This Wasn't My Idea....

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 Influencer:

The entire existence of this blog really hinges upon one individual, and that person is not me! I was, as they might say now, pushed into this gig by an "Influencer" from the internet. 

Influencers. Those personalities that companies will flock to because their social media content is followed by a large number of people that are "influenced" by their content. The "social media" in this instance was a blog. There wasn't really anything else you might call "social media" back in 2005. 

There were "chat rooms". Remember those? There were niche sites where comment threads were commonplace. "Forums", as they are referred to, were really where the discourse happened back then across the internet. The person that influenced me was also a big draw on a specific forum on mtbr.com's Endurance Forum. His name? Jeff Kerkove.

Jeff Kerkove, circa 2004, clowing up for the camera at work.

I knew Jeff better than most at the time because I had the privilege to work beside him from late 2002 to early 2007. For most of that time we were both shop mechanics at a local bike shop called Europa Cycle and Ski. He worked on one side of a Park repair stand, I on the other. It was inevitable that we would get to know one another at that time.

Our lives could not have been more different. I was a good dozen years his senior in age. I had a family and with two young children, I was very busy with that part of my life. Jeff was fresh out of college, single, and very very driven. His main focus was on training for, and participating in 24hr solo mtb races. 

He had a blog which detailed his training regimen, nutrition, and tactics in regard to racing. This blog ended up becoming quite popular and Jeff was fielding questions about his training and racing on a near daily basis back then. It didn't take long for sponsors to come around, and Jeff was excellent at landing more backers to help him in his quest for 24hr racing dominance. 

Meanwhile, here I was having near daily banter with Jeff while we toiled over hybrid bikes and creaky bottom brackets. I seemed to hit it off with Jeff right away, despite our differences. In fact, after the first few weeks of working with Jeff, I was approached by our boss on a day when Jeff wasn't there. He wanted to know what it was I was doing in regard to Jeff. How was it that I was able to "make him laugh" and have conversation with him, because my boss told me that no one had been able to crack him yet. 

Jeff had worked at the bike shop through college, and no one had really gotten to know him, or have animated banter with him like I was able to do. Why that was is anyone's guess. Only Jeff could really illuminate that for us all. But the fact remained that - for whatever reasons - I was the one Jeff seemed to open up to at work. 

Jeff at the GCHoF Group Ride in Emporia, Kansas 2023.

Jeff seemed to think I had a good amount of knowledge regarding cycling and he thought I was 'funny and interesting" enough that others should have the opportunity to get to know me as well. It was around late 2004 when Jeff started insisting that I should start a blog like he had. 

I scoffed at the idea. Me? Who cares about what I have to say? Jeff was, well......a racer. People respected his accomplishments and saw value in his knowledge of training, race tactics, and athlete sponsorship. People wanted to know what Jeff had to say. His blog was a requisite morning stop for many cyclists. Me? No one had ever heard of me. Why would anyone read a blog I wrote?

But blogs were a 'thing' yet in 2004 and 2005. A lot of cyclists had a blog then because there wasn't really anywhere else one could express themselves and their activities. Now? Well now you've got two dozen ways to do that. But back then? Blogging was it. Jeff thought I should join in the fun. He kept insisting I start a blog. He even allowed me to write posts on his blog starting in 2004. Then we cooked up Trans Iowa and that forced me to communicate via Jeff's blog as that was how we presented ideas in longer form than the Trans Iowa blog allowed for due to its format. 

Then post-Trans Iowa Jeff really started twisting my arm to do this blog. He even helped me format the first version of this blog. He taught me how to do a few things, and then, well.... You know the rest of the story. The point is, without Jeff Kerkove being in my life at that time I would never have doine what I have done in regard to cycling. 

Thanks Jeff!

The Twentieth Year Starts Now

 On this day 19 years ago I started "Guitar Ted Productions" and began my first year in a string of almost daily blog posts, sometimes multiple posts on a single day, ever since then. Now, today, I am starting my 20th year of blogging. Next May 11th I will complete that 20th year.

Twenty-freakin'-years!

To those who have been here reading for a day or for longer, I want to personally thank you from the bottom of my heart. I never went into this thinking that anyone would pay any attention to my writing at all. In fact, I took it so unseriously that I wrote a LOT of goofy stuff. Why not? No one was going to read this blog anyway, right?

Right?

Wrong. Lots of people started reading this blog, and I don't mean to brag, but this thing went from "zero to sixty" so fast it made my head spin. It wasn't a year into this that I was getting attention from other sites writing about cycling, or that people in the industry were anonymously hanging out to see what I would write up next. 

Then things went nuts. Really nuts. I was a bicycle mechanic in 2005, and that was it. But within a year things had changed and people had "heard about me" or had read the blog. I remember going to Interbike in 2006 and having people ask me "Are you Guitar Ted?", and saying that they read the blog. Whoa! How strange was that? 

The very first header seen 19 years ago today.

It was super-strange, that is how strange it was. But now it has become part of who I am. Now entering into my 20th year of this, I want to spend it by taking some time here and there to celebrate the milestone of blogging for my 20th year. I may trot out some stories from way back but I wrote up a pretty good history of this blog in 2015 called "A Decade Of Nonsense" which you can plug into the search bar at the top left corner here and have some fun with. 

I'll likely stick to stuff from the last ten years here, and cover that. But whatever I do there, it should be fun and a good read from time to time. You will also note that there are some special blog headers which I have created based upon some of the past headers used here. And there may be some other fun stuff happening too, so stay tuned..... There may even be a ride. No......not Trans Iowa, or the GTDRI. Just a ride on gravel, most likely, and a gathering for anyone that can make it. 

More soon.....

Unbound's Evolutionary Changes Further Distances Event From Its Roots

The routes and event details for this year's Unbound were announced Friday.

 Routes Announced Along With Other Details:

Life Time Events has announced its routes for the Unbound 200 and other satellite events which will occur the first weekend of June. 

Last year the event featured staggered start times for the Pro Men, Pro Women, and the "Amateur" participants. This year's events will also feature this with greater amounts of time between the Pro and Amateur classes.This year the splits will be Pro Women, or "Elites", as Unbound calls them, at five minutes past 6:00am when the Male "Elites" take off, but the Amateur class will leave at 6:30am. The extending of the cut-off time for the event was also done which is now 3:00am. 

