Hello all new guy here. Starting gravel riding last year, no races just going out riding. Last year bought two bikes, Jamis Exphat, and a Surly ECR. Thought I would do more Trail type riding and some over night camping type trips but found out that just isn’t going to happen. I really like both bikes but want to down size to just one bike. I like the gearing and drop bars and the weight of the Jamis and I like the bigger tires on the ECR, and all the eyelets. My question is I want todo a century this year and signed up for one. Should, I get rid of both bikes and get something like a Fargo, or cutthroat, or switch my ECR to drops. I like the 700 or 29in height. Hope this makes sense.
You can ride a century on either bike you already own!
Dont let me stop you from getting a new bike if you want one, but ya sure don’t need one.
Ride more......you can ride a hundy. If you want to get down to one bike, keep the one you like the best and will put the most miles on. Ride a minimum of 130 miles a week for 2 months and make yourself better on the bikes you own, before throwing more money at it. If you could see the bike I ride my first few 100 mile gravel grinders on lol......your bikes are nice.
Am am not bragging....am just suggesting more miles on what you already own will lead you to the right decision for you imo. Keep them both for now, and ride more.
All that typed...I’d concentrate on riding the Jamis ....but that’s just me. If you don’t like the ride, ride tubeless with less pressure.
Right. Both bikes are nice! But which one is more comfortable to you, especially for a century. Put in a few 40 miles rides, a couple of 60+, go from there. I might go with the Jamis myself, too, for the drop bars. but who knows?
If you like the bigger tires of the Surly, why not try bigger tires on the Jamis. Are they the 36c Donnellys? I loved my Clement MSO XPlor 40s. maybe move to the Donnelly MSO XPlor 40s, or see how 42-45 work. Are you tubeless?
Once you go tubeless on the gravel bike you will never go back. I had trouble in the beginning of riding around in what seemed to be a 1/2 flat tire but after 13-14 races now with no flats I luv tubeless Zman
a decent 650b wheelset will be about $450, plus new rotors, etc. The next step to what you already have is running those Nanos tubeless. Just have your shop set them up for you, should be pretty painless. and the lower pressure will just make it so much nicer.
btw, "a 1/2 flat tire" may be a bit of an exaggeration lol i run mine 35-40psi. yeah, there's some squish seen, but nowhere near half a flat tire. unless you weigh maybe 300lbs
if you have money to burn, then go tubeless on the 700s Nanos, AND get a 650b wheelset, but target tires 47c wide. i think the Jamis Expat is limited in the rear to 42 with 700c wheels. but you can go to 47 if running 650b wheels (according to the downloadable PDF spec sheet). one wheelset for more pavement riding, one for more dirt. but if you're like me, your 700c wheels will collect dust in storage. i go everywhere on my 650bx47 wheels. if i was riding a century, all pavement, i would break out my 700c x40 wheels.
