Friday News And Views

Superbloom is September 6th in Glenwood, IA

 Fat Inflation FN&V

The Guitar Ted Podcast Season 3 Starts:

The Guitar Ted Podcast started up last week with the 64th episode. That is cool but the best part was the surprises. We went into the interview with Julie Borer and Rafal Doloto not really knowing exactly what to expect. 

So, when Julie described her journey in cycling, (based on a question we ask first-timer guests), I was blown away. She had started out by trying to find a cycling group or club to connect with and did not find what she was looking for. Instead of folding and going in some other direction she decided to create what she wasn't seeing.

That eventually led to a women's only gravel event which held their inaugural event last year. Now the Glenwood Superbloom is looking to grow a little bit and continue to reach more women for gravel racing and community fellowshipping. 

I was also blown away by the honesty and transparency of the Loess Hills Enduro event director, Rafal Doloto. His description of the travails involved in being the race director of a grassroots gravel event while trying to balance life responsibilities as a father, husband, and employee were immediately relatable for me. 

Check out the season opener for Season 3 HERE. 

Image courtesy of WTB

WTB i79 Fat Bike Rim:

Sometimes a product is released with so little fanfare, or none at all, that it slips under the radar. Such is the case with this WTB i76 rim. I did not know of its existence until last week when N.Y. Roll called me and brought it up. 

As with all WTB rims the "i76" refers to the rim's internal width, so 76mm in this case. That's perfect for any 3.8" to 4.8" tire. 

Last year about this time WTB announced the Bailiff fat bike tires in 27.5" diameter only. So, when I heard about this new rim from N.Y. Roll and he said it came in a 26"er diameter, I was hopeful that WTB was then going to offer a Bailiff in 26" as well. However; this does not seem to be the case. 

The weights on these rims seem really competitive and being made in alloy, they are a good deal cheaper than carbon rims. The rim bed is designed in a way that the spoke nipples would be recessed into one of the four channels extruded in the rim design and that leaves a smooth inner rim well, making taping for tubeless a breeze. 

I like these rims from what I can see of them online, but I may be getting my hands on a pair to build up for someone soon, so stay tuned for a possible update here.  

Image courtesy of Clik Valve

Clik Valve In For Test/Review:

Last July I reported here on these digital pages concerning a new technology for valves called "Clik Valve". 

A kit with valves, replacement bases, and a pump head to retrofit a pump is on its way to Guitar Ted Productions for evaluation. Note: I am being provided this opportunity at no cost to me, but all opinions and views will be my own. 

I've seen some mechanic feedback on Facebook concerning an early release of this product to certain folks to try out. It seems that tehre is no issue with how it works, but there is some debate about the reasoning for the Clik Valve's existence. 

As you can imagine, some feel there is no reason to change from the 'known' and traditional systems. But we've seen push-back like this before from the cycling masses and it is not unexpected to see this in regard to Clik Valve. 

However; some feel a Schrader Valve should be developed for all cycling disciplines and then this would be a better solution. It is true that more casual cyclists would prefer to see this across all categories of bicycles. It is also true that maximum airflow for tubeless set ups would be enhanced by going with the ubiquitous Schrader Valve. Wider rims across most cycling disciplines would support a Schrader Valve as well. 

I will see what I think of the Clik Valve and if it is truly a step forward and if the applications for it make sense over traditional choices. That should happen soon as the parts are on teh way as of this past Monday. Stay tuned.....

Image courtesy of BIKETUBE

TPU Fat Bike Tubes:

One of the hottest topics for 2024 was TPU tubes for bicycles. My look at WTB's offering last year was one of my Top Ten posts for 2024.

Recently I saw an offer from Biketube for their 26"er TPU fat bike tubes. I decided, based upon my previous experiences with TPU tubes, to purchase some and give them a whirl. 

I will be getting one which will be a spare for the Ti Muk 2 which is set up tubeless. However; I also purchased two more. These will be going in the Snow Dog, my blue Salsa Cycles Mukluk fat bike I've had since 2011. 

So, look for a review to kick in soon on those tubes. Now I have a chore to accomplish! The Snow Dog isn't quite ready for any riding, so I have my work cut out for me in getting it readied to go once the tubes arrive. This will mostly be focused on the drive train as the current set up was done to test the Archer wireless shifting. Unfortunately that company went out of the business of making that product and this will force my hand to make the bike a mechanical shifting bike again.  Stay tuned....

Image courtesy of the Urtopia site.

Urtopia Shows Worlds Lightest, Smallets E-Bike Motor:

At the recently held Consumer and Electronics Show (CES), e-bike brand Urtopia showed a 3-D printed titanium alloy drop bar bike with what Urtopia is claiming to be as the "World's Smallest Motor, Lightest Titanium E-Bike". 

The complete bike weighs in at a claimed 23.8lbs. The e-bike has a 300 watt/hr/Kg solid state battery which helps reduce weight and space concerns. 

The motor has a claimed weight of 2.6lbs and has a peak torque output of 65nm. No battery life data was shared. The bike was a concept but the motor and battery are going to be offered by Urtopia and to other e-bike brands for use in other bicycles. 

Comments: I was passed on my commute home going uphill by a youngster on an e-bike. While it was clear that it was a pedal assisted ride, my mind went to how this type of "bicycle" will be what the future adults in this country will expect when they go "bicycle" shopping in the future. A bike which requires 100% human input to move it will be seen as an antiquity. 

I don't think 100% human powered bicycles will ever go away completely, but as long as we have the ability to make things easier, that is going to be the path of least resistance for humans to take. And humans will almost always take the easiest path, even though it may not be the best path. I'm sure at some point riding a 100% human powered bicycle will be seen much as we see people reacting to riding single speed or fixed gear today - as an unnecessarily hard and perhaps even stupid pursuit. 

It's okay. I've been laughed at before.....

California Fires: You've probably seen some horrific images coming out of California due to the wind-whipped firs around Los Angeles. This has affected many people and will into the future. My prayers to all those affected. 

