Thwarted

This flooded out grassy two-tracfk wasn't my first check.

The one day I could get out and ride this past week was on Friday. It was going to be a weird day because it was starting out a bit on the chilly/windy side, but it was supposed to get warmer, then storm severely, then get cold. The weather people were in a lather about it all saying things were going to be nigh unto apocalyptic and that we all should be "weather aware", or we might....

I dunno.....what would the weather people say?  You might suffer the consequences of ignoring the weather? And this is different than the past in what way, exactly? 

I'm telling you this whole society is based upon fear. 

Anyway, Yes, I get it. Weather can kill you. I survived an F5 tornado and other near-misses with tornadoes over the years. So I decided to run out to ride in the morning. My plan was to head over to Evansdale via the bike paths and get out on a little gravel. Get home around noon. Then ride the storm out, if any storms should come, at home. 

Well, it didn't take long and I ran up on a barricade where a City worker was messing with some equipment. He looked at me and explained that there was some maintenance work being done and the bridge was impassable by pedestrians and cyclists. I had to backtrack and go across a different bridge. So I did this.

But then I was turned back again by more barricades. So, taking this as a sign, I turned back the opposite way and headed toward the park on the North side of the Cedar River and to a different bridge to cross back to a point closer to home.  

One simply does not just ride by the cement elephant!

I cannot ever remember seeing bluebells bloom this early

I ended up on the Sans Souci Bridge and had a sudden thought. "Ya know, I've never been back in there. Maybe I'll check it out." Sans Souci Island in Waterloo has been the site of the Sans Souci Hotel, cottages, and eventually permanent residences were constructed here. Originally named Merwin Island in the mid-1800's, this 100 acre island, once covered in timber, provided wood for the first bridges across the Cedar River in Waterloo. 

In 2008, a catastrophic flood event wiped out all the homes on the island. The homes were never rebuilt, and now it is an obscure park with a shelter, some hiking trails, and lots of woods. I found a cleared, fairly wide path back into the woods a ways but was turned back by the recent flooding. N.Y. Roll later told me he has been thinking about how this area could stand a short single track loop. 

I ended up leaving, but before I got out of the gate, I met two young, what looked to me to be teenage girls walking into the park dressed in attire more akin to the late 19th Century than the 21st Century. I waved, they waved back, and I wondered if I had seen an apparition, but yeah.... I'm pretty sure that was real.  

Weird. 

And then I rode through the cemetery and headed home. The original plans were thwarted, but this ride had it's highlights. And I didn't get sucked up by a tornado. In fact, we escaped any severe weather Friday. The temperature went down a full 47 degrees in twelve hours though. 

All the best to those who did suffer damage Friday. I think we all could do with nicer weather for a while.  

Two Things

Flint Hills 2017

Change of Plan

This was the week I was planning on doing the Legends of Gravel ride. Unfortunately, this did not happen. 

I know I am a bit disappointed in this, as were a couple of fellows from up here who were planing on going. Trouble was there wasn't enough interest to carry the effort and expense the promoter was putting into holding this event. 

There are a lot of complications to the reason why this event was cancelled. I will not speculate or share anything detailed here concerning this. I will just point out that this was not "my event", and since I wasn't in charge of anything, I have nothing to add to or take away from the cancellation decision. That part was out of my hands, as was anything having to do with the event besides my willingness to attend it. 

I love the Flint Hills. I love riding there. It is a really awesome, challenging area to ride gravel. Maybe I'll get back there someday. The thing is, this is a big trip for us now. It's hard due to our current circumstances to get away and leave two cats behind. Not to mention our daughter who doesn't drive. I won't even get into work schedules. So, I'm not holding my breath concerning any big trips in the near future. 

Hail immediately after the storm on 4/14/26

Severe Stretch:

 April is acting like May now, or at least for the past week it has been. This brought daily thunderstorms, lightning, hail, and high winds. 

Not a good time to be out in the country on long rides on gravel. Thursday we got a reprieve, so I ventured out. Otherwise on Tuesday I spent two hours on the Big Dummy running a couple of errands before the big storm hit in the afternoon. 

 Several friends and acquaintances had windshields blown out by golf ball sized hail and larger. Cars were dented beyond belief in some cases as well. We escaped with a few dings to the 4Runner, which has to sit outdoors. 

It looks like we are in for a more seasonal stretch here which I hope will allow for more country rides. But for now, this nonsense has me on edge a bit.  

Repairs

The life of a bicycle mechanic is one of constant diagnosis and figuring things out. There are simple repairs, which for a seasoned bicycle mechanic are like a school child repeating the addition of 2 + 2 and understanding the answer without a second thought. In fact, many repairs are done so quickly and with such instinct that many mechanics cannot tell you how to do what they just did where you'd understand. 

Then there are the really challenging jobs. The ones that make you cuss, but when you overcome and make a bicycle work again, you crow about it, sticking your chest out and strutting around like some greasy version of a rooster.

I was out riding around on the Honeman Flyer last week getting acquainted with these new Ergon bits I have in for review. As I pulled up to the house I heard a strange noise and I discovered a broken spoke. The sort of "everyday repair" a good mechanic can whip out done in a jiffy. 

When you work in a retail setting you must learn time saving tricks to get things done and out the door quickly. I was employing all of these as I went about trying to replace the rear spoke which had broken. 

Now one of the more important parts of this repair concerned the spoke nipple. It would be imperative to keep the nipple from backing into the rim cavity and falling inside the rim. 

And - of course - this is exactly what happened. 

Now this simple repair just became a big hassle. I would have to take the tire off, the rim tape off, and fish that nipple out of the rim cavity. And the tire is set up tubeless. So......sigh, I went to work on it. 

And when I peeled off the Ritchey SpeedMax tire, I discovered there was almost no sealant inside. So, actually, it was a good thing. But now I'd have to do the tubeless sealant injection dance later. Before that, I had to take the nipple I fished out, replace it where it belonged, thread it on the spoke, and tension it up. After truing I then fished around in my tape drawer for some tubeless tape. 

