When Gravel first came out I felt weird about it, but now i just see bikes as modular / customizable and it comes down to rider choice. Not a bad thing imo.
Exactly… as long as it works (for the rider) and the results prove it, its not wrong. One of my biggest leaps forward this year: beefing up my gravel bike to 29“x2.1 XC tires. Positiv results anywhere but tarmac. And a world more comfort and less fatique
By MTB standards, Leadville isn't particularly technical - no rock gardens, drop offs, etc And has lots of pretty straight sections; so drop bars offer aero gains the normal flat bars can't.
@@matthewlewis2072 pretty standard feature on Olympic MTB, in other words if there's no 'special' features like rock gardens then yes, I would think drop bar bikes should be faster.
@@matthewlewis2072 it's nothing special once you do it once, looks super radical and it's called with a rad term but after few tries it's like snowboarding- looks more harder than it is
This is why bar ends were introduced for mtbs in the early 90s, the era of Tomac and Ned Overend. They did a nice job of allowing the wrists to settle in a more relaxed position when on xc trails and fire roads. Not sure why they disappeared...
Around 10 years ago I converted my mountain bike (with 26" wheels, disc brakes) to drop bars with SRAM Force. I had never seen or heard of anyone else doing this at the time! I still use that bike to this day for gravel (knobby tires) and city use (slicks) and I love it. But that's just me... I like the frame geometry and the smaller wheels, and I find drop bars WAY more comfortable than flat bars.
I did this too after seeing Tomac doing it in the early 90's, Cinelli road bars & road stem, ultegra brake levers and Barend levers, no suspension on a 1989 Saracen Trekker
To all the drop handlebar doubters in the comments, some people simply find drop handlebars to be more comfortable. I'm one of them. My limit on flat bars is about 3km. So I would maybe consider a flat bar bike for popping down to the shops but don't currently own a bike like that.
I must be wired up wrong as that drop bar mtb looks ace - In many ways my favourite bike is similar albeit with a mid width flat bar, goes good anywhere. This also harks back to when my gang started mtb'ing in the late 80's, we tuned our bikes to be as light & racy as possible and rode them everywhere... anyone who says these style bikes were rubbish needs to go back in time as they were doing it wrong. Also... when I jump on my modern road bike, am quite happy with it just having rim brakes... Hope more brands take note, all we need is some brave manufacturer to offer a decent retro style groupo, must be shiny/ mechanical, a bit like what Ingrid already have available as alternative parts but a sleek road version - would corner the market for us techno refuseniks...note: all of my early mtb buddies still ride and none of them have disc road, so I conclude; this is a thing. Keep rimming alive.
I could absolutely see a Gravel bike coming with 60mm of travel front and rear, 700x56mm (29x2.2) tires on i30 rims, and flat or drops bars depending on rider preference. My personal Gravel bikes is 110/120mm travel Specialized Epic Evo XC bike with 700x47 Pathfinder Pro tires on i30mm rims at 26psi and the flat bar cut narrow to 610mm (24in) to reduce wind resistance and provide a more comfortable position for road/gravel riding. My bike could probably have less travel but otherwise I prefer this over a standard Gravel bike. I use this bike to ride pavement, gravel, and green to blue singletrack. I would love to see a new type of racing that combines one-third pavement, one-third gravel, and one-third singletrack which would lead to the development of "all-surface" bikes.
Good idea. Most folks doesn't have living space, money or simply don't want to bother with multiple bikes... I think winner would be something like BMC with their micro-suspension. It's a rejuvenated idea of the soft-tail concept which was experimented with some 30 years ago by Sun, Ibis, KHS, Cannondale...
Obviously these pro gravel riders are testing it like keegan and Dylan otherwise they wouldn't do it. For mere mortals like us it might not be worth us buying all these extra parts but these guys can do what they want sith their sponsors.
Great stuff man! That mountain bike/gravel bike is definitely an interesting discussion. Most likely, for everyone wanting to go off road, but are not into technical mtb trails, the current gravel bike offering is all you need!!! Enjoy!
