A short bio…

As the title states I would like to tell you a little about myself; or at least my cycling self.

I’ve been in the bike industry for about 20 years. I got turned onto cross about 15 of those years. And it’s become a drug to me. I enjoy cycling, but I really love and have a passion for cross. Going through these years, I have even grown a certain snobbish appreciation for cross bikes. I’ve developed my own philosophy, that I keep tweaking (not twerking). I use my cross bike for everything. So it has to be as versatile as it can possibly be. Geared. Single speed. Knobby tires. Smooth tires. ‘What’s your pleasure?’

As an example…I build every cross bike that I own around a set of handlebars that they don’t make anymore. So I have at least three sets hanging out just in case.

I LOVE CROSS. I love racing cross. I love the people that put the races on. The time and energy it takes to do it. I have been racing for just as long as I’ve been riding cross bikes. 15 years. I gladly pay my race fees to race. To hang with friends. To make new friends.

On the flip side…I have a critical mind, and I do see things in a different way. In a different light. And there are times that I am seen as being negative, and my apologies for this. My wife tells me that I do come off as a dick sometimes, and there is more to what she said; but that’s for another post. However; I do not mean to. So in some sense this is also an apology.

An apology to anyone that I offend. Piss off. Upset. In my years of racing; I’ve never been so close to the sport for various reason. I used to show up 30 min before my race. Race. Go home. Now I don’t.

Just as the blog title is; I see myself as a bit of a Renegade. And I do want to put my two cents in, but maybe mid stream is not the time to do it, and that’s what the off season is for. (wait…did I just type ‘off season’? no such thing)

In short…don’t take my ramblings as a ‘hater’, but simply as a critical eye on things that do not mean harm. I am a philosopher after all, and I do have a beard.

Amitabha... 

More bike categories please…

So in 2013 the bike industry got hit with another bike category (as if 27.5” mtn bike wheels weren’t enough). This category became know as the gravel bike. What the hell is that?

Well, the industry wants you to believe that you need another bike. You have your road bike; but you don’t ride that too much, or only ride it on those group rides to look the part.  You have a cross bike, but that is only for cross season.

And now the ‘next big thing’ in-group ride/organized/unsanctioned rides are what’s called gravel rides. Where people go out and find the shittist roads that they can (brick, gravel, stone, pea gravel) make a course and go ride them. And this is able to range in length, to an afternoon to an all day epic ride.

For this kind of riding, a very few people started to want to put fatter and fatter tires on their bikes.  On some bikes the BB has been lowered for a more stable ride. Fender mounts, rack mounts. At least this is what the industry is telling us.

I took some time and did some number crunching with some brands that do cross bikes and gravel bikes (Kona, Giant, & Salsa to start). The biggest thing I found was what they were allowing for tire clearance.  One bike allowed a 50 tire, and the rest were pretty much the same 40ish and on down. The geometry was pretty close as well between angles and length of wheelbase, chain stay, & top tube. Also, I’ve noticed that a lot of cross bikes nowadays, except for the high-end carbon ones, have mounts for racks anyway.

Bike Snob posted about gravel bikes back in July, found here:

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2013/07/bikes-less-things-change-more-they-stay.html

And speaks to the ‘smoke and mirrors’ that the industry is trying to attempt.

Sure…in some way a cross bike is the one bike that you really do need. Throw some skinny tires on it, and it’s your road bike. Some aggressive knobs and go ride a trail. Some wide tires, and it’s your gravel bike.

There comes times in the industry (and this kind of speaks to my last post) that they don’t know what to do, and they notice that sales really haven’t been moving much. So what they do is create something ‘new’. Paint it up. Pretty marketing. & there you go n+1 creeps into your mind once again. And there you go….the lust and wanting of something new and ‘better’ than before.

Enjoy….

Amitabha…