Gravel/Bikepack nerds enter...

[sethschmautz]

Yeah. It's the 2019 with the hybrid hydraulic brake adaptor thing - glad I asked!

In a related note I rode the 2018 diverge this afternoon on pavement, flat singletrack and gravel. The gimmicky headshock thing is actually pretty nice. I was also pretty surprised about how well the seatpost soaked up bumps. Definitely leaning in that direction at the moment.

If anybody has a 56-58 gravel bike for sale I'm interested.

Seth

[huckbucket]

Yeah. It's the 2019 with the hybrid hydraulic brake adaptor thing - glad I asked!

In a related note I rode the 2018 diverge this afternoon on pavement, flat singletrack and gravel. The gimmicky headshock thing is actually pretty nice. I was also pretty surprised about how well the seatpost soaked up bumps. Definitely leaning in that direction at the moment.

If anybody has a 56-58 gravel bike for sale I'm interested.

Seth

pinkbike is an addiction. Lots of nice rides in buy/sell

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

pinkbike is an addiction. Lots of nice rides in buy/sell

It's pretty crazy the number of super nice bikes that literally look like they got ridden in the driveway once and then hung in the garage next to the Allroad for 3 months and then sold on PB.

[huckbucket]

It's pretty crazy the number of super nice bikes that literally look like they got ridden in the driveway once and then hung in the garage next to the Allroad for 3 months and then sold on PB.

Dammit! This is sex. Want.

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2750612/

[meepmoop24]

Anyone run inserts in their gravel tires? I'm finding that I'm hitting my rim quite a bit and was thinking of putting something like Huck Norris or another lightweight insert in.

[climberevan]

Why not just pump up your tires?

[simple]

Agreed. What tires and pressure are you running?

[kathleenturneroverdrive]

I nailed my rim a few times on my morning ride today (38c tire @ 30psi) and def spent some ride time thinking about adding inserts. But I think I'd rather just put the money/added weight into beefier tires vs. inserts. Maybe I'm wrong about that?

[buttahflake]

30 psi in a 38c is low. I’m 147 lbs, running 38’s at 37 psi. No strikes.

[CantDog]

Dammit! This is sex. Want.

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2750612/

A friend is running a stigmata with 650b and a mullet 1x drivetrain. Sexy AF.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

I nailed my rim a few times on my morning ride today (38c tire @ 30psi) and def spent some ride time thinking about adding inserts. But I think I'd rather just put the money/added weight into beefier tires vs. inserts. Maybe I'm wrong about that?

I am running 40-42psi in 38c Gravelkings. Running mid 30s felt slow and too soft. Am I wrong? Is running 40psi actually making the tire slower somehow? I like my gravel bike to feel more like a road bike than an MTB. I only weigh 140-150lbs.

Is too much air a thing?

[simple]

40 psi is my # as well. I want it fast uphill and I pop off rocks on DH so it needs to not deform. Tubeless 650*47c

When racing cyclocross i get rim bangers but we are looking for traction with aggressive corners so run ultra low pressure and tires that stay on the rim.

Different horses for different courses.

[kathleenturneroverdrive]

Is too much air a thing?

This has some good info, but you could say that test only applies to 35 G-one's on a mellow gravel road.

I'm typically somewhere in the 35-40 range but did run 30psi the past few rides and set some PR's both uphill and down. So who knows. Either way, after some rim strikes today I'm going back up to a higher psi.

[meepmoop24]

Agreed. What tires and pressure are you running?

I'm running Gravelking SK 35c at 34/38 F/R. Could pump up the tires more but I'm thinking I'll lose traction that way.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Yeah I am gonna try to run a little lower air pressure today. Definitely lose cornering traction with the higher PSI and I see how it makes sense for the tire to deform over small bumps rather than bounce off of everything.

Gonna see how far a 38c Slick Gravelking can go. I don't really want to go full on bikepacking/XC tires, but I think that's where I need to go. I want to try some overnighters up near Seely and or Whitefish/Wild West Route areas this summer.

[TrueNorth]

Is too much air a thing?

Tire pressure for fastest speed has been a hot topic in the roadie world for the past few years. It turns out there is an optimum pressure that depends on the road surface roughness (as well as tire and rim size, and rider weight), and it is usually lower than most people think (at least for road/gravel riding).

At too low pressure, you lose power deforming the tire as it rolls, and at too high pressure you lose power by lifting the bike and rider up and over all the little bumps instead of absorbing them in the tire (assuming we're talking about non-suspension bikes here). The rougher the surface, the lower the pressure you want for max speed.

Most people equate the road feedback they feel with high pressure tires to speed, but if you can feel every little bump in the road you're actually wasting power with all that vibration. Plus, if you're hanging on for dear life to stay in control, you're probably not pedaling as hard as you could.

This chart is a good starting point for pressure vs rim size, tire width, rider weight, and surface type. I don't know if these pressures are optimized for speed or something else, but I just got my best Strava segment result ever (2nd place!) on a gravel path following their gravel pressure recommendation.
https://www.enve.com/en/tirepressure/

Depending on your riding goals, you may want to adjust your pressure for something other than max speed (e.g. lower pressures for traction and a more comfortable ride, or higher to prevent rim strikes or pinch flats).

