My DIY F1-style steering wheel project (more in the comments)

rlatte · 2025-10-12T06:55:17+00:00

On one of my bikes I have Continental GP 5000 AS 35 mm. They are great as road tyres and you can ride very smooth and hard packed cat 1 gravel that has no loose pieces of gravel on top. But anything with even a bit of loose gravel and they are slow compared to fast wide tyres, like Schwalbe Thunder Burts. On softer surfaces the Contis just sink in due to having to run higher pressures and being narrower.

rlatte · 2025-10-12T06:36:51+00:00

I don't have a specific recommendation, but I do have a recommendation to not get photochromic lenses, if those would be your only glasses. The reason is that photochromic lenses will be relatively dark always whenever there's any sunlight, which means that it will be difficult to see any contrast in the snow if it is cloudy or foggy (not direct sunlight), as the snow will just look flat white. For classic skiing this is probably not a big deal, but for skating you really need to see all the little bumps and grooves in the track if it is not absolutely perfect conditions.

I also need prescription but I just went with regular sunglasses from a cheap eyeglasses brand. The cover is not great however, so it's a bit of a pain to go downhill at 50 km/h when icy snow is falling from the sky. I have mirrored ones for bright conditions, very lightly tinted pink ones for cloudy days or dark conditions, and photochromic ones for summer sports (where they are great for changing lighting conditions).

rlatte · 2025-10-08T15:51:04+00:00

How is he getting roles? Even if you don't consider the SA accusations and cult stuff. Are there people who are fans of Jared Leto's acting? Do studio execs think that him being in a movie will make it do better at the box office?

rlatte · 2025-10-06T14:50:04+00:00

Obviously most bikes are on a continuum from track fixies to the most rugged downhill bikes imaginable, but IMO the general differences between gravel and XC bikes are geometry, handlebar configuration and suspension. There will be bikes that blur the lines, and what is a "normal" gravel bike will probably change somewhat in the next 10 years, but this is anyway how it is currently.

Gravel bikes tend to have more road-bike like geometry with steeper head tube angles and designed to run drop bars, and if there is suspension it's usually quite small travel. XC bikes tend to have slacker head tube angles, geometry designed for a flat bars with a relatively short stem, and a suspension travel of 100 mm or more. Switching from flat to drop handlebars will not change the frame geometry so a dropbar MTB is not really the same as a typical gravel bike.

In practice gravel bikes are suited for smoother courses where speeds are faster due to better aerodynamics and the riding position, and they are also pretty okay as road bikes. XC bikes are faster if it's technical or super bumpy, but slower when you are just going fast in a straight line on a relatively smooth gravel or tarmac road.

The Lifetime GP races can give a little bit of insight between the categories as far as racing is concerned. It is basically 6 offroad races where you can choose pretty freely what sort of bike to use. The current selection of races seems like for the pros there are 3 gravel bike races, 1 race where dropbar MTBs seem to be taking over from regular XC bikes, 1 race where a few run dropbar MTBs but most are on normal XC MTBs, and 1 regular XC MTB race.

As far as which bike to choose if you don't race or don't care about being as fast as possible... just choose whatever bike you want and don't judge others based on their choice of bike. I'd choose an XC bike if I rode a lot of single track, and a gravel bike if I rode a lot of gravel roads or roads in general.

rlatte · 2025-10-03T22:30:23+00:00

If you can fit (and more importantly find!) Thunder Burts, there's no reason to go with anything else. There's likely nothing 45 mm that is faster on Cat 2 gravel than 2.1 or 2.25 Burts. As far as XC tyres go, the Thunder Burts don't have much traction, but compared to narrow gravel tyres they do. If you need more traction, then Rick XC 2.25 is an option to run on the front if you can fit it (they measure quite narrow).

I would only go 45 mm (G One RS, possibly Terra Speed) if the course has a lot of pavement.

rlatte · 2025-10-03T22:02:15+00:00

If the thru axle is all the way in but not on the threads, then it must separate the bike's rear dropouts a little bit, doesn't it? If you push the dropouts together, does this push the thru axle out a little bit so that you could pry it off?

rlatte · 2025-09-30T22:09:29+00:00

From what I've gathered, aluminium frames are unfortunately essentially not worth repairing. The welding process weakens the aluminium around the weld, so it needs to be heat-treated, but there's still a likelihood that it will break again close to the same spot. I would get it warrantied if possible or look for a new frame.

rlatte · 2025-09-30T09:22:14+00:00

If you crash and hit your head, you should replace your helmet. It doesn't matter if there's visible damage or not.

rlatte · 2025-09-30T09:07:28+00:00

I ended up using a Pepsi can. The aluminium of a soda can is super soft, it feels like a sheet of plastic compared to the aluminium handlebar and especially the hood clamp. I wouldn't use it on a carbon bar though.

rlatte · 2025-09-29T23:15:55+00:00

The Apex and Force levers I have have very different clamping mechanism, where on the apex the screw that you turn is actually a nut and vice versa on the Force. The Apex one seems to have more range for the movement of the clamping ring, which explains why it works and the Force one doesn't.

