1990's Mountain Bike Thread (aka the gravel bike thread)

That is a sexy mess. I need to get some forks with proper rando rack mounts. I've now got a front rack on both my commuter and my gravel. Love these things. Restrap makes this one and it uses fidlock magnets to attach; brilliant. I have the smaller one on my gravel. Don't know how I lived before front racks on my bikes!

I also bought the derailleur cage off aliexpress. This XX1 11speed derailleur lost a fight with a stick and the cage was twisted but the rest of the derailleur was salvageable. New garbaruk cage and pulley wheels as well as an old deore friction front thumb shifter and a custom 7 of 11speed cassette on a hope single speed hub and now I have a 7speed - so 1990s. Not to mention 73/70 degree angles and chrome rims. The brakes are 1st generation XT disc brakes I bought around 1999 - they feel better than many modern day brakes 23 years later.

Sweet ride.

I’ve converted a 00’s Gary fisher into my gravel/city bike. Short stem and soma dream bars. Gravel king sk 26x2.1 tires half frame bag avid bb7 mech disk. 1x9 11-34. 38 narrow wide. Kona p2 rigid fork.  Brooks b17.  It’s a fun bike. With fenders it’s fun in rain and slop too. Got a hankering to get something steel with disks and move everything over. Velo orange polyvalent if something like that.

Hi,

I have a 2019 Honzo ST frame languishing in my shed and I am gravel/monstercross/rigid curious.

I am currently in the planning/thought experiment stage of the build. I'm hoping to collect parts through this coming winter.

What I envision riding on this rigidmonstergravel is mixed surfaces. I'm not sure if I'd be leaning more towards paved or forest service roads.

Kinda what I was thinking was pedaling to Callaghan Lake from Whistler and, eventually, the S2S Trail to Squamish. Along with riding the less technical trails like Farside and Riverside in the Cheakamus area of Whistler.

The only part that I currently have in the frame is a Works -2° angleset. And, I plan to keep that.

I'm looking at the RSD 510mm rigid fork for the longer A2C. From what I've read it sounds like a longer steel fork could possibly be too flexy. Especially under me being that I'm a giant (6'6"/198cm, 240lbs/108kg).

The thing that I'm having trouble wrapping my head around is the handlebar and hand height. I realize that I'm going to be using a dedicated modern geo mtb frame and that might not work well with drop bars. I have been looking at alt bars such as the Crust Jungle Runner bar. I've also checked out some of the drop bars mentioned in this thread and the Soma Condor 2 drop bar has my curiosity piqued as it is a riser drop bar.

The advantage with alt bars is I can use mtb controls whereas if I use drop bars I'll need to go to roadie style controls. I don't know if the extra Reach that will be added by riding on the hoods will be beneficial. Or if I'll use the drops because of whether it'll be comfortable or not to ride with my hands that low on this (thought experiment) bike.

For wheels I haven't thought too hard about it other than I'm going with 29"/700.

I did run a set of 700x40c tires on my 30id rims on my HT for commuting this past late winter onwards because of the bus strike here in Whistler.

I'm guessing that width of rim will be too wide if I plan on running 40mm width tires. Seeing as I'd like this bike to be fast I was thinking of limiting the tire width to under 2"/50mm.

So, what do people think?

Am I way off base with the direction my ideas are going? It has been over 30 years since I've actually ridden a road/cx bike. Which means my frame of reference is super outdated.

Posted by: RideEverything

Hi,

I have a 2019 Honzo ST frame languishing in my shed and I am gravel/monstercross/rigid curious.

I am currently in the planning/thought experiment stage of the build. I'm hoping to collect parts through this coming winter.

What I envision riding on this rigidmonstergravel is mixed surfaces. I'm not sure if I'd be leaning more towards paved or forest service roads.

Kinda what I was thinking was pedaling to Callaghan Lake from Whistler and, eventually, the S2S Trail to Squamish. Along with riding the less technical trails like Farside and Riverside in the Cheakamus area of Whistler.

The only part that I currently have in the frame is a Works -2° angleset. And, I plan to keep that.

