Gravel Grinder News: Life Time Announces 2026 Grand Prix, Updates

Image courtesy of Life Time Events

Life Time Events Announces 2026 Grand Prix With More Payouts, Refined Selection Process:

 NOTE: All information and images provided by Life Time Events. Comments are Guitar Ted's and may not reflect the opinions of Life Time Events and their affiliates.

Thursday sees a big announcement with Life Time Events revealing its plans for the 2026 Grand Prix. This series of six events evenly split between gravel and MTB has become the premier series for professional cyclists in the USA.  

There is a lot to dig into here, so let's begin with the dates for the events in 2026. 

 Thursday, April 16: Life Time Sea Otter Classic Gravel 
Saturday, May 30: Life Time UNBOUND Gravel 200 presented by Shimano
Saturday, August 15: Life Time Leadville Trail 100 MTB presented by Kenetik
Saturday, September 19: Life Time Chequamegon Mountain Bike Festival
Sunday, October 11: Life Time Little Sugar MTB
Saturday, October 17: Life Time Big Sugar Gravel presented by Kenetik

The Money:

The Grand Prix for 2026 - according to the press release -  " ...will see record investment in athletes, including $590,000 in prize money across the series, with $350,000 dedicated to the overall Life Time Grand Prix podium, increased prize purses to $60,000 at UNBOUND Gravel and the Leadville Trail 100 MTB, and $30,000 prize purses at the remaining events."

The overall series compensation pays out from first to tenth place equally between Male and Female riders. First in Male or Female categories gets $50,000.00 and tenth will receive $7,000.00. Additionally, every Pro racer who finishes at least three of the series events, and ends up in 11th place overall in the series or beyond, will be compensated at an amount of $2,500.00. 

Additional benefits to series riders are all entry fees being covered. Under 23 athletes selected for the program after the Unbound Gravel event will also have their entry fees covered. All series athletes have free entry to Life Time events nationwide, coverage in media promoted by Life Time Fitness, and complimentary access to all of Life Time's fitness centers nationwide.

The Selection Process:

According to the press release, there will be some tweaks to the selection process. Here are some bullet points from the release:

 

Each 2026 roster will include: 

• The top five overall finishers from the 2025 Grand Prix
• The top overall U23 athlete from the 2025 series
• A minimum of 16 selected athletes (additional slots may open if one or more top-five athletes do not return)
• Three Wild Card athletes, chosen following Life Time UNBOUND Gravel 200

"Applications will be evaluated based on performances over the past 12 months at Life Time-owned and select national and international off-road events, including the Sea Otter Classic, UNBOUND Gravel, Leadville Trail 100 MTB, Chequamegon MTB Festival, The Rad Dirt Fest, Crusher in the Tushar, Lutsen 99er, and global events such as Cape Epic, BC Bike Race, and the UCI Gravel World Championships."

The Wild Card Life Time introduced for the 2025 season will again be enacted for the 2026 season with three male and three female riders being added to the Grand Prix after Unbound Gravel, as long as those six athletes meet certain criteria.  

Image courtesy of Life Time Events

Comments: 

This is an amazing development as it makes Unbound Gravel and Leadville some of the most lucrative Pro cycling events in North America. The ability to win one of these two events, or even place top-ten, will be "season makers" for those who can achieve the results. 

The Effects Of Enriching The Prize Purses: The season conclusion for the Grand Prix last weekend was marred by weather and the resulting chaos from changing course at the last minute caused some amount of fear and anxiety for the participants in the finale of the series. Making things more lucrative for the 2026 events will only enhance these emotions, even without the weather factor. 

Amping up the series by way of monetary reward will induce demands from the participants. These might range from petty desires to make things "easier" to concerns over race protocols. We've already seen the results of the monetizing of Unbound, and even before that event was monetized it was indirectly affecting athlete's abilities to score sponsorships and support. Athlete's demands which have resulted in changes to how Unbound is run include separation of Pro's from amateurs, separation of women's Pro fields from the Men's, and separated finish lines for Pro racers. 

Money on offer for performance results has dramatically changed Unbound in particular to an event where the focus has been shifted to only what the Pro riders are doing. The resulting media coverage has affected the experience for amateurs, wrecked what was once a serene, soul-stretching challenge, and affected local residents negatively. While a thriving undercurrent of amateur experiences and competition still exits at Unbound, there is also still a small amount of friction between Pro and everyone else when it comes to how things play out on the gravel. 

Every year we see and hear about how Pro riders desires for "freedom from obstruction" are hindered by roads being open to traffic, riders from the amateur ranks being on a similar course at times, and by an "unfair" support structure for Pros who are "privateers versus those who are affiliated with teams with big budgets and larger, better supplied crews.  

With more on the line than ever before, induced demands will also be on the rise from the Pros. What will the resulting changes be to Unbound, and perhaps other events influenced by Unbound, be in the future? 

Friday News And Views

2022 Giant Trance X

More Bicycle Piracy In The News:

Last week, from the industry news source, "Bike Biz", it was reported that a container load of 127 Giant e-MTB's were stolen from a carrier on the A12 highway. 

Thieves cut open the container, transferred the load to another vehicle and drove away. Details of the heist were not provided, but authorities were quick to warn people to be on the lookout for the bikes on the black market and to report any suspicions activity to the authorities. 

