be a different story there. But even if that tire doesn't fit, I'd still would rather get the OG fork on it and use appropriate tires and not use the Profile carbon fork. 

The pitting seems pretty superficial to my eye.

Of course, the Profile fork has a threadless steer tube and the original fork has a threaded steer tube which means I would need a new head set. Fortunately enough for me I have a threaded, 1" Campagnolo Athena head set at hand which I could install if I decide this fork is okay for use. 

Regardless, I am willing to stick with what I have if this fork is deemed to be unusable. I'm just not sure it is that far gone. What do you think? Give me your take in the comments section. 

My intentions are to use a big tire like those 32mm WTB tires I have on there now. So, I think the Profile fork is going away no matter what, and eventually I will find a proper fork if the original one doesn't seem good.  Maybe that will mean having one made, but I don't think it will take that. 

At any rate, it was awesome to find that I still had the original fork all these years hidden away back behind a bunch of other stuff. Who knows what else I'll find under there. The quest to clean and organize will continue!

Lost And Found

 

Yesterday I mentioned that I had been busy in my shop doing some organizing and cleaning up. Well, that process is ongoing and late Sunday I came across something stuck back in the dark shadows of the Lab. It was a fork! One that I thought I had gotten rid of years ago, but obviously, I hadn't. I just didn't remember squirreling it away there under the bench and I had not looked into this area keenly for years and years, obviously. 

This fork goes with my Colnago Super, which I wrote about in this post from last December. You can check that out if you'd like. In that post you'll note that I stated that it was determined that this fork was too rusty to use anymore, but upon close inspection, I am giving that some reconsideration. 

For sure, it is pitted and the chrome is in bad shape. No wonder, as I stated in the earlier post that this was a Winter hack for the previous owner. But the damage is not structural, at least I cannot see that it is, and the fork crown looks to be a solid, perhaps forged crown, so I don't see any reason not to trust it.

So, I was considering what- if anything- I should do here. Use it? Get it re-chromed? Sand it down and paint it? Stick with the current carbon fork? Hmm.....

What I'd like to see is if this fork clears the tire I am using and I already know it is wide enough for that tire, so that's not an issue. Brake clearance and crown clearance? Might be a different story there. But even if that tire doesn't fit, I'd still would rather get the OG fork on it and use appropriate tires and not use the Profile carbon fork. 

The pitting seems pretty superficial to my eye.

Of course, the Profile fork has a threadless steer tube and the original fork has a threaded steer tube which means I would need a new head set. Fortunately enough for me I have a threaded, 1" Campagnolo Athena head set at hand which I could install if I decide this fork is okay for use. 

Regardless, I am willing to stick with what I have if this fork is deemed to be unusable. I'm just not sure it is that far gone. What do you think? Give me your take in the comments section. 

My intentions are to use a big tire like those 32mm WTB tires I have on there now. So, I think the Profile fork is going away no matter what, and eventually I will find a proper fork if the original one doesn't seem good.  Maybe that will mean having one made, but I don't think it will take that. 

At any rate, it was awesome to find that I still had the original fork all these years hidden away back behind a bunch of other stuff. Who knows what else I'll find under there. The quest to clean and organize will continue!

Neglected But Not Forgotten: Part 4

 I posted about a couple of my bicycles which I had left sitting for far too long without a ride. Well, those aren't the only two bikes with that issue! Far from it! I have a LOT of bicycles, you see, so it becomes a bit of an issue to throw a leg over all of them in one calendar year if  I have review stuff to do and , well, ride all this gravel around here. Someone has to do it! 

So, here's one that I would be surprised if many of you that read the blog would know about, or guess I would own. Obviously, it isn't a gravel bike, or is it? (A debate for another time, perhaps) I think I need to explain the existence of this bike in my stable for you all though, and with that.....

The origins of my acquiring this bike are somewhat clouded to me, mostly because I bought it so long ago now that the details of the transaction have been forgotten. I'll tell you what I know, and a bit of my history with this bike, and then I'll bring it all up to date at the end here.

Obviously, this is a Colnago racing bike. It is a "Super" model, and I was told it was from 1984. I do know that Supers were built the same, or similarly, for years, so dating one usually comes down to the components, but this old road dog had long since lost all of its original equipment by the time I laid hands on it. I do know, however, that it originally had a curved, not the straight legged, steel fork, which dates it before 1985 (according to what I have heard) or so, therefore I am calling it an '84 based upon that and what I was told back when I got the bike. But whatever....it is OLD!  

After years of sitting around, I finally got this up and running. Here is the "before" look.

 The original fork was chrome plated steel, but it was soooo rusty that I, and those at the shop at the time, decided that it was unsafe to use anymore. See, the owner before me used this as his Winter hack, you know? When people still trained outdoors? So, he had ridden this through salt and snow for years and neglected to really take care of it. Although at one point he had the bike repainted and re-decaled. So, this is not the original color of the bike- another reason it is hard to date this one. 