This DT Swiss tape is really nice.

I found a bit of this DT Swiss tubeless tape. I don't remember for certain how I got it. It wasn't a full roll and I know I've never used it before. I thought I'd use it up on this repair. 

It turns out it is excellent tape. Maybe the best I've used. It certainly was the easiest tape I've applied. Just stretchy enough and tacky enough. It laid down nicely with no weird folds or trapped air bubbles.  

It certainly is not cheap! But I may try some more of it since it was so impressive. I have some of the tape everyone was crowing about from U-Line which is similar to this DT Swiss tape, but it is not the same stuff at all. That tape is thicker, less pliable, and doesn't lay down as nicely. 

Anyway, after a bout of wrasslin' with my tubeless sealant injector, I was done with the job and the Honeman Flyer is ready just in time for a blizzard! Fantastic.... (Update - It wasn't a blizzard, but it did snow)

It'll be 1°F Tuesday morning here and swinging to a projected high of 50°F on Wednesday.  Welcome to Spring in Iowa. 

Two Things

PSA: Gravel Grinder News Today At 9:00am:

Just a short note for you early morning blog readers. There is an embargoed announcement being released at 9:00am CST this morning, so please check back for this. (Hint: Salsa Cycles related)

Embargoed information is a sore topic with some folks involved in cycling. Dealers get information with "Respect the Embargo" stamped all over it. They can face some stiff reprimands for showing stuff to the wrong people. Meanwhile internet sleuths dig up images all the time and post them on social sites like Reddit with source material sometimes alongside which may have been shown to someone in confidence. No one ever gets their hand slapped for it, and dealers get shafted by the process sometimes when it devalues current inventory. 

I used to see issues with this all the time when I worked retail. You had customers you could sell the new thing to on the side, but "embargo", so .....? Meanwhile they see it on some subversive's post and wonder why you didn't say anything to help them out and now you are the "bad guy". 

And, of course, you can immediately be blackballed out of sharing PR if you slip up and post something before the embargo, or get greedy to be "first" on a story. 

My stance is that - if the press release is relevant to my focus here - I will post the information when the marketers want me to post it. I'm here to help. I don't care about being first or whatever, and I make zero bucks either way. So.... I'm here to help. But some brands don't see it that way and so I do not hear from them, or I get "second tier" treatment. Whatever.... It doesn't do anything to me. It only hurts them.  

March False Spring > March Snow > March Winter > March Spring:

And the weather! Wow, what a roller coaster we've been on here in Iowa. One minute it's nearly 70°F and then a couple days later it is snowing. 

This makes it hard on me and my schedule is not lining up with the "good days" either. Riding has been limited. 

I know sooner or later this will straighten out, and to be honest, generally speaking we'd still normally be melting off Winter snow pack yet at around this time. So, the teasing of this warmer weather is what has gotten me all turned around. 

And then on a short test ride around the neighborhood the other day I came home and discovered an unpleasant surprise. I picked my Honeman Flyer up and reoriented it for entry into the portal for Guitar Ted Headquarters. I heard a strange noise, looked down and saw a rear spoke dangling in the breeze. 

Great!

Now I have to remove the tubeless tire, tubeless tape, and fish out a nipple banging around inside the rim. Fun times! Maybe I'll do this when it is forecast to be only 24°F this coming Monday. Hmm..... I wonder if the tulips will survive a day of that? 

Welcome to another Spring in Iowa.......

A Tough Stretch Here

Today closes out the month of July. I won't lie about it, I am not going to miss this last month. The weather is the reason for this.

We've had a good run of hot, humid days with big rains interspersed in there which have all fallen on days I had chances to ride out in the country. Not to mention the fact of the three days in a row where we had severe thunderstorms in the middle of the night which kept me up at random times. My sleep schedule is in tatters.

July started off great, but since the heat settled in and with the rains, yeah.... Not going to miss July at all. So, now we're moving on to August and already we have gone to cooler temperatures and less humidity for a time. This is a great relief. I'm most definitely a fan.

But we will get that "dog days" stretch, I am sure, where the humidity and heat will make a return. I just hope this doesn't result in temperatures adjusted for humidity over 100°F. I've had my fill of that! Of course, Fall is coming very soon, which is my favorite time of the year to ride, so I'm looking forward to this season coming up. But before we get there, I have one thing in mind to get to. 

Stay tuned....
 

Friday News And Views

 Rene Herse TPU Tubes On Test:

I went ahead and took shiggy's suggestion in the comments last week and ordered a set of Rene Herse TPU tubes for testing here. These will be going into a set of wheels with tires which will remain constant throughout this riding season to see how TPU tubes hold up. 

The Rene Herse TPU tubes, besides being clear, have the distinction of having aluminum valve stems with removable cores. So no flimsy plastic/TPU stems here! Hooray! 

However: I am going to ding Rene Herse's shipping department. They threw these two boxes into a bubble interior paper envelope and shipped them USPS. This flimsy envelope allowed the boxes with the tubes inside to get crushed. The boxes looked a bit beaten up coming out of the envelope. I actually adjusted this one seen here for the image to make it look not so sad. 

Hopefully the tubes are none the worse for wear! I'll be finding out soon enough. I'll have a full opening review on these soon. I expect these will work out well. I've been having pretty good experiences so far with TPU tubes and I am considering swapping over a few more bikes to these tubes. They are radically light, ride like tubeless, but do not need topping up with sealant after six months and these hold air even better than a tubeless tire typically does. 

So, I expect "great things" with these tubes. Stay tuned... 

Image courtesy of J. Zuniga

Running Back The R.A.G.?

N.Y. Roll and I are thinking about running back this t-shirt design I call "R.A.G." It was inspired during the last recon for the last gravel event I ever did.  We saw a lone Bald Eagle in a field alongside the road during the Spring time when everything was brown and dead. 

