Ti Muk Testing

 Since I have had the Ti Muk 2, I have gotten to ride it in snow only a couple of times, and even then it wasn't all that exciting since the snow was not around long, and there never was much of it to start with. However; now that we have had two snows in the span of a few days, we have a modicum of snow, enough to play on and get a better handle on......well, the handling! 

My first impression last year, (that seems weird to say now), was that the Ti Muk 2 was pretty good. This all kind of hinges upon what sort of snow you have and how much of it there is to ride on. My first impressions were based upon drifted in snow. That's generally the toughest type of snow to ride through/over. It's so fine and shifty, that wash-outs and fish-tailing rear ends are usually what you'll experience. The Ti Muk exhibited this to a minor degree, so I was heartened that this bike would be at least as good as the first Ti Muk. 


We'd gotten snow over the weekend, and then again on Sunday night. We probably had a total of four, maybe five inches. The temperatures were rising Monday morning, so I figured this snow would end up becoming "mashed potatoes", which, by the way, is the next most impossible type of snow to ride over/through. Well, for whatever reason, (I'm thinking because these storms came from the Pacific, not the Arctic), the snow had enough moisture that it actually set up and you could ride over it. Wow! 

We haven't had a lot of snow like this over the past decade. In fact, more often than not we've gotten the dried up, powdery stuff that acted more like sand than snow. The sort of snow that was almost impossible to make a snow ball out of, no matter how hard you tried. It was almost impossible to pack down and to ride a fat bike on as well. But Monday was a throwback day. It was awesome.

Kind of reminds me of the Triple D race.

  I decided to trundle on over toward the Green Belt via some alley ways and then using the "short cut" to Sergeant Road Trail which goes over Highway 63 between Fletcher and the junction of University Avenue. I traveled the bike path toward Fletcher then doubled back on the two-track service road just hard against the dike on the East side. I rode that completely which takes you up against University Avenue, then I turned up on to the dike itself. Doubling back again I rode the dike top towards Fletcher, then down into the park, around the dike end, and back to the bike path. 

This gave me a three layered "back and forth" course which was almost all untraveled  snow. I got a great handle on just what the Terrene Cake Eaters would and would not do. I also got a better read on the drive train's usability. Finally, I got a better judgment on the bike itself. So, with that I will start with the tires.

Maybe you've had Cake Eaters? If you have, you already know that they ride fast on harder surfaces. You probably also know that they don't have a ton of bite on loose, unpacked snow. I had to really exaggerate loading up the rear wheel with my weight so I could get traction on even the least bit of "up". I still have the tires that came on the bike, Dunder and Flowbeist, and those would have had a lot better grip. It's okay, because I so rarely have need of a ton of grip with a fat bike the way I typically use it. For a four inch wide tire, I was happy. 

The drive train is fantastic! The Rohloff has such a low gear, I doubt I'd ever even use it. I climbed the dike in 3rd, and that was probably one gear too low, but since I had to limit any chances of spinning the rear tire out with too much torque, a lower gear was better. Spinny was better than mashy. Of course, you have to know how to dance with a Rohloff, and I've had enough practice now I can whip into gears fairly seamlessly now. But honestly, I'm not sure where or in what situation I would ever use 1st or 2nd gears on this rig. On flats, pushing through the snow, the Rohloff's gear selection let me find a spinny gear which made for a nice, comfortable traverse of the three sections I rode. 

The entire bike is super stable and I was glad to be on a bike that didn't require 100% concentration to keep it moving forward and not wash out. Of course, maybe it was the great snow I was on too. Either way, the bike is really good. As good as the original Ti Muk, which I finished a Triple D on? Hmm..... That's yet to be determined, but so far my answer would be "yes", it is. 

Concept Bike Revisited; Part 1

How do my ideas from a decade ago stack up with what is available today?

Last Friday I brought up my "Time For A Concept Bike" series from ten years ago. This was in response to what, at that time, I saw as a need for a specific "all-road" solution for what it was we were engaged in. Gravel riding, broken up pavement riding, dirt road riding, and maybe a touch of single track/adventure bushwhacking thrown in for good measure.

We had three types of bicycles in those days: Road racing styled bikes, mountain bikes, and touring/cyclo cross bikes. There were elements of all of these bikes which I liked from my perspective, and this might be a good time to mention something regarding perspective.

It was my perspective. This "concept bike" nonsense was never meant for anything other than my own personal goals for realizing a "better tool for the job". Whether or not anyone else was going to like it, or want it, was not my concern at that time. I had ideas that I was sure would be far better than what I had available to me at that time. Now, of course, if other people happened to like the idea, well.....okay. That would be great. But make no mistake- I was going to end up with a bicycle like this regardless. That the folks out there doing what I was doing ended up- more or less- on a similar page is amazing and cool. Totally not my plan though.

Now, back to the bike choices. I liked a few things about road geometry because, well, we were riding on roads, not single track. So, while mountain bike tires with their cushy, comfortable, and stable ride were attractive, the geometry of those bikes weren't lending themselves to a ride mainly in the saddle for hours at a time. The road bikes were a bit too "racy" though, and this was/is because paved roads which are smooth, don't require any concessions to stability or comfort which you have to have on rougher, looser surfaces like gravel and sometimes dirt. Not to mention that tire clearances on road racing based bikes was severely limited. It's interesting to note now how gravel riding has actually influenced the road racing bikes of 2020, many of which can now handle a 32mm-35mm tire. This was unheard of - no, it was unthinkable - ten years ago.

Cyclo cross bikes did have adequate tire clearances in may cases, but the specific nature of their design meant that they had certain features which did not translate well to long days in the saddle. CX bikes were meant for clearing barriers, pedaling in deep ruts, and had to be able to carve tight corners at slow speeds. Plus, efficiency was king, meaning any concessions for rider comfort were secondary, or not considered into their design. I recall many "pure" CX bikes in the 90's didn't even have water bottle bosses. Those were things that just got in the way.

I used to use mountain bikes on gravel, but it wasn't completely ideal.

So, coming from the design sheet that CX does, you can see where the deficiencies were in terms of coming over to do gravel riding. Of course, it is obvious that CX bikes were widely used in the 00's during modern gravel riding's rise to popularity, but once gravel bikes hit the scene, those bikes became far less common, and now are rare to see at gravel events.

One could make an argument for touring bikes here. They have the geometry, the tire clearances, and the capability for carrying necessities, but there are a couple things about them that were not what I wanted at all. First and foremost, any touring bike worth its salt is going to be designed to handle and ride best when fully loaded. This means that when the touring bike is unladen it rides differently. Without panniers and bags full of gear, the touring bike frame becomes a stiff beast which isn't fun to ride on for very long on rougher roads. Secondly, the chain stays on touring bikes are a bit cartoonishly long so that when bags are mounted on the rear, there is clearance for legs and feet. We aren't going to be needing panniers on gravel bikes, so my take was that the chain stays could be shorter and the frame tubing could be more forgiving without having 75lbs of gear strapped to it.