Comments: Supply chain issues, theorized by experts to continue on throughout the year, and perhaps longer, are causing these high end bikes to be targets of thieves. I suspect we will be hearing more about such heists in the coming months as the cycling season gets underway.

As spectacular as these heists are, let's also not forget that thieves are watching cycling teams and events as targets for their nefarious schemes. I've read stories about entire Pro team bike fleets being stolen and last year I heard about stolen bikes at a major gravel event. 

If you have a high-end, late model gravel rig or MTB and you are going to a big event, it should be on your to-do list to be extra vigilant when it comes to watching over your bicycles and in terms of security.  

Wolf Tooth's new rotor lock rings come in many colors.

Wolf Tooth Announces New Rotor Lock Rings:

Wolf Tooth Components announced on Tuesday that they were making rotor lock rings for Center Lock rotors in alloy. These will come in several colors including black, silver, green, orange, blue, red, purple, and gold. 

They fit 12, 15, and 20mm axles. The rotor lock rings are made in the USA and cost $15.95 each. 

Comments: Back in the 1990's I remember bike shops had cabinets full of anodized bits and baubles to accessorize your bike. Things went 'dark' in the late 90's and for most of the 'aughts' as black anodized stuff was about all you could find, unless you bought stuff from King or Hope! 

Things changed slowly over the ensuing years and now it appears that one can get all the colored bits they want and have a 'matchy-matchy' look or a 'unicorn vomit' look, depending on how "OCD" you are about anodized accessories. Maybe I ought to grab a pair of the purple ones for my pink BMC! 

UCI Pro Gravel World Tour Dates And Venues Leaked:

According to a "Cyclingtips" article online dated 2/22/22, the UCI Pro Gravel Wold Tour calendar has been leaked. The series has 14 dates and apparently it will kick off in April in the Philippines. 

There are three dates in North America. Two in the US and one in Canada. Interestingly the last date is listed as the "Jingle GX Gravel Race". The series is sponsored by Trek. Another look at this story can be found here on "Cycling News".

Comments: A lot of this was known ahead of these specifics, but the last date is intriguing. It is in Iowa City and the event has been held there for a few years already. Interestingly, Jingle Cross lost its World CX event status and this plumb event on the Gravel World Tour would be a nice alternative. 

Will that final event be the World Championships?  No. That honor will go to Tuscany where the Gravel World Championships will be held, reportedly in mid-October.

Southeast Gravel Series Announces Docu-series Project:

The Southeast Gravel Series, a six event series of gravel events held in the Southeastern USA, has announced a 'docu-series' to cover these evnts which they have dubbed "What Pressure". Here is a bit from the press release I got for this:

" What Pressure will follow gravel cyclists, from pro to amateur, involved in the world of gravel racing within the Southeast Gravel race series. Each episode will run approximately 20 minutes and will highlight a variety of cyclists that makes gravel racing such a unique demographic. "

The event series also announced a hand-cycle category for all of its events as well, marking it as the first event series to feature such a category offering in the gravel events genre'. 

You can see more about the series here: https://southeastgravel.com/ 

Comments: Ever since Tour Divide was documented in "Ride The Divide" gravel event directors and film makers have been eager to promote their events similarly. Of course, gravel event documentaries were done before 2012, such as the one about Trans Iowa in 2008 called "300 Miles of Gravel". But "Ride The Divide", in my mind, was the watershed creation from which this kind of marketing/entertainment idea for gravel events sprang forth from. 

The feature of the series that is probably more important than the docu-series, in my opinion, is the hand-cycle category for these events. That will be interesting to watch unfold. Undoubtedly this will expand the scope of participants even more in the realm of gravel events. This, to my way of thinking, is a bigger deal than a self-serving film series which- in all likelihood- will not be as far-reaching in its impacts as a hand-cycling category could be. But perhaps I will be proven wrong there. 

Be Kind To Your Tires:

Wednesday I saw this Tweet from veteran cycling media writer, James Huang. If you cannot read it, basically what he is saying is that new orders into Maxxis Tires for bicycle tires will be delivered in TWO YEARS from now. 

Let that sink in for a moment.

I also saw another article encouraging cyclists to run their tires longer and to always patch tubes before throwing them out. In other words, expect shortages, and higher prices, on new wheel goods. And as well- shouldn't we all be using up tires and tubes until they are worn out? That's another thing to be thinking about as well. 

I'm seeing people asking about maintenance, where to buy chains and cassettes, and more. This situation is far from over, and with all the events kicking into gear this year with new ones being added seemingly daily, pressure on the supply chain will probably remain at a very high level throughout 2022 and 2023 by the looks of it. 

Some experts were saying that by the end of this year we'd be seeing relief. Ah........I am not so sure about that now anymore.
 

That's a wrap for this end of February "FN&V". Will March come in like a lion, or a lamb? I don't care as long as it gets warmer! Thank you for reading G-Ted Productions! 

Friday News And Views

2022 Giant Trance X

More Bicycle Piracy In The News:

Last week, from the industry news source, "Bike Biz", it was reported that a container load of 127 Giant e-MTB's were stolen from a carrier on the A12 highway. 

Thieves cut open the container, transferred the load to another vehicle and drove away. Details of the heist were not provided, but authorities were quick to warn people to be on the lookout for the bikes on the black market and to report any suspicions activity to the authorities. 

Comments: Supply chain issues, theorized by experts to continue on throughout the year, and perhaps longer, are causing these high end bikes to be targets of thieves. I suspect we will be hearing more about such heists in the coming months as the cycling season gets underway.