One bicycle related point here is that the home of long-time bicycle journalist and MTB Hall of Famer, Zapata "Zap" Espinoza, was obliterated in the fire and he and his daughter have lost everything. A GoFundMe has been set up to help assist with their recovery and support. If you feel so led, here is the link.  https://www.gofundme.com/f/zapata-zap-espinozas-postfire-recovery-fund

That's all for this week! Get out and ride those bicycles!

Two Things

Revival Time

 Things have slowed down quit a bit at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective, but they haven't come to a standstill. By no means! This is the time of the year that I try to get into those "projects" that will take up some time and will require a lot of focus. Things that are not wise to try to do when you might be getting interrupted on a fairly consistent basis. 

One of those projects is a 1959 Schwinn Corvette 3 speed. We had this bike up in the stand back in the Fall but when I realized that the internals of the Austrian made 3 speed hub were frozen up, I had to take a different approach to the job. 

The bike, overall, was in pretty decent condition considering its nearly 66 years of existence on the planet. Sure, it was scarred up, but it had all its original equipment parts still on it, which, for a boy's bicycle, is rare. Even the fenders were decent. 

So, I wanted to try to save the originality of the bike and not swap out the wheel for a similar one. My first approach was to soak the internals in penetrant, which thankfully was easily enough done due to the design of the hub. The manufacturer pretty much copied a Sturmey Archer design right down to the metal oiling port cap. I simply opened it up and loaded the hub with penetrant and sat the wheel in a corner for a month and a half. 

Recently I got back to this project and focused on the hub. I partially disassembled the axle which allowed access to the internal Sun and planetary gears. I was able to get those loosened up and then I was also able to get the hub to shift again. A little cleaning up, reassembly, and new oil and she's good to go now! 

That means the Corvette project can proceed. Next hurdle: Tires (maybe) and a different saddle. 

Image from a warmer time...

The Wheel Saga Continues

That DT Swiss wheel I have worked on is still giving me fits. I replaced all the alloy nipples and test rode it this past week and....

tick.......tick......tick......

Gah! What the....!!!

Okay, so it could be a spoke loading and unloading in its straight pull socket. It could be something else. All I know is that this tick-ticking will not be tolerated. So..... 

 I'll try another wheel set just to make sure it actually is the DT/Roval wheels. And if it is, then....

I have a set of Velocity Blunt SS rims sitting there doing nothing. I would just need to buy some nice hubs and well, build a proper set of wheels. There are possibilities to rebuild that DT Swiss hubbed Roval rimmed wheel set too, and yeah.....I could go that way, but either way, a set of J-bend hubs and spokes would need to be purchased. 

I think something like this needs to happen. Funny what an annoying noise will do to a bicycle mechanic. The thing is, at single-digit wind chills and with that cold possibly skewing my results I think this may have to wait until things warm up a bit. Then if that noise is what I think, there will need to be some hubs and spokes ordered.

Gravel Grinder History: The Bikes

T.I.v1 2005 - Image courtesy of Joe Partridge

Since the Karate Monkey has been built up in an early style for gravel biking, I thought I might review some of the things which by now may have been forgotten - or not known by some of you, the readers of this blog - about the early days of gravel events in the Modern Era of gravel riding. 

Gravel events centered around long-distance cycling challenges kicked off in a much more influential and important way in 2005 with the running of the first Trans Iowa. By 2008, the genre was starting to be defined more clearly and crisply, and several things about this early time in gravel riding are noteworthy. There were a lot of things that were very different than they are in 2025, now nearly twenty years down the road. 

Bicycles are very different, overall, from what they were two decades ago, and many of you readers perhaps weren't even doing serious cycling twenty years ago. Hopefully this post will help put a lot of things into perspective.

Let's focus on the bicycles used back then and what technologies are missing from them which you might be taking for granted now. I'll be using my Karate Monkey as an example here, but I will also reference a few other bicycles in this discussion as well.

I switched out tires to more period correct WTB Vulpine v1's. Toobz, natch!

Of course, almost twenty years ago there were no "gravel bikes". There were no products in that category at all since it did not exist yet. Therefore; anything used by early gravel riders for riding in gravel events of the day were adapted from road bikes, mountain bikes, and cyclo - cross bikes. 

For the most part, gravel riders tended to gravitate toward mountain bikes first, and then as bicycles like the Surly Cross Check became more readily available in the late 2000's, those cyclo - cross style bikes were seen more and more as "gravel bikes". 

What We Did Not Have: There were certain things that were not really an option for most gravel riders in the mid to late 2000's. Some of these missing things were handicaps and when gravel riders did get their hands on those technologies, gravel riding became much more rider friendly and fun. 

Probably the chief two things missing then were tubeless tires and tires specifically designed for gravel in anything wider than cyclo cross limited 33mm widths. Seeking for wider, gravel-friendly rubber was often met with frustration and compromises. For instance, performance tires - tires with folding beads, lightweight, high-performance casings, and gravel friendly tread designs - simply were not readily available unless you went to 29"er sized rubber, or downsized to 33mm which was where all your cyclo-cross tires were at. In between there were hybrid tires with wire beads, heavy, dead feeling touring tires, and the oddball city tire with cheaply made casings. (Note: Some may point out Bruce Gordon 'Rock & Road' tires as being a gravel tire available then. Yes - but they were rare as hen's teeth and nobody really knew about them. If you did, good on ya!)

2006 Dirty Kansa 200: MTB's were commonplace at this event for years.

None of the tires that were used, with the exception of conversions of standard folding tires and some 26"er tubeless ready tires, were tubeless back in those times. Tubeless technology for bicycles was in its infancy, so much of the time the bicycles used in this time period were using butyl rubber tubes. 

Braking technology was in flux for mountain bikes at this time, and sometimes you would see the 29"er with a disc brake set up. However, since this was new territory for many riders, if they used disc brakes they were most often the ubiquitous Avid BB7's which were often spec'ed on early disc brake 29"ers. It also bears mentioning that many riders distrusted hydraulic based disc brakes at the time due to the fears of failure in the field which would not be serviceable by the rider. More on why that was in a bit.

