Gravel riding

[Catrin]

Catrin, I don't want you to take this wrong, but it seems to me there is a tendency to over think all this stuff. Why not just make sure the saddle is a good pedaling height(that's all you should need to do to protect your knees), and go out and put some gravel road miles on the dang thing. You will never be able to outfit a bike to fit all contingencies.

Yes, I do tend to over think. In THIS case, however, I can't get to a good pedaling height. That was fine for the trails but not for longer distance riding.

[Irulan]

Yes, I do tend to over think. In THIS case, however, I can't get to a good pedaling height. That was fine for the trails but not for longer distance riding.

I don't understand unless the seatpost is not long enough. All of my mountain bikes will extend to an appropriate hieght for long distance ( road style) pedaling....11 miles of gravel road climbing for example. I don't think I could ride certain trails without this. I routinely change my seat height - full extension for almost any sort of climbing, about 1/2'-1" lower for extremely rolling terrain, and lots lower for full on descending. There are plenty of trail I ride at full extension, probably 80% of them When I do clinics we mark the climbing height on everyone's seatpost for reference.

What I'm trying to say is I can't imagine anyone having a mountain bike that you can't get to correct pedaling height. If you are riding with your seat generally too low, well no wonder you are having problems. Seat too low can feel awkward and cause knee pain, and it's certainly not very efficient.

[Catrin]

The bike is 1 size small because of fit issues, I and my fitter worked this out at the beginning. It is fine for single-track and feels great, but it isn't right for road riding. If I get the seat post up any higher (which it will do as we replaced the original seatpost with a very long one), I am then in too aggressive a position for my neck - it can't be stretched out because of whiplash & arthritis. It won't be a very expensive fix, I just need to save up for it. It is a pain to be sure, and we knew when we worked this out that this might be eventually necessary. Every other mountain bike we looked at that was the right size would have stretched my neck out far too much...and the consequences of that isn't pleasant. Even before the whiplash injury I couldn't tolerate my neck to be stretched too far - though I didn't know why.

So, while it sounds like over-thinking, it isn't. I just need to bring up the stem and handlebar to accommodate the higher saddle height - and it needs to go up quite a bit. This will make me more upright of course, and my fitters original concern was that would have had me too upright for single-track and would have caused weight distribution problems. It never felt too low on the trails, but as soon as I hit pavement with it I was very aware of it.

If my skills had advanced enough that I could have ridden long distances on the trail without stopping it would have eventually become a problem and another solution would have needed to be found, but it wasn't a problem on the trails I was riding (and miss). I know it wasn't helping me with efficiency, I don't think it affected my crash/ride ratio. I was only riding every couple of weeks so it probably wasn't really affecting my knees...

[goldfinch]

I ride on ratty gravel roads. I think the more aggressive tread on the front makes sense. The rear tire will follow.

[Hi Ho Silver]

Riding on gravel can be challenging. Sometimes the front tire will be knocked off track by deep gravel (similar to when trying to plow through deep sand), so steering occasionally requires body english and upper body strength. I would put the biggest (i.e., fattest) tire on the front so that you have maximum flotation and the wheel has more momentum to resist being knocked off track. Also, try to read the trail ahead and avoid those ares that have built up piles of gravel like downward sloping sides of curves. Braking can be iffy, especially on curves. Always be prepared to use body english when braking so that you can control the inevitable skiding. Generally, riding on gravel requires staying alert and being able to "manhandle" the bike to compensate for the surface being so unpredictable.

[Bike Writer]

I ride a fair amount on gravel roads because there are so many where I live and the country side is beautiful. About the only thing I can add to the discussion is the bit about gravel roads and consistency. There is none. On the same stretch of road you can traverse between big chunky gravel to smooth hard pack dirt. Of course add into the mix clay and it's a never ending fluid shifting terrain. Also add into the mix that road commissions regularly grade the roads so that one day you might take a ride on hard pack that is almost like a paved road except with the washboard effect and go down that same road a day later when the road has been graded and now you are surfing through big chunks but not dodging the potholes and washboard.

Have fun!

For sure, it keeps it interesting!

[Sky King]

okay, I am throwing out food for thought. Have you considered a "fat bike" yet? the bigger tires will give you the float and the cushion you may need for the physical limitations. Here is Tad, one of our friends on his Surly Pugsley. He loves, loves it for gravel. We also have friends on Salsa Mukluk, Surly Trolls and the new Surly Krampus will be out in the spring.