The quick gist is that Old Man Mountain & Silca have teamed up to support a collective of 5 amateur bikepacking racers from any background and anywhere around the world. Each member will get a $2000 stipend to help cover costs to get them to the races. Then, on top of that will be a whole bunch of free Old Man Mountain gear, prototypes to test, a full suite of Silca goodies to make your bike faster, more free gear & industry deals, plus help figuring out a training plan for your individual racing goals.

Loam & Gravel Society – Experimental Bikepacking Team

Call it a mix between the birth of a factory bikepacking race team and a call out for ultra-distance influencers.

Any way you look at it, OMM (they abbreviate their own name like that, and I’ve already grown tired of typing Old Man Mountain) was looking for a way they could support some of the cyclists on the bikepacking & ultra racing scene. And at the same time grow their visibility amongst more competitive bike riders, while testing and refining their next crop of products still in development.

My personal take on it is then. It seems like OMM are strongly hinting that they are also working on more race-oriented gear-hauling products. The majority of the current offerings (and their existing crop of brand ambassadors) lean more toward the heavy-duty, utilitarian way of carrying gear on your bikes, or classic loaded touring just off-road; think: burly racks & baskets. But OMM also already created some interesting things like their Axle Packs. Those provide a great way to mount gear on bikes not normally well-suited for bikepacking – like lightweight race bikes.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of that show up on bikes of the new Loam & Gravel Society experimental bikepacking team.

“We commit to nurturing a lively and inclusive cycling community by focusing on shared experiences and collective joy. We see bikepacking and ultra racing as a means to connect, explore, and grow together while also pushing ourselves further. Our team represents the heart of camaraderie and adventure, engaging in races, community events, supporting fellow riders, and celebrating the journey itself. We want to push what we can do on a bike and through our collaborative spirit, we hope to inspire others to embrace adventure and find joy in every mile. Go beyond the podium.”

– Loam & Gravel

Nuts & Bolts

OK, so 5 riders will get picked, get 2 grand & a bunch of gear, and will help test some next-gen prototypes, too.

OMM is looking for riders of any age, gender, or background who want to test their own limits at some of the most grueling bikepacking races out there. “Winning isn’t everything, but effort matters.” But they will be prioritizing racers that mix determination, self-sufficiency, speed, and good communication skills.

Applications are open starting today through December 2nd. Fill out the online form at: OldManMountain.com here, now.

Want to support an experimental bikepacking team, yourself?

BTW, if you work for another bikepacking or endurance-adjacent brand and the experimental bikepacking team concept sounds interesting to you, OMM’s Loam & Gravel Society is still hunting for additional sponsor support. If OMM can round up more backing, their goal is then to bring all 5 riders together for a week this winter for a training camp where everyone can get to know each other and support one another’s racing goals.

OldManMountain.com

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OK, so, technically this new Lauf Cycles rear hub design could have “thousands” of points of engagement per rotation, but that might as well be infinite. Also known as instantaneous.

Either way, the effect is that the hub will engage so quickly that it will feel immediate, and it does this with a very clever staggered, potentially “elastic” pawl design that also softens engagement and can be located throughout the hub’s entire shell.

Oh, and it does all of this without magnets or springs.

How Lauf’s hub design works

The basic premise uses integrated pawls (701) made on an inner ring, each essentially its own spring with a toothed hook at the end to engage with the teeth (105) on the drive ring (102).

However, it could also place the pawls on the outer ring and put the drive ring on the inner surface:

The pawls are staggered to engage at different points in the hubs rotation, effectively creating more points of engagement with fewer-but-larger teeth. This is how many current hubs work, usually having two or three pawls engaged at any point in time. For hubs that don’t need ultra-quick engagement, the pawls could be wider (Fig. 5b).

For quicker engagement, a second set of pawls could be offset from the first set (blue & orange image on right). Or…

…they could even use three sets for even faster engagement (Fig.12). Alternatively, they could use two or three rings in sync to increase strength because, admittedly, these pawls would have to be pretty thin to fit into a traditional hub design. Assuming that’s what Lauf has in mind, let’s stay on that track for a moment.

Stretchy, Wavy Pawls

Another tactic for improving total engagement and strength is to use a wavy shape, allowing each pawl to “stretch” slightly, just enough such that one set engages first, then they stretch until the second set engages, then those stretch until a third set engages.

The benefit to this is that you have more engagement all the way around the hub, reducing lateral stresses between the cassette and freehub and hub shell.

And, assuming you apply too much torque, that wavy design allows the pawl to breakaway before it snaps. No, that would not be pleasant for you, but it would theoretically preserve your hub. However, take a look at Fig. 13 above for a second, and then scroll down…

Thousands of Pawls, Full-Width Freehub Bodies

What if you filled the entire hub shell with rows of pawls, providing a massive amount of contact area, each slightly staggered but also able to stretch to allow other rows of pawls to also engage?

Not only would this create insanely fast engagement, but it would provide insanely solid engagement, too. Lauf says this also provides a much greater tolerance for pawls and ratchets being out of sync, which they say often are due to real-world manufacturing limitations.

And, because it allows for a full-width freehub body that’s essentially a second axle, it would make the entire assembly far more robust, too. Figures 15-20 show a variety of design options where multiple rows of pawls fit in various places and allow for a wider variety of freehub-to-hub shell interfaces.

Lauf also says the “stretch” of each pawl allows your power to come on gradually (still very quickly, mind you), which eliminates that loud KLUNK, particularly on hubs with lower engagement speeds. This may actually reduce wear and tear on your drivetrain, too.

While Lauf is known for their bikes and forks, they’re always tinkering. Their likely goal is to license this design rather than become a hub brand, too, but we’ve been surprised by them before, so who knows?

LaufCycles.com

The post Lauf Patents an Infinitely Engaging Rear Hub Design appeared first on Bikerumor.

