Bookman Volume Light: Review Part 1

The Bookman Volume light, foreground, and other Bookman products.

 Note: Bookman sent over the Volume light, (as well as some previously reviewed products) for test and review to Guitar Ted Productions at no charge. I am not being paid, nor bribed for this review, and I always strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout. 

Going back to last February I reviewed some Bookman light products. You can click that link to see what the deal was with those lights. They were pretty much a type of light you'd use as an accessory to your main light set up. A "safety light" for daytime riding, ,maybe, or as a fill light for close up sight in the dark. But there was no mistaking those for a "to see by" head lamp that you could rely on for city or gravel riding. They just did not pack enough punch, nor do they have long enough run times. 

So, back in June I got a little more excited about Bookman when word came down from their hired marketing firm that a "serious" torch was on the way with a very unique take on design. I actually put in a request for the light to review but after a couple of months I wrote it off as something that may not happen. Then a box showed up on Monday and what do you know? It was the Volume light along with another set of the lights I had reviewed previously. 

What comes in the box.

The Volume light is a unique take on a bicycle light to "see by" with its unusual knob sticking out of the side of it. Typically an LED, self-contained torch will utilize a button that forces you to scroll through all the light modes to get to where you want the light. This is somewhat annoying if, say, you are on the second from the highest setting but you want to toggle to "High". The light may force you to scroll through the lower settings before it will come back around to the highest one. This happens a lot with typical LED based bicycle torches. 

The Volume dispenses with that allowing you to simply twist the knob, (like a stereo volume knob, thus the name), to go directly to the setting you want. One motion. Boom. Done. 

You also will find that the Bookman Volume dispenses with silly, proprietary mounts and instead utilizes a Garmin mount. This is a great idea. I've seen a few lights that utilize the Go Pro mount, and that is nice too, but the amount of cyclists that have Garmin mounts probably outweighs those who might have a Go Pro mount by what I would wager is a fair amount. So, kudos to Bookman for that smart idea. 

What It Is: Besides those two innovative features, the Volume light comes in two versions and three colors. The maximum power varies from the range-topping 1500 Lumen model to the (tested) 800 Lumen model. Colors are Orange, Black, or White (tested). 

The Volume 800 has five levels of steady light output and five levels of flashing light. The flashing light levels are reached by a short push on the power button on the top/front of the Volume and another short push of that same button takes you back to steady light modes. In either mode, different power levels are adjusted by the knob. A long push of the power button turns the light on or off. 

Other features include a replaceable LI-ION 18650 power cell, (UPDATE 12/04/23: NOTE: It is not the standard 18650 battery as this Bookman variant has both the negative and positive ends on one end of the battery. Bookman says it will offer replacements/extra batteries in the near future.), side indicator lights, a series of 4 small LED's to indicate power level in reserve, and a USB C charging port on the left side of the light. The Volume comes with handlebar compatible Garmin style mount, a Go Pro Garmin style mount, and two different length straps to cover most handle bar situations. A USB-C charging cord rounds out the contents of the box. 

The use of a Garmin style mount is a really smart choice.

Run Times: 

Flashing Modes	Runtime  (hours)**
1	6
2	11
3	12
4	35
5	120

 

Steady Modes	Runtime  (hours)**
100%	3
50%	5
25%	11
10%	17
5%	35

 *True Lumens: measured according to the ANSI / NEMA FL1 standard

** Modes are subject to change

Price: $107.00USD

The Volume has a replaceable Li-Ion battery cell.

Impressions: I received the white model and out of the box it reminded me a whole lot of an Apple product. I imagine had I received the orange one it may not have been quite so "Apple-like" but it was with the white light body. The design is smaller than I was thinking from promotional materials I had seen. It is well done and feels like a quality product in the hand. 

The Garmin type handlebar mount looks smartly done. You have a pretty sturdy plastic strap with an attached rubber strip to help it grip slippery metal or carbon handle bars. This has one end anchored into the base of the mount with an Allen bolt. The other end has a loop with a barrel that has a threaded hole in it which accepts a single 3mm Allen head bolt that runs through the base and attaches the mount to the bar. 

I mounted the light on my Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross rig for now and the mounting went smoothly. The Garmin type mount is simple to use and quite secure. 

A long push and the light comes alive. The Volume's knob has a satisfying detent at each level of light. There is no doubt about where you are at in regards to the knob's positioning. Bookman could easily have flubbed this point up. However; I feel the detents are spot on and reassuring. 

That said, it is easy to twist the knob quickly right where you want it. That's a great thing, but on my initial test ride, I also noted that you can get your hand to the knob and back without even thinking about it. A button to scroll takes longer, and so in trickier situations, the Volume is going to be so much easier to use without worrying about having your hand off the bar too long. 

That mount is also a thing of beauty. Rock solid. And you can tweak the position of the light off-axis slightly to accommodate a swept bar or a off-centerline mounting position. The side light indicators are cool, and the power level LED's glow a nice green color on top to let you know where you are at with reserve power. 

I have to do more night rides and grab some good images of the beam pattern, etc, before I can really say much more. That said, so far this light is impressive. The mount, the knob, and the entire design overall is really well done and looks killer. Time will tell how things wear and how things will do after I have this for a bit. Stay tuned for an update to come.

