Friday News And Views

Tis the end-o-the-year time and around here that means that I begin to start wrapping up the season with looks back and reviews of bikes and equipment I used throughout the year. So, this is a 'warning' of sorts that there will be such posts coming along very soon here. 

Obviously, this will be quite a bit different look on the "Rear View" than I have done in years past because of the ongoing pandemic. For one thing, there will be no real event reviews due to all my events having been postponed. There will be reports on "The Quest", of course, and the Single Speed Century, and the failed Solo GTDRI from this Summer. I'll have reports on all the bikes used throughout the year, and the changes to them, if any. 

Plus I will have an essay, maybe two, on the COVID-19 affected landscape as it affected myself and my immediate surroundings. Obviously, THAT will be the #1 story of 2020. How could it not be. 

I'll be talking about the first (almost) year at Andy's Bike Shop, how the pandemic affected that scene, and why this change in my work life has been one of the best things to have happened to me in years. Speaking of work, December 1st 2020 marks six years of RidingGravel.com for myself and I want to take a quick look at where that ride has taken me as well. So, stay tuned for the "Rear View 2020" and "Bikes of 2020" and more starting now through the end of the year. 

The new fizik Terra Argo X5 saddle. Image courtesy of fizik.

A Gravel Specific Saddle?

Marketing. Ya just gotta love it, right? A niche of cycling gets started and the next thing ya know every company has some specific thing made for that discipline. Whether it matters or not. Such is the case with these specific saddles from 'fizik'. These are their Argo range of saddles and are the short/wide type of saddles I first noticed coming out for triathlon purposes. 

These saddles made sense for me in terms of tri pursuits since those riders tend to ride bikes with very steep virtual seat angles and they also tend to position their bodies up on the nose of the saddle. Also, since there are arcane rules regarding saddle to bottom bracket relationship in place for road time trialists, their saddles also need to be shorter. I get that. Okay, what I don't get is why these saddles work in other disciplines of riding. 

The nose of a saddle is used to steer your bike, by the way. If you've ever ridden one of those nose-less, supposed 'comfort' saddles, you would get this immediately. Anyway, with a shorter saddle, you lose some of this effect. Also, these saddles are really pretty wide and the transition from wide to narrow is a lot more abrupt. Huh....... Color me as one who doesn't 'get this'. I've sat myself on customer's bikes with these types of saddles on test rides and, well.......nope. I just don't see the appeal here. 

So, all of that to say this- If you ride one of these saddles, what is it that makes these work for you? Enlighten me, please. I ask because to my way of thinking, these short/wide saddles go against every ergonomic and technique driven attribute most cycling saddles for enthusiasts exhibit. Thanks in advance. The gravel specific thing? Whatever......

The 45NRTH Wrathlorde studded fat bike tire. Image courtesy of 45NRTH.

To Be Studded Or Not Studded? - That Is The Question: 

Okay, so there is a period of time during Winter that the gravel roads get slicked up with compressed snow and ice and this pretty much makes it so that I have to abandon riding out in the country for a while. Of course, there are solutions to this 'problem', if you want to look at this as a problem to be solved. I mean, you could just say it is a golden opportunity to ride in the woods, or, ya know, stay at home with a hot cup of coffee and a book. (Do people still read books?) But staying indoors is not an option for me, so yes- this is a problem to be solved. 

Now, I have some 40+ mm studded gravel tires. They are the 45NRTH Gravdal models, but have you seen how uneven gravel roads get when they are frozen over? My issues with a narrower tire is that these undulations and ruts could upset the bike enough that stud contact on the surface is not going to be sufficient enough for stable riding. I don't need to biff it on a rock-solid road in freezing temperatures. The risk is too great for the reward. 

Fat bike tires have a LOT more surface area contact, and therefore have the potential for more studs to be engaged than a narrower gravel type studded tire. So, my thoughts have been that if I can get a set of studded fat bike tires that look like they have a decent rolling resistance and are not like tractor tires, then I might consider going that way and riding my Ti Muk 2 this Winter on gravel. These 45NRTH Wrathlorde tires look pretty good in that regard. The thing is they are $250.00.......for one! Spending a half a grand just to be able to ride a couple months on gravel? 

Hand me that book and that cuppa joe.........

Naw.....just kidding. I'm going outdoors to ride, but probably not out in the country if things get iced up. I'll figure something else out. Just like I have for since......well, a long time now. But if those tires were a more reasonable buy, I would do that. Anyway, just a thought. 

That's a wrap for this week. Get out and enjoy the outdoors,however you can! Thanks for reading!

Friday News And Views

Tis the end-o-the-year time and around here that means that I begin to start wrapping up the season with looks back and reviews of bikes and equipment I used throughout the year. So, this is a 'warning' of sorts that there will be such posts coming along very soon here. 

Obviously, this will be quite a bit different look on the "Rear View" than I have done in years past because of the ongoing pandemic. For one thing, there will be no real event reviews due to all my events having been postponed. There will be reports on "The Quest", of course, and the Single Speed Century, and the failed Solo GTDRI from this Summer. I'll have reports on all the bikes used throughout the year, and the changes to them, if any. 

Plus I will have an essay, maybe two, on the COVID-19 affected landscape as it affected myself and my immediate surroundings. Obviously, THAT will be the #1 story of 2020. How could it not be. 

I'll be talking about the first (almost) year at Andy's Bike Shop, how the pandemic affected that scene, and why this change in my work life has been one of the best things to have happened to me in years. Speaking of work, December 1st 2020 marks six years of RidingGravel.com for myself and I want to take a quick look at where that ride has taken me as well. So, stay tuned for the "Rear View 2020" and "Bikes of 2020" and more starting now through the end of the year. 

The new fizik Terra Argo X5 saddle. Image courtesy of fizik.

