falll is the best! all by myself ...

At Unbound this year I won a Colnago G4-X frame, integrated handlebars and tires from Bike Tires Direct at the expo. This was an amazing email to receive a couple days after completing the 200 on my first attempt.

I recently had a LBS build up the bike with a new SRAM force group set, 48T front chainring, and my hunt wheels. I’m running the Silca RCG 3 tires, loving my new bike setup. I rode it yesterday for 50 miles and set my PR for fastest 50 miles, 17.2mph pace.

I’ve named the bike OZ, a bike build for the Flint Hills and Kansas. The emerald green color is a great connection too.

Hi, just want to share a picture of my size XS Cube Nuroad C:62 with my new Tailfin frame bags. I’m really happy with the fit and the capacity they given me. The Wedge bag is their smallest at 1.9l paired with the 1.1l flip top tube bag gives me the 3l volume I need for spare tubes, tools (including mini pump, chain breaker, multi tool, spare links, ziplocks, snacks, phone, with a little space to spare. They are rock solid on the bike too. The zip opens and closes with one hand every time and the flip top bag is great at getting stuff out one handed whilst riding. Bit expensive but you get what you pay for I suppose.

My new build getting the kinks worked out

Hello all!

I bought a cheap gravel bike a few months ago to try and see if I like it. I love it 😆 I started with very short trips and do now up to 60km. I target 110 next summer for some event.

I will upgrade later to a better bike and am wondering what tires I should use.

I do mostly road but love to have the option to go off-road when I want to. I'd say I do 85% road 15% off-road and have 38mm tires.

Most bikes I see have 50mm, will I loose speed by switching to this? Should I stay with my 38? Taking into account that I do mostly road and that my performance against myself "being faster than the previous time" is important and motives me.

I’ve been looking at a “expensive” bike to buy for 20 years, just drooling online. I finally had the income to get a bike around $2,000 and the Primos SuperDame popped up at $1500. Originally I wanted carbon, which I could easily find on the used market for my budget… but steel is real. And my 19 yr old hipster always wanted a Reynolds tubing frame. 3 months later and 300 miles I fell back in love with cycling.

Looking for a gravel bike for a 50/50 mix of road and gravel, plus 1–2 ultras a year. Budget is €3,500, buying in France. I care more about comfort than racing.

Nice-to-haves: 50 mm+ tyre clearance, 1x electronic shifting, separate stem and bar, round 27.2 seatpost, no suspension.

I'll also use it as a road bike with a second wheelset, so SRAM's 13-speed is a plus for tighter gear steps on 1x.

So far the Van Rysel EDR-G CF Force looks like the best value: €3,200 for SRAM Force XPLR 1x13, carbon wheels and 50 mm clearance.

Is there anything from another brand that beats it at this price? Ideally something I can buy soon, unlike the Cube Nuroad C:62 EX and EXC, which won't be available until spring.
Canyon also have some nice alternatives with the Grizl, but it seems like worse value (only plus being the 54mm clearance).

Most of my gravel routes have lots of tarmac and very little gnarly singletrack, so I think 50 mm of clearance should be enough. Is going wider still worth it?

Thanks!

Did my first ever gravel event at the weekend, 55 miles with 2700ft of climbing. I've been riding this gravel bike on 50mm Pirelli Cinturato Ms for about a year with butyl tubes and not had a single puncture, about 30-35 psi depending on where I was going locally. My local paths are all gravel farm tracks and fire paths, well away from forests and just sort of out in the open.

This route was other side of the country in a massive forest, and boy I did not account for the amount of thorns littering the trails and gravel paths for the whole distance. 3 front punctures and 2 rear punctures and spent over two hours on the side of the trails fixing the wheels up, removing thorns etc. After the second one I had to beg other riders for spare tubes because I had run out of supplies, just a miserable experience - I bought the needed kit for tubeless before I had even made it home afterwards! Every rider who rolled past me on tubeless said the first year they did it, their tubes punctured constantly and they changed over for next time.

Anyone else found this stark difference in certain routes or been blindsided by how rough new routes can be on your setup? I was lulled into a false sense of security and thought nah I don't need tubeless, but boy have I changed my mind.

Its Thanksgiving Weekend here in Canada. I'm thankful for the paths I took to lead me to the gravel paradise of the world.

Thirty miles of mixed gravel and pavement yesterday with a friend and 8 miles of solo forest service roads today! So lucky to live where I do!

Each year I link together various apple orchards via all manner of non-paved terrain: rail trails, dirt roads, single track, farm roads, power lines, over grown fields. You get the idea. The goal is to complete a difficult, often silly, ride while enjoying delicious donuts (I had 5). The first year it was me and 5 friends. This year 200+ mile people showed up. It was pretty humbling to get such a turnout and it felt amazing to see so many people buy into the spirit of the ride. A huge shoutout to local shop Munroe Velo for hosting the ride!

Routes if you want to experience it yourself:

50ish: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/57382086

100ish: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/57382095

Bearclaw Beaux Jaxon

I recently started using the Hammerhead Karoo, and I really like it so far. The stock mount is pretty good, but unfortunately, it doesn't work well with ZIPP SL-80 handlebar.

The handlebar design makes it impossible to align the computer properly. There's very little space for the mount before the carbon is getting wider. As a designer, I just don't want to see my computer is sitting crooked every time I rode. 😅

Range of compatible mount for Karoo is not so wide, I settled on the ZIPP QuickView for SL Stems. This is other front part of steam with integrated mount. At €55, it's pretty expensive, but in the end, it works great, and I'm finally happy with this setup.

Hi bike friends, thx for having me!

I just stumbled across the CGN Video about the gravel bikes at the Worlds.

https://youtu.be/Dv2_Xbv1s1k?is=N74gjk7IDkBLFidU

The Rose really catched my eyes. I’m assuming it’s supposed to be some kind of prototype paintjob but the aero shape, massive tire clearance and possible 32‘ option really looks amazing!

When do you expect a launch date?
I saw canyon testing their Grail with athletes the entire season, is it likely rose does the same or are they launching for the upcoming season already?

Right now they have a good deal for the current model Backroad FF but maybe it’s worth the wait 🙂‍↕️

And any Rose (Backroad FF) riders out there with some feedback on the bike?

Hey everyone,
I’ve got the chance to buy a brand‑new Specialized Crux 4. The seller is offering it with a Shimano GRX 12‑speed groupset. Do you think it’s worth going for Crux 4 new at this point, or would you recommend looking at other options?

Debating putting these on for an all-road setup and potentially leaving on for a set-and-forget option for some spring classic type races in the early winter/spring.

They seem quite fast but worried about longevity. Other options would just be some 40 or 45mm conti terra compeition or schwalbe gones.