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Hitting the trails between Chanctonbury and Lewes this morning and wondering which bike to take. Just a bit worried that the knobblies on the Friston might get ripped on some of the rockier descents unless I reign in the pace and/or use the grass more.
Any thoughts appreciated. Ta
My mate attempted a SDW double last weekend on a gravel bike. He had an off, injured his ribs & had to withdraw. He said he’d use a HT next time as any time made on the climbs was lost on the descents.
That's kind of how I'm seeing it thus far. Ta
There's a couple of fast rocky descents (Truleigh Hill in particular) that you'd be really having to rein in on a CX bike *but* I'd be tempted by the CX bike - it's not a long ride so fatigue won't be a significant issue and there's a couple of bastard climbs to do with a bit of road and some flat stuff.
Did Alfiston to Southease of Sunday on my Arkose, it was fine but felt skecthy on the downhill. Not sure it it was position, lack of suspension or psychological though.
Id go for a HT over a gravel bike, you'll probably need the extra grip, although its so dry that a lot of the loose stuff will be silly sketchy!
The HT wins. Haven't ridden that stretch in years so I'll scope it out today and probably head down another time on the gravel. Laters.
Did it with a mate at the beginning of last month, we used hardtails, we both agreed we definitely wouldn’t want to do it on a gravel bike.
The descents are quite long and rocky in places, as someone above has said, it’s not worth it for the savings.
A chunky fast rolling tyre on is the way forward
I think in my Ramin 3+ I've found the perfect bike for me on the South Downs. Simplicity of a rigid set up but not the beating I used to get on my 26" rigid bike. May not be ideal if it ever actually rains again!