Some Bicycle Things I’m Stoked About On A Friday, January 2nd, 2026
It’s the first Friday in 2026, and I squeezed in a short ride in the mountains. I’m set up to ride both days this weekend. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours on the road riding to East Van and home. A damn good start to the year. I’m not the resolution sort, but I’m eager to pedal a lot³ in January.
I have a lot of e-mails to answer, sorry, but if you messaged me about putting together a Bicycle Valentine, the answer is yes! Yes, I am interested! I’m going to keep trying to push that boulder with a piece of string. I have a couple of shorter examples in the works for folks who asked about a template. Including a few words pending about Crash Test Kevin’s Guerrilla Gravity Smash.
{Above photos: MEATengines}
A little housekeeping here. Amongst some small formatting changes, you may have noticed that a few tags disappeared. For example, I still love-love friction shifting, but with only running multi-speeds on my commuter rig, it was under-utilized. It’s not the end of friction-thumbie action on MEATengines, it just doesn’t have its own tag, which is the same story with most of the trimming.
The exception is ‘Monday Musing’, which I have killed after #46 {My Future Flat-Pedal Shoes}. The only standard column going forward will be SBTISAOF, going live every Friday {or sometimes on Saturday}. All other musings will fit in under a different tag.
Yeah, so. That’s most of the MEATy news. Without any further rambling & shambling, here are some things I’m stoked about this week. I mean, all secondary to the fresh sock my mom knit me. Priorities. But that probably goes without saying?
{Above photo: Thanks, Mom!}
F!RST L!GHT / New Year’s Day / Slice Gallery
I had never even heard of Slice Gallery until I hopped on my bike to pedal there on New Year’s Day. From arcade games to “Radically inclusive art consignment,” it’s the sort of space that my brain needs a full bike ride to try to comprehend. They have a Dungeons & Dragons club, stickers, and Speed Dating.
When F!RST L!GHT Thomas {FLT} organizes a community building event, I always try to attend. See some new things, meet some new folks, and meet up with some folks I already know.
There are always some interesting bikes involved. Both whatever ‘works in progress’ that Thomas has arranged to display, and also the rigs that folks ride in on. Danielle from Schön Studio wasn’t displaying any rigs, but she always has an interesting take on two-wheels, and after five minutes of chatting with her, I consistently roll away with a dozen things I want to write about, so shout out to Danielle.
And, shout out to Thomas for making it happen.
{Above photo: MEATengines}
Oval-Chainringing Whilst Under-Gearing
I pedal a round ring on my Steve’s Ruined Talbot, and I pedal a round ring on my Will’s Arcturian Voyager, and I pedal a round ring on my Freeride BMX (Banshee Enigma). For most of its life, it’s been round-ringing on my Walt(x)WZRD V2.
It’s not that oval chainrings don’t have some benefits, including improved traction on steep, loose pitches. And the benefits are especially noticeable with flat pedals. But for most of my pedal-and-plunging round rings are the simple fleet-friendly and faff-free tensioning solution.
There is one application where I’ll always choose an oval ring. That’s putting some rolling road miles into a single-speed mountain bike that’s geared for the hills. 30x22t oval is much more pleasant to spin along at an epic RPM compared to 30x22t round.
{Above photo: MEATengines}
Downtube Disloyalty
[Offspring singing] “All the MTeeBers say: ‘it’s DJI for my next bike’” [/Offspring singing]
Industry folks talk a lot about how MTeeB sales are the thin thread holding a bunch of brands above water, but I truly hope it’s an exaggeration because if it is the case, I fear we’re in for a mound of Rocky Mountain events over the next few seasons.
At the end of the day, to an increasing extent, the BroPed buying conversation isn’t Norco vs. Forbidden vs. etc., it’s Bosch vs. DJI. Riders are buying the motor first and the frame is {much more} just what all the other parts are hung on. How is this playing out? It seems like there’s a brand new value-forward mountain-eeb brand out of Asia every three minutes with all the same bits for a much lower buy-in.
