Dammit, bitten by the gravel bug

Gravel bike is brilliant.

Like mine for the less technical Tuesday night rides but also for quiet lanes (which tend to be quite rough on a roadie) and what would to an old cycle tourist have been referred to as a rough stuff ride.

The gravel bike for me does all what an audax bike of old would do and lots more. A traditional bar bag for phone, wallet and coat + any lunch etc. and a little seat pack for tools for the road stuff makes for a nice half day/all day setup and pockets or camelback for any proper off roading.

Yep, same here. Had an old road bike, spotted Superstar wheels almost for free, bought them and some gravel tyres. Got a small chainring and big cassette.

Then went the whole hog, bought a Nukeprooof Digger (which I now ride a lot) and am now eyeing up Camino Ti frames which I could transplant all the bits off the Digger onto.

Oh dear...

I bought a cheap Croix de Fer on Gumtree last Autumn, thinking I'd be saving money by not wrecking my MTB. New tyres, new pedals were the start. Overshoes for the old SPD shoes. Warmer longs. 3 bags for bike packing, a tent, sleeping bag and stove. I've probably missed something but it's cost me a fortune. And now I'm bored of gravel and want to ride my MTB.

Anybody else have such silly ideas about trying a new bike type, only to spend far too much on the thing?

Yes! Gravel has pretty much taken over all my time and bike spending.

By their nature they're so versatile and yet always slightly compromised so I'm forever trying to tweak the compromises in different directions.

Fast on the road but capable of big mountain tracks but also excellent on skinny muddy singletrack. I'm finding more new trails on the gravel bike than I ever found on the MTB just because I can cover so much ground in-between

I've owned a gravel bike for exactly 8 hours and can already see this might be happening. Is it wrong that I'm already planning 3 sets of wheels for it? And the pure road bike in the corner is definitely looking daggers at it. Lets be clear, even not counting the 3 or 4 bikes or frames (or piles of components that could be a bike if I chose to reassemble), this gravel bike is still number 5 on the keeper list and between the rest of them I could already do most everything; but I think this might up getting a hammering this year.

Is it wrong that I’m already planning 3 sets of wheels for it?

I have three for mine, but I'm likely about to press the BUY button on a second bike too.

That's not a second bike, obviously. I mean a second gravel bike 🙂

🙂

Spent a few years thrashing about on SE bridleways and singletrack on CX and XC bikes, have recently acquired a 'proper' gravel bike following the unplanned demise of the CX bike and trying some Trossachs gravel out at the moment.. I can see why additional wheels happen.

Off road, part of the fun is being on the 'wrong' bike as it makes basic stuff lairy and dull fire roads a pleasure. On road, and often running late heading home, I'm glad of fast rolling tyres and quickly forget the sideways action in the slop and lack of traction up steep slopes..

At least that's what I'm telling myself for now..

Echo the above, bought a Cannondale Topstone 3 Carbon (with the rear flex) and love the speed and ability to cover ground quickly- overlapping with the XC bike. Too many near miss 'interactions' on the road with cars on the roadbike sees me looking for more tracks and alternative routes home and for leisure riding. Defo a compromise but everything in life is a compromise. Had several KoMs and fast rides on it already over rough track routes I normally take the HT over. Just brill in its own way.

Oh and already bought a 2nd set of wheels for it, courtesy of @13thfloormonk 🙂

I've had mine for about 6 months and have already put more miles on it then the road bike it replaced, owned for 3 years. Yeah, it's great.

Last week i bought a Gravel Bike. Vitus Substance 2 from CRC.
Bought it to see what all this Gravel bike hysteria was about.

Before it even arrived, id already bought a new cassette (34-11 from the fitted 28-11) and a new long cage derailleur.
Now running through my head is to upgrade from 8 speed to 9/10 speed, and perhaps convert it to flat bars as well.
All the different permutations running through my head!

Once you get past the mental barrier that there is a lot of crossover, they are awesome.

I wanted an aero disc road bike. But I wasn’t fit at the time. So then I got hooked on the gravel marketing and realised that they can be like the comfiest, most practical road bike ever! Beautiful brakes that work, massive tyre clearance, a realistic range of gears and mounts galore.
Then I rode it off road and realised that for most of the dry soft-roading that I enjoyed on the mtb- this thing was actually better there. I enjoyed riding it more!

But it is limited at both ends. I find it really hard to hang on to the end of a 25mph/30 mile chainy even on 50mm wheels and GP5000’s.
Likewise, add in mud and the tyres aren’t as versatile as 2.25 xc rubber and the clearance soon runs out.