A Gravel Specific Saddle?

Marketing. Ya just gotta love it, right? A niche of cycling gets started and the next thing ya know every company has some specific thing made for that discipline. Whether it matters or not. Such is the case with these specific saddles from 'fizik'. These are their Argo range of saddles and are the short/wide type of saddles I first noticed coming out for triathlon purposes. 

These saddles made sense for me in terms of tri pursuits since those riders tend to ride bikes with very steep virtual seat angles and they also tend to position their bodies up on the nose of the saddle. Also, since there are arcane rules regarding saddle to bottom bracket relationship in place for road time trialists, their saddles also need to be shorter. I get that. Okay, what I don't get is why these saddles work in other disciplines of riding. 

The nose of a saddle is used to steer your bike, by the way. If you've ever ridden one of those nose-less, supposed 'comfort' saddles, you would get this immediately. Anyway, with a shorter saddle, you lose some of this effect. Also, these saddles are really pretty wide and the transition from wide to narrow is a lot more abrupt. Huh....... Color me as one who doesn't 'get this'. I've sat myself on customer's bikes with these types of saddles on test rides and, well.......nope. I just don't see the appeal here. 

So, all of that to say this- If you ride one of these saddles, what is it that makes these work for you? Enlighten me, please. I ask because to my way of thinking, these short/wide saddles go against every ergonomic and technique driven attribute most cycling saddles for enthusiasts exhibit. Thanks in advance. The gravel specific thing? Whatever......

The 45NRTH Wrathlorde studded fat bike tire. Image courtesy of 45NRTH.

To Be Studded Or Not Studded? - That Is The Question: 

Okay, so there is a period of time during Winter that the gravel roads get slicked up with compressed snow and ice and this pretty much makes it so that I have to abandon riding out in the country for a while. Of course, there are solutions to this 'problem', if you want to look at this as a problem to be solved. I mean, you could just say it is a golden opportunity to ride in the woods, or, ya know, stay at home with a hot cup of coffee and a book. (Do people still read books?) But staying indoors is not an option for me, so yes- this is a problem to be solved. 

Now, I have some 40+ mm studded gravel tires. They are the 45NRTH Gravdal models, but have you seen how uneven gravel roads get when they are frozen over? My issues with a narrower tire is that these undulations and ruts could upset the bike enough that stud contact on the surface is not going to be sufficient enough for stable riding. I don't need to biff it on a rock-solid road in freezing temperatures. The risk is too great for the reward. 

Fat bike tires have a LOT more surface area contact, and therefore have the potential for more studs to be engaged than a narrower gravel type studded tire. So, my thoughts have been that if I can get a set of studded fat bike tires that look like they have a decent rolling resistance and are not like tractor tires, then I might consider going that way and riding my Ti Muk 2 this Winter on gravel. These 45NRTH Wrathlorde tires look pretty good in that regard. The thing is they are $250.00.......for one! Spending a half a grand just to be able to ride a couple months on gravel? 

Hand me that book and that cuppa joe.........

Naw.....just kidding. I'm going outdoors to ride, but probably not out in the country if things get iced up. I'll figure something else out. Just like I have for since......well, a long time now. But if those tires were a more reasonable buy, I would do that. Anyway, just a thought. 

That's a wrap for this week. Get out and enjoy the outdoors,however you can! Thanks for reading!

Not Quite Right

Preparing for Winter

Saturday morning rolled around and I tried rolling out of bed. unnnnh! oooh! OW! 

Something was not quite right. You know the feeling. When the joints ache, the head feels like someone is trying to crack it open from the inside, and are you dead tired, despite getting plenty of sleep. Yep! I was sick. Something.....whatever it was, was trying to bring me down. So, I knew I was out as far as riding a bicycle went.

I did get some work done that I'd been neglecting over the last few weeks. Can redemption, grocery shopping with Mrs. Guitar Ted, and some other little things. I took it pretty easy though, and I drank water throughout the day. I still felt "not quite right" when I went to bed though. It continued on into Sunday as well. So, the rain on Sunday was not a big deal to me.

Instead, I decided to get some Winter preparation work done. On bicycles, that is. I had thought about those studded tires, the 45NRTH Gravdals, and I found a spare set of wheels that weren't going anywhere soon, and slapped those together. These could go on the pink BMC MCD whenever I needed grip on ice. Of course, this level of preparation guarantees that I will not need them the rest of the Winter. (I hope) We'll see......

Then I decided to refresh the 650B Irwin Cycles wheels shod with the WTB Venture tires. This combination worked last March in a surprising way on some icy, snowy bike trails. I already know it works well on softer, wet gravel too. These are the sort of conditions we get in Winter on gravel roads, unless it goes all ice, or it gets so cold it becomes impossible to stay warm for longer than an hour. Then I will retreat into the woods and ride a fat bike.

Now, my body being not quite right isn't the only thing lately which hasn't been "quite right" and this has also been an issue for me. It has to do with my job at the bike shop. Things are in upheaval, and in the coming weeks, there could be some major changes. Well........there will be. Just what will happen has me, and the rest of my co-workers, in a state of stress which is not a lot of fun to be going through, as you might imagine. And I have to believe this has something to do with what happened with me this weekend as well.

I don't have a lot to complain about in life, and really, I have it pretty good. So, don't go and think my life is going down the toilet, or that things are super-bad here with me. There are folks with a LOT worse things going on than myself, and I realize that. But that said, I won't be looking back on 2019 with a ton of fondness. Especially on the professional side. Still, I am blessed, and that's what I'm focusing on.

Not Quite Right

Preparing for Winter

Saturday morning rolled around and I tried rolling out of bed. unnnnh! oooh! OW! 

