Gravel/Bikepack nerds enter...

[MagnificentUnicorn]

The key to riding drops off road is as plug said, but to be specific the flats should be at least as high as your saddle and preferably higher. Try and find some Nitto Dirt Drops, favorite drop bar ever.

I spent over a decade where my main riding was on dirt and gravel, 150-200+ miles a week. It’s fascinating seeing people “discover” this type of riding. I got interested in this type of riding in the mid ‘90s after reading about Jobst Brant and meeting and talking with Grant at Rivendell. I had an old Bridgestone first and then bought one of the first Rivendell Atlantis frames in ‘99. Still my favorite bike of all time and still going strong.

Living in the Bay Area then was great, combing pavement, dirt and gravel roads always leaving from home was eye opening. I moved to central WA in 2003 and where I live is ideal for this. Hundreds of miles of nice dirt and gravel roads with very little pavement and tons of single track to explore along the way. It really is my favorite type of riding.

I’m getting ready to convert my Jamis Dragon 29er to a rigid fork and probably Jones H bars. Will likely run something mid 40s for tires.

Have fun!


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[tellybele]

For dirt other than roads, the On-One Midge can't be beat IMO. Been using them for over 10 years on my skinny tired off-roader.

[ShoNuff]

Ride in the drops then. Bonus is your brakes work better in that position as well.

2nd. Flats and hoods for cruising. Drops for getting after it. I’m running a 150mm dropper as well. I’d much rather ride single track on a proper mtb, but have ridden some pretty steep shit on the curly bar bike. Sometimes it’s just required for a link-up.

[Toddball]

How to gravel on a budget:



2004 Karate Monkey, Amazon special carbon fork*, SRAM Rival, TRP Spyre brakes, Nukeproof take-off wide drop bars (~510mm at the hoods), some other assorted bits. Have put 450+ miles on it since driving to trailheads became questionable. WTB Venture 50s are pretty sweet on any surface as long as you aren't looking to keep up with people in spandex.

*Also have this steel fork with water bottle bosses welded on, which begs the question: why do people put water bottles on their forks? Does it suck? Do I need a full complement of bags to make it look cool?
First Look at the fork here: https://www.kittyhump.com/gearreview...ttle-red-fork/



Close up of immaculate welds (this is the good side):

[Laps]

^^that is an awesome setup!!


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[Whiteroom_Guardian]

How to gravel on a budget:



2004 Karate Monkey, Amazon special carbon fork*, SRAM Rival, TRP Spyre brakes, Nukeproof take-off wide drop bars (~510mm at the hoods), some other assorted bits. Have put 450+ miles on it since driving to trailheads became questionable. WTB Venture 50s are pretty sweet on any surface as long as you aren't looking to keep up with people in spandex.

*Also have this steel fork with water bottle bosses welded on, which begs the question: why do people put water bottles on their forks? Does it suck? Do I need a full complement of bags to make it look cool?
First Look at the fork here: https://www.kittyhump.com/gearreview...ttle-red-fork/



Close up of immaculate welds (this is the good side):

Aesthetically I love the way these home-brewed rides look. Maybe this if what I need to do. Will scratch the bike building itch too. I guess through axles and disc brake mounts are really my only deal breakers. I'm sure I'm missing something else though.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

How to gravel on a budget:



2004 Karate Monkey, Amazon special carbon fork*, SRAM Rival, TRP Spyre brakes, Nukeproof take-off wide drop bars (~510mm at the hoods), some other assorted bits. Have put 450+ miles on it since driving to trailheads became questionable. WTB Venture 50s are pretty sweet on any surface as long as you aren't looking to keep up with people in spandex.

*Also have this steel fork with water bottle bosses welded on, which begs the question: why do people put water bottles on their forks? Does it suck? Do I need a full complement of bags to make it look cool?
First Look at the fork here: https://www.kittyhump.com/gearreview...ttle-red-fork/



Close up of immaculate welds (this is the good side):

Who did those bottle braze-ons? They’re called braze-ons for a reason. I’m not sure I would trust a fork with welded on bottle mounts on the fork blades.


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[Peruvian]

Whats the weight difference between the carbon and steel forks?

Edit - after some googling, I answered my own question. Steel fork on my Sutra LTD is ~ 1,365g, carbon replacement fork ~ 525g.

[Iowagriz]

While I'd love that Cutthroat that I mentioned above, this is my all around bike. Salsa El Mar ti, setup with Cutthroat fork for bikepacking, have a Niner carbon fork and skinny tires for cross or long gravel races, then have a Fox 34 for MTB riding and racing. I bought this when in Iowa and love the feel of the ti and carbon forks. I can ride all day long on this setup. I still enjoy the MTB riding with the hardtail setup, but now that I'm in Missoula, a full-susp will likely happen before anything else.

I fully endorse gravel riding and bikepacking. This photo was a race test for Tour Divide, did Banff to Lincoln in 5 days, avg around 100 miles a day and still taking time to smell the roses. Link to those photos and me being a goofball below.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/221666...h/34969607363/

[Toddball]

Whats the weight difference between the carbon and steel forks?

Edit - after some googling, I answered my own question. Steel fork on my Sutra LTD is ~ 1,365g, carbon replacement fork ~ 525g.

Yup. Carbon fork feels comically light when you have both in hand. I don't have a scale, but the steel fork feels more than twice as heavy.

The particular fork I have is pretty decent, but has a significant amount of fore-aft flex. Looks pretty weird under hard braking, but hasn't collapsed yet. I hit (small) dirt jumps and rooty singletrack every week, and it's...much worse than my 36, but still in one piece.