Further separation of Pro (Elite) classes and the Amateurs will happen at the finish line as the Elites will have their own, separated "finishing chute" and the Amateurs their own "finishing chute". How that will look in practice is not yet known at this time. 

Finally, the event has a new director in Sean Thurman who takes the reins from Ben Sachs. Thurman will also oversee the Big Sugar event which Sachs was listed as race director of as well. There was no word on why the change was made. 

In a separate article posted on "Cycling Weekly" authored by Anne-Marije Rook, a subplot has developed that entails the Pro Women's field (or representatives of that field) who have asked Unbound to implement a no drafting rule for Elite riders, because the faster women most likely will intermingle with the slower Elite males. The fear is that an unfair advantage will be gained by some of the faster women latching on to drafting partners who are stronger athletes in the male field and pull away from the remaining females. This suggestion was rebuffed by the Unbound organizers for reasons of the drafting ban being unenforceable.

 NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops from this point onward. You've been forewarned.....

Comments: The event hasn't even been held yet and we have Pro Women disappointed and potential "gravel beef" within the Elite field. That's all I'll say concerning that for right now, but again - When big payouts and sponsorships are on the line, you are going to get this sort of complaint within the Pro field. This has to do with the females, but males wanting to be separated from the masses of amateur riders have now pretty much had their case addressed. So much for "lining up with the Pros" for being a reason to do Unbound.

The press release stated that this year's course will be only the third time the event has "ventured North". The presser stated that those previous North routes were done in 2019 and 2021. This could be construed as being correct under Life Time's ownership but it is definitely incorrect if Life Time is annexing the DK200's history, as they have done since they took over the event. 

In fact, we left going North in 2006. I remember Dan Hughes crashing out on Little Egypt Road back in the day, a road that is far North of Emporia in Western Wabaunsie County. In my memory, I want to say that Jim and Joel used to alternate going North or South every year. So the press release is either only referring to its history under Life Time, or it is incorrect information. UPDATE May21, 2024: I was made aware via a Facebook reply to a post about this that the reference to "North" in the press release refers to how the riders are facing and leaving the start line. So, this does not mean the event hasn't used a Northward course more than twice, although that is how the press release reads.

The change at the director's chair is curious. At the time of this writing, Ben Sach's Instagram still listed himself as the "Race Director" of Unbound and Big Sugar. What exactly caused the change is a curious mystery at this point. It is noteworthy that Sach's oversaw last year's highly controversial use of a stretch of muddy minimum maintenance road that had a workaround that was not utilized. This was highly criticized by Pro and amateur racers afterward. Whether this was a factor in the change at the race director's position is not known.

Further Separation: I have speculated all along that the Pro fields and the "amateur" fields would be separated and possibly end up having events on different days. This news of having more time gap between "Elites" and "Amateurs", (Don't you just get a feeling of "inclusiveness here?), gives the ideas I have written about concerning Pros vs Everyone Else more credence. No knock on Pro athletes, but all along I have stated that the goals of Pro Racing, both on the racer's part and the promoter's part, were at odds with grassroots gravel and where gravel sprouted up from and why gravel became the popular sport it has become. It surely did not reach the heights of popularity it has because we had Pro athletes vying for big money on a sanitized stage. It was quite the opposite of that, in fact. 

The fact that Unbound will now make "Amateurs" cross the finish line down a separate chute further shows how the organizers feel about what is more important. More stringent controls over traffic and pedestrian movements around the finish area will also be enforced to ensure a fair and safe atmosphere for the Pros. While this will undoubtedly benefit the amateurs as well, you can bet the Pro's concerns were the impetus for that change. 

Again, the evolution of this event has been front and center as the example why Pro and grassroots gravel are not compatible, or even the same thing. Should there be Pro racing on other than paved surfaces? Sure, why not? But that sort of event is not inclusive, it does not focus on stretching one's personal boundaries, nor is it a place where life-long friendships are forged through shared and equal challenges, courses, and all without any expectations for financial gain.  

Pro racing is not "gravel". Despite the surface the Pro's race on. Calling it such and trying to equate it with what gravel was all along is a false equivalency. I'll be interested in how Life Time further evolves Unbound and its other events, and also how traditional cycling media treats "grassroots gravel" going forward. My bet is that the picture will be the same as it ever was. Racing, in all its Pro glory, will be the only story they cover and grassroots gravel will appear to be invisible. 

I hope that more people become aware that this narrative is not the truth.

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Chris King

 News Of More Speeds And Plastic Tubes Today

Chris King Announces Gen 4 Hubs:

The venerable component company, Chris King, has announced an evolution to their hub range. The new Gen 4 hubs feature the same style drive system but it is now compatible with all current drive types without needing to be completely different for each type. 

The streamlining of the drive and axle systems will reduce costs in manufacturing, and this will be passed down to consumers as a lowering of the retail price. Not only that, but now drive systems can be changed by consumers at a lower cost. For instance, it used to cost $380.00. Now, riders using Gen 4 hubs will pay only $80.00 for a switch to a different drive system. 

For more details see Chris King Precision Components site HERE. 

Comments: This is good news for Chris King fans or anyone that might want to support the brand. As long as the durability and quality control remains at a high level, this should help the brand going forward. 

I like Chris King stuff, but whoo!  They are an expensive brand to get into. Their Ring Drive system is pretty bomber though and I found that the hubs are very worthwhile as an investment into a component that you can maintain and keep going for years and years. That even despite heavy abuse. The press release even stated that the free-coasting resistance has been lowered with the new Gen 4 design, so that's even better news.

Image sourced from Google

Shimano Rumored To Be Introducing 13 Speed Wireless Dura Ace Soon:

It's all over the internet - Shimano's long rumored move to 100% wireless shifting is going to happen and with that will come an extra cog. Thirteen to be exact.

Shimano has often filed patents just ahead of releases of new group sets and with Dura Ace needing a refresh it makes sense that this might happen. Additionally, the Tour de France often sees new groups introduced unofficially, or officially, and so this rumor lines right up with that. 

Comments: As I have oft told the story here, I will not delve into the full details, but I have been aware that Shimano has had working group sets up to and including 14 rear cassette speeds since 2010, (or before that, most likely). That they would periodically march out something new with an extra cog out back is not a surprise to me. 