The flip-side is what I’m stoked about. In a tie-in to the 2025 MEATengines Awards, legacy brands need long-view pedalers who are, rightly or wrongly, buying into a story more than just a commodity. A Kona Unit isn’t just a rigid mountain bicycle; it’s a Kona Unit.
Anyone worried that established brands are going to let their human-powered mountain bicycles take a backseat or stagnate can take comfort in the fact that we’re still a cornerstone of any mountain bike brand story.
{Above photo: MEATengines}
Schwalbe Wicked Will
Compared to the more-radial Albert I’ve been riding, the Wicked Will is a gravel tire up and down. Even with the same level of casing {Super Trail}, the combination of compound, tread, and casing construction positively rips along. At the same time that it’s infinitely more pleasant on pavement, the climbing traction is comparatively impressive in most situations, and braking isn’t too horrendous. I’m stoked on how it works.
[Aside] I’ll note here that I’m running the Will on the same rim as the Albert and also still using a CushCore Trail insert, but I’m running 20-21psi whereas with the more radial Albert I was running 23-24psi.[/Aside]
In fairness, there has certainly been a massive increase in the rear tire breaking loose on steeper ladders and even marginally greasy rock work. Like the Rock Razor or Specialized Laughter semi-slicks, I find it manageable as a hardtail rear tire. It’s well worth the trade-off when I’m riding to my ride.
If you love your DHR2, Big Betty, Butcher, etc rear tire in a semi-soft compound, you will likely not be a fan of the Will once gravity is involved. It’s a Tech-C tire, in an XC rubber compound, with a trail-supportive sidewall construction. If you love the compliance of the more radial Albert, then this is absolutely not the rear tire for you.
On the grander scale, it reinforces my commitment to the idea that the magic tire construction combination for most trail applications is a more radial front mated to a standard bias-ply rear. I’ve already found more than a few situations where I’d much rather have a tackier tire out back. But, to date, it’s worth the full trade-off, and even if I do return to a softer and knobbier rear, it won’t be a radialish option.
{Above photo: MEATengines}
Larry Talker Tunes by Model-T
Happy New Year!
2025 – I will have to admit I’ve been guilty of mentioning more than once, “The 70’s and 80’s were the best years in music. All the great music was produced through those two decades. Glad I was alive during those years,” or variations on the theme.
2025 – I will admit some of the best new music in years. Sure, several of this past year’s recommendations have been from long-established artists from that era, and yes, I’m aware I’ve just contradicted myself.
No secret, I regularly dive into both Rock and Blues genres. With the right mix, both are enhanced. This is one of those albums that does just that. Released late last summer 2025.
Also, this week’s recommendation has a connection with the 80’s, Taylor was born 1985 in the UK and raised on Rock and Blues influences (as so many great rock artists have).
Joanne Shaw Taylor – Black & Gold (2025)
Must listen to tracks:
- Hold of my Heart (this will ease you into the groove)
- Black & Gold
- Who’s Gonna Love Me Now
- I Gotta Stop Letting You Let Me Down (rocker)
- Grayer Shade Of Blue (top track)
- Hell Of A Good Time (rocker; top track)
- Look What I’ve Become (rocker, riff, guitar solo; top track)
- What Are You Gonna Do Now? (my pick for best track?)
Well, didn’t exactly narrow it down. Give this album a spin.
{Above photo: Joanne Shaw Taylor}
Outro
And that’s a wrap on the first SBTISAOAF of 2026. In addition to a few formatting changes, I’ll be keeping ye ole Friday-things a tidbit shorter this year. I received a little bit of my-first-single-speed correspondence over the holidays, which I’m always stoked about, but I think I’m going to save it for a little common #1FG concerns piece, pending.
Stop in next week for a bit about my Fresh Old Mountain Bike and, of course, it’s 2026, so time for my favourite yearly hit – New Year, New Unit.
Happy Trails,
Andrew
Final blurb goes here:
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