Today on Instagram, with the caption “Should we make this?”, Trek Bicycles teased a possible new full-suspension mountain bike. They’re calling it the PipeDream. The IG post continues by saying that the bike was designed by Trek’s Industrial Designer, Kyle Neuser, and “crafted by Trek’s prototype lab.”

According to the post, the geo is borrowed from the new Top Fuel, as well as the rear end and rocker link.

The Instagram post mentions that it was Kyle’s vision to “combine the natural damping of steel with the proven geo and pedaling performance of the new Top Fuel”.

Steel is Still Real

The PipeDram is running bolt-on aluminum shock mounts that allow for future suspension tuning. It’s also nice to see some exposed cable routing on the classic skinny steel tubes.

The paint scheme on the PipeDream is meant to reflect the colorways of the steel Trek bikes of the 80s and 90s – their attempt to remind everyone that steel can still meet the demands that today’s trails dish out.

This “prototype” checks a lot of boxes. It is both modern and retro, and very good-looking. This is not the first nor the last bike company to make a kick-ass steel full-suspension MTB, but it’s rare to see something along these lines from one of the manufacturing giants.

Yay, or Nay?

For more on this bike, or to give a Trek a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on the PipeDream. Let them know if they should move forward with production, check out their Instagram account.

TrekBikes.com

The post Trek Teases Steel Full Suspension Bike, But Production May Be a PipeDream appeared first on Bikerumor.

Is Manitou trying to reinvent the mountain bike again, more than 30 years later with this FS II Future MTB project?

Honestly no. Sure, Manitou was one of the pioneers of full-suspension mountain bikes back in the early 90s. But they are fully aware that suspension design has advanced far beyond simply strapping a second suspension fork to the back of any frame to get rear-wheel travel. Yet that doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be fun to see what a more modern adaptation of their first full-suspension mountain bike would look like updated with some much more modern tech…

Manitou FS II project: Updating a Mountain Bike Legend

So, Manitou’s Hayes Bicycle Group parent company decided to reach out to Swiss gravity bike builders Gamux to see what kind of modern full-suspension trail bike they could create, built around a suspension fork managing rear wheel travel like in the early days of mountain bike evolution.

Manitou figured they could work with a short-travel XC kids’ bike fork in the back, a mid-travel trail bike fork up front, a Pinon gearbox transmission at the bottom bracket, and then let Gamux create one of their wild machined aluminum frames to make it all work, with bonded in carbon structures to modulate frame stiffness as needed!

The inspiration for all this silliness – and a brief history lesson for those too young to remember – was this early Manitou FS bike from the 1990s. Probably the first suspension mountain bike fork was created by Doug Bradbury under the Manitou name in 1990. Just a year later, Bradbury had strapped a second fork onto the back to create a softail mountain bike. All controlled by elastomers.

Back when 26″ and rim V-brakes were the only thing going, and 3x drivetrains were still the rage, Manitou was pretty advanced with their original FS offering already in 1993. It was a simpler time.

So, Manitou and Gamux set to work on making a new version of the FS.

And then once they had it, to take the new Manitou FS II project bike to the next level, they sought out Gee Milner for a Dream Build…

Manitou FS II future trail bike prototype Dream Build

“In an effort to celebrate not only the origins of the brand but also an innovation that changed the face of an entire sport, Manitou has partnered with Gamux, Pinion, Gates, Schwalbe, Hayes, ProTaper and Reynolds to create a forward thinking, modern twist on the original Manitou FS bike.

The thought was that while the nostalgic motives for recreating such a bike certainly hold some value, examining the past can also be a conduit to building a better future. Employing lessons learned from such a long and storied history with the same passion and desire to innovate ensures that the future of MTB is every bit as exciting as the wild ride that has brought us to present day.

The Manitou FS II project set out to incorporate the most advanced components and solutions of tomorrow on a platform that has roots in the iconic design that kicked off the revolution of the full suspension mountain bike.”

– Hayes Performance Systems 

Why build it in the first place?

Now Manitou has assured us that their FS II project bike isn’t really meant to shake up full-suspension mountain bike design again. Modern suspension is much more nuanced than a single pivot with a semi-stock fork dropped in.

And in reality, with the bigger 29″ wheels we ride today, combined with the lower sloping toptubes to get enough standover height, I get the feeling that this isn’t exactly the smoothest way to actuate a couple of sliding fork stanchions without something else to provide stability & stiffness, side-to-side balance, or even to control kinematics in a more manageable way.

A fork at both ends

But I’m sure it was a fun project. And Manitou says the Gamux crew has actually ridden the FS II a bit, and says it rides well enough. So, at least it’s a bit more than a show bike.

The heart of the whole project is this Manitou Machete JUnit Pro fork. It apparently started out just like the same fork that’s on my kid’s 24″ hardtail. Except, Manitou & Gamux chopped the steerer tube off and CNC-machined a completely new set of lowers and a new yoke to interface with the frame. They also created an all-new slimmer arch shape, more reminiscent of that original FS from 1993.

And they gave it a custom tune and reduced the travel down to just 80mm to provide the completed bike with 125mm of single-pivot rear wheel travel – paired to 130/140mm up front.

And then, they gave the concept bike a Pinion gearbox and Gates belt drive to yield a lower center of gravity for “better handling, protected gearing, and significant reductions in unsprung weight.“

Geometry-wise, Gamux says they built it to the specs they would want for a shred-capable downcountry trail bike. So it gets a 66° headtube angle, a steep seat angle, relatively long 450mm chainstays to fit 29×2.4″ tires, and a 460mm long frame Reach.

Tech details by Gamux

Just like the rear fork was heavily modified by Gamux, they also machined the entire rest of the FS II prototype frame in their workshop in Switzerland.

While at first glance it looked like there were a few round tubes welded together with some more complex tube shapes, the whole frame is actually CNC-machined from 7075-T651 aluminum in just two parts.

The most dramatic-looking is the 1-piece chainstays swingarm with a hollowed-out truss design that’s not too dissimilar to Gamux’s current production belt-drive Sego gearbox DH race bike… or even their own still-in-development prototype trail bikes.

