Gravel bikes

[Captain Awesome]

Square Taper 4Lyfe

5mm down and watch for toe overlap.

Been experimenting with cleat placement on the shoe lately along with saddle height to try and help with some knee/hip flexor issues. Not sure where it even is anymore

I'll give it a whirl

 

[Swampthing]

Made some progress today on my Swamp Flower gravel bike.
Took it on a little ride too.
This might just be my backup commuter for when the Haro is having a day off.

 

[Swampthing]

I need some springs (1, I have 3, but replacing all 4 would be a good idea) for the brakes, and pedal straps have been ordered.
It still needs a seat, I’d love to put a Persons Apollo on it. Anyone have one? A brooks flyer is a second option.
Fenders may be considered. After the rain today and the route I took, I still have sand and grit in my mouth.
I must have been smiling too much and laughing out loud while I rode in the rain like a crazy person.
There is probably a silver alert out.

 

[Grant]

Made some progress today on my Swamp Flower gravel bike.
Took it on a little ride too.
This might just be my backup commuter for when the Haro is having a day off.
View attachment 164632

Dinglespeed fixie?

 

[Swampthing]

Yep

Dinglespeed fixie?

17/20 Dingle cog and a 42 /45 (I think) set of chainrings. Loosen the axle bolts, switch, and roll. Takes about 2 minutes. I’ll take close up shots when I get home.
With the Two speed freewheel it’s like having 4 bikes (once I have brakes)

 

[irideiam]

Here are my drop bar trail bikes, both are custom frame up builds I pulled together with new parts. I moved to these when I sold my two mountain bikes, before I killed myself jumping and ripping through the woods like I was still in my 20s. Now I can still roll through the single track, gravel and neighborhood all while staying on the ground, haha. Both are setup 1x11 with narrower knobby tires....

Kona Sutra ( modern touring frame)

Gunner Cross Hairs (cyclocross frame)

 

[Captain Awesome]

Ordered...... waiting

View attachment 154270

I hate waiting

Just realized I topped 500 miles on this bike sometime last week. Reporting back on what I've found this far


Out of the box it was a quick assembly job. Basically ready to go. Adjusted the cables, lubed the chain, set the seat and bars up, etc...... I also cleaned the brake rotors with alcohol to remove any contamination. More on this later...

So far I have upgraded the seat to what is now an EC90 ergo seat. Swapped out the BB, chain, front ring, and cranks. The aluminum 175 cranks and aluminum chain ring made a huge difference. Shimano SPD pedals. Added bottle cages, a rear light, and changed all the hardware to stainless

Biggest complaints are that I have tightened up the headset assembly 3 times now, had to grease the original BB as it was dry as the Sahara, the stock cables suck and also can do with lube (after a ride the rear brake cable will always seize open) and the stock brakes are a step above Flintstones brakes. The pads have glazed twice and required sanding/resurfacing. This weekend she'll get new pads, possibly upgraded rotors, all new grease, cable lube, and a solid going through

At some point the rear derailleur will need tuning, but since this is the first geared bike in well over a decade I have no idea where to start

Overall though it is a budget friendly do It all monster truck of a bike. The plus sized 27.5 tires are nice and squishy but howl like a pack of angry bees at speed. They'll get swapped out soon, but tire options are limited in this range. The frame and fork are stout but forgiving. Well suited for single track and around town bombing

 

[Baron von Zach]

Ready for Repack.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

That tank is bananas! Nice bodywork

 

[Baron von Zach]

Thank you!

 

[Slow-Rider]

Gravel bikes are basically bikes made to give you fun of riding both in the city and in light terrain, like the older MTB bikes. Since new & expensive MTB bikes are very high-end machines, they need a very rough terrain to give you a lot of fun from riding them. Gravel bikes were designed to give you more of a feeling of the MTB bikes from the nineties - hardtail, or no suspension at all, mechanical disc, cantilever, or caliper brakes, and usually not a lot of gears.

so there home made cycle cross bikes. at least here that's what the racers call them that compete.

 

[Captain Awesome]

Well, I registered for my first bike race in almost two decades. Take a whirl at this gravel scene. Going to race the Poseidon in true monstercross style as I know the roads out there are very sandy and prone to flooding

https://www.mtpleasantvelo.org/copy-of-hellhole-gravel-grind







5 months to prepare bike, body and mind. Need to start in on tire selection and investigation. Should be a blast!

 

[Slow-Rider]

Well, I registered for my first bike race in almost two decades. Take a whirl at this gravel scene. Going to race the Poseidon in true monstercross style as I know the roads out there are very sandy and prone to flooding

https://www.mtpleasantvelo.org/copy-of-hellhole-gravel-grind







5 months to prepare bike, body and mind. Need to start in on tire selection and investigation. Should be a blast!

looks like fun you can do it go balls out!

 

[Endlesschain]

The first time I saw these bikes is I guess when it was 1st gen cyclo-cross bikes back in the mid eighties back in England on TV, I thought they were crazy guys riding roadies in the mud and all through my years up until recently hadn't heard, read, seen or thought about them until my road dog/collaborater in bike building mentioned he's into gravel bikes and he has a few, so I'm playing cool like "oh yer that's cool man" (I had no idea what the hek is a gravel bike) so he says he's half built one and wants me to do the detail/finishing work on it i.e bar wrapping gear brake adjusting etc, so he brings it round and I think instantly cyclo cross, nice as bike, not my ride style but really nice, it's suited just fine for our gravel Bush roads here in NZ,I don't think I got a pic of it so will up load when I get him to send a pick.

 

[Captain Awesome]

The first time I saw these bikes is I guess when it was 1st gen cyclo-cross bikes back in the mid eighties back in England on TV, I thought they were crazy guys riding roadies in the mud and all through my years up until recently hadn't heard, read, seen or thought about them until my road dog/collaborater in bike building mentioned he's into gravel bikes and he has a few, so I'm playing cool like "oh yer that's cool man" (I had no idea what the hek is a gravel bike) so he says he's half built one and wants me to do the detail/finishing work on it i.e bar wrapping gear brake adjusting etc, so he brings it round and I think instantly cyclo cross, nice as bike, not my ride style but really nice, it's suited just fine for our gravel Bush roads here in NZ,I don't think I got a pic of it so will up load when I get him to send a pick.

https://feltbicycles.com/blogs/news...s-between-a-gravel-bike-and-a-cyclocross-bike

 

[Endlesschain]

https://feltbicycles.com/blogs/news...s-between-a-gravel-bike-and-a-cyclocross-bike

thanks for the info,in my mind I only assumed the difference was gravel bikes had wider tires than cyclo cross,how wrong I was,I am now a learned person,thankyou my learned friend

 

[Captain Awesome]

thanks for the info,in my mind I only assumed the difference was gravel bikes had wider tires than cyclo cross,how wrong I was,I am now a learned person,thankyou my learned friend

I'm eager to get a go on some cyclocross at some point. A nice blend of my BMX and mountain bike backgrounds. Next month we have a UCI round very close to one of my race venues and the wife and I will be heading over to scope it out. Very excited

 

[Endlesschain]

My friend sent me some pics of the gravel bike I done the bar wrap, gear setups on

 

[Gravelgrinder59]

My quiver

 

[Captain Awesome]

My quiverView attachment 177493View attachment 177494View attachment 177495View attachment 177496View attachment 177497View attachment 177498View attachment 177499View attachment 177500View attachment 177501

Wow. Wow. Wow