As spectacular as these heists are, let's also not forget that thieves are watching cycling teams and events as targets for their nefarious schemes. I've read stories about entire Pro team bike fleets being stolen and last year I heard about stolen bikes at a major gravel event. 

If you have a high-end, late model gravel rig or MTB and you are going to a big event, it should be on your to-do list to be extra vigilant when it comes to watching over your bicycles and in terms of security.  

Wolf Tooth's new rotor lock rings come in many colors.

Wolf Tooth Announces New Rotor Lock Rings:

Wolf Tooth Components announced on Tuesday that they were making rotor lock rings for Center Lock rotors in alloy. These will come in several colors including black, silver, green, orange, blue, red, purple, and gold. 

They fit 12, 15, and 20mm axles. The rotor lock rings are made in the USA and cost $15.95 each. 

Comments: Back in the 1990's I remember bike shops had cabinets full of anodized bits and baubles to accessorize your bike. Things went 'dark' in the late 90's and for most of the 'aughts' as black anodized stuff was about all you could find, unless you bought stuff from King or Hope! 

Things changed slowly over the ensuing years and now it appears that one can get all the colored bits they want and have a 'matchy-matchy' look or a 'unicorn vomit' look, depending on how "OCD" you are about anodized accessories. Maybe I ought to grab a pair of the purple ones for my pink BMC! 

UCI Pro Gravel World Tour Dates And Venues Leaked:

According to a "Cyclingtips" article online dated 2/22/22, the UCI Pro Gravel Wold Tour calendar has been leaked. The series has 14 dates and apparently it will kick off in April in the Philippines. 

There are three dates in North America. Two in the US and one in Canada. Interestingly the last date is listed as the "Jingle GX Gravel Race". The series is sponsored by Trek. Another look at this story can be found here on "Cycling News".

Comments: A lot of this was known ahead of these specifics, but the last date is intriguing. It is in Iowa City and the event has been held there for a few years already. Interestingly, Jingle Cross lost its World CX event status and this plumb event on the Gravel World Tour would be a nice alternative. 

Will that final event be the World Championships?  No. That honor will go to Tuscany where the Gravel World Championships will be held, reportedly in mid-October.

Southeast Gravel Series Announces Docu-series Project:

The Southeast Gravel Series, a six event series of gravel events held in the Southeastern USA, has announced a 'docu-series' to cover these evnts which they have dubbed "What Pressure". Here is a bit from the press release I got for this:

" What Pressure will follow gravel cyclists, from pro to amateur, involved in the world of gravel racing within the Southeast Gravel race series. Each episode will run approximately 20 minutes and will highlight a variety of cyclists that makes gravel racing such a unique demographic. "

The event series also announced a hand-cycle category for all of its events as well, marking it as the first event series to feature such a category offering in the gravel events genre'. 

You can see more about the series here: https://southeastgravel.com/ 

Comments: Ever since Tour Divide was documented in "Ride The Divide" gravel event directors and film makers have been eager to promote their events similarly. Of course, gravel event documentaries were done before 2012, such as the one about Trans Iowa in 2008 called "300 Miles of Gravel". But "Ride The Divide", in my mind, was the watershed creation from which this kind of marketing/entertainment idea for gravel events sprang forth from. 

The feature of the series that is probably more important than the docu-series, in my opinion, is the hand-cycle category for these events. That will be interesting to watch unfold. Undoubtedly this will expand the scope of participants even more in the realm of gravel events. This, to my way of thinking, is a bigger deal than a self-serving film series which- in all likelihood- will not be as far-reaching in its impacts as a hand-cycling category could be. But perhaps I will be proven wrong there. 

Be Kind To Your Tires:

Wednesday I saw this Tweet from veteran cycling media writer, James Huang. If you cannot read it, basically what he is saying is that new orders into Maxxis Tires for bicycle tires will be delivered in TWO YEARS from now. 

Let that sink in for a moment.

I also saw another article encouraging cyclists to run their tires longer and to always patch tubes before throwing them out. In other words, expect shortages, and higher prices, on new wheel goods. And as well- shouldn't we all be using up tires and tubes until they are worn out? That's another thing to be thinking about as well. 

I'm seeing people asking about maintenance, where to buy chains and cassettes, and more. This situation is far from over, and with all the events kicking into gear this year with new ones being added seemingly daily, pressure on the supply chain will probably remain at a very high level throughout 2022 and 2023 by the looks of it. 

Some experts were saying that by the end of this year we'd be seeing relief. Ah........I am not so sure about that now anymore.
 

That's a wrap for this end of February "FN&V". Will March come in like a lion, or a lamb? I don't care as long as it gets warmer! Thank you for reading G-Ted Productions! 

Friday News And Views

Aero gravel bikes and wheels should be a hit in gravel triathlon.

 USA Triathlon Announces New Gravel Triathlon Series:

News hit last week on Wednesday that USA Triathlon would be setting up a gravel based triathlon series of events for 2022. 

The series will not allow the use of aero bars, "tri-bikes", or fixed gear bikes. Otherwise it seems as though the organization is banking on the gravel trend to be a big deal yet and the organization is set on cashing in on this. Quote from the USA Triathlon site:

"“Gravel cycling is growing incredibly fast and the multisport community is positioned to take advantage of this trend by providing athletes with new and unique race formats and disciplines like gravel triathlon,” said Rocky Harris, USA Triathlon CEO. “USA Triathlon is proud to partner with local race directors across the country to create this exciting new series.""