Two Things

Image from the 2020 C.O.G. 100 course which was never used.

Single Speed Is Not Dead - At Least Not On Gravel!

Over the weekend there was a single speed-only event held in Iowa. It was called the "Limestone 66.6". Billed as the "Iowa Single Speed Gravel Championships", the event was well attended, well received, and by all accounts was well run also. 

Of course, long-time blog readers here will note that N.Y. Roll and I also ran an Iowa Single Speed Gravel Championship which was called the C.O.G. 100 back in 2019 and it was planned to happen for 2020, but we all know what happened THAT year. So, anyway.... Yeah, I was happy to see the idea picked up and that it continues on as this Limestone 66.6 event. 

I know that I have mentioned this here before, but single speed bicycles, and specifically single speed gravel bikes, are a niche that many riders are very passionate about in 2023. Now, I have to say, this surprises me in the size of response I have gotten to a couple of podcasts I've put out about the genre' and from hits on the subject here as well. 

I know I like single speed graveling around the countryside, I just didn't realize how much others did as well. So, single speed is alive and well, at least in the gravel cycling world, if not in other places as in cycling. 

The Ergon GP1 EVO grip on my On One Inbred

New Grip Day With The Ergon GP1 EVO:

Friday in the "FN&V" I led off with Ergon's redesign of the GP1 grip, their flagship grip, now dubbed the "GP1 Evo". Well, I had forgotten that I mentioned in my response to the marketing department that if they were of a mind, I would test a set of the redesigned grip. Well. guess what showed up in the mail Saturday?

So- YES: I received the Ergon GP1 Evo grips at no charge for test and review. 

Now, are they really any different? That was my question. I happen to have several bikes set up with GP1's, the OG's of Ergon's grip range, and here are my thoughts out of the box. 

First, the aluminum clamp is really different. The old one is bigger, or maybe I should say longer as I look at it. Then the clamping bolt, which stares you in the face with the old GP1 is now underneath, out of sight, on the Evo. That's the most obvious change. 

The rest is subtle and you need an old GP1 next to a GP1 Evo to see and feel the differences. First, to my eye, the new grip has a slightly different, maybe bigger, winged section over that of the old GP1. They look similar, but they are different. 

The other thing has to do with feel. The older GP1's all had a very weird, "hard" edge to the wing bit except at the very apex of the end of the wing where it turned back toward the clamp. That small bit was flexible. The new GP1 Evo seems to be flexible all along that edge of the wing. The rubber feels somewhat different as well. Something maybe in the durometer of the rubber compound is different here with the newer grip. It feels subtly softer,or that it has more "give". 

Otherwise everything else is familiar with the new GP1 Evo. As the name suggests, this is more of an "evolution" of the GP1. Is it better? That's the question. I should have an answer soon. Stay tuned....

Tomorrow: Something else I requested for review showed up after about two months from the original request. Of course, I had forgotten all about it. Stay tuned to find out what it is.....

Well, What Did You Expect?

 In Case You Missed It: 

The UCI held its Men's and Women's Gravel World Championships over the weekend. The racing world was quite busy over the weekend as not only were these gravel races being contested, but various Pro road races and cyclo cross events, not to mention a MTB World Cup event, were all run as well. So, if you missed the gravel coverage, it wouldn't be very surprising. 

But if you caught any of the goings on, you already know that the UCI stubbed its toe - again - by not broadcasting the Women's event and by having full coverage of the Men's event the following day. But what you may have missed is that all the men's and women's age category events were run on the same course, on the same day, with slightly varying start times, as the women's event. That's very telling, and I have some thoughts about that as it concerns why the result made many people upset. 

From the UCI Gravel World Series social media.

So, there was no broadcast of the women's elite event, and maybe the reason why was because the field of elite women ended up getting mixed up with all the men's and women's age group categories during the event. The course was done in a loop fashion so that the riders came back through the start/finish area and went out into the country again. This allowed the fields to intermingle and so it would have been nigh unto impossible to properly showcase just the elite women's field. 

It is reminiscent of one of the hotly debated topics within the Life Time Grand Prix series of events. That being that the Women's Pro field was not separated from men's groups and that the Pro women found it difficult to know who they were actually racing. Furthermore; it was said that several women were using men as drafting partners, which was seemingly a big issue at Unbound in 2022. Unbound then tried to separate the women and men's fields by having staggered start times, but due to conditions on course this year that met with middling success. 

At the World Gravel Championships the clips shown of the women's elite field clearly show the top women racers mixed in with and drafting off of their larger male counterparts in the event, which according to many US women gravel racers is an unfair racing tactic. (Note: I am not interjecting my opinion on that issue) 

From the UCI social media. .

 While I am not going to weigh in on either side of that argument, I will say that I think that is why the UCI did not feature the Women's Elite race as they did the Elite Men's. The Men's event, which was run on a separate day and without intermingling with lower classes or women's fields, was much easier to broadcast. There wasn't all the confusion with the lower classes, which begs a question: "How does the UCI really see Women's Elite Gravel racing?" . 

I guess one could argue that running all the classes concurrently, (or nearly so) along with the Women's Elite field on Saturday was more "gravel" than not. However; it is my understanding that the female Pro's don't think that's the way things ought to be done, so take that as you may. 