I haven't actually ridden the steel fork yet, so I'm wondering if I will feel a difference in ride quality.

[Toddball]

Who did those bottle braze-ons? They’re called braze-ons for a reason. I’m not sure I would trust a fork with welded on bottle mounts on the fork blades.


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Haha! My friend sold me the bike with the carbon fork, then he got a welder, then found the steel fork. One thing led to another, and now there are two "weld-ons" on the non-drive-side, and three on the drive side. There's also a pebble, or more likely a tiny piece of metal shrapnel, stuck in the non-drive-side fork leg. Pretty cool!

[ThreeRidges]

So, this can’t hold a candle to what most of you are talking about, but I got bored during working at home and took a long unused Giant Escape 2 hybrid and made a ghetto gravel/grocery getter. Never liked the forward set up of this bike, so got Jones H bars, new stem, pedals, rear rack, decent saddle, and bumped the tires up to 42 gravels on the existing 700c rims. It’s a blast to ride.




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[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Someone on that Salsa FB group is selling a 2020 Cutthroat Apex 1 for $2200. Has 100 miles on it. My size. Fuck. I really need to just stop looking at bikes altogether.

[chaka]

While I'd love that Cutthroat that I mentioned above, this is my all around bike. Salsa El Mar ti, setup with Cutthroat fork for bikepacking, have a Niner carbon fork and skinny tires for cross or long gravel races, then have a Fox 34 for MTB riding and racing. I bought this when in Iowa and love the feel of the ti and carbon forks. I can ride all day long on this setup. I still enjoy the MTB riding with the hardtail setup, but now that I'm in Missoula, a full-susp will likely happen before anything else.

I fully endorse gravel riding and bikepacking. This photo was a race test for Tour Divide, did Banff to Lincoln in 5 days, avg around 100 miles a day and still taking time to smell the roses. Link to those photos and me being a goofball below.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/221666...h/34969607363/

Fuck yes. Love this.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

I'm kind of all over the place. There are some really good deals to be had on MY19 Salsa Warbirds. I may just have to jump on one of these. Bikes are kind of my booze/drug. If bugging out on some gravel for an all day ride keeps me sane after working almost 40 days in a row I think it's worth it. At least that's what I will tell myself to justify it.

While I'd love that Cutthroat that I mentioned above, this is my all around bike. Salsa El Mar ti, setup with Cutthroat fork for bikepacking, have a Niner carbon fork and skinny tires for cross or long gravel races, then have a Fox 34 for MTB riding and racing. I bought this when in Iowa and love the feel of the ti and carbon forks. I can ride all day long on this setup. I still enjoy the MTB riding with the hardtail setup, but now that I'm in Missoula, a full-susp will likely happen before anything else.

I fully endorse gravel riding and bikepacking. This photo was a race test for Tour Divide, did Banff to Lincoln in 5 days, avg around 100 miles a day and still taking time to smell the roses. Link to those photos and me being a goofball below.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/221666...h/34969607363/

This is a great post. Thanks for sharing.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Hmmm, this seems like a pretty good all around bike at a good price.

[simple]

Get the bags as well if you do it.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Was just chatting with the guy. I'm first in line at the moment. It's got 10x135 QR rear though. At the end of the day do you think that would really matter too much?

Carbon wheels and tubeless is sweet. Will I die with 1x on big ass hills? I mean I mountain bike 1x with a 27 lb coil sprung squish bike. I could probably manage fire road/gravel hills with 1x no problem right? Even with some bike pack gear?

Price is nice though and in alot of ways makes sense vs. being dumb and financing a more expensive bike. Plus I think it just looks cool too.

[simple]

I run a 40 tooth single and have zero issues

[Iowagriz]

What bike? (the link is gone) I don't see the 10x135qr being a problem. It won't be getting rallied on hard stuff. As for the gearing, you can always gear down the front ring. In my photos above, I was running 32x42 without any problems and probably bike, gear and water total at 55lbs. 5yrs ago, I was in shape and running a 36t up front. You are much younger, I'm sure you can handle it.

[springsproject]

I was hesitant about going back to qr when I bought mine but at the it's not something I can say I really notice.

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[Peruvian]

Has anyone had any experience with Outer Shell bags? I'm considering the Half Framebag for day rides and overnighters.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

What bike? (the link is gone) I don't see the 10x135qr being a problem. It won't be getting rallied on hard stuff. As for the gearing, you can always gear down the front ring. In my photos above, I was running 32x42 without any problems and probably bike, gear and water total at 55lbs. 5yrs ago, I was in shape and running a 36t up front. You are much younger, I'm sure you can handle it.

See pics above. Screen grabbed from a FB group. 2018 Salsa Vaya. I think ill throw an offer at him. If I really love bikepacking I can always upgrade.

[chaka]

See pics above. Screen grabbed from a FB group. 2018 Salsa Vaya. I think ill throw an offer at him. If I really love bikepacking I can always upgrade.

I have a friend who rides a shitload and adores his Vaya. He uses it for commuting (a lot of miles). His only complaint is that it is not light but hey not that important if you loading it down anyway. Also wouldn't worry about the 10x135QR. I rally my cx bike on xc mtn bike trails all of the time, no issues with the QR.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

I have a friend who rides a shitload and adores his Vaya. He uses it for commuting (a lot of miles). His only complaint is that it is not light but hey not that important if you loading it down anyway. Also wouldn't worry about the 10x135QR. I rally my cx bike on xc mtn bike trails all of the time, no issues with the QR.

Sweet. I offered him for shipped with the bags thrown in. Hope he bites.