I'm looking at the RSD 510mm rigid fork for the longer A2C. From what I've read it sounds like a longer steel fork could possibly be too flexy. Especially under me being that I'm a giant (6'6"/198cm, 240lbs/108kg).

The thing that I'm having trouble wrapping my head around is the handlebar and hand height. I realize that I'm going to be using a dedicated modern geo mtb frame and that might not work well with drop bars. I have been looking at alt bars such as the Crust Jungle Runner bar. I've also checked out some of the drop bars mentioned in this thread and the Soma Condor 2 drop bar has my curiosity piqued as it is a riser drop bar.

The advantage with alt bars is I can use mtb controls whereas if I use drop bars I'll need to go to roadie style controls. I don't know if the extra Reach that will be added by riding on the hoods will be beneficial. Or if I'll use the drops because of whether it'll be comfortable or not to ride with my hands that low on this (thought experiment) bike.

For wheels I haven't thought too hard about it other than I'm going with 29"/700.

I did run a set of 700x40c tires on my 30id rims on my HT for commuting this past late winter onwards because of the bus strike here in Whistler.

I'm guessing that width of rim will be too wide if I plan on running 40mm width tires. Seeing as I'd like this bike to be fast I was thinking of limiting the tire width to under 2"/50mm.

So, what do people think?

Am I way off base with the direction my ideas are going? It has been over 30 years since I've actually ridden a road/cx bike. Which means my frame of reference is super outdated.

Don't worry too much about the rim and tyre width. A friend of mine brazed his own touring frame and runs ~60mm tyres. 

Big volume means a smoother ride, and the speed comes more from the tread pattern and casing suppleness. Go big, low profile and soft casing.

Posted by: RideEverything

The thing that I'm having trouble wrapping my head around is the handlebar and hand height. I realize that I'm going to be using a dedicated modern geo mtb frame and that might not work well with drop bars. I have been looking at alt bars such as the Crust Jungle Runner bar. I've also checked out some of the drop bars mentioned in this thread and the Soma Condor 2 drop bar has my curiosity piqued as it is a riser drop bar.

The advantage with alt bars is I can use mtb controls whereas if I use drop bars I'll need to go to roadie style controls. I don't know if the extra Reach that will be added by riding on the hoods will be beneficial. Or if I'll use the drops because of whether it'll be comfortable or not to ride with my hands that low on this (thought experiment) bike.

Previous ATB bar setup ^^ - 16 deg sweep & 35mm rise SQ Labs with inner bar ends.

ATB --> https://bikepacking.com/plog/atb-manifesto/

I've gone through A LOT of bar options and I think Alt bars are the best for an All Terrain Bicycle. In their most common forms [higher sweep] they are very comfortable for all day pavement or non-technical gravel/dirt rides. They are fine for mildy techy singletrack, but at some point the higher sweep doesn't work as well for most people when things get steep and techy. The nice thing with using Alt bars is that you can swap in a "normal" MTB bar or a lower sweep Alt bar for those techy rides and your riding position isn't out of whack.

I enjoy drop bars for strictly non-technical riding, but I don't really want a bike for that given where I live. With Alt bars I can explore and know that it'll have to get really spicy before I'd wish I was on something else and they work great on non-techy riding segments as well.

For hand height I've settled on level with saddle or a bit higher. I can cruise comfortably all day like that and ride black diamond+ tech as well. This is definitely a YMMV, but for an ATB I'd err on the side of too comfortable. 

If you use an Alt bar like the Jones or add some inside bar ends you can get a low/forward aero position for punching through headwinds without needing drops. 

I'm planning on a tour with more techy singletrack than pavement/gravel so I'm going to swap in a 9 deg sweep & 70mm rise MTB bar for that trip. Better for shreddy control, but the Alt bar will go back on when I get home.

Current ATB bar setup ^^^ - Soma Dream Bar 30 deg sweep & 70mm rise.

Posted by: Vikb

I enjoy drop bars for strictly non-technical riding, but I don't really want a bike for that given where I live. With Alt bars I can explore and know that it'll have to get really spicy before I'd wish I was on something else and they work great on non-techy riding segments as well.