I was inspired and spouted out something about "Real American Gravel" which ended up on this t-shirt design because N.Y. Roll wanted to have the event we were putting on be for, and inspired by, veterans of the military. 

I had a few left overs of this shirt and since the event in question never happened and that was four years ago, I decided to donate the remainder to the Collective and sell them there. One of our board members, Joe Zuniga, a veteran himself, picked one up and gave it to his friend in Texas who wears it proudly. (The image is of Joe's friend) 

This inspired N.Y. Roll to ask me if we should run this back again, and to be honest, I've been thinking about this as well. So, what do you think? Let us know in the comments. 

Image courtesy of SRAM

Gravel Bike Tech Infiltrates Classics Bike Set Up:

The Spring Classics are beginning now over in Europe and all the cobble-specific tricks are being trotted out for those Pro riders to gain whatever advantage they can with them.

One of the more recent developments comes from the world of gravel bikes. Recent online purveyors of Pro race bike set up articles are ballyhooing the usage by some teams of 1X "mullet" set ups which have pie-plate sized rear cogs for the lower gearing necessary toi climb some of those steep Belgian hills.  

That is neat. However, the cobbled classics are their own beast and if we are honest, these races have always demanded unique and sometimes unusual solutions to provide the riders with their best possible outcomes. Drive train solutions for these races have always been a bit different due to their mostly flat profiles, with a few notable exceptions. 

I'm not going to get too excited about Pros using gravel gearing. It is not a big deal, really. But it is ironic, in a way, because roadies used to make snide remarks about gravel riding and racing back in the day, and here they are using stuff which grew out of the discipline. Nice. 

Welcome To Iowa Weather:

Wednesday we had a blizzard, Today it snowed, and this coming Monday it might be a record warm day here in Waterloo, Iowa. 

That's Spring in this area for you! It makes it rough to plan for rides and sometimes it can be downright disgusting.  Furthermore; it can really play havoc with the gravel roads. 

Fortunately - or maybe unfortunately - we are pretty dry and need the moisture, so the roads won't be too awful with frost heaves and big muddy patches, at least I don't think so. But yeah....roller coaster weather is always a treat. 

Things should smooth out soon enough, but when you are itching to get out, setbacks like we had this week are no fun. On the flip side, Iowa's cycling season should kick into high gear next week. Bike shops beware!

Where We Came From: The Lincoln Scene -

I had the honor and privilege of having two genuine gravel cycling pioneers as guests on the "Guitar Ted Podcast" Thursday. N.Y. Roll listened as Matt Gersib and Matt Wills unfolded the tale of their cycling journeys. Their stories intertwine since the two are friends and have been for decades. 

Their stories are informative and will show how several facets of cycling, technology, and the times had to come into focus at the right time to foster a community of gravel cyclists. Cyclists who influenced gravel cycling in a significant way to the point - in my opinion - that gravel cycling would have not been what it has become without this scene. 

If you care about gravel cycling, and if you want to know a bit of the story regarding how it all got started, I cannot recommend this episode enough. Check it out HERE or wherever you get your podcast feed from.
 

That's a wrap for this week! It's a slow news week, but with Mid-South next weekend, you can expect more newsy stuff. Get out and ride those bikes!

Winter Finally Does Winter Things

The start of Winter things in mid-February?

If there is only one thing you remember about we Mid-Westerners, it should be this: We love to talk about the weather. Okay.....maybe "complain" would be a good substitute for "talk" here, but you get the picture. So, let's talk a bit about the weather, shall we?

This Winter season, which I hold always begins on the first of December, has been very "un-Winter-like". Well.....except that it has been really cold at times. If there is one nit I have about Winters like this is it is when we get the biting cold but there is no snow to make it seem like the cold belongs. It is hard to accept subzero temperatures when it looks like Fall or early Spring outside. Snow covering the ground? Yes. Then subzero temperatures make more sense. 

Yes, we have had dustings of snow since December, but these were mere teasings. Not "real" snow. Just enough to cover the ground for a few days before it either evaporated into the atmosphere or until it got back above freezing and melted. 

This late arrival of undeniable 'real snow' is pretty amazing. We now have around ten inches of the stuff since last Wednesday. However; after a brief dusting, to top it all off this weekend, it looks like this will be all we get. Barring any obscure early Spring snow storm. 

I actually got to ride the Ti Muk 2 in snow on my commute home Wednesday.

The Sun is getting higher in the sky now, and the days are getting longer quickly. Eventually March will show up and I know this snow will be gone in a hurry. So much for dreams of groomed trails and crisp rides on my fat bike in the woods. 

We made it so far into Winter that this snow seems like a slap in the face. Because it will not last long, and doing Winter things will be brief, and then slop-season will begin, and Spring will take over. 

I should not complain. We need the snow, and I am sure this brief snow covering will be very beneficial in several ways. It's just kind of annoying because we are halfway through February looking for Spring now. Oh well! I probably should ride my Blackborow DS so I can justify storing it in my basement for 300+ days out of a year! 

Spring will be here soon enough, and gravel rides will commence soon. This is where I am setting my sights now. Winter is a lost cause, despite this latest dump of snow.

Catching Up

Look for a Lube-Off update soon.

Whew! Thank you for being patient as I worked through my Mid-South report. Now it is time to catch up on what has been happening since a week ago when I returned home. 

I was pretty torched after that trip. Tuesday was essentially a write-off. I was very out of sorts and very tired. Wednesday didn't start out a whole lot better either. 

The weather was very blustery and chilly on Tuesday and Wednesday, so along with my low levels of energy I just did little efforts and I tried not to overextend myself in my weakened state. Rest isn't coming as easily as I had hoped for, though, and short nights have been the norm so far.

One of the things I tackled immediately after coming home was to diagnose what was going on with the slipping seat post at Mid-South on the Honeman Flyer. The clamp was torqued as high as I dared and still no love. 

