New Gravel Bike

[Carbon_Dude]

I've been thinking about a gravel bike for a while now.  I was never sure what I would like though, when it came to a "skinny" tire bike.  I have a really good relationship with my local bike shop that's just a mile up the road from my home.  Last week I stopped in and was chit chatting about bikes (of course) with the owner and he mentioned that he has had a lot of fun on his gravel bike.  I said I was thinking about it but wasn't sure what size I would even ride or what a good model would be.  He walked over and pulled a 2017 Santa Cruz Stigmata 2X SRAM Rival, in a 58cm size, and told me to take it and demo it for the weekend.

After a short test drive I was pretty much hooked.  He gave me a ridiculously good price on it, a $1,500 discount, I just couldn't say no.

Here's a pic, please ignore the pedals, I just got a set of XTR pedals and put them on today:


If the bike shop owner is available, he and I are going to go do some gravel riding tomorrow.

[bxcc]

Sweet bike! I'm just a bit jealous.

I demo'd one last fall for the first time and it was a lot more fun and trail capable than I expected. It was the OTSO Warakin which is a stainless steel frame. A gravel bike is on my list but I'm not sure when I'll be able to bring one home. I try to keep it to one bike a year and I just built my daughter a new bike. I did happen to slip in some new wheels for my trail bike too so I need to replenish the bike funds first.

[tripleDot]

Wow! That truly was a great deal you got there. Sweet bike at a great discount.

[325racer]

Nice new bike.  Gravel will be my next bike, but easily a year out and actually thinking of building a lugged steal frame next year.

[carbonazza]

Nice deal and bike! A good relationship with an lbs is great!

I have the same Maxxis tires on mine.
Did you try various pressure yet?
I settled at 3 bar(43psi) for now, but don’t know what would be the best.

Not a scientific test.
But they look as well to roll better on hard pack than my friends’ tired(Clement and Specialized), when going down coasting
And not by a small margin.
And they are heavier than me.

[Carbon_Dude]

Nice deal and bike! A good relationship with an lbs is great!

I have the same Maxxis tires on mine.
Did you try various pressure yet?
I settled at 3 bar(43psi) for now, but don’t know what would be the best.

Not a scientific test.
But they look as well to roll better on hard pack than my friends’ tired(Clement and Specialized), when going down coasting
And not by a small margin.
And they are heavier than me.

Yes, the bike came with Maxxis Rambler tires, I suppose they are good, I've not tried to vary the pressure yet, I've only had two short rides on the bike.  I just received a set of XTR pedals and installed them yesterday.  I need to make a few adjustments on the seat position/angle.  I did find a great place to ride it though, there is a state park near me that has an inner loop that's wide and fairly smooth dirt/sand double track, and goes around a beautiful lake.  I'll have to take some pictures next time I'm there.  It's about an 8-9 mile loop and it's fairly fun, you even ride through some camping areas where you smell people grilling steak and such.

I'll try setting my pressures around 42/43psi on my next ride.  I'm sure if I ride on pavement I could bring the pressures up, but I would be guessing on what pressure is good for the road.

[325racer]

Ride them anyplace you ride MTB....  I actually rode my Road bike with 28mm slicks on the same trails, well, many of the same trails, would have done more if I had mtn pedals vs road pedals.

Whenever I build a gravel bike, I will ride it on all the same trails I would normally mtn.  After all a 40mm tire is approaching late 80s early 90s mtb tire sizes.  Overall geometry and components will probably make a modern gravel bike more capable than my 1992 Bridgestone MB-2 mtn bike.  (Only use that occasionally to remind me why I have new bikes)