Gravel/Bikepack nerds enter...

Drop bar people: my hands and wrists hurt after relatively low mileage on my gravel/road/rigid bike. Currently running a very short stem, 46cm Cowchipper, and Supacaz Super Sticky Kush bar tape that is many years old. Generally riding in the hoods most of the time these days, but once the hands start feeling shitty no bar position feels good. Anyone with hand troubles figure out how to fix them?

Considering drastic measures such as Redshift drop bar grips under the tape, Oury grips in the drops, and/or just buying really long bar tape and wrapping it as thick as possible.

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Originally Posted by Toddball

Drop bar people: my hands and wrists hurt after relatively low mileage on my gravel/road/rigid bike. Currently running a very short stem, 46cm Cowchipper, and Supacaz Super Sticky Kush bar tape that is many years old. Generally riding in the hoods most of the time these days, but once the hands start feeling shitty no bar position feels good. Anyone with hand troubles figure out how to fix them?

Considering drastic measures such as Redshift drop bar grips under the tape, Oury grips in the drops, and/or just buying really long bar tape and wrapping it as thick as possible.

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You could place some gel pads below the tape, but it sounds like your bike fit may be the issue and it's putting too much pressure on your hands. Have you considered the tilt and height of your saddle?

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Originally Posted by Peruvian

You could place some gel pads below the tape, but it sounds like your bike fit may be the issue and it's putting too much pressure on your hands. Have you considered the tilt and height of your saddle?

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I have messed around with saddle parameters, but I don't really know what I'm doing. I think my saddle is about level, and also about the same height as my bars [edit: neither of these appears to be true, actually]. I slid it forward on the rails almost as far as possible back in my long stem days. Maybe I should slide it back some more and tilt the nose up?

Here's a photo of the bike in question: 2003 Surly Karate Monkey parts bin special.

Attachment 415118

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Originally Posted by Supermoon

Looks great. Super clean

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Not as clean as I would like.
Shimano are out of stock of the EW-RS910, bar end Di2 A-junction. And her stem is so short its hard to make the under stem A-junction clean looking.
Also the Revel frames have great internal routing, all the tubes are full length internally, BUT that requires you to abide by their decision on how it should be routed:
-An internal tube from the rear brake to the left side of the head tube, but what if i want to run brakes in a Euro fashion?
-An internal tube from the seat post to the right side of the head tube, great for a dropper, but not for Di2 cabling.
I'd love to put a Di2 B-junction in the seat post area, and cable both the rear derailleur and the battery to the B-junction, and only send a single wire to the A-junction up at the bars. But with their set up I need to have a Di2 wire sticking out of both sides of the head tube. The left Di2 wire can mate with the brake cable with some heat shrink, but the right Di2 wire just flops around in the wind.
I considered using the Dremel with a flexi shaft and get up inside the internal BB area with a cutoff wheel to open up the internal routing tubes, but its not my bike.....

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Originally Posted by Toddball

Drop bar people: my hands and wrists hurt after relatively low mileage on my gravel/road/rigid bike. Currently running a very short stem, 46cm Cowchipper, and Supacaz Super Sticky Kush bar tape that is many years old. Generally riding in the hoods most of the time these days, but once the hands start feeling shitty no bar position feels good. Anyone with hand troubles figure out how to fix them?

Considering drastic measures such as Redshift drop bar grips under the tape, Oury grips in the drops, and/or just buying really long bar tape and wrapping it as thick as possible.

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I'm loving the wolftooth super cushy "Supple" tape. Certainly not light, but probably lighter than a double wrap. Nice feel dry or wet. I have larger hands so the wider diameter feels fine

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Originally Posted by Toddball

I have messed around with saddle parameters, but I don't really know what I'm doing. I think my saddle is about level, and also about the same height as my bars [edit: neither of these appears to be true, actually]. I slid it forward on the rails almost as far as possible back in my long stem days. Maybe I should slide it back some more and tilt the nose up?

Here's a photo of the bike in question: 2003 Surly Karate Monkey parts bin special.

Attachment 415118

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I was told several years ago that one thing to self-check is how easy it is to lift your hands off your bars while keeping your back straight. if you can’t do that, check the tilt of your saddle and consider nose up until lifting your hands is easy.

Yeah, that saddle is pretty nose-high and also pretty far forward. Some people genuinely like theirs that way, but unless you're certain, I'd move it back at least a cm and level it (phone inclinometer apps that we have for ski slope angle checking work well). Start there. You might find rolling the bars up a bit to be helpful as well--depending on your position, flat hoods might actually cause a bit of uncomfortable wrist bend. Some prefer them to be angled up so that they naturally catch the meat of the hand. I'd also wonder about the very short stem--counterintuitively it could be better to run a more normal length one to alleviate lower arm problems.

