neologisticzand profile

For that sketchy narrow singletrack mentioned, yes, some of those trails get to be too narrow in spots for 760mm wide bars, as the trails are walked-in singletrack, so wider bars were not accounted for.

@Fartymarty, I do think your suggestion makes sense if you're doing a ride that is more trail intensive. 

However, on a ride where you're grinding out miles, I'd definitely not enjoy a XC bike as much. There are also circumstances where an XC bike would just not be an option. For example, a few years ago I was doing a night ride gravel series with a group of riders where we would do 40-60 mile rides (75%+ gravel/dirt road) in a 2 person wide paceline. In a situation like that, XC flat bars wouldn't work well. Some of those rides got very fast, so it was helpful to have chainring clearance for greater than a 36-38t chainring, which is the limit that is common on an a rigid xc bike

I'm with you on that @Cooper Quinn. I've never enjoyed the feeling of wider drop bars. I imagine it is likely for the same reason, my main riding position is on the hoods, which feels odd on large bars. I always feel best with bars that put my wrist, elbows, and shoulders in a fairly neutrally lined-up position (ie. 42cm bars for my shoulder width). 

Additionally, I take my gravel bike on some sketchy narrow singletrack trails and expect that super wide drop bars would make for even more of a tight squeeze in some places.

While I'm on a role being curmudgeonly, I also don't like flared bars

This is what always makes me wonder what fork I'd be best suited with, but I don't want to buy a fork just to experiment. 

For a 160mm fork (which is there the lyrik and zeb overlap), I wonder at what rider weight the stiffer fork becomes more notable/necessary?

Wow, that's a beautiful bike! Really furthers my desire to have one. If only I could figure out a place to get one here in the US. Should I get one, I imagine that I would likely emulate your setup almost exactly as it seems to be a good balance of grip and speed

How long ago were the chasis issues? I know the first gen had the two part tube/head which had some failures. 

I've had an og bikeyoke that's probably 4+years old now and still has plenty of life left in it.  And just bought a newer, larger drop revive. Clearly I'm also one of those people who support the brand. I've also used their yoke for an older specialized camber. Any time I've had questions, I've had such great assistance from Sacki.

Agreed on having all the hand positions on drop bars. For days in the saddle over 2hrs, it gets nice to have some body mobility, especially if it is a lot of grinding away miles while seated. Also a big fan of the tucked onto the hoods hand position, make use of that as much as the drops.

For me it is: 

Mountain bike background --> Road --> Gravel

I ride on the hoods predominantly, regardless of if it is singletrack or if it is pure gravel road. I do use the drops, but more so on the road. Only use the hooks for sprinting out of the saddle or very fast descending on a road bike (usually still descend on the hoods otherwise). Tops are for comfort on longer climbs.

If you wanted to know about gearing choice, I ride:

Gravel: 48/31 w/ 11-34 (GRX)

Road: 48/35 w/ 10-33 (Force Etap)

And of course 1x on a mtb, with chainring size depending where I am, always 10-50 cassette.

My prior gravel bike was 42T with an 11-36 cassette (Rival 1x)

My usual gravel ride is about 10 miles of singletrack with 20-40 miles of canal tow path mixed in.

Curious as to how I fit into your theory. FWIW, my current dream drop bar bike something like the new Specialized Crux with 2 wheelsets, fat slicks and knobbies.

In the interest of discussing the FD, I personally chose a gravel bike with a 2x setup when I bought my bike. In my case, I live in an area that has me on fairly mellow terrain (canal tow path) for a lot of my ride, with some small undulations mixed in. For that sort of riding, I find that having a smaller range cassette really is nice. I don't think it's absolutely necessary, but I do like the ability to sit in the 48t (on GRX 810) and shift back and forth between the mid-higher gears of the cassette for tighter control over cadence when grinding out miles. When I'm on singletrack, I just leave my bike in the 31T and ride it like it's a 1x bike.

I have absolutely no complaints about my GRX front mech after about a year of use! Pretty set and forget, with minimal adjustments needed. Shimano also did a good job at making it easy to set up.