Something was not quite right. You know the feeling. When the joints ache, the head feels like someone is trying to crack it open from the inside, and are you dead tired, despite getting plenty of sleep. Yep! I was sick. Something.....whatever it was, was trying to bring me down. So, I knew I was out as far as riding a bicycle went.

I did get some work done that I'd been neglecting over the last few weeks. Can redemption, grocery shopping with Mrs. Guitar Ted, and some other little things. I took it pretty easy though, and I drank water throughout the day. I still felt "not quite right" when I went to bed though. It continued on into Sunday as well. So, the rain on Sunday was not a big deal to me.

Instead, I decided to get some Winter preparation work done. On bicycles, that is. I had thought about those studded tires, the 45NRTH Gravdals, and I found a spare set of wheels that weren't going anywhere soon, and slapped those together. These could go on the pink BMC MCD whenever I needed grip on ice. Of course, this level of preparation guarantees that I will not need them the rest of the Winter. (I hope) We'll see......

Then I decided to refresh the 650B Irwin Cycles wheels shod with the WTB Venture tires. This combination worked last March in a surprising way on some icy, snowy bike trails. I already know it works well on softer, wet gravel too. These are the sort of conditions we get in Winter on gravel roads, unless it goes all ice, or it gets so cold it becomes impossible to stay warm for longer than an hour. Then I will retreat into the woods and ride a fat bike.

Now, my body being not quite right isn't the only thing lately which hasn't been "quite right" and this has also been an issue for me. It has to do with my job at the bike shop. Things are in upheaval, and in the coming weeks, there could be some major changes. Well........there will be. Just what will happen has me, and the rest of my co-workers, in a state of stress which is not a lot of fun to be going through, as you might imagine. And I have to believe this has something to do with what happened with me this weekend as well.

I don't have a lot to complain about in life, and really, I have it pretty good. So, don't go and think my life is going down the toilet, or that things are super-bad here with me. There are folks with a LOT worse things going on than myself, and I realize that. But that said, I won't be looking back on 2019 with a ton of fondness. Especially on the professional side. Still, I am blessed, and that's what I'm focusing on.

Friday News And Views

REEB Hooptie- Single Speed only, 29" wheels, like it was meant to be.

REEB Hooptie SS Announced:

Oh yeah! A cruiser style frame, MTB wheels, and skinny CrMo frame tubes. Why do we like this sort of thing so much? (Asking those of you that actually do like this sort of thing a lot)

Look, I get it...... Not everyone sees the appeal, but this is the sort of bike I like. I think REEB (Which, if you didn't know, is "BEER" backwards), nailed this in a much more "Surly" way than even that company has managed to do in recent years. (Which begs the question: What the heck, Surly! This is a no-brainer for you!)

Anyway..... Simple track ends, QR wheels because you probably have them or can buy a killer set used cheap, and dedicated to single speed. Now that's the sort of commitment I like to see. None of this geared or single nonsense. One way or ta'other! Even the price is great for either the frame only or complete build.

Don't look at me if you think I'd get one though. I do not need another single speed bike. So, things like little details of aesthetics would have had to have been spot on for me to lose all inhibitions to getting this. That said, I would recommend this one to anyone else. It's the perfect "hooligan" bike and would be a ton of fun.Check out the REEB Hooptie here.

This does not look like it is supposed to be from this month at all.

 Welcome To "Novembruary":

This past week was the end all. I was in full January regalia at one point on a commute, and I looked at the calendar. Lies! No way is it only the second week of November. This must be some parallel universe I am in which has different weather.

I dubbed it "Novembruary".

Fall? HA! What "Fall" What we did have was wet, colder than normal, and dismal for bicycling activities. For the second year in a row, my favorite cycling season gets short-circuited. I felt cheated.

Oh well..... This has the look of last Winter when we had a cold snap in November, a thaw, decent weather for December and early January, (minus the storms and rains), and then the most horrific, snowy February and March ever. Uggh! I hope I am wrong, but this feels like last year's Winter so far.

The short term looks better. Temperatures are supposed to get back closer to normals, and riding on gravel may actually happen again. I hope so as I have some test and review work to get done. (See yesterday's post)

Lots of bikes will fit 650B X 47, so where are the Winter tires?

Looking For Studs:

With the early onset of icy, snowy conditions here, thoughts amongst my cycling friends has turned to studded tires again. This got me to thinking about a certain application for studs that, to my knowledge, doesn't exist. That being the 650B X 47mm size.

My thoughts are that if I want to ride all Winter on my "gravel bike", and that bike can fit a 650B tire, well why wouldn't it make sense to have a studded tire option? The footprint of such a tire would, in my opinion, be better on ice and snow than a 700c X 42mm tire, and I likely can get away with lower pressure in those more voluminous tires than a 700c X 42mm, lending me even more traction.

I actually already have 700c X 40mm Gravdal studded tires which I would use. However; if I had a 650B X 47mm option in a studded tire, I would pick it over the 700c tire every day I needed a studded tire. So, where are these choices? I cannot find even one.

Sure, there are wider, gnarlier, MTB studded tires in 650B, but they won't fit my bike and they have far too aggressive a tread pattern. There are 650B X 38mm options in studded tires, but that is too narrow and too small a diameter. May as well just run my 700c X 40mm Gravdals. Finally, I don't want to have to make my own, but if I did, I'd use the 650B X 47 Sendero tires from WTB. Those at least have knobs meaty enough for studding.

That's it for this week! Hope y'all stay safe, get some riding in, and thanks again for reading the blog!

Friday News And Views

REEB Hooptie- Single Speed only, 29" wheels, like it was meant to be.

