More Testing

Fenders installed and that Whatchamacallit Bar.

Over the weekend I got the fenders installed on the BMC MCD bike. They are the excellent, highly recommended Planet Bike Cascadia ALX fenders. I have been using these on a couple of my bikes for several years now and I have to say that they are really good. I maybe would like a tiny bit more coverage, but hey! For the money, for the ease of installation, and for the bomber performance? I'm all in on these. Get you some.....

(And for the record, I paid my own damn money for the set on this bike I have and I was not asked to write that glowing review. It's what I really think- So there!)

Sad that we live in a world where disclaimers have to be added, but anyway.....

I stuffed the Teravail Rutland 700 X 47mm tires under those fenders and they barely fit! But they fit! That's pretty cool since I was hoping to be able to run these tires quite a bit in 2021. I have really enjoyed them and they remind me a lot of my favorite WTB Resolutes, only these are a bit bigger than Reso's are. In fact, I was thinking that in the mid-00's, these would have been passed off as 29"er tires. I remember testing some Bontrager tires, in particular, that were sub-50mm tires that were being called 29"er tires. 

At any rate, I would not run a much bigger tire since the MCD is pretty close on clearances with these as it is. There is mud room- barely. Obviously there is enough room to squeeze in fenders, but where I am looking- the chain stays - The room is pretty minimal there. 

Oh! I suppose you were wondering about those whatchamacallit bars and those weird grips on there? Well, that's another silly thing, see- It's called a media embargo. I know, I know...... Just following the rules here, that's all. More can be said in about a week or so. Stay tuned......

More Testing

Fenders installed and that Whatchamacallit Bar.

Over the weekend I got the fenders installed on the BMC MCD bike. They are the excellent, highly recommended Planet Bike Cascadia ALX fenders. I have been using these on a couple of my bikes for several years now and I have to say that they are really good. I maybe would like a tiny bit more coverage, but hey! For the money, for the ease of installation, and for the bomber performance? I'm all in on these. Get you some.....

(And for the record, I paid my own damn money for the set on this bike I have and I was not asked to write that glowing review. It's what I really think- So there!)

Sad that we live in a world where disclaimers have to be added, but anyway.....

I stuffed the Teravail Rutland 700 X 47mm tires under those fenders and they barely fit! But they fit! That's pretty cool since I was hoping to be able to run these tires quite a bit in 2021. I have really enjoyed them and they remind me a lot of my favorite WTB Resolutes, only these are a bit bigger than Reso's are. In fact, I was thinking that in the mid-00's, these would have been passed off as 29"er tires. I remember testing some Bontrager tires, in particular, that were sub-50mm tires that were being called 29"er tires. 

At any rate, I would not run a much bigger tire since the MCD is pretty close on clearances with these as it is. There is mud room- barely. Obviously there is enough room to squeeze in fenders, but where I am looking- the chain stays - The room is pretty minimal there. 

Oh! I suppose you were wondering about those whatchamacallit bars and those weird grips on there? Well, that's another silly thing, see- It's called a media embargo. I know, I know...... Just following the rules here, that's all. More can be said in about a week or so. Stay tuned......

This Just In

Look closely at that handle bar. Somethin' odd goin' on there!

 Being in the reviewing of product game is odd. There are 'unwritten rules of engagement' and all manner of weird practices. Take for instance these new handle bars I just received for review on RidingGravel.com. 

The company sent these out and with that a note that there is a 'press embargo' on the bars until early March. That said, they are up on their website, they have taken pre-orders from customers, and are advertising the things on social media like crazy. Furthermore, customers that already have the bars are posting their thoughts already on these. So my question is, "What is the point in having a 'press embargo'? I fail to see any point at all in it, but.....I will not name these bars. That said, it'll take you two seconds to figure out what is going on here. 

Now, with that out of the way, I will go back into a bit of history here. It relates to what's on the BMC in the picture. Way back, when Ergon grips were still a pretty new thing, many of us in the gravel grinding community were wondering, "Hey! When are y'all gunna make sumthin' like that fer us? It'd be rad to put sumpthin' like these on drop bars, ya know?" And Ergon was receptive but said that "maybe someday" they'd get around to that. Which is company-speak for "We do not believe we'd sell enough to make it worthwhile". And back around 2006 - 2007? They were probably right. 

But now, in 2021, some company thought that the numbers were there for sales, and well, ya know what? They are right. And I believe you'll be seeing a lot more of these in the future. Just like when Ergon grips came out and people laughed and dismissed them as being too heavy, too goofy looking, and that it was an over-priced product, these are going to be dismissed similarly with similar comments. Too bad. 

But I think they will come around........

Stay tuned.

This Just In

Look closely at that handle bar. Somethin' odd goin' on there!

 Being in the reviewing of product game is odd. There are 'unwritten rules of engagement' and all manner of weird practices. Take for instance these new handle bars I just received for review on RidingGravel.com. 

The company sent these out and with that a note that there is a 'press embargo' on the bars until early March. That said, they are up on their website, they have taken pre-orders from customers, and are advertising the things on social media like crazy. Furthermore, customers that already have the bars are posting their thoughts already on these. So my question is, "What is the point in having a 'press embargo'? I fail to see any point at all in it, but.....I will not name these bars. That said, it'll take you two seconds to figure out what is going on here. 

Now, with that out of the way, I will go back into a bit of history here. It relates to what's on the BMC in the picture. Way back, when Ergon grips were still a pretty new thing, many of us in the gravel grinding community were wondering, "Hey! When are y'all gunna make sumthin' like that fer us? It'd be rad to put sumpthin' like these on drop bars, ya know?" And Ergon was receptive but said that "maybe someday" they'd get around to that. Which is company-speak for "We do not believe we'd sell enough to make it worthwhile". And back around 2006 - 2007? They were probably right. 

But now, in 2021, some company thought that the numbers were there for sales, and well, ya know what? They are right. And I believe you'll be seeing a lot more of these in the future. Just like when Ergon grips came out and people laughed and dismissed them as being too heavy, too goofy looking, and that it was an over-priced product, these are going to be dismissed similarly with similar comments. Too bad. 

But I think they will come around........

Stay tuned.