I decided to switch out the post, but before I did that, I put a caliper to the shaft and found out it was barely larger than 27mm in diameter. Okay! Now it all makes sense. The Wolf Tooth clamp probably is fine, it was the Tamer post being undersized. I put a caliper to a few other 27.2 mm seat posts and confirmed that it was an undersized seat post issue. 

So, I grabbed a PRO 27.2mm post with a slight set-back in black and put that on with the same saddle, the WTB Volt, and did a test ride. I am still fine tuning my position after Mid-South and when I get it dialed in I'll get another longer gravel ride in to confirm everything and then I hope to write up a final take on the project. 

The new seatpost is in.

I'll also have a take on the Flowerpower chain wax after Mid-South. I think you will find the results interesting. I know that I was a bit surprised. I'll contrast what I found with how SILCA Super-Secret lube works in extremely dusty situations also. 

The weather went to heck after I got back also. Really cold, blustery, and a touch of snow has greeted my return. This will keep me out of riding the country for a bit. It's probably a wise thing anyway, since I am run down and the chance of getting sick is pretty high. Plus, I have a new component in for review which I cannot talk about just yet. So, it isn't as though I don't have anything to do. 

Stay tuned, we're back on track now! 

That Was A Change!

This Fall has been......odd. Weather-wise, that is. We had a few chilly days, but for the most part, we had more Summer than Fall, in terms of temperatures, all throughout September and a lot of October. 

Then things changed. 

Thursday it was 71° and I rode downtown in shorts and a t-shirt. Friday it slipped from there to the high 30's and I ran an errand in the afternoon on my bike in my Winter gear. 

Yeah, what happened to all those beautiful 50 degree days of Fall? The crisp air. The blue skies and Fall colors. Well, at least we had Fall colors. 

This weekend it has been windy with wind chills in the upper 20's and Tuesday night they (those goofy weather people) are saying it might snow. Snow? Gah! Give me that Fall weather that you ripped off from us! (Actually, the temperatures are supposed to moderate later in the week,) 

Well, I shouldn't complain, but thinking about 2023, the weather has been really, really odd this year.

Heatwave

Tuesday's delivery ride.

Yeah, you know it's been hot in a lot of places this Summer. I don't need to tell you about that. This has been a record-breaking week here as it got to 104° F here yesterday. I don't think it has been over 100° F for several years and this hot spell ranks right up there with the 1988 Summer heatwave. 

But that doesn't mean that there has not been any cycling. I've gotten in some urban rides this week, most notably a test of the Big Dummy's new kickstand on Tuesday. 

I got out early while it was still only in the upper 80's and rode over to the UPS Store to pick up two heavy boxes full of components for the shop. So, how did the kickstand do?

Yeah....pretty much as predicted, this kickstand made all the difference in the world. I was able to easily load up the bike and figure out a strapping system with my various lengths of bungee cords without worrying about the bike tipping over or having to steady the bike at all. 

If you have a Big Dummy and do not have this kickstand you need to get one. This will transform your Big Dummy into a very useful bicycle. I wish I had one of these kickstands long ago, but I have it now and I am very happy with how it is working out. 

So, Wednesday I opted for a two mile brisk walk and I will tell you that it was simply awful outdoors. It wasn't 100 yet, but I felt like I was walking in a universe fueled by the air from a hair dryer. It was windy, not real humid, and the Sun had full rein of the sky. Yikes! Today isn't supposed to be much better. 

I hope everyone is staying safe and is well. This is crazy weather to be outdoors in right now in the Mid-West. Friday we'll get some relief and Saturday it will be 20 degrees cooler than it was Wednesday and it will still be above 80 degrees! That is insane.

Heatwave

Tuesday's delivery ride.

Yeah, you know it's been hot in a lot of places this Summer. I don't need to tell you about that. This has been a record-breaking week here as it got to 104° F here yesterday. I don't think it has been over 100° F for several years and this hot spell ranks right up there with the 1988 Summer heatwave. 

But that doesn't mean that there has not been any cycling. I've gotten in some urban rides this week, most notably a test of the Big Dummy's new kickstand on Tuesday. 

I got out early while it was still only in the upper 80's and rode over to the UPS Store to pick up two heavy boxes full of components for the shop. So, how did the kickstand do?

Yeah....pretty much as predicted, this kickstand made all the difference in the world. I was able to easily load up the bike and figure out a strapping system with my various lengths of bungee cords without worrying about the bike tipping over or having to steady the bike at all. 

If you have a Big Dummy and do not have this kickstand you need to get one. This will transform your Big Dummy into a very useful bicycle. I wish I had one of these kickstands long ago, but I have it now and I am very happy with how it is working out. 

So, Wednesday I opted for a two mile brisk walk and I will tell you that it was simply awful outdoors. It wasn't 100 yet, but I felt like I was walking in a universe fueled by the air from a hair dryer. It was windy, not real humid, and the Sun had full rein of the sky. Yikes! Today isn't supposed to be much better. 

I hope everyone is staying safe and is well. This is crazy weather to be outdoors in right now in the Mid-West. Friday we'll get some relief and Saturday it will be 20 degrees cooler than it was Wednesday and it will still be above 80 degrees! That is insane.

Friday News And Views

State Carbon All-Road. (Image courtesy of State Bicycle Co.)

State Bicycle Co. Debuts Carbon All-Road Model:

The State Bicycle Co. announced this week that they now have a carbon version of their popular All-Road model for sale. It also can be had with SRAM's latest inexpensive Apex AXS electronic shifting group. Entry-level builds with this frame start at $1999.99.

You can check out the bike here on State's website. 

Comments: Yes, it is a good value, but.... and this is my criticism of State's All-Road bikes overall: Their chosen geometry is not my recommendation for gravel riding. This is pretty much a geometry that leans into paved bicycle riding more than the unpaved. It may be totally right for you, but looking at the numbers (70mm bottom bracket drop = too high, 72.5° head tube angle in my size = way too steep) I wouldn't be at all interested in this bike. 