The main triangle is mostly made up of hollowed-out box section tubes – in-filled with bonded-in carbon tubes. Gamux explains that they developed these “Bonded Carbon Elements” with their World Cup DH race team in order to modulate frame stiffness and tune the flex of the frame individually for each rider.

The Manitou FS II project frame does get more conventional round tube shapes at the headtube and seattube – where the frame meets the tapered steerer tube of its fork and the seatpost.

It looks like the oversized headtube can accommodate an angle adjust headset if they feel the need to tweak the bike’s handling. But there’s really not much room in that stubby seatpost to fit in a dropper post. Although, maybe you could get away with a short wireless dropper for more rideability?

The Manitou team described the construction of the bike as “somewhat cost prohibitive” if anyone thought they had intentions of making it a viable product you might actually be able to buy.

Giving the project bike a somewhat realistic build

While you aren’t going to find this Manitou FS II prototype showing up on the floor of your local bike shop anytime soon, there still are a number of more realistic components that make up the complete bike build. It is a Dream Build, so there’s a lot of fancy kit here. But it’s mostly reasonably attainable bits from the Hayes Bicycle family of brands.

Up front, the key spec is the Manitou Mattoc Pro fork. Truly one of the lightest, stiffest, and most versatile trail bike forks, the thousand-dollar 29er Mattoc features 34mm stanchions and can offer travel anywhere from 110-150mm, with easy adjustability in 1cm increments.

Manitou fitted their prototype FS II project bike with a Gates CDX belt-drive pulling a Pinion C1.12 gearbox – fittingly in anodized purple to match the special edition Purple Hayes (Haze) brakes.

Besides Purple Hayes Dominion A4 brakes, there’s also a nice shiny full silver ProTaper A25 alloy bar and ATAC stem for more old-school style.

Of course, there are plenty more shiny purple graphics, and a set of carbon Reynolds Blacklable 309 Enduro wheels to finish off the dream build.

“As we reflect on the past, we not only see where we’ve come from but also catch a glimpse of the future of mountain biking. From the Manitou rear-facing arch to the standards Hayes set for brakes, and the near-universal adoption of full suspension, today’s riders—whether in XC, DH, or anything in between—are enjoying a better experience in the saddle, hands down. They ride on the technology of tomorrow, built upon lessons from the past for an incredible present.”

– Hayes Performance Systems 

ManitouMTB.com

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Now that cyclocross season is in full swing, Challenge Tire feels it’s time to get nostalgic. The Italian tire manufacturer is resurrecting the Fango tread. This limited edition offering will see only 100 tires created with the Fango tread in never-before-seen orange sidewalls. So, if you’ve been waiting patiently for the Fango to return from the dead (it is Halloween, after all). Scrape that old glue off your wheels, stretch your hands, and prepare for some tubular Fango action.

What is the Challenge Fango? 

For those who are newer to cyclocross or don’t follow tire trends as closely as this nerd, let me catch you up. The Challenge Fango is a unique tire that predates the most popular Challenge treads. It launched in 2008 and was supposed to be a direct competitor to the famous Dugast Rhino, which ruled the mud seas then. After its unveiling, the Fango was met with excitement or disdain. 

The tread is highly designed, with some touches that still make me scratch my head. But, you gotta remember, this was three years before the Limus, Baby Limus, and others. The Challenge catalog was limited, and the Fango was the mud tire. 

Fond Fango Memories

Nonetheless, many riders, like longtime cyclocross pro and owner of Cycle-Smart Adam Myerson, have fond memories of the Challenge Fango. 

“When the Fango first came out, it was designed as a mud tire, before the Limus existed, and all we had were Grifos. But it turned out to be an amazing grass tire when you needed a little extra pedaling and braking traction going straight and more aggressive side knobs for leaning over in soft, but not necessarily muddy, turns. It was the perfect tire for New England-style tracks with a typical mix of fields and woods.”

Adam Myerson

Challenge Fango Tread 

The Fango tread is unique, and there are certain instances in which the tire excels. What is Its most defining feature? That has to be Fango “scoop” in the center tread — 100%. 

In the center of the Fango tread, there is a long diamond shape with a scoop. The scoop has a rounded edge, unlike the flat, sharp edges we see on the Baby Limus and others. This scoop sheds mud but doesn’t dig into it for grip…so it’s an anomaly. 

Where Does the Fango Excel? 

Where the Fango pulls its weight is the sharp mid-cornering knobs. The outer edges are like the Grifo center tread but more of a “T” shape and vertical. A diamond staggered between the scoop for good and some mud-shedding capability. 

As far as course application for the Fango, I echo the Myerson quote above. It’s a heavy grass tire. But like all tires, every tread isn’t for everyone. I like the Baby Limus for many courses, while others might pick the Grifo or even a Dune. 

That said, tire choice can come down to personal preference and what gives you the most confidence on the course. A perfect course for the Fango would be a grass-heavy crit-style track with lots of high-speed corners.

Challenge Fango Limited Edition Details 

• Conditions: Wet/Grass
• Tire Type: Tubular Only
• Casing: Challenge Pro Edition 300 TPI
• Color: Limited Edition Orange 
• Weight: 445g
• Price: $100
• Availability: Now 

Ride Impressions: Challenge Fango Limited Edition 33mm 

When the Fango came across my desk, Challenge hit me with a wave of nostalgia. I remember when this tire came out and I was very excited about it. I was running clinchers with latex tubes and more baby powder in the tire than is customary…it was 2008, and I needed all the help I could find. The Fango was my ticket to finally becoming a mudder…

Remember When…

I haven’t looked at the Fango Tread in a while, and seeing it now, I understand why the tire has some dedicated followers. It’s a sharp tire with many points and edges (excluding the center scoop). The sharp edges are lone and have no connecting knobs or bridging to others (like the Limus), so they flex independently and offer some suppleness and conforming in the tread. 

