How I ruined a perfectly good MTB for gravel riding

[robt57]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

sqlab inner bar ends.

22.8mm only?? Aren't MTB 31.8, some where these mount?

[robt57]

Originally Posted by NHAero

Curious what the gearing is on that as built?
What year is that frame and what did they call the paint? Sharp!

Yeah, seems a bigger front ring would be in order for non MTB use.

That is one sweet steed for sure though...

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by robt57

22.8mm only?? Aren't MTB 31.8, some where these mount?

Modern MTB bars are usually 31.8 or 35mm stem clamp diameter, but the place where the controls and grips mount is 22.8mm

[mtechnica]

Originally Posted by NHAero

Curious what the gearing is on that as built?
What year is that frame and what did they call the paint? Sharp!

It has 32 and 9-46

[oldpotatoe]

Again, nice rig..hard tail, rigid fork is the MTB version of a 'road bike on a dirt road with canti brakes'..... Looks like fun

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.

[cal_len1]

Nice rig, been thinking about doing some similar with my Procaliber. I think I'd go drop bar with that new converter that allows you to use Sram mechanical levers with eagle RDs. My only concern is the size of chainring you can run, as my frame is maxxed at 36 tooth. Do you plan to run a larger chainring at any point?

[mtechnica]

I might consider going back to 34t but as-is the gearing is good up to 30+ mph and it’s hard to go that fast for long on this thing with the tires and bar position.

I don’t like flat bars as much as drop bars generally speaking but for mountain biking the flat bars make sense and work the best so they’re staying on this bike.

[b_thesing]

This thing looks like so much fun! I think the bar-ends are fun and will help your hands feel fresh over a long ride.

[Hindmost]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

I don’t like flat bars as much as drop bars generally speaking but for mountain biking the flat bars make sense and work the best so they’re staying on this bike.

So you ruined a perfectly good gravel bike for mountain biking. (Smile thing)

[weisan]

Nah...it's all fun.

[robt57]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

I might consider going back to 34t but as-is the gearing is good up to 30+ mph and it’s hard to go that fast for long on this thing with the tires and bar position.

Especially @ 125 RPM cadence. The math of it has me getting a brow cramp honestly..

Assuming a 32f / 11t rear, 30MPH is orbit territory on my spread sheet...

I see a 38t as being the happy middle ground. But then again if you have it loaded with pork, giving up the low may be.. may be...

[NHAero]

He said he has a 9-46 cassette. With a 29 inch tire diameter, 32/9 is a 103 inch gear, good for 30.7 mph at 100 cadence. And 6 mph at 100 in low gear, or about 4 mph at 70 cadence. Seems pretty right to me.

Originally Posted by robt57

Especially @ 125 RPM cadence. The math of it has me getting a brow cramp honestly..

Assuming a 32f / 11t rear, 30MPH is orbit territory on my spread sheet...

I see a 38t as being the happy middle ground. But then again if you have it loaded with pork, giving up the low may be.. may be...

[robt57]

My bad, missed the 9T. So I retract my chainring change sugst.

Maybe I shoulda read what cassette he was running before spouting my keyboard..

Probably perfect then, especially with loads...

Originally Posted by NHAero

He said he has a 9-46 cassette. With a 29 inch tire diameter, 32/9 is a 103 inch gear, good for 30.7 mph at 100 cadence. And 6 mph at 100 in low gear, or about 4 mph at 70 cadence. Seems pretty right to me.

[NHAero]

Admittedly I live in a place where the mountainous terrain is scarce (Martha's Vineyard, max elevation 311 ft above sea level, and we can see the sea!). Yesterday on a 3 hour ride in the hillier portion of the island, with some pavement thrown in, I hit 20.4 mph top speed. My top gear on a 1x11 is 75 inches, good for 23 mph at 100 rpm. Sure, there are a couple of paved downhills connecting trails where I spin out, but sacrificing some top end for low grunt gears is worth it to me. Others' riding needs off-road may be very different. My version of a gravel bike, the Litespeed 26er with drop bar conversion, has a 100 inch top gear.

Originally Posted by robt57

My bad, missed the 9T. So I retract my chainring change sugst.

Maybe I shoulda read what cassette he was running before spouting my keyboard..

Probably perfect then, especially with loads...

[mtechnica]

Yeah for the most part a gear that big is not necessary.

That said (not trying to brag) I was messing around on a short flat offroad strava segment towards the end of a popular mountain bike trail, averaging 29mph for the segment I managed about 100th place out of 14,000 and 10th for the year. Then when I rode back on the road down a slight but kind of long hill, I was spun out most of the way and averaged high 20's.

So I could see wanting more gear ratio at times but the real issue is making it up some of the ridiculously long and steep climbs in so cal. The last ride I did it was literally an hour long climb with pitches well in excess of 10%. The funny part was in the 46t I was going too slow to keep up with my SO on her gravel bike so I was forced to use the 2nd gear down just because I couldn't spin that fast. I'm a garbage climber though so I need all the help I can get hence the light hardtail with a granny gear.