Full Suspension Gravel Bikes! (Page 2): Triathlon Forum: Slowtwitch Forums

Re: Full Suspension Gravel Bikes! [BryanD] [ In reply to ]

Mar 22, 17 16:42

I love bikes. I have 12 at the moment. I will have more in the future.

I don't have a gravel bike but love the concept and will probably get one when I retire. (I'm planning on moving to a place with lotsa off road riding opportunities, but it takes lotsa road riding to get there. A gravel bike would be ideal for me in that case)

I love that bikes are becoming more and more niche oriented. Hell, aren't tri bikes just a niche of the road bike market? I love that even the recent gravel niche is having its boundaries pushed.

A full suspension gravel bike would certainly be more suitable for MTB riding than road riding, but that will suit some people. No suspension gravel bikes will be more appropriate for others. Hell, I think I just found a reason to buy TWO new bikes. Nuthin wrong with that!

Riding rail trails is becoming very popular here in New Zealand. many are paved with fine crushed gravel. Those are suitable for cruiser bikes, gravel, MTB, hybrid/city bikes etc. Other rail trails are more like fire roads, not ideal for cruiser bikes, hard gravel bikes or hybrid city bikes. Those locations would be ideal for a FS gravel bike. I hate riding my MTB (even a hardtail) on the road.

I think that opening up cycling markets by making and chasing niche markets can only be a good thing. Hell, fatties have a following, why not FS gravel bikes?

TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

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Re: Full Suspension Gravel Bikes! [rijndael] [ In reply to ]

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Tom A.

Mar 22, 17 20:52

Post #27 of 29 (705 views)

rijndael wrote:

Tom A. wrote:

Everything...but mostly west coast, rocky single-track.

I think this is an important difference. My terrain is quite different. I have everything except rocky singletrack.

Tom A. wrote:

Well...to be clear, the above comment is in regards to "all-road" style bikes, not necessarily full-blown MTBs.

Fair enough. I think your point may apply well to dirt, gravel roads, and places where I'd normally ride my CX bike. But in places where I ride my mtb, knobs are essential. I've played around with more XC'ish/smoother tires, with lower pressures to increase traction, and in wider widths. The traction just isn't sufficient. You will spin out on the short punchy climbs or wash out on corners.

Well, to be fair...the casings on those "XC'ish/smoother tires" are nowhere near as flexible as the Compass file tread models. Like I said above, I was quite surprised at how well they do off road. About the only place they really fall down in is a when encountering a thin layer of mud.

http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

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Re: Full Suspension Gravel Bikes! [Warbird] [ In reply to ]

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Tom A.

Mar 22, 17 20:59

Post #28 of 29 (703 views)

Warbird wrote:

Tom A. wrote:

Slowman wrote:

"That's called a MTB with a drop bar."

which i always thought was a pretty damned good idea.

It actually is (which I'll admit I never knew before putting together an "all-road" bike)...but, I'd insert the caveat that IME it really helps to have a drop bar in which the drops have some flare to them.

This puts your hands position in the drops (and actuating the brakes) in an orientation that's somewhere between a traditional road bar and a flat MTB bar. I found it to enhance the off-pavement control quite a bit as compared to a traditional drop bar. I put a Salsa Cowchipper bar on my "all-road" rig...and my experience with that actually has me contemplating putting the same bar on my dual-suspension MTB.

Remember the Specialized Rock Combo from the 80s? Complete with flared "New Specialized ATB drop bar"...

I didn't...that's pretty cool. I'd like to find one of those :-)

What's funny is that I had originally built up that bike I pictured above with SRAM TT shifters as bar-ends (as the Rock Combo is shown). It really does work better with brifters though...

http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Last edited by: Tom A.: Mar 22, 17 21:02

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Re: Full Suspension Gravel Bikes! [tgarson] [ In reply to ]

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Barchettaman

Mar 23, 17 0:38

Post #29 of 29 (682 views)

tgarson wrote:

Slowman wrote:

"That's called a MTB with a drop bar."

though of course I know tom's point is to get an old metal mtb frame and add your own drops.

This thread has been running on BF for about 5 years and has loads of interesting MTB drop bar conversions on it.

Some are more successful than others in my view but the guys on there have had a lot of fun putting them together.

http://www.bikeforums.net/...bar-conversions.html

Hope it is of interest.

-------------------------------
�Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.�

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