Gravel bike at Walnut

[TheX]

I have drops on the Langster, and that's enough. It would be different if I wasn't turning 60 in December.

 

 

[mack_turtle]

On 9/4/2018 at 11:09 AM, AntonioGG said:

I couldn't hold onto my drop levers at Walnut during impacts.  It makes it a bit sketchy. 

Put you hands in the hooks and get your lever blades closer. Set it up more like a "dirt drop" if you must. It's almost impossible to loose grip down there.

When you get old, just get a taller stem. No need for a flat/riser bar unless your frame is already too big for you.

Edited September 12, 2018 by mack_turtle

[Chongo Loco]

Back in the day before the Tuesday SS ride became the R&I I joked with Anthony Sloan about riding his cross bike so I could keep up on my rigid SS. [emoji849]

It was the time of year that it was a night ride, it was dusty as hell, which makes it sketchy if you’re not out front. I didn’t realize his cross bike was a Redline SS cross. Fool did everything including the drop to the creek on the southside most skip for the flow trail. There was lots of whoops, gut busting oh shit moments, but fool never ate it. Man that guy could ride a bike. RIP brother!


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[fontarin]

On 9/4/2018 at 11:09 AM, AntonioGG said:

I couldn't hold onto my drop levers at Walnut during impacts.  It makes it a bit sketchy. 

Try these:

https://salsacycles.com/components/category/road_handlebars/woodchipper

I'm generally in the drops with these when riding singletrack and it makes the control much better, especially over riding on the hoods.

[AlienSP]

I've ridden the Nut on my CX bike several times. In fact, I probably have some of my fastest average speeds there on a CX compared to a mountain bike. It's almost a dirt sidewalk, so why not. If I had advice, I'd wear work gloves with a little extra padding between the thumb and index finger. It looks dorky, but cuts down on blisters when riding off-road. Switch between the hoods and drops to level load the fatigue. The main trail and S16 on the BCGB is also possible once you get the hang of it. Bunny hop hop hop.

[AntonioGG]

5 hours ago, fontarin said:

Try these:

https://salsacycles.com/components/category/road_handlebars/woodchipper

I'm generally in the drops with these when riding singletrack and it makes the control much better, especially over riding on the hoods.

I think that's what I have on my bike already.

[mack_turtle]

On 9/14/2018 at 2:19 PM, fontarin said:

Try these:

https://salsacycles.com/components/category/road_handlebars/woodchipper

I'm generally in the drops with these when riding singletrack and it makes the control much better, especially over riding on the hoods.

Woodchippers are a bit extreme for a bike that was designed for conventional drop bars. they work well on a mountain bike that was designed with a super-tall stack and short reach like the Fargo. if you want to really ride trails on a CX/gravel bike the Cowbells or Cowchippers would be better. I replaced the horrible round, deep, flare-less bars that came with my CX bikes with Cowbells and I could not be happier.

[AntonioGG]

Thanks for the advice Mack_turtle.

I found one big reason for my problems, and hope to have made some other changes to help--short of changing the bars.  Before I get into those details, on my road bike--which my bike fitter said fits me as perfectly as a custom bike would--I went to really short drop and short reach bars.  Before that, with the stock bars, I NEVER used the drops.  Now I use them regularly.

On my TF gravel grinder, it started life with a 110mm stem.  I changed it later to 90mm.  Years ago I had a friend visit, and I set it up for him (he's taller than me) so we'd slammed the seat back and the post up for him to ride.  It turns out that I lowered the seat, but forgot to move it back forward.  In my shakedown ride yesterday, I was having horrible wrist pain in the rough sections.  I was ready to go to BSS right then and there to get a different bar.  Then I noticed I was very far from KOPS (I know there are other fitting methods and philosophies, but this is how this bike was made and fitted for me), and I noticed the slammed seat.  I stopped to move it forward about 1" and my wrists felt way better.  The thing is, I did Castell and other rides like this, including some CX.  It's no wonder I felt like it was harder to ride this bike than my other bikes!

Having fixed that, I also decided that for a long ride, I'd prefer an even shorter reach while on the hoods and in the drops, so I switched my 90mm stem for a 70mm stem (it's a good thing I never get rid of my stems...but I am starting to get quite the collection of 110mm stems now.)  Hopefully that doesn't eliminate riding in the ends of the drops, but I'm willing to give those up.   I'll likely switch these to something more like the Specialized Hover.

[mack_turtle]

I can't let this thread go without doing my due diligence in saying that KOPS is bullshit. If KOPS works for you, that's fine. the relationship between some vague place near your knee and the pedal spindle is mostly coincidental. any bike fitter who swears by KOPS as the end-all for saddle position is blowing smoke. it's utter nonsense other than a reference point. I know this because a fitter at a certain bike shop in Austin fit me on a mountain bike (and I paid for this service) by slamming my cleats all the way forward on my shoes so the cleat was under my piggies so that he could drop a plumb bob from some arbitrarily point on my knee and have it line up with my pedal. there is and was no scientific reason for this in the first place, but it was an absurd hack on my bike that served no purpose but to give me and the fitter the illusion of scientific precision.

Edited September 20, 2018 by mack_turtle

[AntonioGG]

Yep. I’ve read about anti KOPS (I think Keith Bontrager) and it makes sense.  In this case it works for me.  I focus on angles, and optimal cleat location for me.  It just so happens KOPS happens to be a sanity check for me.  I thought my caveat would have prevented that distraction.  🙂

Moving the cleats to get the bob right is not seeing the forest for the trees.  That’s outrageous!

Edited September 20, 2018 by AntonioGG
Clear->cleat stupid auto correct.

[MrTheCatLady]

Speaking of anti-KOPS, there is a somewhat-renown (in the bike-fitting circle) guy named Steve Hogg who is a very outspoken critic of KOPS and other "rote-method" fitting systems.  He is in Australia or the UK or somewhere, but he has a disciple here in Austin.  I wonder if anyone on AMB/Mojo has ever had a fit by this guy?  Jerry Gerlich https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/fitters/jerry-gerlich/

-cls

Edited September 21, 2018 by MrTheCatLady

[AntonioGG]

Yes.  I've had just about all the fits in town.  The best and most reasonable IMO is now gone.  That was Dave at Music City Cycles (that's a totally traditional FIT kit, no need to re-hash your anti-KOPS negative sentiments here).  

About Gerlich, I'll just say this, the guy believes (just like Steve Hogg) that Specialized puts some kind of metals in their plastics that causes your body propioception to be mis-aligned, and why you may drop a hip more on one side than the other.  I mean, it couldn't possibly be a Constanza-fat wallet on one side of my pants, or how you drive in your car, or any other possible logical explanation.

There's a guy from Australia that published a really nice manual for fitting.  He's selling it for something like $5.  Get some goniometers from Amazon, and find some angle measuring software and you're in business.