Thoughts On An Industry In The Midst Of Changes

The past several weeks have been something of a sad tale if you have been paying attention to the business of bicycle sales and repair. Brands writing off debt, factories slowing down, shops still having massive discounting on inventory, and mechanics telling tales of woe concerning Direct To Consumer sales.

There are less retailers in many areas. Sales are not picking up, and with tariffs being on-again-off-again, marketers are left wondering how to price goods. My bet is they will err on the side of being more expensive, but this is just my opinion.

Personally I see a chance for things to shift radically in the next five to ten years. With big brands and shops being less of a resource and smaller, niche brands and shops filling gaps where there are voids being created. And voids in the marketplace will be created, I think. 

This may take a while to develop. In the meantime, I feel the used marketplace for bicycles is going to be a bigger deal than ever now. I think local, small scale repair and maintenance will follow along with this. It is already apparent to me, as I work in Waterloo, Iowa, that a need is arising for simple repairs and bicycle knowledge. New collectives are forming here in Iowa which exemplify the style of community service and support to a segment of the communities which traditional retail bicycle shops have been unable to reach or even begin to figure out how to do this. 

The catch is how to make it work economically. I think it will happen as "traditional" retail bicycle prices, labor prices, and bicycle technology gets too expensive for many people to attain to.  

The retail prices for high-end bikes is insane. (Image by A. Andonopoulous)

Bicycle prices, in particular, are beyond ridiculous in many instances. This is another thing I think is unsustainable. It is one of the main drivers of the used market. I see this a lot at the Collective.

Secondary to the pricing, and probably what drives prices so high, are the ever changing "standards" and  unfriendly to maintenance designs which many newer bicycles have now. Tools which were never necessary before must be purchased so a mechanic can work on certain brand's proprietary parts and accessories. 

I feel that this is why so many 1990's and early 2000's bicycles are still desirable, serviceable, and as long as parts are made to revive them, will be around for another 25 to 30 years. These are the bicycles which do what bicycles are supposed to do very well without "gizmos", proprietary parts, or fancy electronics which can fail and be made obsolete over time. Meanwhile most of these newer, and especially the electronically infused newer bikes, won't be sustainable.

Of course, sustainable product which does not need replacement every so often is not an interesting concept for larger brands and manufacturers who base their existence on planned obsolescence and titillating new tech. However; it is my opinion that this string has about run its course with many riders.

As seen on Threads

On The Other Hand... I was passed on my ride this last weekend by a youngster on an electric scooter. First of all, it was great to see a young boy outside, and him not having his face buried into a phone, or inside staring at a screen playing some "action game". However; I also felt he was only getting half the picture right. 

Without putting in an effort to gain that intangible reward we get when we are done with a ride, feeling all those endorphins, or whatever it might be you are feeling (Sore muscles? Being tired? Satisfaction in going beyond perceived barriers?)  I feel like youngsters, like this boy I saw, are short-circuiting what it means to be outdoors and experiencing Nature. But putting forth an effort that might be painful at times, or cause physical duress of any sort, seems to be something to be avoided (more) now. So much so that now a bicycle, or scooter, is not "interesting" to young folks unless it has a motor. And, of course, when these youngsters become older... Well they most likely will be in a car, truck, or SUV of some sort, powered by a motor of some sort as well. Cycling? Whatever....

So, maybe it doesn't matter what happens to the bicycle business. If young people are not interested at a level which might sustain the sport at a high state of existence, or at least where it is now, then big changes will be afoot.

But those are just my rambling thoughts as I sit here on a chilly March morning.

Inspection Time

A Canadian goose glides along Black Hawk Creek.

Sunday the winds died down enough here that I was feeling okay about checking out the Green Belt and seeing how bad things were. We had a 70mph wind gust during all the storm madness of Friday/Saturday, so I figured on seeing a lot of downed tree carnage. 

I decided also to take the Ti Muk 2 as it would likely be muddy. I did not know if the frost had come out yet, but I figured it may have since it had gotten up to the lower 80's on Friday. 

It certainly wasn't anywhere near that on Sunday! The temperature when I left the house was 39°F, a full 42°F lower than the high on Friday. This is not unheard of here. March can be wildly variable. In fact, we expect to be in the seventies tomorrow and then get 3 - 6" of snow on Wednesday. 

Anyway, I was fine as far as all of that went, but I did have to wear gloves and a wool cycling hat. 

Those are not figures carved by some ancient civilization. They are the tell-tale marks of the Emerald Ash Borer found on this dead Ash tree. 

 

This tree was at handlebar height across the trail.

Amazingly, most of the trail was tacky to dry. Maybe the frost is out now? I did actually hear frogs croaking at one point during the ride. Those frogs might be reconsidering waking up from hibernation when the snow hits Wednesday! 

I took a lap around the lake.

Part of the new prairie "lollipop" trail which goes down to Martin Road and back.

I took things easy and started out down by Hope Martin Park. I made it across the drainage dip, which is not easy, and after that first little section I climbed the dike, crossed Ansborough, and rode the spine of the dike till I was able to enter the Green Belt trail. 

Like I said, it was surprisingly dry-ish. I was expecting much worse. I did find about a 20 yard section where it was so greasy the bike just took off sideways like it was on ice. But besides that, it was easy-peasy.

One example of three where Marky-Mark will require some saw work.

