Friday News And Views

From Domahidy Designs Facebook page

 Viral Bikes Wanderer Features Pinion Drive, TRP Shifting:

Steve Domahidy may not be a name you are familiar with, but he has been a big influence on cycling since around 2004 when he and then partner, Chris Sugai, started Niner Bikes, a 29"er only bicycle company back when 29"ers were still in their infancy. 

After leaving Niner in 2011, Steve went on to design bicycles for Factor bikes, his own Domahidy Designs, and now with Viral Bikes. He has also been a part of working on several other products behind the scenes that you might be familiar with. In other words, he's had his hands in many products and ground-breaking designs over the last 20 years. 

His latest creation is an adventure bike running a Pinion gearbox which is electronically shifted using TRP's Hywire shifting. One of the perceived drawbacks to gearbox and internal geared hub shifting is that you could not shift while applying pedal pressure. But now you can with this system, making it much more easily adapted to by any rider. 

Beyond the image and the few details shared in the Facebook post, I don't have any more information on this bike. Stay tuned for more, hopefully soon....

Image courtesy of Ritchey Design

An Unusual Fork:

The first generation Fargo had a very unusual design and a lot of that had to do with the front end geometry. One of the details that concerned me was that the fork was a very unusual beast. It was short, for a 29"er fork, and it had a LOT of offset. 

Early on, this was no big deal as long as Salsa Cycles had replacements in case of a crash, but those forks have been out of production for years now. If I ever had a bad boo-boo with my Gen I Fargo and managed to screw up the fork, I figured I'd have to score a custom replacement to preserve the geometry.

Well, I came across this Ritchey Design fork the other day and taking a closer look, it would do pretty well as a Fargo Gen I replacement fork, the only thing being it is a Boost spaced fork. (110mm) Otherwise it is very close in specifications having a 435mm axle to crown height and a 52mm offset. 

Yeah, you'd have to lace up a new front wheel, or buy one that is compatible with a through axle and Boost spacing, but at least THAT isn't like looking for a needle in a haystack, like the fork would be. Something to think about if you are a Fargo Gen I owner.

Esker's Hayduke in Saguaro/Desert Fade (Courtesy of Esker)

New Colors And Finishes:

In these times of high inventory and low sales it sometimes takes a little "kick" in the pants to motivate a sale. This takes the form of "refreshes"for many brands. In the bicycle business, this can be as simple as changing the color or finish of a frame. 

Let's face it, how your bicycle looks maters, and if you get jazzed by a new color or finish, you just might decide to dig out that plastic key to your bank account and part with some hard earned credit, or go a bit more into debt, depending on your circumstances. 

Esker has spiffed up both of their hardtail models, the Japhy and the Hayduke, with three new hues for each. The Saguaro/Desert Fade is particularly stunning but the sparkly Unicorn might just be my personal favorite here.

Moots new "Groundswell" anodized finish (Image courtesy of Moots)

Moots has also done up their range with a new option called "Groundswell" which is actually an anodized finish. This new scheme can be had as an option on any of Moots' bikes. 

Titanium has the ability to be anodized or painted, so you can get a lot of different effects on titanium that are not choices for a steel or carbon frame. Plus, you get the durability of titanium. And of course, you can run with no finish at all which is the most utilitarian, and probably most popular, way to go with titanium. 

Anodized titanium has been around, but as an option for a frame, it is more rare. remember those Union anodized titanium spokes/ I think those may have been my first notice of anything anodized in titanium which would have been in the mid-90's. These days I kind of gravitate to what Chumba Bikes is doing in the realm of anodized titanium frames myself, but maybe that's just me. 

Orange Bikes Enters Administration:

Iconic British brand Orange has asked to enter into "administration". That may be a foreign term for a lot of us outside the U.K. What it means is that Orange is asking for protection from creditors and to possibly be saved from going out of business. Kind of like "bankruptcy protection" here, but different... Anyway. 

My blogging comrades from across the pond, "Muddymoles", have a great explainer story that you can read HERE. It's a sad tale because Orange Bikes has such a deep and intertwined history in mountain biking in the U.K. We really don't have anything analogous to Orange here anymore. You might say the absorption of the Fisher brand into Trek, or the buying of the Salsa Cycles brand by QBP back in the 1990's is similar. I gather that it is as if a part of mountain biking would die in the U.K. if Orange Bikes cannot see things through.

From my viewpoint it is a cautionary tale because we could be seeing mid-tier brands falling prey to a similar  fate here. 2024 will mark the end of some things, I think, unless sales and the economy take a big upswing, in which case I would be wrong. But we're in an election year here, and typically that doesn't bode well for a return of a robust economy. So, we'll see. 

Best of luck to Orange in the future!

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

It Finally Happened! (With WTB Bailiff News)

8:30am, Tuesday, January 8th, 2024

 The warnings were all over the airwaves starting Sunday and into Monday. We were finally going to get a significant snow event. The weather people were saying we'd see anywhere from 5" - 9" of snow. By 7:00am we already had 6+ inches and it was snowing heavily. We ended up with a record one-day snow total of 10.5" for that day.

I'm not complaining. First of all, we need moisture here in Iowa. We are still in a drought and anything we get is welcomed in terms of precipitation. Secondly, fat biking! This amount of snow should pack in and be groom-able. In fact, my testing out of the initial snow layer we got showed great packable snow and a higher moisture content which should show up as a great base layer. 

