merida

1995 is presenting the perfect gravel machine , -lightweight, wide range gearing and as aero as you like... ;-)

Moisture

I got flat bars on my road bike.. its definrly setup quite well for gravel.

stevel610 

model?

MrWasabi

I think that is a Specialized Diverge Comp EVO. I'm eyeballing one or an Expert Evo if I can find one in medium.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/di...ext=96220-5602

badger1

Mine is a 2019 Specialized Sirrus X Comp Carbon. It is now called the Sirrus X 5.0 -- same bike: https://www.specialized.com/us/en/si...ext=92421-3001

Tire clearance is limited to around 38s (stock), though some have managed to squeeze 42s in there. I wouldn't, but some have. One would also have the option of dropping to 650B to get a wider tire.

KeatonR

Mine's a touring frame (Surly LHT) that I mostly use as a town bike, but without the rack it would make a pretty good gravel bike. I bought this used years ago and converted it to a flat bar, and then more recently upgraded the wheels and tires (Mavic 35mm tubeless) and the gearing. The bar ends have fallen out of fashion, but I sure do like the hand position they provide for accelerating and climbing.

Phatman

I put flat bars on my Kona so that it would feel a bit more casual for "townie" type rides and pulling the trailer with my 14 month old son. To be honest though, I'm not crazy about it and haven't really been riding it much, I go back and forth between doubling down and getting some mtb discs and a riser bar, or just selling it.

Moisture

That is a really nice bike, but only for someone who fits well on that frame.

Phatman

Is this generation of Kona known to be hard to fit onto?

996

Check out Marin if you haven't already. They just released the DSX1 and DSX2 - Flat bar gravel with a great groupset.

https://www.marinbikes.com/bikes/2021-dsx-2

mstateglfr 

He just says stuff that is obvious, pay no mind.
Of course that bike is only nice for someone if it fits them. That applies to really any bike.

bwilli88 

My modified Hybrid, Works very well for road and gravel and most anything but mud.
Shimano Deore XT 9 speed RD and shifters.


My Centurion Pro-tour.

csrpenfab

My backup gravel bike is a flat-bar Trek FX6S. It's now got tubeless Schwalbe 38c G1's and does pretty well on the gravel. It's not quite as nimble as my main gravel bike (Niner RDO RLT9), but it rides nice and is good for less serious gravel rides or cruises with the wife.



And for the more serious gravel adventures:

MrWasabi

Since finding new bikes lately isn't that easy, I'm going to stretch some more life out of the Fuji for now. What flat bars does everyone like that I should checkout if I make a change there? The stock bars aren't bad I just think I could do better. I have some FSA Afterburner bars (15mm rise/31.8, 9 degree sweep/685mm) in my stash I was going to put on, maybe trim 15-20mm off each side. I'm doing a grip/shifter change at the same time so this would be a good time to change bars if I do.

Link to my bike:
https://archive.fujibikes.com/2014/Fuji/traverse-132

Thanks for any input.

Paul Barnard

pbass

Depends on how much rise and sweep you like, and how you will ride. For example, on my Cross Check right now I have Salsa Moto Ace bars that have no rise and very little sweep (like 5 percent). They're really "flat". I trimmed 'em a bit narrower too. They replaced some Origin8 Space Offroad bars with significantly more backsweep, more of an "alt" bar though not as extreme as a Jones, etc. I like them both, it just changes the personality of the bike. I converted the bike from geared w/the Origin 8's, which gave the rig a very relaxed sort of touring vibe, to a singlespeed with the Salsas and it became an aggressive bomber - my "fun" bike.

lesoudeur

Converted Giant Seek 0 to Afline 11 speed to gravel bike lol

Lots of upgrades from the original bike. Tyres are 38mm which is about the widest I can get on the frame.

chaadster

I didn't convert mine-- I bought the Cafe+ as Breezer's flatbar variant of the dropbar Doppler; same frame-- but I did just change the type of flatbar. The stock bar was a backswept "W" shaped bar-- do those have a specific style name?-- which was really comfy and cool looking, but being an old school bro, give me flatbars and I want bar ends, but I just couldn't find any with enough angle to keep an angled-ing attitude with the amount of sweep on the Cafe+'s bars. Well, I accidentally tripped across some super-steezy State Bicycle riser flatbars (oxymoronic, no?), and after I was done being blown away by how steezy the oil slick finish would look with my Avery-Dennison Ligntning Ridge Colorflow wrapped fenders, I realized the bar paved the way for the addition of some Paul Chim Chim's, too, so I went for it! I had to lop off a whopping 2" on both ends-- and it's still wide!-- but it looks sweet! Now the big question is purple or black Chim Chims...

franswa

^^ that’s sick! Is that one of those locks that were part of a Kickstarter a few years back?

chaadster

Thanks! And yeah, that's an original, first gen TiGr lock, the first Kickstarter I ever supported, I think! I love that thing; I have two TiGr bows, actually.

shortnugly

ehh,... not buying it. I dont think you ride the bike with the seatpost that high and the bars rotated down like that. Probably looks extreme for a photo shot but would be brutal for about a 1/2 mile or so.
just sayin

chaadster

I ride mine with about 11cm of saddle/bar drop, and I can’t believe I’m the only one.

blakcloud

These are what I call our picnic bikes and they handle gravel with aplomb. Rivendell has been making this style of bike for years long before "gravel" became a thing. Pictured with Grand Bois Hetres 42 mm tires.

Sam Hillborne


Betty Foy

mj0

I'm 6'3 and coming from a road bike the position is fine. The bar is the Ritchey Dive Bar and is meant to be upside down like that. For gravel it's great but i've actually flipped it to be like a normal bar for rougher terrain:

pbass

Here's my flat bar Surly Cross Check. Currently singlespeed, running Nanos. Used to be drop bar and geared but I have another bike that covers that, so this is now set up as my "fun" ss shredder