The Challenge Pro Edition casing has a limited edition orange sidewall. Challenge tires usually arrive in Red (Team Edition) Tan (Poly casing) or older Tan/White sidewalls that are years past Team Edition “S” (soft) tires. The orange (or Pumpkin Spice, as I’ve been calling it) colored side wall sticks out and looks fantastic amongst the turning leaves. It also stands out on the bike, and it is guaranteed to get you some “What tires are you running?” conversation starters at the course pre-ride.

My initial thought about the tread is tire wear and how quickly those sharp knobs will dull on the pavement, but like we said – this is a grass/mud tire. It shouldn’t be hitting the tarmac for long sections and only for racing.

The second chevron (after the scooped one) is where the digging happens and where the grip and braking traction come from. It’s also a hollow knob and looks like a circumflex (caret) symbol with flexible lines that will move while under pedaling or braking force.

On the Cyclocross Course

I mounted the Fango Limited Edition to a set of Bontrager RSL alloy wheels (which they aren’t making anymore?). They glued up nicely, and I didn’t do much tire truing after the fact. 

On the course (a grass-heavy chosen track), the Fangos were great. I wasn’t hitting every corner at race speed, but I could see that the tire had a place, and that place was wet (and early morning dew) grass. When pushing the speed, the Fango slides slightly and hooks up in very damp corners. In dry grass and damp dirt corners, the Fango grips and has enough purchase on the ground that you can sprint out of the turns with no slipping repercussions.  

On wide open, soggy, thick grass, there is no slippage or burning out; it’s all grip. The Fango is slightly squirmy while cornering on the pavement, but nothing over what most mud tires feel like. 

I didn’t have a chance to ride them in full-on natural mud (we’ve only had these for a hot second), but there is a quick point where they grip and then become slicks. Depending on the mud style (slick over hard, peanut butter, or mud soup), the Fango would perform the best in slick over hard. 

Would you Race the Fango? 

Yes, but. For cyclocross, part of the fun (and annoyance) is the equipment and piles of wheels and tires. Mounting and allocating a wheelset only for the Fango tread would be tough. If I had endless wheels, rotors, and cassettes all the same, ready to rock like a professional Belgian cycling outfit – yes, 100%. I would be happy to have them in my tire quiver. But that’s not the case. I know my treads and what I like, and the Grifo and Baby Limus play better with my mountain bike style of bike driving and steering. 

That said, many riders feel the Fango is THE tread for them. That’s why there are so many tire options and combos. 

To those riders (and I know many), I say, “Get them while you can!” as this is a limited edition run and might be the last time you see the Fango. 

Challengetires.com

The post Exclusive: Challenge Issues 100 Limited Edition Fango Tires With Orange Sidewall  appeared first on Bikerumor.

Over the weekend in Daun, Germany an all-new prototype Canyon x DT Swiss short-travel gravel suspension fork was spotted racing on some muddy tracks and rocks. And lucky for us, a photographer friend of Bikerumor was there shooting the race, and sent us over some excellent Spy Shots.

So what do we know?

Canyon x DT Swiss race-ready gravel suspension fork proto

At German gravel nats in Daun – which happens to be just 70km from Canyon HQ in Koblenz – Peter Schermann of the Embrace The World gravel team sponsored by Canyon, raced a somewhat camouflaged DT Swiss gravel suspension fork. He still races the Canyon team dazzle camo paint job of sponsored athletes before the current Grail officially launched last summer. But now he has a new suspension fork with a new type of more-handwritten Canyon camo patterning.

Of note, there’s a distinct label on the underside of the prototype fork’s crown calling it a Canyon product (designed or engineered?) by DT Swiss. That’s key as it will likely be an exclusive to a Canyon gravel bike, at least at first. But it looks very much like a DT Swiss suspension product, in line with their previous mountain bike fork designs.

Now let’s just start off with a quick statement that, we don’t have official details at all yet. And most likely this isn’t hitting the market too soon. It’s the first and only instance we’ve heard about of this new fork, and it’s on a solid racer, but not one really fighting at the front for the podium. This looks a lot like Canyon & DT Swiss collecting performance and durability data in a real-world racing situation to us.

Tech details

Of course, most notable is the reverse arch design… just like we see on Fox’s latest lightweight XC & gravel forks since the Manitou patent has opened up. What we can surmise based on zooming and measuring how the bike sat at the start of the race with Schermann leaning on the bar… I’d guess that this prototype Canyon x DT Swiss gravel suspension fork offers 40mm of travel, with 30mm stanchions.

We also see a remote lockout, with controls either wireless or mechanical routed internally to a lever that Schermann has mounted on the left-hand drop of his handlebar. And front brake line routing that comes out of the back of the fork crown. Plus, there are bolts at the base of either side of the arch, maybe for a fender mount, perhaps?

The prototype DT gravel fork features the same style of integrated covers on both sides of the fork crown like we first saw on their original 535 One all-mountain fork. And then, there’s a similar cutout in the stepped lower left leg to provide access to a rebound damping adjuster like their 232 One XC fork.

Canyon x DT Swiss gravel fork timeline?

We reached out to DT Swiss for a comment and they did then actually admit that it is a new gravel fork they are working on. And they even confirm what the label on the fork crown says – it is “a co-development” between Canyon & DT. But beyond that most basic level, it was more of a ‘no comment’ type response, acknowledging ongoing product development and real-world testing in the suspension realm. No official comment yet from Canyon.

DTSwiss.com & Canyon.com

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This carbon Merit Jumbo is the first production gravel bike to embrace 750d wheels, and we got an exclusive chance to be the first to test-ride it. Yes, this is a new wheel size. Yes, the tire and wheel options are still quite limited. But especially for taller riders, 750d could make some sense. So we wanted to give it a closer look…

Merit Jumbo 750d big-wheeled carbon gravel bike

The driving factor of an all-new wheel size is tire and rim availability. WTB set this ball in motion when they rolled out their prototype 750d x 40mm Nano last summer before the MADE show, with alloy i25 750d wheels to match. Then at MADE, we got a closer look at the custom titanium Moots CRDD gravel bike that showcased the new wheel size. But 750d hasn’t quite taken the world by storm just yet, and that CRDD still hasn’t made it into the official production line-up in Steamboat.