 So, while it seemed like a big miss on the UCI's part, they would most likely claim it was due to a formatting issue. Which doesn't make it any better, and in that light, it maybe is a worse offense, since it puts Elite level Women's racing at the Pro level in a "undercard" position. 

But this is the UCI, after all. What did you expect?

Related post: "The Two Worlds of Gravel"

The GTDRI Stories: The 2017 GTDRI - Part 4

 "The GTDRI Stories" is a series telling the history, untold tales, and showing the sights from the run of Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals. This series will run on Sundays. Thanks for reading!

The ride pulled into Traer where I had stopped various rides and for events before. Kevin hooked back up with us and so the group was, at least for a time, all back together again. 

The GTDRI, and any ride I've done, really, has to be seen as an opportunity to ride places that we may never get to ride again. I am not sure I had that sense back in 2017, at least not fully baked in to my brain, but this particular ride stands out as a prime example of why we need to cherish every time we get to ride anywhere. 

Leaving Traer we went out Westward and took the first left hand turn we could. This led up and past a farmstead, then the road went downward toward the Wolf Creek and a low water crossing. The road turned to dirt after the farm, and it was a fabulous little stretch of Iowa rustic roadway. "Was" being the operative word as I have learned now that this chunk of awesomeness has been gated and is now a limited access "C Level" road. 

Glad I got to ride that the few times that I did!

My bike laying on the low water crossing of Wolf Creek in 2017. Now it is a gated C Road, so you cannot ride here anymore.

The hits didn't stop as now a section South of the low water crossing is also a C Level roadway and was used on the 2017 GTDRI. In fact, it had a "Road Closed" sign on it that year, were only a couple of weeks prior, it was open. I hear that many Level B's are being decommissioned in and around Tama County now, which, honestly, is not all that surprising. 

But it does point out that these sorts of rides are gifts and that the experiences can be a one-time affair in more ways than one. It probably seems silly to many people that I feel this way, but getting to see these rural slices of paradise is a privilege and an honor. I don't take it lightly now days. I try to be intentional when I ride to be present and be soaking it all in. I do that for many reasons, but this is about roads. 

Changes. The only constant is change.....

O Avenue. Once one of the longest unbroken sections of Level B travel you could experience anywhere in Iowa. 

Kevin was hurting, although he did leave Traer with us, it didn't last long, so we gave him directions back to Reinbeck and he slowly rolled away. Now down to six riders we rode onward into the most interesting roads of the day, and it was now hot and humid. A "real" GTDRI after all!

This was the ride where I discovered that "N" Avenue had this long, winding, grinder of a climb. It started out tame enough, but it ramped up at the end and it persisted in its gradient long enough that you either were walking at the end or mashing your lowest gear, just barely moving up bit by bit. 

This is one of those great climbs that many don't think Iowa has. Well, I invite you to ride N Avenue in Tama County from the North and then you can tell me what you think. 

N Avenue climb. Looks easy. It is not easy!

The ride moved over to the West side of Highway 63 after this and there were more awesome roads to ride on. My biggest regret about the ride after this was that my camera battery crapped out at this point and I only had a cell phone camera with me a a back-up. That was fine, but I had to dismount to use that, so images were few after this section. 

Next: The end of the 2017 GTDRI.

Adventure Riding Not Racing - Focus For Gravel Kansas

The focus is on routes for riding, not racing.

Several years ago I rode in the DK200, (the "Mud Year") , and afterward I had a bit of a revelation. There was something I felt I was missing, and I figured it out or myself. Since that time I have been less focused on doing races and more focused on riding. Riding for fun. Riding for adventure. Riding to meet new people. As I think about that, this, more than anything else about "Gravel™", was what was most important to me. 

The thing is, I do love riding on gravel roads and dirt roads. That child-like excitement to see what's over that next hill and around that corner, is what drives me to seek out new routes and loops to do. And I'm not the only one that feels this way. The thing is, it isn't easy to choose where to go. Throw a dart at a map? Just search around with no real compass for the "good stuff"? That seems like not such a great plan.

Had something like Gravel Kansas existed in 2016, maybe I could have learned the story behind Chalk District 3.

Seems that, for many folks, you need a map, a guide, a plan of some sort. A story line to follow might make things more interesting. Maybe you'd see and feel things you may have missed easily had you not had the information ahead of time.  Well, at least in Kansas, there is  a resource like this now.  LeLan Dains came up with another idea that combines his love of gravel, adventure, history, and community. It's called "Gravel Kansas", and it is going to be the central source for routes and rides that will allow folks to pry into those nooks and crannies of Kansas that you never knew existed. 

Routes will be curated on the site by region and level of difficulty. Information about each route will illuminate the history and the importance of the area to people of Kansas past and present. (Example here) Riders will be able therefore to appreciate and experience the route in a way that you could not unless you had a guide rich in the local history. More rides will be added as time goes along.

Makes me jealous, it does! We should have something like this in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois, and all over wherever folks have cool gravel routes to share, discover, and connect with stories. Then you could, say, get a few of your friends together, go to a state, pick a route, delve into it with the guidance from a site like Gravel Kansas, and taste the local scene in a way that couldn't be done, or done easily, without such a resource. 