Friday News And Views

The new Surly Ogre color- Slate Blue

Surly Offers New Ogre Color:

Surly Bikes used to be this irreverent, devil-may-care company that put out bikes no one thought they wanted until Surly made them. That ship has sailed and now Surly promotes themselves as the "customizable brand". The bike you get and pimp out to make it your own thing, which Surly riders over the years have certainly done. But this brand isn't the only one that happens with. Anyway...... Moving on!

I generally don't get too excited about Surly's ever changing color palette. The bikes don't change, much, if at all, and when Surly has brought out bikes of late, (Midnight Special, Bridge Club), they are kind of.......meh! Not the "what the hell.....I want that!" kind of bike they used to be known for bringing to the table. The last bike I recall hitting me that way from Surly would be the Krampus, maybe the Ice Cream truck. Anyway......Moving On!

So, why bother with showing this Ogre. Well, I have always found the Ogre to be a very intriguing bike. I like to think of it as the bike that resulted when an original Fargo Gen I got together with an original Gen I Karate Monkey, and bam! It's the Ogre! The Ogre has a lot of things those two earlier bikes have that I find attractive, all in one bike.

Things like non-suspension corrected geometry, single speed-able, big tire clearances, and a host of what Surly calls "barnacles" with which to mount things off of. If I had to replace my Gen I Fargo, this bike would be on my radar for sure. Plus, I have a soft spot for any bike that is light blue in color. Fortunately, I don't have to replace that bike, but if something along those lines is what you are after, I think the Ogre would make a fine, "do anything" bike.

 Secrets Revealed:

In this business I am in with RidingGravel.com, I get news before it is supposed to be released all the time. You can bet that at any given moment I probably am sitting on something, or three things, that will be known in the near future by everyone. Two of such things are being revealed this morning.

So, here's another secret. Maybe some of you have figured this out by now. I generally write these posts ahead of time and schedule them to appear shortly after midnight Mountain Standard Time. Why MST? Well, why not? I know I live in the Central Standard Time Zone, but MST doesn't get enough love, so ya know.....that's when I schedule them. I don't know, really, it's just how it ended up.

At any rate, the companies with "embargoes" on stories typically select a release time world-wide based upon where their headquarters are at. One story comes out based upon CST and the other based upon PST. (See....no MST! I'm telling ya, it doesn't get any respect.) Anyway, if you see either story, you'll figure it out.

I'll have my say on one of the two things tomorrow and the other on Monday. Stay tuned......

Redshift Sports Shock Stop seat post.

 Redshift Sports Takes The Covers Off New Seat Post:

Speaking of secrets, this is one I have literally been "sitting on"! The Redshift Sports Shock stop seat post really is not all that secret, actually. They ran a Kickstarter fund raiser to fund the productions, and several folks already have theirs. But publicly, Redshift asked reviewers to withhold their reviews until now. Note- Redshift Sports sent this post to me to review for Riding Gravel. I did not buy this post.

I've been using this post since late November on my Ti Muk 2, and now on my pink BMC MCD gravel bike, and in short- It's a winner. This post will be a big hit for a lot of cyclists.

Sharp eyed readers may have spotted this post on my rigs over the past months, but I haven't called it out in images. Long time readers may also recall another shock absorbing seat post I ran on my old Mukluk titanium bike, which featured parallel coil springs. While that model worked quite nicely for me, that particular company changed the design, and when they did, the post was not at all functional for a guy my size and weight. I was blowing through the travel on that post at the slightest provocation by a bump and that using the maximum pre-load with the maximum weight rated springs installed. Their previous model did not require that, and subsequently this company has redesigned their post for big fellas. Unfortunately, they did not get back to me with that for my opinions. And now, they may as well not bother. This Redshift post blows that design away, in my opinion.

Why? Because this design is simpler and easier to use. With the previous company's design, I had to disassemble the linkage partially to swap out one or both springs with one of several choices to adjust for load bearing, and then pre-load was done with a knob, externally, which was nice, actually. The extra springs did not come with the post, so if you needed to swap out springs, it was a long, drawn out affair with a need to order in springs. This Redshift Sports Shock Stop post comes with everything you need. The design only utilizes a single coil spring up to a certain weight rider. If you are over that weight, you only need to add an additional spring which comes with the post. These are easily installed by removing a cap on the bottom of the post. (Think hybrid bike suspension seat post, if you have dealt with those before) Then pre-load is simply a twist of that same cap using a graduated scale to judge against, and you are set. Just install the post and ride.

I'll have more on this post in the reviews forthcoming on RidingGravel.com where three of us have had this post for awhile now. Stay tuned... (NOTE: Redshift Sports sent the Shock Stop Seat Post at no charge for test and review on RidingGravel.com. I was not paid, nor bribed for this post and I always strive to give my honest thoughts and views throughout)

Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles

 New Wide Cowchippers:

Salsa Cycles announced on Wednesday some new widths on their popular Cowchipper bar. Previously the widest offered was 46cm, measured at the "hoods" of the bar.

Now those in search of the rangiest bars with the most comfortable drops can go anywhere from 48cm, 52cm, or 54cm in width. Again- this is measured at the point the brake lever hoods would be, so the flared drop portion would be even wider. Pay attention here, because you may not be able to exit your home if you get these really wide bars with your bike!

Salsa isn't the only company offering really wide bars now, and the trend is coming from mountain biking where short, stubby stems and really wide bars are the norm. There is also a trend for longer front/center gravel bikes, just as with mountain bikes, matched with shorter stems. (See the Evil Bikes, or Knolly Bikes gravel rigs as examples)

Does this portend a new rig from Salsa? The venerable Fargo is an aging platform, and in recent years, it has gotten more "mountain bike-ish" with the longer forks to accommodate suspension and multiple tire/wheel sizes for bike packing options. A new handle bar may point to a ground-up redesign of the Fargo which is due for a make-over anyway.


Okay, that's a wrap on the FN&V. Have a great weekend!

Friday News And Views

The new Surly Ogre color- Slate Blue

Surly Offers New Ogre Color:

Surly Bikes used to be this irreverent, devil-may-care company that put out bikes no one thought they wanted until Surly made them. That ship has sailed and now Surly promotes themselves as the "customizable brand". The bike you get and pimp out to make it your own thing, which Surly riders over the years have certainly done. But this brand isn't the only one that happens with. Anyway...... Moving on!

