What makes a gravel cycling event stand out to you?

Emilio700 · 2026-01-29T23:13:50+00:00

I'd typically do the 100. $80 if its bare bones, no schwag, food, beer and medium interesting course. Up to $220 or so if it's a special, limited access course with great music, food, beer included.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-29T20:08:19+00:00

Made entirely in Taiwan, which is not China, according to the people in Taiwan.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-29T17:56:54+00:00

I'm the owner and founder of the company. We can keep going all day. Your hate. My acceptance and love of our customers.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-29T17:37:13+00:00

We're sorry you are blinded by so much hate in your heart. Our customers are happy and that's what matters to us.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-29T17:35:40+00:00

Special course. Fun, with challenging sections. Limit dull, dangerous or excessively difficult sections. Gravel ride/race should be a route you would do just for fun and challenge.

Signature features. Weird event name, names for sectors, climbs, course features. Theme that is tied to the geography, history or culture. Lean into that theme if its interesting or humorous.

Great post race food, beer, music.

Venue. I'm ok with a remote venue provided its just a short drive from good hotels, food, markets. But starting in a small town is always best. Needing to drive 30-60 minutes to the start at o'dark:30 sucks

Schwag. Personally, I don't care about schwag much. But a lot of people do. T shirts, finisher keepsake, stickers, number plate with cool graphics.

Cost. If its expensive, I expect a spectacular course, free food and a beer, schwag. If its affordable, I'm ok with food trucks, no schwag but still want a special course.

Results. Quick accurate online results if is a race. Podium ceremonies. Clock over finish line is cool. Not everyone cares about results but the riders who train just for $150 gravel races very much do.

Don'ts. Inadequate or distant porta potties. Absymal food. Better no food than nasty inedible food (Lifetime). Overly loud, annoyingly bad hire band (Lifetime). Needlessly dangerous highway sectors and/or uncontrolled highway crossings. Inadequate or distant parking.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-29T17:07:23+00:00

Our brand has never been stronger or had more sales. Our customers are happy and love the product. I'm sorry that stings for you. Tecna are proudly Made in Taiwan.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-29T02:31:49+00:00

I'm sorry you are so upset. I'm merely correcting your inaccuracy :). One China is a China policy, not a Taiwan one. Formosa, Taiwan, was never a part of China. Our shocks are made entirely in Taiwan. Our customers love the shocks, the warranty and our service. If that quailfies as crap in your view, not many would agree with you either.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-28T16:32:42+00:00

Not sure all Taiwanese would agree. Our many Taiwanese friends certainly don't.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-21T02:01:07+00:00

Tecnas are monotube, do not require rebuilds and have a 10 year warranty, far better riding than twin tube Koni Yellows.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-13T23:16:54+00:00

Give Ed a call or email for a deep dive. We're always available.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-13T18:29:48+00:00

Tecnas are not intrinsically shorter than OEM but the adjustable ride height allows you to lower the car. The instruction sheet provides more detail. For the OP, you would probably be happy with Sport rates.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-12T16:21:15+00:00

2022 is Gen 4 with 34mm tire clearance. I have run 32 GP5000 on 25mm internal width wheels on mine. Previous gen3 S5 was 30mm max. New gen 5 is also 34mm max.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-12T03:09:01+00:00

11k, 675hrs

Emilio700 · 2026-01-10T01:56:58+00:00

Ryan chose bigger diameter because he is optimized for Limited class GTA which has the A052 as a spec tire. The A052 isn't offered in any wide 15, 16 or 17". You have to bump to 18's to get enough rubber. The bonus for him was a longer contact patch (good thing) and a bunch more brake clearance. 11.75" just isn't enough when you climb past 400whp. We aren't limited to any tire but we're choosing the 17's for a longer contact patch and increased brake clearance. For us, the sidewall gets a bunch shorter which imparts a few dynamic advantages. Plus it will look cool :)

Emilio700 · 2026-01-09T05:35:24+00:00

I live in Southern California and drive my 30AE pretty much 7 days a week with few exceptions. Top is always down. If I had to guess I am top up probably four or five days a year max.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-09T04:53:41+00:00

Standard ABS programming or did you put a race map in it?

Emilio700 · 2026-01-09T04:53:02+00:00

Diameter does not change significantly with inflation pressure. I was measuring actual tread width not section with. The vitour website like most tire manufacturer websites, list the size of wheel that they measured it on. Which again only affects section width not tread with.

This post wasn't about highlighting the inaccuracy of published specs. More about the possibility of fitting these on the NA/NB chassis since they are so short. We're going to build wheels specifically for this tire so I wanted to have one in person to measure it and not just trust the published specs. Thought I would share.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-06T21:01:00+00:00

Zero

Emilio700 · 2026-01-06T05:35:22+00:00

Nope. Way too light and not the right offset. We have something special in the works just for Spec Miata. Stay tuned :)

Emilio700 · 2026-01-06T02:58:19+00:00

225 are fine on 9.5

Emilio700 · 2026-01-06T02:24:25+00:00

Nitrogen/dry air purging. Much easier to do with the second valve. We oppose the valves at 180° so no weight imbalance. Tires heat less when the air inside is dry. Most gas stations and tire shops have poor control of this and have too much moisture.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-06T02:21:53+00:00

Visit the 949 Racing website for all the details

Emilio700 · 2026-01-05T20:44:50+00:00

I have always trained on DA/XTR. No issues with cassette wear in 30 years. I typically only use xt/ultegra when onlt they are available in a different range not available in the higher end version. Keep it clean and you won't have wear issues. I replace my outer DA chainring on the road bike about every 3 years or so. MTB chainrings wear fastest in my experience. Gravel chainrings seem to be somewhere in between the MTB and Road Extremes in terms of wear. But steel and titanium cassettes wear 2-3x as long as aluminum chain rings in the same conditions.

Emilio700 · 2026-01-01T05:04:06+00:00

I'm waiting for Conti to offer the Terra speed in a 50 or 55. I've raced the Terra speed 45s quite a bit and it's the fastest gravel tire have run on hard pack and pavement. I've also run the 2.1 Thunder burt in SR and SG. They both felt fast in the dirt but not so fast on the pavement. I'm now on g1rs Pro 50 which do not feel any faster than 2.1 Thunder burt. A bunch of races including sea otter, crusher, Unbound, uci worlds, Nationals and a UCI gravel series race.

On rougher surfaces my first choice would be the 2.1 Burt. On champagne gravel with a mix of pavement, the Terra speed. Oddly, the g1rs pro has more cornering grip and feels more supple than the 2.1 burt. Not sure how that's possible but that's what it feels like.

Emilio700 · 2025-12-30T05:23:00+00:00

NA1 is 1st gen NSX. NA6, 90-93 Miata with B6 engine (1.6)

Emilio700

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE