Take a look at the best of our trending stories from this week, February 16th, about the latest road bikes, tech, pro racing and more in the cycling industry.

ONE REASON TO AVOID INTERNAL ROUTING

Q: I’ve heard of some catastrophic integrated fork and carbon handlebar failures due to the bike industry’s fad of hyping/building internally routed cables through the headset, plus the use of disc brakes, which combine a weaker-by-design front fork.

As a responsible industry news provider, RBA should warn its subscribers about this problem. You should also contact frame designers/manufacturers and let them know they are causing great harm to riders.

Why would you have internally routed cables on a gravel bike? Makes no sense at all, unless you want a “clean look” rather than a safe and practical bike.

A: As you might have read in our “Editors’ Choice,” I brought up this very same concern, but I’m afraid I still have to disagree with the thought that internal routing alone is a dangerous problem. Over the years we’ve ridden hundreds of bikes with internal routing, and, sure, some are better than others, but none have ever failed. Instead, what they almost all have in common is a level of added complexity that makes it easier to set the bike up wrong.

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INTERVIEW WITH CYCLIST ATTACKED BY BULL

There were a number of challenges at the Rock Cobbler 9.0 gravel race but none were as unexpected as the number of bull encounters on course. Mike recounts how his race was ended early by being one of the riders charged by the (now infamous) bull at the 2022 Rock Cobbler. There were a handful of videos of the attacks but we couldn’t find a recording of Mike’s encounter. Here what he had to say about the event in his own words.

“(The bull) turned on me and just charged. I got off my bike and started running…the bull thankfully preferred my bike.”

Mike got away with a broken wheel that ended his day.

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CENTURY TRAINING TIPS

By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS

Long rides can be intimidating for newer riders, but they don’t need to be. Training for a century ride is one of the most common cycling goals. With some patience, practice, and consistency on the bike, anyone can develop the fitness, skills, and confidence to tackle your first century ride.

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BEING THERE: ROCK COBBLER 2022

 

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JAMIS RENEGADE REVIEW

Jamis’ Renegade gravel bike line launched eight years ago as a single carbon model. Today, the original bike has evolved into a six-model family of bikes made up of carbon, steel and aluminum frames, each with unique geometries. The Renegade steel family consists of three builds, with the S3 sitting in the middle of the line. Our test bike, the Renegade S3 is built with enough utility to act as a well-balanced entry into the world of bike-packing.

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BIKE OF THE WEEK: BIANCHI ARCADEX

For the 2022 edition of the Rock Cobbler, Editor David has chosen to ride the Bianchi Arcadex. He swapped out the stock alloy wheels for a set of HED Emporia GC3 Performance wheels mounted with the affordable American Classic gravel tires. Other than that the Arcadex was race-ready with the Shimano GRX 1×11 (40×11-42) drivetrain.

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