I raise a toast to Gravel Kansas. It's a capital idea, and one that we all should support and emulate.

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Ergon

 Ergon Redesigns Flagship Grip:

Ergon announced yesterday that their iconic "winged" design grip has been refreshed and released for use. Using a manufacturing process that reduces waste to near-zero, and using refined rubber and natural cork (GP-1 BioKork Evo) , this grip represents a responsibly produced product that is 100% manufactured in Germany and is SGS certified. Using SGS certified, pollutant-free, medical grade rubber, the grip meets German toy and food standards. 

In the case of the BioKork GP-1 Evo, the grip contains 40% organically grown cork from Portugal and the rest is manufactured to SGS standards in Germany. 

The aluminum clamp is integrated into the GP-1 Evo and BioKork Evo grips and now features a hidden hex head clamping bolt. 

Prices are $39.95 for the GP-1 Evo and $49.95 for the BioKork GP-1 Evo. These are available now via Ergon's Amazon partners or from bike shops with a Quality Bicycle Products account. 

Comments: the much-copied, flagship grip from Ergon gets a long awaited refresh but it seems to have retained its basic features which made it a revolutionary grip in 2005 when it arrived on the scene here in the US. I know that I have personally gained much from having these grips installed on my bicycles since 2005, which has increased comfort and reduced hand numbness for me to a great degree. 

Interesting from my viewpoint is that Trans Iowa was Ergon's first sponsorship activation in the USA back in 2005. Ergon supplied each of the starting riders a set of the then unknown grips. It is safe to say that this sponsorship not only enhanced Trans Iowa as a concept for an event, but set Ergon off in an upward trajectory with endurance cyclists and mountain bikers immediately. Ergon also graciously allowed Jeff and I our own sets of GP-1 grips which was how I was introduced to the grip's benefits. 

Check out the Ergon GP-1 grips here. Thank you to Ergon for the information and image used in this post. 

Guitar Ted Podcast Episode #30:

Well, we've put up another episode of the "GTP" again, and we covered the discontinued  Cross Check model, plus a whole bunch of other stuff. You can listen HERE if you care to. I'd be honored if you decide to listen in on any of our episodes. 

This Cross Check thing kind of caught me by surprise. The discontinuation bit and the reaction from riders. Apparently, Surly doing this struck a nerve in many of you. Has Surly done a disservice to its original ethos? Has Surly "lost its way" lately? Seems that many of those who are lamenting the loss of the Cross Check, 1X1, and the Long Haul Trucker seem to think so. And what about the old Pugs? That's gone too. 

My feeling is that this all started back in the early twenty-teens. I spent time in the bowels of the QBP mother ship at different Frostbike gatherings and I could see the "foundation issues" within the organization. Any company worth its salt has a strong core of people. Humans that drive the thing and have passion for that mission are necessary for the end product's appeal to the customer base. Those "foundational" people all started to fall away in the twenty-teens. The mold had been cast for what has happened now, to a degree. 

Of course, a world-wide pandemic, economic upheavals, and other factors come into play here, but a lot of what we see now is the fall-out of stuff that had its beginnings over a decade ago now. That's my take. But the reasons why we are at where we are at with Surly's products have just served to lead us to the current state of affairs. That's all it is. That's something that cannot be undone. Things change, times end, and so I remember the Cross Check with fondness for where it took us.  

Image courtesy of Mavic USA.

Mavic Introduces All-Road Wheels & Shoes:

Mavic. Remember them? Well, they are back again and now have a USA office. They just introduced two sets of wheels and a couple of shoes for riders of gravel and dirt. 

What is interesting is that Mavic decided to enter the complete wheel market in the entry level. These are aluminum rimmed wheels with the patented Mavic FORE rim design which leaves no spoke hole drillings which would require rim tape. These rims don't need that as the rim well is solid aluminum. 

The hub for the rear wheel uses what Mavic calls "ID360" design, but basically what it is is a star ratchet system. DT Swiss used to have the exclusive patent on that design but it has run out now, so you will see that offered in several wheel designs in the future and this is one of them. 

The wheels are not what you'd call "impressively light weight". The All Road S weighs in at 1700 grams and the SL version weighs 45 grams less. However; there is some versatility in the axle standards as Mavic says that you can get 15mm end caps for front wheels and a QR end cap for rear wheels in this range. (Note: It wasn't clear if a QR end cap is available for front wheels.) The wheels ship with the now standard 12mm through axle compatible end caps. Prices set at $530.00 USD for the All Road S and $830.00 USD for the All Road SL wheels. 

Image courtesy of Mavic USA

The shoes I would be interested in are these Cosmic BOA SPD kicks with a faux leather upper and a fiberglass reinforced Nylon sole. The BOA dial is the one that you can micro-adjust on the fly, which is a nice feature. 

The perforations promise some air flow and the rubber walking tread areas on the bottom promise safe walking in convenience stores when you are looking for that savory slice of Casey's pizza! 

These come in a brown (shown) and black, but since Jeff Kerkove told me about dark shoes making your feet hotter I have been wishing for lighter colored footwear. So, that's a bummer here because you cannot get that with these shoes. 

