Lets have a "show off your gravel bike" thread.

Any excuse

Nice Shand.

This is mine is dragging things about mode. Pinnacle Arkose 1 if anyone is wondering. Trailer is a Croozer. Crazy orange hair, models own.

My Do It All bike. Chinese carbon and brilliant.
(Mendips, if you’re wondering)

My Genesis CDA. Relatively cheap and great fun.

london road loaded for the trans pennine trail.

Here is mine. A slightly strange mix of a Chinese carbon frame and wheels with Shimano Di2

Pinnacle Arkose four.

Ragley TD-1 on 2.35″ Schwalbe Big Apple slicks. Good for 30+mile offroad jaunts.

bikebouy – Member

As is, these Almanzos are just flipping amazing. I set out with 55psi in the rear and 50 in the front, scuttling off for an hour then dropped to 40 rear 35 front and settled on 35 rear and 30 front and I’ve found the balance point. Grippy, rolling, subtle and supple. Worth the money? Hell yes, I think I’ve found ,the tyre exactly for these conditions .. Cost? Hmmm, bit more than some would pay but I don’t care TBH.. I just buy stuff

:D. Didnt mean it sound like criticism, bikebuoy. I’ve delved deeply into my confused bike buying brain and realised that I’ve never thought it was worth paying much for semi-slicks, and I’m not sure why I think that!

IdleJon – Member

:D. Didnt mean it sound like criticism, bikebuoy. I’ve delved deeply into my confused bike buying brain and realised that I’ve never thought it was worth paying much for semi-slicks, and I’m not sure why I think that!

Eh? I didn’t take it that way, but I do just buy stuff 😆

Well I’ve had two days full on them now and feel that’s more than enough time to get used to them, not that I needed it. Well pressures I’ve used started out too high, typically challenge say 35-65psi and that’s bonkers, no way would it ever put 65psi in either these or Griffos or Limus. I’ve settled on 35 rear and 30 front for hardpack singletrack and gravel and whilst you’d think they’d be a bit low and draggy for road, they’re not, not in the slightest. I think they are bloody excellent tyres and I’ve just ordered another set to keep in stock. How they will fair in mileage I don’t know yet, the knobblies are really small and have that criss/cross look about them with raised knobs on the outer wall. Being cottton sidewalks they’re supple and grippy and really feel like tubs. They’ve got challenges normal Kevlar strip under the main contact patch rubber and so far I’ve had no punctures (but hey, that’s got to change)

Very pleased indeed.

And BTW, excellent bikes here lads. So glad to see the variety of terrain and setups people use, just fantastic. Let’s hope the summer brings many more exploritative (s)miles 8)

And this is my hardcore gravel bike.

In commute tyre mode. But space for 40c. Not quite complete, as yet. In the LBS having hoses cut.

Talking tyres i really like the conti cx speeds but ive had a few punctures they actually look similar to the challenge ones bikebouy has and the challenge have some puncture protection but id bet its not much as they are so light. But they might be worth a look at when these run out shame they are a bit narrow though

I was debating some thing like a schwalbe marathon or some thing but im not sure how much grip you sacrifice offroad for the puncture protection. And then theres the weight right where you need it least.

My Vaya.

My Fargo.

@ epicyclo – looks as though you’re using flats?

All you gnarmacists seem a bit limp wristed. 😉
Propper Gnarmacist…

Col Steps by mark.westwood[/url], on Flickr

Way too many stem spacers in this thread

Can’T be added to take a pic of a Cotic x. Bit of a clunker but done probably 15,000 miles on it in 4 1/2 years, all but a few hundred on FoD gravel. Conti 38mm Contacts until one wore though so now using Rapid Ron’s ( I think) that were kicking about. Not as good but miles, worn slick and swapped end to end. Knobblies not needed on gravel. 60psi gives nice fast and comfy ride. The day I can afford another disc road biker will see my Pickenflick going on the gravel. With a 27.2 mm seat pin that rides beautifully.

davidtaylforth – Member
Way too many stem spacers in this thread

Probably owned by people who actually ride their bikes…
… instead of posturing with them as fashion accessories. 🙂

cinnamon_girl – Member
@ epicyclo – looks as though you’re using flats?

It’s a low dropbar, like the old Great North Road bars I grew up with. Make is Satori Minotaur aka One23 Bullbar. Can’t find it in their catalogue anymore, but this looks like the same dimensions:

Satori Smooth Drop

Advantage is it is mtb bar diameter so I can use mtb brakes etc rather than crappy road ones.

Probably owned by people who actually ride their bikes…
… instead of posturing with them as fashion accessories.

That is very true…..although that Ritchey should have it’s stem slipped the other way up if that were the case.

davidtaylforth – Member
That is very true…..although that Ritchey should have it’s stem slipped the other way up if that were the case.

Owner may have been feeling low that day. 🙂

razorrazoo – Member
My Genesis CDA. Relatively cheap and great fun.

Care to elaborate? I am toying with buying one of these

My Cotic X doing a bit of rock climbing at Brimham Rocks, earlier in the year.