I want to like their bikes because they look great and they seem like a good value for the money spent, but I already know I'd regret buying one due to the geometry. Spoiled brat? Probably. I know what I like though and this is not it.

HUNT 42 Limitless Gravel Adventure Wheels Announced:

Aerodynamics and cycling over longer distances are two things that go together like peanut butter and jelly. If you can optimize airflow around you and your wheels, you will expend less energy across a longer distance event than you might have with "regular ol' wheels". 

I've been a believer in this concept for many years. I've seen what the wind can do at events like Trans Iowa, the DK200/Unbound, Gravel Worlds, and other like events. Events where there is always some wind, and long enough courses, to warrant paying close attention to aero concerns. And yes.....this matters. Even if you are going slow. 

I've also said for many years that you'd start seeing more aero wheel sets and aero stuff in general in the future. Well, these HUNT wheels are just the most recent example of what I was talking about back then. 

HUNT optimized these around a fatter gravel tire with tread, so even that old argument against aero-gravel wheels is being addressed now. I think that you'll see a LOT more of this in the future from other wheel companies to the point that this will start to look like triathlon in terms of wheel nerdery. 

Wacky Weather:

So last month was all about wildfire smoke. You couldn't even go outside without breathing in ash tray smelling air and it was super dry to boot. We basically has zero rain the entire month of June. 

July comes, the air clears up, but it rains nearly every day now. (It is raining as I write this) So, it becomes a dangerous thing to ride out in the country because we get some gnarly lightning here and well...... I don't want to be a lightning rod. I know. Crazy me. 

This has thrown a wrench in plans to do that sub-24 overnighter and that's concerning me because pretty soon it's going to be Fall and then another Summer will have gone by and I'll have not much to show for it in terms of big rides.  

The only bright spot in all of this is that I have sourced a match for my Salsa dry bag. I really don't know why I had only one, but, I had only one! But now I have a matching pair and that's good. Maybe a break in this madness will occur soon and I'll get that chance to use that dry bag without fear of being zapped by an angry thunderstorm. 

More Industry Troubles:

This week revealed several stories of bad news for the cycling industry. First up was an upscale e-bike company named VanMoof that filed for bankruptcy protection. Then news came that Quality Bicycle Products and The Pro's Closet had laid off a significant number of employees this week. 

In the case of QBP it was a 5% of the workforce reduction on top of reductions the company made previously in September of last year. Over-inventory was blamed. 

Similar concerns were voiced by the general manager of The Pro's closet. Interestingly, a YouTuber I follow, who runs a shop in Florida, showed that inventory levels were ridiculously high by pulling one example of a component group, going to a few sites, and seeing how many he could order in total before the on-line cart would cut him off. In the case of distributors he used, the total number of units on hand was easily seen via his dealer portal. In all cases he was able to show hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of unsold inventory. The example he used? SRAM's top-tier road group, Red AXS 12 speed. 

Comments: This over-abundance of inventory will affect the cycling industry for several years. New product will be put on hold and many bicycle companies will pare down new releases, have none at all, or they will be like VanMoof and file for protection from creditors. 

It's affecting the used market also. Used bikes are a hot commodity now and many buyers are simply avoiding paying retail, or even discounted retail, and going with the slew of good, late model used bikes and gear that is all over the internet. Interestingly The Pro's Closet isn't really benefiting from this glut of used product. So, all this used market activity isn't really happening through channels like that.

It's going to be rough sailing in the cycling industry for a bit.

That's a wrap for this week. Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions

Friday News And Views

State Carbon All-Road. (Image courtesy of State Bicycle Co.)

State Bicycle Co. Debuts Carbon All-Road Model:

The State Bicycle Co. announced this week that they now have a carbon version of their popular All-Road model for sale. It also can be had with SRAM's latest inexpensive Apex AXS electronic shifting group. Entry-level builds with this frame start at $1999.99.

You can check out the bike here on State's website. 

Comments: Yes, it is a good value, but.... and this is my criticism of State's All-Road bikes overall: Their chosen geometry is not my recommendation for gravel riding. This is pretty much a geometry that leans into paved bicycle riding more than the unpaved. It may be totally right for you, but looking at the numbers (70mm bottom bracket drop = too high, 72.5° head tube angle in my size = way too steep) I wouldn't be at all interested in this bike. 

I want to like their bikes because they look great and they seem like a good value for the money spent, but I already know I'd regret buying one due to the geometry. Spoiled brat? Probably. I know what I like though and this is not it.

HUNT 42 Limitless Gravel Adventure Wheels Announced:

Aerodynamics and cycling over longer distances are two things that go together like peanut butter and jelly. If you can optimize airflow around you and your wheels, you will expend less energy across a longer distance event than you might have with "regular ol' wheels". 

I've been a believer in this concept for many years. I've seen what the wind can do at events like Trans Iowa, the DK200/Unbound, Gravel Worlds, and other like events. Events where there is always some wind, and long enough courses, to warrant paying close attention to aero concerns. And yes.....this matters. Even if you are going slow. 

I've also said for many years that you'd start seeing more aero wheel sets and aero stuff in general in the future. Well, these HUNT wheels are just the most recent example of what I was talking about back then. 

HUNT optimized these around a fatter gravel tire with tread, so even that old argument against aero-gravel wheels is being addressed now. I think that you'll see a LOT more of this in the future from other wheel companies to the point that this will start to look like triathlon in terms of wheel nerdery. 

Wacky Weather:

So last month was all about wildfire smoke. You couldn't even go outside without breathing in ash tray smelling air and it was super dry to boot. We basically has zero rain the entire month of June. 

July comes, the air clears up, but it rains nearly every day now. (It is raining as I write this) So, it becomes a dangerous thing to ride out in the country because we get some gnarly lightning here and well...... I don't want to be a lightning rod. I know. Crazy me. 