By the way this snow is acting in the wind, I'd say that it might just prove to be some of the best riding snow we've seen. but time will tell on that front. 

Thirdly - This makes the cold weather worthwhile, in my eyes anyway. Because if it is just too darn cold to ride in the country without snow, it just makes life miserable - for me - and it is not very fun. But add in snow? My attitude changes 180 degrees. 

Plus, all that white snow just makes everything look better. Again, maybe that's just me. But a drab, grey and brown scene is harder to draw any uplifting inspiration from to brighten my day. So, this snow is awesome, and Winter finally looks the part. 

The new WTB Bailiff tire in 27.5 X 4.5" (image courtesy of WTB)

WTB Finally Makes A Fat Bike Tire:

Yesterday news broke concerning a new fat bike tire from WTB. They are offering the new tire as a 4.5" X 27.5" diameter only tire at this time.

The new tire, called the Bailiff, comes in a studded or non-studded versions with studd-able pockets molded in. These accept any Terrene or 45NRTH studs. 

The rubber compound is designed for grip in cold weather conditions, so it is a softer compound. TCS ready means these are tubeless ready tires. Prices are $134.95 for the non-studded and $279.95 for the studded version. (Prices for one tire only)

You can read more about these HERE on WTB's site. 

Comments: Wow! I recall asking about fat bike tires probably ten years ago from my WTB contacts and they weren't real interested in them at that point. Apparently more pressure was brought to bear from some "Canadian bike partners" and so WTB went into development with some testers in Vermont to come up with this tire "after several revisions". 

"Bike partners" means "OEM spec", and so I would be looking for new fat bikes coming out with WTB branded Bailiff tires soon. I suspect that since the "amazing bike partners" were only interested in 27.5" diameter tires that this is why WTB is not offering a 26"er version. 

Question: If I told you this tire was a 45NRTH tire, would you have believed me? I think the design is very derivative of a 45NRTH Wrathlord tire, but maybe I'm not seeing that correctly.... Anyway. Too bad there isn't a 26"er version. I might have tried those on my fat bikes. 

One last note: WTB sells these Bailiff tires saying they are TCS compatible, but their own TCS sealant is not rated for temperatures that fat bikes often see. Kinda weird..... Their is always Orange Seal Sub-Zero.

Cargo Biking

One of my favorite alleys in Waterloo

It has been pretty cold here and also- I just got over that illness I had over the holidays. I was trying to be careful here because I am no longer a young lad and I cannot bounce back as quickly as I used to. Still, I am not doing bad, I just am careful. More careful than I used to be.

So, while my heart has been into doing a cold weather gravel ride, something like that is about as tough a deal as you could be putting yourself through. It is raw and the elements give you no quarter out in the country. If you have been weakened by sickness, it is not probably prudent then to be trying yourself that severely right after feeling well again. 

But I was up for a ride, and I had two opportunities to ride for a purpose. one on Friday and one on Monday. Both took me to the local UPS store which is about a three mile ride from the house. I then take my load of packages to the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective for a round trip of about 8 miles. It ain't much, but it is a start after being so ill. 

Of course, I have a route I selected which takes me off the beaten path when I can do that. One of my favorite parts on the way out is an alley I found which looks a lot like a Level B Road. But I ride other alleys too and this keeps me off the streets and away from almost all traffic. 

Interestingly, my home is very near to the oldest parts of Waterloo, and alleys were a thing when the parcels were platted out. There are more alleys than streets in some places. The alleys get less and less as I move Southward into newer parts of Waterloo until there are none at all.

Loaded up at the UPS Store

I often get a lot of "side-eye" at the UPS Store. First is how I can park right next to the door, and cars cannot. That sometimes raises eyebrows! And on cold January days like Monday, I get those looks like, "Is this guy a DUI offender or just some weirdo?" 

They probably think "both!" and worse things. I don't know, but I do know this is an attention-getter way of living. It just may not be the quality of attention you are looking for! I just shrug it off and try to make sure I am being friendly. That and I keep a sharp look-out for cars and other vehicles. People drive waaaaayyy too fast  in parking lots! 

Destination reached!

On the way to the Collective I don't take alleys because they are too rough and the loads can be heavy anyway. This time I had a whole box of bulk chains onboard and the tail was wagging the dog a bit, if you catch my drift. So,  I tend to take it slower and easier on the way back to the shop.

Two trips down and back. Two more bike rides with a little exertion and cold to deal with, but not too much. It may not seem like much but it is a start.

There I Was, Just Thinking When.....

Willie Honeman's Brennan track bike.

Late last Summer I posted the idea for a single speed gravel bike based on 1930's track bike geometry. I noted that much of what has become "gravel bike geometry" seemed to be uncannily similar to those old single speeds. Then I learned that those old track racers actually rode these bikes, in many instances across country, and very likely on gravel roads. 

Ever since I converted the Twin Six Standard Rando in 2022 to a geared set up, I have missed that bike as a single speed. I dunno..... There was just something about that bike. And I was toying with having a custom made single speed with ideas borrowed from a 1930's Brennan track bike with modernized appointments. But that fell through and well..... Money. Time. Space. 

Excuses.

So, that all got in the way and yet the idea was sitting there, simmering, and one day not long ago, something got to cooking again. 

