Rode dual suspended Devinci Remix 5 for years. Moved to family rides, mostly on pavement. Enjoyed the upright position on mb and I am cautious to go to gravel with drops as I may feel too laid out. Deciding between Kona Libre DS and Norco Search carbon, with 1X. Both seem similar, including price. Need help with those familiar with these gravel bikes. Salesmen promote both as close to equal. Thanks.
Don't sweat the change to drops .... in the end you will likely appreciate the added real estate to change grip positions. You can be just as upright (if not more) on the hoods as you are on the flat bar, depending on the bike/stem/bars and adjustments. No worries.
Haven't been on either bike you mentioned.....sorry. Someone will likely be along to help
My gravel bike is a flat bar, it is a Carbonda CFR696. My mtb is a Trek Stache 5 both bike have sweep back handle bar, the gravel bike has a Salsa bend 3 bar on it with Ergon grips, both are kind of a like the mtb having answer 20/20 bar on it, but I have sram shifting on the mtb and a Shimano cheaper 10 speed on the gravel bike, I'm thinking about going 11 speed on my gravel bike and like sram shifting better so my aim so to have the cockpits close to same, I'm older and don't care for drops and have had neck fusion a few years ago, so for me I'm not going to be riding in the drops if I had them so I'd be holding the center of the bars or my hands would be on the hood. I can also say after building up the Chinese Carbonda I wouldn't do that again, I'd get a Salsa Cutthroat,, all n all you'll find what works best for you.
I ride both my FS MTB and gravel bike regularly. Honestly it takes several test rides and fiddling with stems, spacers, and handlebars to get the bike fit you want on either bike. For me I've actually dropped the stem on both my MTB and gravel bikes over the past 6 months.
For now, test ride as much as you can - so you can figure out your fit/sizing. I do recommend, getting a gravel bike with at least 27.5 x 2.1" tire clearance - with 2.1 knobbies, you can treat it as XC MTB as well...and keep 700c x 35-42mm wheels for road/pathed riding.
Thanks for the replies. I’ve asked for a 70mm (as opposed to the 100 that is stock) stem with 16 or 17 degree rise to replace the stock one. I’ll fiddle with both. Just want the ability to coast around without hands stretched out.
Brandall wrote:Thanks for the replies. I’ve asked for a 70mm (as opposed to the 100 that is stock) stem with 16 or 17 degree rise to replace the stock one. I’ll fiddle with both. Just want the ability to coast around without hands stretched out.
Which bike did you order? BTW, it's not that simple of shorten stem and higher rise. In general your dropbar Effective top-tube (ETT) is SHORTER than your more upright MTB ETT. MTB will also have higher stack height. When you push your bars too far back you actually put more pressure on your hands.
Hope you test rode the bikes to get an initial fit first.
Ordered the Norco Search carbon with 1x. I tried one out at the store and it felt a little low and long, but I have never ridden a drop bar so expect a learning curve. Thanks for reply.
