My GravelPackingX experiment has been entertaining!
I've been trying out different width tires and styles of bars.
To start I was on proper gravel style/width tires, WTB Raddler 44mm/42mm. Those were great for commuting and the S2S Trail excursions. As I started coaching the pinner tires didn't have enough volume to take the edge off of the tech that I was riding in Lost Lake even at the speeds I was riding with the 4 year olds. So, I moved up to XC tires - Schwalbe Racing Ray 2.25 and Thunder Burt 2.0.
The XC tires were fun! I pumped them up hard for commuting and aired them down for trail/gravel riding. It is so entertaining riding a rigid bike with pinner, to me, tires on trails! But, the call of Plus tires beckoned and now I have a WTB Ranger 3.0 up front and a Maxxis Ikon+ 2.6 out back. I've also installed Cushcore Pro inserts front and rear which has added about an extra 10 pounds to the bike!
With the Plus tires commuting is a drag. Even with the tires pumped up hard. However, trail and gravel riding is a dream. The traction is unbelievable! I've been playing around with pressures and have found that the Ranger has much better sidewalls than the Ikon. I can ride at around 12 - 13psi in the Ranger without any squirminess. The Ikon doesn't like to have anything below 19psi otherwise it gets really squirmy in anything other than riding in a straight line.
I've been trying out a couple of different types of alt mtb bars.
I started with some knockoff 640mm carbon Corner Bars. I liked how I had them setup for commuting and gravel riding. But, any kind of trail riding the bars were just a bit too narrow and where I had the controls setup on the bars minimized where I could have my hands when riding anything technical. I put on some 800mm Ritchey Kyote bars next. These are much closer to traditional mtb flat bars. These have a 27* sweep and a 63mm rise.
In my nerding out over weird bars I came across bars with built in middle bar ends. I thought to myself 'I can make that myself!', so I did! I bought some bar ends and cut them down shorter and installed them at the start of the sweep on the middle of the bars. Taadaa, homemade weird bars!
I did order another wider set of the knockoff Corner Bars at 720mm because I did really like them. I changed where I had the controls and double taped the bars as well. I also picked up the Redshift add-on roadie grips for the flats (I did have the flats add-on grips for the earlier bar build) and drops on the bars. So far so good. I am enjoying the multiple hand positions and the ability to feel more in control with more width and better control placement.
Alright, enough chitter chatter. On to the photos.
XC tire and Kyote bar setup.

Homemade bar middles!

Plus tires and wider knockoff Corner Bar. And, a new frame bag!

My clumsy double taping job.

Of course I had to get out and try out all the new Lego bits! (To steal a term from A.Major!)

I guess it's not really a gravel bike anymore! It's more of a rigid mtb. Oh well, I can still go gravelling and bikepacking even though it isn't in that category anymore! Haha!