This has thrown a wrench in plans to do that sub-24 overnighter and that's concerning me because pretty soon it's going to be Fall and then another Summer will have gone by and I'll have not much to show for it in terms of big rides.  

The only bright spot in all of this is that I have sourced a match for my Salsa dry bag. I really don't know why I had only one, but, I had only one! But now I have a matching pair and that's good. Maybe a break in this madness will occur soon and I'll get that chance to use that dry bag without fear of being zapped by an angry thunderstorm. 

More Industry Troubles:

This week revealed several stories of bad news for the cycling industry. First up was an upscale e-bike company named VanMoof that filed for bankruptcy protection. Then news came that Quality Bicycle Products and The Pro's Closet had laid off a significant number of employees this week. 

In the case of QBP it was a 5% of the workforce reduction on top of reductions the company made previously in September of last year. Over-inventory was blamed. 

Similar concerns were voiced by the general manager of The Pro's closet. Interestingly, a YouTuber I follow, who runs a shop in Florida, showed that inventory levels were ridiculously high by pulling one example of a component group, going to a few sites, and seeing how many he could order in total before the on-line cart would cut him off. In the case of distributors he used, the total number of units on hand was easily seen via his dealer portal. In all cases he was able to show hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of unsold inventory. The example he used? SRAM's top-tier road group, Red AXS 12 speed. 

Comments: This over-abundance of inventory will affect the cycling industry for several years. New product will be put on hold and many bicycle companies will pare down new releases, have none at all, or they will be like VanMoof and file for protection from creditors. 

It's affecting the used market also. Used bikes are a hot commodity now and many buyers are simply avoiding paying retail, or even discounted retail, and going with the slew of good, late model used bikes and gear that is all over the internet. Interestingly The Pro's Closet isn't really benefiting from this glut of used product. So, all this used market activity isn't really happening through channels like that.

It's going to be rough sailing in the cycling industry for a bit.

That's a wrap for this week. Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions

Friday News And Views

Inventory Levels High - Sales Low:

Halfway into 2023 and the situation for the bicycle retailing sector has worsened. Unprecedented levels of unsold inventory sits while consumer interests are at a low level. The apathy in buyer interest has caused some heretofore unusual tactics to lure in customers. 

As a for instance, back in Spring Trek dealers were hawking free "gifts" of cycling accessory items just for coming in and trying out an e-bike. Just a test ride could net a potential bike purchaser a water bottle, floor pump, or maybe even a Trek Travel trip, all free, just for trying a bike out. The tactic is still in use up to now, and that just tells you the situation is dire.

Of course, the hope is that when you come in the sales staff will have their game on and get you to buy a bike, but you don't have to. This is a very unusual tactic and one I have not witnessed in my 25 or so years of bicycle retail employment. 

Other outlandish deals exist all over the internet including up to 40% and more off of Rock Shox suspension products, 25% -40% off name brand cycling shoes, and 20% -25% discounts being so common I cannot name them all here. 

But bicycles themselves are the big ticket item clogging the pipeline now, and with no real significant movement in that trade, it will definitely have some negative effects which will ripple throughout the industry. 

6/15/23 Air quality. I'm under the 143 on the map here.

Where There's Smoke There's Big Trouble:

Canadian wildfires have been wreaking havoc on my riding here the entire month of June. I don't know about you, but I am not considering a ride when just breathing air in the house gives me a rough feeling throat. 

Combined with this, we've had a really dry month of June as well, falling an inch and a half plus short on rainfall in this area. My grass in the lawn looks crispy and it appears more like late August out there than it does mid-June. 

It's nothing new to you folks out West, I get that, but this is highly unusual for Iowa, or the Mid-West in general, and the corn and bean crop is going to suffer mightily unless things clear up and get wet soon. That will affect everybody.

We won't be worrying much about riding bicycles if this keeps up because we'll have bigger things to keep us occupied. But for now, I can say this smoke sucks and it is mildly depressing when one cannot get in a bicycle ride because the air is too dangerous to breath in.

Ergon Announces GreenLab Circular Program:

Ergon is announcing a new initiative just befoe Eurobike kicks off which features their SR AllRoad Core Saddle, This new GreenLab Circular program is aimed at creating products that can be recycled into another like-product. In this case, when the SR AllRoad Core Circular saddle reaches the end of its lifecycle, it could be recycled to make another SR AllRoad Core Circular Saddle. 

Ergon partnered in this project with BASF, the company already involved with Ergon and making component parts for their saddles, namely the padded layer in the SR AllRoad saddles. BASF determined that by not using the pigmentation normally applied to the materials of the SR AllRoad Core, that the resulting end product would make for a better material to recycle, thus the pale appearance of the component parts as seen in the image here provided by Ergon. 

The saddle rails are made from TiNox (stainless steel) and can be removed by hand when the saddle is ready for recycling. The top cover is a new material developed by BASF especially to conform to this projects goals. Look for more on this after Euro bike.  

That's me on the left at the DK200 2015.

Podcast Update:

In case you missed it: We've posted three podcasts in the last two weeks (!!) covering the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame inductions and the recently run Unbound Gravel which has caused seemingly no end of debate. N.Y. Roll and I cover parts of the debate in two of the three episodes posted. 

You can find Episodes #'s 17, 18, and 19 on Spotify here, or wherever you get your podcast feed from. 

With the flurry of podcasts of late, we're going to take a little break here and be back in July, (probably, if not the last week of June), and have another podcast, hopefully with an interview guest I have in mind. Stay tuned on that... 

The master plan is to do approximately 15 more episodes which should take us into November when we will plan a longer break and end the "season". N.Y. Roll and I have been encouraged by many of you out there who have listened and given us your feedback. We appreciate you listening in and for giving us helpful feedback that we hope to use to continue to grow the audience. 

SRAM AXS Apex 12 Image courtesy of SRAM

SRAM Debuts 12spd AXS Apex & 12spd Apex Mechanical Groups.