For the most part, riders were using cantilever brakes. Caliper brakes were not good due to clearance issues with debris and especially with mud, so this forced a lot of riders to choose a mountain bike over an older road bike that may have had proper tire clearances. Many riders were doing a fair share of road and MTB, so when it came to choosing a bike for this new 'gravel thing", it was the mountain bike that came out for the ride. Had disc brake road bikes existed in the mid-2000's this may have been a radically different evolutionary story.

Single speed drivetrains were not uncommon back in the early gravel days.

In terms of drive train choices many riders did not want to risk failure due to the nature of some of the early gravel challenges. These events were most often longer than 100 miles, and in the case of Trans Iowa, were as long as 300 miles or longer. Self-supported riding was held in high regard then, so you had to carry your spares or risk having to fall out of an event due to an irreparable mechanical failure.

Since fail-safes were a way to help ensure success. Many riders eschewed anything which was complicated and needed special tools to repair, or that was simply going to be a chance for a DNF. (Did Not Finish) Chances for muddy events, rain, or other possible damaging situations related to bushwhacking through grass and dirt roads led riders to fear several possibilities for drive train damage. This is why single speed bikes, along with mechanical disc brakes, were often choices made by early gravel event participants. Not to mention that these types of choices were often less expensive. 

Some Other Notables: Since the wide rim craze had yet to take hold of mountain, road, and other forms of cycling, narrow internal width rims were the norm. Carbon rims were in their infancy in the mid-2000's and carbon rims were jaw-dropping in terms of expense. Your early gravel racer was not about to spend north of two thousand dollars for a wheel set that would get sacrificed to the crushed rock monsters. 

So, typically you saw early 29"er rims or touring rims getting the nod for gravel duty back then. My particular example sports a set of Salsa Cycles Delgado Cross rims, a rim - as the name suggests - intended for cyclo cross usage. Again, a rim brake rim, which was also more commonplace in the mid-2000's gravel event scene. 

While this has something to do with an accessory item, its need was predicated by a standard of those early bikes. Water bottle mounts were almost always done in pairs on bicycles of that time, but with such long distances facing riders, a solution had to be found to get enough water onboard to make the distance to a checkpoint or resupply point. 

 Usually this was the job of a hydration pack, an accessory item which was immensely popular with mountain bikers of the day. Another way that this issue was tackled was by using early half sized or triangular sized frame bags and stuffing a 1 - 3 liter bladder inside from a hydration pack with the drink tube attached to the stem of the bicycle to make it accessible. Triathlete style bottle carriers mounted off the rear of a saddle were also seen then, but these often would eject bottles over rougher terrain, so they tended to be less than ideal.

I witnessed an early solution to carry water bottles back in 2005 that hinted at a future feature of many gravel bikes when I saw a rider who had used hose clamps to attach two water bottle cages to a steel, uni-crown fork, one cage on each fork blade. 

Not necessarily bicycle related, but definitely a sign of these times was the use of analog computer technology. Many of these events had cue sheet navigation with GPS files being so rare that it was impractical to expect that anyone could make that work in a bicycle event. So, you had to invent a way to carry cue sheets and make them easy to read. 

Of course after all of that, you had to be able to make sense of cue sheet navigation,which was a skill in and of itself. Going off-course at a gravel event was common place then due to how easy it was to miss a turn or miscalculate navigation information and mileages. 

There is more. Lighting, nutrition, and comfortable grips, handlebars, and saddles were all things folks suddenly had to figure out when they got involved in gravel events back then. Now days a lot of this is not even a concern, and riding an event is easier than ever with several things having all been sussed out years ago, or made easier by current technologies.

I'll be doing some "throw-back" style gravel riding this year to help illustrate some of the challenges we had back in those days.

Good Grief Bikes' Nice Bar: Review - The Bike

 Note: Guitar Ted purchased the Nice Bar at full retail for personal use and review from Good Grief Bikes. Good Grief Bikes has no input on this review and all opinions are Guitar Ted's.

Yesterday I introduced the Good Grief Bikes' "Nice Bar" handlebar. Today I am going to share with you dear readers how the installation went and what my first ride impressions are. But first, I want to share my intentions for this handlebar and why I wanted to use it with this particular bicycle. 

As I contemplated purchasing the Nice Bars I was struck by how their shape reminded me of a certain "alt bar" made out of titanium that was popular with some early 2000's endurance racers and ultra-MTB folks. That reminded me of the bicycles first used for gravel events in the mid-2000's and up until about 2013-2014. 

It was not uncommon to see mountain bikes, and especially the then new 29 inch wheeled versions of mountain bikes. These bikes, besides their rugged, durable nature, had 700c wheels, good geometry for gravel roads, (not the now current slack angled, long forked type), and early 29"er tires were right about where the now cutting edge widths for rubber are at, or in other words, 45mm - 52mm in width. 

This made me think about my 2003 Karate Monkey and how that bicycle was my first "gravel grinder". What if I tried recreating a "first generation" gravel grinder bike? I could use the Nice Bar as a sort of 'throw-back' to that long out of production "H-Bar" that many riders used back then. My Karate Monkey utilizes several parts that would be considered 'period correct' and has several parts that are actually from the period. So, I decided to start by putting the Nice Bar on the Karate Monkey and use the bike as a flat bar, throw-back gravel bike.  

The 2003 Karate Monkey with the Good Grief Bikes' Nice Bar

To briefly give you an idea here of where this is and will be going, I will give a rundown on the build. This is a first-run 2003 Karate Monkey in Camp Stove Green purchased in March of 2003. I am the original owner. The head set is a Race Face threadless head set from 1996. The stem is a Thomson from the 2000's. The seat post is a Ritchey from the 2000's. The saddle is a Brooks B-17 which I received as a gift from one of this blog's readers, so I don't know the vintage there. The wheels are Shimano XTR rim brake hubs laced to Salsa Delgado Cross rims, circa early 2000's. The bottom bracket is a 1990's era Shimano UN-52. The crank set is a White Industries 180mm crank from around 2010. The chain wheel is a Home Grown Industries circa 2010,(company is defunct) and the pedals are Fyxation Mesa MP's from about ten years ago. The rear cog and spacer set is from Surly and probably around 12 - 15 years old. The tires are more recent, around 2017, and the water bottle cages are 1990's survivors. Brakes are recent Tektro linear pull and the levers are early 2000's Avid levers. Grips are a year old or so rubberized cork. The frame pump is a 1996 Blackburn frame pump. 

