← Back to the articles list

gravel

Since the start of the season I had concerns of replacing my bicycle since it has become small for me. This is, btw, the exact bike I bought when I was 14 8 long years ago. Back then one could have walked into Триал and bought a Cannondale (now it is Outleap most exclusively). A lot of things have changes since then, I am even concidering saying -- all of them. Oh man, it is sad to sell such a piece! It's not purely sentimental fueled: when I brought a bike to a local bike service shop for a tune up (ended up doing it myself) and mentioned I am selling it, even a repair guy became interested, though he didn't have any money at the moment.

The selling story turned out to be legendary: I sold the bike to a friend who does not know how to ride. Feeling like I can sell anything to anyone now. Actually I am glad it turned out that way even though I had to make a discount. That's because an insane amount of crap bicycles are sold and if you can't ride, you may become really disappointed believing all bikes are like this. When the one I was selling is a banger honestly. Lightweight (12 kg only for L-sized MTB, still cannot comprehend how Cannondale made it so lightweight for a price that low), HQ Tektro hydraulics, I even left my own aluminum pedals on the sole cause of wanting to check those clipless pedals.

So I set out to buying a gravel. Yeah, I am following a crowd. Yeah, if everyone switches to full suspension, I will too. Hell no, I am not buying the enduro bike no matter the scenario! The main motiff was that if I don't try road stuff (dropbar etc) then I most certainly will be riding MTBs forever.

The choice of cource would have been difficult if Триал had anything of decent price/quality ratio except Outleaps. And those are almost identical. Not saying they are bad at all -- I got one for myself. I have two observations: a) gravels are generally cheaper than MTBs with similar components; b) gravels with decent quality components have carbon forks. And you can really tell: I was amazed at how lightweight they are. I suppose all the carbon bar/seatpost rattling is nothing useful.

A little bit about the fork. Since it is carbon and the frame is aluminum, the weight distribution is shifted further back then in a regular roadbike with matching frame and fork materials. But I think this is just the bicycle's weight distribution. Accounting for the human (which are heavy relative to the bicycle) in the same pose the center of mass is very close to the classic frames.

Riding that thing feels great! It certainly is not the best when going downhill on a rough surface, but still quite off-roady. And the tire profile is not even the largest available for the frame. The bar pistols are really comfortable, but I am hiving some issues with the bar tape. The absence of the front deraileur is a delight.

A foreman I know advised me to wax the chain with paraffin. Now I do: melt the paraffin, cook the chain for some 10-15 minutes (do not simmer), chiropractice a bit and put it back on. I had an original recipe: warm up the paraffin to some 270℃, it starts boiling, smoking, trying to explode. The guys in the lab didnt like my method though... Since it is damn hot outside, I have to reapply paraffin about every 100 kms. Have now completed 300 kms in 2 weeks because i started to daily commute to work (35 kms to get there and back home). But daily is a bit of an overstatement.