If you're into rim brakes and need a new bike, buy a used top end bike instead. I know your channel is about all the new stuff but we need to buy less new stuff. Rescue a neglected garage bike and you can have top tier bikes for less money and help reduce consumption of energy and raw materials. 🎉
Dylan has addressed this in his channel and explained that he does this because he thinks that it gives him the best chance for a result and because a lot of races that are branded as MTB are actually gravel (and viceversa). Meaning: he does exactly what a racer in any category, be it by bike, horse, car or motorized toilet should do. Look for a competitive edge and not worry about what people who spend car money on a bike just to show off to their friends think about it.
Another great video David. Thank you. A few thought... It would be inaccurate to say that the drop-bars-on-mountain-bikes thing is solely an attempt to go faster. It might be for Keegan and Dylan but for some of us it's just how we like to hold the bike, ride to the trails, deliver power to the pedals, stand during climbs. Just because I'm off road doesn't mean I'm needing to optimize the whole bike for most technical feature of the day. Or just because I'm not racing cyclocross, should I now switch to flat bars. Still just going for a bike ride in my usual way and may sometimes opt for "travel" instead of "compliance". I agree with @nevertootiredtoridetwotires : "I just see bikes as modular / customizable and it comes down to rider choice." As for the Colnago. I think that's awesome and those direct mount Campagnolo rim brakes look pretty mighty.
Only thing I would question/comment is downhill comparison drops to flat bars. 2020 I built a gravel bike for my local terrain. South Downs plus multi day trips. Hard tail carbon frame, rigid fork, SRAM GX 11-52 1 by, medium flare drop bars, and dropper seat post. A revelation, to me anyway. Descending on the drops, seat post dropped - far more planted feel than on my Scott carbon hard tail MTB (with seat dropped). COG def lower, control / agility higher. For me, flared drops are THE most secure set up for technical descents on a rigid frame, beating a hard tail - haven't tried a full suss thou!
@@JohnnyW8175he literally mentioned it within the first minute of the video. You must not have watched any of the video and just commented based on the title.
I race and ride gravel in the uk and let’s be honest, it’s nothing like gravel in the US. Most gravel events have single track and bumpy tracks involved of which favour a suspension gravel bike. I have a Crux and contemplating putting a Rudy on it but am really attracted to a drop bar mtb. A comparison video would be so cool!! My ride for next year could possibly be a specialized epic with drop bar. The body fatigue saving could def be worth it. The Smokering challenge around London this year was won on a drop bar mtb.
Technical route, like XCO, will keep the flat bar. Marathon route will be the game of dropbar, The super long range race, the aerobar with flat/drop bar with suspension is normal. And maybe the gravel will disappear.
Huh, where you been? Let's make it real simple. Retain flat bar and all controls. Inboard of the flat bar grips, mount the vintage Scott brand road drop clip-ons (not the new chincy brands with wonky angles type). Can still find them on eBay under $30. Have had this setup for years.
i think its down to more than aero in the case of drop bars , different hand positions help alot wihth long term riding comfort , especially on those long af races
I ride a new Dogma F rim brake which is amazing .Only issue I ran into was using new Princeton 6560 Evo's with sram red direct mount brakes as they won't open far enough so running red axs with dura ace calipers which do open up far enough
i can see the advantages of drops on mountain bikes for sure as also for wide riser bars (which i currently have on my ht). i am thinking about getting some narrower flatter bars and adding the ergon grips/bar end combo as i do find the lack of hand positions can make my hands tired (i also miss bar ends for climbing too i must admit). somehow i can see the scott bar making a return again (the bar that basically looped in front of the main bar so you had a lot of different hand grips). just add some tri bars to the front as well and sorted.
Welcome to the world that skiing has lived in for about 20 years... From skimo, to groomers. From XC, to AT. from slushy bumps to heli skiing. No matter what you want to do, dozens of companies are making EXACTLY what you're looking for. It's awesome!
I love dropbarmtb riding. Sure it isn't for everyone but like anything the fun is in the challenge it presents and pushing past its limitations. Obviously it has advantages in certain types of races. In fact it was so effective for Tomac that the UCI banned dropbars in sanctioned mtb racing, so it isn't exactly lacking advantage.