Comments: I like the shoes, and the wheels are kind of a head scratcher. I mean, yeah.....if my stock wheels on - say a Journeyer - were up for replacement, these would be marginally better for not a whole lot of cash. However; wheels are so competitively priced now that you can get a nice set of carbon rimmed wheels for about the same price as the All Road SL's. So, it's a bit puzzling on that side as to why Mavic would choose to go into the high-end aluminum complete wheel market and not have something on offer that is lighter weight. 

LeMond All-Road Prolog - A Gravel eBike from LeMond?

So when Greg LeMond decided to start an independent bicycle company I assumed, as I am sure many of you all did, that there would be a drop bar bike of some type immediately. 

But there wasn't.

It was electrified flat bar bikes, then a Dutch inspired ebike, and after all that, I figured, well.....maybe LeMond isn't into drop bar bikes anymore. Weird thought, but ya know..... 

Well, then this All - Road bike debuts, and it is kind of impressive. Especially when I think about that Specialized bike I talked about last week. This LeMond bike costs significantly less, has better range, and weighs under 30lbs. Plus it comes with Panaracer Gravel Kings at 700 X 43mm size with room to spare. 

Adding in some proper geometry, and you know what? I'd ride this sans motor. I am not interested in electrified bikes, but a gravel bike from LeMond? That'd be pretty cool.

That's all for this week! Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Wilde Bicycle Co. X Country Bar: Impressions

 Note: Wilde Bikes sent the X Country Bar over to me for test and review at no charge. I am not being paid, nor bribed, for this post.

So, what do I think about the Wilde Bicycle Co. X Country Bar? The bar I introduced on Saturday here?  Well, it is a different ride feel for sure and it rides better than a lot of MTB bars I have tried. 

So that's a good thing. But what does that mean. Well.... That's the hard part. See, you cannot just say that it is "this or that" because you don't notice a lot going on here. (I'll come back to that point, so keep that in mind)

Of course, if you set any handle bar up in a goofy, inconsiderate way, it will feel awful, and the X Country Bar is no exception. However; I actually did consider how I wanted the up-sweep and how I wanted the stem height as I installed the bar. I considered the brake lever angle and set that up the way I generally prefer things. I angled and inset the Paul Thumbie mounts "just so". I am particular about thumb shifter set up because I don't generally use my thumbs to move the levers. I use my fingers and the back side of my hand far more than I use my thumbs. That's from years of thumb shifter usage back in the 90's. 

So, if I considered all those things, and I got that even close to "right" for me, then the handle bar would be a LOT more friendly and enjoyable. And the X Country Bar was just that. Fortunately there is a lot of space to set the controls just the way you might consider setting them up, so that's also very nice. 

The X Country Bar definitely has plenty of "wing span".

The 800mm width is plenty wide for my tastes. I really don't think I'd want wider bars, and at times I choked up on the grips a bit and thought that I maybe could do with about 20mm less width. But since this is a test of the entire bar, I decided to use the entire bar. By the way, there are no cut down marks on the X Country Bar and Wilde doesn't say you can cut them down. Another reason I left well enough alone. I do need to ask about that though..... UPDATED: Jeffrey Frane says about cutting the bars down: " You can cut them down. Though I can’t say how far off the top of my head." So, I guess I'll leave the bars as they are for now!

See, the thing is that our single track zips along and goes through some pretty tight spaces between trees at times. Ever smacked the end of your handle bar on a tree? It isn't an advisable thing to do, by the way. Been there, done that!

So there were a few times I tried to think "skinny", set my sights dead center, and held on tight. So far, I have not encountered any 799mm or less spaces. But I bet it was close a couple of times! Just another reason that, for me, I might want a slightly narrower bar. You? That's for you to decide. 

So besides thinking about how wide these handle bars are from time to time, I didn't think about these handle bars much. Yeah, I realize that I am supposed to be paying attention. It was just that I was ripping corners and honking up short steeps and, you know, generally having myself a bit of fun. Like you are supposed to do when riding single track. 

I guess I didn't really think much about the bars and how they felt until I stopped briefly and leaned on the bars a minute. "Hmm.... These do have a bit of 'give' to them, don't they?" And that's when I noted that I hadn't felt that dreaded "zing" in the palms of my hands when your front tire hits a trail feature, like an embedded rock, suddenly. Remember, this is a rigid fork. So, yeah. That was very nice!

The bars didn't feel dead, but they weren't giving me fits in corners or on climbs  when I was leveraging the bars for some added "grunt". So again, very nice! 

What I didn't notice and all that was "very nice" added up to a positive experience with the Wilde X Country Bar. I'd go so far to say it has been a pretty "moto" component so far. And you know what they say about components that ain't moto. 

Stay tuned for some gravel travel experiences with the X Country Bar.

When Gravel Was Trying To Find Its Way, The Cross Check Helped It Get There

A snippet from a 2000 Surly catalog on the Cross Check.

Yesterday I saw reports that Surly Bikes had discontinued the long-running Cross Check model from its line up going forward. This cannot go unnoticed by myself, and I feel this bike deserves a few comments. It is, in my humble opinion, THE bike that helped launch the gravel cycling scene in the 2000's.