But at some point you reach a place of diminishing returns and\or a place where no further technical advances can be made within the current parameters. Keeping in mind that 130mm rear spacing,(excepting the road disc specific142mm) has been around since the late 1980's for road bikes and you can probably guess that something will have to change radically for any further additional gears past 14 speeds. 

Can that happen? Will that happen? I would guess that we will know the answer in less than ten years from now. It's a no-brainer that we will see 14 speed cassettes in my opinion. This jump to 13 will last a few years, maybe five, and then you will see the 14's coming out. And what about SRAM? 

Stay tuned next week for more on their offering. 

Gravel Amplifier: Prairie Burn 100 -

Next month, on June 8th, the Prairie Burn 100 and 5K run will occur, starting in Downtown Grinnell, and utilizing the fantastic gravel roads surrounding the area. 

This year the loops are all new. That's right - loops. You will ride approximately 25 mile loops each ending back in Grinnell and if you want to continue, you can, or you could just hang and have some fun with the other activities scheduled for that event in Grinnell. Those include a beer garden, food trucks, a farmer's market, and live music by the Surf Zombies.

To learn more, see their website:  https://www.prairieburn100.com/event-info Registration is $50.00 and you can sign up HERE. 

Note: I have no affiliation with this event and I do not benefit if you use the links from here in any way.

Continental Tires Gets Into The TPU Tube Game:

Continental announced on Wednesday that they now have a range of TPU tubes for 700c tires and wheels ranging from sizes that will work with 25mm all the way through to 29"er sizes. 

Their TPU material and construction of the tubes is all done in Germany using the highest quality materials and processes. This is reflected in the use of clear TPU which Continental also claims is free from imperfections that can occur when TPU is dyed. You can read the full press release on Conti's website HERE. 

Comments: One thing that surprised me about TPU in general is something I saw on the press release that stated that "TPU tubes must never be used in conjunction with rim brakes. Excessive heat exposure can lead to a sudden loss of air pressure." I don't recall seeing this stressed regarding TPU tubes before and it comes as something of an alarm to me as I run a TPU tube in my Karate Monkey which has rim brakes currently. Something to consider there if you have long hills or will be riding in such an area and you have rim brakes and TPU tubes.

That's a wrap for this week. Have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to those who celebrate that.

Review News: Velo Orange Items

Image courtesy of Velo Orange

Note: The items mentioned in this post have been paid for out-of-pocket by Guitar Ted. Velo Orange has no affiliation with Guitar Ted Productions, nor are they aware that this review is starting. Hey! Maybe they will get tipped off to it later, but all I know is I am independently conducting these reviews and I will give you my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

Okay, it is time for a few new review items to show up here any day now, so I figured that I would introduce each item and why I am getting that item in so you will know my plans here. Truth be told, there is a common purpose here which you will see shortly.

First up we have the Velo Orange "Burrito Supreme Handle Bar Bag". This is one of those ubiquitous barrel shaped bags you see often now for cycling. The main purpose for this bag was to have it tested with the Redshift Sports Top Shelf Bar which I am reviewing. That and I've wanted to try a barrel shaped bar bag for quite some time now. The Velo Orange example here is actually made in the USA by Road Runner Bike Bags. 

This bag runs $85.00USD and has one main compartment which holds its shape via an internally sewn in sheet of plastic. It's canvass, of course, and attaches via two straps for the handle bar and one for the stem. We will see how that all works for the Top Shelf Bar soon. 

I'm also planning on using this bag for a trip/over night gravel ride I have planned out. Stay tuned for that....

Image courtesy of Velo Orange

Mojave Water Bottle Cage:

This one is for my quest to carry large amounts of water but not on my back, while cycling. I have used over-sized bottles in traditional and extendable cages, but the Mojave Cage is a bit of a different way to solve the puzzle.

This cage fits big Nalgene water bottles, as shown. I like the concept and the Mojave Cage should be a good solution for a longer trip by bicycle, like the one mentioned above here.

This cage has several mounting holes in a plate on the base of the cage allowing for various ways to mount it including using a Three-Pack Boss. 

This cage comes in silver or black and runs $39.99 USD. This will be going directly on to the Singular Gryphon Mk3 rig. I am kind of hoping to put it on underneath the down tube so we will see how that works out soon. 

Finally, and the entire reason I purchased all these things from Velo Orange in the first place, is something you might not have considered at all. It is a camera! 

Image courtesy of Velo Orange

Camp Snap Digital Camera:

So, I've been using an Olympus TG - 5 camera for years now. I don't know a lot about how it works. I'd estimate I know maybe 10% of it, as far as what it can do. The TG -5 is a very capable outdoors camera, and it has a fair amount of features and normal "camera-guy" things that can be adjusted, tweaked, or whatever.  Most of that is completely lost on me. I usually set it on "Aperture", adjust the light balance a bit, and shoot while riding. I almost never use the viewfinder/screen. It's fairly useless to me due to glare, bright Sun light, and my old, fading eyesight. 

So, when I saw the Camp Snap camera, I immediately knew that I was the person this was made for. Well.....at least I feel that way. A truly "point it and shoot" camera with a whopping 8 megapixel sensor. You get what you get for a shot, and I am okay with that. This is almost exactly how I shoot almost every image that you've seen here in the last ten years. Point. Shoot. Download into computer. Tweak in the box. Publish. 

So, we'll see if this thing can handle gravel travel. I'll be taking images with it for the blog here and for documenting my trip I mentioned earlier. By the way, this camera costs $65.00 USD, so it isn't all that dear and if it gets biffed or craps out, well we will all know better.

So, that's what is coming up. Look for more on these items here soon. 

Brake Talk: Adjustments

 Monday's post about mechanical disc brakes was a pretty big hit with some of you readers. In that post I mentioned that one of the keys to a successful mechanical brake set up is getting the caliper aligned with the rotor correctly. A commenter requested a "how-to" concerning this. So, today's post will cover some tricks and tips on how to get the moist out of your mechanical disc brake set up. 

Some of these tips will cross over to setting up a hydraulic caliper as well. (I even will show one today) So, if you have flat mount or post mount calipers that are hydraulic, or semi-hydraulic, this could be for you as well. 