A grove of Cedar trees along the Green Belt Lake.

Marky-Mark will need some saw work, but it all was much cleaner than I had hoped for, which was refreshing to find. I feared it would be much worse. So, besides a bit of clearing out of dead falls, this Spring should be a great season for these trails.

A Couple Of Anniversarys

 This week a few social media posts reminded me of a couple of anniversaries - one good, one not so good. The "not-so-good" one is perhaps obvious when you stop a minute to consider times of the year. 

It was exactly five years ago today that N.Y. Roll and I put out the word that the C.O.G. 100 had been postponed due to the pandemic. It wasn't hard to do, and we did our due diligence in researching our options. I have to laugh now looking back because, apparently, the thinking was we'd pull out of the pandemic in six months. 

Ha!

Well, as we all know, it was much longer than six months. In fact, we ended up cancelling the event altogether. It ended up being the last gravel event/race I put effort into as far as being the lead/race director/promoter. I will not ever be doing anything like that again. Race/event productions, that is. That part of my life is a chapter closed now. 

The moment the modern gravel scene started. April 23rd, 2005

The anniversary for the beginning of my race promotion/director days is upcoming. Soon it will be 20 years since the first Trans Iowa took place on April 23rd, 2005. Twenty years! It is amazing how long ago that is, and how unreal it seems to me that I did that. 

The image above is from the roll-out from the high school parking lot on the East side of Hawarden, Iowa. I'm driving the old shop van ahead of a little more than 50 riders. (Jeff Kerkove let in a few more than the roster limit!) I am pretty sure Jeff's dad, Dave Kerkove, took this image. 

What is weird about this is that I can vividly remember certain parts of the day, like they happened yesterday. I was doing something really unusual and different for myself here, although I had helped put on a mountain bike event in the late 1990's. This? It was off the charts and quite the adventure.

I'll have a big post on this anniversary coming up on April 23rd, 2025. Stay tuned....

Wildfire Causes Chaos at Mid-South

Image courtesy of Jarrod Bunk's Instagram

 The Mid=South events kicked off Friday with an expo and a running event. This amid an oncoming storm of such magnitude that it was, and still is on Saturday, affecting a large part of the nation with high winds, severe weather, and tornadoes. 

But of all the things you might consider as being a natural deterrent to going ahead with your event's plans, wildfires probably are not high on the list of concerns. But that is exactly what happened in Stillwater, Oklahoma on Friday. 

High winds above 50mph most of the afternoon whipped up several wildfires in central and Northeastern Oklahoma during the afternoon hours. A weather You Tube personality I watch was showing how the fire's smoke plume was showing up on radar. Then the fire Southwest of Stillwater popped up. I knew this was a big deal.

Last year at Mid-South I observed a lot of dried up vegetation and how the winds could, and did then, blast over the plains.  It was obvious, because of my previous observations, that Stillwater, and Mid-South, were at risk of being affected negatively. And unfortunately this is exactly what happened. 

There was a voluntary evacuation order at first for the West side of the city, and a shelter in place order followed quickly after this. Then a full on mandatory evacuation of the West side of Stillwater was announced. Meanwhile, all Friday activities were cancelled by late in the afternoon. The expo was shut down early, and the runners were pulled from the course. 

Some cycling sites and personalities online were chirping about Mid-South probably being cancelled. But I know Bobby Wintle, just a little bit, and he had been through something similar in 2020, just five years ago. I knew he wasn't about to give up easily. 

And I was right. See this announcement posted at 7:00pm on Friday evening.

UPDATE: Unfortunately Bobby's and his teams determination to continue just was not going to be the right thing to do. In another heartfelt message posted on the Mid South website late Friday evening, he announced the cancellation of Mid-South 2025.

According to the message, wildfires were destroying homes and property on the West side of Stillwater. This required the full attention of all city and county resources forcing Bobby to realize that it would not be possible to put thousands of people out on country backroads  without the assistance and backing of the local authorities.  

Comments: As a former promoter who has been stuck in an event trying to decide whether to continue onward in the face of natural forces which presented clear and present dangers, I can sympathize with Bobby Wintle and his team a little bit, I think. However; another race director who messaged me Friday evening brought up a salient point. The point being how Bobby has thousands of people to consider who have invested thousands of dollars, sponsors, who have put in tens of thousands of dollars, a community banking on the event to produce profits, and a reputation for success in all of that. 

That is a heavy, heavy load to bear. So, I - like the RD who contacted me - am thankful I am not under that massive weight. I hope Bobby and his team get the support and rest they need to recover from this, but right now, that all is probably far from their minds. 

What a tragedy. Hopefully no one looses their life or is injured making sure everyone is safe and sound during this wildfire event. Bobby did mention that there would be a way to donate to support relief efforts for Stillwater. Link to Stillwater Relief Fund

Friday News And Views

2025 Esker Japhy (Image courtesy of Esker Cycles)

You Had Me At "Metal Flake Orange":

Esker Cycles announced an update to their 29" wheeled Japhy steel hard tail frame. There are a few ways to get a Japhy, either complete as a geared bike, complete as a single speed, or as a frame only. 

