Bingod

When riding on narrow, low speed trails, especially uphill, my biggest issue is with front end stability/tracking - I am constantly having to adjust my bars to keep the bike running straight - which can get a little dicey, especially if the trail falls steeply away or I'm trying to pick a line between rocks and deep ruts. I manage, I enjoy myself, but could I do better.

Would a new fork with less offset be a solution worth pursuing? The bike is stable enough on high speed descents so I don't mind trading off a little there. My Anyroad (size L) has 72 degree HTA, 50mm offset and with 42mm tires provides nominally 63mm of trail. Depending on the trail calculator, if I chose a fork with 45mm of offset then I'd achieve 69mm of trail. Is that a significant enough difference to consider swapping the fork? One drawback of the Giant is its odd sized 1 1/8" to 1 1/4" Overdrive integrated headset - there's little available in that size so I'd need to find some kind of bearing adaptor (if that exists) to use a straight 1 1/8" fork, otherwise my choices would be extremely limited and costly (I'm mostly broke) at which point I'd start saving for a new frame/bike.

I think I'm technically reasonably competent and I accept that a gravel bike is limited when the going gets technical. Im also not convinced wider bars would help because of the necessary shorter stem (currently 90mm with 44cm bars) I have considered mounting a 50mm tire on the front as a cheap experimental solution. Thanks for your thoughts

rosefarts

Does the bike pull? On a paved road can you change your jacket, put on and take off gloves, do the handlebar photo, and keep your line?

I can do that on some of my bikes but not all. No surprise, they are more stable in all conditions.

My “twitchier” bikes are more nimble.

Bingod

I can remove my gilet, arm warmers and sunglasses when riding - not a low speed but above 15mph. i rarely do this so my technique and confidence aren't great but I can do it when I'm warmed up.

Andrew R Stewart 

It's the generally accepted view that more trail is more stable at higher speeds and less trail easier to steer at low speeds. But the discussion of trail separate of head angle, front VS rear centers/weighting and tire profiles is one that is rather lacking in its scope. Andy

cpach

Yeah, increasing trail will generally make low speed steering more challenging, although as Andrew mentioned there's a whole lot more to handling. I also don't think you'll notice a lot making a minor change in fork offset.

Weighting the front tire more could be helpful--try to get your body weight over the front of the bike more in these situations. Also if this seems to be a common problem you could shift your saddle somewhat forward--this will change the biomechanics of your pedaling, but this is pretty much what all modern mountain bikes are designed to do because it allows for good handling weight distribution while climbing with a bike that has very high trail.

Bingod

Getting the weight forward and over the front wheel is something I work on when its steep - maybe I could do better, but regarding saddle position i feel I have been going in the opposite direction of what you suggest My saddle is currently set far back to create the "right" balance but I admit I am reaching for the bars even with a 90mm stem. I think I'm wrestling with overall fitment issues and probably riding a frame that is a bit big for me - but in most situations the bike is stable, certainly at speed and is nimble enough, such as negotiating downhill 180 degree switchbacks. Riding flatter terrain I admit I'm probably reaching for the bars and regularly have to adjust my position backwards on the saddle and its true, when riding uphill, with my weight back on the saddle, then the front wheel does feel out in front of me and as you suggest certainly unweighted