 

The "Honemann Flyer" as proposed by King Fabrications

It took Erik Mathy to stoke the fires again. He would, of course, that's the kind of guy he is. So, this went from "falling through" to right on the front burner on high. Things look to be moving along again, and I have a feeling it all has to do with a story that just came out in "Mountain Flyer" about King Fabrications. Up until that published I think Erik's mind was elsewhere and well, communications had grown cold. Anyway, you may be wondering why Erik Mathy is in this story anyway. That part may be revealed later on. Stay tuned.....

Paragon single speed through-axle drop outs. (Image courtesy of PMW)

See, this whole project has layers. There is the bicycle, of course, and that much I can talk about here. However; there is a bunch of this that is all up in the air yet and plans are......tenuous? Yeah, that's the word now.

I made mention here not long ago that events were probably not going to happen for me due to my job, but part of this project has to do with an event. I could"push a few buttons" and I am willing to bet that it would put into motion some things that would possibly make that event thing a real possibility rather than a pipe dream. But other stuff has to happen as well......

As of right now, all I know is that the ideas for this Honemann Flyer (working name- this could also change) is being developed rather quickly and is looking like it may be a reality. So, here's what I can say now....

• Single speed, through-axle, using my current Paul Components WORD Disc hub as a wheel.
• Front wheel ideally would be built to match as current one is a mis-matched rim/hub combo. 
• Steel, tig-welded frame with flat mount disc brake standard, no provisions for derailleurs. 
• Drop bar design based upon the Honemann track bike featured on these pages built by Brennan. 
• Carbon fork.(Brand yet to be determined) 
• Finished raw with clear coat or...? Some ideas being bandied about here yet. King Fab does a cool crackle finish which might be used here as well. 

And the finer details would be filled in later. I would opt for silver ano stuff but yeah.... Whatever. We'll see. This is what happens when I start thinking about an idea. 

Stay tuned....

Technical Difficulties

This probably will not affect your daily consumption of this blog, but just in case, I wanted to clear something up that occurred yesterday. 

I was afforded some great advice from some of you readers when I asked last week about backing up this blog, you know, just in case, so thank you for that. I actually got an external hard drive with 8 terabytes of memory and was able to back up the entire blog onto it without much of a problem, except...

My "technical assistant", Mrs Guitar Ted, accidentally imported another copy of this blog which doubled every post going back to 2005. So, you may see that if you go back into the archives. 

I have already begun the slow process of mopping up this mess. Unfortunately, on the back end of the blog, there is no easy way to just delete every other post. Normally there would have been a checklist that I could have checked a box for every post I wanted to delete and then hit a mass action key and boom! Done and done. However; the last time Google updated Blogger they took that away and now you have to individually delete every post and then scroll down, pick another, delete, scroll down the list again, delete, etc, etc, ad nauseum.....

So, like I said, this will not affect most of what you probably see on your end, but just in case you see that the post counts are wonky or that there is a double post of some older article, that is what is going on.

At some point in the future I will have made my way through the entire almost 7000 posts, but that is going to be a long-term project. 

On to mopping up......

Tinkering

The current state of the Gryphon Mk3

 Over the Holidays I tackled the issues I had resulting from the addition of that Tumbleweed Big Dipper Bar I installed in November. (Review so far is HERE) The stem and the rear brake are both now perfect.

The Big Dipper bar added width which was just enough to cause the rear brake cable and housing to be a tiny bit too short. I could ride the bike, but turning the bars to the right just a bit too far would activate the rear brake. Not at all what you want, to say nothing of the cable housing rub on the head tube. 

So, my first thought was to get a hold of a shorter stem. That original 80mm stem was stretching me out a bit too much anyway, so I ordered up a 60mm Whiskey stem in a polished finish to keep my silver theme for the Gryphon intact. While the stem did fix the fit issue, it didn't take the brake issues all the way out of the equation. 

So, I thought about what I had to do there. The obvious answer would be to add new longer housing and and cable. However; that would mean tearing into the bar tape I had just put on, and that may or may not go well. Plus, it would be a lot of work and expense. I came up with a better, less intrusive and less expensive idea. Lengthen the housing, buy a new cable, insert it, and boom! The problem was just how  I would lengthen the housing without replacing it. Then I had some inspiration....

The new Whiskey stem shows more of the Tumbleweed branding here.

This bit was originally for a time trial bike's rear brake.

I have a "pack-rat" mentality when it comes to cast-off or extra parts that are unusual. So, when I have an unusual situation to tackle, I often sift through my stuff and see if anything strikes up an idea. This time I saw a piece that originally came off a replacement tri-bike rear brake. The original piece was retained and the new "noodle", if you will, went unused, so I kept that bit. This time the piece was perfectly suited for the task of lengthening my full-run housing a bit. 

Since the flexible steel and aluminum bit was about three inches long, I just scooched the full-run housing forward carefully through the cable-tied mounting points along the frame and added it at the end before the caliper. A new, extra-long rear brake cable was purchased at the local bike shop and when installed I had solved the problem. Now the overall length of the system allowed for full-on right hand turns and the housing was off the head tube! 

So, the final tweaking bit I did was an experiment more than anything. A reader of the blog here sent me some images of a "cut-off" light mod that he hacked from a flat piece of plastic or something similar, then he attached it to his Bookman Volume light so that it looked kind of like a visor over the lighting element. This would prevent the beam from shining up higher than the lighting unit. His images he sent of the beam pattern were encouraging enough that I thought I'd give it a try. 

I used some bit of old Iowa license plat aluminum and some tape to temporarily mount the "visor" to my Bookman light. I must say though that my test didn't really show any improvement over not having the visor thingie on and if I wanted to accomplish what I'd seen it would take a much longer piece to do that. 