The new Croix De Fer is very nice, but what got my attention was the return of Reynolds 931 Stainless option. You mentioned the Datum but the bikes that I would like to see a return is the Volar in a disc form, nice sport endurance geo, no mounts, in 931. They could also do an Equilibrium with the 4 season more endurance geo in 931 also so as to cover all the bases, now this. I believe I would put them back on the map. Sorry but Datum is carbon and I do not see that as Genesis real vibe, correct Me if I am wrong.
Sram makes a shifter set for 2x12 axs mechanical brake from rim or cable disc. Then just pair shifters to the rest of drivetrain. An option I am looking for on my 1x11 mechanical shift upgrade with still Trp spyre cable disc. You have to ask for it at local shops or find bike part wholesalers/ parts warehouses that do direct that have the shifters.
A lot of gravel bikes are now designed for suspension and dropper posts. And 50mm+ tires. And some are pretty slack. It makes sense for courses like Leadville which are basically two track racing which, to many people, isn't mountain biking at all. It's more like very steep gravel.
I have an XC MTB that I would like to convert to drop bars. How should I go about the geometry so as not to mess things up? The bike is pretty big and already has a super short stem, so perhaps this is not doable on this particular one?
Great Vid as usual David, I have to admit that I'm one of those wanting to do more MTB on drops. My approach was not to add drops to my MTB, but to mount 2.25" tires on my Lauf Siegla. That was pretty much how I was able to get a gravel that I can take down rocky mountainous trails that I would have needed by MTB for previously and as Dylan Johnson has shown us, those fat MTB tires with low pressure are pretty darn fast and nearly flat proof on gravel roads. Personally I feel that 0.7 MPH is HUGE for a racer, if that's what your results were saying. It's not much for my fun rides, but I would be challenged to find 0.7MPH elsewhere on my setup short of clip on bars.
If it works for Keegan and Dylan Johnson then who am I to argue. Personally think that Trek and Santa Cruz look great and would gladly swap my gravel bike for that highball with that set up.
I ride road and MTB , I Spend 90% of my time on the hoods on my road bike ……… why would you ever need to ride on drops off road? Just sit up and spin is the only logical option when climbing and when go fast down hill wide with finger tip braking is the only great way to descend. Drop bars ….. nah!
Many hard OTB crashes happened due to curly woorly bars on gravel bikes, people need bars with lots of sweep not dropbars, for roadbikes it's different
Don't forget the mtb queen Jacquie Phelan was on drop bar mtb in the 80s. Don't forget there is also the 100mm travel gravel bikes, like the Salsa Fargo & Cutthroat and Chumba Yaupon, for example. I find the Lauf Seigla is doing it right with clearance on the short travel gravel bikes at 29x2.25(2.3).
Personally, I wouldn't experience it so intensively. It's always just a question of whether the regular customers will buy the stupid things offered by the manufacturers.
i honestly was never much of a fan of gravel bikes i could ride a rugged road with my 28c and if too rough ill grab my full suspension when they first came out people here called it the ultra bike basically a road bike thats a mountainbike from where i am but drops are exhausting especially if youre going to a trail or a random course (components are if not almost as expensive as road sets)
Hi David. I just wonder. Why do you and so many other cycling CZcams pages talk like the C68 rim brake version is something special? Condor, DeRosa, Cinelli, Sarto, Passoni, Time, Stelbel, Victorie and many others never stopped making bikes with rim brakes. So why do you act like it is special that Colnago now makes one again?
Rim-brake bikes like this aren't for people who don't want to buy a disc bike. It's more like a statement or style piece, even could be considered industrial art, like an air-cooled restomod Porsche: modern high-end but retro feeling bike. One for the collection. Hang it on the wall. Occasionally take it out for the feeling.
My hands and wrists don't line up properly with a flat bar. I can't steer the bike properly. It's easier with hands turned forward and out so to speak. Most people are the opposite I think.