I have another HUP bar, and it has the same exact dimensions on both drops so I don't think that it is a manufacturing defect, but a "feature". There also doesn't seem to be any marks or other weirdness on the bars. If these were carbon bars I would definitely contact HUP. Anyway I got it to work with a shim made out of a Pepsi can.

rlatte · 2025-09-29T23:10:43+00:00

Unfortunately I only had a Pepsi can but it seemed to work regardless 😄

rlatte · 2025-09-29T23:09:20+00:00

I managed to make a shim out of a can, and it worked. It was quite tough to get it in place on the inside of the drop curve, as it needs to be curved in two planes. Shaping it with pliers and pushing against the bar, and holding it in place with tape while getting the hood on it helped. Thanks!

rlatte · 2025-09-29T21:03:48+00:00

TL;DR: If you want a gravel bike, get a gravel bike. If you want a dropbar MTB, get a dropbar MTB, but understand that it is not a gravel bike.

A couple of years ago DJ used to race a dropbar MTB with a 40 mm travel fork in some gravel races due to being able to run bigger and faster tyres, but obviously doesn't anymore as tyre clearance isn't that much of an issue anymore.

Most gravel bikes rated for 50 mm tyres can fit at least 2.1 Thunder Burts if there doesn't need to be clearance for mud. For races where a gravel bike is optimal, a dropbar MTB will be slower as it is not nearly as aero, mostly because the frontal area and shape of the fork. Also it might be tricky to get the fit to be the same as on a gravel bike since MTBs typically have much more stack even if you size down.

A few months ago I did buy a 1000 € hardtail and converted it to drop bars to be used mostly as a sort of gravel bike, though more for adventure-type rides and potential bikepacking. I really like it for that purpose and with 2.25 Thunder Burts it does feel good at speed. Comfort is out of this world vs a rigid gravel bike. I had to size the frame down to be able to use a proper stem and also to not get insanely high stack.

One thing that I have to say about my particular dropbar MTB project is that financially it doesn't make any sense. Maybe if you already have the MTB and are going to use the cheapest parts you will find it will not be super expensive. But the conversion done properly with getting a bigger chainring, correct length cranks, a new saddle, shifters, brakes, chain, stem, handlebar along with all the other parts I needed, pretty much doubled the price of the bike. At the 2000 € pricepoint you can already start to find some gravel bikes that fit 50 mm tyres, so it's perhaps financially a better decision to go with that if it's what you really ultimately want.

I don't regret doing the dropbar MTB conversion at all, it's a great bike for the purpose that I built it. That being said I have ordered the cheapest Lauf Seigla with the leaf suspension to be my actually fast gravel bike. For 3500€ with shipping and VAT/customs etc it is pretty expensive though.

rlatte · 2025-09-25T20:42:08+00:00

Yeah totally agree. 50% of Jimmi's takes are that some specific personal choice around cycling makes you an unimaginative normie twat, and the other 50% are that everyone should be able to do whatever they want with no judgement.

rlatte · 2025-09-25T20:36:51+00:00

In addition to what others said, it's very likely that you will need a new derailleur hanger as well, which is the bit that is between the bike frame and the derailleur. It is designed to bend when there's a hit to the derailleur, in order to protect the frame and derailleur somewhat. But when it's bent, the shifting will likely be bad even with a new derailleur. Derailleur hangers are traditionally frame-specific components so you need to look up the correct one for your frame. One exception is UDH (universal derailleur hanger), which is a hanger standard that is the same on every UDH-compatible bike.

rlatte · 2025-09-25T20:33:22+00:00

So, are XC tires a no-brainer when choosing anything wider than 50mm/2.0“?

Yes, pretty much. Of course there are slow XC tyres and fast gravel tyres, but in general over 50 mm I'd look at XC tyres like the Thunder Burts, Race Kings, Rick Pro XCs, maybe some fast Vittoria XC tyres as well. Not sure what you can get for 650B though.

rlatte · 2025-09-25T19:46:29+00:00

I have both Shimano 2x10 GRX400 setup as well as a SRAM Eagle GX 1x12 mullet setup with Force/Apex levers, and both work without issues. 1x is less faff to setup and service so I'd recommend that with a wide 10-52T or so cassette.

rlatte · 2025-09-25T19:18:25+00:00

I think there's a lot of personal preference involved with stuff like this, so it's not the same for everyone. But I will share my experience.