Originally the Cross Check was a bike meant to fulfill the market demand for an inexpensive bike to go ride in cyclo cross events. At that time, in the late 1990's, cyclo cross was seeing bigger numbers for events, and "bandit" cross racing was surging in popularity. The underground cyclo cross scene was a kindred spirit to the single speed scene in that both embraced the renegade stance against traditional sanctioned events. The Cross Check fit that scene as it embodied a "do-it-yourself" ethos and allowed the use of standardized parts so people who purchased the original run of frames in 1999 could "make it their own" out of whatever parts they could scrounge up. 

Single speed, geared, flat bar, drop bar, or whatever. The Surly offering was versatile and Surly found that demand was surprisingly high for the frame set. Taking cues from original Cross Check owners, Surly modified the Cross Check for 2000 slightly and, for the first time, offered a complete bike. The sales continued to be strong into the early 2000's.

From the beginnings of the "Modern Gravel Scene" here at T.I. v1 2005, the Cross Check has made its mark

That same renegade spirit and versatility in set-up served to make the Cross Check THE gravel bike of choice as the 2000's saw the dawn of what would become today's gravel scene. With bike choices ranging from 26" full suspension rigs to carbon fiber cross bikes, and back again to "rat-rod" gravel mutts, the Cross Check emerged as the gravel bike that could do it all. Single speed, 1X, multiple ring chain sets, drop or flat bar, the Cross Check was an inexpensive, durable, well-designed bike with the ability to be fitted with a wide range of current or vintage components. 

Craig Irving  (L) piloting his well-loved Cross Check in 2013 on a gravel group ride.

The reign of the Cross Check saw its zenith in the early twenty-teens as gravel cycling started to take off. By 2012, Salsa Cycles introduced the first purpose built gravel bike, and by 2014 other companies were jumping into the fray. The Cross Check's days of being probably the most common bike at many gravel events were numbered. 

Greg Gleason (L) and Walter Zitz, (R) on a Cross Check, winning the fastest ever Trans Iowa in 2016.

Still, the Cross Check remained a gravel cycling staple well into the late twenty-teens. However; the encroachment of disc brakes and riders who weren't brought up with the more renegade, underground ethos, which was a mainstay of the early gravel scene, saw the Cross Check getting passed by for more technologically advanced bikes. Turnkey gravel rigs which were lighter and designed more for rider comfort and endurance took center stage in the gravel bike stakes and consumers were smitten by the shiny, new bikes which were not anything like the Cross Check.

Should the Straggler have been the "Cross Check Disc" instead?

The Cross Check may have survived all of that, but instead of choosing to evolve the design, Surly came out with the disc brake standard Straggler in 2013. The bike that could have been the Cross Check Disc, but was not. Surly then confused matters even more with the introduction of the Bridge Club, the Midnight Special, and Preamble bikes. All bikes taking cues from the Cross Check, but none of which had that same versatility and "mojo" that the Cross Check had.

Meanwhile the Cross Check was left behind, staying largely as it had been since the year 2000. After a 24 year run, maybe it should not be surprising that Surly dropped the bike. Now that the model is no more, it is only fitting that we remember the contribution that the Surly Cross Check made in enhancing and furthering along the early gravel scene. Had there not been such an inexpensive, easy to set up, versatile and capable machine, it is not out of the realms of possibility that the gravel scene may not have been as quick to grow as it did. 

Surly put this out on social media Tuesday evening. Take from that what you will.

  So, it is time to take stock of what it was to the gravel cycling scene. The bike that once was sold as the renegade cross bike choice, or every-man's commuter rig, became the vehicle which drove gravel cycling toward its massive popularity. Showing that there was a market to be had for products specifically aimed at gravel riding, be that fast or slow. Thanks Surly and to you owners of Cross Checks, keep rolling on!

Esker Debuts Hayduke LVS

Be Like J.P.: The Esker Hayduke LVS (Image Courtesy of Esker)

Many of you dear readers have no doubt seen and heard about Jay Petervary's tragic ending to his Great Divide Unearthed ride aboard a prototype long wheelbased bike packing bike from Esker Cycles. Well, good news on two fronts: JP is aggressively attacking rehab, as you'd expect, and making progress. Secondly, Esker Cycles has released the Hayduke LVS for your consideration as a bikepacking/touring platform. 

The frame is made out of titanium with cold-formed tubing. It features the same front triangle as Esker's Hayduke hard tail bike. So, it can handle up to a 120mm travel suspension fork. Tire clearance is up to 29" X 2.8" tires. 

The frame also features 24 accessory mounting points for bolt on frame bags, or water bottle cages. The frame has 6mm rack mounting points and Esker also has created the "MOLLE Rackwald" (Ha!) rack which utilizes the MOLLE accessory/pack mounting standard. The rack is available separately at $300.00. The Hayduke LVS is also compatible with Salsa, Old Man Mountain, and other rear racks.

The Hayduke LVE shown with the MOLLE Rackwald and Cedaero frame bags.

Frame bag companies already set up for making Hayduke LVS bags are as follows: Cedaero, Rogue Panda, and JPacks. I would assume others will follow if this bike goes as well as planned. 

The frame has the new version of the Portage dropouts which can allow a single speed, bail-out option. This dropout also is compatible with the UDH hangar and SRAM Transmission rear derailleurs. 

All images in this post are courtesy of Esker Cycles.