Still, WTB has added a fast-rolling Byway 750d semi-slick now, too.

Bigger wheels mean better rolling over rough terrain, the ability to run lower tire pressure, and thus improved grip. We all know how 29″ wheels were a game-changer that made 26″ obsolete. (And WTB was the first to make a 29er production tire, a Nano too!) And for a gravel bike that also just means smoother riding over those same washboard gravel roads. Plus, for longer-distance riding, those larger diameter (and thus heavier) wheels should help maintain momentum, too.

But the other real big benefit here is a better fit for bigger riders. And not only because it looks more proportional.

And Merit has you covered now!

Geometry, not so different than we’re used to

The Merit Jumbo 750d may have much bigger wheels than we are used to. But the geometry here isn’t all that different. Merit did in fact design this big-wheeled bike for taller gravel cyclists, but it’s really not all that big. Design, and prototyped in titanium (which may also be offered down the road), now the carbon bike is ready. The L will fit a lot of medium to taller riders, the XL & XXL though are pretty exclusively for taller riders who might have trouble fitting on a conventional bike.

The smaller of the 3 sizes on offer – the Large that I tested – has a shorter frame Reach and lower Stack than the M Grail that I recently tested, but slightly longer/higher than the M Ruut or M Yasei. The Large Jumbo’s fit on paper is a bit between a M & L in my mind.

It gets quite short 435mm chainstays to manage those extra-large wheels. And relatively steep 70° head angle and 72° seattube, again to help give this extra-wagon-wheeled bike a snappy feel. The larger 750d wheels and extra rubber are invariably going to be heavier than 700c, so the quicker handling is there to prevent a sluggish feel.

Jumbo 750d – Tech details

Merit developed this all-new carbon Jumbo 750d frame from scratch with the same Carbon frame manufacturer that has been making their conventional 700c carbon gravel framesets since around 2015. But it’s also not so much bigger than an adventure-ready 700c gravel bike, so you could still run 700x50mm gravel/XC tires for a more conventional setup.

• 1100g frame (claimed, size L)
• full carbon 1.5″ tapered steerer fork
• 1.5″ IS headset with full internal cable routing
• universal derailleur hanger (UDH) with T-type direct mount compatibility
• T47 bottom bracket
• 27.2mm seatpost, with a 31.8 conventional seatpost clamp
• flat mount FM160 disc brakes, 180mm rotor possible in the front only
• Road Boost thru-axle spacing – 12x110mm front & 12x148mm rear
• 750d x 45mm max tire clearance, or 29×2″ / 700c x 50mm (+5mm clearance in the fork)
• 1x only, with a 46T max chainring (47.5mm chainline)
• 3-bolt downtube & 2-bolt seattube bottle cage mounts, plus toptube bag mounts

Merit Turbo 750d Carbon Gravel Wheels

A big part of making this 750d project make sense was lighter wheels. As soon as WTB was ready to announce their 750d Nano gravel tire to the world last summer, of course, they needed a rim to mount it to. Just making a slightly larger diameter i25 aluminum rim was easy enough. But the tires are already going to be about 10% heavier than 700c, and the wheels were going to be even heavier due to the need for more spokes and wider hubs.

So from day 1, Merit set out to make lighter carbon 750d rims, as well. Opening up their own new mold, Merit opted for a light 35mm deep carbon rim, with a 25mm internal hookless bead. That helped them shed a few hundred grams off the complete wheelset. The wide carbon rim provides good support to the WTB tires, originally designed over 7 years ago for narrower rims.

Merit says a big benefit to the larger diameter wheels is actually the wider Boost hubs and longer spokes, which do a good job at absorbing gravel road buzz while maintaining good lateral stiffness for predictable handling. Merit built the carbon wheels I tested with CX-Ray spokes (some of the best in the industry). But they also tested a new wheel build with carbon spokes that will be substantially lighter, while keeping the needed strength & stiffness.

• 25mm internal
• hookless tubeless bead – 660mm bead seat diameter
• 31mm external x 35mm deep with a classic blunt nose aero profile
• 495g per rim (claimed)
• complete wheelsets built up with alloy Bitex Road Boost hubs with 12mm thru-axles
• 28 straight-pull Sapim CX-Ray bladed spokes per wheel, expected to be lighter with carbon spokes
• complete wheelset weights of around 1650g now as I tested

750d vs. 700c sizing comparison

The Jumbo doesn’t actually look all that jumbo in reality. I might say proportion-wise that this Large with 750d wheels looks pretty similar to a normal Medium gravel bike with 700c wheels. So how does this big wheel size compare to the rollout or circumference of other wheels in our workshop?

• 750d x 40mm on a 25mm internal rim measures 43mm wide and is 756 in diameter, for a calculated circumference of 2375mm.
• A 700c x 40mm tire is measured at 2190mm around at 697mm in diameter,
• a 29er (also 700c) x 2.4″ XC tire measures 2305mm in circumference for a 734mm height overall
• a 29 x 2.6″ enduro tire measures 2320mm around to come in at 738mm in diameter.

So yes, 750d is quite a bit bigger than classic 700c – and will make you 8% faster with the same gearing and tire size. But compared to a proper 29er mountain bike tire, you’re looking at a wheel that’s only about 1cm bigger in radius, or an axle that’s 1cm higher off the ground. It’s a big enough difference I couldn’t fit the 750d wheel in the gravel bike I have fitted with a 2.4″ mountain bike tire.

Putting the 29×2″ mountain bike tire that Merit says will fit in the Jumbo would only have about a 3% change on your top speed vs. the 40mm tire. In fact, it would be only 1.5% smaller than the 34mm WTB Byways that I test-rode.

Riding Impressions: A First Ride Review

OK, but how does it ride?