REEB Hooptie SS Announced:

Oh yeah! A cruiser style frame, MTB wheels, and skinny CrMo frame tubes. Why do we like this sort of thing so much? (Asking those of you that actually do like this sort of thing a lot)

Look, I get it...... Not everyone sees the appeal, but this is the sort of bike I like. I think REEB (Which, if you didn't know, is "BEER" backwards), nailed this in a much more "Surly" way than even that company has managed to do in recent years. (Which begs the question: What the heck, Surly! This is a no-brainer for you!)

Anyway..... Simple track ends, QR wheels because you probably have them or can buy a killer set used cheap, and dedicated to single speed. Now that's the sort of commitment I like to see. None of this geared or single nonsense. One way or ta'other! Even the price is great for either the frame only or complete build.

Don't look at me if you think I'd get one though. I do not need another single speed bike. So, things like little details of aesthetics would have had to have been spot on for me to lose all inhibitions to getting this. That said, I would recommend this one to anyone else. It's the perfect "hooligan" bike and would be a ton of fun.Check out the REEB Hooptie here.

This does not look like it is supposed to be from this month at all.

 Welcome To "Novembruary":

This past week was the end all. I was in full January regalia at one point on a commute, and I looked at the calendar. Lies! No way is it only the second week of November. This must be some parallel universe I am in which has different weather.

I dubbed it "Novembruary".

Fall? HA! What "Fall" What we did have was wet, colder than normal, and dismal for bicycling activities. For the second year in a row, my favorite cycling season gets short-circuited. I felt cheated.

Oh well..... This has the look of last Winter when we had a cold snap in November, a thaw, decent weather for December and early January, (minus the storms and rains), and then the most horrific, snowy February and March ever. Uggh! I hope I am wrong, but this feels like last year's Winter so far.

The short term looks better. Temperatures are supposed to get back closer to normals, and riding on gravel may actually happen again. I hope so as I have some test and review work to get done. (See yesterday's post)

Lots of bikes will fit 650B X 47, so where are the Winter tires?

Looking For Studs:

With the early onset of icy, snowy conditions here, thoughts amongst my cycling friends has turned to studded tires again. This got me to thinking about a certain application for studs that, to my knowledge, doesn't exist. That being the 650B X 47mm size.

My thoughts are that if I want to ride all Winter on my "gravel bike", and that bike can fit a 650B tire, well why wouldn't it make sense to have a studded tire option? The footprint of such a tire would, in my opinion, be better on ice and snow than a 700c X 42mm tire, and I likely can get away with lower pressure in those more voluminous tires than a 700c X 42mm, lending me even more traction.

I actually already have 700c X 40mm Gravdal studded tires which I would use. However; if I had a 650B X 47mm option in a studded tire, I would pick it over the 700c tire every day I needed a studded tire. So, where are these choices? I cannot find even one.

Sure, there are wider, gnarlier, MTB studded tires in 650B, but they won't fit my bike and they have far too aggressive a tread pattern. There are 650B X 38mm options in studded tires, but that is too narrow and too small a diameter. May as well just run my 700c X 40mm Gravdals. Finally, I don't want to have to make my own, but if I did, I'd use the 650B X 47 Sendero tires from WTB. Those at least have knobs meaty enough for studding.

That's it for this week! Hope y'all stay safe, get some riding in, and thanks again for reading the blog!

Friday News And Views

Don't say "Clement" anymore. The brand change takes effect immediately.

Donnelly Sports Launches Donnelly Cycling- Stops Licensing For Clement Brand:

One of the first gravel specific tires that came out in March of 2012 was the Clement MSO 40mm tire. Along with that model was the release of the 35mm USH, also a great tire on gravel. It set the stage for what has become a hot niche in the cycling world.

Five years down the road, nearly every tire and bicycle manufacturer is pumping out some sort of "adventure/gravel/all roads" product. A lot of that is due to the foresight and passion of Donn Kellog, the head of Donnelly Cycling. He researched the market potential, he spoke with riders that were engaged in gravel riding, and Donn made tires for gravel happen a long time before many companies did.

I've met the man and he is one of the most driven, passionate people I know in the world of cycling. I don't doubt that Donnelly Cycling will become a well known name in the circles of cyclo cross tires and gravel tire users. In fact, Donn owns the designs for such tires as the PDX and MSO, among  others, along with a wheel system which will carry over to the new Donnelly brand.

The reason for the change is due to the licensee, Pirelli Tires, who now have decided to enter the cycling market with tires and more, effectively becoming a competitor to Clement. Read more about this by clicking the link to the "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" story concerning this.

Pivot's new ten grand retail e-mtb - Now only planned to be sold in Europe.

Eurobike '17: The Hot E-MTB Market Gets Crowded:

If you read all the trade rags and pay attention to marketing you already know that e-mtb bikes- motorized off-road vehicles that just happen to have pedals- are the hottest selling product in bicycle shops across the Continent. Some claim that between 50% and 75% of all bicycles sold will be electric motor equipped vehicles that happen to have pedals within the next few years.

Interestingly, there are several things bubbling underneath the attention grabbing headlines which I find curious. For instance, there is a debate about standards for these motorized bikes in terms of helmets. In the Netherlands, they have already passed legislation for helmets to be used by these electric powered bike riders and they will have to use what amounts to moped rated helmets. Other countries are still debating this.

Component manufacturers are already offering heavy duty, down hill racing rated brakes for the electric powered mountain bikes. The high weight of these machines requires a more powerful braking system. Most e-mtb's weigh in excess of 50lbs. Add in the weight of an average rider, who may be carrying an extra battery to extend his range, and the weight gets up there pretty quickly.  I look for even more electric motor bike specific brakes, tires, and suspension systems to be introduced which will handle the mass generated by adding the battery and motor to these two wheeled  off road machines. Yes.....that will make them even heavier. But to keep weight in check, you have to go to the extremes that Pivot Bikes has and that bike still weighs in at 45lbs. It is claimed to be the lightest in its category.