I generally don't get too excited about Surly's ever changing color palette. The bikes don't change, much, if at all, and when Surly has brought out bikes of late, (Midnight Special, Bridge Club), they are kind of.......meh! Not the "what the hell.....I want that!" kind of bike they used to be known for bringing to the table. The last bike I recall hitting me that way from Surly would be the Krampus, maybe the Ice Cream truck. Anyway......Moving On!

So, why bother with showing this Ogre. Well, I have always found the Ogre to be a very intriguing bike. I like to think of it as the bike that resulted when an original Fargo Gen I got together with an original Gen I Karate Monkey, and bam! It's the Ogre! The Ogre has a lot of things those two earlier bikes have that I find attractive, all in one bike.

Things like non-suspension corrected geometry, single speed-able, big tire clearances, and a host of what Surly calls "barnacles" with which to mount things off of. If I had to replace my Gen I Fargo, this bike would be on my radar for sure. Plus, I have a soft spot for any bike that is light blue in color. Fortunately, I don't have to replace that bike, but if something along those lines is what you are after, I think the Ogre would make a fine, "do anything" bike.

 Secrets Revealed:

In this business I am in with RidingGravel.com, I get news before it is supposed to be released all the time. You can bet that at any given moment I probably am sitting on something, or three things, that will be known in the near future by everyone. Two of such things are being revealed this morning.

So, here's another secret. Maybe some of you have figured this out by now. I generally write these posts ahead of time and schedule them to appear shortly after midnight Mountain Standard Time. Why MST? Well, why not? I know I live in the Central Standard Time Zone, but MST doesn't get enough love, so ya know.....that's when I schedule them. I don't know, really, it's just how it ended up.

At any rate, the companies with "embargoes" on stories typically select a release time world-wide based upon where their headquarters are at. One story comes out based upon CST and the other based upon PST. (See....no MST! I'm telling ya, it doesn't get any respect.) Anyway, if you see either story, you'll figure it out.

I'll have my say on one of the two things tomorrow and the other on Monday. Stay tuned......

Redshift Sports Shock Stop seat post.

 Redshift Sports Takes The Covers Off New Seat Post:

Speaking of secrets, this is one I have literally been "sitting on"! The Redshift Sports Shock stop seat post really is not all that secret, actually. They ran a Kickstarter fund raiser to fund the productions, and several folks already have theirs. But publicly, Redshift asked reviewers to withhold their reviews until now. Note- Redshift Sports sent this post to me to review for Riding Gravel. I did not buy this post.

I've been using this post since late November on my Ti Muk 2, and now on my pink BMC MCD gravel bike, and in short- It's a winner. This post will be a big hit for a lot of cyclists.

Sharp eyed readers may have spotted this post on my rigs over the past months, but I haven't called it out in images. Long time readers may also recall another shock absorbing seat post I ran on my old Mukluk titanium bike, which featured parallel coil springs. While that model worked quite nicely for me, that particular company changed the design, and when they did, the post was not at all functional for a guy my size and weight. I was blowing through the travel on that post at the slightest provocation by a bump and that using the maximum pre-load with the maximum weight rated springs installed. Their previous model did not require that, and subsequently this company has redesigned their post for big fellas. Unfortunately, they did not get back to me with that for my opinions. And now, they may as well not bother. This Redshift post blows that design away, in my opinion.

Why? Because this design is simpler and easier to use. With the previous company's design, I had to disassemble the linkage partially to swap out one or both springs with one of several choices to adjust for load bearing, and then pre-load was done with a knob, externally, which was nice, actually. The extra springs did not come with the post, so if you needed to swap out springs, it was a long, drawn out affair with a need to order in springs. This Redshift Sports Shock Stop post comes with everything you need. The design only utilizes a single coil spring up to a certain weight rider. If you are over that weight, you only need to add an additional spring which comes with the post. These are easily installed by removing a cap on the bottom of the post. (Think hybrid bike suspension seat post, if you have dealt with those before) Then pre-load is simply a twist of that same cap using a graduated scale to judge against, and you are set. Just install the post and ride.

I'll have more on this post in the reviews forthcoming on RidingGravel.com where three of us have had this post for awhile now. Stay tuned... (NOTE: Redshift Sports sent the Shock Stop Seat Post at no charge for test and review on RidingGravel.com. I was not paid, nor bribed for this post and I always strive to give my honest thoughts and views throughout)

Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles

 New Wide Cowchippers:

Salsa Cycles announced on Wednesday some new widths on their popular Cowchipper bar. Previously the widest offered was 46cm, measured at the "hoods" of the bar.

Now those in search of the rangiest bars with the most comfortable drops can go anywhere from 48cm, 52cm, or 54cm in width. Again- this is measured at the point the brake lever hoods would be, so the flared drop portion would be even wider. Pay attention here, because you may not be able to exit your home if you get these really wide bars with your bike!

Salsa isn't the only company offering really wide bars now, and the trend is coming from mountain biking where short, stubby stems and really wide bars are the norm. There is also a trend for longer front/center gravel bikes, just as with mountain bikes, matched with shorter stems. (See the Evil Bikes, or Knolly Bikes gravel rigs as examples)

Does this portend a new rig from Salsa? The venerable Fargo is an aging platform, and in recent years, it has gotten more "mountain bike-ish" with the longer forks to accommodate suspension and multiple tire/wheel sizes for bike packing options. A new handle bar may point to a ground-up redesign of the Fargo which is due for a make-over anyway.


Okay, that's a wrap on the FN&V. Have a great weekend!

Friday News And Views

Otso Cycles Waheela C

Otso Cycles Waheela C: 

Otso Cycles has been making gravel bikes for a few years now and their Waheela S was one that I tried and had a bit of bother with. It wasn't all the bike's fault, more so some of the componentry on the bike. Had I ran it with a carbon fork and a decent ranged drive train that shifted correctly, I may have had fonder memories.

I also swung a leg over their unusual Warakin stainless steel rig, and quite liked that bike, but that one was set up quite differently as well. Still- a fine rig in my mind. Now they have finally come forth with a carbon fiber version of the Waheela dubbed- you guessed it- the Waheela C. This bike has many of the same features as the Waheela S, just rendered in carbon. The way it was set up in the press release I got is how I'd like it best. I think it would be a fine rig for a lot of folks.

One cool thing about the steel bike was that it would fit 29" X 2.1" tires and they actually made that work for the carbon one too. Dang! Now that is something I could get behind. Plus, this bike they show is a really great shade of red. There isn't much to not like here, but the frame price, which is above 2G. Ouch!