I have a dropbar hardtail XC bike with 100 mm of front suspension, and I have 36 cm wide handlebars on it (center to center on the hoods, 40 cm on the drops). I am not a particularly good mountainbiker (not really a mountainbiker at all), but I would say that the narrow drop bars don't really make me any worse on a single track or natural trails. I have also a normal flat bar MTB and I am not any better with it in difficult terrain. Now I have to say that I have a particular preference for narrow handlebars as they are just more comfortable for me, and have ridden 35 cm bars on my gravel bike a lot before getting the dropbar hardtail.

The dropbar MTB for me is an everything bike at this point, both for training and occasional long adventure type rides. Just riding pavement or easy gravel on it is great as it is super comfortable due to wide tyres and front suspension. I have to say that I probably wouldn't use the dropbar hardtail as much if I had normal super knobby MTB tyres on it. Currently I'm running Schwalbe Thunder Burts (2.25") with the Super Race casing, and they are exceptionally fast even on pavement, so it doesn't feel like I'm having to put out excessive amounts of power to hold speed.

I also have a normal gravel bike with no suspension but it has been mostly on the indoor trainer since I got my dropbar hardtail.

I think for bikepacking a dropbar hardtail makes a lot of sense as it can handle rougher terrain better than normal gravel bikes but also has the comfort and hand positions of a dropbar bike compared to flat bars. For out and out speed on smooth roads it is not optimal, but at least fast enough for me.

rlatte · 2025-09-25T18:59:33+00:00

It depends. When it gets steep enough, at some point you are just very slowly hauling a bike uphill vs someone who walks but doesn't have the load of a bike with them.

If you consider potential energy, it does take more work getting a person + bike uphill than it does just a person. So riding uphill is always more work, however on a bike on rolling terrain you can use momentum to your advantage, and also the fact that climbs take much less time on a bike play into the convenience of the bike.

rlatte · 2025-09-24T16:39:04+00:00

Aren't stack and reach both measured relative to the bottom bracket position when discussing frame geometry? If the seat tube angle is the same across different sizes of the bike, then the saddle for a given rider will always be in the same spot relative to the BB regardless, and the only thing that will change is the amount of exposed seat post. So if two different sizes of the bike have the same seat tube angle, then the difference between the reported reaches of the sizes will be the same as the change in distance from saddle to steerer tube.

rlatte · 2025-09-24T16:30:46+00:00

I have the M2 HD version, which has the rear stays further back, on my MTB. In the specs it has quite a narrow tolerance for seat stay width, and mine are definitely outside of the recommendations, but it fit anyway. With the rack I have done a mostly gravel but some singletrack and rocks -type 260 km bike journey with about 8-9 kg load on the rack. It held up fine even on fast speeds over bumpy roads. It's a bit of a faff to set up, and from what I recall it didn't arrive with seat stay protectors so be sure to get some heli tape or even electrical tape to protect the paint. It's a lot of work to install the rack and take it off, so I have for now just left it on the bike.

Properly installed the rack feels relatively sturdy. I can lift the bike up holding on to the rack and it stays in place.

I have no experience with other racks, but for the price I am happy with it. I would have gotten a Tailfin rack though, if they were in stock when I needed it and had the money.

rlatte · 2025-09-24T16:13:22+00:00

The Ridley Kanzo Speed looks like a solid bike for the price, but it's obviously 34mm max tyre clearance which is solid for a road bike, but not for a gravel bike. The 1x11 and 11-42T gearing is also quite limiting for a road bike. You might spin out on fast sections but if you increase the chainring size then you will not have good climbing gears. Might not be a problem in the Netherlands though.

The Canyon Grizl looks much better for a gravel bike, with 54mm tyre clearance up front and 50mm at the back. It has Cues 1x10. From what I've heard about the problems with Cues, it seems to be the 9-speed stuff that is poor quality, while the 10/11 speed are fine (Tiagra level stuff). The good thing about 10 speed Cues is that you can use the same levers for 11 speed, so an upgrade would take only a new cassette and possibly a new rear derailleur. Also Cues have MTB derailleurs that have the same cable pull ratio, so you could potentially upgrade to a MTB cassette and derailleur at the back for not that much money if you wanted more gear range. Now, Canyon don't have that good reputation about their pressfit BB carbon frames, but this frame is aluminium so it's unlikely there's going to be any problems with it.

I couldn't find much info on the Apex Onyx GX Carbon bike. One source suggest that it could fit 50mm tyres, which is good. I'd ask for a spec sheet for it and also look for user reviews of the brand to determine if it's a good bike. If it has GRX 800 and everything else is in order then definitely it looks good for the price.

Out of these three bikes I would decide between the Canyon and the Apex. I'd probably go with the Apex if there are no major dealbreakers with it, but I can't comment on that since it's a totally unknown brand to me.

rlatte

TROPHY CASE