I also found the following curious. In a story in "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" recently, the largest seller of electric powered bicycles in the US, Pedego, was said to be selling bikes which can be throttle or pedal assist. This runs counter to what many are saying when they claim that "e-bikes are okay because they are pedal assist only and there are laws regulating the power they can have". Well, that isn't true, not 100%. People are using throttle controlled electric motorcycles with pedals now and they are modifying them for higher outputs. I know because it is happening right here where I live. It isn't going to stop either, just because there are "laws" against it. First off, how will the laws be enforced if these vehicles are not registered and insured? Furthermore; there is evidence from the off road side pointing to a similar end game.

In the interview regarding the Pivot Shuttle with Pivot head honch, Chris Cocalis, on "Pink Bike.com", Cocalis is asked about higher powered, "closed course only" electric powered off road bikes and how Pivot will place itself in the future regarding these bikes. He is quoted as saying, "There are companies that seem to have already entered into a bit of a horsepower race and there are companies working hard on e-motocross bikes."

Boom.

Terrene Tires new Cake Eater fat bike tire

Terrene Tires Debuts A New Fat Bike Tire:

I've said before that product names are getting weirder because so many names are copyrighted and registered trade marks that almost nothing that makes sense is available to name a product these days. Case in point, the new tire from Terrene called "Cake Eater". Maybe it comes from the phrase "You can't have your cake and eat it too", but if so, that's kind of a stretch. Anyway........

I like what Terrene has done here and I think this might be a candidate for my "commute by fat bike" rig. Stud pockets and major siping with a fast rolling tread design make this look far better than the Wazia which I strongly considered last season for the same idea.

I'm not in a huge rush to get a studded fat bike tire because the only reason I'd need that is for Winter road riding. Icy streets on the way to work would be a reason and possibly country riding as well. Studded fat bike tires are either poor rolling beasts or cost an arm and a leg, or both. This tire, with the ability to set the studs on the outer edges while having the siped center knobs is looking like a design I could get on with. Pump it up for faster rolling and let the air out to engage the studs. Plus it is reasonably priced, comes in several versions, and should be available this Fall.

Okay, that's a wrap. Have an awesome Labor Day Weekend!

Friday News And Views

Don't say "Clement" anymore. The brand change takes effect immediately.

Donnelly Sports Launches Donnelly Cycling- Stops Licensing For Clement Brand:

One of the first gravel specific tires that came out in March of 2012 was the Clement MSO 40mm tire. Along with that model was the release of the 35mm USH, also a great tire on gravel. It set the stage for what has become a hot niche in the cycling world.

Five years down the road, nearly every tire and bicycle manufacturer is pumping out some sort of "adventure/gravel/all roads" product. A lot of that is due to the foresight and passion of Donn Kellog, the head of Donnelly Cycling. He researched the market potential, he spoke with riders that were engaged in gravel riding, and Donn made tires for gravel happen a long time before many companies did.

I've met the man and he is one of the most driven, passionate people I know in the world of cycling. I don't doubt that Donnelly Cycling will become a well known name in the circles of cyclo cross tires and gravel tire users. In fact, Donn owns the designs for such tires as the PDX and MSO, among  others, along with a wheel system which will carry over to the new Donnelly brand.

The reason for the change is due to the licensee, Pirelli Tires, who now have decided to enter the cycling market with tires and more, effectively becoming a competitor to Clement. Read more about this by clicking the link to the "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" story concerning this.

Pivot's new ten grand retail e-mtb - Now only planned to be sold in Europe.

Eurobike '17: The Hot E-MTB Market Gets Crowded:

If you read all the trade rags and pay attention to marketing you already know that e-mtb bikes- motorized off-road vehicles that just happen to have pedals- are the hottest selling product in bicycle shops across the Continent. Some claim that between 50% and 75% of all bicycles sold will be electric motor equipped vehicles that happen to have pedals within the next few years.

Interestingly, there are several things bubbling underneath the attention grabbing headlines which I find curious. For instance, there is a debate about standards for these motorized bikes in terms of helmets. In the Netherlands, they have already passed legislation for helmets to be used by these electric powered bike riders and they will have to use what amounts to moped rated helmets. Other countries are still debating this.

Component manufacturers are already offering heavy duty, down hill racing rated brakes for the electric powered mountain bikes. The high weight of these machines requires a more powerful braking system. Most e-mtb's weigh in excess of 50lbs. Add in the weight of an average rider, who may be carrying an extra battery to extend his range, and the weight gets up there pretty quickly.  I look for even more electric motor bike specific brakes, tires, and suspension systems to be introduced which will handle the mass generated by adding the battery and motor to these two wheeled  off road machines. Yes.....that will make them even heavier. But to keep weight in check, you have to go to the extremes that Pivot Bikes has and that bike still weighs in at 45lbs. It is claimed to be the lightest in its category.

I also found the following curious. In a story in "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" recently, the largest seller of electric powered bicycles in the US, Pedego, was said to be selling bikes which can be throttle or pedal assist. This runs counter to what many are saying when they claim that "e-bikes are okay because they are pedal assist only and there are laws regulating the power they can have". Well, that isn't true, not 100%. People are using throttle controlled electric motorcycles with pedals now and they are modifying them for higher outputs. I know because it is happening right here where I live. It isn't going to stop either, just because there are "laws" against it. First off, how will the laws be enforced if these vehicles are not registered and insured? Furthermore; there is evidence from the off road side pointing to a similar end game.

In the interview regarding the Pivot Shuttle with Pivot head honch, Chris Cocalis, on "Pink Bike.com", Cocalis is asked about higher powered, "closed course only" electric powered off road bikes and how Pivot will place itself in the future regarding these bikes. He is quoted as saying, "There are companies that seem to have already entered into a bit of a horsepower race and there are companies working hard on e-motocross bikes."

