Further to yesterday’s post, I’d like to revisit the so-called “Fara GR4:”
Specifically, I get that it clears huge tires:
But what good is all that clearance if it…leaves no clearance?
Am I crazy, or weren’t all the gravelistas complaining about mud eating their plastic bikes at Unbound Kanza a couple years ago?
Seriously, have they learned nothing? What is the point of a gravel bike with the mud clearance of a track bike?
Just Buy A Jones Already and be done with it:
And the timing couldn’t be better, because they’re having a sale:
No, Jones did not ask me to mention their sale, I just happened to visit the website and there it was. I do of course wholeheartedly recommend Jones bikes, and I continue to adore mine, though this will be the first time in several years that I don’t take it on summer vacation with me:
For example, last year I made the absurd last-minute decision to bring George Plimpton’s Y-Foil:
But I’m not completely deranged, and as is customary for me I exploited a loophole by bringing the Jones along too “for my son.” (In reality I’m the only person in the family who wants to ride a bike up there, so it’s a pretty flimsy pretense.)
Alas, this year I’m experimenting with a new car-loading configuration involving a hitch-mounted cargo rack, which means I’ll really only be able to bring one bike, and that bike will need to be on the roof, which only accepts an old-fashioned quick release fork. And that in turn means no Jones:
Sad, but I’ll manage.
Speaking of the Y-Foil [say WIFE-oil], I rode it just this morning:
What can I say? I enjoy this crazy thing. Not only is it fast, but it’s also a hilarious symbol of the ridiculous lengths a bike company would go to in the 1990s to replicate the effect of using a slightly wider tire. Sure, the beam and the fork both do what they’re supposed to, but they don’t do anything a pair of 30mm tires wouldn’t do just as well with a hell of a lot less weight and complexity. (Well, the fork does clunk a lot, so there is that.) The contrarian in me also enjoys riding a bicycle most people wouldn’t want to be caught dead on; for example, in 1998 it was the belle of the ball:
But today I guarantee you not one single person who worked at Bicycling in 1998 is still riding around on a Y-Foil today. Not one! I mean I’m happy to be proven wrong, but I bet I won’t be. Nope, they plastered this thing on the front of the cover, told everyone to buy one, declared it to be the greatest thing since sliced bread or turkey or whatever else you enjoy in sliced form…and then just walked away from it. And now here I am 27 years later rolling around on their cast-offs.
That’s not to be critical of Bicycling, mind you. I mean they do know the value of a good bike fit:
Though like the bikes themselves apparently the fits become obsolete quickly so you’ve got to pay for a new one every few years:
Late last year, I returned to McGlynn for an updated fit. I was older, now in my early 50s, and not only had I noticed age-related changes to my body, but I’d also sustained a series of severe injuries. His fitting technology had improved too, so I wanted to see if any enhancements could be made to the fit I received a decade ago.
The changes mirrored the first time: My saddle went a little lower while the bars came up a bit more. The suggested bar width remained the same, but he recommended 165mm cranks this time. He also upgraded me to a wider saddle and suggested that I go up a shoe size, advising me to start wearing wide shoes.
Hey, wait a minute.
Wider saddle? Higher bars? Wider shoes?!?
Good grief, just get some sandals and Buy A Rivendell Already!
Look, I’m not saying a bike fitting can’t yield some useful insight and some positive results. I’m just saying that by the time you hit 50 it doesn’t matter anymore and you should just give up. At that age a professional bike fitting should just consist of someone sitting you down in front of the Rivendell website.
You: “But I read about the new Fara GR4 that takes 57mm tires!”
Bike Fit Bro: “Yeah, take a look at this, it’s called a Clem Smith, Jr., you’ll love it.”
And yet instead of telling you to get a Brooks they’re apparently charging you for German scranial pressure-mapping procedures:
This improvement was due to a saddle recommendation based on a pressure-mapping system developed by the German company, gebioMized, which is part of Cyclologic’s fit service.
A Fred and his money are soon parted.