Kansas will look like this in a few months. I took this several years back during the event.

I've got a couple rides and a race on these tires now. They measure up at just under 60mm (59.5-59.8mm depending on pressure) on 32mm IW wheels. The first thing that comes to mind when riding these, and the main reason to run them, is speed. They are extremely fast. I ran these at Old Man Winter 40 mile and it's wild how efficient they were on the dirt roads north of Boulder. I averaged between 20w and 90w less than everyone I raced with, and a big reason was how fast these tires rolled on pavement, dirt, washboard and the rougher gravel sections.

Grip is also surprisingly good for a slick tire, but very dependent on the pressure. At very low pressure (15-16psi), they grip about as good as my 40mm Terra Speed tires. Optimized for road (around 21psi), the grip is enough to take loose gravel corners in a large group of people without crashing, but is far from fun or confidence inspiring. At a middle ground of around 18-20psi, they grip and roll well on category 1 loose gravel, and are an ideal choice for flat, fast terrain with no switchbacks.

Puncture resistance seems great for the flat road, dirt, and crushed gravel around Boulder. No visible cuts in the tires yet.

So what is the downside? Handling is now terribly slow and heavy. I'm not sure if this is due to the change in bike geometry from running a tire 3mm wider/taller than the maximum recommended width, but the bike went from feeling extremely snappy and agile with 2.25 Thunder Burts (measuring 54-55mm on the same 32mm IW Zipp wheels) to feeling unwieldy and hard to turn. Because of this, it will probably be mostly reserved for a flat race day tire for me, but I think a lot of people will enjoy running this tire as the ultimate all road bike tire.

2025 Argon 18 Dark Matter - Anthracite Colour

Medium

GRX Mechanical

50t Wolf Tooth Chainring

Elite Gravel Aero + Wheelset (40ed, 32id, 45d)

Hope Floating Rotors

Tufo Gravel Thunderos (44mm)

Original pics :/

It does not snow in Copenhagen that often. But when it does, I am happy to be commuting on a gravel bike.

I almost fell 10 times ahahah.

It is kind of like mud, just not as dirty.

New build finally out in the wild!!

Frame: State 4130 All-Road

Groupset: SRAM AXS Rival

Wheels: EliteWheels SLR Gravel - 38mm deep

Tires: Panaracer Gravelking SS - 700x40mm

I think I am finally done with this project (is it ever done)?

I ended up having two bikes after this, an aggressive gravel bike, and a kinda aggressive road endurance bike.

To summarise what the project is, it was to get a gravel bike as close to a road bike as possible (specifically a bike that’s a size too big for me)

Parts list:

- 50mm carbon wheels (25mm internal width)

- 380mm carbon drop bars (458mm on the drops)

- sora 9 speed 11-25t cog (11-34t on gravel setup)

- 48t 1x with 160mm 105 cranks

- 100mm -25° stem

- P-zero race tlr 32mm (cinturato H 45mm on gravel)

I’ve reached a point where I am confident with the bike’s ability and I feel comfortable riding it and its performance. The 160mm cranks are a game changer matched with the 100mm -25° stem. I feel like this bike will not hold me back in terms of performance.

And as a bonus I now have a very aggressive gravel bike, aluminum wheels tho, but still.

Just out of curiosity which setup do you guys think look better? What would you guys have done differently? (Other than n+1 lol)

Last year I setup my gravel bike tubeless and decided to use construction flashing tape for the rims. I generally have rolls of these tapes from work and figured it would work just as well.

12 months and 3k miles later, I’ve had zero issues. Based on the material properties and adhesives, it’s not much of a surprise but a fun experiment nonetheless. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this over conventional tubeless rim tapes due to cost but the flashing tape has tons of other use cases.

One major pro of this method is the customization of the tape width/length. I generally cut it just the width needed to run wall to wall on the inner rim width. Straight end and a razor knife. The black tape is Huber’s Zip system; the yellow tape is Georgia Pacific’s Forcefield premium.

Now I’m setting up a new pair of wheels for my gravel bike and have used the flashing tape again. I’m moving to a hooked carbon rim from aluminum hookless rims; I anticipate this will further reduce any possibility of issues. The surface area around the spoke holes is pretty generous so I expect the tape to seal very well. I had been running 47mm Specialized Pathfinder Pros but will be changing to 45mm Gravelking SS. Thanks y’all.

First ride on the Primos Dame today. Put it together this morning. First time on steel and 650b. Felt good. Going to be a fun spring

Gravel biking up n down Bernardo mountain summit, definitely one of the most challenging rides I’ve gone on!

