Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

buy a mountain bike
for anything else, your bike is already more than good enough.

Solid advice

Route?

You can try a redshift stem. Not as good as suspension but cheaper than a new bike

I’m not convinced by Redshift stems, I don’t find the movement natural. Hard to explain.

Changing bike would help with tyre choices, the current bike is 26”.

If you want two bikes, get an MTB and keep this as the unadulterated NCN killer it is. If you want one bike that's like this but comfier get a drop bar that fits MTB tyres (IE 29x2.0+).

NCN killer…..I built it to do London to Brighton carrying a sleeping bag and a change of clothes then back again the next day. Scotland was way past that.

What’s the forum approved drop bar MTB?

He's already overlapped every bike on earth with that one. Any new bike will feel redundant.

That said, bigger wheels 650b x 47c (or even a 29) with nice tubeless setup will roll better and feel more comfortable.

There's no sensible version of "a little suspension"

So either I'd suggest a completely rigid 650bx47 drop bar Mountain bike or a front suspension XC rig.

Depends entirely on your budget. Personally I would love a Tanglefoot but there are lots of ways to go

https://bikepacking.com/index/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er/

https://bikepacking.com/index/650b-gravel-bikes/

drop bar bikes are not mountain bikes
no matter how much gravel propaganda you read

I'd like to remind people that this is a safe space for all bars, however bendy they might be

Any excuse to post this...

1 Attachment

drop bar bikes are not mountain bikes
no matter how much gravel propaganda you read

As someone with an unholy amount of experience with MTB, I agree completely... but as a class of bike, "drop bar MTB" are fun comfortable machines suitable for any terrain between (not including) asphalt and sending it.

He's already overlapped every bike on earth with that one. Any new bike will feel redundant.

If this is a polite way of saying did I build it from bits I had lying around the answer is yes

"drop bar MTB" are bad at everything, including being "one bike for everything"

I've really enjoyed them on long rides especially overnight, fireroad, singletrack, cowpath type stuff. I like how you can still get over the back wheel and hit a small drop and then turn around and do 40 miles on a dirt road.

But to each their own.

There's always somebody who says some version of a do-it-all bike is bad at everything. I frankly feel that way it about almost all bikes with 700x30-42c.

Stooge scrambler?

Pipedreams A.L.I.C.E ? I have no need for one, it doesn’t stop me wanting one.

Cotic cascade innit

In fairness there’s quite a few bike with geometry similar to an early ‘10 MTB with a rigid fork.

Sonder Camino come to mind (69 Ht, 74 ST and looong reach).

It's not on the bike any more but that's not because it was bad or anything. I've just retired my Tripster to Poland and pulled all the nicer bits off it first. So when I get a new grav grav bici, I'll probably try and use the Redshift again.

Drop bars didn't stop Ulrich winning TD and then smashing fuck out of Lesperit de Girona.

I rode flat bars. My hands hurt.

So you haven't broken it then!

Drop bars didn't stop Ulrich winning TD and then smashing fuck out of Lesperit de Girona

Jan made a comeback?!?

Nope. It's fine.