What I was after was an amalgam of all of the good things from all of the above bikes. Here were my parameters which I listed back in 2010.

• 71.5 degree head angle. (Could go to 72, but we'll see.)
• 73 degree seat angle.
• 50mm offset fork (Could change)
• Low bottom bracket height. (Something around 75-80mm drop)
• Not touring length chain stays, but not cyclo-cross short either. 
• Room for 42mm tires

My friend Ben Witt also was down with this idea. Now, it has to be mentioned, and remembering that this was 2010, we also had an odd idea here which probably is as controversial today as it was ten years ago. The reasoning we wanted this odd arrangement, which I will share here in a moment, was that we had a theory, borrowed from none other than mountain bike pioneer, Joe Breeze, that the longer each frame tube could be without interruption, the more compliance it will have. This will be understood here after I explain the odd component choice.

Paul Components Racer brake (Center mount style shown)

Yep! That's right. An old design refreshed by Paul Component Engineering, the Racer Brake. Why? Well, reread that paragraph above. Disc brakes, while they are all the rage, and work well, do something to frame design that isn't adding to rider comfort. It takes it away to a degree, as a matter of fact. Look closely at any flat mount brake on the left chain stay. See how that flat mount effectively interrupts the tubing? In effect, it stiffens that tube up, which may or may not be a good thing. I'll admit that the rear flat mount is less intrusive than the old IS disc brake mount was, but in the area of fork design, it doesn't matter if the mount for the brake is flat or IS. The fork compliance suffers, and that's an area which is critical to the comfort of a rider on rougher surfaces.

So, here was the idea Ben and I had. Crazy as it may sound. We wanted to use the braze on vesion of the Racer brake because it uses mounting posts which attach closer to the fork crown, allowing the blades to have an uninterrupted tube for better compliance from the drop out to the fork crown. Plus, the braze on makes the Racer brake more responsive. Now, here's the kicker. This is where minds get twisted and people think Ben and I are crazy.

The rear Racer brake we wanted to have with the same braze on mounts, but located under the chain stay, like some older mountain bikes do.

I can hear you all now screaming at your glowing screen that this is a stupid, idiotic idea. "What about mud! That's a horrible place for a brake!" Or.....is it? Here's why we wanted to do this, if you haven't already figured it out. We wanted brake-free seat stays for the best rider comfort we could get. In fact, we were going to spec the lightest, thinnest seat stay tubing that we could. Also, with the brake mounted to the chain stay, you get massive brake response. Hardly any flex there! And a shield could be made, ala Charlie Cunninham's ideas (many examples shown here) to ward off dust and debris. With fenders, this would be even less of an issue.

So, there are the reasons and the background for the 2010 concept bike. Next time we will see where these ideas, (minus the oddball brake ideas, of course) fit into today's scene and what I would do differently now if I were to have this bike built.

Concept Bike Revisited; Part 1

How do my ideas from a decade ago stack up with what is available today?

Last Friday I brought up my "Time For A Concept Bike" series from ten years ago. This was in response to what, at that time, I saw as a need for a specific "all-road" solution for what it was we were engaged in. Gravel riding, broken up pavement riding, dirt road riding, and maybe a touch of single track/adventure bushwhacking thrown in for good measure.

We had three types of bicycles in those days: Road racing styled bikes, mountain bikes, and touring/cyclo cross bikes. There were elements of all of these bikes which I liked from my perspective, and this might be a good time to mention something regarding perspective.

It was my perspective. This "concept bike" nonsense was never meant for anything other than my own personal goals for realizing a "better tool for the job". Whether or not anyone else was going to like it, or want it, was not my concern at that time. I had ideas that I was sure would be far better than what I had available to me at that time. Now, of course, if other people happened to like the idea, well.....okay. That would be great. But make no mistake- I was going to end up with a bicycle like this regardless. That the folks out there doing what I was doing ended up- more or less- on a similar page is amazing and cool. Totally not my plan though.

Now, back to the bike choices. I liked a few things about road geometry because, well, we were riding on roads, not single track. So, while mountain bike tires with their cushy, comfortable, and stable ride were attractive, the geometry of those bikes weren't lending themselves to a ride mainly in the saddle for hours at a time. The road bikes were a bit too "racy" though, and this was/is because paved roads which are smooth, don't require any concessions to stability or comfort which you have to have on rougher, looser surfaces like gravel and sometimes dirt. Not to mention that tire clearances on road racing based bikes was severely limited. It's interesting to note now how gravel riding has actually influenced the road racing bikes of 2020, many of which can now handle a 32mm-35mm tire. This was unheard of - no, it was unthinkable - ten years ago.

Cyclo cross bikes did have adequate tire clearances in may cases, but the specific nature of their design meant that they had certain features which did not translate well to long days in the saddle. CX bikes were meant for clearing barriers, pedaling in deep ruts, and had to be able to carve tight corners at slow speeds. Plus, efficiency was king, meaning any concessions for rider comfort were secondary, or not considered into their design. I recall many "pure" CX bikes in the 90's didn't even have water bottle bosses. Those were things that just got in the way.

I used to use mountain bikes on gravel, but it wasn't completely ideal.

So, coming from the design sheet that CX does, you can see where the deficiencies were in terms of coming over to do gravel riding. Of course, it is obvious that CX bikes were widely used in the 00's during modern gravel riding's rise to popularity, but once gravel bikes hit the scene, those bikes became far less common, and now are rare to see at gravel events.

One could make an argument for touring bikes here. They have the geometry, the tire clearances, and the capability for carrying necessities, but there are a couple things about them that were not what I wanted at all. First and foremost, any touring bike worth its salt is going to be designed to handle and ride best when fully loaded. This means that when the touring bike is unladen it rides differently. Without panniers and bags full of gear, the touring bike frame becomes a stiff beast which isn't fun to ride on for very long on rougher roads. Secondly, the chain stays on touring bikes are a bit cartoonishly long so that when bags are mounted on the rear, there is clearance for legs and feet. We aren't going to be needing panniers on gravel bikes, so my take was that the chain stays could be shorter and the frame tubing could be more forgiving without having 75lbs of gear strapped to it.

What I was after was an amalgam of all of the good things from all of the above bikes. Here were my parameters which I listed back in 2010.