So, a lot there is staying. Some will change, but there is a bike that pretty much is representative of what you'd be riding mid-2000's in a gravel event. 

Installation: Back to the handlebar. These went on the bike very much like any other handle bar would. I did note that my brake levers, which were always loose on the slightly undersized Velo Orange Utility Bars, were 'normal' on the Nice Bar. No problems affixing them to the handlebar at all. 

The grips also were normal installation fare. This may seem silly to even point out, but you might be surprised how many times handle bars are not in spec with regard to diameter. 

My test ride showed me that I had things in the ballpark as far as tilt of the extensions and height of the bar overall. The stem length seems close, if not spot on. I suppose this is as good a place as any to address stem length. 

I've seen a lot of assertions to the effect that a swept back handle bar requires a longer stem than you usually would use. To my mind, this is far too simplistic and doesn't account for how a handlebar like this alters your entire approach to riding. First of all, there are so many varying ways to grip a bar like this that approaching the problem by trying to match your standard flat bar grip position is a big mistake. Those extensions reach forward a bit, and you will want to be able to actually use them to ride for miles, if you'd like. So don't get caught up in the traditional knee-jerk reactions when it comes to "alt-bars" because, like it or not, experimentation is going to be necessary to achieve the 'perfect-for-you' riding position. 

So, I may end up with a slightly different stem length, and I may tweak the way the extensions point downward, or maybe use them pointing slightly upward, if that ends up becoming a good feeling way to ride. My goal is to get to a place where I have multiple different hand positions and have the ability to ride hand-pain free for several hours at a crack. 

Ride Impressions: More soon, but right now this handle bar is promising. The ride is not harsh, the angle of my hands on the bar is very agreeable with me, and the handlebar looks great on my Karate Monkey. At least I think it does, so that is all that matters, right?

The extension junction with the center crossbar is a hand hold, hand resting spot, and a place to get a bit skinnier in a headwind. I found that this might be a relaxing place to ride while grinding out longer flat sections or for longer climbs, but I won't know for sure until I can get out into the country for a long ride. 

One thing to note here is that the Nice Bar does not come with handlebar plugs. You'll need grips that cover the ends of the extensions, as mine do, or four plugs of some sort. The plugs go into the ends of the extensions as well as the handlebar ends. Tip: You can fashion great, lightweight, good looking end caps for handlebars from wine bottle corks. Use the real cork ones, not those fake plastic ones. 

Stay tuned....

Good Grief Bikes' Nice Bar: Review

The Nice Bar from Good Grief Bikes

 Note: Guitar Ted purchased the Nice Bar at full retail for personal use and review from Good Grief Bikes. Good Grief Bikes has no input on this review and all opinions are Guitar Ted's.

I brought the Nice Bar up again last Friday in the FN&V and here it is! This is an "alt bar" with a nod to the past and which has a very unique look. 

What It Is: The Nice Bar is named after fixed gear rider Dave "Fixie Dave" Nice. Dave rides a lot of mountain bike trails on fixed gear bikes, and he's done Tour Divide on a fixed gear bike, so honoring him with a handlebar named for him is a nice gesture. 

The bar is crafted by Good Grief Bikes' Christopher Schmidt. Here is the link to the "About" page which has more details on Chris. Good Grief Bikes in Colorado Springs, Colorado is a small business and a 'one-man show' so you know who made the bar and that is kind of different in these days of Amazon/faceless retail. You either value that or you do not. I think it is an integral part of this handlebar and thus, this review, to include that the product is from such a source. 

For one thing, because it is made the way it is, each example of the Nice Bar will be a bit unique. Chris "flame-paints" and clear-coats each handlebar ensuring that no two are alike in looks. Added to that is the monster brass brazing of the extensions which makes for a noticeable contrast with the rich purples, teals, blues, and violets of the flame-painting. The bar is so striking in terms of aesthetics it seems a shame to cover any part of it! 

You can order this bar with different clamp sizes to accommodate different stem standards. I ordered a 31.8mm clamp section which Chris brazed on to the center section of the Nice Bar. No shims here! 

Here are the other specifications for the bar from the Good Grief Bikes' page for the Nice Bar:

•4130 Chromoly, brazed one at a time
•Flame-painted and clear-coated for a unique iridescent finish
•Clamp Diameter Options: 22.2 mm, 25.4 mm, 31.8 mm
•Forward Extension Length = 100 mm
•Rear Grip Extension Length = 185mm
•Backsweep = 34.5 Degrees

 Also, while it is not mentioned in the specs, I tested an old SunTour Barcon shifter and it did fit into the extensions of the Nice Bar. So, if you were thinking about running bar end shifters, that should work out with this handlebar.

Weight: The purpose of this handlebar is to withstand adventure cycling/bikepacking and allow for a comfortable, all-day riding position with multiple hand positions on tap for the rider to choose from. My intentions are to use it as a flat bar gravel alternative which I will get into in another update on this review. So, because durability is high on the design manifest here, you are not getting a lightweight handlebar with the Nice Bar. This example weighs in at 840 grams. That comps with a Surly Corner Bar, another ChroMo bar, which weighs approximately 800 grams with a separate shim.  The Velo Orange Utility Bar, another ChroMo steel bar I tested HERE, weighs in at 820 grams. 

The Nice Bar comes in various widths as well. I chose a 44.4cm width as that was the closest width to my gravel bars I run which are 46cm in width, generally speaking. I've no doubt that choosing  25.4mm clamp and going with the slightly narrower 44.0cm bars would have dropped the weight down to be pretty much the same as the Surly bar. But really, if you are buying this bar and heavily considering the weight of the thing, I think you are missing the point a bit. 

