Apologies if this is not in the correct section... just wanted to get a bit of advice about gravel biking on technical terrain please. Bit of context. I've been riding MTB's since 1986 and BMX before that. I literally only started riding a drop bar bike last year, so on one hand I'm a complete newbie (and treat me as such!) but have been bikepacking and doing XC for decades.
I've been loving my new gravel bike and ride a lot of mixed terrain; mainly gravel roads, but also some rougher tracks with a little bit of semi-technical singletrack thrown in. Pretty standard, but possibly a bit more singletrack than what the bike is design for :-) The biggest change for me has been hand placement and braking. Obviously flat bar braking and hand position has become very natural to me over the years. On my gravel bike I struggle a bit...
I tend to feel more comfortable on the hoods when in technical stuff ,but obviously my braking suffers. I keep getting told my other riders to get into the drops for tech stuff... I just find it strange. I use flared bars which feel great and give me nice leverage, but I still feel just too 'aggressive' in that position in the tight stuff. So what do I need to do? What's the best way to ride a gravel bike in this terrain? I don't expect it to be a MTB... I understand a gravel bike is a compromise in these situations, but I am sure I could improve my technique.
What’s your saddle to bar drop like? I find on a gravel bike I need my bars much higher than a traditional road bike, especially if rough terrain is involved.
If the drops are up higher you be much more comfortable and secure when descending or traveling rough surfaces in the drops and have the best possible braking leverage.
Zipp Service course makes a 25 degree stem that is pretty affordable for trying out a tall angle. That is what I use now and my hoods are about level with my saddle. I honestly would like then a little higher even and have been investigating using an LD style stem.
as a side note does anyone here use an LD stem? I’ve read it does not affect handling but am not so sure...
It did feel counter intuitive being in the drops off-road to me initially but now if it gets at all sketchy (I do similarly silly single track technical stuff on my CX bike) or muddy then I hit the drops immediately because it lowers my CofG and puts me in the wide grip part of my flared bars so I get more stability and more control, which with my level of skill are both desparately needed! Do you have hydro brakes? The reason I ask is that i upgraded from mech brakes a couple of months ago and now I can brake with one finger (I prefer to use two but whatever) on the hoods and bars, which takes that out of the equation neatly.
Thanks @Jimbop and @bikepunksondope. I have actually got my bars pretty high and there's a lot of head tube length on my gravel bike too. I might try swapping a spacer though - that's good advice. I've also recently 'downgraded' from Hydros. Am using the TRP Spyres that I really like actually, but agree that one finger braking is not really possible anymore. Good point. I did that because I am doing a couple of bikepacking races this year and wanted something easier to service. I'm going to go out today and just try to spend more time in the drops!
Yeah I hear you on the mech servicing front but as I'm bike packing a very low % of the time then hydro makes more sense. Maybe if I started going on long bikepacking adventures I'd be tempted to swap back but for the time being i'm sticking with them. I love the power and I really love not having to adjust them for pad/rotor wear - i did a number of very wet and muddy rides in autumn (fall) this year and that seems to burn through my pads/rotors really fast to the point where if i hadn't adjusted the brakes at the beginning then by the end of the ride the brakes were getting super sketchy and weak, i.e. i'm lazy when it comes to bike prep/maintenance. I don't mind the odd bleeding job, although having said that i've only bought a bleeding kit, not actually tried the work yet :-)
I liked my TRP Spyres, particularly compared to the terrible stock callipers that came on my 2016 CAADX 105 but it wasn't a day/night upgrade like hydro has been.
If you can be bothered then maybe ride hydro when you're not packing and mech when you are? Or pack a little bleed kit and stick with hydro all the time? I don't particularly like swapping between brakes because it takes my rather limited capacity brain some time to adjust and i know i'd find myself over and under braking a lot each time I swapped :-)
As others have said, key is to get the bar up high. Matt Chester wrote up some good info on Midge Bar setup (which applies to off-road drop setup in general) here: http://www.63xc.com/mattc/midge.htm My bike is set up with the tops ~1.5" above my saddle and which allows riding in the drops all the time.
Thanks for the link and the advice. BTW - that is one gorgeous looking bike! What is it? Thanks.
GrumpyOne wrote:As others have said, key is to get the bar up high. Matt Chester wrote up some good info on Midge Bar setup (which applies to off-road drop setup in general) here: http://www.63xc.com/mattc/midge.htm My bike is set up with the tops ~1.5" above my saddle and which allows riding in the drops all the time.
delore wrote:Thanks for the link and the advice. BTW - that is one gorgeous looking bike! What is it? Thanks.
No problem and Thanks.
It's a custom frame made by... Matt Chester with a Potts Type II fork. It was built as a single speed/fixed drop bar 29er and I use if for road, gravel, and trail.
userid=5874398 wrote:I've also recently 'downgraded' from Hydros. Am using the TRP Spyres that I really like actually, but agree that one finger braking is not really possible anymore.
I was using the Spyres and they are good breaks you might need to play with pads to find one that is a bit more aggressive for you. Also I just upgraded from spyres to TRP HY/RD have about 500 miles on them and relay like them have had no need to bleed or do any service just keep riding and smiling. Also they took me from 2 finger braking to 1 finger breaking.