• 71.5 degree head angle. (Could go to 72, but we'll see.)
• 73 degree seat angle.
• 50mm offset fork (Could change)
• Low bottom bracket height. (Something around 75-80mm drop)
• Not touring length chain stays, but not cyclo-cross short either. 
• Room for 42mm tires

My friend Ben Witt also was down with this idea. Now, it has to be mentioned, and remembering that this was 2010, we also had an odd idea here which probably is as controversial today as it was ten years ago. The reasoning we wanted this odd arrangement, which I will share here in a moment, was that we had a theory, borrowed from none other than mountain bike pioneer, Joe Breeze, that the longer each frame tube could be without interruption, the more compliance it will have. This will be understood here after I explain the odd component choice.

Paul Components Racer brake (Center mount style shown)

Yep! That's right. An old design refreshed by Paul Component Engineering, the Racer Brake. Why? Well, reread that paragraph above. Disc brakes, while they are all the rage, and work well, do something to frame design that isn't adding to rider comfort. It takes it away to a degree, as a matter of fact. Look closely at any flat mount brake on the left chain stay. See how that flat mount effectively interrupts the tubing? In effect, it stiffens that tube up, which may or may not be a good thing. I'll admit that the rear flat mount is less intrusive than the old IS disc brake mount was, but in the area of fork design, it doesn't matter if the mount for the brake is flat or IS. The fork compliance suffers, and that's an area which is critical to the comfort of a rider on rougher surfaces.

So, here was the idea Ben and I had. Crazy as it may sound. We wanted to use the braze on vesion of the Racer brake because it uses mounting posts which attach closer to the fork crown, allowing the blades to have an uninterrupted tube for better compliance from the drop out to the fork crown. Plus, the braze on makes the Racer brake more responsive. Now, here's the kicker. This is where minds get twisted and people think Ben and I are crazy.

The rear Racer brake we wanted to have with the same braze on mounts, but located under the chain stay, like some older mountain bikes do.

I can hear you all now screaming at your glowing screen that this is a stupid, idiotic idea. "What about mud! That's a horrible place for a brake!" Or.....is it? Here's why we wanted to do this, if you haven't already figured it out. We wanted brake-free seat stays for the best rider comfort we could get. In fact, we were going to spec the lightest, thinnest seat stay tubing that we could. Also, with the brake mounted to the chain stay, you get massive brake response. Hardly any flex there! And a shield could be made, ala Charlie Cunninham's ideas (many examples shown here) to ward off dust and debris. With fenders, this would be even less of an issue.

So, there are the reasons and the background for the 2010 concept bike. Next time we will see where these ideas, (minus the oddball brake ideas, of course) fit into today's scene and what I would do differently now if I were to have this bike built.

Brown Season: One More Time

Nearly 60 degrees on January 9th? I'll take it.

Last Thursday we had one of those odd-ball days. The day before I had ridden and it was in the lower 20's. I froze! It was so cold that I was thinking that it was about as cold as I'd want to go on a drop bar bike. Then the next day was almost 35° warmer!

Yeah, I have no idea, but this has happened before. I recall doing recon for Trans Iowa v8 on a January 8th where it was just like this. Warm, windy, and very brown! I knocked out the lion's share of the recon myself that year on that day. It was stellar!

But it is always better to be on a bicycle when you can be. So, I obviously was salivating over the chance of possibly grinding some gravel on Thursday last week. However; my enthusiasm was tempered a bit when there were high wind warnings posted that morning for our area. The warning was for gusts from 40-50mph! Okay, if that had happened, I would not have ridden. However; it was calmer than they thought. The winds weren't light, not by any stretch of the imagination, but definitely something I could handle on a bicycle. Maybe 20-ish miles an hour? Not terrible.

The gravel? Hmm.... I did not know what to expect. We had snow and obviously, that was melting, but maybe the roads would be soft? Or maybe I'd run into ice, which takes longer to melt. Well, other than being a bit on the damp side here and there, the roads were actually really nice. So, that was a pleasant surprise. What wasn't pleasant was the fact that my front fender was installed a little too close to the tire on the back side. WTB Venture tires tend to sling gravel a bit, and so I had a noisy front wheel/fender for the entire ride. Gah!

The roads were damp, gritty, but fast as they could be for this time of the year.

So, I didn't go far. I put in about an hour, because I felt awful during the ride. I don't know if you've ever had a ride where nothing seemed quite right. The way I was sat on the bike bugged me, the wind, the way my guts felt, and that blasted noise! My fault. I tried setting up the bike with 700c fenders and the wheels are 650B. But I'll tweak it out and it'll work. I don't know about the rest of it. I have rides like that sometimes where it just doesn't feel right for some reason. I did end up feeling better about things the further I went, but yeah.... Just one of those days, I guess.

But riding on January 9th when it is nearly 60°? I'm not passing that up, no matter how crappy I felt about the ride! And especially since we had snow over the weekend. That might be the last "Brown Season" post for a while.

Brown Season: One More Time

Nearly 60 degrees on January 9th? I'll take it.

Last Thursday we had one of those odd-ball days. The day before I had ridden and it was in the lower 20's. I froze! It was so cold that I was thinking that it was about as cold as I'd want to go on a drop bar bike. Then the next day was almost 35° warmer!

Yeah, I have no idea, but this has happened before. I recall doing recon for Trans Iowa v8 on a January 8th where it was just like this. Warm, windy, and very brown! I knocked out the lion's share of the recon myself that year on that day. It was stellar!

But it is always better to be on a bicycle when you can be. So, I obviously was salivating over the chance of possibly grinding some gravel on Thursday last week. However; my enthusiasm was tempered a bit when there were high wind warnings posted that morning for our area. The warning was for gusts from 40-50mph! Okay, if that had happened, I would not have ridden. However; it was calmer than they thought. The winds weren't light, not by any stretch of the imagination, but definitely something I could handle on a bicycle. Maybe 20-ish miles an hour? Not terrible.

The gravel? Hmm.... I did not know what to expect. We had snow and obviously, that was melting, but maybe the roads would be soft? Or maybe I'd run into ice, which takes longer to melt. Well, other than being a bit on the damp side here and there, the roads were actually really nice. So, that was a pleasant surprise. What wasn't pleasant was the fact that my front fender was installed a little too close to the tire on the back side. WTB Venture tires tend to sling gravel a bit, and so I had a noisy front wheel/fender for the entire ride. Gah!

The roads were damp, gritty, but fast as they could be for this time of the year.

So, I didn't go far. I put in about an hour, because I felt awful during the ride. I don't know if you've ever had a ride where nothing seemed quite right. The way I was sat on the bike bugged me, the wind, the way my guts felt, and that blasted noise! My fault. I tried setting up the bike with 700c fenders and the wheels are 650B. But I'll tweak it out and it'll work. I don't know about the rest of it. I have rides like that sometimes where it just doesn't feel right for some reason. I did end up feeling better about things the further I went, but yeah.... Just one of those days, I guess.

But riding on January 9th when it is nearly 60°? I'm not passing that up, no matter how crappy I felt about the ride! And especially since we had snow over the weekend. That might be the last "Brown Season" post for a while.