So, back in these days I was more into road biking than I was anything else. This was before I was back into the bicycle business, by the way, so maybe around 2001-2002 was when I got this bike. I had two other road bikes at the time. I know! Weird to think that, right? Anyway... All my road bikes then were Campy equipped and I essentially had been buying old parts when the owner of Europa Cycle & Ski upgraded to new stuff. That's mostly what this Colnago is. There is another bit on the bike that pre-dates all of that though, and that is the hubs and rims. 

I had these WTB Exposure tires just sitting around, so I decided to try them out on the Colnago.

 So, at my first bike shop job, I acquired a set of Campagnolo Record hubs, brand new at the time, so 9 speed, if I recall. I also picked up a pair of Sun Mistral rims which were polished silver. These are impossibly narrow aluminum rims in light of today's standards, by the way. Anyway, I laced these up around 1999, 2000 using a 2X pattern, which I rarely ever do, but I was trying to be all ligtweight and whatnot! 

So, at any rate, I believe the story was that this Colnago was traded in to Europa and I happened to see it one time and the owner suggested it fit me and maybe I should buy it. Anyway, I got it, obviously, and I set it up with those wheels I built and the second hand parts I acquired. So, it is kind of a mish-mash of Campy stuff, mostly 9 speed era parts, and the only exception to that is the rear brake, which is a Suntour item which the bike had on it when I got it. 

During the refurbishing, I had to install new rim strips. These were sponsor schwag for T.I.v5!

 

The fork, which had to be replaced, was thrown out, and I got this Profile Carbon fork, which at the time was about as cheap as I could stand to go. The seat post and the water bottle cage are American Classic items. (ONE water bottle cage? What were these guys back then, camels? ) I have a no-name 1 1/8th stem on there which is wrapping a shim to fit the 1" steer tube. The saddle was from my ancient stash of MTB stuff, a SDG saddle, and the original tires were Continental GP 4000's . 

I rode this for a bit. I remember a "GTDRI" ride I did on it to a family reunion in New Hampton, Iowa. I also rode this one on the 2003 RAGBRAI route, that is until I got the call that my son was to be born. Then after this I think the bike went into mothballs as 29"ers, and then gravel bikes, took over most of my riding. 

The Colnago Super as it sits now

 So, I finally got this back out and decided to swap out a few things.The handle bars were some ugly Dimension ones I put on back in the day, but I have replaced those with a set of Salsa Cycles Cowbell bars. The tape is some no-name synthetic black cork tape, and I have the SILCA tool roll under the SDG saddle now for repairs.. Tires are the new WTB Exposure - supposedly 32's- and these barely clear the Profile fork, (which I will address here shortly). On my first test ride I discovered that the head set was loose and the chain broke! 

So, I installed a new chain, and I dug into the wonky plug Profile used to pre-load the head set bearings. After much thought, I came up with a slight modification to their poor design which allowed me to actually tighten the preload down enough to prevent a loosening head set. (We've come a long way with how we do things, let me tell ya!) 

The bike is rideable now, but I am going to search out a steel fork for this. The Profile carbon fork really isn't 'right' on this bike and a steel fork should afford me juuuust enough clearance to get the WTB tires to work on this thing. I also am going to see if I can swap over to some shiny, polished Velocity A-23 wheels I have. I am going to see if Velocity has a Campy compatible free hub and if they do, my thought is to convert the hub I have, and see if the slightly wider A-23 won't lower the crowned out profile of these WTB tires on the Mistral rims. Those rims, by the way, are 90's technology and they bend like butter. You have to be really careful riding these things. So, a swap over to my A-23's, which are not being used now, would be good. Then if that worked out I would re-lace the Record hubs into some other wheels. 

Okay, that's it for the Colnago for now. If I make any more headway on this one I will return with another post.

Neglected But Not Forgotten: Part 4

 I posted about a couple of my bicycles which I had left sitting for far too long without a ride. Well, those aren't the only two bikes with that issue! Far from it! I have a LOT of bicycles, you see, so it becomes a bit of an issue to throw a leg over all of them in one calendar year if  I have review stuff to do and , well, ride all this gravel around here. Someone has to do it! 

So, here's one that I would be surprised if many of you that read the blog would know about, or guess I would own. Obviously, it isn't a gravel bike, or is it? (A debate for another time, perhaps) I think I need to explain the existence of this bike in my stable for you all though, and with that.....

The origins of my acquiring this bike are somewhat clouded to me, mostly because I bought it so long ago now that the details of the transaction have been forgotten. I'll tell you what I know, and a bit of my history with this bike, and then I'll bring it all up to date at the end here.