So, two wins and a fail. I'll report back if I try the light hack again.

The GTDRI Stories: The 14th One - Part 2

"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!

We pick back up on the series with Pat 2 of the 2019 GTDRI. If you missed Part 1, you can click to it HERE.  

Clouds had been gathering all morning up to our Mile 30 stop at Jon's truck. Then by the time we left it started to sprinkle. Thunder increased in volume and intensity. At one point, my friend Tony said he wasn't going to look when I pointed out that there was lightning in the area. He "didn't want to know" because he didn't want to quit the ride, but knew it wasn't a great idea to keep going. It was unsaid, but the comment meant that to me, at any rate, and from that point on I was considering calling it all off. 

There were two problems with that. One- we were out almost as far as we were going to go, and secondly, I knew most of the guys would not quit. So, as I put a death grip on my wet bars as I descended another rough, rutted Level B Road at 25-30mph, and I hoped against hope that we could ride things out.

There was a big storm to our Northwest. We rode on the fringes of the Southern edges of it.

When I felt safe enough to take an image, we were usually climbing. Descents were fast and scary!

All along I expected the worst, but the rain never really got beyond a "heavy sprinkle", and the roads stayed rideable, despite the moisture, which usually causes mayhem. My main concern then was the lightning, and not knowing which direction the rain was going in for certain. 

Our course went mainly East, and we would have a bit of a Northward trek until we reached Tama County, and then it would be a Southeasterly course down a "ridge road" off the normal grid. Would we be riding right into this storm? I had a lot of concerns. 

N.Y. Roll (shirtless- of course!) fixes a flat while the rest take a break.

Down one particularly fast, rutted Level B Road, N.Y. Roll encountered a bit of a tire issue and just past that section everyone was stopped to gather up while he repaired the tire. This allowed the storm time to drift off North and East of us and we had a clearer sky, for a little while....

A fascinating intersection where all roads were Level B. The guys seemed to really be impressed by this.

Up in Tama County on 390th St.

We got up on the ridge in Tama County which bordered the Iowa River Valley to the Northeast and the plains of Poweshiek County on the Southwest. As we rode along, the storm built back in and down towards us. Before long it was sprinkling again, but this time there was no lightning to worry about. 

Tony and I were the tail-on-the-dog and were just cruising along at a nice pace. I had been dialing it back due to the hills and humidity. I had tweaked out my back lifting a heavy pick-up cap made of fiberglass with my neighbor only the day before, so I was also trying to take it easy on my body for that reason. So far, it all had been working out just fine.

Just moments after I took this shot I fell and aggravated my back injury.

Trying to get to the next rest stop. I was in agony by this point.

Rolling up to a tree next to a farmhouse to get out of the steady rain, I caught a rut in the grass and high-sided myself into the ground. Basically body-slamming myself and that tweaked my back again. I was keeping it to myself, and hoping against hope, but after this I was pretty much toast. 

Resolving to go as far as I could, I tried to make it to the next stop at 60 miles in, which would be at Rob Evans' vehicle where his girlfriend was supposed to rendezvous with us at a predetermined point. By this time the rain was done and the heat and humidity were ratcheting up to really intense levels. 

I made it to the rest stop, but after that.......

Next: The last part of GTDRI 2019.

Thinking About Some Blog Stuff

 A commenter late in December triggered a few thoughts concerning this blog when they said something to the effect that "You've written on this and other similar subjects on the blog here before". 

That got me to thinking. With this blog nearly at 7000 posts (!!!) there are a lot of subjects that I've written about already and which my commentary for is still relevant. In other words, I am at risk of repeating myself daily here to a much higher degree than ever. 

I've been a little diligent in some areas by compiling series or subjects into their own pages. (Trans Iowa Stories, Drop Bar Articles) That said, more might need to be done there to make referencing for me and others a bit easier to do. 

I may be doing some house-cleaning in along those lines this year. But since the "GTDRI Stories" is winding up soon, (and should be getting its own page as well), I thought a Sunday series based on topics might be good, and it would be a post with a lot of links and serve as a kind of portal to those similar posts done in the past. I could just tell you to search a term in the search box (upper left corner by the Blogger icon), but who is going to do that? No one.... 

I also have to do a back-up of this entire blog on a hard drive or to the "cloud", but I could use some advice on that, so if any of you have suggestions, just hit me up in the comments or at g.ted.productions@gmail.com.

Nearing the start of the 20th year of blogging here in May, so I wanted to tidy things up around here. It would be a shame to have all this go "poof!" and not have it backed up anywhere easily accessible. 

Any other comments on these subjects? Let me know.....

Garage Sale:

Just thought I'd post a few things that will be going up on the Garage Sale Page soon. If you are interested in any of the following items, this is your early-bird notice before I go and post these on the page and elsewhere for sale. 

This will mostly be wheels. I have a pair of carbon Irwin GX 35 650B carbon wheels (one shown in the image here), a pair of Easton EA70 AX aluminum 700c wheels, a pair of HED Eroica (Now called Emporia) wheels in 700c, and a pair of WTB Proterra wheels in 700c. E-mail me at g.ted.productions@gmail.com for prices. They will be very good deals. Shipping to lower 48 only will be extra. Prefer PayPal payment unless you are local.  