Iowa Gravel Expo: Session #1 Report

Slippin' and slidin' on the Noble GX5

Last Wednesday N.Y. Roll and I held our first of four Iowa Gravel Expo sessions. This is the third year in a row that we've been doing this.

Actually, this isn't the first "gravel clinic" type deal I have been involved in. I held a couple of "Trans Iowa" clinics, back in 2013 and 2014, which were for all intents and purposes basically what we are doing now. The basic idea was to disseminate knowledge and wisdom gained by experienced riders to those just coming into the sport.

Back then this was a fairly novel idea, but nowadays it is common. I've noted several "clinics" for riders which are gravel-centric or purely about certain events happening all across the U.S. now. Some are low-key affairs, like ours is. Some are full blown "camps" with catered food, influencer-type riders, and cost over a thousand dollars to participate in. If I may be so bold- you aren't going to learn anything more about riding gravel and dirt roads by attending the super-spendy camps than you would by attending a simple formatted clinic at your LBS or bicycle club. But some folks like experiences, and value celebrity-staus riders over the nuts and bolts, practical knowledge given out by riders with years of gravel riding experience. No big deal. Do what feels right to you, but I find it a bit humorous.

Anyway.... Sorry for the distraction there!

Back to what we were up to.....  So, N.Y. Roll and I realized last year that having a one night affair was too much. Too many people wanted in the doors, there was too much to share in one sitting, and it was too crazy to satisfy everyone's needs in that format. So, we found a different venue in Second State Brewery which had a back-room we could use. Then we struck the single night format and decided to do targeted sessions focusing in on a group of related topics. Each session features a different Iowa event's race director or representative. So, last Wednesday was about maintenance of drive trains and the event was The Turds Of Misery. (Really! The event is named after a 70's era rock band. Yes- really!) Anyway....

More manageable audience and a cool venue.

Jen Reed of Healthy Habits bike shop in Bettendorf, Iowa came up to talk about her event and then it was my turn to gab about chain maintenance, lubrication, cleaning a bike, and a tiny bit at the end about tires and tire pressures.

N.Y. Roll and I held an unofficial over-under on attendance which I won, I believe. Anyway, it was the smaller crowd we had hoped for and with the sessions spread out over three more dates, we will see how things come along. We had riders from Des Moines come up and I know we have folks coming from the Iowa city area too to attend. Pretty cool!

Speaking of riding, there was some of that too. Before the event, I planned a 1:00pm ride, which I had hoped would be out on gravel, but this is January, after all! It was in the low 20's with a pretty stiff east wind which made the riding difficult. Added to this were the icy roads, especially East-West ones, and that made staying in town, out of the wind, a better idea. I tried going through Shirey Way, (icy in spots) and then on through Sherwood,  but we were stopped by icy patches and we ended up back on pavement after a three or four block ramble down an alley.

That ride was attended by four intrepid folks, plus myself, and we ended up riding about an hour and fifteen minutes, which, honestly, was all I wanted to do on a gravel road bike in those conditions. Glad I had on the Bike Iowa Pogie Lites! They saved my mitts from freezing! If  you haven't ever checked those handle bar covers out, please do! They are made by friends of mine and they are four-season worthy riding gear. They keep your hands warm in Winter, keep the wind off your hands in Spring and Fall, and can be a blessing in a Summer rain storm. Check 'em out!

Anyway! More distractions!

Look for the next Iowa Bike Expo session to happen Wednesday the 22nd of January. We have two dates in February too. Here's a link to the Facebook events page. Thanks again to sponsors Andy's Bike Shop and Second State Brewing.

Iowa Gravel Expo: Session #1 Report

Slippin' and slidin' on the Noble GX5

Last Wednesday N.Y. Roll and I held our first of four Iowa Gravel Expo sessions. This is the third year in a row that we've been doing this.

Actually, this isn't the first "gravel clinic" type deal I have been involved in. I held a couple of "Trans Iowa" clinics, back in 2013 and 2014, which were for all intents and purposes basically what we are doing now. The basic idea was to disseminate knowledge and wisdom gained by experienced riders to those just coming into the sport.

Back then this was a fairly novel idea, but nowadays it is common. I've noted several "clinics" for riders which are gravel-centric or purely about certain events happening all across the U.S. now. Some are low-key affairs, like ours is. Some are full blown "camps" with catered food, influencer-type riders, and cost over a thousand dollars to participate in. If I may be so bold- you aren't going to learn anything more about riding gravel and dirt roads by attending the super-spendy camps than you would by attending a simple formatted clinic at your LBS or bicycle club. But some folks like experiences, and value celebrity-staus riders over the nuts and bolts, practical knowledge given out by riders with years of gravel riding experience. No big deal. Do what feels right to you, but I find it a bit humorous.

Anyway.... Sorry for the distraction there!

Back to what we were up to.....  So, N.Y. Roll and I realized last year that having a one night affair was too much. Too many people wanted in the doors, there was too much to share in one sitting, and it was too crazy to satisfy everyone's needs in that format. So, we found a different venue in Second State Brewery which had a back-room we could use. Then we struck the single night format and decided to do targeted sessions focusing in on a group of related topics. Each session features a different Iowa event's race director or representative. So, last Wednesday was about maintenance of drive trains and the event was The Turds Of Misery. (Really! The event is named after a 70's era rock band. Yes- really!) Anyway....

More manageable audience and a cool venue.

Jen Reed of Healthy Habits bike shop in Bettendorf, Iowa came up to talk about her event and then it was my turn to gab about chain maintenance, lubrication, cleaning a bike, and a tiny bit at the end about tires and tire pressures.

N.Y. Roll and I held an unofficial over-under on attendance which I won, I believe. Anyway, it was the smaller crowd we had hoped for and with the sessions spread out over three more dates, we will see how things come along. We had riders from Des Moines come up and I know we have folks coming from the Iowa city area too to attend. Pretty cool!

Speaking of riding, there was some of that too. Before the event, I planned a 1:00pm ride, which I had hoped would be out on gravel, but this is January, after all! It was in the low 20's with a pretty stiff east wind which made the riding difficult. Added to this were the icy roads, especially East-West ones, and that made staying in town, out of the wind, a better idea. I tried going through Shirey Way, (icy in spots) and then on through Sherwood,  but we were stopped by icy patches and we ended up back on pavement after a three or four block ramble down an alley.

That ride was attended by four intrepid folks, plus myself, and we ended up riding about an hour and fifteen minutes, which, honestly, was all I wanted to do on a gravel road bike in those conditions. Glad I had on the Bike Iowa Pogie Lites! They saved my mitts from freezing! If  you haven't ever checked those handle bar covers out, please do! They are made by friends of mine and they are four-season worthy riding gear. They keep your hands warm in Winter, keep the wind off your hands in Spring and Fall, and can be a blessing in a Summer rain storm. Check 'em out!

