sweetspot

I am a huge fan of bikes that makes the ride as comfortable as possible and I believe that we are now approaching the limit of what is possible in terms of comfort of our gravel bikes. I mean we have a bike that can take 2,4 650 b tire (Open Wi.De.) and a full suspension gravel bike from Niner. Both are promising a magic carpet ride but both are doing it in a very different ways and I am very interested in finding which will be better...



A 61 mm tire run tubeless and with low pressure will act as a low travel suspension (like 40 mm found in Niner MCR 9 RDO) but it will also affect handling quite a bit (especially in corners, but also on asphalt). Niner will use much narrower tires with higher pressure to avoid this kind of problems so it looks like Niner could be better but then we go to the bikes geometry and we see that Open Wi.De. is much lighter and shorter so it will be much more nimble and fun to ride (and there is no real suspension that will affect your ride and pedaling power).


So it looks like a draw but then if you can dd to Open Wi.De. a Redshift sunspension stem, Canyon VCLS 2.0 seatpost and increase tire pressure a little bit you will resolve the low pressure handling problems and in the end possibly get the most comfortable yet fun to ride gravel bike ever.


What do you think?

tyrion

My guess: Open Wi.de. will be faster up the hill, Niner MCR will be faster down the hill.

A well designed tunable 50mm suspension will give smoother ride than fatter tires, and will be faster over rough terrain - another guess.

jan nikolajsen 

I'm with tyrion, except I think the two will be quite close on the climbs.

My rigid Cutthroat is still pretty harsh with 2.3 (58mm) tires at 24 psi back, 21 front.

I added a suspension stem recently and it's a world of difference. Hence the Niner will IMO be the more comfortable choice.

TimothyH

No one can know how an MCR rides because no one outside of Niner has ridden it.

We we can find out which is better when the MCR is available. Until then it is just speculation, theory and markatecture.


Tim-

dwmckee

I ride an Open U.P. with a Lauf fork and a redshift seatpost. It is incredible. You feel no suspension effects like bobs and dips, but you float over everything with incredible tire contact for control and wonder where all of that rough road has gone. It is all sucked up. The Wi.De wiuld have to be even better. My wife rides a WI.DE with no suspension and absolutely loves the comfortable ride while providing unsurpassed level of control that inspires very fast decending... I have to say I have not ridden the 9er, but what Open has done with their bikes is absolutely incredible. Vroomen & Kessler learned a lot from Cervelo & BMC before they started Open, I can tell you that. I have no idea who desins the 9er bikes, but I am sure they have a lot less experience than the guys at Open.

chas58

You may be right, but I found it interesting the GCN guys did the cobbles on a bike with a lauf fork, and a bike with fatter tires (+10mm?), and liked the ride on the bigger tires better. YMMV...