Last week, I took one of the first two pre-production Merit Jumbo 750d to familiar gravel roads and singletrack mountain bike trails on the outskirts of Prague to see how it handled. Without looking at geometry tables, I just set my saddle height and rode away. And my first impression, was wow, this bike is big. Then, I realized the saddle was slammed all the way back, and a bit too low. So, quickly putting the saddle in the right spot, immediately it felt like I was on the right-sized bike all of a sudden.

The bike is undeniably big, but it’s not really the geometry. The geo and fit of the bike were pretty close to what I might want in a modern gravel bike with a short stem and a relatively narrow bar. (I am 185cm tall, and sometimes ride a large gravel bike, but often size down to a medium.) I was comfortable on the Jumbo 750d, but at the start of the ride when I moved from doubletrack forest roads to singletrack, I could instantly feel that it was more work to maneuver those big wheels through twisty spots, and quick ups & downs

The Jumbo made smooth work of an otherwise bumpy field crossing. The big wheels rolled over roots in the trail like they weren’t there. They smoothed chunky rocks, too. Even with these relatively low-volume, 36mm wide (marked 34×750) WTB Byway semi-slicks. And yet, it was still manageable on tight sections.

But this is a bike that begs for fast open stretches…

Shining on open dirt & gravel roads

Yeah, this is a bike meant to rack up kilometers. On longer, straighter sections I could spin the big wheels up to speed, and they would effortlessly stay there. Maybe described as slightly sluggish on technical singletrack, on the gravel roads this bike was actually designed for, it was downright fast and stable. All-day comfort comes to mind.

My only real downside is that I would rather swap on an 80mm stem (vs. the 100mm Redshift) and a narrower handlebar (vs. Merit’s own 46cm wide carbon Rodla loop bar that’s 10cm wider in the drops.) But Merit expects they’ll sell most of these as framesets anyway.

These big wheels are always going to be a bit slower to turn, so a bit quicker handling cockpit setup would do wonders to balance that out. I was pleasantly surprised by how much grip I got out of the slick & narrow Byways. But unless you are riding more asphalt than gravel, the 40×750 Nano is the best tire choice for the Jumbo. Now, we just need more people to buy into the 750d concept, so more lightweight tire options will come to market!

At 9.1kg complete with 1650g wheels, it’s not much heavier than conventional gravel bikes, and none of the components here are ultra-fancy, weight weenie tech. So there is weight to be saved if you want. In any case, I had an easy time keeping up with a friend on an 8.5kg 700c gravel race bike with 1550g aero wheels that sells for about 10% more than the Jumbo.

Merit Jumbo 750d – Pricing, options & availability

So, it looks like the Czech gravel specialists at Merit Bikes are the first to bring a 750d production gravel bike to market. And really, it just looks like a normal, well-proportioned bike.

The new Merit Jumbo 759d carbon gravel bike is available to pre-order now here in all three sizes (L-XXL). Framesets retail for ~1600€ (40,000czk). But in reality, only the Large mold is already 100% finished and tested. So, pre-orders for those first L framesets will be the first available, with deliveries to start this October. Merit is finalizing the XL & XXL frame molds now, and those sizes are expected to ship to customers in January 2025.

Complete bike pre-orders are also possible now. The complete Merit Jumbo 750d Rival GX Mullet AXS bike build like I tested with carbon 750d wheels sells for ~4800€ (120,000czk). Merit will offer more complete bike builds, once the frames are available in stock. Merit regularly ships its frames, wheels, and complete bikes across the EU. And sometimes works with buyers further afield as well.

Merit has toyed with the design of a fourth Medium size that they may make available in the future if there is real consumer demand. They also talked about opening sales of their full carbon forks down the road – if custom steel, aluminum, or titanium frame builders want to offer a 750d option to their line-up. Merit even designed the Project 750d carbon fork to add 3-pack anything cage mounts in the future, if the 750d bikepacking scene takes off in a big way.

Are you ready for bigger wheels again? Let us know in the comments below!

Meritbikes.com

The post Merit Jumbo, a Big-Wheel 750d Carbon Gravel Bike You Didn’t Know You Needed: First Rides appeared first on Bikerumor.

A recent Fox wireless dropper post patent application takes smart mountain bike technology to a new level of integration. Envisioning a world where almost everything on your bike is electronically controlled, Fox is working on a wireless dropper post that connects to their next-gen Live Valve suspension, syncs to your electronic-shift drivetrain, pairs to all the existing sensors on your bike & body, and even adds a few more new ones, too. The end goal seems to be multi-system automation – whether linked to GPS position data, to your live power output and heartrate levels, or even reacting to your voice commands…

Plus, this new dropper would add smart user-customizable drop point, in addition to classic infinite-adjust drops!

A smart Fox Wireless Dropper in development for years

We’ve seen Fox’s wireless dropper seatpost patent applications for more than a decade (the earliest one I remember dated back to 2013). And the core concept and visuals haven’t really changed at all since then – a dropper post that could be mechanically or electronically actuated, and potentially linked to multiple systems on your bike. But in those 10+ years, what has really changed is more and more electronics on mountain bikes, smarter control systems, and more possibilities for integrated and automated controls.

Some of the wildest controls that Fox could come up, now seem much more plausible in our minds – like a voice-activated dropper post or even a dropper that learns from past rides and automatically drops your saddle as you approach a descent.

So what do we know?

This newest Fox wireless dropper patent that they filed earlier this year (and was just published this summer US20240182131A1) interestingly focuses more on automatic shifting than it does on the dropper itself. But Fox’s core wireless dropper tech already received patent protection in February of this year. That simply shows a dropper with an electronic solenoid (365) inside the base to open and close the valves that allow the dropper to go up and down. It shows possible antennas (1402A&B) at the dropper collar & seatpost head to communicate with a remote, and power connectors (1404A&B) that can draw power from internal or external batteries.

What I think this suggests? Fox’s upcoming wireless dropper post is pretty much dialed-in. And now they dive deeper into the automated controls themselves.

