Gravel Bikes a the Sea Otter Classic 2018

28 replies · 1,174 views

7rider
32 posts
#1Apr 22, 2018, 4:28 PMedited
Took a look at the bikes and gear and demoed a 2018 Stumpjumper Expert on the XC course. Great to see the festival is still going strong since I've been attending off and on for over twenty years. I went on Friday the 20th to beat the weekend crowds. Here's a gallery of some gravel bikes at Laguna Seca.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/OnSq2rGlWwVtZAKO2

3
RoverAl
489 posts
#2Apr 22, 2018, 5:07 PM
Thanks for posting these you have some very nice shots in there for sure. Renovo caught my eye, wood huh nice. You happen to notice if the Giant toughroad has ta’s? Errr Raleigh gone ebike for now. \n
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Texasbbq
7 posts
#3Apr 23, 2018, 2:10 PM
Trail Donk, Hell Yea!
1
Zurichman
1,526 posts
#4Apr 23, 2018, 3:56 PM
I am drawing a blank on some of the guys that left Raleigh to form their own Company.

Zman
0
mosinglespeeder
46 posts
#5Apr 23, 2018, 4:40 PM
great eyecandy there! thanks for the pics
& thanks for the temptations
I for one, am totally underwhelmed by the magic carpet ride
however, best admit I never rode full suspension on mtb either and love hardtails
but gravel, seriously, if you need FS, just stop it
seems gravel is easily slipping down the convenient slope of easier, softer, smoother......

its stinking gravel road riding and thats why we do it

back on task...great pics of good stuff there
the allied and ritchey outback have me torn...i want both
0
Durt
11 posts
#6Apr 24, 2018, 8:02 AM
That Argon Dark Matter...oh my! Sexy bike! Probably have to sell my house to afford it but hey...
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DPCX
52 posts
#7Apr 24, 2018, 10:15 AMedited
Zurichman wrote:I am drawing a blank on some of the guys that left Raleigh to form their own Company.

Zman

https://www.noble-bikes.com/

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Skldmark
164 posts
#8Apr 24, 2018, 10:25 AM
Zurichman wrote:I am drawing a blank on some of the guys that left Raleigh to form their own Company.

Zman
\n I knew something was up as soon as Raleigh started selling discounted bikes out the back warehouse door.
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Zurichman
1,526 posts
#9Apr 24, 2018, 10:36 AM
DPCX wrote:

https://www.noble-bikes.com/

I looked at the specs on their gravel bikes. They are including 2 40 oz. of Stans sealant and the valves with their bikes. Kind of cool eh?

Zman
1
DPCX
52 posts
#10Apr 24, 2018, 11:03 PM
Zurichman wrote:

I looked at the specs on their gravel bikes. They are including 2 40 oz. of Stans sealant and the valves with their bikes. Kind of cool eh?

Zman

Two 4 ounce bottles not 40 ounce. Don't get too excited Zman.
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Zurichman
1,526 posts
#11Apr 25, 2018, 10:47 AM
DPCX wrote:

Two 4 ounce bottles not 40 ounce. Don't get too excited Zman.

I didn't think they made 40 ounce bottles.

Zman
0
NoCoGreg
512 posts
#12Apr 26, 2018, 5:35 PM
Great pic's! Thanks so much for posting.

Gravel is definitely taking off... The local shops say they're selling quite a few. It wasn't long ago people looked at my '89 drop bar Stumpjumper as if I'd lost my mind. I still have her and with the right tires she's quite fast! :-) Fort Collins continues to grow rapidly and traffic is getting much much worse. Now when I explain (evangelize?) why I love gravel, so many people seem to get that "Aha!" moment.
Anyone doubting the virtues of suspension on a gravel bike should do the Rollins Pass road from Nederland (East side). I rode it on a hardtail 29'er and was standing and wishing for full suspension the entire descent. Yeah I get it, there are roads where suspension would be nice... BUT I'll never be looking for a suspended gravel bike. If I need FS I'll be on my mountain bike.