I am also considering strongly selling my Blackborow DS as shown here. (Yes, the pogies would be included) This would be best sold locally,as shipping this would be prohibitively expensive. 

It's been upgraded where it matters as far as I was concerned. I only swapped out the handle v=bar for a Carbon Jones H Bar and the seat post is a Thomson. Otherwise I have only had to install a new chain, (fresh, zero miles on it) and that's it. 

This won't be cheap, but I will sell it for a reasonable price. Again, I'm not interested in shipping it. I'll hang on to it rather than do that at this point, but someone that will ride it more than I do should have this bike. 

That's about all for now. Thanks for reading G-Ted Productions!

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Drought.gov

 Drought To Start The Year:

As of December 20th or so, Waterloo Iowa was experiencing its driest December on record. That obviously changed when we got significant rains over Christmas. However; we aren't getting any snow (yet) and if we don't see rain by Spring, well..... 

Obviously that's going to make for a bad set-up for farmers, wildlife, and probably everyone living around here. From a gravel rider's standpoint, it may mean more of conditions like last year, and frankly, the year before that as well. Loose, deep gravel, lots of dust, and none of that classic "three-track" that we all love to ride on here. 

And then again by March we may be dealing with flooding. But not likely as this "El Niño" we are in now is said to be a pretty strong one and that usually means warmer than normal and sometimes not very much precipitation. With the base levels of water in the area at very critically low levels, it is going to take quite a wet spell to catch us up. 

Meanwhile I will try to enjoy what I am handed. A milder January may be just what I need to get a jump-start on mileage for 2024. We'll see.....

The new Velo Orange eccentric BB (Image courtesy of Velo Orange

A New Way To Create A Single Speed Device:

Got a traditionally threaded, 68mm/73mm bottom bracket shell on your bicycle? Want to make that bike a single speed? One of your options is from Velo Orange. For about a hundy, you can convert your bike to a single speed with this eccentric bottom bracket which supports any 2-piece, 24mm spindle cranks. 

The bottom bracket comes with a tensioniing tool as well, which is pretty cool. Unfortunately, at the time of this posting, the part is out of stock, but if you subscribe to Velo Orange's newsletter, you'll get notice when it comes back into stock. You can see more on this part HERE. 

Comments: Some folks give eccentrics a bad rap, but I've used a Wheels Manufacturing part similar to this and it works great. Use grease when installing, torque the part to spec, and it shouldn't make a peep. I don't need another single speed, but if I wanted to turn a vertical drop-out bike into a single speed and it had a traditionally threaded bottom bracket? Yeah, I would give this part a go. 

Also, having a drop out like that with an eccentric is, in my opinion, the very best way to have a single speed. Especially with a disc brake set-up. There are zero issues with resetting brakes, lining up the wheel in the frame, or moving swinging bits and locking them back down again. You just pop a QR and boom! Done and done. My OS Bikes Blackbuck MTB is like this and it is a joy to work on.

Alt Derailleur From Rivendell?

If you are a follower of Rivendell, or Grant Petersen, then you may have seen this prototype rear derailleur that Rivendell is working on. Called the OM-1, it is a "rapid-rise" design, meaning that the spring pulls the derailleur into the lowest gear, not the smallest cog/highest gear. Not like 99.9% of derailleurs you've ever seen. 

You can read the minimal amount of info out on this HERE, (Scroll down the page)

Comments: I've worked on a LOT of the old "Rapid Rise" rear derailleurs Shimano produced in the early 2000's. The high-end XT, LX, and such were rare. They didn't last long in the marketplace. But the Nexave, Altus, and CX-30 types were made a little longer, and in much higher production numbers. It was these derailleurs that I saw most often. 

I'll get this out of the way up front: I really don't like Rapid Rise. It was super-finicky to tune and you are working against gravity and friction, a pretty heady combo, when trying to dial in one of those Shimano variants. Additionally, the Nexave and definitely the CX-30 variants were inevitably corroded and and their parallelogram's pivots would have high friction. Sometimes so bad you'd have to replace the derailleur. 

Now, Grant and his team are probably well aware of all of that, but there is a LOT of "uphill battle" here, and I mean that in the best sort of way. I get that people are excited for a very versatile derailleur, but there are literally thousands of great 7,8,and 9 speed derailleurs floating around out there waiting for you. That and Shimano CUES, which is also 8,9,10, and 11 speed compatible all in one derailleur. (Don't "at me" with your pull ratio excuse. Use friction shifters!) 

So, with all of that, I wish Rivendell well in their tilting at windmills. I have a hard time seeing the point in this exercise, but maybe this trips your trigger? Good on ya.

Shimano Re-ups Rebound Virtual Gravel Challenge:

Last year, Shimano announced a virtual gravel event called "Rebound" which asked riders from all over the world to join in and ride gravel on June 3rd, 2023. The ask was simple and rides would be compiled on Strava. Here was the basic premise:

"In the spirit of Unbound, we encourage you to pick one of the following distances: 25 miles (40 km), 50 miles (80 km), 100 miles (160 km) or 200 miles (320 km). "

Well, Shimano wants to see if this can become even larger than last year and they are promoting the idea again for 2024. (See the site HERE) This year the ride is happening on June 1st.

Comments: You can read what I said about the idea last year HERE.  This year I feel the same, and I would join in on this but for the fact that I'll probably be in Emporia, or just back from there, that day. Otherwise, I'd love to participate in this. (Again, read my comments from last year as to why that is)

I guess my only other thought on this is a question: "Does this event happen without what we went through with the pandemic?" Virtual events were nearly unheard of previously to that, and certainly the whole idea of the "getting together of the gravel family" aspect did not lean toward a virtual event format. 

