Riding Gravel

I thought the light beam color and pattern was excellent. I ended up running this on the medium/800 Lumen setting, which to be honest, was more than bright enough.

“One more bike, one less car. “I remember seeing this message emblazoned on a huge booth at the end of a trade show,” says Dennis. “And as I was reading it, a Bobcat came along and pushed the whole booth into a dumpster.”

The KOM Cycling products seem to be well made and, in the shop, were a joy to use.

I began using Expresso Time road pedals with that ICLIC system and the unique carbon blade about three years ago. I had not much experience with other systems, coming from a set of Ritchey road pedals that I finally wore out. I enjoyed the ease of entry with the Time pedals and the way they stayed ‘open’ upon exit so you do not have to overcome spring tension to enter the pedal.

Bar tape has come a long way since the thin, fragile cork-type tapes of days past. Now it is even high tech. The colors and thicknesses are quite varied and you can pretty much have it your way. It is also a disposable item, so it is not unusual to go through a set of bar tape each season. And with the cost of premium tape at near 50 bucks a pop, its not a trifle.

The cut of the glove has been quite good with a size LG being right for me. There is no bunching or tension or pinching. The closure does not bother my wrist, as some are wont to do, and they wash fine and just do the job well.

But back off a bit in surface conditions and the Overides are up to the task. On the road they sure seem fast enough to me, and there is not enough tread to worry about any deflection under fast cornering on the road.

Rolf Prima just introduced the Sojourn wheel set for Adventure/Gravel. It fits right into our needs with an internal width of 25mm and an outer of 28.5mm. It is cost effective as well, priced at $699.00, not cheap, but you are still under a grand. Weight is quite good at a claimed 1695g and I weighed them ready to go, seems, tape, etc, at 1741g.

The Recon HL 1600 is at the top of the heap in the range of Recon lights that Giant Bicycles offers. It is a “self-contained” light, in that the battery and emitter are all in one enclosure. Like many lights in this category, the internal battery is recharged via a USB cord.

Flat pedals are just fine for gravel and adventure riding too. Yes…..racers are turning up their noses now, but for the general purpose rider, flats are perhaps the best pedal to use.