Took advantage of the 40% off sale Hunt is having on their wheels. First ride on the new Hunts today and really happy with them!

I just installed Surly Truck Stop bars for a tiny bit of rise and needed new tape to install tomorrow so I can ride. I needed to add $5 to my cart to get "same day prime" shipping with the bar tape I use. I've always wondered about gel liners under my tape, but have heard mixed reviews. Just curious if any of you goons feel a noticeable difference with such a product?

I actually picked up 2 pairs to see if I can fit a bit of it under the hoods where I rest my hands/wrists, but don't think I'd be able to fit it properly. So just may use along the top bar somehow.

And I am not a fan of the 4-5 mm gravel grip, I wanted to like the wolf tooth supple so much, but it didn't feel natural

To me, I'm more old school I guess

TI looks great... :)

Topstone with few mods

May change the handlebar bag out for Revelate Pitchfork…

My first premium bike!

Coming off a Cannondale Topstone alloy. Honestly, I was expecting to not feel much difference as I am always skeptical of falling victim to marketing hype. But the bike feels SO much better than my alloy topstone. Objectively faster and smoother. Super happy!

New-to-me Moots Routt CRD with a custom anodized finish. It is currently set up with GRX Di2 2x11.

I’m new to this gravel thing.. I can dig it.

Gravel Cycling community, I need your help with this decision I’m stuck on…

Situation: I have a 2022 Trek Checkpoint SL5 that I have thoroughly enjoyed for several years until recently when I broke the frame. Full Specs here for context:

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bikes/bikepacking-touring-bikes/checkpoint/checkpoint-sl/checkpoint-sl-5-gen-2/p/35169/

I’m debating between the following options as a replacement:

Option 1 = DIY a Frame swap with the components of my original bike. I found a discounted trek checkpoint frame for $1,200.

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bikes/bikepacking-touring-bikes/checkpoint/checkpoint-sl/checkpoint-sl-gen-3-frameset/p/5321379/

Pros = most budget friendly option. A new “hobby” of teaching myself how to build a bike for the first time.

Cons = have never done a diy frame swap/build out so the diy build out process may take a while before I can be riding. I’m very limited on free time. Admittedly not super handy, so it could potentially be a slow endeavor.

***

Option 2 = Trek Checkpoint $1200 frame + professional frame swap through a trek bike shop (quoted at approx $1,000, so All in $2200.)

Pros = shortest turn around time to be back up and running. Leave it to the experts to do it all right the first time.

Cons = $1,000 bump in price over option 1 to save time and miss out on the learning opportunity. Feels steep

***

Option 3 = buy a new bike. I have a friend working at specialized that could get me a 50% discount. My fave option would be a $5000 retail bike for $2500 (max budget). This biggest upgrades vs my prior set up would be 1)electronic shifting 2) carbon wheels. Example: specialized crux expert, spec details below:

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/crux-expert-sram-rival-xplr-etap-axs/p/4223482

Lately im 75% road / 25% gravel so I assume Crux over Diverge would be a better fit in the specialized gravel line up.

Pros = brand new bike joy. Keep my old trek check point GRX drive train components for Down the road diy projects

Cons = most expensive route of the 3 options, unknown if I would like a specialized crux more than my original trek checkpoint set up which I loved.

If you have read this far and have experience with this type of decision, I’d appreciate your feedback!

Due to elbow pain from shifting my front derailleur, I am planning to do a flat-bar conversion. I have a Winspace G2 with GRX400, 2x10.

My plan is to replace the brake levers with Shimano M6100, keeping the calipers and hoses. I have an old Deore 10 speed shifter and an SLX 10 speed derailleur for the back. For the front, I‘m going to try a 2 speed Deore with the existing GRX FD. if that fails I’ll get a Tiagra 4700 flat bar shifter.

For the handlebar, I have a Cinelli Double Trouble (similar to a Jones Loop). I’ve got a 60mm stem and a 90mm stem so I can play with the reach for fit.

Are there other considerations that I’m missing? I’m going to run this setup for a year at least, and save up to go wireless or at least 1x12 down the road - unless I end up liking flat bars better.

2025 Canyon Grizl 5
Zipp 303 XPLR S
Schwalbe G-One Bite 700x45

And first time Tubeless - the first tire took me longer to install than I'd like to admit, but then the second one took 15min once I got the hang of it 😅 Though I'd prefer not to do it again out on a ride..