I also think many people have a mental block around their XC bike. Especially given the trend for stupidly wide handlebars 🤣
Provided you have the gears, you can ride *very* fast on an XC bike. Sub 20mph average, even the tyres aren’t much of a limiter. I did a mid-paced club ride on mine the other day and didn’t feel disadvantaged at all.

I think it’s also important to add that most gravel bikes *aren’t* comparable with CX bikes either. The BB height on mine is road bike spec so when I tried CX racing on it- I couldn’t pedal a lot of the off-cambers because I’d get pedal strikes.
They’re also often way slacker. Mine is as stable off road as my 2013 spark 920.
CX bikes are usually flighty down fast (fire road) type descents.
My mate has borrowed a CX bike for Dirty Reiver and in his mind he’s got what he needs but I honestly think he’ll be better off on the XC bike he already has!

A couple of years into gravel life and I’ve had to buy the aero disc road bike too because I was pushing the envelope of what I could do over 3,4,5 hrs on my gravel bike when group riding.

Arguably I could now just use that and my XC bike again but I suppose that’s the beauty of running mid-range bikes, you can justify more of them instead 🤣

I treated myself to a Planet X gravel bike a few years ago as I'd got a greater than expected bonus at work, worse case I thought was that if I didn't like it I'd sell it on after a while (no space issue) and probably lose £2-300. Did a couple of thousand miles over 2 years.

Then I got a carbon On One Freeranger, that's now 2 years old - used for local JRA on lanes, estate roads, fireroads etc plus done a few events on it. It's good fun and great when I just fancy a couple of hours riding.

I still ride the MTB's more though, but for actual bikepacking (which is why I bought the original gravel bike) I use a HT instead. Just better for rough trails when loaded IME.

I got a cheap used Boardman a while ago, spent a fair bit replacing and upgrading the knackered bits - was really happy with it.

Then bought one of those Ragley Trigs in the CRC sale. And some carbon 650b wheels from Ribble. To go with the cheap Superstar 700c wheels I got a while ago.

The Boardman is now in the classifieds if anyone's after a reasonably priced medium gravel bike with lots of new bits.

😀

I fancied a change last year after I loaned (gave) my barely used and ageing fs bike to a friends daughter. I was riding the hardtail exclusively for short and long rides and had started to avoid the more techy stuff. Got a nukeproof digger in November - good spec for the money and the sizing put me firmly in the middle of M so less chance of getting it slightly wrong.
Not much gravel in calderdale, and a lot of the trails are pretty unforgiving on rigid bikes, even with 45mm tyres, so I ride a lot of back lanes stuff, with bw/cheeky links, exploring new bits of the south Pennines. I absolutely love it, struggled a bit with the gearing (40t chainring 42t cassette was a bit of a change from 32/46 on the MTB) but persevered and now actively seek out steep hills for some bizarre reason, and pushing beyond 100km rides. Took it to the lakes, and rode some of the grizedale area classics, and it excelled on iron keld, to my surprise I pushed pretty hard and it felt comfy and planted. I see it more as a road bike for a mountain biker than a gravel bike. No plans to upgrade it however, any future spare cash will go on a new or upgraded hardtail!

I've always fancied a Sonder Camino, are they still considered a good bike?

i love my sonder camino TI, great bike

they can be like the comfiest, most practical road bike ever!

I see it more as a road bike for a mountain biker than a gravel bike.

I think this is where they worked best, marketing imagery aside. Road Plus etc. I was into 'road bikes off road' (700C CX) for a while before I got a test bike made that was for discs and 700C primarily but took 650B into consideration with the clearances. All I could get at the time was a Panaracer 38mm that was about 40mm on some MTB rims and it was as much of a game changer as having discs on a CX-ish bike was previously.
I still use this kind of bike as a comfier, more lanes-resistant road bike more than anything else, but the ability to go down byways that look interesting or stay off-road for longer in comfort is enhanced by the bigger tyres yet they don't seem to have any negative impact on road speed or feel - ok slower than 700 X 28 on a wide open, tailwind big-ringer road but for road rides that include some rough lanes and hilly, twisty roads I think they're break-even.
The tricky bit has been getting handling sorted for how I ride a bike like this off-road without making it feel wrong/bad on fast tarmac and losing that road bike spirit. It's not the fastest bike down anything rocky or steeper but it gets down it well, there's confidence from agility, because you never know what that byway will turn into. I love it.