For example, Good Grief says on their site that they make bicycle frames, forks, and components for people to have fun using, " not to set land-speed records or worry about 5 grams of weight difference– but to ride and love and embrace the JOMO. (That’s the “joy of missing out”)."

 First Impressions: The package came in and I noted that Good Grief uses paper packing tape and that the box was cushioned inside with strips of crinkled black paper. Hmm.... Different, kind of fancy, and environmentally conscientious. Cool! 

The handlebars were striking and beautiful to behold in a kind of base, purposeful way. Not necessarily industrial, I wouldn't say, but pretty and "tool-like" at once. I liked the look and feel. The heft of the bar was reassuring in that I would not be afraid of using this bar for anything I would ride off-road around here. Tough looking handlebars but designed in a way that looks comfortable and appealing. 

The brazed on clamp section was a bit of the bar that I found amazing. I'd never considered that this clamp area could be addressed in such a manner. It's very unique. 

The width was spot-on for me, and the swept 34.5° extensions felt natural in my hands. I've tried the "OG" of this sort of design, which has 45° swept extensions and that seems like just a bit much, for me at any rate. This slightly less swept, but still dramatically angled, extension is much more to my liking as I have another handlebar with a similar extension sweep and I really get on with it. Of course, this is a very personal "fit" issue and subjective to each use case. You may like it as well, or you may not get along with it at all. My personal opinion is that most humans should be using a swept extension bar for the best ergonomics, but again, you are welcome to disagree.

Next: The Bike: I will discuss installation, set up, and what I have intended for this bike and for the Nice Bars.

A Much Simpler Time

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

The Karate Monkey from around 2006

During the past twenty years of blogging there has not been much of the time spent just doing simple riding and writing. From very early on I was sucked into a different sphere of activities and that propelled me into a side-gig that has been at times both amazing and exasperating. 

Between writing for other sites, having the burden of doing specific rides on specific gear/bikes to write up specific posts, I haven't had time to just ride much. So, I thought I'd go back into the archives to see when it was that all this went berserk. 

But before I get into that, let me just make it clear that I allowed this to happen to myself and through it all I met a lot of really great people. I got to do a LOT of really cool things. Both the people and the experiences enriched my life greatly. Had I just kept things chill and easy?

I doubt that this blog would have made it past a few years. 

So, let that simmer in the background as you read the rest of this post. Everything has a time and a place. A season for growing, and a season for fading away. My 'crazy times' as far as the blogging/writing goes may be coming into a season of fading, but you never know, right? 

Anyway, back in 2005, when this all started up, it was 'just me' and while I was doing Trans Iowa already, that was the extent of my 'business'. Other than that, I had a lot of time to just ride bicycles. Sometime during late 2005 and into 2006 was when the acceleration to craziness started. By 2006 I was wrapped up into it all and it hasn't been until this time last year when I was able to look around and say that all I had to do was write another post for this blog, and not do a bunch of "that other stuff" that kept me busy for the better part of two decades now.

"all sorts of weirdos ride bikes"

Which is weird now. I mean it is hard to not think I "should be doing something' because for all of the time from 2005-ish until up to now I had things to stay on top of. 

It isn't that I am unaware I have this extra time to do other stuff. I have joined a couple groups, I am volunteering. I have done neighborhood clean-ups and attended meetings. All part of what I feel is my "civic duty". 

So, these things are a nice diversion from the usual worries and tasks that I was often trying to keep in line for many years. Still, there are those moments when I find myself worrying I must be forgetting some detail. 

Now a year has passed and I think I will be able to start to make room in my head for something a bit more blog related. Maybe do some things I have thought about doing which just were not possible when I had all of the other stuff going on.

Or...... Maybe I'll just go for a bicycle ride. You know, for the fun of it, and see how that goes. It was how I used to do things back in my simpler days. Or was it just "normal" everyday riding? Have I forgotten how to do this?

I don't think so, but sometimes when I look back to 2005 and before, it makes me wonder.

2025 Gravel Events Cost Survey

The Gravel Events Cost Survey is a random look at events across the USA which are primarily gravel based cycling events to see what it costs to go ride organized events in the year 2025. 

I did a similar thing last year and I was taken to task for my opinions on what constituted a "value" in any given event to a participant. Note to any readers of this survey: I have opinions which may not line up with what you believe. This is my take on this subject.  

How The Survey Was Done: I began my survey by taking a look at some promotions that started coming into the inbox here and taking notes on distances offered versus registration costs. Then I added events from BikeReg using their geographic breakdown of the nation and the events listed in each region. I noted some events were listed in more than one region so I avoided those for the survey, or only used an event listed twice across regions in one region that made sense to me. (For instance, some Texas events were also in the Southwestern region. So I used only the Texas listing in that instance.) 

Here are the regions as broken down by BikeReg: New England, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, Rocky Mountains, South Central, Texas, Northwest, and Southwest. So, I used three events from each region, trying to use a different state in each region where possible, (obviously "Texas" was all Texas!), and this brought in 30 events. I also included the ones I had already been noting previously as mentioned from promotions and this added seven more events. So a total of 37 events were included. 

The Events: So, what types of "gravel" events were included? Of course, the "biggies" are in the survey: Gravel Worlds, Unbound, SBT GRVL, and Mid-South. But I have unheralded events from all across the nation, some even free, although I did not know that ahead of the survey. So, there is a range from free to well over three figures in cost and everything in between. 

I chose the regional events based upon a few things. First, I only looked at the names of the events and where they were located to get a good representation of events all across the USA. Names of events came into play where I recognized names from a long time ago and are events that have been well-established. I also included some events which had names that just struck my fancy. For instance, the Massochistah (The Spurty Dirty Hurty Gurty) I mean....c'mon now! How can you overlook that event?!

The old Lu Lacka Wyco logo from years ago.