But they really did a nice job on the feature set here. Plenty of mounting points, bowed seat stays for compliance. (Hmmm.........ya mean like a Warbird?), and they sleeved the cable runs, (Yay!), so this frame seems pretty well thought out.

Foam filled. Really!

Okay- There Are So Many Bad Jokes Here......

Sometimes I think marketers are a little dense, or careless, or, (hopefully not), intentional with the double entrendre. Anyway, Spank, a company most well known for their MTB stuff, has a gravel drop bar with their "Vibrocore" technology. It's a complex foam injected into the handle bar with the intention that it will cut down on vibrations to the rider.

I had a look at a marketing copy for Sea Otter and they have the fast becoming traditional 12° and 25° degree flare options. But wait a gol durn minute there! Is that a straight 31.8mm bar top on that 25° degree bar? Why yes! I think it is. Could this be the bar that comes closest to a Luxy Bar redux?

Well, maybe it is, and maybe it is not. But one thing is for certain. I'm going to be finding out. This is one of a few things coming in for testing at RidingGravel.com from Grannygear's Sea Otter visit. Look for more on this bar- hopefully coming soon.

 Did you Get Your Jersey?

The C.O.G. 100 is pretty much closed up for the year, but one thing remains. I have a couple of extra C.O.G. 100 jerseys laying around and I have to wonder if someone out there didn't get theirs.

By my records, I show nothing missing but the extra jerseys seem like an odd thing. It is quite possible we didn't get one to someone at the pre-event meeting at the Peace Tree Taproom in Grinnell. So, let me know if you haven't gotten what you ordered and I will ship it out ASAP. Hit me with the size you ordered and I will sort it out.

If it turns out that I was shipped extras by mistake, I will make them available and I will mention that here on the blog and on the C.O.G. 100 site. But let's see if someone is missing their pre-ordered jersey first. Then we'll proceed from there. I'd like to divest myself of this inventory and not have it around here. It is better that someone be wearing the jerseys as opposed to having them laying about the Guitar Ted Productions headquarters where they would likely get squirreled away and then forgotten until who knows when.


Have a great weekend! Good Luck To The Iowa Wind And Rock Riders, Volunteers, and Crew!!

Friday News And Views

Otso Cycles Waheela C

Otso Cycles Waheela C: 

Otso Cycles has been making gravel bikes for a few years now and their Waheela S was one that I tried and had a bit of bother with. It wasn't all the bike's fault, more so some of the componentry on the bike. Had I ran it with a carbon fork and a decent ranged drive train that shifted correctly, I may have had fonder memories.

I also swung a leg over their unusual Warakin stainless steel rig, and quite liked that bike, but that one was set up quite differently as well. Still- a fine rig in my mind. Now they have finally come forth with a carbon fiber version of the Waheela dubbed- you guessed it- the Waheela C. This bike has many of the same features as the Waheela S, just rendered in carbon. The way it was set up in the press release I got is how I'd like it best. I think it would be a fine rig for a lot of folks.

One cool thing about the steel bike was that it would fit 29" X 2.1" tires and they actually made that work for the carbon one too. Dang! Now that is something I could get behind. Plus, this bike they show is a really great shade of red. There isn't much to not like here, but the frame price, which is above 2G. Ouch!

But they really did a nice job on the feature set here. Plenty of mounting points, bowed seat stays for compliance. (Hmmm.........ya mean like a Warbird?), and they sleeved the cable runs, (Yay!), so this frame seems pretty well thought out.

Foam filled. Really!

Okay- There Are So Many Bad Jokes Here......

Sometimes I think marketers are a little dense, or careless, or, (hopefully not), intentional with the double entrendre. Anyway, Spank, a company most well known for their MTB stuff, has a gravel drop bar with their "Vibrocore" technology. It's a complex foam injected into the handle bar with the intention that it will cut down on vibrations to the rider.

I had a look at a marketing copy for Sea Otter and they have the fast becoming traditional 12° and 25° degree flare options. But wait a gol durn minute there! Is that a straight 31.8mm bar top on that 25° degree bar? Why yes! I think it is. Could this be the bar that comes closest to a Luxy Bar redux?

Well, maybe it is, and maybe it is not. But one thing is for certain. I'm going to be finding out. This is one of a few things coming in for testing at RidingGravel.com from Grannygear's Sea Otter visit. Look for more on this bar- hopefully coming soon.

 Did you Get Your Jersey?

The C.O.G. 100 is pretty much closed up for the year, but one thing remains. I have a couple of extra C.O.G. 100 jerseys laying around and I have to wonder if someone out there didn't get theirs.

By my records, I show nothing missing but the extra jerseys seem like an odd thing. It is quite possible we didn't get one to someone at the pre-event meeting at the Peace Tree Taproom in Grinnell. So, let me know if you haven't gotten what you ordered and I will ship it out ASAP. Hit me with the size you ordered and I will sort it out.

If it turns out that I was shipped extras by mistake, I will make them available and I will mention that here on the blog and on the C.O.G. 100 site. But let's see if someone is missing their pre-ordered jersey first. Then we'll proceed from there. I'd like to divest myself of this inventory and not have it around here. It is better that someone be wearing the jerseys as opposed to having them laying about the Guitar Ted Productions headquarters where they would likely get squirreled away and then forgotten until who knows when.


Have a great weekend! Good Luck To The Iowa Wind And Rock Riders, Volunteers, and Crew!!

Friday News And Views

Uhhh......That Didn't Go Over Very Well!

The ultimately predictable responses to the news yesterday about Canyon's gravel bike were all focused on the goofy looking handle bar. There were memes, snarky remarks, outright disdain, and my favorite comment of all:

"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should”.

I didn't say much about it yesterday because I knew immediately that was all anybody else was going to talk about. Too bad, because even without the polarizing bar design I think Canyon missed the mark on a few points. But you probably read yesterday's post, no need to get into all of that again.

I did want to say that I got a comment about what I thought "old road bike geometry" did right. I referenced that yesterday with my 29"er geo remarks, but I wanted to expand a bit here.