But I think Rebound exists because we had to do virtual events in 2020 and 2021 to some extent. We are more open to that concept, and it feeds the American mindset of independence and self-sufficiency which, I cannot say exists in the rest of the world, but for sure it does here. That is neither an indictment or supportive of self-support, independent riding, or virtual events, its just my observation. I just cannot help but think that without 2020-2021, rebound doesn't happen. 

Season 2 Has Started!

The Guitar Ted Podcast (GTP) has kicked off its second season already with a new episode sponsored by CORE4.

This time N.Y. Roll and I speak to the group etiquette and tactics which seem to be somewhat of a missing link in gravel circles and on some road group rides. 

I think we are pretty clear in saying we are not "The Experts". but we wanted to kick off a conversation regarding group ride technique so that information gets disseminated that may help someone avoid serious injury or death. We feel riding skills are important, and that some folks don't know, or haven't practiced those time-honored skills that make group riding safer and less stressful. 

You can find the podcast at THIS LINK or wherever you get your podcast feed from. Thanks to CORE4 for the sponsorship! 

That's a wrap for the first FN&V of 2024! Have a great weekend and thanks for reading G-Ted Productions!

Review: Old Man Mountain Axle Pack: The Installation

The component parts of the OMM Axle Pack and fit kit.

 NOTE: Old Man Mountain sent over the Axle Pack kit, a fit kit, and through axle from the Robert Axle Project to Guitar Ted Productions for test and review. I am not being bribed, nor paid for this review and I always strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

If you missed the introduction to the Axle Pack from Old Man Mountain, you can read that HERE. This post will detail the installation process and my first impressions of the Axle Pack.

OMM has an excellent step-by-step instructional for the Axle Pack which was very helpful. I will say that it lacks in imagery though, which may be a detriment to those who are more visual learners. Also, the instructions are found by scanning a QR code. Neat. Great stuff, but having to trigger your phone back on again and again gets annoying. One vote for paper instructions here. But I get it. I'm not against how OMM did this, but everything has its drawbacks and the experience I had was a bit tedious due to the way the instructions were implemented. Paper is wasteful, probably more expensive, etc. Like I said, pros and cons there.....

Now, as far as how things went together, this was seamless. All the parts were well made and I had all the fasteners necessary. There is a bit of a trick that I will share here that I think would make life easier for you if you should decide to get an Axle Pack and want to install it yourself. 

That would be to "mock up" the way it will go on first. You can read through the instructions and then get a feel for how the parts can be arranged, because you have options. Plus, you'll want to ascertain where the Mounting Pucks will go so you can clean up and apply the protective film precisely where it should go. 

The first step is to swap out your through axle for the specified Robert Axle Project axle for your particular bike. Then you can get to mocking up the set up and go forward with installation.

The special Robert Axle Project through-axle will protrude a bit on either side. (Those are Berd spokes, by the way, in case you were wondering.)

By mocking up the set-up I was able to ascertain where I needed to place my protective film on the fork blades.

Once you've gotten the Robert Axle Project through-axle in place, you can then grab the rails of the Axle Pack and see which orientation works best on your fork. The attachment at the wheel is offset so it will better align with your fork in one way than the other. Once you've determined that, you should take the proper bolts and pass them through the hole at the axle end of the rails and carefully screw them into the Robert Axle Project through-axle. The threads are fairly fine and the axle is aluminum, so you definitely want to take care in this step. 

Leaving those bolts loose enough that you can rotate the rails by the axle end, swing up the rail to be in line with the fork, grab a Mounting Puck, (I actually went ahead and attached mine first to the rails), and determine where you want to apply the protective film. Once you've gotten that figured out, everything starts to fall into place. 

Here I have the protective film in place and one of two cable ties started.

A closer look at those special cable ties.

As a bike mechanic with 30 years of experience, I have seen a TON of cable ties and I know the quality of them can vary from absolute garbage, useless ties to really nice and everything in between. However; I had not yet met the Panduit cable ties. Holy smokes! These are - by far and away - the very best cable ties I've ever laid hands on. Kudos to Old Man Mountain for sourcing those for their Axle Pack kits because I have no doubt these will last and I have full confidence in using them. 

Also, you get a few extras, so don't worry if you accidentally cable tie a spoke in with the Mounting Puck. (Be careful of that!) You have a "mulligan" with those ties since you have a couple extras. One other note on those ties. I found that a craft X-acto knife with the angled blade cut through the tie like butter, so you can trim back the extra ends after tightening them down very cleanly. OMM recommends using a fingernail clipper, and that would also work well. 

This is what it all looks like once it is all buttoned up.

All installed and loaded up.

I finished up the installation and loaded the Axle Pack up with a water bottle cage on one side and an Anything Cage HD on the other side with a Salsa Cycles Dry Bag which has a Thermos inside of it. This is going to be my test set up for the Axle Pack for the Winter. 

My thought being that if it is very cold but conditions are okay for a ride that a Thermos will keep a drink from freezing, or could hold a warm drink, like cocoa or coffee. Or I could use that bag to hold dry gloves and head gear, or.... Whatever! It just takes a frame and fork that is minimalist and makes it more versatile. And remember, I can always take the Axle Packs off if I want to go to a race, or use it on another bike. (Gotta get more of those Panduit cable ties from OMM though! See HERE) 

Next: The riding will show how the Axle Packs work out. Stay tuned....