Bicycle manufacturer: " Hey, I have something new to sell you and I promise that it will make you 8 seconds faster on your Sunday morning bimble" Cyclist: " Ooooooooh, N+1 gimme gimme gimme, I'll get another credit card"
Just no. The whole point of "gravel" is to be under biked. Back to the early days of MTB. Rider>bike. Give it to Warren the rich boy, to gather dust next to his Cannondale clown bike
Ya fue un buen invento las ruedas de 29".....porque seguir dándole vueltas a lo mismo si ya estaba inventando TODO.....desde luego no saben que sacar ya😂😂
Mtb endurance not technical…dropbars ….xc technical you won’t see them doing this ….what’s the issue here…a lot of people are making it as crazy uncomfortable for mountain biking without noticing the specific demands of the event 🤦🏼♂️
Idiotic generations get idiotic products...you either get a road bike or a mtb period. So what's next? Will motorsports will an bmws1000r include the tires of a GS?!.... Ridiculous trends... Man up!!
So, you’ve never ridden 150kms on gravelly back roads then, gone cycle touring, or used a bike to commute and get groceries? Hmmm… sounds like you need to do some “manly” exploring. Or, perhaps do some “manly” building and converting of old bikes into new, interesting machines. Supply and demand is a funny thing. Just because it doesn’t fit into your wheelhouse, doesn’t mean the millions of people having fun with it over the past 100+ years are all “idiots”. 🤦♂️
Mountain bikes are just too heavy. The cheaper the bike the heavier it is. Which makes no sense because that just means it takes more material to make. The bike industry is just a huge scam.
When Gravel first came out I felt weird about it, but now i just see bikes as modular / customizable and it comes down to rider choice. Not a bad thing imo.
Off road drop bar riding happened long before 'Gravel'.... The marking BS marches on.
Gravel bike is just a road bike tho , this is just dumb
Exactly… as long as it works (for the rider) and the results prove it, its not wrong.
One of my biggest leaps forward this year: beefing up my gravel bike to 29“x2.1 XC tires. Positiv results anywhere but tarmac. And a world more comfort and less fatique
@@garybrown5769Your statement is dumb. A gravel bike is a lot different than a road bike.
Ya, love my Salsa. So many mounting points for gear & rack options. Road bike with beefy tires 😊
By MTB standards, Leadville isn't particularly technical - no rock gardens, drop offs, etc And has lots of pretty straight sections; so drop bars offer aero gains the normal flat bars can't.
"Rock gardens" FFS... that's what you need to challenge yourself?
@@matthewlewis2072 pretty standard feature on Olympic MTB, in other words if there's no 'special' features like rock gardens then yes, I would think drop bar bikes should be faster.
@@matthewlewis2072 it's nothing special once you do it once, looks super radical and it's called with a rad term but after few tries it's like snowboarding- looks more harder than it is
Anyone racing with inner bar ends on a flat bar?
This is why bar ends were introduced for mtbs in the early 90s, the era of Tomac and Ned Overend. They did a nice job of allowing the wrists to settle in a more relaxed position when on xc trails and fire roads. Not sure why they disappeared...
You say a small amount and then say 0.7km/h…. That’s a huge amount! Over a 5-6 hour race (like these races), that’s a 3-4km gap! That’s a big gap!
Exactly that’s a massive amount of time over the course of a race such as this.
That was mph, so over 1kph, which is huge, especially at the lower average speed of that race.
Around 10 years ago I converted my mountain bike (with 26" wheels, disc brakes) to drop bars with SRAM Force. I had never seen or heard of anyone else doing this at the time! I still use that bike to this day for gravel (knobby tires) and city use (slicks) and I love it. But that's just me... I like the frame geometry and the smaller wheels, and I find drop bars WAY more comfortable than flat bars.
I did this too after seeing Tomac doing it in the early 90's, Cinelli road bars & road stem, ultegra brake levers and Barend levers, no suspension on a 1989 Saracen Trekker
To all the drop handlebar doubters in the comments, some people simply find drop handlebars to be more comfortable. I'm one of them. My limit on flat bars is about 3km. So I would maybe consider a flat bar bike for popping down to the shops but don't currently own a bike like that.
