‘Gravel’ bike with Jones bars..?

As a (very) long time mountain biker, I now find myself riding much less technical stuff; still prefer to be off road, but mainly over the last year have ridden my gravel bike (Nukeproof Digger) in favour of my MTB. Really enjoy that mix of connecting non tech trails with back road sections which I find has opened up options for me around where I live (northern Dales). I find I’m doing much longer rides in terms of miles and in areas I wouldn’t otherwise ride on an MTB such as the Eden valley.

The thing is, I never seem to be on the drops (just find them uncomfortable); mainly on the hoods and occasionally the tops. I like the hand position of the hoods, but not massively so and tend to shift my hands around quite a bit. Something between flat and drop bars interests me.

I’m thinking of building up a rigid bike for this kind of riding, but with something like Jones bars on it. I have most of the bits apart from the bars themselves and a frameset. I don’t really want to mess with my gravel bike as I’d also have to switch to MTB drivetrain and brakes etc – I want to keep it as it is but explore options. N+1 never hurts 🙂

Has anyone gone down this route and have any thoughts? In terms of frameset, I’m thinking Sonder Camino, Ragley Trig or similar. I’m aware this is heading in the direction of a rigid MTB with alt bars – or is it?

I’ve used the On One Geoff bars on my rigid mountain bike and am now using Ritchey Kyote bars. I’m re purposing an old Rohloff equipped bike as a kind of do it all gravel bike and that will be getting the geoff bars

I use Geoff bars on my MK1 Solaris. I find it works fine for the things that gravel bikes do. I’ve been on multi day mixed terrain rides in a group with gravel bikes and over a whole ride the pros and cons pretty much balanced out 

I looked at Jones bars recently to go on my Cotic Cascade build. I’d be on a large frame with drops but the XL’s were on sale and I fancied a flat bar, rigid bike.

Anyway, opinions seem to be quite polarised on them, not many people just think they’re decent, and most report a fair bit of faffing with stem length, spacers, angle of rotation etc. So I’d advise perhaps trying some cheaper copies or borrowing a set before you commit.

I’ve ended up with some Stooge Moto bars and quite like them – a bit of backsweep but not crazy, nice amount of rise, and wide enough that you can hang on either side of the stem if you want a more ‘aero’ position.

I’m thinking of building up a rigid bike for this kind of riding

Yes, I have a Salsa El Mariachi for this purpose. It’s better than a gravel bike for me, as I have lots of very steep roads and steep rocky bits even on rides that are gravel focused. And gravel, for me, can be very rocky due to the local geology. So I have a rigid MTB with MTB gears, fat but fast tyres (2.3″ Racing Ralph), a flat high sweep bar (Salsa Bend 2), Ergon wing shaped grips and a dropper. It’s awesome, and not really slow on roads especially not the kind of steep broken lanes I use.

Despite being rigid it’s the most comfortable bike I’ve ever ridden and because it’s solid feeling it’s a much more positive place to sit and pedal than even front suspension, because even suspension forks move a bit and flex. I put suspension forks on it (another benefit of the gravel/mtb hybrid concept) and whilst it was great for off-road of course I preferred the feel of the rigid.

Re Jones bars, they are pretty extreme, and there are other options that may work better tbh.

And now the Ragley Marley frames – a snip on CRC just now – have caught my attention. I do have sets of both 27.5 and 700c wheels in the loft.  Would need a rigid fork, but that shouldn’t be problematic…
The current price does make an experiment even more compelling…
If the horizontal rain would stop and my back injury would fix itself I’d go out for a ride rather than the retail therapy 🙁

I fear Molgrips may have just tipped me over the edge.

