BIKE THREAD
199 watchers
Aug 2020
10:29am, 28 Aug 2020
8,857 posts
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simbil
I've ridden the South Downs Way fully on a hard tail and partially on a crosser. Cross bike will be similar comfort to a gravel bike I guess unless you get a gravel bike that can take really wide tyres. Hands and arms were utterly destroyed on the crosser (those ugly Canyon bars would have probably helped). If all day offroad is the main requirement, would definitely go for a hard tail. I've got 2 wheelsets for the cross bike - one for off road / mixed and one for pure road. The beauty of it is, it's one bike that can do nearly everything fairly well - not quite fast enough to race on road and not quite comfortable enough for all day off road, but does everything else adequately. |
Aug 2020
11:29am, 28 Aug 2020
6,759 posts
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Northern Exile
Simbil I'm confused. All gravel bikes are hard tail aren't they?
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Aug 2020
11:44am, 28 Aug 2020
8,858 posts
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simbil
Sorry, hard tail = MTB with front suspension. My point was that an MTB is a much better choice for long haul offroad comfort than anything fully rigid like a cross or gravel bike. |
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Aug 2020
11:57am, 28 Aug 2020
6,760 posts
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Northern Exile
Ah, I see. No, it's a gravel bike I'm looking for - I've no real interest in getting a mountain bike. I was interested to see that the new Trek gravel bikes have a urethane rear knuckle, a spin-off from the Domane.
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Aug 2020
12:12pm, 28 Aug 2020
8,859 posts
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simbil
Not sure about the micro suspension elements like a rear knuckle but guess everything helps a bit. The big thing when offroading on a rigid bike is to have tubeless tyres (no pinch flats) and very low tyre pressure (around 30 psi). The tyre then deforms enough to smooth out a bit of roughness. You still really feel anything bigger than a cm or so though and lack of front suspension makes fast offroad descending a bit interesting! PlanetX Space Chicken might be worth a look if you plan to do a lot of offroading, has clearance for up to 650x48mm tyres which will help a lot. |
Aug 2020
12:20pm, 28 Aug 2020
18,320 posts
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Gooner
Looks like a decent bike tbf, weird name mind. My main issue with would have been the 1 by drivetrain but that's personal preference.
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Aug 2020
12:30pm, 28 Aug 2020
71,204 posts
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Gobi
DT - tech has improved. I have tubeless tyres on a set of cx wheels. Not great for races as the burp when on and off mounting but good as Simbil says for avoiding pinch flats(30psi is what I call high pressure) |
Aug 2020
12:51pm, 28 Aug 2020
5,344 posts
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Dai Bank
In 2015 I converted my old CX racer a Kona Jake whatever from 2005 by adding some new wheels Mavic x something rims on old Shimano 8 speed hubs 3 cross laced, Schwalbe Land Cruisers 40mm on back 32mm on front, Tiagra triple chainset, ultegra front mech 48-38-28 and tiagra gear/brake levers, mtb cogs 12-30 with Sora rear mech, CX70 Shimano cantis OK but discs would be better. Going up steep stuff on the inner is fine, coming down with those brakes needs a liitle care lol! Most singletrack is OK but I am now very careful on roots and stony stuff and tend to avoid that type of surface if I can. If I can't then I'm careful or I dismount and walk. Not afraid to admit that either! done about 1000k this year, 2000k last year, 2 punctures, one new rear mech busted so pretty good really. Racing Geometry and gravel bike is a bit more relaxed so better riding but I am very comfortable on a bike that I know every inch of and is set up for me perfectly. I would have a Diverge or a Crux with Sram 46-33 front and discs tomorrow but my Kona suits me very well and given you ride a race bike rather than endurance iirc I would have thought that a CX bike would suit you well subject to tyre clearance for your desired riding NE |
Aug 2020
1:04pm, 28 Aug 2020
11,361 posts
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rf_fozzy
I don't get what the difference is between a CX and a "gravel" bike
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Aug 2020
1:09pm, 28 Aug 2020
5,345 posts
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Dai Bank
Slightly different geometry rf_f, Gravel more towards mtb angles while CX a bit like a normal racing bike. only by a couple of degrees of angle but Gravel more relaxed. cyclescheme.co.uk |
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