Infinite AND stepped drops

What’s unique that we know about the wireless dropper from these patent filings is that Fox is proposing a dropper post that is both infinitely adjustable and able to be dropped to set heights. The interesting thing there, is that the tech to have infinite & stepped drops is not specific to electronic droppers, but could work on a mechanical dropper post too. That’s because they have two separate pairs of valves and release circuits inside to activate either mode (see 530 A&B and 535 A&B in Fig. 10-13, below). So the 2 modes could be controlled separately with two levers, a single 2-stage lever, or with sequential inputs to an electronic lever.

Especially on an electronic dropper, thanks to an internal position sensor the rider could pre-program their ideal drop points. Maybe you like your post fully extended for climbing but just 2cm dropped for rolling trails? Even pre-setting upper and lower stops could allow a bike manufacturer or the end user to limit overall travel, or limit full top-out height. For example, the end-user could set their saddle height with an electronic stop. And they could set how far they want to post to go down at maximum drop. That would even allow manufacturers to put the same maximum length dropper in all bikes, regardless of size, and still let the buyer easily customize their ideal position on the bike.

Inside this wireless dropper post, the Fox patent also describes how the position sensors pair to electronic actuators to feather the 4 valves that open & close to allow vertical dropper movement. That lets them slow the dropper as it reaches the desired travel set-point for smoother movement and accurate stops at any point in the travel. So no top-out or bottom-out clunks… or overshooting the preset travel limits.

Dropper paired to everything electronic

A big part of the latest Fox Live Valve patent that we reported on last year, was how much more connected it plans to be. And how smarter also means more active. Now, we expect the upcoming Fox wireless dropper post is going to get in on the smart party, too. These latest patent docs described a dropper closely synced with electronic shifting and electronic suspension damping controllers.

And automated controls seem to be their biggest feature. However don’t worry, there’s clear description of on-the-fly adjustability and a temporary pause in automatic controls whenever the rider makes a manual override input. But it looks like Fox envisions dropper post position, suspension compression damping (and somehow spring rate), and gear selection – all automatically controlled.

And automated Fox wireless dropper control from all sensors

The Fox solution sees a central processing unit and controller collecting data from speed, cadence, power meter, rider heart rate, GPS location, vertical acceleration, and inclination sensors. And crunching that data to make sure your bike is always in the optimal setting. They also describe a voice activation system where you could speak commands to drop or raise your saddle to a predetermined height, of drop/raise it fully. And there’s descriptions of a screen, indicator LEDs, or even audible alerts (beeps?) that could confirm what mode or position your dropper post is in.

“…the seat post is actuated by a controller designed for receiving and analyzing input associated with a cyclist’s heart rate as well as the cyclist’s GPS coordinates. For example, if the controller receives input that describes the cyclist’s heart rate as being lower than a given preprogrammed threshold while riding, then the controller may signal to the seat post to move up or down, causing the cyclist’s work rate and heart rate to increase or decrease. In another example, if the controller receives input that describes the cyclist’s GPS coordinates as being such that the cyclist is just about to arrive at terrain having a steep descent, the controller may cause the seat post to lower in preparation for the descent.

…[or] following a pre-mapped route, for example, predetermined seat post height and/or gear selections, or suspension settings can be embedded in the route map and the controller can signal the seat post height changer and gear changer to change to the location appropriate seat post height and/or shift to the location appropriate gear automatically.”

To us this all sounds pretty wild.

But, Fox has been working on much of this tech since at least 2012 – before XTR took mountain bikes electronic with Di2 in 2014, long before SRAM pushed MTB wireless with AXS in 2019, or when Fox made Live Valve electronic suspension controls real the summer earlier.

So maybe it’s not as far-fetched as it sounds?

RideFox.com

The post Patent Patrol: Fox Wireless Dropper’s Infinite & Stepped Travel to get Voice & Auto GPS Drop appeared first on Bikerumor.

Australian startup Pademelon reanimates the steering damper concept with a new, sophisticated CS.1 hydraulic damper offering more compatibility, plus wide user-adjustability to fine-tune trail stability. This new steering damper takes decades-old Hopey tech and modernizes with position-sensitive damping that only stabilizes steering when you need it, allows navigation of steep turns without resistance, and lets you fine-tune just how much damping tension is preferred for your individual style of riding…

Pademelon CS.1 smart, adjustable hydraulic steering damper

The new Pademelon CS.1 steering damper promises to stabilize your handlebar, so wheel impacts and shifts in balance or rider input don’t know your steering off track.

“Imperfections are everywhere on the trail – in line choice, during pedaling, or in the grip of fatigue.“

The general steering damper concept is simple – by filtering out irregular or unexpected steering inputs, the device helps keep your bar straight, and your bike headed in the right direction. But at the same time, direct and intentional steering inputs are still possible to change direction when you want it.

Whether to help you maintain your line riding downhill over rough terrain, or to keep your front wheel from drifting off track on steep climbs.

Interestingly, we’ve seen a recent boost in discussions on steering dampers with the advent of the Syntace/Canyon/Liteville K.I.S. system. KIS isn’t really a damper, but offers a different solution for assisted straightening of your bar. Most recently, Canyon decided that every new Spectral trail bike would include the stabilizer, and looks to put KIS on more bikes in the near future.

Hopey history

Those who know about Tim Hopey and his hydraulic steering damper will remember that it had its fervent fans for two and a half decades – from DH racers to tandem riders to triathletes, ultra-endurance racers, and especially those with otherwise limiting physical disabilities. But having not seen any real update in a decade since their DH-specific damper, and really having the same core design for more than 24 years, Hopey officially closed its doors at the start of this year. At that time Hopey directed bicycle steering damper fans to Pademelon, who was still only working on their new damper.

Founded by longtime bike industry veteran Jeremiah Boobar – who we’ve known from his suspension development roles at Cannondale & SRAM/RockShox for more than 20 years – Pademelon has been a long-running passion project, now finally made real. Boobar knew he could improve on the Hopey design, and now has finally released his reimagined steering damper.