One other thing that bears mentioning before we dig in. The cable housing and levers you use will influence how your mechanical disc brake will feel and perform to a great degree. Pay attention to those things and you will reap the benefits. I am not going to cover any of that in this post. Finally, poorly maintained cables and housings will adversely affect mechanical disc brake performance, so that is also something to be aware of going forward. 

The Goal: The main goal here is to align the caliper to the rotor so that the pads are parallel to the rotor and hit the rotor without deflecting it. Perfect alignment may not be possible depending upon mounting points for the caliper not being properly aligned, poorly designed calipers that won't hold the pads correctly, or lack of facing the mounting points on a heavily painted frame, or when those points are slightly off. See a professional mechanic if any of these issues are preventing you from getting really close to a perfect caliper alignment. 

Tip #1: 

The basic alignment technique is to use the adjustment for the pads or to tie down the lever to activate the brake with a toe strap or a rubber band after you loosen up the calipers. This will align the pads with the rotors. 

If you use adjusters to move the pads against the rotor, (the main way to align an Avid BB-7, for instance), make sure that you use the adjusters evenly and that the caliper is as centered over the rotor as possible. 

Post mount calipers are easier to loosen because of how the fastener bolts face upward toward you, Flat mount calipers can be a real chore since many rear mounts pierce the chain stay and the bolt heads face downward. Some fork flat mount bolts are hard to access while others , as with my image above, pierce the fork. Get to know what you are dealing with, what wrench you require, and dial up your patience before attempting this!

Tip #2:

The image tells you all, but to reiterate, reefing one bolt down before the other on the caliper mount is a sure-fire way to twist the caliper out of alignment with the rotor. Once you release pressure that you applied either by using the levers or pad adjusters, the caliper will be out of alignment or rubbing the rotor on one side. 

The winning technique here is to gently apply torque alternately to each bolt. Maybe only turning the bolt head a few degrees at a time. First one - then the other, rinse and repeat until the caliper is firmly fixed to the frame or fork. 

In some rare cases I have had to apply a drop of chain lube under a bolt head for a caliper to prevent it from torquing my caliper off-axis. But generally speaking, using a gentle and alternating application of torque will yield the best results. 

Tip #3 For Avid Brakes or any Caliper That Uses Concave/Convex Washers:

A few things to know here about Avid calipers that use those pesky concave/convex washers. They are generally made from aluminum, and since they are of a softer metal, the effect of tightening them down against one another will make them take a set. What that means is that - even if you loosen the bolts, those washers may stick together, or go back to their original positions when re-tightened. 

To prevent this from happening, you should always make sure those washers are loosened from each other and rotated so that they won't just go right back where they were, preventing you from getting a good adjustment. 

This is important since Avid calipers, and some others that adopted this design, not only adjust side-to-side, but also adjust for vertical plane, This makes Avid calipers a bit more fussy, but if you follow this tip regarding the washers, you should have better chances for success, 

Finally, those washers can corrode and will eventually fail. Always inspect these washers for signs of corrosion or breakdown and replace them if you have any questions about them. You can get replacement washers from SRAM or in a pinch, you can use the concave/convex washers from a set of linear pull brakes. 

Okay, I hope those tips and tricks are useful. Let me know in the comments if you have any tricks or tips of your own. If you have any questions that you'd like me to answer in a post like this, just let me know there in the comments as well.

Using Old 29"er Wheels For Gravel

Older 29"er wheels make excellent gravel bike wheels.

While I was contemplating what to do with my wheel problem concerning the Raleigh Tamland Two, I remembered that my friend in SoCal, Grannygear, had written an article about how old 29"er wheels from around 2010 make great gravel bike wheels. 

The wheels I ended up putting on the Tamland are a great example of this idea. Plus, they came off a bike Grannygear had, so that is a bit ironic. They are Specialized Roval carbon wheels with DT Swiss hubs. 

So, what makes a wheel set like this so desirable for gravel? There are a few reasons that this might make sense for anyone to seek out.

First of all, they likely will not cost much, if you can track some down. Not long after 2010, MTB standards changed to a wider, "Boost" axle width which is not compatible with older wheel sets. This made a lot of really nice, top-tier wheels, like these Rovals, obsolete for current MTB's. 

But since gravel bikes went with the same standard as MTB was back around 2010, those "obsolete 29"er wheels" are perfect candidates for a gravel bike. Additionally, this was a time when many wheel sets were convertible from Quick Release to Through-Axle standard, which allows easy fitment to most any gravel bike whether they are QR or thru-axle.

The current look of the Tamland Two.

Finally, most early 29"er wheels were fairly narrow. A "wide" rim in the late 2000's was 28mm inner rim width and many, like these Rovals, were 24mm, or even 22mm inner rim width. Nowadays a 30mm inner rim width is "Cross-Country racing" width for a MTB!

But almost any of those older rims are prime candidates for gravel usage today. Take a look at the specs for most of today's crop of gravel wheels and you'll see that 25mm inner rim width is where most of those wheels land. A lot of 29"er wheels back ten years ago to fifteen years ago were right at that width, or at 23mm, which is still great for gravel travel. 

As long as the wheels weren't abused, you should consider taking a look at some older 29"er wheels to lighten up the old gravel rig, or maybe use as a race wheel set. The Rovals I have now could easily be a racing wheel set with the carbon rims, aero spokes, and excellent DT Swiss hubs bringing the heat. I say they could be good racing wheels, because the motor.....eh! That could use some work! Ha!

If you are using some late 2000's/early twenty-teens 29"er wheels in your gravel bike, let me know in the comments.

Brake Talk

Image courtesy of Paul Components

I was riding my King Fabrications "Honeman Flyer" the other day when I was struck by how much better my brakes were working compared to when I first put the bike together. Back at that time, I was pretty displeased with how they were working, or better said, not working! 

However; post-Mid-South, they started working really well, and now I would be hard-pressed to change them out for any reason. I had one stop the other day on that bike where I grabbed a bit too much front brake and I lifted the rear wheel off the ground. That's enough braking power for me! Especially when I think about using brakes on gravel. 

This brought me to a remembrance of conversations I had with Ben Witt of Heath Creek Cycles and also some of my research into flat mount calipers at that time. I thought that, perhaps, some of you might benefit from my thoughts on brakes and Ben's suggestions as well.