Price: $2950.00 USD or a complete bike can be had for $4950.00 USD. See the webpage for the Hayduke LVS HERE. 

Comments: The concept of this bike is intriguing. It draws obvious comparisons to the old Salsa Cycles Blackborow (v2) which was a fat bike with a very similar profile. A bike JP actually used for his successful Iditarod attempt to Nome, Alaska several years ago. 

I've heard nothing but good things about how that Salsa fat bike handles, climbs, and rides. Esker claims that this is a superior ride quality bike packing rig, and with it being made in titanium, I've no doubt that this is the case. JP seemed plenty pleased with his prototype that was sadly destroyed in the crash he suffered at the hands of motor vehicle operator. 

I'm interested in the bike since it can handle 29 X 2.8" tires, which I would want to run on something like this at times. (Most of the time?) I love the frame material. I am intrigued by the frame pack capacity, although this could be like purses and garages: The bigger they are, the more stuff you fill them with. Maybe unnecessary stuff... 

I'm a bit reticent to consider this on the basis of its price, fair as that may be, and maybe more importantly, because the bike is long, probably ungainly to portage, and a chore (on my end) to park it when not in use. But those are my problems, not necessarily your problems, so take that under advisement. 

Overall I think this is a rad idea for gravel, rough-road, and off-road touring. It should be a really sweet riding bike, but of course, I don't know that, I am speculating here. However; if JP has nothing but good things to say, that's a heady endorsement. Expensive, yes, but worth it if it does the tricks it claims it will do. It will be fun to see what people make of this as time goes on.

Thanks to Esker Cycles for the press release and information used in this post.

The Inbred Returns

Escape Route: Alleys

You saw Saturday that I received a Wilde Bicycle Co. X Country Bar to test out. Well, you cannot do that testing without putting it on a bicycle. That seems obvious, but here at G-Ted Laboratories the choice of which bike to install it on is not quite as an obvious choice as you might think. 

After a little bit of thought the choice became clear. I resurrected the OG Inbred, again, after it had set in my spare repair stand for what? A year plus some? I think I tore it down sometime in 2021? 

At any rate, I had to do a bit of work to get it up and going. Back last time the Inbred was up and running it was set up with a drop bar and a dropper post. I had a 2 X 10 gear set up, which ironically had been straight-up pulled off my old Fargo Gen 2 bike and slapped onto the Inbred. That set up was originally put together in 2015! 

I had some head scratching time, thinking over how I wanted to accomplish the build with the X Country Bar. I had a flat bar on the Inbred already in an aborted attempt to resurrect it earlier and that had the front derailleur being operated by a SRAM TT shifter mounted to a Paul Components Thumbie. I had the other TT shifter as a bar end shifter and the other Paul Thumbie mount sitting in a bin. So, with the bike having a Shimano rear derailleur it presented a choice. Pull all the other stuff with the exception of the Shimano rear derailleur, and go Shimano, or use the SRAM stuff, find a SRAM 10spd rear derailleur, and use those Paul mounts which might be pretty cool with the X Country Bar.

The "maiden voyage" was in the Green Belt

Moderate to severe drought conditions all Summer have decimated Black Hawk Creek

Trouble was that I could not find a 10 speed SRAM derailleur that I thought I had. I asked N.Y. Roll if he had one and he did not, but he asked a mutual friend, Joe, if he had one. Joe didn't realize I was asking for an MTB rear derailleur and proffered up two road SRAM ten speed rear derailleurs. Bummer! 

But eventually I did find my errant 10 speed rear mech so the plan came back into focus. Saturday evening I slapped everything together. Now, yes- These are some tired old drive train parts, but if this sticks, meaning that "if I like the way it all shakes out", I will upgrade those bits then. At this point, everything is functional and works perfectly. 

The Inbred emerges from the shadows to live again!

History Time: The On One Inbred I have here has been around as long as this blog has been around. I found out that On One was trying to establish a US distribution partner in 2005. However; the partners didn't come to terms and a small amount of On One product was being off-loaded at pretty cheap prices. One of the things the rep had, who often visited the shop where I worked, was a list of things on close-out. On One Inbred frame and forks were listed but they did not have 20" frames, only 18's. I took a chance on the 18" frame and fork.

I built it up originally as a single speed. Because I used 180mm cranks the saddle to bar height wasn't too ridiculous. I rode the bike in the very first DK200 in 2006. Then I rode it as part of a team at a 12 hour event in Boone Iowa. My only 12/24hr MTB experience. Our team, all single speeders, won our category. Then the Inbred kind of fell out of favor as "the" bike as I got other bikes and time went on. 

By 2009 I had sold the bike to a co-worker named Craig. He rode it in that year's GTDRI. Then he gave it to his brother who rode it in Colorado and Kansas amongst other places. His brother eventually returned the bike to him. Then one day, my old co-worker, Craig, had remembered that I had asked for dibs on repurchasing this frame. He dropped the bike off at unawares to me. I found the bike, partially assembled, on my workbench in 2016, seven years after parting with it! 

Thick carpet of leaves here on the Green Belt trail.

It'll be awhile before we reach peak Fall colors, if we ever do.