Boom.

Terrene Tires new Cake Eater fat bike tire

Terrene Tires Debuts A New Fat Bike Tire:

I've said before that product names are getting weirder because so many names are copyrighted and registered trade marks that almost nothing that makes sense is available to name a product these days. Case in point, the new tire from Terrene called "Cake Eater". Maybe it comes from the phrase "You can't have your cake and eat it too", but if so, that's kind of a stretch. Anyway........

I like what Terrene has done here and I think this might be a candidate for my "commute by fat bike" rig. Stud pockets and major siping with a fast rolling tread design make this look far better than the Wazia which I strongly considered last season for the same idea.

I'm not in a huge rush to get a studded fat bike tire because the only reason I'd need that is for Winter road riding. Icy streets on the way to work would be a reason and possibly country riding as well. Studded fat bike tires are either poor rolling beasts or cost an arm and a leg, or both. This tire, with the ability to set the studs on the outer edges while having the siped center knobs is looking like a design I could get on with. Pump it up for faster rolling and let the air out to engage the studs. Plus it is reasonably priced, comes in several versions, and should be available this Fall.

Okay, that's a wrap. Have an awesome Labor Day Weekend!

Friday News And Views

The lack of an industry wide tubeless standard is creating friction.

Just about a year ago now I posted up about the "State Of Tubelessness" in terms of gravel road going tires and rims. My take at that time, when a true tubeless system for gravel wasn't available, was that we were covering the same ground as 29"ers had about seven years prior. Riders were left to nebulous directions and self-experimentation which often led to disastrous results. Since that time, we've had progress. There are serious, systemic tubeless tire solutions covering both rim and tire which work perfectly. Then, as with tires for mountain biking, you have rim manufacturers that only do rims and tire manufacturers that only do tires making parts to be set up tubeless together. Sometimes the results are good, and sometimes they are so-so. In rare cases some tires and tubes simply do not work well together at all.

Yesterday I mentioned Taichung Bike Week, and in the industry magazine, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, there was an extensive article concerning tubeless tires and road and gravel applications.  In the article featuring TBW, tire manufacturers bemoaned the lack of standard rim and tire interface dimensions, tire width appropriate to rim width issues, and the proliferation of hookless bead carbon rims. This causes no small amount of "friction" when it comes to discussing wheels and how tires interface with them. Narrower rims and wider tires don't work as easily as an appropriately wide rim with the same tire. However; that same rim may not work well with a 28mm wide road tubeless tire at all. Then you have diameters of rims, tires, and even how the beads are constructed and from what materials, which lead to various issues. Carbon reinforced beads in particular are troublesome. However; they are deemed necessary when higher road pressures are contemplated.

Finally, there is the field serviceability factor. Say that your sealant fails, or that a tire gets cut beyond the sealants capability to seal it up. Then how the rim and tire fit can be a big issue. Too tight, which is great for lower pressures and security when it comes to tire roll over/burping, and then you may have a big problem even breaking the bead over the rim edge just to get a tube in. Conversely, a looser fit may cause burping and require higher pressures to maintain the tire's integrity in hard cornering. It's a tough nut to crack with the interfaces being all over the place dimensionally.

That's why it is still the best bet to seek out a true tubeless system that covers tire and rim. Like WTB's TCS system. Then you can have it all without being compromised in some way that may bite you in the butt down the road. Hopefully WTB and others will use the systemic approach to expand our choices by using tires and rims designed for each other.

The Ti Mukluk with the Cirrus Cycles Body Float post

 If Fat Bikes Could Float:

I got to ride the Ti Muk the other day after the big rain, and was reacquainted with the titanium shafted Body Float post by Cirrus Cycles again. It is a coil sprung suspension post that I had tried out on my Fargo last year at Odin's Revenge. I liked it so much that I ended up buying one and for now it lives on the Ti Muk.

The thing is pretty eye opening. For one thing, it obviously pretty much isolates you from all small chatter and small compressive bumps are almost erased. However, it also does something in regard to how you feel and absorb front end impacts and small compressive bumps that is hard to put into words. I'll just say it makes things "more better" and I like it. Now mind you- this is all at speeds I would term as "trundling" and anything faster is a different ball game. That's for off road- mtb type stuff. On gravel it just really takes out that frequency that buzzes your behind and pot holes and dips are dispensed with as mere annoyances as opposed to surprise shocks. It is not a rear suspension replacement. Maybe "soft tail like"? Okay, I could say that and live with it.

I will say that you just cannot really understand what it does for your riding until you have ridden it for a while and then ride a standard seat post. Suddenly the little bits of unweighting the bike and the times you level out the pedals and coast a micro-second to absorb a small dip which were unlearned while using the Body Float have to be relearned. Because of that, you suddenly become conscious of how much chatter you aren't trying to avoid with the Body Float that you have to when riding rigid posts. Then you have the "aha!" moment and the worth of the post becomes quite evident. My opinion is that during longer events, all that unweighting and leveling of the pedals a small fraction of a second wear you down. The Body Float takes that out of the equation, but you just don't realize how valuable that is until you try a Body Float and then get on a standard post.

By the way, the areas I usually ride the fat bike are all flooded now. Unfortunately the Body Float seat post doesn't help out with that. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out the rest of the Winter, but it might end up becoming a massive broken up ice field out there and fat biking will have to take place somewhere else this Winter.

Stud. The tire, not you, silly!