I must be wired up wrong as that drop bar mtb looks ace - In many ways my favourite bike is similar albeit with a mid width flat bar, goes good anywhere. This also harks back to when my gang started mtb'ing in the late 80's, we tuned our bikes to be as light & racy as possible and rode them everywhere... anyone who says these style bikes were rubbish needs to go back in time as they were doing it wrong. Also... when I jump on my modern road bike, am quite happy with it just having rim brakes... Hope more brands take note, all we need is some brave manufacturer to offer a decent retro style groupo, must be shiny/ mechanical, a bit like what Ingrid already have available as alternative parts but a sleek road version - would corner the market for us techno refuseniks...note: all of my early mtb buddies still ride and none of them have disc road, so I conclude; this is a thing. Keep rimming alive.
I could absolutely see a Gravel bike coming with 60mm of travel front and rear, 700x56mm (29x2.2) tires on i30 rims, and flat or drops bars depending on rider preference.
My personal Gravel bikes is 110/120mm travel Specialized Epic Evo XC bike with 700x47 Pathfinder Pro tires on i30mm rims at 26psi and the flat bar cut narrow to 610mm (24in) to reduce wind resistance and provide a more comfortable position for road/gravel riding. My bike could probably have less travel but otherwise I prefer this over a standard Gravel bike. I use this bike to ride pavement, gravel, and green to blue singletrack.
I would love to see a new type of racing that combines one-third pavement, one-third gravel, and one-third singletrack which would lead to the development of "all-surface" bikes.
Good idea. Most folks doesn't have living space, money or simply don't want to bother with multiple bikes... I think winner would be something like BMC with their micro-suspension. It's a rejuvenated idea of the soft-tail concept which was experimented with some 30 years ago by Sun, Ibis, KHS, Cannondale...
🤮
Great round up.
Me and a friend thought the recent gravel drop bar setups we saw were great. Drops rock!
Drop bar MTBs and rim brakes?? I must be dreaming! ❤❤
Obviously these pro gravel riders are testing it like keegan and Dylan otherwise they wouldn't do it.
For mere mortals like us it might not be worth us buying all these extra parts but these guys can do what they want sith their sponsors.
Great stuff man! That mountain bike/gravel bike is definitely an interesting discussion. Most likely, for everyone wanting to go off road, but are not into technical mtb trails, the current gravel bike offering is all you need!!! Enjoy!
If you're into rim brakes and need a new bike, buy a used top end bike instead. I know your channel is about all the new stuff but we need to buy less new stuff. Rescue a neglected garage bike and you can have top tier bikes for less money and help reduce consumption of energy and raw materials. 🎉
only downside is max. 700x25 tires (in most cases)
@@czeckson74 yeah, my 2005 campa veloce allows for 28 mm
i just converted my
Cannondale Slate Ridgid with FLAT Bar !!!!!!!!
11-46 Cassette and 40T Chain Ring !
Dylan has addressed this in his channel and explained that he does this because he thinks that it gives him the best chance for a result and because a lot of races that are branded as MTB are actually gravel (and viceversa). Meaning: he does exactly what a racer in any category, be it by bike, horse, car or motorized toilet should do. Look for a competitive edge and not worry about what people who spend car money on a bike just to show off to their friends think about it.
Another great video David. Thank you. A few thought... It would be inaccurate to say that the drop-bars-on-mountain-bikes thing is solely an attempt to go faster. It might be for Keegan and Dylan but for some of us it's just how we like to hold the bike, ride to the trails, deliver power to the pedals, stand during climbs. Just because I'm off road doesn't mean I'm needing to optimize the whole bike for most technical feature of the day. Or just because I'm not racing cyclocross, should I now switch to flat bars. Still just going for a bike ride in my usual way and may sometimes opt for "travel" instead of "compliance". I agree with @nevertootiredtoridetwotires : "I just see bikes as modular / customizable and it comes down to rider choice." As for the Colnago. I think that's awesome and those direct mount Campagnolo rim brakes look pretty mighty.
Only thing I would question/comment is downhill comparison drops to flat bars. 2020 I built a gravel bike for my local terrain. South Downs plus multi day trips. Hard tail carbon frame, rigid fork, SRAM GX 11-52 1 by, medium flare drop bars, and dropper seat post.
A revelation, to me anyway. Descending on the drops, seat post dropped - far more planted feel than on my Scott carbon hard tail MTB (with seat dropped). COG def lower, control / agility higher.
