How I ruined a perfectly good MTB for gravel riding

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by Spoker

Rigid mtb,s make the best gravel bikes as soon as the pavement stops.

Actually rigid mtn bikes make great mtn bikes too.

AMHIK

M

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

Honestly since I have a gravel bike with 650x2.2” tires I don’t see myself switching from the 100mm travel shock since this will get used for rougher rides. Even still I don’t really see what benefit there would be from the lauf versus the shock. I don’t think the shock makes that big of a difference for pavement speed and it’s faster off road for sure.

My buddy who is freaking fast both up and down preferred “gravel” bike is a stigma with 650b 2.2’s. The secret sauce is he uses suspension stem. Rigid wheels with cushier tires plus a little bit of “stem” suspension makes going up and down really nice and fast. If the terrain gets a little rougher he reaches for the XC MTB.

[.RJ]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

Just a Reba, nothing crazy. It was on the bike when I bought it. The rigid fork was an experiment so I held onto the shock. I miss the bottle mounts but oh well.

I really want to build one with a Lefty Ocho or Oliver...

[mtechnica]

Originally Posted by joosttx

My buddy who is freaking fast both up and down preferred “gravel” bike is a stigma with 650b 2.2’s. The secret sauce is he uses suspension stem. Rigid wheels with cushier tires plus a little bit of “stem” suspension makes going up and down really nice and fast. If the terrain gets a little rougher he reaches for the XC MTB.

The red shift stems? Not gonna lie I’ve been curious about those.

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

The red shift stems? Not gonna lie I’ve been curious about those.

Yeah, the red shift stems. He loves it. And the dude is super legit.

[72gmc]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

I tried to put a flat-ish( little rise and little back sweep) flat bar on my Moots wet weather bike and after a hour or so, my wrists screamed..needed more and better hand positions..went back to drop bars.

Have you tried a little more sweep? My wrists can't take more than 2 hours on a standard MTB bar anymore, but I really like the back sweep of the Jones bar. SQLab also makes a bar with more back sweep than others, last I looked.

[lavi]

Just re-read this thread. Ya. The entire thing.

Thank you for time well spent. G_d, that bike....yowza!