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Tire pressure for fastest speed has been a hot topic in the roadie world for the past few years. It turns out there is an optimum pressure that depends on the road surface roughness (as well as tire and rim size, and rider weight), and it is usually lower than most people think (at least for road/gravel riding).

At too low pressure, you lose power deforming the tire as it rolls, and at too high pressure you lose power by lifting the bike and rider up and over all the little bumps instead of absorbing them in the tire (assuming we're talking about non-suspension bikes here). The rougher the surface, the lower the pressure you want for max speed.

Most people equate the road feedback they feel with high pressure tires to speed, but if you can feel every little bump in the road you're actually wasting power with all that vibration. Plus, if you're hanging on for dear life to stay in control, you're probably not pedaling as hard as you could.

This chart is a good starting point for pressure vs rim size, tire width, rider weight, and surface type. I don't know if these pressures are optimized for speed or something else, but I just got my best Strava segment result ever (2nd place!) on a gravel path following their gravel pressure recommendation.
https://www.enve.com/en/tirepressure/

Depending on your riding goals, you may want to adjust your pressure for something other than max speed (e.g. lower pressures for traction and a more comfortable ride, or higher to prevent rim strikes or pinch flats).

Yeah thanks. That Enve chart is what I have been referencing. I assume those numbers work for all 23mm internal rims and not just their 23mm rims which may have a deeper dish or something?

34-36 pounds sure feels soft, but I am gonna try it today. They obviously know what they are talking about more than just what "feels" right to me.

[meepmoop24]

Yeah I am gonna try to run a little lower air pressure today. Definitely lose cornering traction with the higher PSI and I see how it makes sense for the tire to deform over small bumps rather than bounce off of everything.

Gonna see how far a 38c Slick Gravelking can go. I don't really want to go full on bikepacking/XC tires, but I think that's where I need to go. I want to try some overnighters up near Seely and or Whitefish/Wild West Route areas this summer.

I was pretty happy with the WTB Nano 40c for a more XC oriented tire. I put on the Gravelking SK 35c because my rides often involve a decent amount of pavement and I wanted something that rolls faster.

[TrueNorth]

Yeah thanks. That Enve chart is what I have been referencing. I assume those numbers work for all 23mm internal rims and not just their 23mm rims which may have a deeper dish or something?

34-36 pounds sure feels soft, but I am gonna try it today. They obviously know what they are talking about more than just what "feels" right to me.

The numbers probably depend a little on the exact rim (and tire) you are using, but the Enve chart seems like a good starting point.

If you really want to nerd out on this stuff, you could try your own tire pressure vs. speed tests. Two common methods are a roll down test (either rolling down a hill without pedaling as in the article linked above, or pedaling to some fixed speed then measuring how far you can coast before coming to a stop), or if you have a power meter, doing several laps at different effort levels around a fixed course and plotting average speed vs. avg power for each lap, and repeating the test at different tire pressures. The trick is to minimize the effect of other variables (like body position on the bike), as tire pressure is generally not the largest factor in your speed.

[jamal]

Off road, I mostly shoot for pressures that give me good compliance without hitting rim and if that is not the exact ideal for lowest rolling resistance I don't really care. A few psi up or down isn't going to make a huge overall rolling resistance change anyway. Obviously on pavement 40psi is going to be noticeably faster than 20 but other than that I'd rather be "slower" in order to have better comfort and traction.

I set my 40 nanos at like 28f/36r (tubeless, 18mm width wheels, 160lbs). Going with less of a split seems to feel overly stiff up front. Kinda strange as I run my mtb tires at essentially the same pressure, maybe 1psi lower up front.

[buttahflake]

Are you guys into, Hambini? I freaking love this guy. Anyhoo, have you noticed all the rich kids are riding OPEN the last few years? Nice looking bikes, pricey as fuck. This will make you laugh and cringe.

https://youtu.be/qCgpVv07gUk

[caulfield]

Off road, I mostly shoot for pressures that give me good compliance without hitting rim and if that is not the exact ideal for lowest rolling resistance I don't really care. A few psi up or down isn't going to make a huge overall rolling resistance change anyway. Obviously on pavement 40psi is going to be noticeably faster than 20 but other than that I'd rather be "slower" in order to have better comfort and traction.

I set my 40 nanos at like 28f/36r (tubeless, 18mm width wheels, 160lbs). Going with less of a split seems to feel overly stiff up front. Kinda strange as I run my mtb tires at essentially the same pressure, maybe 1psi lower up front.

I run a similar delta with road/gravel and lack of delta on mtb. The way I see it, I spend most my drop bar bike time with my weight biased to the rear wheel, but I'm optimizing mtb pressure for close to 50/50 weight distribution on the descent. Seat and head angles, bar type and position all probably play into it, but whatever, it feels right.

[east or bust]

Good stuff on the tire pressure. That same thought crossed my mind on a couple rides in June, dropped the pressure and I felt faster for sure.

Nice to see that notion reinforced.

[buttahflake]

No other Hambini fans? Huh.
I thought this bar bag looked pretty nippah.

https://youtu.be/_62WhYkTkVY

[kathleenturneroverdrive]

Ha - I hadn't seen his vids before, but that was pretty scathing. Hard to tell if his review applies to the brand across the board, or if he's just finding individual frames that should have never sold/need a warranty?