Good morning.
Ahem.
[Removes slip of paper from pants pocket, unfurls…]
Final week within the spirit of Jest,
I curated a gravel contest.
The entries poured in,
However which one ought to win?
I can not resolve which is finest.
Yeah, fairly unhealthy, sorry. However what would you like from me? I by no means stated I used to be a poet.
Now that is poetry:
Allow us to sing of bikes, which we’ve got manyNot close to sufficient for these in marketingTo slake their thirst would value fairly a pennySo our wants for graveling they’ll sing
First add one with flat bars, for our palms’ easeA shock on the entrance! Ah sure, that’s the thingLight and squirrelly? So racy, sure please!Tires spherical and bulbous, takes out the sting
When shredding the gnar, no MTB needThe body tubes of carbon, concern not the massThe rims doth be hookless, strain thou heedBrakes hydro and disc-y, to cease your ass
Who’re we kidding? Let’s go on a rantTo hell with what Trek says, purchase one from Grant
Additionally, this late entry, although ineligible, deserves honorable point out.
So I’ve talked about it. Honorably.
Anyway, I’ll in all probability Award the Lube™ tomorrow.
Possibly.
Talking of the Spirit of Gravel, it’s about to get barely greater:
It will make using on gravel “faster, smoother and extra snug.” , like…RIDING ON A PAVED ROAD:
When the bike business figures out how one can market a motorbike particularly for the sleek processed gravel with which most roads within the civilized world are surfaced I’m telling you it’s gonna be HUGE. I can’t wait to listen to what time period they provide you with for these pavement-specific bicycles. If it have been me I’d go together with one thing like “highway bike,” however that’s fairly boring, and I’m positive the advertising geniuses can do higher.
Too unhealthy “city gravel bike” is already taken, and has been since no less than 2023:
And sure, the City Gravel Bike is for you…simply so long as you’re a pink-hatted sandal bro with a motorbike bag filled with vinyl LPs:
All he’s lacking is the “I Voted” sticker.
As for the 32-inch gravel bike, name me a conspiracy theorist, however this can be about promoting folks new bicycles:
See, 650b was once the new new gravel dimension, but it surely appears to be going out of favor now, and the rationale for that is that you just don’t actually need a brand new bike for it. Not solely do most present gravel bikes with dick breaks settle for each 650b and 700c, however you possibly can even convert some older rim brake bikes to work with it. However the genius of 32-inch wheels is that you just want a complete new bike to make use of it:
This is without doubt one of the first in a wave of 32in-compatible elements on the horizon from producers of gravel and mountain bike components, with 32in bikes requiring totally different frames, forks, tyres and rims from bikes working 29in wheels.
Scoff in order for you, however the bike business’s in hassle. In a post-gravel economic system, flat mount brakes are good, however flat gross sales aren’t:
So not solely will a shift to 32-inch wheels require everybody to purchase new frames, however Shimano can improve profitability by introducing the brand new GRX 32!
Positive, it could appear like your present GRX crank solely with the quantity “32” written on it, however what you possibly can’t see is that the BCD differs from strange GRX by .8mm, making it absolutely incompatible with common GRX. That is on your security, since GRX 32 makes use of chainrings optimized for 32-inch wheels, which could be harmful if used with 700c or 650b. Why? As a result of 32-inch wheels have extra traction, so when you use a GRX 32 crank on an old school 700c or smaller wheel you’re liable to spin out, leading to severe harm or dying.
And after that may come GRX 32 SL:
By the way in which, imagine it or not, no AI was used within the above photographs.
Talking of manipulating notion, I want Streetsblog might resolve whether or not this latest snowstorm was routine or historic:
Right here it’s routine:
Throughout a stroll to get a slice at noon yesterday — greater than 15 days after the routine 12-inch snowfall of Jan. 25 — Managing Editor David Meyer noticed that the protected bike lanes on Grand and Lafayette streets in Little Italy had nonetheless not been plowed (though we talked about them in a narrative two days earlier and had posted about this on our well-liked social media channels, too).
And right here it’s historic:
On Jan. 25 — 15 days in the past at this time — New York Metropolis had its worst snowstorm in years. We’ve endured greater dumps from Mom Nature, however not often do temperatures stay under freezing for thus lengthy, not solely conserving the snow in place, however hardening it into immovable bergs that block bus stops, sidewalks and bike lanes — and make a mockery of the notion of getting round on foot, in a wheelchair or on a motorbike.
And complicating all of that is that just lately Streetsblog had given up on the thought of snow altogether:
, due to local weather change:
The snow is already beginning to soften (rattling, world warming), however we thought we might offer you the primary, and presumably solely, highway report of the winter.
Look, I don’t like that in terms of bike lane obstructions I’ve change into a kind of “Simply go round it” folks…however, , simply go round it.
Lastly, chances are you’ll recall Framework, who make artisanal Trek 2300s:
And who have been anointed by the biking media because the Customized Bicycle Builder Of The Second, though no biking media one who acquired one truly appeared to love it:
Anyway, I’d principally forgotten about them till YouTube served me this video:
First the builder needed to re-do the headset as a result of it could bind when the rider put his full weight on the bars. Then the bike simply broke:
Don’t make me say it…
Don’t make me say it.