I'm still in two minds about if I enjoy gravel riding... (despite racking up 1000 miles on the gravel bike this winter in preparation for Dirty Reiver).

When I'm off road and it gets 'interesting', I'm always thinking "this would be so much better on an mtb"

When I'm on a nice bit of road, I'm always thinking "this would be so much better on the road bike"

The bits inbetween which are perfect terrain for gravel bikes are where hordes of people walk their dogs, or ride along in big family groups. So you are constantly stop/start.

I think an XC race bike might be on the cards to replace it after the Dirty Reiver.

Ive almost gone completely gravel these days as still want get the miles in but dislike the road traffic in the Peaks, best thing I did was buying my Cannondale Topstone. It's had more use than any other bike I've ever owned.

When I’m off road and it gets ‘interesting’, I’m always thinking “this would be so much better on an mtb”

When you're off-road on your MTB and it gets a bit out of its depth do you think that you should have bought a bike with more travel, or conversely, if you are on a big bike and the trails are tamer do you wish you'd brought a more xc style bike? Even on a road bike you'll often be on roads which are too broken up to be optimal for those 25mm tyres which roll so beautifully on smooth tarmac.

I don't think I ever have a ride where I'm on the perfect bike for the whole ride. I rarely wish I was on a different bike though, other than this morning where the bike needed a service and felt like a bag of nails. 😀

I bought a pinnacle Arkose with the intention that it would a be commuter bike that I could neglect/use/abuse and to get me fitter. I’ve had road bikes and think they help my fitness a lot more than just mtb but there are so many bad/inconsiderate drivers that I thought a chance to thrash less road and dive on to the trails/ fire roads sounded like fun so now the Arkose has gone and I’ve spent more than I ever did on a mtb on a Lauf Seigla and I love it. Probably 80% on Lauf and rest on mtb.

Weekly Tuesday night 'gravel' ride with the local cycling club has become a real highlight to my week. I'm often the youngest there at 45 😎

I thought I had a good knowledge of local trails yet I discovered loads more since joining them.

We've got a brewery visit lined up for our mid ride refreshments next week. 🚲🍻🤙

I got more KOM's since riding gravel than I ever got on the road or mountain bike.

I prefer them when it's filthy out more than when the trails are dry. So much fun riding on the edge of control in the mud, pushing on the pedals as hard as I can manage. Then drag my broken body back home along the local canal path. Pure bliss.

I love my Tempest as it has reignited my long dormant passion for cycling.

The last mountain bike ride I did was probably a decade ago, almost certainly on a rigid SS. Last road ride I did was maybe 8 years ago, and last time I commuted was over 5 years ago.

Gravel has it all for me, the flexibility to roam where I want to, get muddy, put the miles in...whatever.

Mind you, I was always a 'wheels on ground.' MTB'er (too shit to jump) and a 'back of the pack' road biker (too shit to keep up). Gravel is the best of both worlds for me...

I did a local social club ride back in September on my single speed Charge Plug. I struggled on the hills due to gearing and fitness. I then struggled to keep up on the flats due to gearing and fitness. I was limited on the downs due to gearing and fitness. (You can see the common theme here?)

But, I really enjoyed being out with a new group and riding unknown to me back lanes of Herefordshire. So I thought I needed a road bike. So I bought a gravel bike. I couldn’t quite admit I needed a road bike, because I my head I wouldn’t be able to ride past a promising dirt track, or fire road, or maybe a cheeky bit of singletrack. I’ve been a mountain biker for too long to resist a bit of dirt and mud.

My Genesis Croix Der Fer has turned out to be my second favourite bike. It’s done more miles since October than my Stooge has done since 2018. And I love my Stooge.

Wow, I didn't expect so much positivity towards the gravel bikes.
Genuinely looking forwards to both building and especially riding it now.

One assumption I've made (rightly or otherwise) from this thread, is that perhaps the gravel bike is a perfect choice for somebody who isn't at the top of their game, or is erm... over the other side of it. (I'm approaching 52 btw)

They are not that interested in being the best them or doing everything at 100%, they just like riding bikes. Perhaps this is why gravel bikes get somewhat of a kicking from those that are chasing results and are super good at everything. In those scenarios, I can imagine it to be simply limiting, thus deemed pointless.

To everybody else, they're good enough to bring out smiles - with the occasional cloth touching moments, which is all that matters and maybe something that is missing from the latest mtbs unless really going for it, as they are now so capable machines.

Apologies if this comes over as condescending as it most certainly isn't intended to be that way.