Yeah - bars comes down to distance/terrain style to me.  The longer and less technical, the more I want drop bars, anything above 40-50km, drops all the way.  Found some great 50km FSR loops in Kamloops and drops were ideal, but when I’m ripping lost lake loops in Whistler (generally less than 20km, and popping onto blues) I’m jealous of my buddy with a wide flat bar.

Thanks for the input!

Vikb, I'm quite sure I'll never get my bars to the same level as my seat. I'm a giant and in all of my bike riding career those two components have never gotten close to level seat and bars! Haha!

The inner bar ends(?) look like something to use if I can't track down a bar that suits me.

During the first covid lockdown in the Spring of 2020 none of the Whistler trails had melted out and I found myself doing road miles on my HT with skinny xc tires swapped on. What I found with riding about 2 - 3 hours every day was that traditional riser bars didn't cut it for hand positions I wanted.

That's why I like the look of the Jungle Runner and bars that are similar.

I'm definitely making arbitrary rules for my build. Tire width seems to be one of those rules! I'm not sure why I'm stuck on trying to keep the width narrower than 50mm.

I obviously need to stop the silly rule making!

Again, thanks for the discussion.

I’m a big fan of the soma dream bars.  I think I will put some bar tape on it for some variety for hand positions.  Maybe some bar ends in the middle but I’ve always been meh to how that looks.

With regards to Bar, a lot of the avant garde gravel bars have limited reach and drop.

Something like this might do?

The curves and resting spots of a drop bar and hoods do far more that just different hand positions. They help avoid pressure on the median nerve as it travels in the hand. They also alow you to get your back/shoulders/arms into different positions as you move from the tops to the outer curve of the bar and all the way to the hoods or drops. In each hand position, your back, neck, arms and shoulders also sit in different positions and the weight is distributed differently. I think the drop bar is essential for any really long trips. In terms of technical, I did the powerhouse plunge in squamish on a surley karate monkey with a drop bar. Don't be fooled about a curvy bar, you can still ride whatever you want.

With regards to your concerns about a flexy rigid fork, in my experience a flexy rigid fork is still more precise than a stiff suspension fork. I wouldn't worry about a long rigid fork. I'm 220lbs and ride a 500mm AC rigid fork on my MTB. It's plenty stiff.

In terms of position, maybe just leave lots of steerer and go for a slightly longer stem? I find I like my bars about 5cm lower than my saddle on my gravel bike. In terms of ETT, my gravel bike is about 20mm shorter than my mtb but my stem is 40mm longer and then my bar has an 80mm reach. I think you are doing reasonably well if you put your tops about 40mm further ahead than your mtb bar.

I ran 42c tires on some wider internal width rims front was around 26 and rear was 32 inner width. They didn't handle well. I then put 53c tires on and they worked better. Definitely noticed the difference in speed. I feel like 42 are the balance between speed and comfort. I'm running 42cc tires on 23inner width rims and like that combo.

Not sure if any of that helps....

When it comes to drop bars or even the more alternative Alt bars and steep techy terrain I would verify for yourself that you can ride what you want to with comfort and confidence. If drops work for you that's great, but it's certainly something I would question unless you have verified that. As I noted above I'm going to swap in a "normal" MTB bar for a techy singletrack tour in place of a 30 deg sweep Alt bar. Can I get down those trails with the Alt bar? Sure. Will I have as much fun as on the MTB bar? Nope.

I've ridden drop bar bikes in places where I shouldn't have and lived to tell the tale, but I don't enjoy being terrified. So I'll avoid that as much as possible. Once I realized I could ride an Alt bar comfortably 200K in a day my one remaining interest in drops vanished. That's as far I need to roll a bicycle in 24hrs and it's not going to be a frequent occurrence with ~80-120K being more normal distances when GRoad riding.

I've never used them, but the Surly Corner Bar works with MTB controls and TT lengths if you want to try something "dropbaresque" without the hassle/cost of swapping in Groad parts.

https://surlybikes.com/parts/corner_bar

Those are cool but there’s no on the hoods position which is where I would spend most of my time if I had drops.

Then again, this is my usual positioning so what do I know.