Anyway! More distractions!

Look for the next Iowa Bike Expo session to happen Wednesday the 22nd of January. We have two dates in February too. Here's a link to the Facebook events page. Thanks again to sponsors Andy's Bike Shop and Second State Brewing.

Trans Iowa Stories: Three Quick Tales About v5

Looking back at a road grader during T.I.v5 recon in "The Dirty Blue Box".

"Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!\

In this edition of "Trans Iowa Stories" I thought I would share three quick tales from the v5 event.

The first was a lesson learned. David, who reconned the first half of the route alone, had done so always during the day. When T.I.v5 started in the dark, the roads did not look quite the same! This came almost to our undoing within the first hour of T.I.v5.

I was driving "The Dirty Blue Box" while David navigated from the cues. I saw a "T" intersection coming up in the headlights. "T intersection. Which way do I go?" There was a brief silence, then David said "Straight......We're supposed to just keep going straight." Well, obviously something was wrong. My heart was in my throat, and when I reached the intersection, David realized that there was a slight offset to the road at the intersection, so that in the dark, it was impossible to see the road continuing off just to the left of the intersection we were at.

We managed to mark the corner quickly with our DK200 inspired stakes and ribbons, but only juuuust in time, since as we were getting set to leave, we saw a bright, bluish light growing like a weird Sun rise, and then suddenly there they were! The leaders of T.I.v5! Whew! That was close!

Well, that precipitated the "jig-a-jog" cue for future Trans Iowa events, which helped to solve that issue. However, this wouldn't be the last time David and I would be found scrambling to mark the course ahead of the leaders right away in the morning, as we shall see later in this series.

Dust in the air creates a surreal effect. T.I.v5 image by Cornbread

Then there was the "Disappearing Banana Incident". This occurred after Checkpoint #1 at a convenience store in North English, Iowa. David and I were standing around in the chill morning air waiting on the leaders to come in, which we were certain would happen, because not one of them resupplied at CP#1. After what seemed like hours of waiting around in silence and peacefulness, the scene suddenly got tense and exciting.

Joe Meiser, a Salsa Cycles engineer, was leading with Charlie Farrow, who had been one of only five finishers the year before. After trying unsuccessfully to get answers to my questions about what was going on in the event from Joe, both he and Farrow disappeared into the store.

A few minutes later, they emerge, and this happens just as two other figures are rolling into the convenience store parking lot. One, a slim figure clad in black, starts yelling at Farrow. "Charlie! Let's go! Farrow!.......", he stops suddenly right by me, but I may as well have been a million miles away. The figures wide eyes are staring at Charlie. The mysterious figure produces a banana from a pocket, quickly peels it in two strokes, and with one bite......a single bite....he inhales the fruit and screams, "C'mon! We gotta get outta here now!" A befuddled Farrow, with a gallon jug of water and in the process of refilling a bottle, looks up, and without a word Charlie set the jug down, took his partially filled water bottle, re-mounted, and chased after the now disappearing figures of the man in black, Meiser, and another rider by the name of Dave Pramann.

Well, David and I eventually figured out who the manic banana eater was. It was Tim Ek, a finisher of T.I.v3, and Tim would come in a tie for second in this version of T.I. as well.

Finally for today we have the story of how it came to be that we quit announcing where checkpoint locations would be in future Trans Iowa events. That was due to some possible cheating we heard about later. But this same instance was also why we never took Trans Iowa through the villages of LeGrand and Gillman Iowa after v5. Well.......kinda. You'll see.

Checkpoint #2 of the three we had in T.I.v5 was set to be at a convenience store in LeGrand, Iowa, a small railroad village east of Marshalltown. The store had a pretty good sized parking lot on its east side which we figured would make for a decent, out of the way place to hang for our volunteers. One of whom was Matt Maxwell, who rode his bike over from Ames, Iowa to do the checkpoint, then he rode back to Ames afterward!

Tim Ek, Charlie Farrow, Dave Pramann, and Joe Meiser just after leaving N.English. Image by D.Pals.

Since we had announced the location of the checkpoint ahead of time, we found several cars and vans choking the area, leaving little room for true customers to park. Then the riders started coming in. The bikes lined the sides of the store as several riders were inside availing themselves of water, food, and the restroom. This spot also served as the point where many were bailing out of T.I.v5 due to a Westerly headwind and rough, fresh gravel which was taxing many of the riders into exhaustion. So, a LOT of people were milling about waiting to be picked up, as well as the riders passing through, which were a constant for hours. Now, let it be known that this particular, independently owned and operated store also served as LeGrand's pizza place. So, out of two total employees, one was dedicated to pizza orders and fulfillment. The other was a register clerk, and the place was swamped!

David and I were gone when this happened, but apparently the one employee got so angry and frustrated that she shooed away incoming riders and enforced a "no bicycle parking policy", made up on the spot, to ostensibly "clear the way" for regulars to get into the joint. Well, we weren't too very happy to find this out, and it made little sense, as we were obviously enriching the place with our business. But we also had news after T.I.v5 that a couple cyclists had received new tires, and possibly a wheel, from a support person there. Plus, support people were there in great numbers, which we witnessed ourselves. It was almost like T.I.v2 all over again.

Afterward David and I swore we'd never use, or go through, LeGrand again, and since the same owner of the convenience store there owned the one and only convenience store in Gillman, we also said we would never use that store for Trans Iowa either. (Although, the Gillman store was on one Trans Iowa route later, but by then a different owner ran the place.) Sure, we could have forewarned them that they may have extra business, but they also could have been a little more diplomatic about our presence there as well. Either way, we made the decision, and it stood. By the way, this event also contributed to keeping the lid on entries to Trans Iowa in the future. I didn't want to tax a convenience store with too many people and too much business either.

The next year, at T.I.v6, checkpoints after CP#1 were secret. We figured we needed to keep any chances for resupply by supporters to a minimum, plus, we had to avoid the setting where a bunch of T.I. voyeurs might show up, clogging up parking lots and interfering with local business. This led to a testy situation during T.I.v6 which I'll get to in another edition of "Trans Iowa Stories".

Next: The Legend Of Charlie Farrow

Trans Iowa Stories: Three Quick Tales About v5

Looking back at a road grader during T.I.v5 recon in "The Dirty Blue Box".

"Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!\

In this edition of "Trans Iowa Stories" I thought I would share three quick tales from the v5 event.

The first was a lesson learned. David, who reconned the first half of the route alone, had done so always during the day. When T.I.v5 started in the dark, the roads did not look quite the same! This came almost to our undoing within the first hour of T.I.v5.