Could The Road Pros Soon Be Using Flared Drop Bars?

Last month the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the governing/sanctioning body of Pro cycling, came down against Pro road riders positioning their brake levers on drop bars in a canted inward position in order to gain an aero advantage. (Read why HERE) 

At first, the knee-jerk reaction was predictable and swift. "Stupid UCI!  Why don't they worry about something really important!" Well, actually, as it turns out, that's exactly what they were doing - worrying about something really important. Like rider safety. That's what. 

In the linked article from Cyclingnews.com you can read in more detail about the stress cracks discovered when they did research into this phenomenon over the course of 2023. Handlebars are being compromised, and this could lead to serious injury or death. The rule for 2024, banning the canted in brake levers, is supported by the rider's association, which is called the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés, or CPA. Their president, Adam Hansen, offers up a curious and novel solution for riders still wanting that aero advantage but needing to be safe and within the rule book's regulations. Flared drop bars.

Hansen seems to indicate in the article I linked to that since the flare of a drop bar gives the rider a wider platform in the drops that there would be no disadvantage while sprinting or accelerating in the drops, but since any significant flare would naturally cant the brake levers inward, that the aero advantages sought by some riders still could be there. 

Could Pro road riders soon be on flared drop bars so that they could have canted in levers like this soon?

Comments: This is sort of ironic in that these bars originated from MTB, and generally speaking, most MTB related tech is seen as not very desirable on the road side. Look how long it took Pro roadies to accept disc brakes, as an example. 

But I think since gravel riders sort of made the flared drop bar their drop bar of choice, it may make the leap to Pro road a bit more palatable and easier to understand from a Pro road rider's viewpoint. It also should be noted that many of the youngest Pro road riders have always known there were gravel events, and that this discipline of cycling is not new and very much akin to pavement road racing. 

However; if flared drops do come to Pro road cycling, my opinion is that the bars will be much narrower than what we see for gravel racing. That flare inward needs to be pretty tight to the stem, and that makes anything much more than a 40cm bar probably too wide for this idea, unless the rider is of a larger stature. (Assuming the bars would be sized as gravel bars are- from the centerline of where the controls attach)

At any rate, I thought the mention of flared drop bars in the same article as Pro road racing was notable from a gravel riding perspective.

The State Of The Gravel Scene: 2024

 In January 2018 I posted a five part series on what I thought was the "State Of The Gravel Grinding Scene". It really is a retrospective/editorial piece, I suppose, since it does present the historical background of what I term as "modern day gravel racing and riding", which I hold to have begun when Trans Iowa kicked off in 2004.

Now, a whole six years later, things have radically changed in the gravel scene. What is more, things are set to change even more in 2024 and beyond. This post seeks to lay out what I think will happen based upon my observations and from where we are now at the end of 2023. 

Remember- THIS IS MY OPINION. Your thoughts and views on the matter may be quite different. I welcome any reasoned and considered opinions which you can share with me at g.ted.productions@gmail.com. 

The State of the Gravel Scene: 2024 -

 Throughout the last half of 2023 it kept occurring to me that we were now reaching a time which could be defined as "post-gravel" when it comes to the "Gravel Scene", such as it is. My co-host on the Guitar Ted Podcast, N.Y. Roll, says we have plateaued. I think both things are true going into 2024. 

To see this we have to rise above all the discussions about Pro racers, men and women wanting different start times, equity in access, and all the rest of that, and look at a bigger picture. When we take in the gravel cycling scene from that perspective what we see is a sport that has permeated every facet of cycling you can think of. Even parts of road cycling and mountain biking are now represented as "gravel cycling". 

Every form and type of competition in cycling is being contested on gravel now. Yes, even time trials, triathlon, and circuit racing. Marathons, team racing, 24hr gravel races, and more are all represented now in 2024. 

The hardware is covered here as well. Full-suspension gravel bikes? Done! That was five years ago now! The latest craze in gravel cycling is full-aero and electrified. Big tires? Yes.You name it, gravel cycling has got it now. 

Another thing N.Y. Roll often says, and I think it is 100% true, and that is all the pioneering is over. We've been there, done that. All the problems have been figured out for you. So, as an example, when we see people throwing fits about muddy roads in gravel races we roll our eyes. This is not new anymore and people can easily research what has happened at gravel events these days. Race reports, blogs, Instagram, Facebook, and more all depict every possible form of road conditions at events. If you don't know about 'something', you just are not trying. I mean, the information is out there. Everywhere.

So, the book has been written, and the sport of gravel riding is now not going to have much more to add to its book other than more of the same. As long as new people keep showing up, taking on challenges, or try to squeeze a living out of cycling on unpaved surfaces, "Gravel" will plod along. I wouldn't expect any real innovations, changes, or huge growth now going forward. 

Sites like Gravel Kansas will help enhance the gravel experience

A Shift In Focus:

It is my opinion that a shift in focus from doing 'traditional' gravel events to doing independent, group and solo excursions on curated routes will start to be a more popular thing to do. We see things like "Gravel Kansas", a site that has several gravel routes with stories and history attached, springing up. The "Great Plains Gravel Route", a sort of gravel sister to "Tour Divide", should become available as a route soon. We see the Spinistry, a Texas based gravel cycling club, doing long gravel routes like their cross-Texas RAT 1000 route. 