An example of an old event I recognized from the past would be the Lu Lacka Wyco V13, which, as you would maybe guess, is in its 13th year. There were several others I surveyed that I remember from years ago.

Events ranged from the civic organization type event to the full-on corporate backed event. These events were mostly gravel, although some were more road events with gravel sectors and some were purposefully "all-terrain" events with a mixture of surfaces. 

What I Am Trying To Show: My baseline for a gravel event value is based upon how much it cost per mile to register. So, if an event is 100 miles and cost 100 bucks to enter that event has a cost of a dollar per mile. 

You'd think that the biggie events would skew the rating far more to the spendy side but I found that many smaller events are charging a LOT more these days for registration. And it should be no wonder. "Gravel is the hot ticket for competitive bicycle events these days and the genre' shows no signs of slacking off yet. Event directors and organizations are seeing the big time events charging three-digit entry fees and are following their example. 

Also, this survey is an average cost analysis. I am not breaking down these by regions or in any other way. I am just curious to see how far above the old "dollar-per-mile" limit we used to use for gauging events we have gone now and what the new baseline might be. That's it. I'll give that average cost per mile for 2025 and then give you some trends I have noticed while doing this survey. 

There were 93 different distances/costs included over the 37 events. There were two events that were completely free of charge. Leaving out those two, the cheapest cost per mile came from an event in Texas with .30c per mile cost to enter. In fact, that event had the least expensive per mile cost of any event in all distances with their most expensive per mile cost being .73c/mile. Of course, this was also the longest distance event surveyed with that cheap per mile cost going at 400 miles and the more expensive per mile distance being 160 plus! 

The most expensive per mile cost was $8.33 per mile, and yes, it was for a very short course. That follows with most events, as the shorter distances get charged more per mile in general to ride. Interestingly Unbound and Gravel Worlds charged a bit of a premium for their most popular distances (100 and 75 miles respectively), which makes sense when demand is considered. And shout out to those two events for being very reasonably priced per mile compared to some other, not so well known events. In some respects those events, especially the full distances they offer, are a bargain for what you get to experience. 

Result: So, with my survey of these random events and cost/distances, it came out that the average cost per mile now is $2.11/mile. 

Comments: I think my results are a bit skewed to the higher side by having a few really expensive events in the survey like SBT GRVL and the Belgium Waffle Ride AZ. That and a few of the smaller, more feature-laden events have a higher cost per mile than some of the more straight-ahead events that don't offer meals, bands, etc. There are a big chunk of event distances with a cost between one and two dollars per mile,so I feel if all gravel events offered during 2025 would be considered in a survey, the result I would see would come down below two dollars per mile and somewhere above a buck fifty per mile. 

This also does not cover events like weekly gravel group rides or "pop-up" gravel events that you see on Facebook which typically are no-cost/low cost to ride. Adding in those would lower the average by a considerable amount. So, take what I found with a grain of salt. It's just one data point.

I did notice a few odd things while doing this survey though. One was that many events are now charging one price for all distances. This makes riding the shorter distances not such a great deal. However; maybe event directors are finding that people don't seem to care about this. 

Obviously events kind of come and go throughout the years, but it was refreshing to see many old names yet going on into 2025 that I knew from back when I compiled a gravel event calendar. 

I also noted, as in the past, there are literally ten times the events out there that you might think there are. Gravel is pervasive and reaches all corners of the USA. So, forget about the "bucket list" events if lotteries and big crowds are not your thing because there are a ton of great gravel events regionally that are very much ready to see you and your bike be successful and have a great time with new friends and old. 

However; those big-time events are actually not bad values sometimes, as stated above. So if that's your bag, well then, carry on! This is what is super cool about gravel events. There is really something out there for everyone.

Friday News And Views

Less Race - More Taste

 A Fear Of Vowels FN&V

Good Grief  Bike 'Nice Bars' In:

Well, after a four day delay when these handlebars went into the time warp, they have arrived! Tracking packages over a holiday weekend is never for the weak of mind. I will say that! 

I mentioned these handlebars a while back HERE in another FN&V. I'm preparing a post about these handlebars which will appear next week. Until that time, I have a couple of things to say about the experience of purchasing these handlebars. 

First of all, my order was processed and shipped very quickly. It wasn't Good Grief Bike's fault that the delivery took longer than expected. Again, the holiday week probably was not the best time to order anything and be expecting a timely delivery! 

Secondly, I was flattered and surprised that Chris of Good Grief hand wrote me a note telling me that he had been inspired by writings on this very blog! That was certainly very nice of him to say. On one hand, I am always so surprised by how and where my blog has touched someone out there and maybe has inspired them to something they wouldn't have otherwise done. Certainly Chris of Good Grief would have been fine without me doing what I did and do, but knowing that what I did and do makes a dent out there is kind of mind blowing. 

Secondly I am not going to let that kindness get in the way of evaluating this handlebar fairly. So, I just wanted to get that out of the way and be up-front about this. Chris of Good Grief had no idea I was going to order a handlebar from him until I did, so this wasn't a disingenuous response from him either. 

I'm excited about this handlebar for several reasons. Stay tuned for the update coming next week. I think some of you might be surprised....

First There Was SBT GRVL.....

Last week I saw a notice being posted on a few gravel pages on Facebook, (of which there are SEVERAL!), and it was an announcement of a new gravel oriented "magazine". 

It is called "GRVL MGZIN". You can check it out online HERE. 

Comments: Ah....... Vowels anyone? I mean, you bothered to use one in your name, so..... Maybe it can be chalked up to the SBT GRVL influence. Anyway. I guess its whatever these days. And what of the "magazine" part? I  could not find out if this was a physical product. It would appear it is just a digital content provider with six contributors. 

I wish these folks well. I know what this endeavor will take to make a dent and how much it "pays". Not many have made this model actually work for a career and a way to make a living. (See any number of current and past digital efforts in the cycling field) Perhaps this bunch will crack the code and be successful. But I wish they'd consider vowels as being a bit more important. 

It's Registration Season!