Growtac Equal Brakes. (Image courtesy of Velo Orange)

My comments and thoughts here are based upon my need for a mechanically operated flat mount caliper only. I may compare to a fully hydraulic system, but this is centered around cable operated brakes for the most part.

"Bougie" Brakes:

I did look at some expensive options for this custom bike because.....it was a custom built frame? I guess that I thought maybe a "high end" brake was fitting in this case. You know, kind of like wearing a silk tie with a tuxedo. You just don't do it any other way. 

But the prices for those calipers was, and still is, eye-watering. Wow! The Paul brakes would have been over one third the price of the frame alone. That didn't make sense to me. The Growtac Equal brakes were another high end offering that also gets rave reviews, but again, those were still pretty expensive. A little over one hundred dollars less than the Paul brakes, but yeah.... Why? 

You might say that "they work almost as well as hydraulic brakes and far better than other mechanical options.", but a fully hydraulic system, (With no shifting needs. This was for a single speed bike) like the TRP Hylex, which comes with levers and hoses, costs under $400.00 for a pair. So, right in line with Growtacs , which do not include levers, and less than Paul's which are caliper only. 

Shimano RS305 mechanical flat mount calipers. (Image from AliExpress)

Secret Weapon?:

Ben informed me of a mechanical flat mount caliper that I was unaware of previous to his telling me about them. The Shimano RS305 calipers, which Ben spoke pretty highly of, are dirt cheap. I've seen these for under sixty bucks for a pair! 

They come with resin pads with Ice Tech fins. Ben says they work very well. His word is good enough for me to say that I probably would have liked them on my new bike as well. That said, I wasn't 100% on-board with putting a cheap Shimano caliper on my custom bike. Yeah, probably a little bit of snobbery going on there, but mostly it was the look of that brake that turned me off. Too plain for this wild looking build!

I ended up with TRP Spyre calipers

So, I ended up with TRP Spyre calipers in the end. I already had them on hand, so that was a big reason why I went that direction with the brakes. As I said, they were not very impressive at first. So how is it that they are so good now? I think it all has to do with two things: Set up and bedding in of the pads with the rotors. 

Most of the issues with mechanically activated calipers, in my experience as a mechanic and personally, have been with how the brake caliper was set up to begin with. It is ultra-important to get this correct. The piston, or pistons, have to be set up so that the pads don't deflect the rotor when the brake is applied. Get that right and you are more than halfway there. 

Secondly, it is now my belief that getting your pads and rotors bedded in really well will bring your brakes to life. In my case, with the Honeman Flyer, I believe it was the abrasive red dirt of Oklahoma that helped get the pads and rotors happy with each other. That and the long descents which saw me dragging the brakes a bit more than I would in Iowa. 

Whatever the case may have been, it took a good bedding in to bring out the best in these brakes, and now I wouldn't change them out for anything else. And if I had to buy the Spyres? You can get a pair right now on eBay for under a hundred bucks and they are around $150.00 or slightly less for a pair at many online retailers.

Moving The Goalposts: Reactions

 Last Wednesday I posted my article here called "Moving The Goalposts" which covered  how the "DFL" celebrations might be getting "gamed" by riders. I also brought up the subject of moving or relaxing cut-off times for events overall and for checkpoints in events. 

There were some thoughtful comments on that piece from some of you and examples of how last placing an event draws out some negative actions in some cases. There was a comment to the effect that a cut-off time should be upheld despite the heart-tug to allow people to continue. 

Now, that said, there are a lot of people that likely feel contrary to those comments and feel that yes- last place should be celebrated and that cut-off times are arbitrary and dumb. I know this because that is feedback I got personally from people commenting on how I ran Trans Iowa. So, yeah, I know those people are definitely out there. 

Because it is pretty well known how I feel about those subjects, perhaps those dissenters did not bother to engage with me on those subjects, but in case you are not aware, my thoughts follow here. 

My over-arching theory on running a cycling event is that you have to assume that somebody, at some point, will try to cheat. People will do this at free events, events with no prizing, and events with zero media coverage. I know, because I have witnessed this over the period of my cycling career both as a competitor and as an event director. So, imagine the motivations to cheat if there is any sort of outside attention or valuable prizing at an event. Those chances of someone gaming the system, or outright cheating, is going to go way up. That is fact that cannot be disputed because we are talking about humans here. 

So, unless an event director is hyper-vigilant and ahead of the curve when it comes to cheating or gaming a system, you can bet that the cheating and gaming are happening. So, when comments dropped that people were noting that DFL prizes were being gamed, or whenever I hear that people cheat at events, I am not at all surprised. That's not only on the participants, it is also on the event itself. This is why I say that event directing is not for the weak of heart. It's no fun to find out people are cheating, gaming your event, or acting like a fool. It is really no fun to enforce rules, disqualify someone, or un-invite people to your event going forward, all things I have experienced as an event director. 

And if those things rub an event director the wrong way, then I would suggest that that person may not be cut out for the job, or doesn't care, or worse, both. I don't want anything to do with an event run like that. Your mileage may vary. 

Cut-off times are another thing I don't think should be messed with unless you want to change them for the following year. But during an event? No. That's not cool. That is definitely "moving the goalposts". And disregarding the cut-off for certain individuals is also wrong on many levels. Actually, holding to a faster cut-off time will eliminate people gaming to be DFL. That's my observation on the issue. Extending the cut-off, in my opinion, is not the way to do it. But I don't run events anymore, so whatever.... I'm just an old man with a blog, right? 

And finally, there are a LOT of gravel events everywhere. You do not have to do the ones with big, fancy promotions, triple-digit entry fees, and the ones the websites blather on about. Well, unless you want to do them, that's totally up to you. Don't let anyone dictate what gravel events are cool and what ones are "bucket-list" events because, well, those sites and media wonks don't know everything out there. There are many good events that are run well and cater to what you might like.

When To "Pull The Plug"

Scene from Trans Iowa v6. Image by Steve Fuller.

 It was about 6:30pm on Saturday April 24th, 2010. My co-director of Trans Iowa, David Pals, and I were scrambling around Iowa County trying to re-route the course to eliminate about four sections of Level B Maintenance roads on the original course that would have been unrideable. 

