RidingAgain Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 Doing a bit of gravel bike research and came across Lauf, a bike manufacturer in Iceland. Here are a few videos about the company and what they make... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidingAgain Posted October 29, 2019 Author Share Posted October 29, 2019 (edited) https://www.laufcycling.com https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/components/forks/suspension-forks/lauf-grit-fork-review/ Edited October 29, 2019 by RidingAgain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brentb Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 Huh, leaf-spring based suspension on the fork. The distance between fork legs is huge given the wheel size. That hints at the obvious - that they expect both sides of the suspension to allow the wheel axle to pivot away from purely perpendicular to head tube axis. In practice it probably doesn't move much, but they certainly don't show a head-on shot over gnarly terrain in the video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 Sorry to derail- but what did you have in mind for a gravel bike? I have tried a few iterations of what could be considered a "gravel bike" and settled on a CX bike with disc brakes. There are lots of options out there. It does not have to have a drop bar or "narrow" tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheX Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 50 minutes ago, mack_turtle said: It does not have to have a drop bar. True, but consider how much closer your hands have to stay to your body without the hoods or drops to reach for. Geometry is always critical of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 (edited) If your hands are too close to your body, you picked the wrong size frame. By that, I mean that you don't have to have a drop bar, or even a bike designed for a drop bar. People have an absurd fettish with putting a drop bar on every bike and an absurd notion that it will make them faster. Unless you're hell bent on winning and can maintain 20mph+ on a dirt road, aerodynamics don't mean much. If you just want to have fun spinning miles on mixed surfaces, a hardtail with a flat bar or even a rigid mtb would be just fine. Any bike designed with a drop bar in mind will have a shorter reach and shorter top tube than a flat-bar bike. The reach to the hoods on such a bike should be about the same as the reach to the grips on a flat handlebar. Putting a drop bar on a bike that was designed to fit you with a flat bar will most likely result in a bike that is way too stretched out to be comfortable because the additional reach of the bar + hoods is subtracted from the frame. For example, my mountain bike (flat bar) has an ETT of around 615mm, and my CX bike has an ETT of 545mm. The respective reaches are 412mm and 377mm. My feet, butt, and hands are in about the same orientation on both bikes when I out my hands on the hoods because the CX bike has a shorter top tube, longer stem, and all that drop bar reach to even it out. If I put a flat bar on the CX, it would feel two sizes too short and a drop bar on the mtb would feel gigantic to me unless I also install the stem backwards. A bike with a flat bar plus comfy bar ends or some kind of "alt bar" also works well for long miles on dirt. Edited October 29, 2019 by mack_turtle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csmceuen Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 I think a side advantage to drop bars (this may be my perception) is a gained power transfer to pedal due to body positioning. Its a bit less comfortable but when I get into drops on a straight away or stand up to power through a climb I feel like the increased hunch lets my get more power into each pedal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheX Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 1 hour ago, mack_turtle said: If your hands are too close to your body, you picked the wrong size frame. By that, I mean that you don't have to have a drop bar, or even a bike designed for a drop bar. People have an absurd fettish with putting a drop bar on every bike and an absurd notion that it will make them faster. Unless you're hell bent on winning and can maintain 20mph+ on a dirt road, aerodynamics don't mean much. If you just want to have fun spinning miles on mixed surfaces, a hardtail with a flat bar or even a rigid mtb would be just fine. Any bike designed with a drop bar in mind will have a shorter reach and shorter top tube than a flat-bar bike. The reach to the hoods on such a bike should be about the same as the reach to the grips on a flat handlebar. Putting a drop bar on a bike that was designed to fit you with a flat bar will most likely result in a bike that is way too stretched out to be comfortable because the additional reach of the bar + hoods is subtracted from the frame. For example, my mountain bike (flat bar) has an ETT of around 615mm, and my CX bike has an ETT of 545mm. The respective reaches are 412mm and 377mm. My feet, butt, and hands are in about the same orientation on both bikes when I out my hands on the hoods because the CX bike has a shorter top tube, longer stem, and all that drop bar reach to even it out. If I put a flat bar on the CX, it would feel two sizes too short and a drop bar on the mtb would feel gigantic to me unless I also install the stem backwards. A bike with a flat bar plus comfy bar ends or some kind of "alt bar" also works well for long miles on dirt. I size a gravel bike so I'm comfortable on the hoods for long distances. Doesn't mean I'm wrong. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notyal Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 Just to bring it back around to the original topic, how many of y'all are running some sort of suspension on a gravel bike? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheX Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 1 minute ago, notyal said: Just to bring it back around to the original topic, how many of y'all are running some sort of suspension on a gravel bike? I'm not, but I'm not against the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAF Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 4 minutes ago, notyal said: Just to bring it back around to the original topic, how many of y'all are running some sort of suspension on a gravel bike? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bestbike85 Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 27 minutes ago, notyal said: Just to bring it back around to the original topic, how many of y'all are running some sort of suspension on a gravel bike? No suspension here. I just dial in the pressure on gravel king 700x43s (soon to be 700x50s). That’s a lot of volume to eat up the small stuff and still roll fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 4 hours ago, TheX said: I size a gravel bike so I'm comfortable on the hoods for long distances. Doesn't mean I'm wrong. Yes, that's what I was getting at, but with way too many words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheX Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 10 hours ago, mack_turtle said: Yes, that's what I was getting at, but with way too many words. LOL, in my head I heard "use your words". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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