The updates for 2025 include:

• • Simplified sizing range: SM, MD, LG, XL Updated Geo: 
  • Increased Stack offset with a longer Effective TT
   
• Removed Seatstay Bridge: Increased compliance and ride quality 
• Optimized Dropper Port Location: To ease cable routing 
• Bolt-On Cable Routing: Allowing for bolt-on frame bags and stealthier routing for those using fancy robot shifting…or no shifting at all 
• Custom Chainstay Protector: Its protection for your chainstay…and its custom.

The Japhy frame costs 1K. Not a bad deal these days for a versatile steel hard tail 29"er. Check out all the details and other Esker models at eskercycles.com 

Esker "Woodsy" (Image courtesy of Esker Cycles)

Also, "Howdy" We'd Like To Say There Is A "Woodsy" Too:

In other Esker news, the company released Orion based suspension models in the aluminum "Woodsy" and a shorter travel version of the Woodsy called "Howdy". The Howdy has a titanium variant as well. So does the Woodsy. Both Howdys have 125mm of rear  travel. The longer travel Woodsy has 145m of rear travel. 

All models have up to 29 X 2.6" tire clearance, external cabling, and UDH derailleur hangar compatibility. All models are available as completes or as frame-only.
 

Gravel Amplifier: Get Lost Gravel August 3rd, 2025:

Got an itch to see the mountains from the saddle of your gravel bike? Maybe Get Lost Gravel is your jam then.  

This event will take place out of Red Barn Cycles in Hamilton, Montana. There are two course distances which you can choose from. "The Forge" is their 82 mile course which features over 60 miles of continuous back country gravel and an elevation gain of over 3,000ft. The other distance offered is a shorter course called "The Smelter" which has a big climb on Two Bear Road of 2,500 feet. At the top will be an aid station and everyone that summits will get a special Two Bear Achievement sticker. From there a "ripping descent" is promised back to the start. This course is 47 miles. 

For more information hit that link above. registration is HERE.

Mid South This Weekend:

Last year I experienced Mid South for the first time. It was probably the highlight of my 2024 riding season. Just the enormity of the experience and the new people I was able to meet along with old friends and acquaintances made the weekend trip one to remember. 

Of course, I won't be there this year, but I wanted to take the time here to wish everyone that is going well and I hope all of you bank some incredible memories while you are in Stillwater and the surrounding countryside. 

Interestingly, Mid South has changed their logo, (as seen here) and the tagline for the event is "A Weekend Endurance Festival Celebrating Hard Challenges and the Beauty of Oklahoma Dirt Roads". This tagline is noticeably missing the word "Race" there, and with the words "hard challenges" instead. I like it.

New SRAM brakes? (Image from 'toolboxwars" Threads acct.)

New SRAM XC Brakes?

I was cruising social media the other day and I came across this image of a conspicuously green caliper with a caption of "New brake, new name..." posted on an account called toolboxwars on Threads. A hashtag for SRAM was also there.

Further sleuthing turned up one article online showing the Trek XC team bikes with the brakes at a recent recon of a mountain biking course. 

Of course, this is a new model, which looks production ready, if it is indeed a SRAM caliper. I am going to speculate that this will be a mineral oil brake much like SRAM's Maven brakes, which came out a year ago or more. It makes sense as well since DOT fluid is pretty toxic and mineral oil technology is getting better all the time. 

Sea Otter is just around the corner, so I would guess the news will break on these officially just before the event, or during the event. 

Cannondale Revamps Topstone Gravel Bike:

Cannondale revealed on Tuesday that it had a newly designed Topstone gravel bike range on offer with five new carbon Topstone models available.

The carbon frames feature fully integrated cabling, a storage cavity in the down tube, and multiple accessory mounting points. Still featuring the Kingpin rear suspension, the geometry has been tweaked to address a couple shortcomings which the original Topstone Carbon gravel bike had.

Now with a lower bottom bracket, (74mm drop,) and matched up with a slightly slacker than 71° head tube angle, this new Topstone should feel more planted and stable on looser gravel roads. The steering should still be snappy with the 55mm offset carbon fork. There is also a Lefty Oliver model in teh range as well for those who want the full suspension gravel bike thing. 

The Topsstone Carbon range starts out at $3,400.00 and tops out at $7,300.00 for the Di2 GRX model shown here. See the Topstone page on Cannondale's website HERE for more. 

Image courtesy of Specialized Bicycles.

Specialized Announces New Gravel Tires: 

Tuesday we learned that Specialized has overhauled its tire range and with that has three new gravel tires for 2025 and will be closing out the previous models to simplify their range. Here we see the new Pathfinder Pro TLR which is available in black or tan walls, (shown). 

Specialized claims the new Pathfinder TLR is faster and more cut resistant than the outgoing model. Available in 700 X 35mm, 700 X 40mm, and 700 X 45mm widths. These tires have 120TPI casings and will sell for a reasonable $55.00 each.

There are also the Tracer TLR tires and Terra TLR tires each featuring progressively more aggressive tread designs.  

Comments: In my opinion, aggressive tread design is a waste on crushed rock and harder gravel roads. Obviously it is 100% unnecessary on pavement of any kind. This is why racers are gravitating more and more toward semi-slick designs. 

I feel as though a tread design with some knobs is okay for a "do anything" bike on any roads, but the overtly MTB-ish tread designs are really for dirt trails, which is fine if that is where you ride your gravel bike. From these three tires I would choose the Pathfinder Pro, but maybe you will choose differently. That is why there are choices. Just remember: "Tire tread design is a fashion show". Choose accordingly.