New Year - New Registrations! You've probably gotten hit up in your emails and social media by events angling to get you to come back again to ride or visit for the first time. "The Algorithms" demand that you pay attention and give them your money! Ha! But you know it is true! 

Outside, the corporation that owns BikeReg, is gonna get a piece of the pie whether you like what they do or not since it is hard to register for an event online without using BikeReg. Of course, there is a choice to use Athlinks, and then Life Time Fitness has a buck or two from that. The point is that gravel events are just like any other event these days with someone getting their fingers in the pie in a covert way that you may or may not notice. 

At least it isn't as bad as live concert ticket pricing! 

This is one of the things that 'gravel events' lost when things got monetized and pushed into big business style thinking. There was a time you sent your money directly to the organizer of the event with no middleman. I suppose there are still smaller events that do this. 

And some folks probably don't care where those extra fees are going. It is the price of doing business. And gravel is pretty big business these days!

Image courtesy of Wolf Tooth

Speculating On Future Wolf Tooth Product:

Recently Wolf Tooth Components sent out an email to its customers reviewing what they had introduced in 2024 and then teasing new products for 2025. 

Saying in the email, "We've got some big things planned in the coming months. 2025 will be a new era for Wolf Tooth.", tad then showing the image here with a big puck of aluminum stock. 

So, let's play a game of speculation. What do you think this points to? I'll take a stab and say that Wolf Tooth Components will be making their own hubs for MTB and gravel bikes in 2025. 

N.Y. Roll has talked with me quite a bit about this idea and his guess is that Onyx Racing Products is going to merge with Wolf Tooth and come under one umbrella company. I think his guess has a lot of credence. Both are Minnesota based companies and both manufacture in house. Onyx Racing Products is actually an outgrowth of the Christianson Pneumatic Conveying Systems company out of Blomkest, Minnesota, a small town West of the Twin Cities. So perhaps Christianson is spinning off Onyx to Wolf Tooth which, again, makes a lot of sense.

Or N.Y. Roll thinks it could be a merger with HED Wheels. I could see that, because HED and Wolf Tooth already work together with the bicycle side of Wolf Tooth, Otso Bikes. Whatever the case, I think Wolf Tooth is going into the hub making business. 

Can N.Y. Roll and I both be right?

We'll see. 

A New Book By John Ingham With A Forward By Guitar Ted:

Readers here may recall earlier last year seeing a long form article I was honored to present which was authored by John Ingham. 

John contributed several such articles in the past to "Riding Gravel" which have been culled and included in this new book of his. He also added the article posted here plus a previously unpublished article. 

The book is a look at how gravel and long-distance riding can change your life for the better both spiritually and physically. John Ingham is a retired professor of anthropology, a former rock climber, and has been riding gravel and gravel events recently including The DAMn. John is also in his early 80's, and is an inspiration to many. 

I was honored to have John ask me to write a forward to this book and I also can heartily recommend it as a great look from an academic, scientific, and experiential viewpoint. John gives the reader all the facts and sources for research in this book so you can verify things for yourself if you care to do this. 

I've read most of the articles and I can say that I learned a lot from John's research and knowledge. I think you might also. Here's how to look it up on Amazon where it is available as a paperback. NOTE: I have no benefit from the sales of this book. My contributions were provided gratis in support of John and as a way to thank him for his past contributions to my work.

Thanks for considering this. 
 

That's it for the first FN&V of 2025! Happy New Year! Get out and ride those bicycles!

The State Of The Gravel Scene 2025

 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 November of 2004.

Now, a whole seven years later, things have radically changed in the gravel scene. What is more, things are set to change even more in 2025 and beyond. 

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. 

Nearly ten years ago now, had you asked me then, I would have said that we had achieved "peak gravel" as far as what I thought would be the pinnacle of the genre. Of course, I was wrong about that, but as I stated in my address last year, we are in a "past its peak" stage of gravel cycling, as far as development of this idea. 

You see this in the world-wide series from Gravel Earth and the UCI. There are two "Gravel World Championships". There is a world-wide known event that is considered the "premier" gravel event in Unbound. You also see Pros, Pro bike development, and a group of enthusiasts chasing the latest and greatest thing, whatever that may be. 

This parallels the Pro road racing scene in terms of events and products. While the tradition part is obviously not the same, (how could it be?), the level that gravel has reached, and will in 2025 and beyond, is on par with the road scene. In some ways, it has surpassed it. 

Why? Because people are still flocking to gravel as a way to compete, recreate, and otherwise enjoy cycling. I've said it for years now - gravel is easy to do, easy to turn into an event, and does not require a specific venue, as does mountain biking, nor does it require roads to be shut down, or permits, or insurance to have an event. (Think about that before you fly off to the comment section)  World-wide, gravel is off the grid of cars, sanctioning bodies, and rules. 

There is big money and prestige in gravel racing, you'll find this stuff, of course, but world-wide gravel riders really don't need any of it.  The high-level, paid, sponsored, and notable rider is but a tiny fraction of the numbers of world-wide gravel riders. You just hear about the tiny fraction more, due to how we seem to have a need to worship athletic prowess and the people who possess it. Well, at least cycling media does this elevating of persons. 

So, what is the state of the scene? It is so vast and so diverse now, who knows? Furthermore, who cares? As long as we can ride our bikes, it will be happening, this gravel thing, and this is a good thing. So, one could say 'gravel is good', and thriving, so why worry about it? 

So, this is where I stand on the subject in 2025. 

We are in the third generation of gravel ridership. In my opinion, we are at least this deep into it. I was thinking when we started Trans Iowa, if you were 15 years old then, you'd be 35 years old sometime this year. You would be a parent, possibly, and maybe you found out about gravel five or so years ago. This tracks with many people I have heard talk about "how gravel is new" and when they found out about it.

The teenagers in gravel now represent a third tier of riders coming up, and maybe you could extend that upward to early 20-somethings. I met several people within this age group at Mid-South last year. Many told me it was one of the first times, or it was the first time, they had attended a gravel event. Gravel is new! At least it is to them. 