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AlanEsh
196 posts
#13Apr 27, 2018, 8:25 AM
Gorgeous bikes! Thanks for the photos...
Two very peripheral take-aways:
1) WTB gumwalls are quite popular!
2) What insane person would take one of those absolutely beautiful Renovo works of art on the gravel???
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ti473
37 posts
#14Apr 27, 2018, 8:35 AM
cool stuff!! Except for the ebikes of course, I hope they Samsung Galaxy 7 themselves
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7rider
32 posts
#15Apr 27, 2018, 10:18 AM
AlanEsh wrote:Gorgeous bikes! Thanks for the photos...
Two very peripheral take-aways:
1) WTB gumwalls are quite popular!
2) What insane person would take one of those absolutely beautiful Renovo works of art on the gravel???

The Renovo gravel bike is the one I would have demoed if I had had the time.
0
chas
1,305 posts
#16Apr 27, 2018, 12:01 PM
I like the muddy ones.

I have been commuting on an ebike for 4 years now (home brew). But yeah, I don't use it when I want to go for a ride.
0
Mark_Landsaat
62 posts
#17May 3, 2018, 7:01 PM▲ Top
Hi guys,

Noticed this thread and figured I would pitch in. I designed the Tamland, Willard and Roker for Raleigh. Actually I have to mention that GT put us on the right track there. I had never done a gravel bike before (this was 2012) and as so many other people I just figured we could take one of our Cyclocross bikes and call it a gravel bike.

Our marketing guy Brian (Sally) Fornes knew what was up and he suggested we do a conference call with Guitar Ted to get the low down on what makes a Gravel bike a Gravel bike. During that call it became clear to me we had to start from scratch, not just rebadge a cross bike. Given the history that Raleigh had and the ability to prototype quickly in steel, we decided that we would do a steel bike first to test the new geometry and the new features. And so the Tamland was born. After the Tamland and being happy with our geometry and features we created the Willard and the Roker.

The company has gone through a lot of changes lately and in 2016 it was time for me to choose a different path. I left Raleigh and started doing independent design work. In the back of my mind I wanted to relaunch my own bike brand Noble Bikes and in my spare time I started developing bikes for my own brand.

Fast forward two years, we just relaunched Noble at Sea Otter and we will have two gravel bikes to start with. The carbon GX5 and the aluminum GX3. If you guys have any questions regarding the Raleigh Bikes or my new bikes, let me know and I'll try to pitch in here somewhat regularly.

Cheers,
Mark.
4
Kickngas
3 posts
#18May 3, 2018, 7:14 PMedited
Mark, I just want to say good luck with your bikes, it surely will shine among the big names and hopefully will gain traction. Also, thanks for designing the Roker. My first gravel bike, and really enjoy it thus far. \n\nSteve
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7rider
32 posts
#19May 3, 2018, 7:15 PMedited
Wow! Thanks for dropping in Mark. I love my Raleigh Roker, and I'm headed off to Arastradero Preserve this evening to check out how the bike handles with 650x47 Elwood Terrene tires. I wish had taken some pictures of the new Noble bikes, but I missed your booth in the sea of booths at the Sea Otter Classic. One semi-serious question I have is whether Al Roker received anything for naming a bike after him
0
Mark_Landsaat
62 posts
#20May 3, 2018, 8:46 PM
Hi Kickngas,

Super good to hear you like the Roker! Everybody in product and marketing at the time felt we had developed a really good bike. It's unfortunate the company has chosen to go in a different direction.

Thanks for the encouragement as well. So far it's been more challenging than I anticipated, but I'm really happy with how the bikes turned out so far.

Hi 7rider, we had a small 10x10 on the grass right across from Clif Bar. We had a lot of traffic, but it was easy to miss. Let me know how the Roker handles with 650Bx47. The GX3 and GX5 have the same clearance so I'm curious to hear what you think. I haven't had a chance to try 650B yet. The bikes are technically designed for 700C, but I'm curious for sure.

One semi-serious answer. The weatherman series was a stroke of genius of our marketing guy Brian (Sally) Fornes. The idea behind it was that you can ride gravel bikes in any condition regardless of weather, so it really doesn't matter what the weather forecast is from weatherman.

Hence the weatherman names. When I left there was the idea to reach out to Al Roker, but I don't know if that actually happened or not. Cheers
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