Obviously, this is a Colnago racing bike. It is a "Super" model, and I was told it was from 1984. I do know that Supers were built the same, or similarly, for years, so dating one usually comes down to the components, but this old road dog had long since lost all of its original equipment by the time I laid hands on it. I do know, however, that it originally had a curved, not the straight legged, steel fork, which dates it before 1985 (according to what I have heard) or so, therefore I am calling it an '84 based upon that and what I was told back when I got the bike. But whatever....it is OLD!  

After years of sitting around, I finally got this up and running. Here is the "before" look.

 The original fork was chrome plated steel, but it was soooo rusty that I, and those at the shop at the time, decided that it was unsafe to use anymore. See, the owner before me used this as his Winter hack, you know? When people still trained outdoors? So, he had ridden this through salt and snow for years and neglected to really take care of it. Although at one point he had the bike repainted and re-decaled. So, this is not the original color of the bike- another reason it is hard to date this one. 

So, back in these days I was more into road biking than I was anything else. This was before I was back into the bicycle business, by the way, so maybe around 2001-2002 was when I got this bike. I had two other road bikes at the time. I know! Weird to think that, right? Anyway... All my road bikes then were Campy equipped and I essentially had been buying old parts when the owner of Europa Cycle & Ski upgraded to new stuff. That's mostly what this Colnago is. There is another bit on the bike that pre-dates all of that though, and that is the hubs and rims. 

I had these WTB Exposure tires just sitting around, so I decided to try them out on the Colnago.

 So, at my first bike shop job, I acquired a set of Campagnolo Record hubs, brand new at the time, so 9 speed, if I recall. I also picked up a pair of Sun Mistral rims which were polished silver. These are impossibly narrow aluminum rims in light of today's standards, by the way. Anyway, I laced these up around 1999, 2000 using a 2X pattern, which I rarely ever do, but I was trying to be all ligtweight and whatnot! 

So, at any rate, I believe the story was that this Colnago was traded in to Europa and I happened to see it one time and the owner suggested it fit me and maybe I should buy it. Anyway, I got it, obviously, and I set it up with those wheels I built and the second hand parts I acquired. So, it is kind of a mish-mash of Campy stuff, mostly 9 speed era parts, and the only exception to that is the rear brake, which is a Suntour item which the bike had on it when I got it. 

During the refurbishing, I had to install new rim strips. These were sponsor schwag for T.I.v5!

 

The fork, which had to be replaced, was thrown out, and I got this Profile Carbon fork, which at the time was about as cheap as I could stand to go. The seat post and the water bottle cage are American Classic items. (ONE water bottle cage? What were these guys back then, camels? ) I have a no-name 1 1/8th stem on there which is wrapping a shim to fit the 1" steer tube. The saddle was from my ancient stash of MTB stuff, a SDG saddle, and the original tires were Continental GP 4000's . 

I rode this for a bit. I remember a "GTDRI" ride I did on it to a family reunion in New Hampton, Iowa. I also rode this one on the 2003 RAGBRAI route, that is until I got the call that my son was to be born. Then after this I think the bike went into mothballs as 29"ers, and then gravel bikes, took over most of my riding. 

The Colnago Super as it sits now

 So, I finally got this back out and decided to swap out a few things.The handle bars were some ugly Dimension ones I put on back in the day, but I have replaced those with a set of Salsa Cycles Cowbell bars. The tape is some no-name synthetic black cork tape, and I have the SILCA tool roll under the SDG saddle now for repairs.. Tires are the new WTB Exposure - supposedly 32's- and these barely clear the Profile fork, (which I will address here shortly). On my first test ride I discovered that the head set was loose and the chain broke! 

So, I installed a new chain, and I dug into the wonky plug Profile used to pre-load the head set bearings. After much thought, I came up with a slight modification to their poor design which allowed me to actually tighten the preload down enough to prevent a loosening head set. (We've come a long way with how we do things, let me tell ya!) 

The bike is rideable now, but I am going to search out a steel fork for this. The Profile carbon fork really isn't 'right' on this bike and a steel fork should afford me juuuust enough clearance to get the WTB tires to work on this thing. I also am going to see if I can swap over to some shiny, polished Velocity A-23 wheels I have. I am going to see if Velocity has a Campy compatible free hub and if they do, my thought is to convert the hub I have, and see if the slightly wider A-23 won't lower the crowned out profile of these WTB tires on the Mistral rims. Those rims, by the way, are 90's technology and they bend like butter. You have to be really careful riding these things. So, a swap over to my A-23's, which are not being used now, would be good. Then if that worked out I would re-lace the Record hubs into some other wheels. 

Okay, that's it for the Colnago for now. If I make any more headway on this one I will return with another post.