The races will be held in New Jersey, Michigan, Texas, Colorado, Idaho and California.Participants will receive special stickers and awards and will not be required to finish any qualifier events to enter into the inaugural season. The inaugural USA Triathlon Gravel National Championships will be held June 3 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The rest of the series will be a mix of new and established gravel tri's, including the long held "Dirty Mitten" event in Michigan. 

Comments: Not a big surprise here. I have been aware of 'gravel triathlon' for years.  (The Dirty Mitten being one of several I've heard of) This seems - somehow - to be a more natural fit than does the move by USAC and the UCI to bring Pro Road style events to gravel. I think perhaps that Triathlon is a bit more grassroots driven, and conversely, this whole Pro Gravel thing seems too derivative of professional road racing to be a natural for the gravel scene. 

But that may be just my perspective. This news seems congruent with what I've been exposed to all along with the gravel scene.  

Singular Gryphon v3(Image courtesy of Singular)

I'm In Trouble Here:

So, some of you readers here may remember way back when that I had a Singular Gryphon drop bar single speed bike. It was a V1 version, the creme with green panels. I really liked that bike, but space concerns and the fact that I was hardly riding it, near the end of my time with the bike, forced me to sell it. I will admit to kind of kicking myself sometimes for doing that. 

Now Singular is showing this v3 version of the Gryphon and it is modernized and has a feature I have wanted to get in a bike for years. So......I'm in a bit of a bind here because I really want this frame! 

Modernized? Yes. Through axles- but - NOT Boost!  AND it can handle up to a 29" X 3" tire AND it can be single speed! Dang.......that hits me right where I like things! 

Computer generated image of the Gryphon v3 in kind of the way I'd be doing it. (Image courtesy of Singular)

 I'm having a hard time talking myself out of pre-ordering this thing. It wouldn't get here until later this year. October is what the site says, but you know.....supply chain things. And I am considering a Black Mountain Cycles Mod Zero too, and then there is this bike as well. ..... Uggh. So, anyway, IF I get a Gryphon here's what I'd do. 

Single speed, of course, with my polished Velocity Dually rims, some 29" X 2.6" or so tires, White Industries crank, a Ti Salsa Regulator post, and a set of Ragley Luxy Bars. That would be rad! I have a lot of what I just mentioned already too. I'd just have to get some hubs and lace the rims I have to those. 

Anyway.....possible pipe dream........

 Is Recent Peloton Trouble An Example Of Overall Trouble To Come For The Bike Industry?

Last month on the 20th of January it was widely reported that Peloton, the indoor stationary cycling company, announced that it was pausing production of its indoor cycling and treadmill models to clear out excess inventory. As a result their stock market prices tumbled.

You read that right. In an age where delays and supply stream issues are rampant, Peloton has too much inventory. Now, why did that happen? Could this be a indicator of what will happen with the cycling industry soon? 

Comments: It is difficult to say that Peloton's issues are a reflection of things to come for the bicycle industry because some of Peloton's issues are self-inflicted (product recalls) and some of their issues are related to competition. But after early demand outstripped Peloton's ability to provide products, (sound familiar) they ramped up production and then the competition started to eat away at their dominance. People found less expensive alternatives, pandemic lock downs ended, and gyms started reopening again. All of which negatively affected Peloton's sales and demand for product waned as a result. 

Peloton has responded by slashing unit prices and by this reported shutdown of production of anywhere from six months to several weeks, depending on the model and which stories you read. Now, Peloton is not the bicycle industry, but I think some parallels can be drawn here from this story.

Cycling was taken up by thousands of new-to-cycling folks when there wasn't much else that they were allowed to do. Well, that drained the supply chain. Since then, the cycling industry has faced pandemic driven obstacles in shipping, factory shutdowns, natural disasters, and more to the point that maybe by the end of this year we get everything back on its feet again.

But by then, what will the people be doing that spiked the sales demands in early 2020? Will they, like many Peloton riders, go find alternatives to cycling now that they can do most everything again? And add in those prices, which will reflect inflation, raw materials and shipping costs which have skyrocketed, and manufacturers and dealers hungry to cash out so they can pay the mounting bills. 

I don't have the answers, but the horizon I see has some dark storm clouds gathering, and if I had to place any bets, my money is on a mirroring of the issues we have seen with Peloton. 

Gravel Worlds Picks Up Title Sponsor:

Gravel Worlds announced on Thursday that the event has a 'title sponsor' now in Garmin. The event now is known as "Garmin Gravel Worlds Presented by Lauf". It is not known if any money was involved in this titling of Gravel Worlds, but one would assume that this was the case. 

Comments: I'm reminded of an e-mail I received years ago from the late DK200 co-founder, Joel Dyke. In it he was encouraging me to hold the line with my format for Trans Iowa. He mentioned something to the effect that "...when the money comes in, that's when gravel events will die." 

I don't know that he meant "gravel riding will end" as much as he was referring to the vibe and feel of the early gravel scene. Certainly he was referring to a change in the scene which he found distasteful. Somehow I feel as though this announcement would have found Joel feeling less than stoked. 

