Show me your gravelbikes....inspire me.

[oliver1850]

If you're going to be riding it much in the cold, consider bar end shifters. I find them much nicer to use than either STI or Ergo levers when wearing heavy gloves.

[happycampyer]

I've posted this before—Eriksen-built Hampsten Strada Bianca:



Great for gravel roads (was built after riding a Psychlo-X with cantis at D2R2 for 2 years). Clearance for 34mm tires, with mid-reach caliper brakes. Still have an itch for a Psychlo-X YBB with discs... (or a disc road bike with good tire clearance...)

[fourflys]

gotta second the Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross... Mike really knows how to design a bike, guy has tons of experience and his world has a lot of "gravelbike" types rides in it so... the biggest advantage of this bike is the ability to use the Bruce Gordon Rock n' Road tires (45mm)... these tires are so nice to ride on...

There are tons of options out there and I'm guessing the new Salsa Warbird is pretty sweet as well, but I can't think of a better bang for the buck bike than this...

http://www.blackmtncycles.com/p/blac...es-frames.html

here is mine BTW- the Paul Mini-Motos rock... just as nice (actually better) than the BB7's I had on my Vaya...

[christian]

Haha, I was just going to say, "Google 'Bill's Strada Bianca" to see the right solution.

Originally Posted by happycampyer

I've posted this before—Eriksen-built Hampsten Strada Bianca...

Still have an itch for a Psychlo-X YBB with discs... (or a disc road bike with good tire clearance...)

You really should scratch that itch! You wouldn't want to have to ride caliper brakes on D2R2 again! What is it, 1955?

(actually, though I agree with your sentiment, I think I'd wait until hydraulic road brakes are a reality so the bike could be optimized for those.)

[efuentes]

I just stuffed the biggest tires that fit and experimented with tire pressures for a while.

My trusty Colnago

[Wilkinson4]

Geoff

Here is my 60/40 bike. 60% pave, 40% dirt. It is a road bike, with 8cm of drop and I think 60.8mm of trail, I have run everything from 25mm to 33mm tires on it and it has room for about 38mm or so but I haven't needed to go bigger... Right now, I have Challenge Eroica tires on and I love them but, I have not been in the dirt yet.

So, it really becomes a queston of what you want to do. Dirt roads in Colorado are pretty easy on a road bike with +32mm tires. Doable on 28mm, but with as sandy as it can get I prefer a little wider tire. There isn't much gravel, not like the flint hills but if you want to do stuff like that a bike that can take 42mm would be nice.



I think the Black Mountain Bikes are very nice. Also, consider some old vitage steel like a Specialized Expedition or Raleigh International.


mIKE

[ergott]

[jpw]

Originally Posted by happycampyer

I've posted this before—Eriksen-built Hampsten Strada Bianca:



Great for gravel roads (was built after riding a Psychlo-X with cantis at D2R2 for 2 years). Clearance for 34mm tires, with mid-reach caliper brakes. Still have an itch for a Psychlo-X YBB with discs... (or a disc road bike with good tire clearance...)

very nice.

what calipers are they, and the fork is a....?

[dd74]

Originally Posted by efuentes

I just stuffed the biggest tires that fit and experimented with tire pressures for a while.

My trusty Colnago

How does your Colnago hold up to the gravel? What size tires are those and type of rims?

[William]

[dd74]

So I'm confused, guys. If a regular horizontal top tube road bike, assuming there's enough clearance in the fork and chainstays, can fit larger tires and wheels, where does a CX bike come in other than a bit longer wheelbase and cantilever brakes? I feel I'm missing something.

For comparison, I'm looking at the older Colnago above vs. the Zancs (which are very nice, btw).

[efuentes]

Originally Posted by dd74

How does your Colnago hold up to the gravel? What size tires are those and type of rims?

Geometry wise the bike rides great, I like it better than a cyclocross bike, it can barely fit a 32mm in front and a 28mm in the back, the wheels are old Mavic classics pro hubs (32h) and Mavic cxp11 rims.

Saludos

[efuentes]

Originally Posted by dd74

So I'm confused, guys. If a regular horizontal top tube road bike, assuming there's enough clearance in the fork and chainstays, can fit larger tires and wheels, where does a CX bike come in other than a bit longer wheelbase and cantilever brakes? I feel I'm missing something.

For comparison, I'm looking at the older Colnago above vs. the Zancs (which are very nice, btw).

For me it comes down to the lower BB of a road bike converted to Gravel duty, just feel safer on off camber gravel turns.

[gomango]

Originally Posted by oliver1850

If you're going to be riding it much in the cold, consider bar end shifters. I find them much nicer to use than either STI or Ergo levers when wearing heavy gloves. On this Trek I have SRAM shifters with an X7 rear derailleur and 12-36 10 speed cassette.

Smart build sir.

Here are a few shots the day I unboxed my nos Walter Croll after arrival from my painter.

Fast mock up.

Going all original Campy Athena for the gruppo.

Challenge Eroica tires fit with the VO fenders and 700X35s w/o them, Brooks Swift, Paul neo retro/touring cantis with Kool Stops, Nitto Noodles and Pearl stem etc.......

Duluth bags, front and rear. Twin el cheapo 1200 lumen lights.







I am registered for long distance gravel rides this summer. This includes the Almanzo 100. Likely will ride this, as I won't build my Ritchey Swiss Cross until early August.

I'll post pics when I finish it in a week or so.

[moran]

Here's mine....never posted a photo here before so I hope this works!