That's all for this week. Have a great weekend and ride those bicycles!

Gravel Grinder News: Teravail Updraft Tire, Carbon Rims, Valves

The new Teravail Updraft tires are aimed at gravel racers.

Note: All images and information in this post was provided to Guitar Ted Productions by Teravail. 

New Updraft Tires, Tubeless Valve Stems, and Carbon Wheels:

Today at the Mid-South expo Teravail is
unveiling its new products for gravel racers. Three new products are included in this debut with the new Updraft semi-slick gravel racing tires being the product you may have guessed Teravail would introduce. However; I doubt many saw a carbon fiber rim - offered in both a complete wheel and individually for custom wheel builds - as being one of those three products. 

Updraft Tires: The new Updraft is a racy tread design with minimal central tread and a row of alternating sized knobs out on the shoulders of the casing. Designed for speedy racing over hardpacked roads and dirt, this tire should find favor with anyone looking for a tire for race day.

Teravail will offer the Updraft in its Light\Supple and Durable casings with its "Fast" compound. Four widths will be available starting with a 35mm tire and then 40mm, 45mm, and 50mm round out the selections. The 120TPI casing is tubeless compatible and sidewalls will be available in tan or black. 

 Pricing on the Light/Supple casing tires is set at $75.00 USD/ $110.00CAN and for the Durable casing $80.00 USD/$115.00 CAN. This is for all sizes, black or tan sidewalls.

Circos Carbon Rims/Complete Wheels:

The new carbon fiber Circos rims are Teravail's first foray into rims. These 370 gram, hookless bead rims will feature a 25mm wide internal rim width.  

Rims will be available in 700c with 24 or 28 hole drillings only. The Circos rims will come with a Lifetime Warranty. Rims can be purchased separately or Teravail can send out complete wheels featuring DT Swiss 350 hubs. 

 Pricing on the Circos rims only is $495.00 USD/ $720.00 CAN each and complete wheels are Front 28H only, $590.00 USD/ $850.00 CAN each and Rear 28h only in XD driver or HG freehub at $795.00 USD/ $1,200.00 CAN each.

Teravail's Tubeless Valve Stems:

Lastly we have Teravail's own tubeless valve stems which will initially come in 48mm lengths with different lengths to come later on. These matte metallic colored stems feature a 4mm hex key slot for installation and removal. The stems also have an integrated core removal tool. Teravail Tubeless Valve Stems are also tire insert compatible. 

No pricing or availability information at this time for the valve stems. Please contact your Teravail dealer or see www.teravail.com for more information. 

Comments: The Updraft looks good and is no surprise as racing gravel tires are taking more tread off and are focusing on speed more and more. Ironically enough, this is exactly the sort of tire I used to advocate for 11 - 12 years ago or more. (See Challenge Gravel Grinder design)

The offering of a 50mm wide Updraft is also on point for today's gravel racer as the trend is to go as wide as you can on the bike you have. Many newer gravel racing designs are now able to accept tires this wide. 

The Circos carbon rims seem a bit odd in their hookless design which has mixed acceptance in the gravel cycling circles. Personally, it is not a choice I would make, but this may be racer-driven and I can see why this may have been a factor in Teravail's choice. Valve stems are an obvious product choice for Teravail to offer, so nothing really stands out for me in this offering. 

I've been offered a set of Updraft tires to try out.. Look for a review if they hit the GTP Headquarters soon.

Naughty

 Last weekend I was down in the Lab doing some maintenance on a couple of bicycles. First up was the pink Black Mountain Cycles MCD. I was going to swap in those wheels using the Rene Herse TPU tubes I have on test here. 

Sounds easy enough. All I had to do was swap the wheels as I had a cassette and rotor already installed on the wheels with the Rene Herse tubes. Then I ran into that common problem I have here where the tolerances between hubs is off enough that the pad drags in the TRP Spyre caliper on the rotor on one side. 

Okay..... Adjust and move on. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, the caliper wouldn't go over far enough to clear the inside pad. Then I noticed the brake pads were really worn out. Time for new pads. Easy enough......riiiiight? Well, this was when I discovered one of the pad adjusters on the caliper was frozen. 

Okay, now is it time to panic? 

I had to retrieve a bag N.Y. Roll left down at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective, so I left everything and let that marinate in my head whilst I went over to see Mabel the Rhodesian Ridgeback and N.Y. Roll for a bit. N.Y. Roll brought up Avid calipers during our visit. Light bulb! I have several of those! I could swap one in and be done until I figured out what to do with the TRP Spyre caliper.

Now when I got back to the Lab, I started swapping the caliper over. Everything was lining up well. Then I discovered the cable was dragging really badly on something, either a burr on the housing end where it was cut, or ....? The thing is everything worked great until I swapped wheels! Well, this went on into the following day when I discovered the cable had started to unravel inside the housing causing excessive friction. Ugh! Fortunately I had a new cable, I dressed the ends of the housing with a file, and once I put everything back together, it actually worked!   

Naughty brake!

An 11 speed Ultegra rear derailleur shifting an 11-42 9spd cassette? YES!

Then I did one of those "this really should not work, but it does" things on the Snow Dog. I was running a 9spd cassette with a 42T expander cog. I had originally been shifting this with a Grip Shift shifter which was Shimano compatible. 

