All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

I’d move homes before I started road biking.

 

I had been riding an aluminum 2011 trek xo1 cyclocross bike with 28c road tires. I now ride a 2019 salsa warbird with 40c gravel tires. The difference in the carbon vs aluminum was ridiculous. I could immediately feel the difference in stiffness (first carbon bike). It is also much more comfortable between the carbon and bigger tires. I’ve done some reading and there are a few calculators (Silca and sram) that give you starting point for tire pressure. I guess fatter tires at lower pressure are more efficient even on the road. I might switch to the slick tires but I’m all about fat tires on the road now.

As far as components on a road/gravel, I really like the feel of sram as far as shifting goes. I’d say it’s more tactile but I have never put many miles on shimano road stuff other than a demo. Apex 1 in my warbird has mechanical disc brakes which I think are fine on the road. I also like 1x on the road even though I start to spin out around 40-45mph, which I’m only hitting on bigger downhills haha.

last note I’d say is to get a proper fitting. Around me they are anywhere from $100 to $300+ depending on the method. I just think fit is way more important on a road bike than mountain bike since you are sitting so much more. Flexibility is also more important IMO especially if you’ve never put many miles in on a drop bar bike.

overall I definitely have more fun on a mountain bike but between the commute to trails and amount of daylight after work it’s not the easiest. Also I just enjoy grinding it out on a road bike sometimes. I have a 16 mile loop I hit in about an hour and i just like seeing myself get faster. That’s just me though

 

As someone with different bikes, I say get a trainer over a road bike if fitness is your goal.

 

Awesome insight. Thank you

Fitness is a positive byproduct, not my primary goal. I have a peleton for when I want to be a sweaty hamster.

 

I have an older Giant TCX alloy cross bike I ride the roads on. I live a bit out in the sticks so the roads are trash and the 30c tires help a bit. Might even try to squeeze bigger on there. Road riding is super boring but it is kinda cool to see the miles click off.

 

Today is a good day

 

Anyone ever run Magura Brakes? Specifically mt7 pro

 

I have those! About to put them on this new frame

absolutely love them. Tricky to get the bleed right but once it’s setup, haven’t had to touch them

dont overtorque them on the handle bars and you’ll be all set

 

I'm currently on a Trek Checkpoint ALR 4. AL with carbon fork. It's actually built for cyclo,gravel,bikepacking. So really it doesn't shine at any of it.

I'm currently running 33c cyclocross tires on it and they've been great. I've had some Schwalbe G-all arounds on them before and also great tires if a bit thicker and slower rolling. But I can still get some good speed on the tarmac.

For quality components, look for at least shimano 105's. You can get gravel specific groupsets like the Shimano GRX or the Sram Red. However, if you're mostly doing road, I think 105's will do you jsut fine. You'll probably get a 2x setup with a 10 speed. I've been weighing the option of changing my cassette to allow a better low range.

remember, the gravel bike will be a little longer and slacker than a dedicated road bike or a cx bike. it's more made for long term comfort and compliance than for racing. But you'll still have its own type of fun!

 

Depending on where you live road riding can be great. Here in Minneapolis there are paved trails and bike friendly roads everywhere which makes for excellent road riding, but if you live in a town with no lanes/shoulders for biking road riding might not be a good option.

I bike 3,000 road miles a year and around 1,000 MTB miles (some years more, just depends on work) and road biking a completely different discipline over MTB. For road riding to be fun you have to want to either go explore new areas or want to go longer/faster than before. For me I love ultra distance riding where I can just go out and be alone all day, my longest ride to date is 182 miles in one day (I was just shy of 300km.) I also ride tons of gravel and it is basically the same as road, much like xc vs trail riding.

Group rides can also make road riding a more fun experience because you will always have someone to talk with, when mountain biking you only get to really talk when you stop but on the road you can talk the whole time. Before covid I rode with a road race group and some of the fastest riders in the group were XC racers who use road riding to train because they hated sitting on a trainer indoors.

As far as equipment goes it really depends on what you want to do. I own bikes from all disciplines of riding; a casual road, a custom built road racer, a titanium gravel racer, a custom steel tourer, full carbon adventure bike, fat bike, a couple single speeds, a 90s rigid 26er, xc full suspension, and my newest bike a carbon XC/trail.

If you want to talk about road/gravel riding you can send me a PM. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

 

Awesome thanks. Highly considering them as an upgrade

 

Send me a PM if you want a discount code. They are on backorder right now on the magura USA shop though

make sure you get their rotors too. Magura recommends them as they’re a bit thicker. Jagwire pads were a nice increase in bite too

 

Hell yeah I will! Thank you.

 

Congrats on the new Banshee frame SummitBound. They make some quality frames.

 

I’m picturing the wifey seeing this photo and going off.

So that’s what you do out there all day when there’s all kinds of chores around the house to do.

 

Thanks man! Pretty excited. The leverage ratios on them work well for heavier guys like me (6’3 210lbs)

 

As much as I hate full suspension rigs for anything other than downhill racing that frame
sure is sexy as fuck.

 

Me being single and going riding whenever the hell I want >

*nothing against being married. But RIP to all my riding buddies that now are "need to check with the wife...she said no" level

 

To those of you above talking gravel bikes: I just went exploring today in the truck and found myself on some backcountry forest roads with loads of campsites to choose from. Also saw about 10 people bike packing on gravel bikes and the grins on their face were huge. These people were climbing 800 ft not well maintained forest roads and having the time of their lif doing it. Have to admit for once I was jealous of a gravel bike when It was time to go downhill a bit. I got passed by some bike packers cus they were able to maneuver themselves much faster around road.

Understand your dislike of full suspension for climbing, but some places where your riding on more rocks than dirt. It's necessary. Some regions a hardtail can be genuinely unsafe to ride unless your a pro or you are a ride 6/7 days a week kind of guy.

 

I think full suspension bikes has it's perks for down hill riding. But I'm old school raised from BMX Racing before
I made the switch to mountain biking. I just think todays full suspension rigs can hide a lot of terrible riding habits.
They are very forgiving bikes in that sense. Plus the prices of bikes today is just plain outrageous. When I raced the
only riders on bikes that cost over $3000 were Factory Pro's. Now you can't even get a middle of the pack cross country
racer for $3000. I can relate bikes to golf equipment. You can have $2000 dollars worth of clubs but they don't fix a one
dollar swing. Just like a $5000 dollar downhill bike doesn't make you faster if you already are slow. At the end of the day
everyone is allowed to spend their money on the toys of their dreams. I just like to bust riders up that have nice rigs.
Life is always better on two wheels