Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

Yeah, I'm interested in his work, but his online presence is very "greater than thou". Lot's of ranting about "why can't everyone see that I'm right!?", and "I'm the first to do this and still no one else is doing it."

All that said, the stuff he makes looks like it ought to be pretty fun to ride, and I agree with some of his handling and geometry conclusions, in some cases.

He'd counter that I can't just agree with him and that since he's the engineer doing the actual work, I would have to get my engineering degree and do all of the same work if I wanted to actually agree with him.

He sounds like a total helmet.

He’s not even trying, where’s the frame bag?

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Ah, him.
Nah. Think I once read some stuff, douchebag seems fitting if I remember correctly.

Surely going to retail for way less than that though? Can seemingly pick up a 1 x Rival AXS group for about a grand at the moment.

Dust is just really fine gravel isn’t it?
Love that Marriotts Way still has little bits of the track left in places.

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Marriott's is the gravel superhighway of the east

All this electronic shifting…should I be stockpiling longe cage mechanical rear mechs?

Why? SEAM Apex 12 speed also been released and including Eagie derailleur.

I think we'll see a bit of a rebellion against electronic from the market. The fact that Shimano is pushing mechanical cross compatibility for it's workhorse groups(Cues) shows me that some sense remains in the industry. Sram's Apex release with the mechanical is a good thing too. Microshift is excellent as well. There are options and I think we'll continue to see stuff for the un-electronic among us.

I’m m also of the persuasion that 12speed is a bit spinal tap

I tend to agree. More is sometimes just more. I just don't want to see a complete electro takeover.

Electronic is here to stay, the rebellion is the mechanical need to be a lots cheaper with hydraulic.

The biggest rebellion is double, as a 30t chainring on a double with a 40t cassette is slightly easier than a 40t with 50t cassette.

Cues is also di2

Although they've announced new GRX and not a di2 version yet. Word on the street is that the 11s GRX Di2 sold barely a fraction of the mechanical version so wouldn't surprise me if they don't rush out a new version

Cues is mechanical across the board.

I have nothing against electronic shifting and in some cases I absolutely see the benefit. I just wont be convinced that electronic is the right choice for everyone.

You're absolutely right that we need to see the cost of quality mechanical/hydro groups come down. I would also love to see more wide double groups. Front derailleurs are still relevant.

https://www.bikeradar.com/news/shimano-cues-di2/

Interesting. I must have missed that. I don't see any electronic in the current offerings, but perhaps they'll have DI2 available.

cost of quality mechanical/hydro groups come down

Costs come down? In this economy?!

Tis true and if you go to the bakers in Drayton you can travel back in time to 1989. With synthetic cream cakes and instant coffee.

CUES will soon replace Claris, Sora and Tiagra and hopefully have hydraulic 9 speed.

They’re releasing the flat bar one first before the road one.

Looks like for ebikes really so probably not intended for gravel rigs

That's why I think it's a good move for Shimano. Cross compatibility between flat bar and drop bar groups again, with sensible gear range for the non-racing oriented crowd.

I think we'll see a bit of a rebellion against electronic from the market

No one buys a mechanical groupset having the choice of a similarly priced electronic.

Agree, I was with the rep and they’re saying the same thing; simplified the line up with minimal choice of chain, yet still have different cassette sizes.

They’re saying they’re at a dead end (I don’t believe that) with the existing but tried and trued 6/7/8/9 speed system that kept the same cable pull, it’s a lots of chains for each system.

With CUES; they intend to keep it simple, miminal production with lots of choices/ranges with minimal expense.