First things first- Much of what was done then was exaggerated to accommodate the shortcomings in materials technology, so when I reference "old road bike geometry", I don't mean that I think we need to do it exactly that way today. Actually, what I do think is that a less extreme take on that would be best today. At any rate, the purpose that geometry serves is to introduce the opportunity to design a fork that has fore and aft flex, with the longer offset helping to get the wheel out from under the rider a tad, which is also promoted by the slightly slacker head angle. We're talking something like what I advised Raleigh to do with the Tamland. The original, steel fork version. That head angle was 71.5°, but originally I was thinking 71.0° or 70.5° at the extreme with a 50mm plus long offset. I didn't tell Raleigh to do that in 2012 because I felt it was too radical. But that's what I would do today and it reflects how old road bikes were done pre-WWII. And interestingly, at 9:00am this morning a bike will be introduced by Salsa Cycles that fits some of that criteria. (I have a story on RidingGravel.com about that introduction which posts after 9:00amCST.)

New Teravail Cannonball 42mm tires. Courtesy of QBP for the Geezer Ride.

They Made Them Better:

If you've been around here a while you know that I had a dim view of the Teravail Cannonball and Sparwood tires which I tried a couple years back. They were sluggish, heavy, and dead feeling.

I gave the Cannonball tires away for a sixer of beer and the Sparwoods came off last year and likely will never get put back on anything at this point. I just have too many better choices to use.

Then I saw the QBP rep the other day and he showed us at the shop what is up with Teravail. They have revamped the quality of all their tires, plus they are adding some new items, which I don't think I can talk about just yet. Anyway, Teravail has definitely made a change. I handled a Sparwood in the Light casing version which felt completely different than the Sparwoods I have. Plus the Sparwoods will be coming out with a cool, "skinwall" look, but don't think the traditional "tan" skinwall. It is a unique looking tire, but very cool looking as well.

The rep also handed off the pictured Cannonball 42's which are the "protection" models and these are for giving away at the upcoming Geezer Ride next weekend. I haven't decided just yet how that will work, but these were a spur of the moment sponsorship from Teravail to support the ride. Teravail will be making a big push this season, so keep an eye out for that.

The new hard case type Silca Premio seat bag with Boa attachment.

Hard Case:

Silca is at it again with a hard case style seat pack but this one attaches with a Boa type closure. That's interesting, and maybe unnecessary. I mean, it is one way to do it, and it looks clean and all, but lots of bag makers have tried things like this and have used clips which clamp on to your seat rails and that seems to work well. But I get it- the Boa thing doesn't need a clip which stays on the saddle when you move the bag, and you don't need extra clips.

But besides that, I really do not like how it opens. I know me, and if I had this bag, I would have all manner of things stuffed into it which would promptly fall out when I opened it up. Maybe minimalist, very organized folks would dig it. Not me!

My all time favorite seat pack is still the Topeak Aero Wedge Pack I actually used one so much in terrible conditions I wore it out. But I have another and it is doing fine. I can perfectly pack a good tool kit, open the bag without dumping anything out, and as I say, the thing takes a ton of abuse well. It is about half the price of the fancy Silca one and does a better job, in my opinion. Of course, I haven't actually used a Silca pack, so that may be seen as being unfair, but for twice the price I don't see twice the benefits or a huge increase in design features here.

Twin Six Rando XC....... Nice!

 Another New Bike Intro:

Sometime this morning Twin Six will also be releasing details on the evolved Standard Rando design called the "Rando XC". I am betting it is wide tire capable and Boosted..... We will see.

Sigh..... So many bikes, so little time!


Okay, that's it for this week. Have a great weekend and get some miles of smiles in!

Friday News And Views

Uhhh......That Didn't Go Over Very Well!

The ultimately predictable responses to the news yesterday about Canyon's gravel bike were all focused on the goofy looking handle bar. There were memes, snarky remarks, outright disdain, and my favorite comment of all:

"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should”.

I didn't say much about it yesterday because I knew immediately that was all anybody else was going to talk about. Too bad, because even without the polarizing bar design I think Canyon missed the mark on a few points. But you probably read yesterday's post, no need to get into all of that again.

I did want to say that I got a comment about what I thought "old road bike geometry" did right. I referenced that yesterday with my 29"er geo remarks, but I wanted to expand a bit here.

First things first- Much of what was done then was exaggerated to accommodate the shortcomings in materials technology, so when I reference "old road bike geometry", I don't mean that I think we need to do it exactly that way today. Actually, what I do think is that a less extreme take on that would be best today. At any rate, the purpose that geometry serves is to introduce the opportunity to design a fork that has fore and aft flex, with the longer offset helping to get the wheel out from under the rider a tad, which is also promoted by the slightly slacker head angle. We're talking something like what I advised Raleigh to do with the Tamland. The original, steel fork version. That head angle was 71.5°, but originally I was thinking 71.0° or 70.5° at the extreme with a 50mm plus long offset. I didn't tell Raleigh to do that in 2012 because I felt it was too radical. But that's what I would do today and it reflects how old road bikes were done pre-WWII. And interestingly, at 9:00am this morning a bike will be introduced by Salsa Cycles that fits some of that criteria. (I have a story on RidingGravel.com about that introduction which posts after 9:00amCST.)

New Teravail Cannonball 42mm tires. Courtesy of QBP for the Geezer Ride.

They Made Them Better:

If you've been around here a while you know that I had a dim view of the Teravail Cannonball and Sparwood tires which I tried a couple years back. They were sluggish, heavy, and dead feeling.

I gave the Cannonball tires away for a sixer of beer and the Sparwoods came off last year and likely will never get put back on anything at this point. I just have too many better choices to use.

Then I saw the QBP rep the other day and he showed us at the shop what is up with Teravail. They have revamped the quality of all their tires, plus they are adding some new items, which I don't think I can talk about just yet. Anyway, Teravail has definitely made a change. I handled a Sparwood in the Light casing version which felt completely different than the Sparwoods I have. Plus the Sparwoods will be coming out with a cool, "skinwall" look, but don't think the traditional "tan" skinwall. It is a unique looking tire, but very cool looking as well.

The rep also handed off the pictured Cannonball 42's which are the "protection" models and these are for giving away at the upcoming Geezer Ride next weekend. I haven't decided just yet how that will work, but these were a spur of the moment sponsorship from Teravail to support the ride. Teravail will be making a big push this season, so keep an eye out for that.

The new hard case type Silca Premio seat bag with Boa attachment.