As for me, well.....things change, right? I've said this before. Things evolve and change and there is no way that we could ever say that gravel grinding is 'under the radar' anymore, like we used to say. No- it is a mainstream, big-time deal these days, and there is no going back to the way things once were within the entire sphere of gravel riding. Pockets of 'grassroots', hyper-local riding? Yes. That's always going to be there and will hearken back to the times when every gravel event was like that. But that doesn't reflect the reality of today. 

All that to say that the more Gravel Worlds changes the more disheartened I get about that event. This has absolutely nothing at all to do with their efforts to get women to ride and to be more inclusive. No, I'm all for that. (And Joel Dyke would have been as well, from all that I knew of him) I just don't feel great about all the trappings involved with event title sponsorship, marketing, money-generating, prize purses, and what not. The "hoopla" and big, slick production stuff- not my cuppa. It just doesn't make me feel like I belong there anymore. Just my take..... You folks out there don't have to follow my lead.

Okay, that's a wrap for this week. Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Friday News And Views

Aero gravel bikes and wheels should be a hit in gravel triathlon.

 USA Triathlon Announces New Gravel Triathlon Series:

News hit last week on Wednesday that USA Triathlon would be setting up a gravel based triathlon series of events for 2022. 

The series will not allow the use of aero bars, "tri-bikes", or fixed gear bikes. Otherwise it seems as though the organization is banking on the gravel trend to be a big deal yet and the organization is set on cashing in on this. Quote from the USA Triathlon site:

"“Gravel cycling is growing incredibly fast and the multisport community is positioned to take advantage of this trend by providing athletes with new and unique race formats and disciplines like gravel triathlon,” said Rocky Harris, USA Triathlon CEO. “USA Triathlon is proud to partner with local race directors across the country to create this exciting new series.""

The races will be held in New Jersey, Michigan, Texas, Colorado, Idaho and California.Participants will receive special stickers and awards and will not be required to finish any qualifier events to enter into the inaugural season. The inaugural USA Triathlon Gravel National Championships will be held June 3 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The rest of the series will be a mix of new and established gravel tri's, including the long held "Dirty Mitten" event in Michigan. 

Comments: Not a big surprise here. I have been aware of 'gravel triathlon' for years.  (The Dirty Mitten being one of several I've heard of) This seems - somehow - to be a more natural fit than does the move by USAC and the UCI to bring Pro Road style events to gravel. I think perhaps that Triathlon is a bit more grassroots driven, and conversely, this whole Pro Gravel thing seems too derivative of professional road racing to be a natural for the gravel scene. 

But that may be just my perspective. This news seems congruent with what I've been exposed to all along with the gravel scene.  

Singular Gryphon v3(Image courtesy of Singular)

I'm In Trouble Here:

So, some of you readers here may remember way back when that I had a Singular Gryphon drop bar single speed bike. It was a V1 version, the creme with green panels. I really liked that bike, but space concerns and the fact that I was hardly riding it, near the end of my time with the bike, forced me to sell it. I will admit to kind of kicking myself sometimes for doing that. 

Now Singular is showing this v3 version of the Gryphon and it is modernized and has a feature I have wanted to get in a bike for years. So......I'm in a bit of a bind here because I really want this frame! 

Modernized? Yes. Through axles- but - NOT Boost!  AND it can handle up to a 29" X 3" tire AND it can be single speed! Dang.......that hits me right where I like things! 

Computer generated image of the Gryphon v3 in kind of the way I'd be doing it. (Image courtesy of Singular)

 I'm having a hard time talking myself out of pre-ordering this thing. It wouldn't get here until later this year. October is what the site says, but you know.....supply chain things. And I am considering a Black Mountain Cycles Mod Zero too, and then there is this bike as well. ..... Uggh. So, anyway, IF I get a Gryphon here's what I'd do. 

Single speed, of course, with my polished Velocity Dually rims, some 29" X 2.6" or so tires, White Industries crank, a Ti Salsa Regulator post, and a set of Ragley Luxy Bars. That would be rad! I have a lot of what I just mentioned already too. I'd just have to get some hubs and lace the rims I have to those. 

Anyway.....possible pipe dream........

 Is Recent Peloton Trouble An Example Of Overall Trouble To Come For The Bike Industry?

Last month on the 20th of January it was widely reported that Peloton, the indoor stationary cycling company, announced that it was pausing production of its indoor cycling and treadmill models to clear out excess inventory. As a result their stock market prices tumbled.

You read that right. In an age where delays and supply stream issues are rampant, Peloton has too much inventory. Now, why did that happen? Could this be a indicator of what will happen with the cycling industry soon? 

Comments: It is difficult to say that Peloton's issues are a reflection of things to come for the bicycle industry because some of Peloton's issues are self-inflicted (product recalls) and some of their issues are related to competition. But after early demand outstripped Peloton's ability to provide products, (sound familiar) they ramped up production and then the competition started to eat away at their dominance. People found less expensive alternatives, pandemic lock downs ended, and gyms started reopening again. All of which negatively affected Peloton's sales and demand for product waned as a result. 

Peloton has responded by slashing unit prices and by this reported shutdown of production of anywhere from six months to several weeks, depending on the model and which stories you read. Now, Peloton is not the bicycle industry, but I think some parallels can be drawn here from this story.

Cycling was taken up by thousands of new-to-cycling folks when there wasn't much else that they were allowed to do. Well, that drained the supply chain. Since then, the cycling industry has faced pandemic driven obstacles in shipping, factory shutdowns, natural disasters, and more to the point that maybe by the end of this year we get everything back on its feet again.