So, what are the key features of the new damper?

This Pademelon CS.1 essentially updates the long-running Hopey hydraulic damper design with “improved robustness and consistency of the damper, as well as more mounting options to fit modern bikes.”

Position-Sensitive Damping

First tech-wise, the CS (Constant Stability) 1 damper features position-sensitive damping. That means that it delivers the same level of stabilizing impact damping in the middle 70° of steering (35° to the left, plus 35° to the right), while having no damping effect from 35° to 90° in either direction.

That ensures that unwanted steering influences are filtered out while you are trying to ride straight ahead, or slightly turning. But when turning the bars a steeper angle to navigate tight turns at slow speeds, there is no damping resistance to fight against. Then, the damping resistance doesn’t reengage until you get back to center, so it’s smooth and easy to come out of those tighter turns and get back on track.

User-Adjustable Damping Support

The other update is more precise fine-tuning control over how much resistance the damper imparts on your steering. With a few rotations of the simple knob on top, the rider can adjust from almost no damping to a high level, far beyond what most riders will want.

How does it work?

The Pademelon damper works by replacing your upper headset cup with a fixed lower plate, pressed into your frame. Then, the damper body itself slips into your steerer tube, replacing the starnut. An arm extends from the damper body, out around your stem, and connects to a post extending up from the base plate. (There is a solution for traditional press-in headset cups, for zero stack (ZS) headsets, and even integrated (IS) headsets that just drop the upper bearing directly into your frame.)

That connects the damper to the fork steerer from the inside, and to your frame under the headset. As you rotate the bar away from the centerline of the frame, the device’s arm twists the internal mechanism of the damper cartridge. And the CS.1 resists that input, whether it is coming from the rider through the bar, or irregularities at the front tire through the fork.

Pademelon doesn’t elaborate on the mechanics or hydraulics that go on inside its damper body to make it work. But suffice it to say, it is the controlled movement of oil inside the sealed hydraulic cartridge through damping circuits, not so dissimilar to what happened inside your fork or shock. Pademelon does say that it does not require complex servicing. So it is likely well-sealed and will offer many years/seasons of steering damping smoothness.

Pademelon CS.1 steering damper – Pricing, options & availability

The Pademelon CS.1 steering damper doesn’t come cheap, but it does promise a smoother ride, improved traction, and reduced fatigue.

The damper unit itself sells for $541 / 492€ in either a regular single crown or a special dual crown version. Plus it’ll cost you another $108 / 98€ for the mounting kit that fits under your upper headset bearing – in different versions to fit pretty much all headset types and sizes. All Pademelon steering dampers are available now, assembled by hand in Tasmania, and shipped globally.

Pademelon.cc

The post Pademelon Brings Back the Steering Damper with Adjustable & Position-Specific Support appeared first on Bikerumor.

What makes Forge+Bond’s FusionFiber carbon unique is swapping a nylon polymer in place of traditional resin, and now that same material tech boosts comfort in your mountain bike bar, too. Not just another carbon MTB handlebar, this new Forge+Bond 25 MTN bar increases rider comfort. More vibration damping without sacrificing steering stiffness delivers boosted control and decreased rider fatigue, so you can ride more…

Forge+Bond 25 MTN vibration-damping carbon MTB bar

By substituting conventional resin with their FusionFiber nylon polymer, Forge+Bond’s carbon mountain bike handlebar claims to be both light and more comfortable. FusionFiber promises up to 3x improved vibration damping vs. traditional carbon construction.

And they claim that their FusionFiber handlebar is more durable than conventional carbon, failing at about 1/3 higher forces than most conventional carbon bars.

Also by replacing that traditional thermoset resin that hold the carbon fibers together with a thermoplastic polymer binder, the Forge+Bond FusionFiber solution also means this can be a much more sustainable product. At the end of the bar’s life, or ultimately if you manage to break it, Forge+Bond’s nylon polymer can be heated up to a high temperature, and the carbon itself can be separated from the binder for recycling. That’s one of the biggest benefits of Forge+Bond FusionFiber, just like in their carbon rims.

OK, now why do we want more mountain bike bar flex?

Can we all agree that with the shift to 35mm diameter mountain bike handlebars, a lot of bars actually became too stiff? I know everyone talks about stiffness being the goal of premium bars. But to me, it’s been like a decade and 1″ clamps since I had a real problem with a mountain bike bar that was too flexible to the extent that it lessened the enjoyment of my ride.

So, I’m totally intrigued by Forge+Bond’s claims of improved rider comfort.

Tech details

Forge+Bond crafts their new carbon 25 MTN bar from their FusionFiber thermoplastic composite held together with long-chain nylon polymers.

Forge+Bond don’t give away too much of their proprietary manufacturing tech. But instead of assembling pre-preg carbon layers (that have to be kept refrigerated), they use an automated process to both precisely cut dry nylon-impregnated carbon sheets and lay them up into a mold where multiple heat cycles bond it all together to create this unique FusionFiber mountain bike bar.

The 25mm rise bar gets 7.5° of backsweep, 5° of upsweep, and a 35mm diameter x 75mm wide clamping area. The 800mm wide bar weighs a claimed 250g uncut. And you can trim it down as short as 750mm wide if you want to go narrower.

Like their rims, Forge+Bond manufactures the new 25 MTN carbon bar in the USA, in their Gunnison, UT factory. And they rate these bars for pretty much any type of mountain biking – from XC to DH – hence calling it an all-mountain bar.

Forge+Bond 25 MTN bar – Pricing & availability

The Forge+Bond 25 MTN bar with its FusionFiber carbon construction is available now for $265, direct from F+B. Additionally, the bars feature a Return to Fun lifetime warranty. F+B will recycle any component that genuinely does get broken, and get you back on the bike, too.

Also, for a limited time, if you buy any one of their existing carbon wheelsets across all disciplines – road, gravel, or MTB – Forge+Bond will let you buy their new handlebar for half price, just $132.

ForgeAndBond.com

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