This worked marginally well as I had indexing in one direction and no indexing the other way. I was not a fan! So, when I came across a nine speed Deore trigger shifter I decided to make the swap. 

Now what is really not supposed to be done is the rear derailleur choice, an 11 speed Ultegra. This should not shift the chain into a 42T cog and it should not work on a 9 speed cassette and chain. 

But it does.

So naughty....

NOTE: A Gravel Grinder News post will drop at 11:00am CST here today. Make sure to check that out. 

WTB i76 Fat Bike Rims: Quick Review

Note: Guitar Ted was provided a set of WTB i76 Fat Bike Rims as part of a wheel build he was contracted to build. WTB is not sponsoring this review in any way. All opinions are Guitar Ted's.

Cross-section of the WTB i76 rims. (Image courtesy of WTB)

N.Y. Roll has purchased a set of these WTB KOM Light i76 rims and had sent them home with me to build up a set of wheels for him. So, I figured why not give you all an overview of these rims?

What It Is: WTB now offers these in 27.5" and 26" diameters. They have an "open cavity" design which should enhance rigidity. WTB makes these rims from 6069 alloy and uses a pinned construction technique to join them. Either diameter is available in 32 hole drillings only and costs $159.95 USD each. The inner rim width is, as you might guess, 76mm. These are tubeless ready as well. 

 First Impressions: The i76's do not have big holes drilled in them, or an open design in between the bead seats, as some of the original fat bike rims did have. The i76's look more like solid, single walled rims which are generally cheaper and of lower quality. Do not mistake these rims for those!

The solid, single wall section in the middle of the i76's should allow for easy tubeless rim strip installation. "Should" being the operative word here. More on that in a bit. Furthermore; the section where the spokes sit is double walled, further making a rim strip installation easier and more efficient. 

I have the 26"er versions here and they weighed in at about 800 grams a piece. For comparison, Surly "My Other Brother Darryl" rims, which are of similar width, weigh in almost 100 grams lighter and have a welded seam. Of course, those Surly rims are true single wall construction and have huge cut-outs.  

The channels where the spokes sit help keep those spoke's nipples from extending into the rim well area. This should allow for much easier taping off of the rim well area for tubed or tubeless usage. 

Those channels also theoretically make this rim stronger laterally and torsionally. I've built up single wall fat bike rims, and I have worked on several which displayed twisting of the rim cross section which you cannot true out. 

The one thing I did notice which I wasn't very impressed with was the rim joint. These WTB fat bike rims are of the "pinned and sleeved" type, meaning that where the extrusion ends meet they are joined by "pins" to keep the ends aligned. A good pinned and sleeved joint is barely noticeable, however; on these rims there is a noticeable gap.

This gap may narrow up when a rim is tensioned after building up the wheel, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to run some glue in the joint (I've had Super Glue suggested for this purpose), which would make setting up the rims tubeless a much easier task. This is not an unusual thing with fat bike rims and especially with the earlier efforts in fat bike rims, this was commonplace. It would have been nice had WTB made these like the Surly offerings and had these welded, but that isn't always done perfectly well either.

Notice in the image to the left here that the rim join is allowing light through. Also note the spoke nipple and how it sits down below the inner rim well surface. (Spoke not properly tensioned in this view) Finally, you might note the venting holes in the extrusion near the bead seat. These would have to be covered by rim tape also.

Build Process: These rims went together well. As well as any rim, really. As long as you calculate the spoke lengths properly, there should be no issues with these as far as the process goes. You might want to be a little extra careful about scratching the wide rim surface with your spoke ends as you lace the wheel though.

Conclusions: I think these are fine rims. They compare favorably with DT Swiss' fat bike rims and others in this width range which feature single wall construction and big cut outs for weight savings. You can get cheaper rims, but those are going to be solid single wall rims with much heavier weight. 

The dual channel extruded into this design is where I think these rims set themselves apart from the herd. So far I feel as though these make the WTB i76's stiffer torsionally and I would think radially as well. Not that you couldn't ding them up. These are aluminum after all. But I think these will hold up a bit better than others in this category. 

The price seems fine. You would have to spend considerably more to get lighter, stiffer rims, and they likely would be carbon Nexties or another similar Chinese brand fat bike rim. There just is not a lot to choose from in terms of rims for fat bikes, in comparison to other types of rims.

Thanks to N.Y. Roll for the opportunity to check tehse out and build up a set of these into wheels.  

Notice: Tomorrow an embargoed press release post coverage will make its debut at 11:00am CST. I will have an early post up for my morning readers, but do check out the Gravel Grinder News post tomorrow at 11:0CST.

Rene Herse TPU Tubes: Review Part 1

Note: The Rene Herse TPU tubes were purchased for use by Guitar Ted. Rene Herse is not aware of this review, nor do they sponsor this blog or Guitar Ted in any way. All opinions are Guitar Ted's.

The TPU tube buzz is getting louder and for good reason. Or reasons? Yes, reasons. Of course, the main selling point is their light weight, which rivals tubeless set ups and in many cases, is actually lighter than tubeless. 

However: there is more to it than just being light. TPU also lowers rolling resistance versus traditional butyl rubber tubes. Nearly analogous to the levels tubeless tires provide, and that is a really important point. 