I might yet keep the Scwinn and turn it into an electric gravel bike - that will certainly get a debate started. 😀

occasional cloth touching moments

Love it!

A road rider on a gravel bike is a liberated soul who now actually looks up from their stem and can now ride with freedom away from cars.

A mountain biker on a gravel bike is a bloody hooligan 😉🤙

I don't self identify as roadie or MTBer any more, I think I've always been a gravel rider just waiting for the niche to exist 😎

I've just started a new job which for the first time in 20 years I can cycle to work along 9 miles of canal/river side. Obviously that needed was an excuse for n+1. Picked up an Arkose. Loving it so far, perfect tool for most of the riding round here and great on the road when linking the little trails together.

Wow, I didn’t expect so much positivity towards the gravel bikes.

Are you new here?

Are you new here?

Yeh, 2009 so still a pup 😎

I can see the attraction, especially as the trails are running so prime at the moment

Patchets bridleway yesterday
https://flic.kr/p/2ot8E4g

The best bit about gravel biking is pootling down a lane and then turning off onto some track or other and dropping the hammer, for me gravel rides are not these long 200km things but 2 hour smash fest's, punching up hills, smashing flat sections and sliding down hills slightly out of control with your arse on fire, then recover on some road and then do it again

2 hour smash fest’s, punching up hills, smashing flat sections and sliding down hills slightly out of control with your arse on fire, then recover on some road and then do it again

*swoon* 😉

No gravel media is complete without a bit of “gravel beef” 🤣🤣

*swoon*

It's all relative, one person's smash fest is another person's pootle! The point is I wouldn't enjoy doodling along a fire road for 100km

2 hour smash fests, punching up hills, smashing flat sections and sliding down hills slightly out of control with your arse on fire, then recover on some road and then do it again

Pretty much exactly my ride last night! Except my arse was on fire because of the unexpectedly spicy wrap I'd eaten at lunch and I did a twenty minute gravel TT through Tentsmuir Forest whilst clenching. Curse whoever installed the pay toilets in Tayport, and curse my bowel's new found intolerance of chilli 😫

What a ride though, too muddy for the slick Terreno Dry tyres I'd fitted which was all good fun until I got cross rutted between two muddy tractor ruts and binned it, ripping my favourite Rapha Legion top in the process.

Tentsmuir was every bit as good as people say, a long 20 minute effort on good forest track then followed suddenly by what seemed like an endless section of swoopy, smooth, sandy/foresty singletrack which eventually spat you back out onto a final few right angled bends on farm track and then back to Leuchars Station. As a ride it was the definition of what is so good about gravel bikes because I would never have thought to connect or ride those trails in that way with the mountainbike, and in so doing discovered all sorts of wee singletrack bits and stuff I still need to go back and discover again.

knackered this morning though... 😎

I mainly pootle about and explore on my gravel bike, but did intervals on it the other week and it was a nice (OK, horrible) way to liven up a quick one-hour post-work spin.

While they might not be that versatile in the terrain they can tackle (compared to MTBs), they do seem really versatile in what you can use them for, if that makes sense.

Gravel riding or Gravel bike?

I’m not sure Gravel Riding exist in the UK like it does in the States or Oz or anywhere else there are a wider variety of better un surfaced roads (the mid west in the US as an example). The UK road network is either (admittedly bad) tarmac roads or old cobbled drovers roads. The closest we get to gravel is a fire-road in a forest imo.

A Gravel Bike though for me is the perfect complimentary bike to an MTB, just road enough to be fast on tarmac and still comfortable, just off-road enough to cope with the potholes or pop down a promising looking bridle way or track without immediately fearing a flat or denting a rim.

The added bonus of wide range cassette, disk brakes and plenty of handy mounts for luggage mean my CGR 725 is the most used of my bikes at the moment. A quick spin out the door or a couple of hours exploring new areas and anything in between its always ready. If I could only have 1 bike, it would be a gravel bike of some description with 2 sets of wheels.

Gravel bikes are great fun and I like the hooligan approach. Really annoyed some mountain bikers in the Lakes last week zipping past them on a bridleway. They were either really poor riders or I'm ACE 🤗

I’m not sure Gravel Riding exist in the UK like it does in the States or Oz or anywhere else there are a wider variety of better un surfaced roads

There are many miles of double width tracks over the hills around here which could quite reasonably be described as gravel, especially since turbines started being built everywhere. Think of the connecting tracks on W2 at Afan, if you know it - you can carry on riding that sort of stuff all the way to the north Wales coast.

over the other side of it. (I’m approaching 52 btw)

Yep…..I’m 56 and my gnar is no more.