Gnarwalls Landed:

Studded fat bike tires are something of a rarity, yet high in demand, or so it would seem. Whenever we have been asked about them at the shop where I work, and we go to order some, no one has them in stock.  So we started just ordering in a pair to have around whenever we could get our hands on a pair. We heard about the Gnarwall last August and put an order in for a pair whenever they might come up as being available. Well, recently they popped up on the warehouse inventory at Trek, so we grabbed this single pair, one of which I have pictured here. We checked yesterday, and poof! Zero availability. Amazing!

45NRTH is like this as well. Anyway, we have a pair and I am sure they won't last long, especially with the conditions we're likely to have this Winter locally after the flood waters freeze up.

I know a lot of folks were dismayed at how the Gnarwall has fewer studs than what 45NRTH uses on the Dillinger, but when you take a look at the Gnarwall you see how the designer focused the stud pattern where the tire contact patch is, and not where it isn't. Makes sense. Anyway, also consider the tubeless ready nature of the Gnarwall and suddenly it starts to look pretty darn attractive as an ice/icy snow conditions tire.

Yes.......it is expensive. Just about the same as a Dillinger studded tire. That's kind of a bummer, but the Gnarwall was designed as an ice/icy snow tire and being that they don't produce thousands of these, the price isn't really out of line. Since there probably aren't very many of these tires made year to year, that also contributes to the difficulty in getting them. Did I mention that they are spendy? Yeah?....... Okay then. If you gotta ride on ice or on icy snow, nothing beats a tire that was designed to be studded like this one was.

Have a great weekend! Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

 

Friday News And Views

The lack of an industry wide tubeless standard is creating friction.

Just about a year ago now I posted up about the "State Of Tubelessness" in terms of gravel road going tires and rims. My take at that time, when a true tubeless system for gravel wasn't available, was that we were covering the same ground as 29"ers had about seven years prior. Riders were left to nebulous directions and self-experimentation which often led to disastrous results. Since that time, we've had progress. There are serious, systemic tubeless tire solutions covering both rim and tire which work perfectly. Then, as with tires for mountain biking, you have rim manufacturers that only do rims and tire manufacturers that only do tires making parts to be set up tubeless together. Sometimes the results are good, and sometimes they are so-so. In rare cases some tires and tubes simply do not work well together at all.

Yesterday I mentioned Taichung Bike Week, and in the industry magazine, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, there was an extensive article concerning tubeless tires and road and gravel applications.  In the article featuring TBW, tire manufacturers bemoaned the lack of standard rim and tire interface dimensions, tire width appropriate to rim width issues, and the proliferation of hookless bead carbon rims. This causes no small amount of "friction" when it comes to discussing wheels and how tires interface with them. Narrower rims and wider tires don't work as easily as an appropriately wide rim with the same tire. However; that same rim may not work well with a 28mm wide road tubeless tire at all. Then you have diameters of rims, tires, and even how the beads are constructed and from what materials, which lead to various issues. Carbon reinforced beads in particular are troublesome. However; they are deemed necessary when higher road pressures are contemplated.

Finally, there is the field serviceability factor. Say that your sealant fails, or that a tire gets cut beyond the sealants capability to seal it up. Then how the rim and tire fit can be a big issue. Too tight, which is great for lower pressures and security when it comes to tire roll over/burping, and then you may have a big problem even breaking the bead over the rim edge just to get a tube in. Conversely, a looser fit may cause burping and require higher pressures to maintain the tire's integrity in hard cornering. It's a tough nut to crack with the interfaces being all over the place dimensionally.

That's why it is still the best bet to seek out a true tubeless system that covers tire and rim. Like WTB's TCS system. Then you can have it all without being compromised in some way that may bite you in the butt down the road. Hopefully WTB and others will use the systemic approach to expand our choices by using tires and rims designed for each other.

The Ti Mukluk with the Cirrus Cycles Body Float post

 If Fat Bikes Could Float:

I got to ride the Ti Muk the other day after the big rain, and was reacquainted with the titanium shafted Body Float post by Cirrus Cycles again. It is a coil sprung suspension post that I had tried out on my Fargo last year at Odin's Revenge. I liked it so much that I ended up buying one and for now it lives on the Ti Muk.

The thing is pretty eye opening. For one thing, it obviously pretty much isolates you from all small chatter and small compressive bumps are almost erased. However, it also does something in regard to how you feel and absorb front end impacts and small compressive bumps that is hard to put into words. I'll just say it makes things "more better" and I like it. Now mind you- this is all at speeds I would term as "trundling" and anything faster is a different ball game. That's for off road- mtb type stuff. On gravel it just really takes out that frequency that buzzes your behind and pot holes and dips are dispensed with as mere annoyances as opposed to surprise shocks. It is not a rear suspension replacement. Maybe "soft tail like"? Okay, I could say that and live with it.

I will say that you just cannot really understand what it does for your riding until you have ridden it for a while and then ride a standard seat post. Suddenly the little bits of unweighting the bike and the times you level out the pedals and coast a micro-second to absorb a small dip which were unlearned while using the Body Float have to be relearned. Because of that, you suddenly become conscious of how much chatter you aren't trying to avoid with the Body Float that you have to when riding rigid posts. Then you have the "aha!" moment and the worth of the post becomes quite evident. My opinion is that during longer events, all that unweighting and leveling of the pedals a small fraction of a second wear you down. The Body Float takes that out of the equation, but you just don't realize how valuable that is until you try a Body Float and then get on a standard post.

By the way, the areas I usually ride the fat bike are all flooded now. Unfortunately the Body Float seat post doesn't help out with that. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out the rest of the Winter, but it might end up becoming a massive broken up ice field out there and fat biking will have to take place somewhere else this Winter.

Stud. The tire, not you, silly!