Speaking of tubeless, TPU won't require maintenance of sealant, it won't build up on your tire's carcass, and you will not have to deal with clogged valve stems and messy sealant.

Finally, TPU has the ability to hold air over time better than both butyl rubber tubes and tubeless set ups. So, there is a lot to like with TPU. 

Negatives Of TPU Tubes: Now, of course, there are drawbacks. One of those is the fact that many TPU tube offerings have plastic/TPU valve stems which are flimsy, cannot be affixed to a rim with a nut, and can be bent and damaged easily when trying to put a pump head on for inflation. 

This is why I was keenly interested in these Rene Herse TPU tube offerings as they feature an aluminum valve stem with a removable valve core. Now I don't have to worry so much about inflating the tubes when necessary or if a rock might ping up and take out a valve stem. 

TPU tubes are still tubes, of course, and as such, one could pinch flat them. So, there is this to consider. Also, TPU is not rated for use with current sealants, and while this may change at some point, this may put you off from considering TPU as an option for your tires. 

The last negative for TPU is their expense. I spent $72.00 on two tubes. That seems pretty over the top, but if these last long enough they will pay for themselves in sealant refreshes that I won't have to do. Let's see if that works out, shall we.....

The Rene Herse TPU tube has an aluminum valve stem

What It Is...

The Rene Herse TPU tubes are available in 700c sizes for gravel tires and two valve stem lengths of 50mm or 70mm in black anodized or silver anodized. There are three size ranges to choose from, all in 700c. 20mm - 32mm, 30mm - 48mm, (on test), and 45mm - 60mm. 

Prices range from $29.00 each to $33.00 each. The Rene Herse TPU tubes are made in Germany (Schwalbe? I would guess so.) NOTE: C02 inflation delivery systems are NOT recommended due to their ability to split open TPU tubes by way of their sudden volume introduction and cold temperature while delivering the gas. 

Handling Tips: Careful handling of a TPU tube is also wise. They are somewhat fragile if handled roughly and will split open if inflated too abruptly, so no air compressors either! It is best to use a hand/floor pump and take it easy which allows the TPU material to stretch evenly and consistently to conform to the inner casing of the tire and inner rim cavity. I would recommend inspecting tires and rims for any sharp or potentially damaging irregularities which could also damage the TPU material. Finally, I always use a dash of talcum powder to help the TPU tube not get hung up on the tire or rim while inflating and to reduce rolling resistance. 

First Impressions: Okay, so these clear TPU tubes are a bit of a trip to look at. Ironically these remind me a lot of something similar which was around in the late 1990's. Were those TPU tubes? I don't remember, but they were thicker and they did not stretch, really. At any rate, these clear TPU tubes reminded me of those older tubes which were not butyl rubber. 

Notice how you can see bits of talc right through the tube!

How about those aluminum valves, eh? Well, they are not threaded, which I hope is not an issue. They look nice and won't bend when I put a pump head on them, so there is that. It appears to my eyes that the aluminum stem is held on mechanically to the TPU tube, but I cannot verify if this is a kind of "O" ring-pinched TPU against the stem thing or what. It doesn't look like it is glued or "welded" together there. 

Each tube weighed in at a crazy light 48 grams. That's just insane given that a 700c X 40mm butyl tube weighs three times that or more. I decided to mount some SOMA Cazadero tires which are listed as being 700 X 50mm. However; they really are not quite that wide.

Mounting The Tubes: Rene Herse gives detailed and specific steps for mounting these tubes up which I would highly recommend be followed. Additionally, the fact that TPU doesn't stretch at the same rate as butyl will become quite apparent when mounting these tubes. In fact, they fit into a rim's inner well like a tube that is slightly too small in diameter. Stretching them over a rim should be done gently, but it is really no problem once you have done one tube. Subsequent installations will be rewarded by the learned experience of the first install. 

I always put a little talc powder in the tire as well, although it is not something which is mentioned by Rene Herse. My feeling is that the talc will help with lowering rolling resistance and help the tube stretch into the casing of the tire without hanging up. 

The Black Mountain Cycles MCD with 700 X 50mm SOMA Cazaderos using the Rene Herse   TPU tubes.

 Once aired up to about 50 psi to set the tires correctly on the HED Eroica wheels with their 25mm inner rim width I measured the Cazaderos at 47.8mm wide. So, right within the upper width range limit for these tubes.  

Since I have gotten these TPU tubes from Rene Herse I have had two friends tell me they have been running them and that they really like them so far. I plan on running these all season for a long-term look at how they will hold up and how they will ride.

Besides the quirks with TPU, it was really no problem to install the tubes. Next up will be a few rides to ascertain how these TPU tubes feel compared to what I am used to. Look for an update in a few weeks.

Where We Came From: The Lincoln Scene Reaction

 Thursady of last week saw N.Y. Roll and I recorded a "Guitar Ted Podcast" episode with Lincoln, Nebraskans Matt Wills and Matt Gersib. This is one of our "Where We Came from" series of podcasts we are hoping to do more of here in 2025. If you haven't heard this episode you can check it out HERE. 

This post will be a commentary on what we learned from Mat G and Matt W on the show. 

My biggest takeaway from the show was how people were central to the movement from mountain biking, road biking, and finally toward a more gravel centered community, although both road and MTB thrive to this day in the Lincoln area. 