But by then, what will the people be doing that spiked the sales demands in early 2020? Will they, like many Peloton riders, go find alternatives to cycling now that they can do most everything again? And add in those prices, which will reflect inflation, raw materials and shipping costs which have skyrocketed, and manufacturers and dealers hungry to cash out so they can pay the mounting bills. 

I don't have the answers, but the horizon I see has some dark storm clouds gathering, and if I had to place any bets, my money is on a mirroring of the issues we have seen with Peloton. 

Gravel Worlds Picks Up Title Sponsor:

Gravel Worlds announced on Thursday that the event has a 'title sponsor' now in Garmin. The event now is known as "Garmin Gravel Worlds Presented by Lauf". It is not known if any money was involved in this titling of Gravel Worlds, but one would assume that this was the case. 

Comments: I'm reminded of an e-mail I received years ago from the late DK200 co-founder, Joel Dyke. In it he was encouraging me to hold the line with my format for Trans Iowa. He mentioned something to the effect that "...when the money comes in, that's when gravel events will die." 

I don't know that he meant "gravel riding will end" as much as he was referring to the vibe and feel of the early gravel scene. Certainly he was referring to a change in the scene which he found distasteful. Somehow I feel as though this announcement would have found Joel feeling less than stoked. 

As for me, well.....things change, right? I've said this before. Things evolve and change and there is no way that we could ever say that gravel grinding is 'under the radar' anymore, like we used to say. No- it is a mainstream, big-time deal these days, and there is no going back to the way things once were within the entire sphere of gravel riding. Pockets of 'grassroots', hyper-local riding? Yes. That's always going to be there and will hearken back to the times when every gravel event was like that. But that doesn't reflect the reality of today. 

All that to say that the more Gravel Worlds changes the more disheartened I get about that event. This has absolutely nothing at all to do with their efforts to get women to ride and to be more inclusive. No, I'm all for that. (And Joel Dyke would have been as well, from all that I knew of him) I just don't feel great about all the trappings involved with event title sponsorship, marketing, money-generating, prize purses, and what not. The "hoopla" and big, slick production stuff- not my cuppa. It just doesn't make me feel like I belong there anymore. Just my take..... You folks out there don't have to follow my lead.

Okay, that's a wrap for this week. Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Friday News And Views

My bench at Europa cycle & Ski circa 2007.

 Mergers & Buy-outs To Radically Change Consumer Choice/Experience in '22:

 I've mentioned here before how Trek and Specialized are out buying up key retailers in bigger markets to solidify a place in those retail areas for their products. But those are not the only kinds of mergers and buy-outs which are going to affect your cycling experiences in 2022 and beyond. 

While news broke recently that Trek just recently took over an East Coast retailer, I also saw a post on social media which prompted me to read a little further on the subject and reflect on what I have seen personally. I had known this intrinsically, but the post brought this out into words which better expressed my feelings. Essentially, we are going to see - and are already seeing - a big move to make 'choices' go away in local bike shops. 

This will have deleterious effects upon your buying experiences as a consumer. No longer will you find any hint of clear, unbiased opinion on parts, accessories, and bicycles. Now you will only get 'The Company Line®" espoused to you by trained "sales associates" who have managers crawling down their backs to make quotas. (I'm not making this up- it is actually happening) Consumers used to think the local bike shop was trying to "pull one over" on them? Corporate themed bike shops are saying, "Hold my beer....". 

Now- I know not all bike shop employees, owners, and retail experiences were good. I get that, But these big-brand buy-outs of cornerstone retail bike shops is going to point out that there used to be a LOT of good shops, and now there are going to be a LOT less of them. 

I found a pretty interesting article about this from another source written by Matt Stoller HERE.

And that ain't all. Nope! Your media is falling under the same, big-corporate think blanket. Titles and media folk who used to be independent and free to editorialize in the way they saw fit are now becoming subsidiaries of bigger media empires. (Think what happened to newspapers)  And many don't even print a physical magazine anymore. But the bigger issue is who is overseeing what you are reading, and to whom are they beholden? Check those companies out folks. You'd be surprised who all is actually on "the same team" and not what you might think they were/are anymore.  

Specialized Announces Consumer Direct Sales:

In a surprise announcement yesterday, Specialized Bicycles announced consumer direct sales would be an option beginning next week. People visiting the website could choose to either pick up a bike at a dealer, have the dealer deliver the bike in a "white glove, concierge type service", or have a mostly-assembled bike delivered to their door. The consumer direct scheme excludes e-bikes.

Reportedly dealers were made aware of this move last week in a conference call with Specialized headquarters. 

Comments: This is a very big deal. Specialized is widely held to be one of the top four brands in the US market along with Trek, Giant, and Cannondale. Specialized was, by some analysts measure, caught a bit off-guard by Trek's aggressive retail outlet buy-ups over the past several years. This culminated with the Mike's Bikes buyout by Trek, (PON Holding Company bought Mike's Bikes- NOT Trek. Thanks to commenter "sasha" for the catch.)  which was one of NorCals biggest Specialized dealers. Specialized was left without any retailers in a keystone market after they pulled support and sales from Mike's Bikes as a result of the Trek takeover. 

Obviously Specialized, who has bought up some retail brick and mortar stores, saw that they were not going to out-gun Trek in a showdown of who could buy up the most retail outlets. So, this is a shot across the bow of Trek, who have repeatedly stated that they would support dealers by disallowing D2C sales. 