This was a full 14 hours after we had already experienced a massive thunderstorm before the Sun rose which dumped about two inches of rain in a little more than an hour's time accompanied by copious amounts of ground to cloud lightning which had competitors scrambling for cover in muddy ditches. 

A respite of cloudy skies, but no rain, then ensued until late afternoon when the storms came back with redoubled strength, In the meantime, David and I had been redirecting the course around several mud-laden roads and we were making our way toward our next checkpoint in Tama County when we got word from our volunteer, Paul Buchanan, that the road leading to the checkpoint was impassable and under several feet of flood water. 

David and I were at the end of our ropes. We were frazzled, tired, and not just a little scared. Scared for the riders, since it was under our directives that they would be put in some amount of peril going forward. We thought we might be able to save the event from being truncated, so we settled on putting the riders on a paved blacktop road to traverse around the carnage. On our way to check out this possibility, we were stopped dead in our tracks by rain coming down so furiously that we had to stop the car because we were blinded. 

I sat there listening to the fury of that storm briefly. My mind was racing. Should we keep pressing on or should we call this madness off. The car had nearly been blown off the road a few times and the gravel was so soft the car was nearly put into the ditch. The riders were in danger. We were in danger!

I looked at David and asked, "Do you really want to keep driving in this stuff?" And he looked at me and said , "No!", with no hesitation. And that was the moment when we decided to end Trans Iowa v6 at North English, Iowa. 

David Pals, (R) with Travis Braun at the makeshift ending of T.I.v6

It was interesting as we pulled the remaining riders off the road in North English. Some were thankful to make an end of a miserable day. But a few were dismayed that they weren't being allowed to continue. None more so than Jay Petervary. 

It took a little convincing, but he finally saw the logic in what we had decided. Besides, it was what it was. No reason to continue to argue about it.

This subject, the cancellation or ending of an event, has cropped up again with the cancellation of the Traka Gravel Adventure Race in Girona, Spain due to flooding. An article in "Bikepacking.com" entitled "Should Bikepacking Races Be Cancelled Due To Weather?" has stirred up debate on this topic. Thoughts range from agreement, to downright disdain for anyone thinking that an event of this nature should be cancelled. 

Even Jay Petervary has weighed in with his opinion that riders should have a final say in what they can handle or not, to a degree. (I am paraphrasing severely for the sake of brevity here) However; I feel that there is much more complexity to this subject than many are willing to consider here. And to be completely fair, even JP has voiced that this is much more nuanced than some make it out to be. 

I feel I have a unique perspective regarding this subject having run an event of like distance to the Traka Gravel Race which is listed as being about 349 miles in length. Some Trans Iowa courses were right around that figure as well. And of course, as I have outlined above, we had to deal with weather issues, flooding, and more over the course of 14 years of running that event. So, I will say a few words about this based upon my observations and experiences.

Trans Iowa v11 by Wally Kilburg

First of all, you have the rider's side of the story. Athletes who have invested copious amounts of time, effort, money, and thought into a singular event attempt. To have that ripped away from them by a cancellation or by a truncated course is a hard, hard pill to swallow. 

Sometimes the bitter taste of that pill should have been expected. Take the uproar over last season's Unbound where a muddy three mile stretch of road a short way into the 200 mile course ended a lot of folks days. The riders who damaged equipment there were livid and majorly disappointed. No wonder, since they had spent a large sum of money just to get there only to have it all dashed away by the course being routed on an unrideable section of road. I understand that 100%, but again, this is gravel and that does happen at gravel events like Unbound. So, there is a level of responsibility placed on the riders to understand what they are getting into. 

In the case of the Traka Gravel Race, the event was cancelled before anyone even had a chance to ride any miles. That makes that a different thing in the minds of many. But on the other hand, not a lot of that matters to a Race Director, or organization, as long as it is being run by people that care about the well-being of others. Derailleurs can be replaced. You can always try the event again someday. But loss of life, or the high probability of that happening? That's a tough balancing act for any race RD. 

Speaking only for myself, I was willing to take the heat from disappointed racers if I pulled the plug on any event I was involved in. I had to pull the plug on the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo in 2008, as an example, due to flooding, before the event happened. I've had to cancel an event due to a pandemic. So, yeah, I have been there, done that. I took some heat in both instances, but I don't care. At least I could go to sleep at night afterward knowing nothing could happen to people because I did not insist that "the show must go on". 

Dan Hughes marching up a muddy Level B Road during T.I.v13

However; sometime the show does go on. As has been stated, this is a nuanced subject. I've also been in charge of running an event which was on the knife edge of insanity and reason, as an example. I just wrote about such a thing recently here on the blog. You've got to have a stomach for gambling at times as an RD in these sorts of events to allow for competitors to have those experiences that, maybe, should not be allowed. But you roll the dice, no one gets killed, and the people all hold the event in legendary status. However; if one thing goes wrong and someone does die?

Yeah, nobody wants that. So, can you blame RD's for cancelling an event a bit prematurely if you are an adventurous soul? You have to allow for the fact that not everyone is as crazy as you are. And that has to be okay. You don't go to bed at night hearing the voices in their head asking why they didn't do this or that after something goes wrong. The RD that cancels an event in stead of risking it all is only trying to keep their sanity and peace of mind so that they can live at peace and put on an event again in the future. 

Of course, if you do not agree with that you have options as a rider. You do not have to go to those events. And if you do, I would suggest that a little empathy for the race directors in any adverse situation that might arise is a good thing. There is a LOT more going on than you might think, and you may only know a small percentage of that. 

That's my take, but let me know what you think in the comments.

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Hutchinson Tires

Hutchinson Introduces New Gravel Racing Tires:

On Thursday news hit concerning a new gravel racing tire from Hutchinson, the French tire maker, called "Caracal Race". Caracal is a name of an African feral cat, by the way. You may also know it from open wheel auto racing circles as the name of a particular racing car chassis. 

The unique  tread of the Caracal Race was developed using Hutchinson's road racing tire technology and features only two overlapping casing layers under the tread and three in the sidewals making this tire very fast, but also not as tough as you might want for rugged, rough gravel. In fact, Hutchinson recommends this 475 gram tire (claimed weight) as only suitable for all-road and hard packed gravel tracks. There is a puncture protected version of the Caracal Race called just "Caracal" and that tire is claimed to weigh the same 475 grams for each tire. It is also a bit less expensive. The Caracal Race tire cost around $65.00 each USD. The Caracal and Caracal Race are only available in 700 X 40mm size. The "race" version being tan wall only while a black wall version is available in the Caracal version.