I was driving "The Dirty Blue Box" while David navigated from the cues. I saw a "T" intersection coming up in the headlights. "T intersection. Which way do I go?" There was a brief silence, then David said "Straight......We're supposed to just keep going straight." Well, obviously something was wrong. My heart was in my throat, and when I reached the intersection, David realized that there was a slight offset to the road at the intersection, so that in the dark, it was impossible to see the road continuing off just to the left of the intersection we were at.

We managed to mark the corner quickly with our DK200 inspired stakes and ribbons, but only juuuust in time, since as we were getting set to leave, we saw a bright, bluish light growing like a weird Sun rise, and then suddenly there they were! The leaders of T.I.v5! Whew! That was close!

Well, that precipitated the "jig-a-jog" cue for future Trans Iowa events, which helped to solve that issue. However, this wouldn't be the last time David and I would be found scrambling to mark the course ahead of the leaders right away in the morning, as we shall see later in this series.

Dust in the air creates a surreal effect. T.I.v5 image by Cornbread

Then there was the "Disappearing Banana Incident". This occurred after Checkpoint #1 at a convenience store in North English, Iowa. David and I were standing around in the chill morning air waiting on the leaders to come in, which we were certain would happen, because not one of them resupplied at CP#1. After what seemed like hours of waiting around in silence and peacefulness, the scene suddenly got tense and exciting.

Joe Meiser, a Salsa Cycles engineer, was leading with Charlie Farrow, who had been one of only five finishers the year before. After trying unsuccessfully to get answers to my questions about what was going on in the event from Joe, both he and Farrow disappeared into the store.

A few minutes later, they emerge, and this happens just as two other figures are rolling into the convenience store parking lot. One, a slim figure clad in black, starts yelling at Farrow. "Charlie! Let's go! Farrow!.......", he stops suddenly right by me, but I may as well have been a million miles away. The figures wide eyes are staring at Charlie. The mysterious figure produces a banana from a pocket, quickly peels it in two strokes, and with one bite......a single bite....he inhales the fruit and screams, "C'mon! We gotta get outta here now!" A befuddled Farrow, with a gallon jug of water and in the process of refilling a bottle, looks up, and without a word Charlie set the jug down, took his partially filled water bottle, re-mounted, and chased after the now disappearing figures of the man in black, Meiser, and another rider by the name of Dave Pramann.

Well, David and I eventually figured out who the manic banana eater was. It was Tim Ek, a finisher of T.I.v3, and Tim would come in a tie for second in this version of T.I. as well.

Finally for today we have the story of how it came to be that we quit announcing where checkpoint locations would be in future Trans Iowa events. That was due to some possible cheating we heard about later. But this same instance was also why we never took Trans Iowa through the villages of LeGrand and Gillman Iowa after v5. Well.......kinda. You'll see.

Checkpoint #2 of the three we had in T.I.v5 was set to be at a convenience store in LeGrand, Iowa, a small railroad village east of Marshalltown. The store had a pretty good sized parking lot on its east side which we figured would make for a decent, out of the way place to hang for our volunteers. One of whom was Matt Maxwell, who rode his bike over from Ames, Iowa to do the checkpoint, then he rode back to Ames afterward!

Tim Ek, Charlie Farrow, Dave Pramann, and Joe Meiser just after leaving N.English. Image by D.Pals.

Since we had announced the location of the checkpoint ahead of time, we found several cars and vans choking the area, leaving little room for true customers to park. Then the riders started coming in. The bikes lined the sides of the store as several riders were inside availing themselves of water, food, and the restroom. This spot also served as the point where many were bailing out of T.I.v5 due to a Westerly headwind and rough, fresh gravel which was taxing many of the riders into exhaustion. So, a LOT of people were milling about waiting to be picked up, as well as the riders passing through, which were a constant for hours. Now, let it be known that this particular, independently owned and operated store also served as LeGrand's pizza place. So, out of two total employees, one was dedicated to pizza orders and fulfillment. The other was a register clerk, and the place was swamped!

David and I were gone when this happened, but apparently the one employee got so angry and frustrated that she shooed away incoming riders and enforced a "no bicycle parking policy", made up on the spot, to ostensibly "clear the way" for regulars to get into the joint. Well, we weren't too very happy to find this out, and it made little sense, as we were obviously enriching the place with our business. But we also had news after T.I.v5 that a couple cyclists had received new tires, and possibly a wheel, from a support person there. Plus, support people were there in great numbers, which we witnessed ourselves. It was almost like T.I.v2 all over again.

Afterward David and I swore we'd never use, or go through, LeGrand again, and since the same owner of the convenience store there owned the one and only convenience store in Gillman, we also said we would never use that store for Trans Iowa either. (Although, the Gillman store was on one Trans Iowa route later, but by then a different owner ran the place.) Sure, we could have forewarned them that they may have extra business, but they also could have been a little more diplomatic about our presence there as well. Either way, we made the decision, and it stood. By the way, this event also contributed to keeping the lid on entries to Trans Iowa in the future. I didn't want to tax a convenience store with too many people and too much business either.

The next year, at T.I.v6, checkpoints after CP#1 were secret. We figured we needed to keep any chances for resupply by supporters to a minimum, plus, we had to avoid the setting where a bunch of T.I. voyeurs might show up, clogging up parking lots and interfering with local business. This led to a testy situation during T.I.v6 which I'll get to in another edition of "Trans Iowa Stories".

Next: The Legend Of Charlie Farrow

C.O.G.100 Update: Gear For The C.O.G.

Every entrant that shows up March 20th gets a hat.

C.O.G.100 Update:

We at the C.O.G.100 are pleased to announce our latest gear for the 2020 running of the event. Once again we are working with Bike Rags, an Iowa based company, to do the hats, t-shirts, and the winners Championship Single Speed of Gravel jerseys.

This year we are going to be giving every entrant to the C.O.G. 100 (Registration is open HERE Only a few spots left!), a hat with the Guitar Ted designed artwork on it. The hats will be red, white, and blue and the patch will say "C.O.G. 100 Real American Gravel" on it.

These hats will not be offered for sale outside of the registrants for the event. This keeps the hats special and we wanted to do this for those who commit to riding single speed and that come to do this event. That said, we do have a couple of t-shirts which I am excited about which ARE for sale outside of the event. These are also designed by me and are screen printed on Bike Rags excellent t-shirts. I have one of there t-shirts and it s one of my favorites in the drawer. Anyway, these will be a limited time offer and I'll detail how you can get one for yourself here in a minute.

But first, you are probably going to want to see them, right? Yeah.... I thought so. The event t-shirt will be Olive Drab green in keeping with our veterans theme this year and will have a black logo like the hat has on the patch. The other option is my "Real. American. Gravel" slogan in red, white, and blue on a black (natch) t-shirt.