Opens CRC website and hovers…

Slightly vexing that it appears a rigid fork may cost more than the frame…

I have a ‘gravel’ bike with Jones bars, but it’s a rigid 29er more than a gravel bike. Been in regular use for 12 years or more, gets used for bikepacking and touring stuff mainly on and off-road. 2.0 Big Apples, 2.25 Terreno XCs, up to 2.6 Purgatory tyres dep on the trip. I’ve ridden 3500m+ road climbing days on it as well as really long days on mixed terrain. It’s right on the MTB end of gravel but all in all, over what you might call ‘UK gravel’ and typical lanes on rides or 2-3 days or more I’d say it’s a more effective all-rounder than my gravel bike. It holds speed off-road far better and it’s just more fun to let it run in places where the gravel bike is flinching and becoming a handful. It’s a relatively quick-handling 29er so with the Jones bars it feels fine on the road yet it’s a much more capable bike off-road. Drop bars on that bike? No chance. And I love drop bar bikes. For me the 45 degree sweep on the Jones bar is a great middle-ground between road and off-road bars.

I fear Molgrips may have just tipped me over the edge.

Join us Dave.. Gravel Plus is the future, using 29ers from the past. Just put a steel fork on it, it’ll be fine.

don’t really want to mess with my gravel bike as I’d also have to switch to MTB drivetrain and brakes etc

Shimano do road flat bar shifters which let’s you keep the drivetrain.

https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/105-5800/SL-RS700.html

Slightly vexing that it appears a rigid fork may cost more than the frame…

Cheapest branded carbon 29er fork is the px fork. Just wait for a 20% off everything email.

Selcof Carbon 27.5+ or 29er Fork

There’s more rigid chat and some lovely photos on a recent thread here

Rigid mountain bikes

I have a ribble cgr but never run it as a gravel bike as my scandal with rigid fork is just better at everything off road and nicer to ride. If I put narrower tyres on my scandal it’s not much slower on the road than my gravel bike.

Flat bar gravel bike must the most contentious bike genre this side of an eeb. But is also probably the most practical bike type and what most of us should be riding most of the time. 

As has been said loads of times, fitting bar ends inside the grips on a flat bar makes for a brilliant handling gravel bike that you can get a bit aero on. They’re cheap too, as well as being easily adjustable. 

Inboard bar-ends

50mm (or 2″ in old money) seems to be the sweetspot in tyre width for general use “gravel” riding.

Flat bar gravel bike

Aka

A hybrid

🙂

My ‘gravel bike’ is a rigid MTB. Mk1 Solaris, travis prong forks, carbon jones loops. If I had to pick one bike only forever from what I currently own, it would be that

I’d obviously have to keep my Brompton for train commuting though

long time user of jones or other alt bars here, on my tourers,which are just older versions of the new fashionable gravel bike bandwagon.

loads comfier and far more control than drops, as you get older and your joints stiffen and lose mobility.

Can we please have some pics to go with the specs described – I have a gravel bike I am very happy with but looking for something HT MTB at it’s heart and keep flip flopping between XC race and something a bit more long haul with scope to take a small frame bag for a trip with an overnight stay.

I used Jones Loops for several years on my first Fatbike. I found they helped control over twitchy/slidey stuff when it was freezing.
Fast forward a bit and I fitted them on a B±/29er I’d set up for bikepacking. I just didn’t really get on with them. I’ve since fitted a set of Ti Thomson bars with the 12 degree sweep. They suit the bike much better.
My new(er) Fatbike is set up with normal flat bars, but then it feels more like a fat mountain bike than the stately tourer that the first did.
Summary: it’s all very individual. I’d recommend trying out your chosen bars before committing to a build and, even then, expect that you might change your mind.

@blackhat – 29er mode – with Thomsons, Cane Creek Ergos and inner bar ends too!

Had ti jones bars on my kinesis Tripster but they felt really harsh so swapped out for carbon jones bars/fitted the ti bars to my cove hummer and the carbons made a surprising difference on the rigid Tripster , recommended.

got Jones bars on my cascade, I like it a lot. It handles pretty much any terrain I care to point it at (even though all the photos below are pootly ones). In fact, all the kit on it was swapped across from my solaris when I changed.