For me, flared drops are THE most secure set up for technical descents on a rigid frame, beating a hard tail - haven't tried a full suss thou!
Next thing you know, cats and dogs are living together…
Yes I would like to see the MTB with drops vs a gravel bike with a similar setup.
Wait a minute... this isn't a NEW thing. John Tomac was doing this back in the 90's!!!
You mean like what he mentioned at the beginning of the video?
Sorry, didn't watch the whole thing
@@JohnnyW8175he literally mentioned it within the first minute of the video. You must not have watched any of the video and just commented based on the title.
@@Scomelbasses that's exactly what I did... someone's already said the same as you so I don't really understand why you're saying the same thing
I race and ride gravel in the uk and let’s be honest, it’s nothing like gravel in the US. Most gravel events have single track and bumpy tracks involved of which favour a suspension gravel bike. I have a Crux and contemplating putting a Rudy on it but am really attracted to a drop bar mtb. A comparison video would be so cool!!
My ride for next year could possibly be a specialized epic with drop bar. The body fatigue saving could def be worth it.
The Smokering challenge around London this year was won on a drop bar mtb.
Technical route, like XCO, will keep the flat bar. Marathon route will be the game of dropbar,
The super long range race, the aerobar with flat/drop bar with suspension is normal.
And maybe the gravel will disappear.
You can put Dropbars on Mtb It's just not meant to be.
Huh, where you been? Let's make it real simple. Retain flat bar and all controls. Inboard of the flat bar grips, mount the vintage Scott brand road drop clip-ons (not the new chincy brands with wonky angles type). Can still find them on eBay under $30. Have had this setup for years.
i think its down to more than aero in the case of drop bars , different hand positions help alot wihth long term riding comfort , especially on those long af races
I ride a new Dogma F rim brake which is amazing .Only issue I ran into was using new Princeton 6560 Evo's with sram red direct mount brakes as they won't open far enough so running red axs with dura ace calipers which do open up far enough
i can see the advantages of drops on mountain bikes for sure as also for wide riser bars (which i currently have on my ht). i am thinking about getting some narrower flatter bars and adding the ergon grips/bar end combo as i do find the lack of hand positions can make my hands tired (i also miss bar ends for climbing too i must admit). somehow i can see the scott bar making a return again (the bar that basically looped in front of the main bar so you had a lot of different hand grips). just add some tri bars to the front as well and sorted.
Welcome to the world that skiing has lived in for about 20 years... From skimo, to groomers. From XC, to AT. from slushy bumps to heli skiing. No matter what you want to do, dozens of companies are making EXACTLY what you're looking for. It's awesome!
Makes lots of sense to me. Just buy a hardtail and put drop bars on it when u wasnt a gravel
I love dropbarmtb riding. Sure it isn't for everyone but like anything the fun is in the challenge it presents and pushing past its limitations. Obviously it has advantages in certain types of races. In fact it was so effective for Tomac that the UCI banned dropbars in sanctioned mtb racing, so it isn't exactly lacking advantage.
I give you John Tomac at the 1990 MTB world champs. Everything old is new again and on single track they will suck.
DISC all the way.... no more desaligned rims messing on my brake!
Nothing new. Charlie Cunningham put drop handlebars on MTBs back in the 80's.
The new Croix De Fer is very nice, but what got my attention was the return of Reynolds 931 Stainless option. You mentioned the Datum but the bikes that I would like to see a return is the Volar in a disc form, nice sport endurance geo, no mounts, in 931. They could also do an Equilibrium with the 4 season more endurance geo in 931 also so as to cover all the bases, now this. I believe I would put them back on the map. Sorry but Datum is carbon and I do not see that as Genesis real vibe, correct Me if I am wrong.
Been around for a while in ultra racing. Part of the slow evolution of the gravel bike back to a mountain bike 😂
Sram makes a shifter set for 2x12 axs mechanical brake from rim or cable disc. Then just pair shifters to the rest of drivetrain. An option I am looking for on my 1x11 mechanical shift upgrade with still Trp spyre cable disc. You have to ask for it at local shops or find bike part wholesalers/ parts warehouses that do direct that have the shifters.