Now I anticipate other, especially second tier brands, to follow suit here. The band-aid has been ripped off by Specialized and I see no going back on this move. It remains to be seen what- if anything- Trek will do, but now it would appear that we are in for big changes in bicycle retail and I think Specialized's move is going to kick this off going forward. Especially if the move is seen as having some success. 

But we'll see. It certainly will be interesting to see how the market reacts to this big change.

 

The new Moots Routt ESC (Image courtesy of Moots)

Moots Debuts New Routt ESC Model:

 Tuesday of this week saw Moots introducing a new titanium (of course) Routt ESC bicycle. It is a drop bar bike for 700c wheels and has clearances for up to 2.4" tires. 

The bike features a big main triangle, presumably to handle large frame bags, and several braze on points for water bottles and packs. The Routt ESC uniquely is sold with a titanium fork as well. 

This new model will be sold as a complete featuring either an ENVE/SRAM AXS spec or what Moots is calling a "Neo Retro Kit" which features a 12 speed MicroShift/White Industries/XT mix and bar end shifters topped off by a classic Brooks B-17 saddle. (Note the image shows the Neo Retro spec)

Both models will have the same frame/fork which has Boost spacing, a 73mm threaded bottom bracket, and five bottle mount points. The bikes come with titanium King cages included in the price.  

Prices are set at from $12,000.00 for the SRAM AXS equipped model and from $9,769.00 for the Neo Retro Kit. Final prices will be determined by finish choices made by the consumer which include frame treatment/color schemes and a few other small details.  

Comments: There were two things that struck me concerning this introduction. One was that this is a great Ti Fargo alternative with a very unusual titanium fork. The frame spec is cool, and it is NOT suspension corrected. See how that radically alters the look of the bike? Personally, I have to say that I have found it rather strange that Salsa Cycles has doggedly stuck to their suspension corrected format for the Fargo. I like this Moots take on the "Fargo style" much better. But I will add that not having a single-speed bail-out option seems like a bit of an oversight.  Especially for a bike which is obviously aimed at the off-road bikepacker. 

Second was the spec and the overall pricing. Look at that "Neo Retro" version. A MicroShift bar end bike for nearly 10G's? Whooo! Moots are traditionally very expensive bikes, so I get that, but is this a reflection of the times and the future? I think it is. Considering the fact that the Neo spec has a LOT of US sourced parts, (White Industries hubs, crank, Velocity rims) and off-center spec (Velo Orange Daija Far Bar, Brooks saddle, MicroShift) and it becomes plainer to see that certain items are hard to source yet. (At least in quantities large enough for a small run of a model) 

Oh.....and this model range is insanely expensive. There- I said it.

 

New Iowa-Illinois Gravel Event Series:

Tuesday news broke on a new Iowa-Illinois gravel series based mostly around the Southeastern area of Iowa. The four event series is being put on by a new organization dubbed "Fitwave Gravel". 

Boasting a series "open to all" and eschewing any hints of elitism and claiming "grassroots" philosophies of self-improvement via suffering, this series will spread its event dates across Spring and Fall dates. Hit the link above for the details.

Comments: Another series of events in Iowa. I like it, but why did it take over a decade plus for this to take root in Iowa? We used to joke as teenagers and twenty-somethings that trends typically caught on at the coasts of the USA and "soaked into the middle of the country". By the time something finally caught on in Iowa it was passe' everywhere else. While gravel events did not necessarily start on each coastline of North America and creep toward the middle, I can say that gravel events caught on in a BIG way in every state around us but not in Iowa. 

Weird.....

But whatever. It is now and that's something I've expected for years. I was asked to spread the news about this new series. Consider it spread. Now we'll see how folks respond.

That's a wrap on the week. Stay warm and try to get out if you can!

Friday News And Views

My bench at Europa cycle & Ski circa 2007.

 Mergers & Buy-outs To Radically Change Consumer Choice/Experience in '22:

 I've mentioned here before how Trek and Specialized are out buying up key retailers in bigger markets to solidify a place in those retail areas for their products. But those are not the only kinds of mergers and buy-outs which are going to affect your cycling experiences in 2022 and beyond. 

While news broke recently that Trek just recently took over an East Coast retailer, I also saw a post on social media which prompted me to read a little further on the subject and reflect on what I have seen personally. I had known this intrinsically, but the post brought this out into words which better expressed my feelings. Essentially, we are going to see - and are already seeing - a big move to make 'choices' go away in local bike shops. 

This will have deleterious effects upon your buying experiences as a consumer. No longer will you find any hint of clear, unbiased opinion on parts, accessories, and bicycles. Now you will only get 'The Company Line®" espoused to you by trained "sales associates" who have managers crawling down their backs to make quotas. (I'm not making this up- it is actually happening) Consumers used to think the local bike shop was trying to "pull one over" on them? Corporate themed bike shops are saying, "Hold my beer....". 

Now- I know not all bike shop employees, owners, and retail experiences were good. I get that, But these big-brand buy-outs of cornerstone retail bike shops is going to point out that there used to be a LOT of good shops, and now there are going to be a LOT less of them. 

I found a pretty interesting article about this from another source written by Matt Stoller HERE.

