Novice question: when considering position comfort on gravel bikes

chas wrote:

I’m curious to what you mean by comfortable?

-snip-

Anything with a good fit, and the right saddle/seat-post/tires/psi can be comfortable (with 40mm+ gravel tires)

NoCoGreg wrote:My preference for gravel is to use the largest frame that fits.  I "can" ride a 58cm bike but my preference for gravel is the next size up (61cm ish).

RideAlongside wrote:
The Litespeed Gravel that I had on loan for a week was a great mix of the two. 

RideAlongside wrote:
Let me know if you run across any other rally cars with trunks or racecars with tow hitches.

neinneinthree wrote:

Why is that?

NoCoGreg wrote:

The larger frames offer...
1. Longer wheelbase which will be more stable.  In addition to the longer top tube the steering angle is often a bit less.  IMO (my belief?) this also helps reduce wheel spin when standing to climb.  

2. Higher/taller head tube - bar position for gravel tends to be much nearer to the seat hight.  My 58cm CX bike has a lot of steering tube above the headset and I still needed to use a stem with rise.  My road (race) bike is setup with about 3" of drop (seat to bars).  My CX and gravel bikes are closer to 1.5".

3. A larger frame will flex more. The marketing term for this is "compliance". 

4. The shorter stem centers my weight back a bit.

$.02 on a couple of topics.

On sizing & geometry vs comfort.  I can ride a 54 or a 56.  A 54 generally feels like it handles quicker than a 56, due to a shorter wheelbase.  I have a 54 cyclocross bike with more twitchy geometry than an endurance machine.  Past about 60 miles I can really feel the quicker geometry & a smaller frame because it requires a little more focus to ride.  Over a long day that can lead to more fatigue.

On rally cars with trunks & trailer hitches:  my Subaru WRX STi hatchback has an opinion on the subject.  😉

neinneinthree wrote:
At 6'3" I'm usually sized for 60-63cm frames according to the charts but after having owned 60, 63, and 58cm road bikes I prefer the 58, mostly because I like to sit forward with my hips as far over the BB as possible.  I was thinking 58 for a gravel bike but maybe 60 is the sweet spot.  63 was too big for my road bike.

NoCoGreg wrote:
A counter intuitive lesson I learned during a pro fitting is that by having more handlebar drop my abs engage better and better support my back for comfort and power.  Bar drop is a tradeoff as a higher position is better for looking around and feels more stable in gravel.  Conventional wisdom is that more upright is easier on one's back. Perhaps this is true for a very upright tourist/commuter position, but dropping the bars more than an inch on my race bike increased power and long distance comfort.

NoCoGreg wrote:
We're almost the same height and my first ever "good" road bike was a 63. I was sized back in the day when the shop basically had one straddle bikes, checked for clearance, and the largest bike one could safely straddle was the best fit. Fortunately we've advanced a bit on fit...

All my bikes are setup with the same saddle/pedal position so the mechanics of pedaling is the same.  The bar position is different for the riding position I want.

A counter intuitive lesson I learned during a pro fitting is that by having more handlebar drop my abs engage better and better support my back for comfort and power.  Bar drop is a tradeoff as a higher position is better for looking around and feels more stable in gravel.  Conventional wisdom is that more upright is easier on one's back. Perhaps this is true for a very upright tourist/commuter position, but dropping the bars more than an inch on my race bike increased power and long distance comfort.