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Thank you for joining me for Part 2 of this Round-Up. Hit that link above if you need to read Part 1 yet. Now then, let’s get back to the lights at hand. I am just doing a quick overview for now. When I look at these one at a time I will fill in more details.
There have been a lot of recent reports and discussions on how much of a difference ‘better’ wheels make on a bicycle and if they are worth the cost of the upgrade. Do lighter wheels actually matter? Is aero everything? Are red hubs really faster?
You know how sometimes a product leaves you with that “Just OK” feeling? It’s not bad, but never quite gets to great either, just kind of lives in the middle ground? That, for me, has been the Foray gravel/MTB shoes from Bontrager.
So far the Masi Brunello has been smooth riding, good accelerating (especially with the Astral wheels on there), and quite willing for multi hour rides across varied road surfaces.
…here is the Masi Brunello GRX 22 and it has more shaping in it’s frame than anything made of metal I have ever ridden. And my first impression is that it works. It works well. But that is getting ahead of myself.
GORE has been winning with me of late with clothing that really has been working well. This, after some other items that were real misses, has been a great surprise and has filled out my go-to list of staple clothing quite nicely.
One of the first real rides I did on the Trailblazer wheels was a 50 mile mixed surface loop running the Touareg tires. Now I got a bit suckered into this one. You know that friend that says that “it’s a 30 mile ride with a couple of hills” and it never is? Yeah. That friend. I have one of those.
All of these are not the ‘typical’ multi-tool that you would carry for three different reasons, but all of them serve a useful purpose. Outside the box can be a good thing.
Basically, I likely would have moved on to another tire by now. But I have not. And that has actually been just fine with me, because although the heat and the smoke from multiple fires around California kept my miles low overall, the times I did ride the Touregs have been just really good to live with.
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.
It’s a compelling tire. Other than the sand issue, it’s a good sized tire, it rolls well, grips well, excels in rougher conditions, and holds air nicely.
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.
The Touareg is a true to size, all-around choice for gravel, smooth dirt, or back roads where pavement might be less than ideal, while also showing incredible speed and rolling ability on typical pavement.
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 Ups With GrannygearRead more
Castelli Perfetto Ros Gilet and Warmers: Quick Review – by Grannygear If there is anything more … Castelli Perfetto Ros Gilet and Warmers: Quick ReviewRead more
Panaracer Gravel King SK Tires: Quick Review – by Grannygear When I first built up the … Panaracer Gravel King SK Tires: Quick ReviewRead more
Ritchey WCS Butano and Ergomax Handle Bars: Quick Review – by Grannygear Editor’s Note: This review … Ritchey WCS Butano and Ergomax Handle Bars: Quick ReviewRead more
This would make a very nice option for your gravel bike on that second set of wheels, the one you run for faster days on paved roads. Of course, the 30mm version is that as well, but this bigger version takes things up a notch when dirt or truly bad roads are on tap.
