Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

NP I did wonder if that should have been aimed at me.

I simply Googled 'gravel routes near Leicester' and got quite a few responses. I fancied an all-dayer so chose this one at random.

As per my initial comments if I was a local I would probably tweak it to remove/re-route some parts but overall it delivered what I wanted.

A few extra pics to inspire.

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a few pics from the shakedown ride today. 60k loop.
I'm really pleased with the bike. it rides lovely and with a few tweaks will be perfect (don't @ me about the bars)
suspension stem was a bit weird at first especially when out of the saddle on road climb bits but off-road it felt great. I hardly noticed the seatpost which is a good thing I guess?
absolutely no fatigue after the ride in my forearms, despite some quite rocky / rooty trails.

fully embracing the squish life

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Very handsome looking bike.

suspension stem was a bit weird at first especially when out of the saddle on road climb

I've wondered about this. Is there a limit as to how much you can yank it about? I know you should be fit enough to not have to get out of your seat, but in case you do...

Might be worth experimenting with the elastomers in the stem. With my drop bar setup, I didn't really get much "obvious" movement at all on the drops and it was only when I'd use the aerobars as levers could I make it bob around obviously. I'm normally riding seated though and prefer less movement to some people.

it was fine when I was seated, only really noticeable when on the ends of the hoods.
I'll try out a stiffer elastomer, they're dead easy to swap out.

For comparison, the old geometry (likely by James Olsen) is much more proportionate;

RE Croix de Fer chat Ed, that's Alb Steward's good work, updating where it was originally. CdF in the early days wasn't as precise on R+S progression. tbh R+S wasn't really a thing we used in 2007-2008.

That the thing, the previous generation have a decent R+S progression that I managed to fit a lots of people who’s under 5’2 with a short stem (60mm), now it’s a good 20mm longer making it harder to fit them.

The only other bike that I can fit shorter people on is the Specialized Diverge whose reach is a mimiscal 355mm.

I get it .. It was explained to me as, with bigger tyres (and ISO regs on clearances) the FC can't get too short so for smallest size the reach at a given HTA has a min limit, then if the stack at that min FC increases for the next size up the reach gets shorter (or to where many M bikes would be) so one way to adjust fit on the smallest bike is use stem length. Which is ok if you don't change the stem. On the next size up you're free to add reach and stack and it's all in normal ranges.

Apologises! I misread your original message, I thought you're saying Alb Steward was the new geometry, not the previous generation one!

I'm just putting this here before amey does. DBAD.

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We have plenty of road bike threads already

How do you explain this?

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Don't leave your copywriting to unpaid interns.

I guess if you have that sort of money someone else cleans the chainstays

Those are disc brakes, using rim rotors. English borrowed this concept from the almighty Jan.

It's only the truss that's gravel rated?

You're right that South Leicestershire/North Warks is pretty poor for good off-road options. It's more plentiful if you approach Rugby or Coventry but that's some ways away. Generally North Warwickshire does feel a tad like an industrial wasteland overall, comprised of mainly rotten back lanes, fast A-roads and industrial parks it seems.

Liz Truss is gravel-related?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwQDQaSvrxI

and @keepit here's my review of the Leicestershire gravel route I rode last week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBiyXXiIimE

and @keepit here's my review of the Leicestershire gravel route I rode last week.

Brilliant video! So many village names I haven't even thought of for over 20 years. Looks like some ok sections, but also a bit faffy (and probably horrendous in December when I will next visit).

If you happen to go again, you can stop for cake and take the steam train (Bosworth Battlefield line) from Shenton to Shackerstone - the website says they can carry bikes!

Noticed you went through Beacon Hill - it's quite nice round there, think there might be some routes through Bradgate Park/Swithland Woods also.

You're right that South Leicestershire/North Warks is pretty poor for good off-road options. It's more plentiful if you approach Rugby or Coventry but that's some ways away. Generally North Warwickshire does feel a tad like an industrial wasteland overall, comprised of mainly rotten back lanes, fast A-roads and industrial parks it seems.

Agreed. My family are not actually far from Rugby, but I have ended up driving to the Peaks in the past. It's a bit less industrial if you go east of Lutterworth or even east of Kibworth Harcourt. Not sure about the off road options, though. There's always Rutland Water lol.

liking the video.
some very familiar bits, interesting to see them through someone else's eyes!

this is the route i rode on saturday which takes in some bits around bradgate / swithland woods / beacon hill, along with some of the bosworth trail near whitwick.

the road bits around coalville aren't that good, but there are some mountain bike trails in snibston country park that are good for a blast, and a nice cafe which make up for it.

https://www.komoot.com/tour/1850984339

Bradgate Park has only the one permissive route for cycles, with cycling banned on the slopes on either side or in the deer park areas (understandable I guess). The permissive route is also used by walkers and youngish kiddies so is pretty slow going tbh. There is one climb heading up to Old John Tower on the far Western edge but that's all road, and not the nicest (twisty, trafficky). Last time I was in Swithland there was the one bridleway, but boy does it get muddy in there.

Edit: Whoop, @bigshape sorry apologies for the incomplete information!

Thanks all, glad you enjoyed the video and even better that you were able to identify place names and trails and hopefully it brought back good memories.

As I mentioned in a previous post (and on the vid) overall I enjoyed the whole day it was just a bit unfortunate that all the misdirection, rerouting, bad map-reading, getting lost were in the first 25k which made it feel like a very slow start.

The 15k into Leicester along the canals and rivers was beautiful as were many other parts. I would classify many of the trails as re-purposed MTB trails in terms of the terrain and also the average speed that I was able to maintain and I wouldn't give the route a go in winter as I imagine the trails could get very messy.