Back in 2009, we knew wed hit Peak Fixie when Wired started covering the subject:Now, 15 (!) years later, we know weve hit Peak Gravelor at least its slower cousin, Peak Supplefor the same reason:WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MY TIRES, WIRED? Of course some extra tire volume (or at least the clearance for it if you decide you want it) is often a very good thing, but at this point fat tires are becoming dangerously overprescribed, and people are cramming them onto bikes whether they need them or not. Ive mentioned that Rene Herse tires have a sort of Vicodin effect, but at this point wide, supple tires are like Oxycodone, and its developing into a full-blown epidemic. I can certainly I can understand the zeal of the recently converted:But he lost me at modern sport truck. AND WHAT THE HELL DOES HE HAVE AGAINST OLD CAMRYS???The Camry has been around since 1982 and it deserves your respect.Again, certainly the increasing availability of voluminous high thread-count tires is nice, and the writer clearly has good taste in bikes:But I maintain that he is overzealous:As is clear from his attempt to Cat 6 a random roadie, which is decidedly un-Rivendellian behavior:Its rare that I can speak to any subject as an authority, but as both a Rivendell rider and a spandex-clad racer (well, technically former racer) depending on my mood I think I have the necessary qualifications to do so in this case. Now, something a lot of non-roadies dont understand is that the roadies dont care about you. At all. Theyre not perplexed that youre able to keep up with them. Theyre not judging your bike, or your clothes, or analyzing your performanceand theyre certainly not trying to race you, either. Its like thinking a supermodel snubbed you, when in fact she simply didnt even notice you in the first place, which is an important distinction since you cant snub something if youre not even aware of its existence.However, as a Rivendell rider, I also know there is an exception to the above, which is when the roadie is also a Rivendell rider (or at least has Rivendellian sympathies) in which case they will say something like, Nice Rivendell! This is because they have to let you know that they get it. In fact, when Im on a racing bike and I see someone on a Rivendell Im often tempted to do the same thing myself, but I dont, because when Im on the receiving end I cant help feeling like its a little patronizing.(You may think Im overthinking all this, and youd be right. This is why Ive been writing a bike blog for 17 years. In fact I just checked and holy crap, its been 17 years exactly as of today! If Id known ahead of time I would have baked myself a cake.)The writer also speaks to the cycling worlds two biggest supple tire apologists, Russ from Path Less Pedaled, and Jan Heine. Its ironic that they share this role, because one of them bases his entire identity on riding as slowly as possible while the other one is chasing FKTs and wrote a whole book about how aero handlebar bags are. I suppose this means that supple tires really are the best solution no matter how you ride, but it only makes me suspicious. Then again, who am I to question Heinian wisdom like this?Friction in the body? Racing trucks? (Again with the trucks!) Water-cooled shocks? The human body has evolved to be able to run barefoot for miles upon miles at a time. I think it can handle being on a road bike with 23s on a paved road for a few hours.Though even Jan Heine doesnt claim that switching to supple tires is like going from black and white to color:Id argue its more like watching the same TV but changing from one pre-set picture mode to another, but then again all the friction in my body from riding narrow tires on my road bike has probably rattled my brain but also impaired my senses.Still, theres something even worse for you than riding skinny tires, and according to Gear Patrol its cycling in sneakers:If you ride skinny tires you may risk filling your body with friction, which is bad enough, but if you ride in sneakers your foot will hemorrhage energy and youre never going to get it back:This is absolutely true, which is why if you attempt to walk up a flight of stairs without a pair of stiff-soled shoes your foot will immediately buckle and youll find yourself crumpled in a heap at the bottom landing. Its also why barely survived my ride yesterday:I lost so much unrecoverable energy from my feet I eventually had to start pedaling with my hands.Its no surprise Andy Pruitt, Ed.D was involved in Specialized Body Geometry products, which are designed to medically scare you from using anything else. And nothings scarier than impotence, hence Dr. Roger Minkow and the Body Geometry saddlethough I admit I do miss the days when Specialized marketed their saddles on penile blood flow:For a moment there it really seemed like penile blood flow was poised to replace grams as the measurement to obsess over.Instead, cycling inside became the new cycling outside, and Zwift are now making a complete bikeAnd unlike, say, a Peloton, its designed to actually look like a bike:Im not a Zwifter, and I havent ridden any sort of trainer in many, many years, but this is a very smart idea and theyre probably going to sell a lot of them.But Im holding out for the carbon version.Finally, speaking of Rivendells (at least we were earlier), heres yet another reason to Just Buy A Rivendell Already:Its the kludge that kills.