Hard Case:

Silca is at it again with a hard case style seat pack but this one attaches with a Boa type closure. That's interesting, and maybe unnecessary. I mean, it is one way to do it, and it looks clean and all, but lots of bag makers have tried things like this and have used clips which clamp on to your seat rails and that seems to work well. But I get it- the Boa thing doesn't need a clip which stays on the saddle when you move the bag, and you don't need extra clips.

But besides that, I really do not like how it opens. I know me, and if I had this bag, I would have all manner of things stuffed into it which would promptly fall out when I opened it up. Maybe minimalist, very organized folks would dig it. Not me!

My all time favorite seat pack is still the Topeak Aero Wedge Pack I actually used one so much in terrible conditions I wore it out. But I have another and it is doing fine. I can perfectly pack a good tool kit, open the bag without dumping anything out, and as I say, the thing takes a ton of abuse well. It is about half the price of the fancy Silca one and does a better job, in my opinion. Of course, I haven't actually used a Silca pack, so that may be seen as being unfair, but for twice the price I don't see twice the benefits or a huge increase in design features here.

Twin Six Rando XC....... Nice!

 Another New Bike Intro:

Sometime this morning Twin Six will also be releasing details on the evolved Standard Rando design called the "Rando XC". I am betting it is wide tire capable and Boosted..... We will see.

Sigh..... So many bikes, so little time!


Okay, that's it for this week. Have a great weekend and get some miles of smiles in!

The Canyon Grail Gravel Bike: My Take

Canyon range topping Grail 8.0 Image courtesy of Canyon

NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Canyon Bikes is a German outfit that is a "disrupter" in the bicycling marketplace. They are a very well engineered and produced bicycles sold 'consumer direct", meaning- this won't be sold through a local bike shop. I don't mind their business model, so I've no axe to grind there, but that is a huge part of Canyon's DNA and something that needs to be thought of whenever you see their bicycles. In some ways, the "checks and balances" that a traditional retail model brings to design choices is not present with Canyon. That can be a good thing or a bad thing.

That said, here is my take on Canyon's gravel bike, the "Grail". Besides the obvious religious reference the name brings up, it also conjures up the thought of earnest pursuit and desire. An interesting moniker for such a bike. Unless Canyon thinks this is the "holy grail of gravel bikes", in which case I'm going to strongly disagree. I'll get to that later......

Of course, the bike is carbon fiber, a fact barely mentioned by most media coverage of the bike so far. I looked at a few reports, but this one from Cyclingtips is the best, most detailed I've found yet. Then again, with the oddball "Hover" handle bar/stem system, one might be forgiven for focusing on other fare here. Yes, that's an innovative take on vibration management. Yes......it is also proprietary. That can be good or bad. A few media folks have already stated their misgivings on the design, which may reflect deeper negativity towards the design, since when your host flies you out to a swank media camp for the unveiling, it isn't easy to be harsh on the product. At any rate, early commentary by others is interesting in that it doesn't go all in for the Hover system.

A look at how the Hover bar geometry works in relationship to traditional set ups. Image courtesy of Canyon

I won't get into details about the design. Go read the Cyclingtips article, but the bottom line here is either it fits you, you like it, and you won't ever want to change, or it is a big ask from Canyon to have folks compromise on fitting and ergonomics. I'm betting on the latter, but I still tip my hat to Canyon for trying something different. Beyond the striking, shocking design, here is my take on the Hover Bar system, and that will lead into why I feel Canyon missed the boat on the geometry here.

First off, they tell us that the Hover Bar is most comfortable when you ride on the hoods or even more so with your hands nearer to the stem. This is very traditional roadie positioning for rougher sections of riding in road races. Okay, fine, but.......those sections typically don't last a long time. Obviously, if road races were chock full of sections so rough that riders needed to use this position to survive them, and sit upright, not being very aero, then we would see a sea change in design to allow for more aero positioning in the drops. In fact, that's how road racing was pre-World War II. Front end design was extremely different then as compared to today.

In gravel racing, the "rough sections" are often times the entire course. Then we throw winds into the equation. If you are thinking about racing and sitting upright to make the bars work their best on this Canyon you won't be cheating the wind like the other riders around you. Even having to sit on the hoods all day isn't optimal, so Canyon's claims of great compliance may be true, but not entirely practical.

Secondly, this also leads to Canyon's choice of traditional road geometry in the front end. Weight off the bars and on your butt allows for the use of a steeper head angle with a shorter offset fork, which according to the numbers posted in the Cylingtips article, I think they are using here. That's fine until you weight the bars and the front wheel gets planted. The steep head angle (stated at 72.5°) with the short offset will make impacts want to "tuck the fork under" the rider. This was what was wrong with 29"er geometry in the beginning. Designers wanted a quicker feeling front end for 29"ers so they steepened the head angles and used the shorter offsets to achieve that. They were successful, but when used in practice it was a horribly unstable, harsh, crash prone way to get better handling due to the way forks would want to bend backward under impact, effectively making the trail figure less and therefore more unstable.

This problem was solved by using longer offsets with slacker head angles, putting the fork more in line with impacts and ridding the bikes of the mechanical trail issues while riding. This is exactly what is going on with the Canyon bike. They are effectively doing the "29"er v1" geometry mistake for a bike that is meant to be ridden in rougher terrain. The trail figure they reached is fine, but just like early 29"ers, when the rider is in the drops and fighting rough, gravelly roads in a headwind, this bike won't handle as well as a bike with a slacker head angle and longer offset with similar trail figures. Having that front wheel "out there", floating above the gravel instead of digging in is also a factor to consider here.

Otherwise I like the deep bottom bracket drop and chain stay length looks fine. The tire clearances aren't optimal, but if this is a racing bike then......fine. If it is a do everything-go anywhere at anytime bike, well then they screwed up here. You decide what they mean by limiting tire/mud clearances.

Bottom line- A striking bike that will have its fans but misses on a few key points in my opinion.

The Canyon Grail Gravel Bike: My Take

Canyon range topping Grail 8.0 Image courtesy of Canyon

NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Canyon Bikes is a German outfit that is a "disrupter" in the bicycling marketplace. They are a very well engineered and produced bicycles sold 'consumer direct", meaning- this won't be sold through a local bike shop. I don't mind their business model, so I've no axe to grind there, but that is a huge part of Canyon's DNA and something that needs to be thought of whenever you see their bicycles. In some ways, the "checks and balances" that a traditional retail model brings to design choices is not present with Canyon. That can be a good thing or a bad thing.

That said, here is my take on Canyon's gravel bike, the "Grail". Besides the obvious religious reference the name brings up, it also conjures up the thought of earnest pursuit and desire. An interesting moniker for such a bike. Unless Canyon thinks this is the "holy grail of gravel bikes", in which case I'm going to strongly disagree. I'll get to that later......

Of course, the bike is carbon fiber, a fact barely mentioned by most media coverage of the bike so far. I looked at a few reports, but this one from Cyclingtips is the best, most detailed I've found yet. Then again, with the oddball "Hover" handle bar/stem system, one might be forgiven for focusing on other fare here. Yes, that's an innovative take on vibration management. Yes......it is also proprietary. That can be good or bad. A few media folks have already stated their misgivings on the design, which may reflect deeper negativity towards the design, since when your host flies you out to a swank media camp for the unveiling, it isn't easy to be harsh on the product. At any rate, early commentary by others is interesting in that it doesn't go all in for the Hover system.

A look at how the Hover bar geometry works in relationship to traditional set ups. Image courtesy of Canyon

I won't get into details about the design. Go read the Cyclingtips article, but the bottom line here is either it fits you, you like it, and you won't ever want to change, or it is a big ask from Canyon to have folks compromise on fitting and ergonomics. I'm betting on the latter, but I still tip my hat to Canyon for trying something different. Beyond the striking, shocking design, here is my take on the Hover Bar system, and that will lead into why I feel Canyon missed the boat on the geometry here.

First off, they tell us that the Hover Bar is most comfortable when you ride on the hoods or even more so with your hands nearer to the stem. This is very traditional roadie positioning for rougher sections of riding in road races. Okay, fine, but.......those sections typically don't last a long time. Obviously, if road races were chock full of sections so rough that riders needed to use this position to survive them, and sit upright, not being very aero, then we would see a sea change in design to allow for more aero positioning in the drops. In fact, that's how road racing was pre-World War II. Front end design was extremely different then as compared to today.

In gravel racing, the "rough sections" are often times the entire course. Then we throw winds into the equation. If you are thinking about racing and sitting upright to make the bars work their best on this Canyon you won't be cheating the wind like the other riders around you. Even having to sit on the hoods all day isn't optimal, so Canyon's claims of great compliance may be true, but not entirely practical.

Secondly, this also leads to Canyon's choice of traditional road geometry in the front end. Weight off the bars and on your butt allows for the use of a steeper head angle with a shorter offset fork, which according to the numbers posted in the Cylingtips article, I think they are using here. That's fine until you weight the bars and the front wheel gets planted. The steep head angle (stated at 72.5°) with the short offset will make impacts want to "tuck the fork under" the rider. This was what was wrong with 29"er geometry in the beginning. Designers wanted a quicker feeling front end for 29"ers so they steepened the head angles and used the shorter offsets to achieve that. They were successful, but when used in practice it was a horribly unstable, harsh, crash prone way to get better handling due to the way forks would want to bend backward under impact, effectively making the trail figure less and therefore more unstable.

This problem was solved by using longer offsets with slacker head angles, putting the fork more in line with impacts and ridding the bikes of the mechanical trail issues while riding. This is exactly what is going on with the Canyon bike. They are effectively doing the "29"er v1" geometry mistake for a bike that is meant to be ridden in rougher terrain. The trail figure they reached is fine, but just like early 29"ers, when the rider is in the drops and fighting rough, gravelly roads in a headwind, this bike won't handle as well as a bike with a slacker head angle and longer offset with similar trail figures. Having that front wheel "out there", floating above the gravel instead of digging in is also a factor to consider here.

Otherwise I like the deep bottom bracket drop and chain stay length looks fine. The tire clearances aren't optimal, but if this is a racing bike then......fine. If it is a do everything-go anywhere at anytime bike, well then they screwed up here. You decide what they mean by limiting tire/mud clearances.

Bottom line- A striking bike that will have its fans but misses on a few key points in my opinion.

Friday News And Views

Project Black

Update On Project Black:

I have some new parts on the way for this. They are critical parts for the build. One of them is a Thomson Elite post at 400mm in length. The Vassago has a short seat tube with quite an extension above the junction with the top tube, so I want to make sure I have a proper amount of post into the frame.

The other thing is a set of brakes, but the Avid Juicy Ultimates will get me by for now. I already have yanked the Geax AKA TNT tires and replaced them with some Geax Gato 2.1"s. Those are a folding bead tire and save me over a 100gms a piece. I set those up tubeless on the Black Flag rims, which are a Stan's licensed design. The tires popped on beautifully. Should be grippy as heck even though they look mighty skinny!

The crank set is about to be yanked from its current place holder and transferred over. Then with a chain I should be good to get this out and about. Maybe this weekend, if I can find some time.

Whammy!

Wide Track:

I've been considering some things in regards to handle bars lately. I have been riding one of my several single speed bikes with a bar that is wide. I like the leverage for climbing, but it's more than that. As long as I can get through the trees, I think the wider bars are the way to go for me.

I used to have an On One 29"er with a Niner Bikes Flat Top 9 bar that was something like half a football field long. Well......not really, but it was pretty dang wide, and that bike holds some fond memories for me as far as how it felt up front with those bars.

While bars like the Salsa Cycles Whammy Bar, (pictured), might seem stupid-long at 780mm, I think I'm going to order one up in the coming week or so. (Besides- I play guitar and how could I not have a handle bar with that name!) I may be mating that with a shorty stem, and seeing how that turns out. More later....

New T.I.V9 Sponsor!

Back For More: 

Looks like Trans Iowa V9 has a returning sponsor in Gu Energy. It's always great to see companies like Gu Energy stepping up to sponsor grassroots racing events like Trans Iowa and other events like it. I think this makes three years in a row for Gu Energy to be a sponsor of T.I.

I get why companies want to sponsor marquee athletes, but it sort of warms my heart just a bit to see the guys out of the limelight, doing the events that are not well known, get some support. Thanks to Gu Energy and all the other Trans Iowa V9 sponsors. I appreciate each and every one of you.

Speaking of Trans Iowa, I have every intention of getting out there and doing some recon as soon as I can, (and as soon as the family is all healthy again), so stay tuned for a recon post. It'll happen soon. Also, there are less than three weeks to go before Registration starts. Always a fun time!

