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Gravel rigs


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48 minutes ago, AntonioGG said:

How much did the wheelbase change?

About 1/2 inch. I just changed the stem for a shorter one, and made a few other adjustments. I'm going back out tomorrow. It's way less sketchy going down places like Endo now. It's only 30mm of travel, but it makes a big difference in overall bone jarring.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't see widths on the Rimpact gravel inserts. My small HuckNorris is advertised for 2.1-2.4 tires, so it's little bit too big for my 25.5mm rims with 50mm tires. It works well to protect my EIE ChiCharbon rims, and while the foam gets a bit distorted, it seems to hold up fine. And I think HuckNorris remains the lightest and cheapest option for inserts. 

HuckNorris recently put out several new versions of their insets as well, so that's worth looking into. 

Between the 5010 and the ChamoisHagar, I have no damaging impacts in over 12,000 miles running HuckNorris on carbon rims at lower pressures. 

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I've been exploring Mary Moore Seawright Park a bit more lately and I've noticed that the park has a large network of technical singletrack that would overwhelm most skinny tired bikes, but it also has a large network of relatively tame walking paths. Those surfaces seem to be very old roads of some sort that are so broken down that they would be un-fun on a pavement bike, but could be part of a fun gravel loop. will report back when i have a chance to try it.

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 1/26/2021 at 1:04 PM, Austin Smithey said:

Hey yall I am hoping to get my very own gravel bike in Feb/March. Are there any groups/trails that you would recommend?

 

Don't know of any particular group.  Here's a good resource:

https://stormgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=b8781dd1d4b1406bbf62827c65241e41&extent=-99.7819,28.5091,-97.1040,29.9959

I ride in the RR area if you want a multi-surface tour.

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On 1/26/2021 at 1:04 PM, Austin Smithey said:

Hey yall I am hoping to get my very own gravel bike in Feb/March. Are there any groups/trails that you would recommend?

 

There's a Texas Gravel group on Facebook.

The shop fka BSS hosts Holey Roller and they appear to have some gravel training rides.

Capitol City Racing has all their routes available on their site.

I have some south Austin mixed-surface routes that are good for gravel bikes. Much of SATN is rideable on a gravel bike if you know which gnarly segments to avoid.

The same goes for Walnut Creek.

Edited by mack_turtle
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2 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

. Much of SATN is rideable on a gravel bike if you know which gnarly segments to avoid.

 

It's also super fun too. Every time I'm out there, I miss my cross bike.

Speaking of which, looks like nukeproof of all companies, has a couple affordable options. Probably wont be in stock for a year at this rate😒

https://nukeproof.com/collections/adventure/products/2021-digger?variant=35459277848730

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48 minutes ago, ATXZJ said:

It's also super fun too. Every time I'm out there, I miss my cross bike.

Speaking of which, looks like nukeproof of all companies, has a couple affordable options. Probably wont be in stock for a year at this rate😒

https://nukeproof.com/collections/adventure/products/2021-digger?variant=35459277848730

Dayumm, nice bike.

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  • 5 months later...

I've got a 2021 take-off Tiagra 11-speed hydraulic group, and I have a lot of 10-speed components currently.  My old gravel bike (my son now rides) has a very traditional road 10-speed cassette and SRAM Apex double tap shifters with BB7 mechanical brakes.

I am 99% sure I want to go with an x.9 long-cage rear-D so I can use a 11-34t or 12-36t cassette, but I also have the option of going with the Tiagra.  The BB7 are great brakes and the Tiagra swap would be a lot more work, for I'm not sure how much more benefit.  Also, I don't think the Tiagra group has a clutch-D while the x.9 is a clutch-D.

 

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1 hour ago, AntonioGG said:

I've got a 2021 take-off Tiagra 11-speed hydraulic group, and I have a lot of 10-speed components currently.  My old gravel bike (my son now rides) has a very traditional road 10-speed cassette and SRAM Apex double tap shifters with BB7 mechanical brakes.

I am 99% sure I want to go with an x.9 long-cage rear-D so I can use a 11-34t or 12-36t cassette, but I also have the option of going with the Tiagra.  The BB7 are great brakes and the Tiagra swap would be a lot more work, for I'm not sure how much more benefit.  Also, I don't think the Tiagra group has a clutch-D while the x.9 is a clutch-D.

 

The BB7's (AB is gifting a set right now for anyone that's interested) really do work well. 

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there are two main versions of BB7s: one for mtn and one for road. the road ones generally play nice with drop-bar brake levers while using the mtn ones with drop bar levers will leave them feeling squishy at best. so if you're putting mechanical disc brakes on a bike with a drop handlebar, you'll save yourself a lot of headache by going with the road version of the calipers.

I've been using TRP Spyres for years on a few gravel bikes. I had Hylex brakes (hydraulic drop-bar levers) for a while too, but I didn't like the shape of the hoods, and there is only one option for hoods and levers that official work with Hylex brakes. I didn't feel like experimenting, so I went back to mechanical Spyres.

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To clarify, currently the road BB7 and Apex double tap road shifters/levers are the ones installed.   I'm 99% sure I'll keep the brakes/levers and just upgrade the rear-D/cassette but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.  With 2x up front, I don't see a big reason to go 11spd either.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/6/2021 at 12:54 PM, AntonioGG said:

To clarify, currently the road BB7 and Apex double tap road shifters/levers are the ones installed.   I'm 99% sure I'll keep the brakes/levers and just upgrade the rear-D/cassette but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.  With 2x up front, I don't see a big reason to go 11spd either.

I've got a few hundred miles on my steel gravel bike on BB7s and have never had an issue with them. Hydraulic is great, but I just don't see the need on the road.

 

 

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agreed. maybe there are situation in mountainous regions where hydraulics have some advantage as they heat up, but that's likely to be worse when the fluid heats up. moving from hydros to mechanicals on my gravel bike was the right move. on the mountain bike, the accuracy and power of hydros is essential to me, but not on roads.

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Certainly I want hydraulic on my gravel rig because I ride a ton of singletrack on it. But I really feel the need desire for hydraulic on the road as well, particularly on some of those hills along the TdH, and what I call "fun hills" in the West Lake Hills area. I remember during the TdH last year I was riding with a group for a bit as we all hammered down a hill to be greeted with a kind of blind and near 90° curve at the bottom. Everyone agreed that we were super happy for really strong stoppers. 

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On 7/14/2021 at 2:44 PM, Barry said:

Certainly I want hydraulic on my gravel rig because I ride a ton of singletrack on it. But I really feel the need desire for hydraulic on the road as well, particularly on some of those hills along the TdH, and what I call "fun hills" in the West Lake Hills area. I remember during the TdH last year I was riding with a group for a bit as we all hammered down a hill to be greeted with a kind of blind and near 90° curve at the bottom. Everyone agreed that we were super happy for really strong stoppers. 

Yeah, but I LOVE your dropper setup.  I would love a dual control/dropper setup for my SS grinder.

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