Ran the RockShox Rudy XPLR for a while and there’s no denying how comfortable it is blasting through rough gravel. It takes the edge off everything.
That said, once the pace picked up, the extra weight was always noticeable. Swapped the rigid carbon fork back onto my Checkpoint SL7 and the bike immediately felt sharper and more responsive.
Snagged 2 KOMs over my last 2 rides after the switch. For me, the comfort vs speed tradeoff is very real, and right now rigid is winning.
Curious how others are approaching suspension vs rigid on modern gravel builds
by MattySXE
16 Comments
reading/hearing about the extra weight always confuses me, to be honest. Given I am a large guy (110 kg) will the extra few kilos make an impact on my riding? serious question, that is. What concerns me more about suspension is the efficiency loss though. If thats noticeable thats a no for me. I wouldn’t ride a gravel bike off the stairs anyways. however the models with the option to block the suspension seem like the best of both worlds
The lines get blurred but personally, if I want suspension I’ll ride my XC bike.
Idk man. I have a canyon grizl with a rock shock Rudy, properly setup with the correct pressure in the shock for my weight , it’s a very capable bike. I describe it as sports suv, it’s so comfortable and just tanks through rough stuff can eat hidden roots, feels so safe blast down rough terrain. Going fast is cool, but being comfortable to me is really where it’s at with my riding rn. Also there is a lock out for flat stuff, road, light gravel. It’s a fun shock. Keep riding have fun!
I’ll never run suspension on anything but my mountain bikes because that’s where I feel suspension belongs.
True Grit fork is how I approach it, minimal change in weight, and it is unquestionably faster (for me and what I ride, at least).
You said it OP comfort versus speed, whichever one you want.
I’m getting older and I prioritize comfort.
I’m running the MRP Baxter right now. I genuinely don’t notice the weight. It’s maybe overkill for Champaign gravel, but my area is full of some rough stuff. I really like it so far, even on pavement. Noting also, pavement in my area is pretty rough.
A stem like the Redshift may be the perfect compromise.
Not too effective for the big stuff, but fantastic to tame the constant rattle. They get flack for looking so weird (when I first started shopping for a gravel bike, I thought so too), but the design is an elegant solution for gravel. I bought my Seigla without it, then once I discovered how I ride gravel, I bought the fork.
In regards to “Swapped the rigid carbon fork back onto my Checkpoint SL7 and the bike immediately felt sharper and more responsive.”…
That frame looks to be a ~2022 Checkpoint (gen 2)….not a suspension corrected frame. Wouldn’t it be fair to say that the suspension fork changed the geometry and had an impact on handling? Could be more of a geo issue than weight. The impact of Geo on Climbing and Descending can be huge, especially if its a bike you’ve been riding for a while non-corrected, and then switch it.
I dont have suspension on my gravel bike. I’d like to maybe have a gravel bike with some front suspension but that will then be an adventure bike for bikepacking or something. Canyon really puts the Hammer to the nail in their grail = race grizl= adventure approach in my opinion. With all the right goodies on the right bike.
The science behind when what is faster is endless, proven and solid. I just dont care. I have a gravelbike. I ride it for adventures And when it gets really shit I bring the XC bike. And when I want to go fast I bring the roadbike, on tarmac. N+1, I still want a Beachracer and a Cyclocrossbike. I am just afraid my wife is going to shoot me.
Less than 1% of the gravel I ride would benefit from suspension.
It’s like buying an F150 because you tow a boat to and from the lake once each year.
I’d rather have the right bike for 99% of my riding. Know your use case. Otherwise just buy a fat bike and ride anywhere anytime slowly.
My gravel bike with Fox 32 TC feels really perfect for the specific loop I do most days. I’ve done the same route on my mountain bike and it’s boring and I’ve done it with a rigid fork and it feels like too much underbiking.
There’s a sweet spot for gravel with real, telescoping suspension and I feel like I’m in it.
This is why everyone needs two gravel bikes. A carbon fiber fast one and a durable titanium one with a suspension fork.
Anyone ever think of the aero implications as well? I’m assuming a sus fork is wider and has a less aero tube shape not to mention on certain rigs a sus fork will change you geometry. Of course there is efficiency loss as it’s doing its job absorbing bumps for us.
For the record I put a sus fork fitted with the same wheels and even locked out at a steady 190w I was 1mph slower. This is with lining up two rides that had wind blowing at the same rate and direction (I’ll agree that it’s never 1:1 but 🤷).
I think suspension is faster when you get halfway to xc mountain biking. On pretty smooth gravel I suspect it wouldn’t be. But I’ve done some very tame xc trails with roots in the corners on my rigid gravel bike and thought “this bike but with 60mm of travel is probably the fastest bike on this terrain”.
As soon as maintaining traction (either when applying power, or cornering) over lumpy terrain is fairly key, then suspension is going to shine. Before that? Depends on the smoothness of the gravel, the tires, etc.