A lot of gravel bikes are now designed for suspension and dropper posts. And 50mm+ tires. And some are pretty slack.
It makes sense for courses like Leadville which are basically two track racing which, to many people, isn't mountain biking at all. It's more like very steep gravel.
On the thumbnail on this video, does anybody know what those Bar plugs on the drop bar is called?
This is where gravel bikes were always going and it makes a good hybrid bike.
Jacquie Phelan did all her MTB races on drop bars.
I have an XC MTB that I would like to convert to drop bars. How should I go about the geometry so as not to mess things up? The bike is pretty big and already has a super short stem, so perhaps this is not doable on this particular one?
If it's already too big it will not work as a conversion as the reach would be too long. I'd go with frame that is smaller
Great Vid as usual David, I have to admit that I'm one of those wanting to do more MTB on drops. My approach was not to add drops to my MTB, but to mount 2.25" tires on my Lauf Siegla. That was pretty much how I was able to get a gravel that I can take down rocky mountainous trails that I would have needed by MTB for previously and as Dylan Johnson has shown us, those fat MTB tires with low pressure are pretty darn fast and nearly flat proof on gravel roads. Personally I feel that 0.7 MPH is HUGE for a racer, if that's what your results were saying. It's not much for my fun rides, but I would be challenged to find 0.7MPH elsewhere on my setup short of clip on bars.
If it works for Keegan and Dylan Johnson then who am I to argue. Personally think that Trek and Santa Cruz look great and would gladly swap my gravel bike for that highball with that set up.
I think would have made more sense with a Lefty fork actually
I need an mtb vs. a short suspension gravel. I personally love the cutthroat a "full rigid" 29er adventure bike.
WHY? Because it is just more efficient.😎 It doesn't matter what handlebar or bike you're using. As long as you're riding your bike and enjoying it. 💯👍
this guy is the ultimate bike nerd! I love it
Interested to know where Colnago are going for wheels long term for this.
Top riders in the 2024 Tour Divide rode mtbs with drop bars as well. Makes sense!
I ride road and MTB , I Spend 90% of my time on the hoods on my road bike ……… why would you ever need to ride on drops off road? Just sit up and spin is the only logical option when climbing and when go fast down hill wide with finger tip braking is the only great way to descend. Drop bars ….. nah!
Many hard OTB crashes happened due to curly woorly bars on gravel bikes, people need bars with lots of sweep not dropbars, for roadbikes it's different
Because in the drops you have better control than on the hoods during descents and technical riding.
@@PuffinPass high backspeep flat bars tick all the boxes and risk of otb is way lower
Don't forget the mtb queen Jacquie Phelan was on drop bar mtb in the 80s. Don't forget there is also the 100mm travel gravel bikes, like the Salsa Fargo & Cutthroat and Chumba Yaupon, for example. I find the Lauf Seigla is doing it right with clearance on the short travel gravel bikes at 29x2.25(2.3).
Personally, I wouldn't experience it so intensively. It's always just a question of whether the regular customers will buy the stupid things offered by the manufacturers.
To us mortals, Leadville is a mountain bike event.
But many pros see it as a gravel race with a few mtb sections
I can see how the drop bar mountain bikes make sense in a race, but personally I can't imagine it feels very nice to ride.
I've made many.
Sometimes it's amazing.
Other times it's DEFINITELY not.
All depends on frame geo.
Fun to experiment either way
@@vgjhlgjhfuyfjhfjkhgyghj Do you have some particular recomendations related to geo when it is worth to try and when to keep off, please?
Drop bar is faster, POINT !
i honestly was never much of a fan of gravel bikes i could ride a rugged road with my 28c and if too rough ill grab my full suspension when they first came out people here called it the ultra bike basically a road bike thats a mountainbike from where i am but drops are exhausting especially if youre going to a trail or a random course (components are if not almost as expensive as road sets)
Hi David.
I just wonder.
Why do you and so many other cycling CZcams pages talk like the C68 rim brake version is something special?
Condor, DeRosa, Cinelli, Sarto, Passoni, Time, Stelbel, Victorie and many others never stopped making bikes with rim brakes.
So why do you act like it is special that Colnago now makes one again?