However; it was interesting to note how both MG and MW talked about the disillusionment and rebellion to what was happening in Pro road, Pro MTB and even local events featuring both types of riding. Rules, regulations, and cheating by way of doping were all brought up as reasons the two gents were not all that enamored of being part of those events and riding styles. The stripped down, fun, and socially oriented rides were what appealed to them more. 

But competitiveness was a motivator, obviously, so the organized challenges/races like Trans Iowa and the Dirty Kanza 200 were outlets for this, along with a way to feed into the adventurous nature of their riding. Supplemented by MTB events locally, and the growing choices in gravel riding, the two gents found an outlet for this competitive side. 

The DK200 from the mid-2000's (Image courtesy of Corey Godfrey)

Secondly, my theory all along was that gravel cycling was mostly an outgrowth of 24Hr MTB, ultra-distance MTB, and with a dash of road/cyclo cross on the side. MW and MG came out of a mountain biking scene which found itself looking for more trails which led to gravel roads. 

While gravel roads were seemingly used only for training in the beginning, once someone suggested that a race could happen only using gravel, the seeds were planted. This tracks with my experiences and observations as well.

However; Matt Wills brought out a super important bit concerning where society was at the time in the mid-2000's and how the blog culture of the time played a huge role in how gravel cycling took root. In this I could not agree more. This has been my assertion all along. Blogs and how we were exploring the internet at that particular point in time was definitely a very important part of gravel cycling's success story. 

Emily Broderson (Plate #8) leading a group at Trans Iowa v1 in 2005

 Blogs like Jeff Kerkoves were very popular, and when Jeff announced Trans Iowa in November of 2004, it was his blog that made the connections across the nation which spurred on participation and innovation in cycling on gravel roads. The Lincoln scene took notice as well, sending Skip "Endurosnob" Cronin and Emily Broderson to the first modern day gravel event (Trans Iowa, April 2005). They and others took their experiences and evangelized others. In the podcast you will hear how Matt Wills and eventually Matt Gersib were influenced by this. Blogs were essential to the spread of the gravel word. 

Finally, it all circles back to the people. MW and MG shared great stories of very influential and important Lincolnites who were essential to the growth of gravel there and outwardly to all points in the years to come. Even up to the present day, you can find examples of people in Lincoln, Nebraska or the surrounding area who are bringing gravel riding to the attention of new folks to the scene.

I hope you will give the podcast a listen if you have not heard it already. The stories told there are ones you will not get anywhere else and these are the stories of gravel cycling's rise to prominence. It is a story which truly defines where we came from. 

This is the link to hear the show on Spotify.

Multiplication

 In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

 When I started Guitar Ted Productions in May of 2005 I had no other intentions for doing other blogs, websites, or podcasts. However; I did not take long to get myself into all three of those things. This post will be a sort of brief history of the blogs, websites, and podcasts I've been a part of throughout the years. 

You could say that Guitar Ted Productions was the second blog site I was associated with since Trans Iowa's site predated this blog by almost six months. However; I was not the one making any changes to that blog until 2007 when Trans Iowa co-founder Jeff Kerkove left for Ergon. But technically I was a part of that, so.... 

By 2006 I had an idea for a gravel ride and Jeff Kerkove felt I should "make it official" so he went ahead and set up the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational blog site without my knowledge and then handed it to me on a silver platter. Boom! Now I was involved in three blogs. 

A snippet of an article I wrote for "The Biking Hub"

By March of 2006 I was also a regular contributor to "The Biking Hub", an aggregator site for mountain biking articles from the web and a site started only a month and a half earlier which was trying to expand into original content. 

The editor, "Cory", (sorry! I have lost the last name to the fogs of time.), was instrumental in my early development as a writer. He took my submissions and patiently worked with me to hone my craft and become a clearer, more "professional" writer in terms of sentence structure, tone, and grammar. 

I owe a lot to Cory and the chance to become a better writer. This and the chance to start writing reviews. It was Cory's idea to do three-part reviews over time to give readers something different than the typical one-hit and done reviews which were the norm then, and still are today. I'd never seen anything done the way Cory was suggesting and I was excited to be given this template for reviews which I have stuck to ever since 2006. 

I cannot say for certain, but ever since I started doing reviews like this it seems to me other sites picked up on the style and whenever I see things like "mid-term review" or "out of the box", I cannot help but think Cory's ideas were the genesis of that style. 

So, "The Biking Hub" was my first site to write for. That lasted until 2007 when I made a switch.....

The last page posted by Twenty Nine Inches. By this point I had left the site.

 From some scattered submissions starting in late 2005 and running through 2006, my name appeared on articles on the "Twenty Nine Inches" website. Then in 2007 I went all-in on being a regular contributor. From that point on until the end of 2014 I was immersed in the big wheel world. 

My articles there came along at the height of my "influencer/reviewer/writer" status in the MTB world which gave me privileges which included flying to Monterrey to see Keith Bontrager, Gary Fisher, and Travis Brown, ride with them, and eat a home cooked meal at Keith Bontrager's home in Santa Cruz. I got to go to Deer Valley, Utah and ride. I was at Sea Otter three times. Plus several Interbikes as well. Those were crazy days and all due to the blog here. 

