Fit a 25mm bar and stem. Try fitting regular chunky grips, not lock-on type.

I’ll be trying chunky non-lockons first now rather than winged ones. They seem more appropriate for vibration issues.

Loosen the spokes a turn or two

That’s a can of worms I don’t want to start messing about with.

What about a 2.4 front tire and lower psi (22-24) to start?

Going to try the lower psi in my existing tyres. Bigger tyre is a bit down the order as it means replacing the front mudguard, which is a PITA to make everything fit with the front rack.

Ritchey Kyote bars and SQLab 30X w/ 15 degree sweep are both known to me, have some compliance, and hugely helped my shoulder and wrist pain.

Sounds promising, I went for the 30X 12 degree but not fitted them yet.

Ergon GA3 grips have been very good for wrist and hand numbness, without looking too ergo, for those who care.

They were the first grip I was going to try, but after this thread I’ll be trying chunky grips first, and then Ergon GS1 (bigger wing) if needed.

What’s the bike?

Kona Unit X.

The forks are really good. I like the alliminium steerer so you don’t have to use a fork bung. I found with my previous rigid carbon fork the headset would come loose.

The trek 1120 fork comes up for sale on ebay every now and then. The last pair sold for less than £150.

Might give one a go at that price. They say it’s suspension corrected for 100mm same as mine, but the A2C is 510mm whereas mine is 470mm. All a bit of a PITA due to getting fork, mudguard and rack to fit nicely together though.

For the OP, i went back Redshift on their development of shorter Shockstop stems

Great, just done the same so they’re aware there are people out there wanting them to take our money.

@bikesandboots, I think that Trek fork would seriously mess with the geometry of a Unit

40mm longer, plus another 10mm or so as I think you’d need a new lower headset to accomodate the tapered steerer. So that’d probably slacken the HA by 2.5 degrees and raise the BB about 20mm or something.

Surely with the Unit X fork, you could get a different guard and fit a 29 x 2.6″ or even 2.8″ tyre? The Unit fork clearance is good even with a 29 x 3.0″ in there if I remember rightly

Suspension 😉

Gravel Bikes FFS. What will be invented next 😉 … Carpet Biking with extra Baggage.

40mm longer, plus another 10mm or so as I think you’d need a new lower headset to accomodate the tapered steerer. So that’d probably slacken the HA by 2.5 degrees and raise the BB about 20mm or something.

Yes that would be needed. I wrote the “might give it a go” before I noticed that Kona and Trek disagree on the A2C of a 100mm suspension corrected rigid fork.

Surely with the Unit X fork, you could get a different guard and fit a 29 x 2.6″ or even 2.8″ tyre? The Unit fork clearance is good even with a 29 x 3.0″ in there if I remember rightly

Yes, the only reason to replace the fork would be for a more comfortable one.

Drop your seat a little to move your weight off the bars?  Shorter stem to.achive similar?

If you’re happy with a shorter a2c there’s tons of choice of carbon forks out there.

Bigger tyres?  Maybe not fat bike sized but bigger than 2.2 and lower pressures.  Rev Grips, one up or Fasst Flex bars. Ride smoother trails on it.

Bigger tyres… 2.4-2.6 on 30-40mm rims. Makes a big difference and you can still have tyre spec that works in winter, most terrain and conditions. I didn’t get that from B-Plus 2.8-3.0s. 2.4-2.6s run fine on the front at 20PSI.

Foam+cork mix grips, fixed to the bar with photomount

Swept bars and a rearward bias riding position, bars close to level with the saddle

None of this 77 degree seat angle stuff, sit further back

I have all this but not a flexy fork, not a fan of flex there on MTBs. Still it’s a comfy bike overall, good for anywhere that’s not really rocky or rooty.

Comfort is like saving weight in that its incremental savings across all components.

It’s better than that, it more than just adds up – the stacked springs effect means that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts when it comes to flex and comfort. 2 springs of the same rate have half that spring rate when they’re stacked up. I didn’t know about this until a few yrs ago, feels daft in hindsight not to have looked up spring rate calcs before when looking at rigid bike comfort, but the basic effect is simple force and equal opposite reaction stuff.

Redshift said they’re working on a 55mm and 70mm for the end of this year or early next, in case anyone’s interested.

@bikesandboots i also run a Kona Unit X, it’s my only mtb. I’ve been refining the best setup combinations over the past couple of years, and it’s now in a place where it’s comfortable for long rides on all kinds of terrain. Worth saying I still find it a fairly chunky frameset, and it’s not that compliant.