Leadville is a gravel race
That URS is a ripper...but what a price...😮
Whatever works for everyone I guess. Personally I am not sure about the drop bars on a mtb.
Oh come on, what's next? how about a folding, BMX, gravel, road, mountain, downhill, tricycle, cyclocross hybrid ebike tri-bike. My God!
Rim-brake bikes like this aren't for people who don't want to buy a disc bike.
It's more like a statement or style piece, even could be considered industrial art, like an air-cooled restomod Porsche: modern high-end but retro feeling bike.
One for the collection. Hang it on the wall. Occasionally take it out for the feeling.
No, they are the past...built one 20 years ago. ;)
My hands and wrists don't line up properly with a flat bar. I can't steer the bike properly. It's easier with hands turned forward and out so to speak. Most people are the opposite I think.
Well I’m doing it to race next year….
There's really no reason that rim brake hydraulics can't be devised. Personally I'd like to see it.
SRAM already did it years ago!
SRAM did it. No one cared. Disc brakes arrived on the road. Everyone went "that's better", end.
Love my Datum. 35mm tyres and it eats winter roads for breakfast.
Disagree, I think it looks amazing and its a great customisation option. All power to those who want to adopt this I say.
Frame storage is pointless
It might be good. 😅
Bicycle manufacturer: " Hey, I have something new to sell you and I promise that it will make you 8 seconds faster on your Sunday morning bimble"
Cyclist: " Ooooooooh, N+1 gimme gimme gimme, I'll get another credit card"
Just no. The whole point of "gravel" is to be under biked. Back to the early days of MTB. Rider>bike.
Give it to Warren the rich boy, to gather dust next to his Cannondale clown bike
Genesis. F**k internal routing. Carbon forks, FFS. PS Cotic 👍
and Why not
Rim brake bikes just look amazing, classic look 👌
It's like people are literally looking for something to do!!! It's a no from me!
I know it, it will happen
Ya fue un buen invento las ruedas de 29".....porque seguir dándole vueltas a lo mismo si ya estaba inventando TODO.....desde luego no saben que sacar ya😂😂
Get off my lawn 😂
Nice video mate. But for me I will never go for drop bar...
It makes 0 sense to me having drop bars, you won't have near the control
@@ravenmoto5948 based on actually riding offroad with drop bars, or...
@@br5380 Uhh yeah, based on actually riding off road
@@ravenmoto5948 with drop bars?
Maybe you need to learn how,.
@@br5380 Ohh BS
If manufactures brought back rim brakes they’d up-charge it as a “new feature”
nope this is evolution
Mtb endurance not technical…dropbars ….xc technical you won’t see them doing this ….what’s the issue here…a lot of people are making it as crazy uncomfortable for mountain biking without noticing the specific demands of the event 🤦🏼♂️
Didn’t John Tomac dot his on his Yeti in the 90’s DH Worlds. 😮
everything comes around, hardtails ,NO. suspension offroad ,Smart!! wise!! Dumb riders!!!
Drop bars are a old had 😂 i
Super wrong
💤💤💤
Idiotic generations get idiotic products...you either get a road bike or a mtb period.
So what's next? Will motorsports will an bmws1000r include the tires of a GS?!....
Ridiculous trends...
Man up!!
Well there's this bike called supermoto, and it's a trail bike with slick tyre and only ridden on smooth tarmac. Pretty idiotic, in my opinion 😂
Supermoto bikes exist though ;)
So, you’ve never ridden 150kms on gravelly back roads then, gone cycle touring, or used a bike to commute and get groceries? Hmmm… sounds like you need to do some “manly” exploring. Or, perhaps do some “manly” building and converting of old bikes into new, interesting machines. Supply and demand is a funny thing. Just because it doesn’t fit into your wheelhouse, doesn’t mean the millions of people having fun with it over the past 100+ years are all “idiots”. 🤦♂️
Vintage Road Bike For The Win 🤙🤙
Mountain bikes are just too heavy. The cheaper the bike the heavier it is. Which makes no sense because that just means it takes more material to make. The bike industry is just a huge scam.
If manufactures brought back rim brakes they’d up-charge it as a “new feature”