Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

Nah, this is cheaper, the pedals are only a tenner.

Nice to see the thread back on track

https://youtu.be/kk026jSzG94

Can anyone recommend drop bar 42cm that’s shallow drop, maybe flat tops and has very slight flare? Preferably carbon. Whatever came on my Planet X is not nice for road or off road

Ritchey Evomax or whatever the new version is called now.

Looks like they replaced it with Butano.

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Zipp xplr - not sure if there’s a carbon one

Have some 44cm Easton EC70 AX bars for sale, PM if they’d be of any interest

I have butanos which are good and also ergomax (slight raise and nicer flat top section). Worth noting that the wcs version of ritchey bars does feel lighter and better than the comp, which is still cheap to try out shapes

I have some BNIB Butano black 40cm WCS bars if anyone’s after a pair. Slide in.

Angler fish saddlebag

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Angler fish saddlebag

lolz

Who you calling a chumba?
It's glandular

Absolutely no gravel to be seen at 3400m on Pico de Veleta:

Most of the road leading up there is somewhat intact tarmac, but on the last 2-3km of it theres some rocky stuff. The peak:

But really, most of it was this:

At the peak I bumped into a French guy from Grenoble. He climbed it from the other side (not from Granada), which is a lot more rocky, and more of a MTB route (whispers: ATB). We bumped into each other again at a restaurant at 2200m, he told me he's been on the road bikepacking for the past month or so. Started in Grenoble, came to Spain and did some of the Badlands route...etc. Snapped a pic of his bike:

He also told me that he's seen Julien Alaphilippe on his way down. Turns out, he was right!
Julian Alaphilippe preparing for Tour de France at Sierra Nevada

Edit: @Tallboy I really like my 40cm Butano's. Feels comfy, but narrow and fast on the hoods. The slightly flared drops give stability on rocky stuff and descends.

What's that saying: it wasn't hit with the ugly stick, it fell out of the tree and hit every branch on the way down. Something like that.

We rode from Kings X to Paddington in the pissing rain the other night. I can't believe I did that shit on a daily basis. My baseline adrenalin levels must've been sky high for the last 15 years.

The NE was suuuuper quiet though. Really nice cycling.

I've done both sides and you can definitely get a gravel bike up at least one of the routes on the other side to the road. I think @leggy_blonde might've mentioned there being MTB tracks down the back side too?

You most definitely can, that guy climbed it with a 23kg gravel bike :) Isnt it a lot more enjoyable with a MTB though? Its what I heard, at least. I'll be around here for a week or so, but I'll definitely come back with some more suitable tyres (last minute change to bring the gravel bike instead of road) to discover the gravel routes around.

Only 23kg? :P

IIRC (and I probably don't because it was the last day of Badlands) it was only rocky right up the top. Lower was more...

Higher is fine on gravel. The bits I couldn't ride on a gravel bike I wouldn't have been able to ride on an MTB either. It was more a case of fatigue and maybe altitude ie. lack of power than anything super tech.

Attached pics from 2900m and one from 3200m

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Might be a bit pricey but thanks.
Zipp xplr look ideal

Im very tempted to do the other side as well, but Im on carbon sole road shoes with look cleats, straight up not having a great time. Im not fussed with scratching up the soles, but wouldnt be happy to trash them... We'll see!

My road shoes got caned in TCR. I used flats for Badlands.