Okay, so just how can you get your mitts on one of these? Well, you can order your own t-shirt via the registration page for the C.O.G.100 without registering for the event. No obligation to ride in the C.O.G.100 if you don't want to. Just click here and scroll down a bit to see the shirts and follow the prompts to order.

Just as an aside, I am hoping to have some more stuff made available in the future with the "Real American Gravel logo via the e-commerce site for RidingGravel.com at some point. So, this black t-shirt may just be the beginning. Stay tuned on that front....

C.O.G.100 Update: Gear For The C.O.G.

Every entrant that shows up March 20th gets a hat.

C.O.G.100 Update:

We at the C.O.G.100 are pleased to announce our latest gear for the 2020 running of the event. Once again we are working with Bike Rags, an Iowa based company, to do the hats, t-shirts, and the winners Championship Single Speed of Gravel jerseys.

This year we are going to be giving every entrant to the C.O.G. 100 (Registration is open HERE Only a few spots left!), a hat with the Guitar Ted designed artwork on it. The hats will be red, white, and blue and the patch will say "C.O.G. 100 Real American Gravel" on it.

These hats will not be offered for sale outside of the registrants for the event. This keeps the hats special and we wanted to do this for those who commit to riding single speed and that come to do this event. That said, we do have a couple of t-shirts which I am excited about which ARE for sale outside of the event. These are also designed by me and are screen printed on Bike Rags excellent t-shirts. I have one of there t-shirts and it s one of my favorites in the drawer. Anyway, these will be a limited time offer and I'll detail how you can get one for yourself here in a minute.

But first, you are probably going to want to see them, right? Yeah.... I thought so. The event t-shirt will be Olive Drab green in keeping with our veterans theme this year and will have a black logo like the hat has on the patch. The other option is my "Real. American. Gravel" slogan in red, white, and blue on a black (natch) t-shirt.

Okay, so just how can you get your mitts on one of these? Well, you can order your own t-shirt via the registration page for the C.O.G.100 without registering for the event. No obligation to ride in the C.O.G.100 if you don't want to. Just click here and scroll down a bit to see the shirts and follow the prompts to order.

Just as an aside, I am hoping to have some more stuff made available in the future with the "Real American Gravel logo via the e-commerce site for RidingGravel.com at some point. So, this black t-shirt may just be the beginning. Stay tuned on that front....

Friday News And Views

C.O.G. 100 Registration Still Open:

The field for the second annual C.O.G. 100 has been filling up nicely. We still have spots available though, so head on over to the C.O.G. 100 registration page and sign on. We are still looking for you women out there to get on board with this deal too, so keep in mind, that field is small to non-existent and you could be the Iowa Single Speed Gravel Champion. We have hats being designed and everyone signing up gets one. Plus, we have two different t-shirt designs on offer and those are optional. We plan on opening up the t-shirt offer to the general public also, so keep on the lookout for that coming soon.

Otherwise we have a bit of time before we have to get out again to look at the roads once more and assess whether or not we need to execute any re-routes. I know we had a couple of spots we were worried about, so those will be getting our attention first. We have to also clear our start/finish area with the proper authorities. Details like number plates have to be taken care of and organizing volunteers as well. Much to do yet, but I foresee it all coming together well in the end.

The whole "search for a gravel bike" led me to this- The BMC "Orange Crush"

 Time For A Concept Bike Revisited:

Almost ten years ago, in late 2010, I had a series of posts on the site dubbed "Time For A Concept Bike!", and I know it went along to about six or seven parts. In the end of it all, I was supposed to be having a new, custom made rig done in steel.

I had posted my thoughts on the blog with the result being a huge blowing up of discussion and debate about some of my thoughts. Not least of which were that "all I needed was a cyclo cross bike" and the surrounding "geometry differences in millimeters doesn't matter" which came along with all of that. Of course, that is nonsensical thinking, and we all accept that a cyclo cross bike is not a gravel bike these days. Ten years ago, well....it was quite a sticking point. Mostly because there were no gravel bikes. No one had ever ridden what I was talking about, or if they had, they weren't commenting on the blog. People dismissed the idea out of hand.

Well, this mythical gravel rig, hand made as it was going to be, never materialized. I became a bit tight in the funding department, and so I put out a search for a stop-gap bike to "make do" with until such a time arrived that money was less an issue and I could go forward with the project. One thing I was against for this bike was a disc brake. (Which eliminated the Vaya) I narrowed my search down to two cyclo cross inspired rigs, (again- there were no gravel bikes in those days.), but they were cyclo cross in name only. Well, one was actually called a "Monster Cross" bike, and you know now which bike I ended up with.The old orange Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross from 2011.

It is a great bike, but not exactly what I had in mind. So, this "stop-gap" bike was really only meant to be around for a little while. Then 2012 came along and the whole deal with Raleigh and the Tamland started up. I waited to see what that would result in, and in 2014, I got my Tamland. Well, that was "good enough" and by this time the whole "concept bike" thing had faded into a distant memory.

So, I came across those old posts researching stuff on the blog last month. I thought it might be fun to revisit what it was that I had in mind, compare it to some of the more radical "gravel rigs" of 2020, and then, maybe, I will see about actually doing this for real. I'll also see whether I was wrong, or whether I was right, about my guesses from 2010 in terms of what would make a good gravel rig. Stay tuned for that new series coming next week.

The Airbourne Hob Goblin 29"er FS bike.

 Airborne Is Still Doing It:

Let's see, I think the first time I ever heard about Airborne they were doing titanium direct to consumer bikes named after famous WWII bombers and fighter planes. That would have been in the early 2000's. Then there was a problem with the company, resulting in a buyout by the Huffy Corporation. I actually reviewed an Airborne Goblin 29"er about ten or so years ago now.

Looking up the history, I see that Huffy sold the company to the the son of the founder of the DK BMX bike brand, (which Huffy also owned at the time), and he and his team are bringing back Airborne for another go-round selling consumer direct. Yes, consumer direct bike brands have been around a loooong time. 

It's funny when you think about it. Back 20 years ago, a consumer direct brand like Airborne was looked at with very suspicious eyes by most consumers. It was assumed, (and many a time rightly so), that spec and quality wasn't up to snuff. Mainstream brands sneered at these "sub-quality", "pretenders", and paid no attention to the ground swelling of consumer interest in these brands. Much to their detriment, even today, I would suggest.

Consumer direct brands were always assumed to operate in the marketplace as the "cheapest, race to the bottom" back-marker of the industry, but they were striking a nerve, and not just because the prices were so attractive. If you recall, many of these brands did not sell on technical, jargon-infested marketing ploys. They never used pro racers or that sort of "high-brow", ultra-fit athlete look. They sold on the every-man having fun at a price that wasn't bad. They cut the "BS" and went for what makes bikes fun in the first place, you know......fun? Not this "type 2" so-called "fun", or whatever "real racers" and the wannabees come up with for their definition of fun. But the sort of, "get this cheap and get out and have fun already" message which resonates with consumers. They could care less about "APB", "Mini-Link", or whatever length the chain stays are. It was about freaking fun! Pop the rig outta the box, go ride, get rad fun. Cut the song and dance. Ya know?