Comments: First of all, good luck finding these in the USA. Hutchinson essentially pulled its distribution of tires toward the end of the pandemic and has not reestablished any significant network of distribution here since. That isn't to say that you could not find these in a 'non-traditional' way, but these Hutch tires are not going to be widely available here. 

Now about that weight. The Caracal weighs the same as the race version? I doubt that is the case. If so, why bother buying the race version? This makes it seem like there is some missing information there. It may be true, but this strikes me as being odd from a marketing standpoint. 

The mere existence of a 'racing only' gravel tire seems pretty ironic to me. Maybe it is my particular perspective regarding gravel riding, but why spend well over a hundred bucks on a set of tires you are only going to use a handful of times, if they last that long. Then again, maybe you are a sponsored rider, or are chasing the money in bigger races. But for the average person? Maybe if a lot of your rides are pavement, then yeah, I could see this being your tire. Especially the puncture protected one. 

For what it is worth, I do love the Hutchinson Touareg which comes in a ton of sizes in 650B and 700c. It is amazingly air-tight when used tubeless and rolls very well on Mid-West gravel. It is puncture protected and you might be able to track down the 700 X 50mm size. That'd be cool!

Image courtesy of Wheels Manufacturing.

 Single Speed News From Wheels Manufacturing:

This is news leftover from Sea Otter, but since I love me some single speed action, I thought that this was interesting enough to put into today's FN&V. 

Wheels Manufacturing is making single speed cogs in various anodized colors now. But what is really cool is that they are coming out with a kit for Shimano Micro Spline hubs. You can see that version in the image here to the left. 

Wheels already has a kit for converting SRAM XD freehub bodies to single speed as well, so now all bikes can be single speed. Well.....okay, not Campy! Oh well....

Wheels also sells spacer kits in matching anodized colors. The new Solo cogs will also be available in Shimano Hyperglide cassette spline standard as well. Cogs vary from 16T to 23T in size. 

Is single speed making something of a resurgence? Is this all a reaction to the hyper-technology in racing bicycles costing well above 10K? I don't know but I cannot recall a time when so many companies were making anodized single speed gear for the cycling market. Can you? Let me know in the comments what you think. 

Image courtesy of Shimano.

Rebound '24 Aims To Hit The 10 Million Miles Ridden Mark:

Riders are invited again to join in with others around the world to ride gravel/non-paved tracks in the Rebound '24 event which happens world-wide June 1st. 

Shimano Gravel Alliance, in conjunction with Live Slow Ride Fast, invite you to participate in logging 25, 50, 100, or 200 miles starting at 6:00am your local time, (just like Unbound starts - or used to start, now its Pro only and staggered between men and women, and.....Never mind!)

Just make your own route and start at 6:00am, okay? Alrighty then! Shimnao wants to see the total from last year's Rebound event, which was 4,789,142, reach 10,000,000 miles this year. That's a BIG goal! 

Shimano only asks that you sign up HERE and track your mileage. Preferably doing the course you set up self-supported, (although the Pros at Unbound will have fully staffed aid at checkpoints, but......Never mind!) Anyway, check it out if you are so inclined and be a part of a global cycling event, which is kind of cool if you consider that. One thing is for sure, Rebound probably will cost you less than Unbound. Just a guess..... (sarcasm alert)

Propain Terrel CF Image courtesy of Propain Bikes.

More Gravel Bikes:

The influx of brands coming into the gravel market seems to continue unabated. New releases by current gravel brands also are keeping pace as well. The latest offerings from Ridley Bikes and Propain Bikes are prime examples. 

Ridley has a new line up in its Grifn range which is kind of an in between bike in that it isn't necessarily a gravel bike (limited tire clearances) but it is not an "endurance road bike" either. Ridley is saying it is more of an "all roads" bike. Funny how that is what I thought ALL fat tire, pavement to non-pavement bikes should be named. But here we are with "gravel". 

At any rate, Ridley added an eGravel bike in this family of bikes and also a more affordable aluminum bike as well. All have geometry which, in my opinion, isn't all that "gravel-ish" and with the limited tire clearances, these bikes have a weird place in the market. 

Now Propain, a brand mostly known for its aggressive downhill oriented MTB's, has a gravel bike in its range dubbed the Terrel CF. Many 'gravel' bikes emanating from traditionally MTB-specific brands can be wonky in the geometry department with super-slacked out head tube angles and whatnot. Not so with Propain's Terrel CF. 

This bike has a 71° head tube angle, 72.5mm of bottom bracket drop, and the only thing on the chart that jumped out at me was the long effective top tub measurements. For instance, in my size, which typically runs anywhere from 57.5cm - 58cm, the Terrel has a 59.5cm measurement. That's going to require a short stem, but Propain says that they designed the bike so the axle appears a bit forward of the handlebar while riding. This, they claim, provides more stability in sketchy terrain.  

The gravel bike category just seems to be one of the only categories with any growth. You have to wonder when the growth will slow down. I just am not seeing it yet, and at a time when the rest of the industry is contracting, this growth in the gravel category seems pretty weird. 

Pirate Cycling League Merch:

As you may know, the Pirate Cycling League is now separated from Gravel Worlds. The PCL is now getting itself settled in on its own, once again, and has now announced some merchandise to mark this occasion. 

A couple of t-shirts and a hat are on offer now, (See HERE), and the word is that much more is in the works along with some other "new ideas" which will be coming in the future. 

I picked up a t-shirt and I will give my thoughts on that when it arrives. These new items are all pre-order for now, so I'll be waiting a bit before I see this shirt in hand.

That's a wrap on this week! Get out and ride those bikes! Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Two Things

Sorted for now.

Raleigh Tamland Two Tire Update:

The other day I posted about my wheel swap on the Raleigh Tamland Two and I stated that I needed to find some suitable rubber for the frame and fork that allowed more clearance. That has happened now.

The tires I chose from the stash were a pair of Donnelly USH 700 X 40mm tires that I received from Donnelly back in 2019 to review. (Standard Disclaimer) These tires have a file-like tread and are pretty much a low/no tread design. 