Similar MTBer to gravel convert riding a Digger. I really didn’t like the stock bars, bought Geoffs as a Jones Bar lite with doing a full conversion in mind. I ended up getting some Ritchey Corralitos drops and they transformed the whole gravel, drop bar thing for me. I was on the verge on either an expensive flat bar conversion or selling the Digger and just MTBing. 

I’ve hardly MTBed on my hardtail in 12 months. Love those flared Ritchey bars. They are drops for mountain bikers.

I’ve fitted Ritchey Beacons and agree they are loads better than more conventional drops – but I still never really get on the drops…

I think I’m more a sit up and beg kind of rider!

@somafunk makes a good point about the stiffness of loop bars. I find the old Ti H bar a fair bit more flexible than the loops. Same with those flat and drop bars with the added front towel rail, feel a bit reinforced. M shape alt bars can be comfier.

@somafunk makes a good point about the stiffness of loop bars

Maybe that’s why they didn’t feel so great on my 29er when compared to the fatbike. Those big tyres…

I’ve got a set of Planet X Geoff bars on my old Kaffenback which I use as bikepacking/light touring bike, it’s got 35mm Schwalbe G one allrounds on there so it’s gravelish and has happily dealt with stretches of the South Downs way, I find them much more comfortable for bimbling around on despite mostly riding drop bar bikes the rest of the time.

I ended up with Whisky Winstons https://flic.kr/p/2oJhuqm

but I did try the Cinelli Double Trouble bars as well. Just a bit too much/not enough sweep for me.
https://flic.kr/p/2ofPKJX

Thanks for reminding me to pop them on eBay!

https://ritcheylogic.com/bike/handlebars/comp-corralitos-handlebar

Try these, they have super shallow drop combined with 15mm rise, great bars.

Almost flat bar hand position with the advantages that drop bars give

I run Jones (well, Geoff) bars on my marin four corners gravel bike and on a rigid hardtail.

In fact my wife’s bike also has Geoff bars.

Just very comfortable and handy for strapping bags to.

I’ve got some Geoff’s on my Kona Unit. Run with a 3” front tyre I’m quite enjoying it and hadn’t noticed it being overly stiff. The hand position feels very wrong for anything technical, I much prefer a normal bar for that so they remind me to try anything stupid.

I use the unit for the South Downs so gravelly type riding, just with a really big front tyre.

I’ve got Geoff bars on a much-loved (and altered) MK1 Dialled Love Hate. As others have said, I’ve found myself needing to do quite a lot of faffing with stems, spacers and angle of bars but once sorted, they work well for me. I’ve had the same bike set up previously with On-One Midge bars but just prefer the option to have a few more hand positions.

I was running my Cascade with on one geoff’ or what ever they’re called. Now just using some normal flat bars but think somewhere in between will be good. Thinking of Salsa bend.

https://ritcheylogic.com/bike/handlebars/comp-corralitos-handlebar

Try these, they have super shallow drop combined with 15mm rise, great bars.

Almost flat bar hand position with the advantages that drop bars give

Another vote for giving these a try, I recently put them on my gravel bike and they’re perfect. The drops are shallow enough that I use them a lot and the flare puts my hands in a comfortable position.

Not that I’d ever want to talk anyone out of buying another bike, but might be worth a try for £50 before spending out on a new bike.

I currently have Ritchey Beacon XLs on my Cascade and I’m tempted to try the Corralitos for the even shallower drop and the slight rise. I spend most of my time in the drops riding singletrack and feel the pressure on my hands at anything more than 1hr rides. I’m also limited by a short fork steerer and would prefer the bars to be higher.

I went to these from Jones and then Ritchey Kyote as I found those just a bit too “cruisy” and it made the bike feel a bit too lazy on climbs due to lack of leverage and a bit wandery on singletrack. Really happy with them but as said, everyone will have a preference. These let you ride it like a MTB on trails but are comfy/useful when just riding along;

Sonder Confucius

Have a gravel bike on drops that I enjoy  and also a titus silk road with the Geoff bars fron on one.

I do find it very comfortable for bimbling around a bit further off road than the drop bar bike, not quite as quick but its on wider tyres