The "lift your hands" thing works to get the balance right, but it doesn't take into account body geometry. The resulting position will also change based on how hard you're going when you do it. For example: on my road bike my bars are 8cm lower than my saddle, which is very slightly nose up (like all of mine), and the saddle is pretty far forward, and I'm using a fairly long stem. Long and low, and all of that. At near threshold pace and above it feels great, but when I'm just noodling along there is a ton of weight on my hands.

Dialing in the fit on the new to me Cutthroat has been interesting. The hoods weren't really comfortable like the road bike. Then I read that my bike and flared bars (in general) are designed to be ridden in the drops. Raising the bars, a slightly longer stem, handlebar rotation to get the hoods at a better angle all helped greatly. Ultimately, I think I had to rethink the concept and go away from the racing fits ingrained in my head.

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Testing food sources mid-ride to see what works and can be stomachache. This was pretty good, but be wary of the oil if out camping.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1137b7e937.jpg

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Longshot, but anyone know of any safe places to park a car for a few days in/near Butte? A buddy is riding the Tour Divide and I'm going to tag along for a couple of days and then ride back to my car.

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Originally Posted by Iowagriz

Testing food sources mid-ride to see what works and can be stomachache. This was pretty good, but be wary of the oil if out camping.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1137b7e937.jpg

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Is ingesting the bear spray intended to be a systemic deterrent, like injecting insecticide into soil near trees?

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Originally Posted by climberevan

Is ingesting the bear spray intended to be a systemic deterrent, like injecting insecticide into soil near trees?

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I'm thinking seasoning...

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Like yard spray, I sprayed it in a 25ft circle to create my defensive zone.

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Volume 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTVy3anO6c

The shakedown ride was essentially in my backyard in my namesake town.

Anyone want some cheap gravel tires that have been collecting dust in my garage? None have had any punctures that I'm aware of. I just grabbed them off the wall and snapped these photos, but I'll clean them all up before shipping.

Specialized Pathfinder Pro 42
$50 + ship
Might have 1,000 miles at most on these. They ride/look about brand new to me. Just selling because I got the new sworks version of this tire.

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Bontrager GR1 Team Issue 40.
$30 + ship
These are barely used, less than 200 miles at most. I pulled them off because one tire (can't remember which) had a little wobble when mounted. I swapped to other tires before investigating if it was a mounting or tire issue. The other tire was perfect. Thought I'd sell them both as that wobble might not appear for someone else, and if it does, the price is pretty fair for one barely used GR1.

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Clement/Donnely MSO 42.
$20 + shipp.
The tires are both the same - they just changed the company name between me buying them. The new Donnely version is tubeless-ready. The old Clement one is not. Not sure on miles on these, but the tread looks great.

Attachment 415651

Also, the photo uploader seems to be struggling. PM me and I can email or text more tread/sidewall photos

where are you located KTO?

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Originally Posted by Iowagriz

Dialing in the fit on the new to me Cutthroat has been interesting. The hoods weren't really comfortable like the road bike. Then I read that my bike and flared bars (in general) are designed to be ridden in the drops. Raising the bars, a slightly longer stem, handlebar rotation to get the hoods at a better angle all helped greatly. Ultimately, I think I had to rethink the concept and go away from the racing fits ingrained in my head.

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I spend a lot more time low on the flare on my cutt than I ever did on a road bike. It’s crazy comfortable when you get it dialed.

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Originally Posted by chaka

where are you located KTO?

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Bozeman

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Originally Posted by thedude2340

I spend a lot more time low on the flare on my cutt than I ever did on a road bike. It’s crazy comfortable when you get it dialed.

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Agree with this, my roadie is relatively race fit with very low stack and barely use my drops. Hoods of the roadie are a bit lower than drops on my slightly flared CX/gravel bike. Makes for comfy miles and use the drops way more often, especially washboard descending.

Just mounted some GravelKings. Holy crap do these things kick up rocks.

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Gravel Flings.


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Originally Posted by Skistack

Gravel Flings.


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No doubt. I take it this is known phenomenon?

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Originally Posted by I've seen black diamonds!

No doubt. I take it this is known phenomenon?

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I heard about it a few years back and stuck with WTBs as a result.

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Originally Posted by I've seen black diamonds!