But the direct to consumer brands didn't make good decisions on components, geometry, and yes, the length of chain stays, so many folks got turned away by their end user experiences. Had companies been more conscious of that, then I feel direct to consumer would have gained a much bigger foothold than they have. They still could, if they upped their consumer satisfaction and serviced them at LBS's.

Yes, I feel that the future will be a blend of the stalled out consumer direct model and the old, stale LBS one. A model where the best of both things will finally create a new model where consumers don't have to navigate "The Culture of Bro" (or the latest "PC-du jour" mash-up) and will get a decently priced bike with "boots on the ground" service that consumer direct never had. Will that be Airbourne, or some other brand? I doubt the "Four Behemoths" of the industry we have now will figure it out. Time will tell......

That's all for this week. have a great weekend, and as always, thank you for reading here!

Friday News And Views

C.O.G. 100 Registration Still Open:

The field for the second annual C.O.G. 100 has been filling up nicely. We still have spots available though, so head on over to the C.O.G. 100 registration page and sign on. We are still looking for you women out there to get on board with this deal too, so keep in mind, that field is small to non-existent and you could be the Iowa Single Speed Gravel Champion. We have hats being designed and everyone signing up gets one. Plus, we have two different t-shirt designs on offer and those are optional. We plan on opening up the t-shirt offer to the general public also, so keep on the lookout for that coming soon.

Otherwise we have a bit of time before we have to get out again to look at the roads once more and assess whether or not we need to execute any re-routes. I know we had a couple of spots we were worried about, so those will be getting our attention first. We have to also clear our start/finish area with the proper authorities. Details like number plates have to be taken care of and organizing volunteers as well. Much to do yet, but I foresee it all coming together well in the end.

The whole "search for a gravel bike" led me to this- The BMC "Orange Crush"

 Time For A Concept Bike Revisited:

Almost ten years ago, in late 2010, I had a series of posts on the site dubbed "Time For A Concept Bike!", and I know it went along to about six or seven parts. In the end of it all, I was supposed to be having a new, custom made rig done in steel.

I had posted my thoughts on the blog with the result being a huge blowing up of discussion and debate about some of my thoughts. Not least of which were that "all I needed was a cyclo cross bike" and the surrounding "geometry differences in millimeters doesn't matter" which came along with all of that. Of course, that is nonsensical thinking, and we all accept that a cyclo cross bike is not a gravel bike these days. Ten years ago, well....it was quite a sticking point. Mostly because there were no gravel bikes. No one had ever ridden what I was talking about, or if they had, they weren't commenting on the blog. People dismissed the idea out of hand.

Well, this mythical gravel rig, hand made as it was going to be, never materialized. I became a bit tight in the funding department, and so I put out a search for a stop-gap bike to "make do" with until such a time arrived that money was less an issue and I could go forward with the project. One thing I was against for this bike was a disc brake. (Which eliminated the Vaya) I narrowed my search down to two cyclo cross inspired rigs, (again- there were no gravel bikes in those days.), but they were cyclo cross in name only. Well, one was actually called a "Monster Cross" bike, and you know now which bike I ended up with.The old orange Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross from 2011.

It is a great bike, but not exactly what I had in mind. So, this "stop-gap" bike was really only meant to be around for a little while. Then 2012 came along and the whole deal with Raleigh and the Tamland started up. I waited to see what that would result in, and in 2014, I got my Tamland. Well, that was "good enough" and by this time the whole "concept bike" thing had faded into a distant memory.

So, I came across those old posts researching stuff on the blog last month. I thought it might be fun to revisit what it was that I had in mind, compare it to some of the more radical "gravel rigs" of 2020, and then, maybe, I will see about actually doing this for real. I'll also see whether I was wrong, or whether I was right, about my guesses from 2010 in terms of what would make a good gravel rig. Stay tuned for that new series coming next week.

The Airbourne Hob Goblin 29"er FS bike.

 Airborne Is Still Doing It:

Let's see, I think the first time I ever heard about Airborne they were doing titanium direct to consumer bikes named after famous WWII bombers and fighter planes. That would have been in the early 2000's. Then there was a problem with the company, resulting in a buyout by the Huffy Corporation. I actually reviewed an Airborne Goblin 29"er about ten or so years ago now.

Looking up the history, I see that Huffy sold the company to the the son of the founder of the DK BMX bike brand, (which Huffy also owned at the time), and he and his team are bringing back Airborne for another go-round selling consumer direct. Yes, consumer direct bike brands have been around a loooong time. 

It's funny when you think about it. Back 20 years ago, a consumer direct brand like Airborne was looked at with very suspicious eyes by most consumers. It was assumed, (and many a time rightly so), that spec and quality wasn't up to snuff. Mainstream brands sneered at these "sub-quality", "pretenders", and paid no attention to the ground swelling of consumer interest in these brands. Much to their detriment, even today, I would suggest.

Consumer direct brands were always assumed to operate in the marketplace as the "cheapest, race to the bottom" back-marker of the industry, but they were striking a nerve, and not just because the prices were so attractive. If you recall, many of these brands did not sell on technical, jargon-infested marketing ploys. They never used pro racers or that sort of "high-brow", ultra-fit athlete look. They sold on the every-man having fun at a price that wasn't bad. They cut the "BS" and went for what makes bikes fun in the first place, you know......fun? Not this "type 2" so-called "fun", or whatever "real racers" and the wannabees come up with for their definition of fun. But the sort of, "get this cheap and get out and have fun already" message which resonates with consumers. They could care less about "APB", "Mini-Link", or whatever length the chain stays are. It was about freaking fun! Pop the rig outta the box, go ride, get rad fun. Cut the song and dance. Ya know?

But the direct to consumer brands didn't make good decisions on components, geometry, and yes, the length of chain stays, so many folks got turned away by their end user experiences. Had companies been more conscious of that, then I feel direct to consumer would have gained a much bigger foothold than they have. They still could, if they upped their consumer satisfaction and serviced them at LBS's.

Yes, I feel that the future will be a blend of the stalled out consumer direct model and the old, stale LBS one. A model where the best of both things will finally create a new model where consumers don't have to navigate "The Culture of Bro" (or the latest "PC-du jour" mash-up) and will get a decently priced bike with "boots on the ground" service that consumer direct never had. Will that be Airbourne, or some other brand? I doubt the "Four Behemoths" of the industry we have now will figure it out. Time will tell......

That's all for this week. have a great weekend, and as always, thank you for reading here!