In 2008 I took what was a sidebar for gravel events on this blog to another blog, opened up a gravel focused chapter called "Gravel Grinder News", and started my transitioning into more of a gravel related blog here as well. Side bar: A little known fact is that the Trans Iowa history site, which was started at about the same time, was converted to Gravel Grinder News. Then I switched the Trans Iowa History site to its own Word  Press based blog. 

  Gravel Grinder News was an event calendar, then a review site toward the end of its "blog status". In 2013 Gravel Grinder News became an actual dot-com in its own right. That went on for 2013 and through 2014 before I was convinced to roll Gravel Grinder News into......

"Riding Gravel" was a site focused on gravel started by Ben Welnak, then of Colorado, back in around 2013 or so. He convinced me to join forces with him under his banner. So Gravel Grinder News went away and I became partners with Ben in Riding Gravel. 

This partnership lasted until the end of 2023 when I stepped away from doing anything for the site. This marked the first time since 2006 where I had not been contributing to a site, or writing for a site on a regular basis. 

Before I became a part-owner in Riding Gravel, I appeared on a podcast via Ben Welnak's "Mountain Bike Radio" network on a show called the "Guitar Ted Show". I would often call in and gab with Ben about Trans Iowa or early MTB/29"er history stuff. However; I was probably best known online in terms of audio when I did my "Trans Iowa Radio" broadcasts live from Trans Iowa every Spring. 

Those started with me using a few different audio-blogging services which have all - sadly- gone away so there are no archives of those reports. However; you can get a feel for what I used to do from the Emmy award winning documentary on Trans Iowa v7 called "300 miles of Gravel", by Jeff Frings. Jeff used a lot of my audio-blog posts from that 2011 event in his film and it is a great reference for any early gravel riding aficionado. You can Google it and find it online yet, I believe. 

Ben then decided to run a call-in podcast for each Trans Iowa for several years starting in 2013 for Trans Iowa v9. You can check that out HERE. 

This transitioned into the "Riding Gravel Radio Ranch" podcast which started in 2014 and ended in 2023 with a little over 100 episodes. That evolved into the "Guitar Ted Podcast" which is in season 3 now with 68 episodes as of this posting. 

I also have been a guest on several other podcasts going back to the 2010's including "The Path Less Pedaled", "The Shiftless Podcast", and also on "The Spokesmen Podcast". 

Besides the film and podcasts, I also have written feature articles for "Dirt Rag", "Bicycle Times", "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News", and was a contributor to an article in the Japanese publication "Bicycle Club". 

I also have been featured in several newspaper articles and other magazine articles. Most notably, Trans Iowa v3 was featured in a chapter of the book written by Zach Dundas called "The Renegade Sportsman" which came out in 2010. Zach shadowed me throughout the event and he captured my sleep-deprived, Red Bull fueled banter quite well, if I do say so myself. If you get a chance to read that chapter in the book, it is well worth your time to seek out. 

Finally, I also had blogs for my old employer's shop for a few years and the short-lived C.O.G. 100 also, which had its own blog site. There were the two websites I had for a bit. "The Cyclistsite" being the most notable where I and Grannygear wrote reviews on stuff not 29"er related. Then there was "650B.com" which I owned but never posted on. Ironically it is the only site I ever made money on. I sold it to someone in Alaska and I haven't seen anything of it since. Am I leaving anything out? I probably have forgotten something....

All these things because I started a blog in 2005. What was I thinking?

Where do I go from here after accomplishing all of those things? Well, ironically someone was trying to offer me a chance to write for a gravel related site as recently as a couple of weeks ago. The thing is, content writers do not get paid what they are worth, and this looked to be another pie-in-the-sky offer with no real foundational backing behind it which would lead me to believe I would not get remunerated for my talents. So, as for the future?

This blog and my podcast are enough. Time to quit multiplying my efforts all over the place! But I am eternally grateful for what I have experienced and have accomplished over these twenty years and due to this blog, really. Without Jeff Kerkove's encouragement to start writing? 

You probably would never had heard of Guitar Ted. Thanks for reading!

The Best Headers

 In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

 Last week I mentioned I would be posting the best headers from the era of the blog when I was swapping images I took on rides in and out of the template. Well, this post will be a "photo-dump" of those headers. I may make a comment on a few of them, but this is mostly about the headers I thought were really good images. 

I hope you enjoy this look back at some of the headers which defined the look and feel of this blog for the last ten-plus years. 

This was a shot looking down the Sergeant Road bike path 2018

This was always one of my favorite shots. I still think about this image a lot today. Circa 2018

Several headers were the result of being on recon for a gravel event. This is one of those from the C.O.G. 100 2020

Of course, what would this post be without a barn shot! This is one of the Lichty farms on Ansborough Avenue, Black Hawk County.

A rare self portrait. This was from 2022. The t-shirt design is my daughters.

Back when I was getting out before dawn. Looking East down Washburn Road, Black Hawk County

The Summer of 2020 provided lots of great header images.

This one is from Spring 2016

Sometimes events provided header images. This is from the 2015 Gravel Worlds near Lincoln, Nebraska

From Fall of 2017

That's ten I could find. Oddly enough, many of the headers I used are just files in the seasonal folders I keep my images in and not marked "header" like I do these days. So, I may have missed one or two gems, but these are the ones I found that hit me in the right way for this post. I hope that you enjoyed taking another look at these old headers.