No doubt. I take it this is known phenomenon?

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Yep. It seemed worse when the tires were new, and some gravel got flung more than others. Still a great tire, but I switched over the SS version.


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Originally Posted by Toddball

I have messed around with saddle parameters, but I don't really know what I'm doing. I think my saddle is about level, and also about the same height as my bars [edit: neither of these appears to be true, actually]. I slid it forward on the rails almost as far as possible back in my long stem days. Maybe I should slide it back some more and tilt the nose up?

Here's a photo of the bike in question: 2003 Surly Karate Monkey parts bin special.

Attachment 415118

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So one issue with converting a mountain bike to a road bike is reach. If that Surly worked well for you as a mountain bike (i.e. with a non-drop-bar cockpit), you will be significantly lengthening your effective top tube (ETT) or reach when adding drop bars. You already have a seatpost with no setback, and it’s somewhat slammed forward. You might be able to run a shorter stem. There may be some drop bars out there that have a shorter reach to compensate as well. Just my observations.

Even my gravel rides quickly end up as drop-bar MTB rides. Thought trails were gonna be a mess after rain, always engaging riding singletrack on slick 34s. Blocked off the tree go-around b/c of a few roots. All the e-bike enduro bros with 170mm of travel apparently don't like roots.
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Open UPPER, Flat Black, M.

Attachment 416092

I'm not sure what parts are going on this, the shop sent it to me with a ride wrap kit so I can get it covered before the build starts. I will see if I do the build, or if it goes back to the shop.

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Originally Posted by Dee Hubbs

Open UPPER, Flat Black, M.

Attachment 416092

I'm not sure what parts are going on this, the shop sent it to me with a ride wrap kit so I can get it covered before the build starts. I will see if I do the build, or if it goes back to the shop.

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How do you like the Revel Rover? I'm eyeing that frame for my next gravel build. The only thing on the geometry that looks different is the steep seat angle. Thoughts? Does it feel different?

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Originally Posted by jdadour

How do you like the Revel Rover? I'm eyeing that frame for my next gravel build. The only thing on the geometry that looks different is the steep seat angle. Thoughts? Does it feel different?

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The Revel is a clients bike, unfortunately its not my bike, I only ride on build-up/maintenance test rides.

Lots of familiar terrain in the final episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rfYT1tM5e0

What wheel dimensions does everyone suggest for a second road specific carbon wheelset? I used BTLOS for my mtb rims.

Wheee….

Attachment 416225

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Originally Posted by jdadour

How do you like the Revel Rover? I'm eyeing that frame for my next gravel build. The only thing on the geometry that looks different is the steep seat angle. Thoughts? Does it feel different?

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I’ve got a Rover coming in a week or two, I’ll be happy to report back after I get it out a few times. I’ve got to warn you though, I don’t know shit about gravel bikes, I’m just buying one to mix things up a bit this summer since I have access to miles of dirt roads here in the Boulder area.

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Originally Posted by funkendrenchman

What wheel dimensions does everyone suggest for a second road specific carbon wheelset? I used BTLOS for my mtb rims.

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What size tires are you planning to run?


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Originally Posted by Skistack

What size tires are you planning to run?


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Skinny ones?

Haha that’s the next question.

I also don’t know shit about gravel bikes or road bikes for that matter.

Bike is a Quincy/Stigmata (for the wife actually)

Just look for some wheels that came stock on a decent road bike. Axle spacing is the same as gravel bikes. The new hotness is 23ish mm IW, but that's mostly for aerodynamics. 19ish mm is fine with 28mm tires (pretty standard these days for road use, though I still run 25s on my pure road bike).

Devastating news in Gravel Racing community.

Mo Wilson shot and killed in Austin, Texas. The 26-year-old racer was staying with a friend in Austin ahead of Gravel Locos this weekend.

https://www.velonews.com/news/moriah...-austin-texas/

^^^oh god. That’s horrible. She was a Burke Mtn School racer in her youth if I remember correctly.

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Originally Posted by Peruvian

^^^oh god. That’s horrible. She was a Burke Mtn School racer in her youth if I remember correctly.

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Yep, she is a Vermont girl, grew up ski racing. Just this Wednesday Velonews did a big article about her being the most winningest female gravel racer. And how a showdown in Emporia Kansas is going to be great. https://www.velonews.com/news/gravel...ng-to-know-mo/
And 2 days later they have to run an article about her being killed.
The gravel racing community is pretty devistated.

I saw the condolences being shared on social media last night, but couldn't find out what happened. Tragic...

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