In a totally expected move by SRAM, Apex AXS has been released. 12 speed, all the Eagle MTB mechs can be made to work with it, and it is cheaper. Just like SRAM has always done. 

Same innards, just heavier materials. So, unless you are weight conscious, Apex AXS will do you just fine. 

At 1400 bucks, it isn't too pricey for an electronic group set. I imagine that this will see a lot of OE spec once things start getting made again. There is even a $225.00 power meter upgrade available. Nice. 

Comments: SRAM is a curious company. You can get the same high performing mechanical/electronic performance with heavier and cheaper materials as you go down the range. It begs the question: Why pay more for the upper end stuff? There really isn't a great reason to do so unless, well, you can't help yourself, you've got scads of cash sitting around, or you are a sponsored athlete. With Shimano you have significant construction, materials, and tolerance differences as well as design tweaks as you work your way up their ranges. It make sense to get XT then if you are running Deore stuff now. 

But SRAM doesn't do things that way and they haven't since they came out with road components in the 2000's. I guess that's why I rarely, if ever saw a Red group on a bike come through my repair stand and hardly ever saw anything from the Force group either. Most of the time the SRAM road stuff I saw was from the Rival group, and why not? It had the same guts doing the actual work that Red did. 

It just seems weird to me how SRAM does this sort of undermining of their own upper-end group sets.

That's a wrap for this week. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Friday News And Views

Inventory Levels High - Sales Low:

Halfway into 2023 and the situation for the bicycle retailing sector has worsened. Unprecedented levels of unsold inventory sits while consumer interests are at a low level. The apathy in buyer interest has caused some heretofore unusual tactics to lure in customers. 

As a for instance, back in Spring Trek dealers were hawking free "gifts" of cycling accessory items just for coming in and trying out an e-bike. Just a test ride could net a potential bike purchaser a water bottle, floor pump, or maybe even a Trek Travel trip, all free, just for trying a bike out. The tactic is still in use up to now, and that just tells you the situation is dire.

Of course, the hope is that when you come in the sales staff will have their game on and get you to buy a bike, but you don't have to. This is a very unusual tactic and one I have not witnessed in my 25 or so years of bicycle retail employment. 

Other outlandish deals exist all over the internet including up to 40% and more off of Rock Shox suspension products, 25% -40% off name brand cycling shoes, and 20% -25% discounts being so common I cannot name them all here. 

But bicycles themselves are the big ticket item clogging the pipeline now, and with no real significant movement in that trade, it will definitely have some negative effects which will ripple throughout the industry. 

6/15/23 Air quality. I'm under the 143 on the map here.

Where There's Smoke There's Big Trouble:

Canadian wildfires have been wreaking havoc on my riding here the entire month of June. I don't know about you, but I am not considering a ride when just breathing air in the house gives me a rough feeling throat. 

Combined with this, we've had a really dry month of June as well, falling an inch and a half plus short on rainfall in this area. My grass in the lawn looks crispy and it appears more like late August out there than it does mid-June. 

It's nothing new to you folks out West, I get that, but this is highly unusual for Iowa, or the Mid-West in general, and the corn and bean crop is going to suffer mightily unless things clear up and get wet soon. That will affect everybody.

We won't be worrying much about riding bicycles if this keeps up because we'll have bigger things to keep us occupied. But for now, I can say this smoke sucks and it is mildly depressing when one cannot get in a bicycle ride because the air is too dangerous to breath in.

Ergon Announces GreenLab Circular Program:

Ergon is announcing a new initiative just befoe Eurobike kicks off which features their SR AllRoad Core Saddle, This new GreenLab Circular program is aimed at creating products that can be recycled into another like-product. In this case, when the SR AllRoad Core Circular saddle reaches the end of its lifecycle, it could be recycled to make another SR AllRoad Core Circular Saddle. 

Ergon partnered in this project with BASF, the company already involved with Ergon and making component parts for their saddles, namely the padded layer in the SR AllRoad saddles. BASF determined that by not using the pigmentation normally applied to the materials of the SR AllRoad Core, that the resulting end product would make for a better material to recycle, thus the pale appearance of the component parts as seen in the image here provided by Ergon. 

The saddle rails are made from TiNox (stainless steel) and can be removed by hand when the saddle is ready for recycling. The top cover is a new material developed by BASF especially to conform to this projects goals. Look for more on this after Euro bike.  

That's me on the left at the DK200 2015.

Podcast Update:

In case you missed it: We've posted three podcasts in the last two weeks (!!) covering the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame inductions and the recently run Unbound Gravel which has caused seemingly no end of debate. N.Y. Roll and I cover parts of the debate in two of the three episodes posted. 

You can find Episodes #'s 17, 18, and 19 on Spotify here, or wherever you get your podcast feed from. 

With the flurry of podcasts of late, we're going to take a little break here and be back in July, (probably, if not the last week of June), and have another podcast, hopefully with an interview guest I have in mind. Stay tuned on that... 

The master plan is to do approximately 15 more episodes which should take us into November when we will plan a longer break and end the "season". N.Y. Roll and I have been encouraged by many of you out there who have listened and given us your feedback. We appreciate you listening in and for giving us helpful feedback that we hope to use to continue to grow the audience. 

SRAM AXS Apex 12 Image courtesy of SRAM

SRAM Debuts 12spd AXS Apex & 12spd Apex Mechanical Groups.

In a totally expected move by SRAM, Apex AXS has been released. 12 speed, all the Eagle MTB mechs can be made to work with it, and it is cheaper. Just like SRAM has always done. 

Same innards, just heavier materials. So, unless you are weight conscious, Apex AXS will do you just fine. 

At 1400 bucks, it isn't too pricey for an electronic group set. I imagine that this will see a lot of OE spec once things start getting made again. There is even a $225.00 power meter upgrade available. Nice. 

