Author: Grannygear

So we have a set of wheels on the loading dock in SoCal fresh off the assembly line from Boyd Wheels. The Trailblazer line of carbon wheels is listed as both a gravel wheel and an MTB wheel. Interesting. It’s wide at 26mm internal, its hookless, which is the fashion of late, its adaptable, and it’s darn light.

How have they been to use? Steady. They are still very true. I have not had to tension them or toss them in the truing stand. That has been as I expected based on my experience with the older MTB branded version. It’s a strong wheel for gravel use.

Last time we debuted some new riding kit from Bontrager that is very applicable to gravel or light MTB riding. It is warmer weather gear, so once spring hit in So Cal, we suited up and got riding. This is what we learned.

What I wanted was a smaller light form with as little weight as I could get, and with enough intensity front and rear to be worth using on open roads. I also wanted at least 8 hours of run time on a high level flash.

Helmets though, are seldom upgraded. I mean it’s still up there, right? Sitting on my head, doing it’s thing. It is not ugly and I have not crashed in it (well, not much anyway), and helmets are expensive. It’s not like they wear out anyway. Well, not so fast there Danger Dan…..

Right as winter was ending and a so far, quite warm spring, was hitting the balmy shores of So Cal, a big bag of mixed items from GORE showed up for review. Once we worked through some sizing issues, we got into the items enough to get a feel for the performance of each one and we can now report.

There was no floor pump in existence that was going to seat that tire and it was air compressor time. But, the Tubibooster X came through like a boss.
Award it a silver medal.

If you are not a big fan of Lycra or you tend toward more casual options, then technical clothing like this Adventure line from Bontrager falls into the gap between hucking and crits. This approach of a snug fitting short, not loose like a full baggie, and good looking enough to wear around town, when combined with casual looking jerseys or shirts in high tech fabrics…well it reminds me a lot of what was called ‘Touring Clothing’ in days gone by.

Tubeless Set Ups With Grannygear – by Grannygear Editor’s Note: Grannygear submitted this article about his tubeless set up tools and I (Guitar Ted here)…

Castelli Perfetto Ros Gilet and Warmers: Quick Review – by Grannygear If there is anything more versatile in cycling related clothing than the combo of…