There’s some good UK gravel about! Tens of thousands of miles of it.

I'm just back from a week in Dorset and the gravel bike was great for getting from A to B whilst avoiding the worst of the traffic and also great for having an explore. Still glad to be getting out on the MTB this weekend now I'm back home.

Oh balls.

Only gone and won a Colnago World Cup CX bike. Good condition and canti's but suits me as I've spare wheels for it. Coming with road Conti Gator tyres.

Recommend a CX tyre please. Prob max 35c

OP can I ask a bit more about the Scree please

I’ve been looking at maybe getting one for my wife. She has a Spesh Dolce awhile ago and after it was stolen hasn’t ridden much.

She has a Spesh Myka our daughter used to own (but never ride) but she has ridden it only once or twice but finds it heavy (31lbs) and prefers drop bars.

The more gentle side of gravel appeals to her but given how little use the bike will likely get we aren’t keen on spending loads.

So any feedback on how it might suit would be appreciated. I know the gearing is a tad high but most the routes will be flat to begin with. There is the option for getting a larger cassette in the future if the gravel bug bites.

Thanks

I've had a couple of gravel bikes now and not really managed to "gel" with them at all - I always felt like they where either a slow road bike or a bad MTB. I'm glad i've gone back to a full fat MTB now. I just find riding on roads a bit boring.

@normalman No problem. As a complete bike, the Scree is great imho.

Sure the gears are too high for all but the smoothest of terrain and as you say the Microshift cassette can be replaced with a slightly larger one for not much money. But for general riding I was very impressed.

Riding position is good and it didn't ride heavy.

For the money it is indeed a great bike.

Silly me taking the bar tape off mine has prevented me taking it back for a refund, so somebody is going to get an ebay bargain very soon - it runs out shortly.

Thanks so much. Really appreciate the feedback.

Shame I’d be looking for a size small.

Tuesday night...... simple pleasures....

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+1 on the gravel bike.
I was actually eyeing up a new TT bike 18 months or so ago, but was persuaded by friends it wouldn't get enough use (use for triathlons, but live on the edge of the Peaks so isn't a daily driver) and a gravel bike was what I needed.
After various ponderings I got a Shand Stooshie with a Rohloff hub. And since it was delivered the road bike has only had a few of outings on some triathlons where it suited more than the TT bike. The full susser has hardly been out either.
The go-to bike of choice has been the Stooshie for nearly all rides just 'getting out' (as per another post earlier I don't like the traffic in the Peaks so try to go on little roads, and they're usually knackered and full of gravel and holes anyway. + the ex-railway trails like the High Peak or Monsal trail can be used as motorways to access the Peak more easily and quickly from home than if I was on a mountain bike.

I've had my Boardman ADV 8.9e for about a year.. I use it for commuting and true none paved rides, but I never particularly loved it.. heavy being an ebike, set up for commuting with mudguards, tools jacket etc.. makes loads of noises as the guards bounce around on rough stuff.. and generally felt to fragile for anything too extreme, also set up on terrano zero tyres doesn't give much off road capability..

I was scouring Wiggles' eBay for a jump bike.. ended up winning a Nukeproof Digger RS for a steal, this has quickly become my go to bike for a lot of stuff, it's my fitness bike for solo blues and a touch of reds at QECP, the 40/42 gearing makes me put a bit more effort in rather than sitting and grinding up, and transforms the blue into something more fun, having to stay active on the bike. then last week I treated myself to a Garmin, have already planned out loads of routes.. used it once already and explored a whole area I had no knowledge about.

Nice to see the love for these bikes just keeps coming.

My replacement for the Scree is now nearly all here, just waiting for wheels, then the build will commence.

So as not to let the forum approach to N+1 down, instead of selling a power meter crankset I don't really need, I've spent £60 on a new ring for it and will use it on the gravel.

This bike had better float my boat when it gets built 😀

@fossy if you are using the cx bike for bridleslaying then vittoria Terreno dry come in 35s. Very good tyre. Fine for a bit of cx racing too if that takes your fancy.
@IdleJon would love to come and do a bit more longer riding your way, my route Knowledge peters out through the valleys.

Cheers @shedbrewed Shoved on some Decathlon Gravel Light tyres for now as thats what they had when I spent £150 on bits for the Colnago (tyres, tubes, bell, cables, pads).

They seem fine and roll well on tarmac. The wheels it came with (Fulcrum 7) have had a thorough service and rear has new bearings, and they are shod with hardly used Gators in 28c. My spare Mavics are wearing the gravel tyres and are on the bike.