Gnarwalls Landed:

Studded fat bike tires are something of a rarity, yet high in demand, or so it would seem. Whenever we have been asked about them at the shop where I work, and we go to order some, no one has them in stock.  So we started just ordering in a pair to have around whenever we could get our hands on a pair. We heard about the Gnarwall last August and put an order in for a pair whenever they might come up as being available. Well, recently they popped up on the warehouse inventory at Trek, so we grabbed this single pair, one of which I have pictured here. We checked yesterday, and poof! Zero availability. Amazing!

45NRTH is like this as well. Anyway, we have a pair and I am sure they won't last long, especially with the conditions we're likely to have this Winter locally after the flood waters freeze up.

I know a lot of folks were dismayed at how the Gnarwall has fewer studs than what 45NRTH uses on the Dillinger, but when you take a look at the Gnarwall you see how the designer focused the stud pattern where the tire contact patch is, and not where it isn't. Makes sense. Anyway, also consider the tubeless ready nature of the Gnarwall and suddenly it starts to look pretty darn attractive as an ice/icy snow conditions tire.

Yes.......it is expensive. Just about the same as a Dillinger studded tire. That's kind of a bummer, but the Gnarwall was designed as an ice/icy snow tire and being that they don't produce thousands of these, the price isn't really out of line. Since there probably aren't very many of these tires made year to year, that also contributes to the difficulty in getting them. Did I mention that they are spendy? Yeah?....... Okay then. If you gotta ride on ice or on icy snow, nothing beats a tire that was designed to be studded like this one was.

Have a great weekend! Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

 

Timely

Studding

This past weekend I decided I'd better get on the stick and get that last Gravdal tire studded up. The weatherman was calling for a big swing in the weather and maybe there would be some ice and snow.

Not that I put a lot of faith into what the weatherman says, and even the weather people will tell you Winter weather is the hardest to predict. So, I was just being motivated by a false prophecy, or so I thought, and that was okay, because the deed would be done. When the time came that I really needed studded tires, I wouldn't be scrambling to get them on the bike.

I got the last one done watching the race Sunday, and then mounted them both up on some older Bontrager Race X Lite wheels I have with tubes. The Gravdal tires are not tubeless rated, and I figured tubes would be just fine in this case.

That all went on the Vaya. I figured I would ride it Monday when there was a chance of flurries, but not because I thought I needed studded tires, but because I figured I would bed the studs in by going to work and back. I could hear the difference in the sound the studs were making by about a mile in, and I knew that they were seating into their molded in spots well. By the time I got to work, they all looked great, setting just perfectly into the beefy tread blocks of the Gravdal tires. Mission accomplished.

And whatta ya know? They were right!

At work I saw the flakes start to fill the air. Nice, fluttering flakes of snow. No big deal. Then a barrage of snow, but I knew that the first few snows of the year generally don't stick. However; it kept coming down, and the temperatures were plummeting, and the winds were blowing hard.

Wait a minute....

I kept a watchful eye on the outdoor happenings from inside the shop. I was starting to get concerned when the streets were getting very wet, and cars were getting covered in the white stuff. Much more of this and we'd be seeing accumulations on pavement, and then the ice would form from car traffic. Hmm....

But then the snow faded, then it quit altogether. Maybe it would be all melted before I left. I figured it was no big deal, and I went about my business, satisfied that there would be no icy threat to getting home. Besides, I had studded tires! I had nothing to fear, right?

And I didn't need to worry, but I did run across plenty of snow and even some patches of ice that maybe would have been trouble on tires of this width. A fat bike or even a 29"er? pffft! Child's play for that, but I was glad I had studs all the same. And the bonus? These actually ride pretty okay for studded tires, which isn't usually the case at all. Oh- and let's not forget, I am ready for the next time!

Timely

Studding

This past weekend I decided I'd better get on the stick and get that last Gravdal tire studded up. The weatherman was calling for a big swing in the weather and maybe there would be some ice and snow.

Not that I put a lot of faith into what the weatherman says, and even the weather people will tell you Winter weather is the hardest to predict. So, I was just being motivated by a false prophecy, or so I thought, and that was okay, because the deed would be done. When the time came that I really needed studded tires, I wouldn't be scrambling to get them on the bike.

I got the last one done watching the race Sunday, and then mounted them both up on some older Bontrager Race X Lite wheels I have with tubes. The Gravdal tires are not tubeless rated, and I figured tubes would be just fine in this case.

That all went on the Vaya. I figured I would ride it Monday when there was a chance of flurries, but not because I thought I needed studded tires, but because I figured I would bed the studs in by going to work and back. I could hear the difference in the sound the studs were making by about a mile in, and I knew that they were seating into their molded in spots well. By the time I got to work, they all looked great, setting just perfectly into the beefy tread blocks of the Gravdal tires. Mission accomplished.

And whatta ya know? They were right!

At work I saw the flakes start to fill the air. Nice, fluttering flakes of snow. No big deal. Then a barrage of snow, but I knew that the first few snows of the year generally don't stick. However; it kept coming down, and the temperatures were plummeting, and the winds were blowing hard.

Wait a minute....

I kept a watchful eye on the outdoor happenings from inside the shop. I was starting to get concerned when the streets were getting very wet, and cars were getting covered in the white stuff. Much more of this and we'd be seeing accumulations on pavement, and then the ice would form from car traffic. Hmm....

But then the snow faded, then it quit altogether. Maybe it would be all melted before I left. I figured it was no big deal, and I went about my business, satisfied that there would be no icy threat to getting home. Besides, I had studded tires! I had nothing to fear, right?

And I didn't need to worry, but I did run across plenty of snow and even some patches of ice that maybe would have been trouble on tires of this width. A fat bike or even a 29"er? pffft! Child's play for that, but I was glad I had studs all the same. And the bonus? These actually ride pretty okay for studded tires, which isn't usually the case at all. Oh- and let's not forget, I am ready for the next time!