– The Unit has a fairly low stack, so getting the bars to a comfortable height needs some focus. I’ve found Stooge Moto bars really good for getting higher and having nice sweep (tried SQlabs30x16 which didn’t rise enough), paired with Ergon GE3 grips. The grips are excellent and not too extreme.

– There’s room to play about with longer forks. I have a pair of carbon exotic forks with a/c of 490mm and they feel much more comfortable the the steel P2s, plus they increase the stack height of the frame a bit.

– Tyres: 2.6 front and rear mostly, on 30mm rims, sometimes down to 2.35/2.4 when I want more speed on easier terrain. I know it’s a faff with mudguards and rack, but you’ll reap the benefits of a bigger tyres. And tweak pressure downwards until it feels right, small increments make a surprising difference in comfort.

– as Jameso said, put the saddle back not forward

Drop your seat a little to move your weight off the bars? Shorter stem to.achive similar?

Probably will try a 40mm stem, but I don’t think a lower saddle will suit my pedal stroke.

Swept bars and a rearward bias riding position, bars close to level with the saddle

None of this 77 degree seat angle stuff, sit further back

– as Jameso said, put the saddle back not forward

That’s interesting and counter-intuitive, I thought a longer saddle to bar distance would stretch me out and put more weight on my hands. With the saddle central, I was finding myself shifting forward on it like the top tube was too long, so I don’t think this will work. I can try 10mm back if I put a 10mm shorter stem on though.

Worth saying I still find it a fairly chunky frameset, and it’s not that compliant.

I was expecting so due to what it’s designed for, despite being steel. That said, I can’t see the frame contributing much to feedback coming straight up the fork into my hands.

– The Unit has a fairly low stack, so getting the bars to a comfortable height needs some focus. I’ve found Stooge Moto bars really good for getting higher and having nice sweep (tried SQlabs30x16 which didn’t rise enough), paired with Ergon GE3 grips. The grips are excellent and not too extreme.

Yes, way too low for me in OEM spec with 20mm of spacers and a 15mm riser. I put a 38mm on it straight away, and my new 30X12 bar is the 45mm rise version. Will be trying non-lockon grips now before GA3s.

Ride smoother trails on it.

Yes there’s definitely an aspect of this. The bike needs to stay a “gravel” bike, so I’m not putting chunky tyres etc. on it. The riding position encourages me a bit to ride it like a MTB, so taking it easy downhill doesn’t happen naturally.

The thing about putting your saddle back is it moves your centre of gravity back relative to the BB. That’s what really affects the weight your hands have to support, more than the distance from saddle to bar. Matching that with moving the bar / grips some way back might work well too, doesn’t need to be the same distance though.

The bike needs to stay a “gravel” bike, so I’m not putting chunky tyres etc

Pretty happy with Terreno 2.25s in summer, on 30mm rims, for mixed terrain gravel plus kind of rides. Would go a size bigger if they made them.

I’ve Stooge Moto bars on two bikes (one a Stooge) and in both cases helped move my weight off the bars. They have a nice rise and sweep. They are wide though so might need a trim.

Worth saying I still find it a fairly chunky frameset, and it’s not that compliant.

I was expecting so due to what it’s designed for, despite being steel. That said, I can’t see the frame contributing much to feedback coming straight up the fork into my hands.

My friend converted his carbon 456 to a gravel bike. Carbon 29er fork with a 650b front tyre and 26 rear tyre. The frame is incredibly stiff. He gets beat up on technical descents. Some of it is wheel size but it’s mainly the frame.

Some times you need to accept a bike doesn’t work for you and you need to move on.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235208667401?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Cd7FRqvBRTi&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=XQz0tf3FQJC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Foam grips work well.

my rigid (singlespeed too!) has plus tyres (2.8s). its the only valid use for plus tyres in existence haha!

abut 20 psi. comfey enough to ride fast, jumps etc but makes teh flat trails locally interesting.

I`m baffled why someone would ride rigid offroad with skinny tyres?? makes no sense to me!

there used to be plenty of fatter (but not full fat) fast rolling tyres out there.

I think the unit also got significantly longer and slacker in 2020(?), and the seat angle got steep at the time — 65 deg or something, which is quite steep for a rigid bike

So a super short stem with the saddle moved back could help

Some times you need to accept a bike doesn’t work for you and you need to move on.

Agreed, I’m wary of trying everything to make a bike something it can’t be. Hence just a few things to try before I decide whether to accept it as is and amend some of my routes, or swap or N+1.