(Chapter II) - Preparing a Mix terrain Gran Fondo - Bike & Bike Mods.

Hi again - A week passed and now it is time for some of the details. On this entry: choosing a bicycle and configuring Tire setup. 

Which bike/tires/wheels?

Being part of Ryden Bikes it means I have a few bikes to choose from, some stock brand, and some my own build (from scratch).

Bike:

My go-to bike for road (and what I used before for the Levis) is a 2017 Specialized Tarmac Pro - 58cm, Ultra Di2 10-32 cassette and a compact 36/52 chainring. It is a light bike. Discarded for the ride as I have no room for new tires above 25mm for all practical purposes. I explained before how it was not the best choice.

My Gravel/Mountain is a Ryden Custom build by Darren specifically for me (https://ryden.bike). Its a Columbus XCr ~59 steel frame with a Columbus gravel Carbon fork, SRAM XX1 Eagle AXS Black 12-Speed X-Sync Sram DerailleurS 12-Speed Sync (https://amzn.to/4iKXDNm) - SRAM XX1 Eagle 12 Speed Cassette (https://amzn.to/4hruvtz) , a Dub Ceramic BSA BB (https://amzn.to/4bNyn6U) and SRAM GX 175mm Dub Crank set direct mount with several chainrings 32T direct, 40T direct and 42T with DJC Spider adapter to choose from (https://amzn.to/4iMfgfQ).

Gravel "Caleya"

So that is a whole load of equipment and a gear range that will go a long way. (At a weigh gain price of course - more on that later). So this bike will be the one.

I need to lighten the bike - The derrailleur alone is 800g and that will just not do - it is the main culprit on the weight difference at present.

I’ll focus of low hanging fruit: Tubes/tires/wheels/pedals, to try and offset 200-250g off the derailleur (800g) and thus be more in tune with the Carbon bike. (The frame itself is 150g lighter than the steel frame - but I can live with that as I am not a pro).

Wheels:

So, on to the wheels: I have two set of wheels a HUNT 650B Mason X Sportset (https://us.huntbikewheels.com/products/hunt-650b-adventure-sport-disc-wheelset) coming at 1.294kg - and SCHWALBE - G-One Allround Gravel Tubeless (https://amzn.to/4isA0JJ) - This is a mix race with a lot of folks on 700C set-ups so these 650b’s will stay home for this one.

The Second wheel set is a HUNT (Yes, I do like Hunt! ) 700C 4 season Asymetric Aero Wheelset  (https://us.huntbikewheels.com/products/4-season-pro-disc-wheelset) - Perfect for a 32 tire!!

Currently the wheel set carries a 28mm Continental Ultra Sport tires (https://amzn.to/4hy3B3h) with a regular Butyl inner tube.

After some research I stumbled on the 32mm Panaracer GravelKing Slick tires(https://amzn.to/4hQN6iZ) and the SPINGO TPU Inner tube (https://amzn.to/4bULBPg) - Great reviews on the Panaracers and after the weight of the Butyl and my failure to come to terms with the Latex tubes, I decided to give TPU a go.

Here are the results:

Right off the bat a 195 g savings (on paper). The TPU vs Butyl gives me a 95g savings, while the Tire gives me a 100g savings - TPU is a winner. (For the record I did check latex and they come at 70g to 85g depending on brand so, still a saving without the hassle).

Installing the Panaracers and the TPU is a breeze, took me 10 minutes and no nicks no issues, you can simply press the TPU towards the top of the tire and then mount the tire, no nicks and no issues whatsoever… highly recommended.

And the proof is on the pudding - I weighted the wheel set all together and came up with measured real numbers:

Front/  Back Total

So here you have it, a change of tires to a gravel specific and using TPU cut the Derailleur offset by 340g - so we have a "Virtual" derailleur weight of 460g all other things being equal.

Now for the pedals:

On the road bicycle the pedals I use are the Ultegra SPD-SL Carbon Road(https://amzn.to/4hAF65r)- they come at 259.2g - these are nice however, they lock under extreme conditions so that is a no-go.

On the Gravel Bike I wear the Funn Mamba MTB single side clip SPDs (https://amzn.to/4isdzED). They are nice for MTB as I can get a good grip clipped on unclipped and I prefer to switch in between climbs or descents - They come at 440g.

I tested the Shimano PD-M9100 XTR Pedals (https://amzn.to/4kOyUcR) , these are real nice, is the smallest footprint for a proven rugged, no clog, no block pedals. They come at 317g .

Compared to the Funn ones currently on the gravel, I save 123g.

So, the choice of Tires, Tubes and Pedals I’ve managed to shave 463g - The Derailleur massive offset from Carbon bike stands now at 800g - 463g = 337 g

Now if we compare the weight of the Shimano Di2 11 speed we get 337g - 359g = -22g. This is surprising but at the end I can keep a pretty heavy Gravel Drive train penalty and actually beat it by 22g without breaking the bank.

In terms of weight, all other items are marginal gains, I have pretty standard Handlebars, tape, I do have carbon fork and carbon seat post and plan to use the same saddle. So, I will not worry about any other weight other than my own. 

Next: 

My hope is to have a Gravel Bike that climbs as close to the carbon road bike I currently wear and actually improves the experience on the flat and the confort level (I do like steel a whole lot better than Carbon).

At pretty much the same weight as the carbon road (+ ~200g) the bike will probably feel a lot like the carbon bike on the climbs - I know the Carbon is a lighter Frame (200g lighter) compared to prior config I am now about 178 g above the carbon bike which I can easily handle on climbs by leveraging the gravel gear ratio, so I should be on a par here but with a rugged, nice to handle Gravel specific config.

Well, enough for today - Next entry I am going to share a FLAT ride which I normally do with an average Speed of 14mph on the Road carbon, and I will compare  it with the new configuration Gravel bike. I will also comment on some changes on the handlebar Tape to make my life easier for bumpy roads and go onto Nutrition, Training & Getting ready for the ride. 

Thanks for reading, please keep the questions coming, I’d like to hear your opinion and any suggestions you might have.

Until next week.