My new bike (picking it up today) comes with Terreno Drys. They'll be getting swapped out asap for something more appropriate to local conditions 🤣

The only condition I've found Terreno Dry not suitable for is constant slick mud. I'll be running them from now until November probably.

As a tyre they're as good a definition of 'gravel' as anything, fast enough to still be enjoyable on tarmac, but rarely so compromised as not to be fun off road.

My gravel riding avoids tarmac as much as possible so my compromise veers towards grip. I might start with the partially worn Rutlands currently on the Amazon.

Ah fair enough, a luxury I can't really enjoy down here!

I used to have a charge filter, I replaced every single component on it, apart from the frame and fork.
It rode well, and I enjoyed the versatility, but it was heavier than my surly karate monkey, so it got moved on, and i got a cube nuroad c62, which handles like a slightly slow steering road bike, but is extremely versatile, I’ve upgraded it to ultegra di2 and I’m really pleased with it.
I still have an actual road bike, and a fs ebike as well as the aforementioned surly, but it’s the gravel bike that sees the most use.
They can do most stuff reasonably well, hence the popularity.

Another day, another mostly awesome ride (bitterly cold surprisingly knackering headwind on the way out can do one!). I never have any decent photos from the actual ride as I never want to stop and faff! Have a new GoPro though so in future can hopefully record wee montages of the good bits.

Usual mix of fast, loose and bumpy Perthshire farm tracks, am learning to ride more on the tops to save my hands but there are too many loose 90 degree corners to ever stray far from the brakes 😬

As is becoming quite a nice 'habit' on these rides, I found a whole new awesome section of singletrack. Very flat and pedally but this suits the gravel bike fine.

I still can't ride 'easy' on the gravel bike though, it seems to always demand full gas, Wout van Aert over the cobbles on *everything*. I'm definitely going to swap tyres on my Superfly 29er and see if I can turn it into a more laid back gravel bike for days when I just don't feel like smashing it on the nose of the saddle for 3 hours 🙄

A small cock-up has delayed NBD...

^^^ what you end up going for ?

Rourke looking tidy there @13thfloormonk

@iainc - it would surely be bad luck to say any more before it's actually in my grubby paws 🙂

🤪😁😂

There ought to be a ton of older CX bikes out there offering silly value for money. The only issue with rims brakes generally is that they eat rims if you do a lot. I wasn't getting more than about 3000 miles out of a front rim around the FoD. But as that was half my years riding I could accept that. The trend to turn the gravel bike into a MTB has its virtues but isn't needed. 35mm slicks will cope with most things short of mud and a decent CX bike is nice to ride. Equally tart up that old 26er. Just found that 35mm 700c knobblies fit the rear of my old GT hardtail . Luckily it has disc mounts as the canti mounts don't match. The same size tyre fits into the Fox 32mm Float forks. Rides nicely. Now do I drop bar it?

I’ve also got a Pinnacle Arkose for the same reason (set up for commuting).

I really like the fact that I can take it pretty much anywhere, however most technical trails are more fun on a mountain bike.

Finally got my 'proper' gravel bike built up to give it a shakedown.

First ride today was hard work. I'd forgotten just how hard it is to pedal on the road into a headwind.

There seems to be an unwritten rule that one can not potter along on the road, and must instead ride at zone 4 at least. My brain remembered this from many year ago but, my legs and were less keen.

Either way, was a good ride and the bike did exactly what I wanted. Smooth and fast (enough) on road, with the ability to rattle over small rocks and off road when called for.

Obligatory picture below.

Sonder transmitter frame and forks (Large)

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It's a DIY build (by me) from frame and forks upwards, with essentially a Sram Apex 1 groupset.

Hope pro 5 + DT GR531 rims and CX Ray spokes are a bit of an extravagance but I wanted something to cope with 130KG+ and survive long into the future. Built and supplied by Moonglu.

Rounded off by 700X44C WTB Raddler tyres set up tubeless.

Have a couple of different bottle cages on the way and will finish detail off on stem / bars as I get used to it but, so far so good 🙂

Hope pro 5 + DT GR531 rims and CX Ray spokes are a bit of an extravagance but I

Nice! I'm slightly constrained in my choice of rim (needs to be alloy and rim brake) but my ideal wheel build would be my existing DT 350s on Pacenti Forza rims with CX-Rays. If I went up to 45mm tyres and ditched my current inserts I would probably end up saving weight overall 😎