@ epicyclo – apologies, I should have said that I meant flat pedals. 😳

that ritchey is awesome 😀

i had better start saving for a few years/or do the lotto 😆

all your bikes are very nice btw 🙂

Kinesis Pro6 more a drop bar hybrid gravel tourer than racer though with a more gnar pilot pretty sure capable of not coming in after everyone else has gone home :(- somewhere in rural Victoria

firestarter, for road have a look at Vittoria Hyper Voyager. Big volume ones will do most simple off road.

For off road, Vittoria XG Pro work pretty well. Ditto the Clement stuff like the Xplorer.

So basically.. a STW ‘gravel roader’ appears to be quite simply a fairly typical mélange of niche-core STW bikes.

Glad we got that sorted then.. 🙂

cinnamon_girl – Member
@ epicyclo – apologies, I should have said that I meant flat pedals.

🙂

Yes, always have used flat pedals.

These are MKS Ezy quick detachable pedals. Can be removed by hand, which makes it easy to flatten out the bike to get it into the car if when I need rescued. 🙂

Anyone used or heard much about the Challenge Gravel grinder tyres? They look ideal and a bit tougher than the Open tub options:

http://www.challengetech.it/products/gravel/gravel-grinder-053/en

I seem to have acquired one of these by accident on Thursday. Bit of crossover between this and other 2 bikes I have but 13thFloorMonk was a slick salesman and it couldn’t resist. First ride tomorrow.

😀 Bike sold itself, it knew it had picked the wrong rider and was getting bored!

Quick picture of it when we were still talking (and a preview of what it looks like with brown tape, just for MussEd)

Those Gravel Grinder tyres look like a slightly more robust version of the Almanzos I’m using (just bought and tried over the weekend as I happens) you can read what I think about them up there ^^
As is the grinder looks great, didn’t read the spec but would expect it’s wider than the 33mm of the Almanzos and possibly the sid walls a bit thicker, buy them and let us know 😀

I have one of these on the way…

ferrals – Member

razorrazoo – Member
My Genesis CDA. Relatively cheap and great fun.

Care to elaborate? I am toying with buying one of these

Indeed.

This is my first foray into anything but a full sus in about 15 years. Family life puts a big dent into the amount of time I have to drive to anywhere decent to ride my Zesty and I wanted to get a bike suitable to my local area, SW London, which did not restrict me to roads (have loads of parkland, tow paths etc). Also wanted to commute to work if at a local office.

Spoke to LBS, they recommended the Genesis (I was originally skeptical about a drop bar bike), was cheap enough @ £699 to put on CTW without the payments being too much. I’m 5 10 and on a 54cm.

In comparison to others at the price point I think the drivechain spec is pretty basic, but the Claris gears are fine with a decent range and work perfectly well in the way that all Shimano stuff does. So, all works, can be replaced when I wears out and the good thing is the money has been spent in other areas than a couple of posh mechs.

Frame and fork are decent, Alu frame and carbon fork are lighter than the CDF ones and offer a much more comfortable ride than I had expected once I had the cockpit set up right.

Wheels are OK, shimano hubs and the same Alex rims that are used up the Genesis gravel range. The Conti tyres are really good, semi slick with a file tread/shoulder knobs, 42c wide and once I got the pressures set up are a good compromise between speed on the road and comfort off.

Brakes are TRP Spyre, I was worried about cable discs but these have been great, plenty enough stopping power and have Jagwire compression-less cables as standard.

Rest of kit is own brand stuff, again perfectly functional and used further up the Genesis range. Only things I have swapped out is the saddle for my trusty Flite Ti and some M530 SPD/platform pedals.

I ride the bike several times a week what with commuting and quick evening blasts. It’s more than good enough on the road for me (I’m not a roadie) and is quick and comfortable on the gravel and occasional singletrack it sees on the none commute rides I take it on. Basically I’m really happy with my choice, it’s turned out to be the ideal N+1 for me. I would probably have looked at the Pinnacle too as the obvious alternative, but wanted to buy from my LBS and I liked the look and feel of the Genesis so don’t regret my choice.

Nice one, I’m the same, want to buy from a localish shop (esp as have never ridden a drop bar so want to test for size etc). For mainly commuter use, with a bit of random riding (fitnesss riding on road when its been peeing down and i dont have time to clean the mtb of 25kg of mud!) and trying a couple of ‘cross races. Am weighing up the genesis or the cheapest ridley cx bike. Sounds like the gnesis will probably do what I am after fine and is a bit cheaper. Now that I’m pretty much 100% on getting one or the other I’ll head off for test ride at some point after work in the next week or so.

Cheers bender. I think if i could have the conti cx speed with puncture protection id be happy. I might have to try bikebouys challenge ones as they have puncture protection and are a bit more multipurpose than some other offerings as i tend to ride a mix of roads/bridleways all the time so handy to have a mixed use tyre. Ive read they come up thin for a 33 though more like a 30 which is a shame but tbh i can only get a 35 comfortably under the guards and still have a bit of mud/stone clearance and i leave the guards on all the time

My old Arkose in summer road mode. Has been my road/commuter/light off-road bike for the past 2 years and has been great. Even been to the French alps and time trialled up l’Alpe d’Huez. Not bad for a £110 frame and a fairly budget build..

Arkose in road mode by Matthew Walker[/url], on Flickr
(crappy phone pic)