And that ain't all. Nope! Your media is falling under the same, big-corporate think blanket. Titles and media folk who used to be independent and free to editorialize in the way they saw fit are now becoming subsidiaries of bigger media empires. (Think what happened to newspapers)  And many don't even print a physical magazine anymore. But the bigger issue is who is overseeing what you are reading, and to whom are they beholden? Check those companies out folks. You'd be surprised who all is actually on "the same team" and not what you might think they were/are anymore.  

Specialized Announces Consumer Direct Sales:

In a surprise announcement yesterday, Specialized Bicycles announced consumer direct sales would be an option beginning next week. People visiting the website could choose to either pick up a bike at a dealer, have the dealer deliver the bike in a "white glove, concierge type service", or have a mostly-assembled bike delivered to their door. The consumer direct scheme excludes e-bikes.

Reportedly dealers were made aware of this move last week in a conference call with Specialized headquarters. 

Comments: This is a very big deal. Specialized is widely held to be one of the top four brands in the US market along with Trek, Giant, and Cannondale. Specialized was, by some analysts measure, caught a bit off-guard by Trek's aggressive retail outlet buy-ups over the past several years. This culminated with the Mike's Bikes buyout by Trek, (PON Holding Company bought Mike's Bikes- NOT Trek. Thanks to commenter "sasha" for the catch.)  which was one of NorCals biggest Specialized dealers. Specialized was left without any retailers in a keystone market after they pulled support and sales from Mike's Bikes as a result of the Trek takeover. 

Obviously Specialized, who has bought up some retail brick and mortar stores, saw that they were not going to out-gun Trek in a showdown of who could buy up the most retail outlets. So, this is a shot across the bow of Trek, who have repeatedly stated that they would support dealers by disallowing D2C sales. 

Now I anticipate other, especially second tier brands, to follow suit here. The band-aid has been ripped off by Specialized and I see no going back on this move. It remains to be seen what- if anything- Trek will do, but now it would appear that we are in for big changes in bicycle retail and I think Specialized's move is going to kick this off going forward. Especially if the move is seen as having some success. 

But we'll see. It certainly will be interesting to see how the market reacts to this big change.

 

The new Moots Routt ESC (Image courtesy of Moots)

Moots Debuts New Routt ESC Model:

 Tuesday of this week saw Moots introducing a new titanium (of course) Routt ESC bicycle. It is a drop bar bike for 700c wheels and has clearances for up to 2.4" tires. 

The bike features a big main triangle, presumably to handle large frame bags, and several braze on points for water bottles and packs. The Routt ESC uniquely is sold with a titanium fork as well. 

This new model will be sold as a complete featuring either an ENVE/SRAM AXS spec or what Moots is calling a "Neo Retro Kit" which features a 12 speed MicroShift/White Industries/XT mix and bar end shifters topped off by a classic Brooks B-17 saddle. (Note the image shows the Neo Retro spec)

Both models will have the same frame/fork which has Boost spacing, a 73mm threaded bottom bracket, and five bottle mount points. The bikes come with titanium King cages included in the price.  

Prices are set at from $12,000.00 for the SRAM AXS equipped model and from $9,769.00 for the Neo Retro Kit. Final prices will be determined by finish choices made by the consumer which include frame treatment/color schemes and a few other small details.  

Comments: There were two things that struck me concerning this introduction. One was that this is a great Ti Fargo alternative with a very unusual titanium fork. The frame spec is cool, and it is NOT suspension corrected. See how that radically alters the look of the bike? Personally, I have to say that I have found it rather strange that Salsa Cycles has doggedly stuck to their suspension corrected format for the Fargo. I like this Moots take on the "Fargo style" much better. But I will add that not having a single-speed bail-out option seems like a bit of an oversight.  Especially for a bike which is obviously aimed at the off-road bikepacker. 

Second was the spec and the overall pricing. Look at that "Neo Retro" version. A MicroShift bar end bike for nearly 10G's? Whooo! Moots are traditionally very expensive bikes, so I get that, but is this a reflection of the times and the future? I think it is. Considering the fact that the Neo spec has a LOT of US sourced parts, (White Industries hubs, crank, Velocity rims) and off-center spec (Velo Orange Daija Far Bar, Brooks saddle, MicroShift) and it becomes plainer to see that certain items are hard to source yet. (At least in quantities large enough for a small run of a model) 

Oh.....and this model range is insanely expensive. There- I said it.

 

New Iowa-Illinois Gravel Event Series:

Tuesday news broke on a new Iowa-Illinois gravel series based mostly around the Southeastern area of Iowa. The four event series is being put on by a new organization dubbed "Fitwave Gravel". 

Boasting a series "open to all" and eschewing any hints of elitism and claiming "grassroots" philosophies of self-improvement via suffering, this series will spread its event dates across Spring and Fall dates. Hit the link above for the details.

Comments: Another series of events in Iowa. I like it, but why did it take over a decade plus for this to take root in Iowa? We used to joke as teenagers and twenty-somethings that trends typically caught on at the coasts of the USA and "soaked into the middle of the country". By the time something finally caught on in Iowa it was passe' everywhere else. While gravel events did not necessarily start on each coastline of North America and creep toward the middle, I can say that gravel events caught on in a BIG way in every state around us but not in Iowa. 

Weird.....

But whatever. It is now and that's something I've expected for years. I was asked to spread the news about this new series. Consider it spread. Now we'll see how folks respond.

That's a wrap on the week. Stay warm and try to get out if you can!