History is a funny thing. Many 'younger than I am' folks don't care about the history of gravel events at all. They are worried about "the now" and old stuff is.....well, old. Gravel is here, this is all that matters. This is pretty much the bottom line, if we are talking about active young people. If they are young and active at all. Which is a big "if" these days....

As someone who has been there and with all it entails, I have a different perspective. It isn't a majority opinion on gravel, and I am not a spokesperson for the scene over all. Who could be? It is too widespread and too diverse. Anyone who thinks they are on the pulse of gravel at any level is a fool. (I admit,  I was and am guilty) But I do have an opinion on the history part, and maybe a few folks do hearken to my takes. However; at this point? I think it best to say that this will be the last "State of the Gravel Scene" post I do. 

Again, I have opinions and I know some history. I am able to speak to that, and I will remain a voice for those things. I also know why "gravel" got its start. I found a great written thought which resonated with me concerning the reasons we started the gravel scene the way we did back then on Threads, a social media platform you may have heard about. It was a thought put down by a user named "ray.pedals.on" He wrote the following:

"Somewhat crazy thought…I want to ride for 12 hours straight. I want to see how far I can go, how much I can push myself. I know others have ridden longer and farther than I probably ever could, but that’s not the point. I want to do it."

"ray.pedals.on" wants to try this, I wanted to try this, and many others who were seeking an impactful experience wanted to try this. The early gravel scene provided a canvass for people to paint their own challenges on. This "gravel thing" was out on rural roads, with no fanfare, with no one cheering riders on, and this made it more personal. It made it mean more in a way that traditional racing on bicycles couldn't approach. This was the point of it all.

Traditional racing is not the enemy, it isn't "bad", but it is not and never will be that which we had. Sure, there are some spots where this can be still grasped by the seeker of self-challenges. Those who are willing to face those inner "demons", as some have described them, alone, self-supported, and without the trappings of what many consider a "race". This sort of thing can be found yet.

 But you'll never read about this on traditional cycling media. Many folks coming through the gauntlet of posts in online forums will not read about these special events, and maybe they will never care. Maybe this is the bad thing....

I will continue to speak to this sort of event/challenge/riding. This is why I started getting into gravel. It is what keeps me pedaling onward. This is my goal. "I want to do it."

This is the state of my gravel scene.

Saturday I will have my Events Cost Survey post up.

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year

Okay, you made it into another realm of time known as "2025". You have another chance to ride. Let's go! You know what? You shouldn't wait until New Year's Day to think this is your next chance at doing this-or-that in cycling (or in anything, really) You should have this new feeling every day you wake up. Buuuuuuutttt, that's a whole other story. 

I'll just say that I hope all your dreams, goals, and desires come true in 2025.

Now, let's catch up, shall we? I've been posting so much on things past that what is recent and present has, largely, been ignored here. So, I thought I'd get that taken care of here today. 

The first thing to know about me and any December of the past two decades is that I try to pre-schedule and have written up posts for the entire month of December by the end of the first week or ten days of the month. That way I get some time off to relax from blogging/writing and I get a bit of rest to recharge. 

I'm not sure how this happened, but 2024 was my highest output for blog posts in a single calendar year. I beat the old record by three posts, and the new record is 392. I would guess that the Virtual Turkey Burn Ride Reports are to blame for this new record, so again - Thank You to those who sent in a report last year. 

So, I haven't been doing a lot of planned rides either. December is pretty much a rest month from all of those activities. It makes sense for me since my wife's and my daughter's birthdays are two days apart from each other mid-month and the next week is Christmas followed by my wedding anniversary, which is tomorrow. (26 years! Woo!)

I have tinkered with a few things in the shop. One which I have previously spoken of here in that Roval rear wheel. I had a bit of a hurdle when I came around to replacing nipples on those Aerolite spokes, which like to twist up like a ribbon when you tighten the nipples up. I needed room to get my bladed spoke holder as close to the exposed part of the nipple as possible and yet be able to turn the nipple with a tool to tighten it. 

The modded Shimano spoke wrench

I needed a spoke wrench that looked like a spanner wrench, not a traditional spoke wrench. There are some online, but I made one out of an older Shimano aluminum spoke wrench by filing its bladed spoke holder out to 3.3mm. I managed to get the job done, so that worked out well.

With all the downtime from writing I was noting that a few posts I made in early December were totally going off the hook. Why that was is still a mystery to me. Maybe it has something to do with bots and "AI", or maybe someone linked to a forum and that drew a ton of hits. Anyway, there wasn't really anything especially remarkable about any of the posts that were garnering the big numbers of views versus the ones surrounding them. I'll be keeping an eye out for anomalys like those in 2025.

We had an ice storm around mid-month in December which put the kibosh on any riding for a few days. It also stopped me from working one day as well, which, to be honest, isn't ever ideal since I work so few days a week as it is! 

Then two days before Christmas I got some intestinal bug or something which caused a lot of pain and discomfort. Finally it "passed", (sorry....) and I was on the mend by the 27th. However; the illness and the inclement weather we've had kept me off my bikes and I was going a bit stir crazy there for a bit. 

These types of situations are always cause for concern because I have the time to think. Think about doing this or that with some bicycle I own. Many might remember my Shogun 1000 post here a while back and my saying I missed riding fixed gear. Well, it has been a disease of late as I find myself looking at Surly and Paul disc brake fixed gear hubs to convert a certain bike I have sitting around here. 

Might happen, might not happen, or it may be happening now. Stay tuned .... 

I finally received that handle bar from Good Grief Cycles on the 27th and again - with all the time to think, I decided against putting the bar on my Blackbuck and I am put it on my old Karate Monkey which I want to put back into the rotation of gravel bikes here which I plan to I use in 2025. My idea was to set the bike up as a "throwback" gravel machine. I just need an old Persian rug to make a "top tube snake" out of and then I'd be spot-on. (If you know, you know) 

Okay, that's about it for notable cycling related stuff here. Tomorrow I kick off things again with a "State of the Gravel Scene" post and a surprise announcement. Make sure you check it out!