So, after that the Inbred kind of was in various states of assemblage and although I ended up with the fork, it was broken. Fortunately I had an On One Carbon SuperLight fork to take the steel fork's place. So, that went on the bike, it went through that drop bar phase, and now we have it back again in a flat bar set up as a 2 X 10 geared, SRAM bike. 

Marky-Mark trail. True single track experience.

So, the final build here is the aforementioned SRAM TT shifters on Paul Components Thumbie mounts, a SRAM x9 rear derailleur, a SRAM front derailleur, a 10 speed cassette 11 - 36T, the 2X Origin 8 crankset with a 44T X 29T combination, and that turns a SRAM PC-950 9 speed chain (not a typo). The brakes are Avid BB-7's pulled by Deore levers. I used a Cane Creek Thudbuster post because my Redshift Sports ShockStop seat post wasn't long enough. (Darn it!) That is topped off by an older WTB Laser V saddle. The Wilde bar, of course, and Salsa lock-on grips. The wheels are WTB Team i23 laced to American Classic hubs. Those are set up with tubeless Hutchinson Kraken tires. 

I've never seen this pond, along Marky-Mark, totally dry.

"True" single track. Again, on Marky-Mark.

The big test ride was going to be a two-pronged goal for me. First, I wanted to see how far along the Fall colors were. Second, I needed to do my bi-annual inspection of Marky-Mark, the trail I helped to install in 1996 in the Green Belt. It is essentially a cut-off trail which bridges the two forks of the Green Belt Trail along Ridgeway Avenue. 

A sandy section of trail on the Green Belt Lake loop.

A little clearer look at the Inbred.

The Green Belt is in a pretty highly stressed state. The usual lush green strip along the Black Hawk Creek has been stunted and browned to a crisp in several areas. The creek itself is about as low as I've ever seen it before and I've been going through this area since the mid-1980's. 

I checked out Marky-Mark last Spring and it needed a lot of work. Two or three dead-falls were too big to ride over and were in need of removal. I don't have that sort of tool,or tools necessary to accomplish a removal of a tree like that, so when I went through Sunday morning I was not hopeful that it would be clear. 

The Green Belt Lake is alarmingly low as well.

The other bit of "true" single track in the Green Belt is this cut-off from the lake to the main trail.

Surprisingly, Marky-Mark was 100% rideable! I was a bit surprised, but pleased, by that. Obviously someone else has taken some "ownership" in the bit of trail. Whatever the case may be, the trail is all there and in outstanding shape, given the dry, hot weather we've had. 

The bike and the handle bar? Yes, they did well. I was pretty pleased with the successful initial test ride. Of course, I'll have to put more time in, and some gravel and dirt miles to come, before I can say anything more about this handle bar.

The GTDRI Stories: The 2017 GTDRI - Part 3

"The GTDRI Stories" is a series telling the history, untold tales, and showing the sights from the run of Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals. This series will run on Sundays. Thanks for reading!

Traer Iowa was the "lunch stop" for the 2017 GTDRI and besides my having been there what seems like a million times on a bicycle, or for cycling related events, it was a typical stop on a GTDRI. Bikes takeover convenience store, smelly riders hanging out front, bemused locals giving the side-eye. Yeah, pretty typical stuff. 

With one minor exception. It was a fellow with a dog-in-arms who made a beeline straight for me as I stood out in the parking lot. He was amazed that he had caught us at Traer on a gravel ride, which he'd read about a bunch on this very blog. (And maybe you still read this blog? Let me know!) Anyway, it was strange to meet a local gravel rider in the area that I did not know well. Even in 2017 there weren't many locals imbibing in the dusty road feast we had surrounding us. Which, I still think is weird, and that this area doesn't have an event? Perhaps even more ironic, but that's a story for another time. 

A typical scene from a GTDRI. Ride stop in Traer

Traer was a staple stop on my own rides for years. It figured first into my history with gravel way back when I was just getting going with gravel rides. Trans Iowa v3 went through Traer, so as early as 2007, I was using this town, and the BP Convenience store in particular, as a stop. 

I'm pretty sure the BP renovated just as I was starting to use that store, but since that time little has been done in terms of upkeep by whomever owns the place. Every year it seemed that I could discern a visible decay in the exterior and a downward trend in positive employee interaction. But always there was something there that could be used to power you onward through a ride. Hot food, general convenience store grub, and water and electrolyte drinks. 

A shot of the Traer BP Convenience store during the 2011 GTDRI

The same store was used on Trans Iowa v5, the 2011 GTDRI, and on a ton of my own rides South out of Waterloo. This 2017 version of the GTDRI and the following year were the last two times I would feature the store on an organized ride. 

It is kind of odd, in a way, that this is not a Casey's Convenience store. You'd think that the franchise would have popped up on a major US highway and Traer fits that company's profile perfectly, but..... Nope! It never was a Casey's, but it was, in my opinion, a poor copy of one. I guess I cannot complain. At least there is a place to stop on routes South out of Waterloo! 

As it pertained to the particular ride I am writing about here, the Traer BP store serviced our needs well enough. We were able to hang around as long as we wanted to and maybe because I'd stopped there with rides so many times before it wasn't a shocker to locals to see some sweaty, dirty cyclists walking around "their" convenience store. 

Next: The ride leaves Traer.