Further to yesterday’s post, some guy from upstate called “Some Guy From Upstate” noted the following:
The main problem with the bottle cage is it is not on the down tube, where bottle cages are supposed to go. Also, as another commenter mentioned, some wraps of electrical tape to protect the paint and a couple hose clamps is more effective. Zip ties can snap unexpectedly.
A good point. However, I am willing to risk the relatively mild consequences of catastrophic zip tie failure (that being potential separation of water bottle from bicycle and eventual death by dehydration) for the considerable weight savings over hose clamps.
Unless they come in titanium of course.
Oh, wait:
That changes everything.
Sounds pretty trick, though I’ll have to defer to the Hose Clamp Freds on that one.
I mean we have a Resident Nail Fred:
That’s actually a cut nail, made by a New England company named Tremont, I believe using equipment that dates back to when these were the standard. Also called square nails, they were popular from around the time of the Civil War to the early 20th century when they were rapidly displaced by wire nails. They have more holding power than wire nails and certain other characteristics that can make them a better choice in some applications, which along with historic preservation projects and plain yuppiness is what happily keeps Tremont in business. And, yes, I’m a bit of a Nail Fred.
So it’s reasonable to assume we’ve also got a Resident Hose Clamp Fred.
It’s not all that often a Nail Fred gets to flex his* stuff on a bike blog, but it happens:
*[If you take issue with my assumption that all Nail Freds are men, I’m afraid you’ll find me unrepentant, unless of course you can find me a Nail Frederica. Good luck with that.]
I wonder if Best Made Co. has gotten hip to the whole nail scene, because I think the market’s ready for a $75 nail you can admire whilst walking around pantsless in your quilted hanten jacket.
Speaking of Some Guy From Upstate, he is of course a member of a rarefied group who have acquired a bicycle via this blog, that bicycle being the Marinoni:
Well, now’s your chance to join this select group–or, more accurately, now’s your child’s (or other small-of-stature person in your life) to join it. See, my own human children just keep getting bigger, and so we now find ourselves with bicycles for which we no longer have any use, including this Islabikes Luath 24 children’s cyclocrossing bike:
I listed it on the Free Classified Hell Site the other day for what I thought was a pittance, but so far no takers, and it occurred to me that perhaps some reader of this blog might want it instead. What do I want for it? Well, if you’re local and you could come pick it up I will happily trade you for…oh, I dunno, a decent bottle of whiskey? (Scotch, or Irish, but not Bourbon.) If there are no local takers, I might consider shipping it to you, but you’d have to pay for the shipping. How much is that? Well, last time I shipped a grown-up bike via Bikeflights it cost approximately a Financial Century. (That’s One Hundred American Fun Tickets.™) So it’s gotta be less than that, but by how much I cannot say. Also, packing the bike is annoying, and you can’t hand me a bottle of whiskey, so you’d have to make it worth my while some other way, like throw a few bucks at Star Track or something. But I’d rather have the whiskey than help the children, since I’m already helping your child by giving them a bike. Anyway, if you want the bike and will put it to good use let me know. I’d say I’ll give it away on a first-come, first-serve basis, but that’s not true, and I will give it away on a what’s-most-convenient-for-me basis.
Oh, I have a pair of full, never-mounted fenders, and possibly some slick tires to include. And yes, your child can ride this on gravel, though it doesn’t have DICS BRAEKS, so they do so at their own risk.
Speaking of your budding gravelista, he or she will be fortunate to grow up in a world where there’s such a thing as a dedicated gravel pedal:
My first thought was, “This is pointless,” because what’s the downside of a two-sided pedal on a gravel bike, really? Sure, on the road you might theoretically need the cornering clearance if you’re racing criteriums (do criteriums even still exist?), but is that really an issue on garvel?
Then again, I suppose you’re not constantly clipping in and out on garvel rides, and I suppose the competitive set is going to want to shave every gram possible, so sure, they might as well ditch half the pedal, why not?
On the flip side, it is more difficult to clip in with only one-sided pedals, part of the draw of SPD pedals is quick re-entry that comes with two entry points, but for gravel the idea is you clip out less than on a mountain bike or in a cyclocross situation where there is more on/off required.
As for the rest of us normal people, this would probably be a good pedal for a road bike, since the shoe would be walkable yet you wouldn’t be troubled by the guilt and shame of using a mountain bike pedal on a road bike. And no, I’m in no way suggesting you should feel guilt and shame for using a mountain bike pedal on a road bike. But let’s not pretend we don’t.
Of course, like most “new” ideas in cycling, the one-sided SPD pedal is at least 30 years old:
So basically a gravel bike in 2026 is a mountain bike from 1994 with 1994 road pedals on it.
Sounds about right.
Finally, I thought Viral was the worst brand name in cycling, but then I read about the Karma helmet:
Is your karma good or bad? Guess there’s only one way to find out…