Really freaking love this bike so far, but I got slaughtered on an 18 mile group ride this week all on the road and I plan to do more. I’m thinking possibly having a 700c wheel set for road days and/or going to a 2x or 3x. I’d love to hear some thoughts
by Alert-Orange9271
38 Comments
Idk I’m always trying to make mine more rock friendly 😂🤷🏾♂️
Other than the obligatory “git gud brah”, some proper road tires with lower rolling resistance might help.
Lighter wheels, slammed stem. Maybe some double chainring with thighter spaced rear cassette.
https://www.cyclemania.co.uk/kenda-khan-26-x-175-urbanhybrid-bike-tyres-optional-tubes
If those are 26″ try some skinny hybrid tyres like these.
Fit slick or treaded tires with a continuous pattern to reduce rolling resistance. Even fitting just one to the rear wheel should make you faster.
skinny tires, bigger front chainring, larger chain
700c wheels with proper road tires will make a big difference. 2x will be nice, but getting into an aero position will make the biggest difference. Slam that stem!
Skinnier tyres would help, I think your plan of a 700c wheel set is probably the best move.
Tires is really all you need to change. Those Ehlines are pretty knobby and put up a lot of resistance on pavement. I’m running the Teravail Ramparts on my Midnight Special. They’re slicks with file tread on the edges. Not only do they roll super fast on pavement, but they also do shockingly well on gravel. You MUST run them tubeless though – they are extremely prone to punctures.
Honestly, I would consider using a different bike if I were regularly trying to go fast on the road.
That being said, big 650b slicks will probably do ya pretty well on road compared with what you’ve got currently, and still keep a good bit of sendability as well.
2x
Don’t do it, that is not a road bike. That is an off road adventure bike. Skinny tires will look ridiculous on it trust me, tried it with that exact same bike. My Renee herse utamatan ridge tires hold up really well on road and trail.
Don’t butcher the adventure Horse.
Ride more. I did 25 miles on a single speed 35 pound coaster brake bike with maxxis 2.4″ fatties
Just buy fast tires, but keep them fat – this bike is a burly bike, accept that and lean in. I just got the Ultradynamico Mars tires and they’re plenty fast.
I’d start with the tires and wheels, you can get some fast-rolling gravel tires and a cassette with smaller jumps between the gears.
The other easy change you could make would be getting a bigger chainring for descents if you think you can sacrifice a bit of climbing gearing.
Does that bike have a shifter on the left? If you’re talking about a new shifter, derailer, chainrings or a new crankset, and wheels with tires, rotors, and a cassette … that’s quickly approaching the cost of a new bike. That All City is a rad trail-destroyer, and it might not be worth the cost and effort.
A mid-range used road bike for fast roadie action would probably be better, cost less, and save you the hassle of swapping all kinds of parts around.
I have a Gorilla Monsoon with a second set of 700c wheels with a set of 36c slicks. Waaaaaaaay faster than the 650s.
Turn the tables and take the group ride onto some gravel and light singletrack where this bike will really shine.
For real though, this bike is gonna have some inherent penalties vs a road bike, it’s not designed for all out speed on pavement. You could get skinnier tires but imo that removes some of the do-it-all greatness that this bike has built in
https://preview.redd.it/pe8utce2f8re1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6e1228280f8d6924a9724b94e63261351e8db174
Just throw some Cavas on it and you’ll be good.
Tyres and aero. Just replacing the rear tyre with something fast will make a big difference since most of your weight is over the rear and therefore it has a lot more drag.
Re aero you don’t need to dump your bars to much just try and get into a position that reduces your frontal area.
Also make sure you’re stretching. Flexibility makes it easier to use the muscles you have and generally makes me feel much faster.
with the range you currently have i dont think youd benefit much from a 2x or 3x setup. wheels will probably suit you best and maybe you could fine tune your cassette choice for said wheel to dial in a sweet spot. see if you can ride a friends bike a little sometime, play with their gears and see if one combo is really all that much better, if so mimic it.
I love your bike. Mount some slicks and push real hard to keep up. A race bike will go faster than a gravel bike repurposed. A crusher who owns a bike shop, big into racing, and Captain of his race team once told me so. He was right. My gravel bike is slower than my race bike. My gravel bike is much more comfortable though. I don’t race anymore and only ride my gravel bike.
U can now get pirelli pzeros in 40mm, perhaps it would be a nice look?
Slick tires with low rolling resistance. I am a fan of wide tires, Gravel king slicks, or Rene Hearse tires both roll fast and come in smooth wide options. You will be surprised at how fast a smooth 650×48 tire will roll. If you go down to a smaller tire you drop the BB, may or may not be what you want.
For gearing, did you find yourself spinning out, as in over 120 rpm? I can’t make out the crank, but it looks to be a direct mount style chain ring. I would get a new larger ring, and a new chain. Then swap between the 2 depending on the riding. If you don’t want to lose the low gear, then going to 2x makes sense. Double rings if possible on that crank, a front derailleur, then I would just mount a downtube shifter on the left side to shift the front to make it possible to swap without having to mess with bartape and levers.
Also clothing and position have a huge impact to speed, full lycra and get that aero position nailed.
Gravel bikes are too inefficient for road and too dangerous for trails and downhill. Get a proper endurance road bike and get rid of the drop bars for mountain biking.
Edit: I assume you bought the bike like that and didn’t build it? Keep it as is. Put it up for sale while gravel bikes are hot. Don’t butcher it. It’s a cool bike for a specific purpose. If you get a good price buy a used mountain bike and a used road bike for the money. You don’t need to spend pay check money for cycling.
Ultradynamico Rose and Rene Herse Fleecer Ridge are the best all-around grabby on dirt but fast on road tires I’ve found
Well yeah. Those aren’t road friendly tires. I have 18 bikes but still keep alternate tire/wheelsets for a majority of them to allow use on different riding surface types.
Light and supple tires.
Make sure you have fast road shoes too. Beat-ass old Dunks are the fastest known bike shoe.
Monsooooooooooooooon
I put 700c on my Gorilla Monsoon and felt like it rode better that way. Never went back to the 650s
I’d just put some René Herse Umtanum Ridge or Soma Cazaderos on there. Run an Ehline up front for when your rides involve a lot of mile munching but you’re planning to hit some fast and loose singletrack.
No ideas, but that’s a good looking bike.
Conti racekings >:)))if u already dig that sick bouncy vibe u already got but just wanna get faster? They’re also just so killer on gravel. Full disclosure: i am poor
Slick road tires, tubeless if it’s not there already and a 2x-3x will do the trick.
beyond tires w less rolling resistance, i know from experience that this build stock is pretty hefty, although the frame not so much. I’ve ridden a stock build and a frame up build with some lighter wheels (still 27.5) velocity blunt ss, and it felt surprisingly zippy.
so losing a bit of weight off the bike could be helpful, but that’s never really a cheap easy thing. if you want to go beyond changing the tires, lighter wheels could be helpful. just my 2 cents.