Comments: SRAM is a curious company. You can get the same high performing mechanical/electronic performance with heavier and cheaper materials as you go down the range. It begs the question: Why pay more for the upper end stuff? There really isn't a great reason to do so unless, well, you can't help yourself, you've got scads of cash sitting around, or you are a sponsored athlete. With Shimano you have significant construction, materials, and tolerance differences as well as design tweaks as you work your way up their ranges. It make sense to get XT then if you are running Deore stuff now. 

But SRAM doesn't do things that way and they haven't since they came out with road components in the 2000's. I guess that's why I rarely, if ever saw a Red group on a bike come through my repair stand and hardly ever saw anything from the Force group either. Most of the time the SRAM road stuff I saw was from the Rival group, and why not? It had the same guts doing the actual work that Red did. 

It just seems weird to me how SRAM does this sort of undermining of their own upper-end group sets.

That's a wrap for this week. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Randomonium

 NOTE: Okay folks, if you haven't been around long enough here to know what a "Randomonium" post is, then here is the deal. I ramble, rant, and randomly moan about all things cycling in one, incohesive, bizarre post. "Randomonium", okay?

Thoughts On Iowa Wind And Rock:

Over the weekend we saw Iowa Wind And Rock happen again, which is the evolution of Trans Iowa and follows a very similar format. They had quite the spectacular event, one which I would classify as a 'good 'ol Iowa Spring gravel hoedown'. It was a classic event from my perspective because it had it all- Wind, mud, rain, broken gear, broken spirits, and people hiding out in barns in the middle of the night.

One thing that I endured as Trans Iowa's director that I saw crop up again this past weekend is the rare, but annoying comment that muddy roads don't belong in these events. That they should be removed and the course "sanitized" for.....I don't know.....So it is easier? That's the only thing I can come up with here. 

Here's the thing: If you go to McDonald's and you really like the French fries, and then you try out Burger King, but they don't have the same French fries, and you say, "That should be changed to be like McDonald's!, for whatever reasons you might have, you are just plain being goofy. Burger King does Burger King fries. You want them to be like McDonald's? Go there! 

 Likewise, Iowa Wind and Rock has certain features and ways of doing things. Other gravel events do not. You don't like Level B Roads because they are very difficult and change the outcomes of events? Don't go to those events. The thing is, if you are not aware that Iowa gravel events can, and often do, feature wet, muddy Level B Roads in Spring, you haven't done your due diligence in researching what you are signing up for. It isn't as though these features are secrets. So, go to an event that promises route changes in case of bad weather, or better yet- one that doesn't put Level B Roads in their event. Finally, some people really like that there are these difficulties in IWAR and other like events. Should they be denied the opportunity to test themselves against those difficulties? 

I could go on, but really- those comments about changing events for your own personal preferences, or 'on behalf of other riders', is misguided and not necessary. There are literally hundreds of other gravel events, with many surely better suited to whatever your preferences are. And if you don't believe that, put on an event that does measure up in your eyes. That's what we did back in the beginnings of this gravel thing. 

'Nuff said.

The bike rodeo scene. (Image by Max Paxton)

Bike Rodeo:

I guess I cannot get out of being a part of bicycle related events the last weekend of April! That's because the Heartland Vineyard Church in partnership with the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective and Waterloo Bicycle Works put on a bike rodeo for some elementary aged kids last Saturday.

My part in it was to fix up 17 donated bikes in my spare time for kids that didn't have a bicycle to participate in the rodeo. I also had to run the kids through the obstacle course and give a brief safety talk.

I must say that it was very rewarding and a lot easier than herding adults over 300+ miles of gravel roads in the Iowa hinterlands. It was a completely different experience, but one I welcomed and that I very much enjoyed. Hey! I get to do it at least one more time (weather permitting) this coming weekend when we do this all over again. 

Besides the free bikes we gave out helmets to kids that did not have them and served walking tacos. Overall, I heard it went over very well. I suspect I'll be doing more of this in the future.

New bottom bracket

Maintenance Done:

I've been nursing along a failing bottom bracket for over a year on this Raleigh Tamland Two which I think finally pretty much made its final cries for help last week when I rode with N.Y. Roll. 

These pipe spindle type crank sets seem to be quite a bit different than the older 'serviceable' bottom brackets we used up until the mid-90's. In my experience, at any rate, it often seems like the non-drive side bearing fails most often. Many times in the old days it was the drive side bearing race in the spindle that craps out first. But in my case it was a drive side cup. I was a bit surprised. 

I've got one other issue to get into with this bike and that is some weird spoke noise emanating from the front wheel. Maybe it is dust and nipples, or ....... Not sure. It is something to do with the spokes thogh, that much I know now. More on that later....

Poor Weather = Not Much Country Riding

This has to be one of the wettest, coolest Aprils we've had for a while. I have a hard time remembering Aprils, mind you, because of the 14 years of doing Trans Iowa where I never really got to ride much during this month anyway due to being very busy with event preparations. 

But since 2018, I have been able to get out and ride more in April, and it seemed to be a great month for it. 2020 in particular was pretty spectacular. But this month has had a few things conspire to make it so that I have not been out in the country anywhere near as much as I'd like to have been. 

That isn't to say I haven't been riding bicycles, but due to a few things I have spent most of my riding time within the city limits here. 

First and foremost of the reasons for that is the wind! This has been an extraordinarily windy month. Winds that could knock you right off your bicycle type stuff. Secondly, it has been cold for this time of year. (It is 36°F on April 25th at 9:00am in the morning as I write this. Brrr!) That in combination with the winds has been pretty brutal. 

Then my schedule is wonky. I'm still adjusting to it, and my kids who do not drive, and rely on me to be their transportation, which cuts into planning rides out in the country. This should clear up later this year when my son finally gets a license to drive. When it has been nice out, many times the transportation issues keep me off the gravel. Last Thursday being a notable exception to that. Everything finally came together that day to make it a good outing.

So, I look forward to May, and hopefully, better weather. April has been a bust, and I regret that as I was really hoping to get in a Springtime century ride, but so much for that idea! Onward.....