I like these tires,, at least that was my feelings about them when I thought about them the other day. You might not think that a "no tread" tire would be good for gravel, but I did not have any issues with that which I can recall now. Well, now we will find out, won't we! 

They are 40's..... Yeah, I would have rather have had 45mm tires but I don't have anything right now that I can put on this bike. There was a brief moment where I thought I was going to use my 700 X 47mm Teravail Rutlands but when I measured the Cazaderos on the Raliegh at that time they measured right at 47mm, so yeah, no go on the Rutlands.

New Podcast Episode:

On Tuesday I was able to interview Don Person, which is a name you may not know. However, if I said he goes by 'shiggy', that may ring a bell with you. He has been a legend in the tire testing/knowledge area, especially for anything off-road, for decades. 

You may also be interested to know that shiggy was also responsible for bringing the flared drop bar back to life in a collaboration with On One's Brant Richards in the early 2000's. At that time Brant had reached out to shiggy for design advice which in turn resulted in the venerable Midge Bar. That handle bar was arguably the genesis of flared drop bar usage in gravel riding as well as MTB. 

If you want to hear shiggy give the timeline and history on that subject, and hear his tales of tire design, see the link HERE. The episode is a long one, so be forewarned. I think it is our longest to date at about an hour and a half.

The first portion of the podcast features some talk about a new event format coming from The Spinistry down in Texas which I think is really creative and unique in gravel. Check that out and let me know what you think of that idea. Again, you can listen to "The Guitar Ted Podcast" wherever you get your podcast feed from or hit the link HERE to listen from Spotify.

Moving The Goalposts

Do certain 'celebrations' suck the air out of the challenge of gravel events, or does anyone care?

 NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Recently the Gravel Worlds event announced a "First To Last" initiative "which celebrates every participant’s unique journey", according to a press release sent out by the organization. This follows the well known "DFL celebration", a feature of Mid-South for a few years now. 

The recognition of last place in a cycling event on gravel has a long history. The roots of the phenomenon in gravel go all the way back to the first DK200 where David Pals, once a co-director of mine for Trans Iowa, survived heat, winds, dehydration, thunderstorms, and being hit by a car a few miles from the finish, to come in last place with a big ol' smile on his face. The gathered observers were giving David props for his plucky finish and were amazed that he showed little effect from being hit by a car.

The idea of a recognition of last place in a cycling event goes back further than the DK200 though, and probably the most famous of all of these recognitions is the "lanterne rouge" in the Tour de France. The romanticism of this concept in gravel events, especially early modern-day gravel events, was fairly commonplace. 

While no specific recognition in the form of a prize for this last place rider was noted amongst the early gravel events, it was something that was seen as being a badge of respect amongst fellow riders. That last place person was seen as someone who "gutted it out" and made the grade despite being out in the elements longer than anyone else. I'm not aware of the specifics regarding the genesis of what the Mid-South does with regard to its DFL celebration, but that event has popularized the concept of celebrating last place in a very high profile way. I suspect that the Mid-South's way of doing this grew out of the old "lanterne rouge" ideas.

Scott McConnell finishing up T.I.v12 hours after the official finishing time.

The early gravel events, at least the longer ones which were all well over 100 miles in length, had event cut-of times which put slower folk outside a time limitation. At events like Trans Iowa, sometimes people would go ahead and finish the route anyway, despite being outside the 2:00pm Sunday cut-off. This sort of practice in longer events brought out a slow moving of the goalposts.

In the past, certain event directors felt compelled to ease cut-off times and extended "official finishes" to riders coming in after published time cuts. This was all being done to recognize the efforts of more than just last place on time in an event. To be fair, even the Tour de France does this for certain stages of that event when commissioners feel there are extenuating circumstances

While it seems all-good on the surface, there is a possibility that more is going on here that is not being addressed. Taking a cue from history and the Tour de France's Lanterne Rouge, we can perhaps see what might be going on in the gravel scene - or perhaps soon will be - relating to contestants purposefully gaming to be last place in an event. From the Wikipedia page on the Lanterne Rouge. 

"Often the rider who comes last is remembered while those a few places ahead are forgotten. The revenue the last rider will generate from later appearance fees can be greater than if he had finished second to last, although this was more true when riders still made much of their income from post-Tour criteriums,"

Rumors are swirling around that have caught my ear here in Iowa that this laying in wait to be last place has been happening at Mid-South. Now, that is unsubstantiated rumor only, but it is entirely plausible that it might occur. Given the hoopla and resulting momentary spotlight given to the individual that attains such a "prize", it is not to be wondered at that someone might game the system to be 'that person'. I don't doubt that in today's social media culture, where being "viral" equates to some sort of digital populist celebrity status, that any kind of attention being offered for last placing in an event is something to be coveted.

Checkpoint 1 at T.I.v12: Image by Ari Andonopoulous

 The celebrations of last place are related to the extension of cut-off times by way of intent, and since that is the case, I see both of these things being related. 

Cut off times get attention at times when event directors feel the nudge to be more lenient towards those who are pushing up against the limitations of a challenge and don't want to be denied. "Goalposts" are hard and maintaining them isn't for the weak of spirit. However; while it may seem arbitrary and cruel to some to make a black and white call on a cut off, it does maintain the integrity and worthiness of any challenge. 

Take any stick and ball sport where rules are dissected to the nth degree and consider how much those calls matter to the integrity of a game. Gravel racing is not immune to such considerations and the integrity of challenge is definitely something that is a part of that. I will reiterate that this is my opinion, and that I have a certain viewpoint that might be seen as unique in gravel racing, but when cut-off times get extended it reduces not only the effort necessary for anyone to make the cut-offs but it lowers the status of your challenge as well. 

Does any of that matter? Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it is has an unconscious effect that plays into who is attracted to your event now versus previously. Or - Maybe that is intentional. Maybe it brings more people, and therefore more dollars, to an event. Maybe it is a marketing stunt. Maybe it is a conscientious effort to make more people feel seen and appreciated. 

This can all be debated, but moving the goalposts does have effects both obvious and not quite so obvious. Both good and bad. One thing is for sure, gravel racing and events are changing and evolving all the time. At the very least, we can perhaps all agree that gravel racing and cycling isn't under some rigid, universal overseer that makes up arbitrary rules for the sport. 

Well, at least not yet it isn't.