Fat Bike Fun:

At the risk of you folks saying "Aha! That's an offset wheel build!" I will let you all know that I know the rider personally and that he is a smooth, skilled rider. So, enjoy the video, and maybe get inspired to roll some rocks of your own.

I am constantly amazed by what can be done on a fat bike, (or for that matter, by the guys doing this stuff on road bikes as well), which maybe speaks more to the skills of riders than it does about whatever bike they happen to be riding that day.

Gravel Travel:

I'm feeling like I need to get out on the gravel again. Last week the 3GR was cancelled due to the inclement weather, but this weekend it is looking like it shouldn't be an issue to do that ride. But I think I may need more than that.

If I can get ambitious, I am going to try to get out before the sun comes up and fit in some extra miles Saturday morning. If it works as planned, I would then meet up and ride with whomever shows at the regular meeting spot for the 3GR at 8:30am.  Hopefully I can tack on about an extra 20 to the regular amount that I ride.

Gotta get on that early, because the rest of the day is spoken for, and Sunday may be a wash with my schedule filled up all morning and into the afternoon already. We'll see. I just am itching to get more miles in. Can't say why for sure.  Can't really put my finger on it, but I am.

Well, I hope you all get to riding a bicycle this weekend! Have a good one!

Friday News And Views

Project Black

Update On Project Black:

I have some new parts on the way for this. They are critical parts for the build. One of them is a Thomson Elite post at 400mm in length. The Vassago has a short seat tube with quite an extension above the junction with the top tube, so I want to make sure I have a proper amount of post into the frame.

The other thing is a set of brakes, but the Avid Juicy Ultimates will get me by for now. I already have yanked the Geax AKA TNT tires and replaced them with some Geax Gato 2.1"s. Those are a folding bead tire and save me over a 100gms a piece. I set those up tubeless on the Black Flag rims, which are a Stan's licensed design. The tires popped on beautifully. Should be grippy as heck even though they look mighty skinny!

The crank set is about to be yanked from its current place holder and transferred over. Then with a chain I should be good to get this out and about. Maybe this weekend, if I can find some time.

Whammy!

Wide Track:

I've been considering some things in regards to handle bars lately. I have been riding one of my several single speed bikes with a bar that is wide. I like the leverage for climbing, but it's more than that. As long as I can get through the trees, I think the wider bars are the way to go for me.

I used to have an On One 29"er with a Niner Bikes Flat Top 9 bar that was something like half a football field long. Well......not really, but it was pretty dang wide, and that bike holds some fond memories for me as far as how it felt up front with those bars.

While bars like the Salsa Cycles Whammy Bar, (pictured), might seem stupid-long at 780mm, I think I'm going to order one up in the coming week or so. (Besides- I play guitar and how could I not have a handle bar with that name!) I may be mating that with a shorty stem, and seeing how that turns out. More later....

New T.I.V9 Sponsor!

Back For More: 

Looks like Trans Iowa V9 has a returning sponsor in Gu Energy. It's always great to see companies like Gu Energy stepping up to sponsor grassroots racing events like Trans Iowa and other events like it. I think this makes three years in a row for Gu Energy to be a sponsor of T.I.

I get why companies want to sponsor marquee athletes, but it sort of warms my heart just a bit to see the guys out of the limelight, doing the events that are not well known, get some support. Thanks to Gu Energy and all the other Trans Iowa V9 sponsors. I appreciate each and every one of you.

Speaking of Trans Iowa, I have every intention of getting out there and doing some recon as soon as I can, (and as soon as the family is all healthy again), so stay tuned for a recon post. It'll happen soon. Also, there are less than three weeks to go before Registration starts. Always a fun time!

Fat Bike Fun:

At the risk of you folks saying "Aha! That's an offset wheel build!" I will let you all know that I know the rider personally and that he is a smooth, skilled rider. So, enjoy the video, and maybe get inspired to roll some rocks of your own.

I am constantly amazed by what can be done on a fat bike, (or for that matter, by the guys doing this stuff on road bikes as well), which maybe speaks more to the skills of riders than it does about whatever bike they happen to be riding that day.

Gravel Travel:

I'm feeling like I need to get out on the gravel again. Last week the 3GR was cancelled due to the inclement weather, but this weekend it is looking like it shouldn't be an issue to do that ride. But I think I may need more than that.

If I can get ambitious, I am going to try to get out before the sun comes up and fit in some extra miles Saturday morning. If it works as planned, I would then meet up and ride with whomever shows at the regular meeting spot for the 3GR at 8:30am.  Hopefully I can tack on about an extra 20 to the regular amount that I ride.

Gotta get on that early, because the rest of the day is spoken for, and Sunday may be a wash with my schedule filled up all morning and into the afternoon already. We'll see. I just am itching to get more miles in. Can't say why for sure.  Can't really put my finger on it, but I am.

Well, I hope you all get to riding a bicycle this weekend! Have a good one!

The Gathering

Okay, I have a new plan for the fall/winter involving two wheels. Two huge, big wheels. This plan has been hinted at, but now "The Gathering" has begun.

Well, that should be a dead give away!

The first bit of the plan had to happen because I committed to a certain frame a while back that I have salted some ducats away for. Of course, one might guess by the image here what sort of bicycle that might be.

But rims are one thing. I need to come up with some other stuff as well. What's great about the stuff in this image is that I traded for all of it and so that part has been pretty painless so far.

These are not Surly rims. These are Fatback 70mm wide Uma II rims and are pretty dang nice. The plan is for these to live on the Snow Dog which is going to end up becoming the "Trail Dog" since that bike will eventually be used for trail duty in spring, summer, and fall. 

The current Snow Dog wheels will be going on the new rig, whenever it gets here. The handle bar will likely be on the summer rig, but maybe not......(See next image!)

FSA In The House

I got these FSA components to check out and review. The seat post, stem, and handle bar are all from the "SLK" line of carbon and aluminum components.

The seat post has that flashy outer weave, and so does the handle bar. The stem is aluminum for the most part, and only has the face pate in carbon.

The head set likely won't work in my new frame, but I show it here to add that I think red ano bits are going to be the theme on this frame.

I only need some spokes, a hub set, tires, a fork, a head set, grips, and a new saddle to kit out this frame. The drive train is waiting, I have brakes, and other small bits and pieces.

Stay tuned for more on this as yet un-named project soon......