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The whole reason for all of this???
Will a larger tire bike, with a higher stack and all of those other "gravel" characteristics, ever be as fast a true road bike? As my interest in racing increases,
I find myself wondering how long I can hold my ground on "steel is real" when I see people on gravel carbon wonder bikes running their mouths and doing 22mph, seemingly
with ease. I know there are an absolute ton of variables here, so I just want to have a conversation about what I could be missing, ways to improve speed on the gravel
bike and if ultimately, Im wasting my time with such thoughts. Are large tire bikes just slower? Is Jan at Reneherse full of crap?
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- I have started racing last year and have found some early success (2x 1st Place - 30mile gravel, 2nd place in 280mile gravel)
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Hello surfer pal, I read your thread/post a while back but did not respond right away because I want to mull over a bit. Please take what I say with a grain of salt coz' it's coming from someone who is not competitive, ride recreationally, just been really passionate about the sport for the last three decades.
First of all, I don't think this is a futile or pointless exercise. As a competitor, you need to ask those questions or at least look into them because your goal is to keep improving, set higher or greater goals, outdo yourself and others.
But I would say this: equipment is an important component of the overall equation but not the be all and end all. In certain situations, it can make a difference but in others, not so much.
You are already winning and getting good placing in the races you have entered.That means, you have "the right stuff". If you don't already have that, then none of these would really matter, seriously. Like one of the posters said, you are merely improving minor placings from 85th to maybe 82th.
That is NOT TO SAY that anyone who invested their money and time on improving their equipment and placings in a race that they entered is engaging in a pointless pursuit. No! Not at all. Everybody has the right to pursue their dreams and goals in any way they see fit, regardless of their standings. The last guy that crosses the line has as much right to be there in the race as the guy who came in first, maybe 2-3 hours ago. Who cares! They have paid the registration fee, went through the trouble of taking care of the logistics in order to show up at the start line. It's their right to participate. That's not my point.
What I am saying to you, specifically, is you did well so far in the races you have entered, primarily because you are better endowed in the wining qualities like speed, endurance, ability to suffer etc and that happened even when you were using "lesser" equipment. I can guarantee you that someone somewhere in those races is riding a bike that is more "superior" than the one you are riding on, whether it's lighter, or more technologically advanced or have better tires, a better fit...whatever. But because they are so far behind you in their "human" component of the equation that none of these "gains" they have made on their bike or equipment is gonna be enough to make up for their lack of and bridge the gap. It's simply not gonna happen.
If you watch some of the professional bike racing, you will see all kinds of weird stuff that even pros do like unzipping their top jersey and let it flop around in the air....just that is enough to negate all the benefits their team engineers have painstakingly tried to replicate on their bikes by putting them through wind tunnel tests and the careful selection of components they put on their bike. Often times, as the race gets closer to the end, in the final kms, it was mano-o-mano, nobody cares what bike you are riding or tires you are using, it's about who can hang in there, who can endure the pain, who can ride at or above the limit for how long, who is willing to take more risks, who has a bigger craving or hunger to win... That's what separates the first and the second and the ones lower in the placings. Not the bike.
Even in gravel racing, especially in the longer distances, you see the top guys using frame bags, hydration packs or whatever they need in order to survive and get to the finish line. Some may take the minimalistic approach and choose to leave off certain things from the bike and you see them pay the price when they encounter a mechanical.
Am I saying that equipment is not important?
Of course not.
For sure, take the time to experiment and try different setups, try to improve in any areas you can. But know this, the biggest payout for your investments is going to come from training and fine-tuning that internal engine of yours, the human element - not the external non-human part. Obviously the former is harder to do, so everyone tends to flock to the latter and just try to "buy" performance thinking that it will make a difference.