Another shift in the gravel scene has been the growth in weekly group rides held all across the nation. These have grown in popularity due to their non-race pace, social focus, and free-to-engage entry. Personally I have heard about several of these group rides with weekly attendance into the triple digits of riders.

More and more, riders are choosing socially centered group gravel rides.

Going Back To Road/MTB: 

 I suspect that wherever there are remote roads to be ridden, the group rides and more socially driven events will flourish. But there is an undercurrent to all of this that points to a bit of regression, I think. 

There are a lot of people who have tried "gravel cycling" out, they bought the bike, and then found that they just weren't turned on by that type of riding. That or they found that "gravel" doesn't exist where they live and a road or MTB bike serves them better. Some folks miss that single track, or that fast-paced peloton feel, and so the gravel bike gets sold and they leave the scene. 

So, while I don't think that MTB or road riding is "the next big thing", I think that because gravel was touted as "the next big thing" there are going to be more than a few folks who find that gravel cycling isn't what they wanted after all. 

Post-Gravel or Plateau? 

I can see it going either way. The alternative, unpaved cycling choices, I think, will only increase, so I think one could say that in 2024 we will see a shift in how we do gravel cycling more so than we will see a decrease in participation overall. As an example, prices for events, which keep increasing, and in some cases help fund prizing for semi-pro and Pro riders, will turn off more people and drive them towards these group rides and bikepacking/touring/camping style rides. 

And at some point events will start drying up. Making money at events will be increasingly more difficult as competitive dates for rider's to consider are now going to mean that choosing where to go to race may decide the fates of many events. We've already seen this happening, by the way. The calendar of events is ridiculous, and it isn't getting any easier to navigate.

This is a function of over-saturation and - in my view - this is a sign of a "post-gravel" era. The same sort of over-saturation in media and marketing will start to have less of an effect on riders who are already tuning out. Marketing will look for alternatives to gravel, and they already are. You'll know it when they latch on to whatever is deemed "The Next Big Thing" because it will become all you'll read and see.

Creating new routes to be toured, or raced for "FKT"'s will increase.

On the other hand, top-level, gravel surfaced racing by professional and semi-professional cyclists will be on the increase. This will initially be seen as "good". But eventually it will result in more expensive new bikes, events, and it will alienate a large base of the cycling public.

It isn't the late 1990's or early 2000's anymore and what professional racing cyclists are doing is not having that same "Lance-effect" that it had 25 years ago. It used to be that riding what the Pro's rode was an attainable thing, but more and more that is less possible for more people.

What is more, many won't see anything having to do with Pro/Semi-Pro gravel racing because it is so poorly covered by the media, especially visually. Just trying to follow any possible "gravel cycling heroes" will be difficult. That is, if cyclists will even want to have gravel cycling heroes.

 It would seem to me that it has become a thing to democratize "The Hero Status" anyway, so that everyone can be a "hero". You don't have to follow in the footsteps of those professionals anymore. Strava, Instagram, and other forms of social media have distributed attention and status to many and essentially this has decentralized cycling in particular. So, the effect of increasing Professional level events by the UCI/USAC won't have the effect that it may have had 20-25 years ago or more. In other words, many people just don't care what the UCI/USAC does or who wins their events. 

And really, because of the over-saturation caused by social media, there are 'more than you can follow' gravel influencers and athletes. So, because of all the "noise", you either focus on one or two things or tune it all out. On one hand information is good, but when it all just becomes mush, it isn't good anymore. This is the point gravel is at in 2024.

Well, those are my thoughts going into 2024 concerning gravel cycling. What do you think? let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions.

Happy New Year! Now Let's Get Caught Up

Happy New Year! I hope that you all had a great 2023. So, with all that nonsense that I posted last month having to do with the past year, what was I doing in the meantime? This post will get you all caught up here.

There isn't a whole lot to say, because I had two over-arching things pretty much dominate the last half of December here. One was my wife's and my daughter's birthdays, and the other was getting sick. 

Yeah......fun times! 

The whole family got it too. Some kind of cold/flu thing. It was awful. I pretty much stayed in the house over Christmas because of it. So, no bicycle tales to speak of that I can share.

Well.....I did do something with bicycles. I commuted back and forth to work, but I also did install those Axle Packs I got in on the Noble GX5. The Introduction to those Axle Packs from Old Man Mountain was posted here last Wednesday. (See that post HERE)

The Axle Pack went on without too much bother and I have a ride planned once I feel good enough to do that. Maybe pretty soon... Anyway, I am hoping there will be soup involved. You'll see..... 

The Old Man Mountain Axle Packs mounted and loaded up.

So, there was that going on as well. But mostly it was a lot of home cooked chicken soup and water. Rest, and boredom, with a side of NFL football. I really was not surprised that I got sick when we had some of the best riding weather in December, ya know, par for the course and all. But hopefully we can stay out of the really frigid air for a bit so I can get in a few rides soon. 

 

I did get a last ride in for 2023 on New Year's Eve in the Green Belt.

Starting on Christmas Day I began to feel on the upswing. That said, it took a full week to be back to any semblance of myself and I rested a lot all week in between Christmas and New Year's day. I chanced a ride on the 30th at night for about 20 minutes and felt no worse for the wear. This emboldened me to try a longer ride on New Year's Eve, which I did. It was about two hours on the fat bike in the Green Belt. 

That sure felt good to do. Now it is time to start pedaling in 2024.