My bicycle and what is planned for it

Vielo R+1. A bold company sticking their neck out for 1X groupset on a road bike. I’ve got a Vielo gravel bike with a 1X groupset with a ridiculously wide range - it’s fantastic.

57 in a few months. Have a stable of bikes but ultimately it’s the rider not the bike - rather as it’s the music not the hi-fi. Would love to lose 6kgs and gain 40 watts on FTP. It’s easier to spend a few k on equipment than gain rider performance tho…

I’m not building a newer, better bike because I think it will make me better rider or help with my performance. It has nothing to do with that. I am building one because I want to and it brings me joy to ride. I don’t care about whether I can gain a few watts and speed here and there. If that comes about due to riding on a regular basis, then great. If not, that’s fine too.

I have a Moots Vamoots custom, made for me about 6 years ago. Absolutely lovely bike, and if I had to reduce to only one bike it would probably be the one. Rain or shine it just does the job. Most if the time it us my winter bike.

I have a Moots YBB 26" softail MTB too. They make fine bikes, and the finishing is excellent.

Bruce

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I intend to put the nose of my B17 down a tad this week.

Talking of the B17, Mrs HH has just bought a 2021 Brompton, which comes with a C17. What a wonderfully comfortable saddle. My 2020 Brompton has a far less comfy squishy Brompton saddle, so I think I’ll be splashing out on a C17. Both of the bikes will be squeezing into the car boot and coming with us on our very exciting overseas trip. To the Isle of Wight.

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I’m a big fan of Fizik saddles. I use them on all my bikes.

I have never understood what the point at the back is for. Unless you have a tail, what part of you anatomy ever touches it?

Wow, you’ve hit your head 3 times in 8 years? In 50 years of riding, my helmet has only ever touched the ground once. That was 30 years ago.

I wear a helmet 100% of the time, though. It is to protect my widow from the allegation that I deserved to die when I’m eventually run-down by a distracted driver in an Escalade.

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I have new gravel bike coming:

  • Naked (that’s the brand) Ti custom frame. Clearance for 700C 55mm tyres
  • XTR Di2 mountain rear derailleur and brakes
  • Cane Creek eeWings Ti 1X crankset (eeWings Titanium Cranks - Cane Creek Cycling Components)
  • GRX Di2 shifters
  • Chris King/Hed Belgium wheel-set
  • Enve carbon fork
  • Enve carbon bars and bits

It’s kind of an “extreme gravel” bike, designed for multi-day bike packing on very poor and steep roads.

It’s been ordered since the start of the year, and the builder (Sam Whittingham) has promised it this month, although I’m in no great rush. I’ll ride out the rest of the summer and fall on my existing bikes.

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Right, but I’ve ridden close to 50,000 miles in those 8 years. I might also be doing riskier rides than you.

I also always wear a helmet for every ride.

“riskier rides”? So it would seem.

Yeah, I do pretty well. One crash was on a road ride and as I approached an intersection on a chip and seal surface, I encountered an unexpected pile of deep gravel with nowhere to go, so I went down. I didn’t hit my head that time, but I did get a road rash on my leg and arm. No big deal. It happens to the best. It healed.

Another time I was riding some singletrack on my cyclocross bike and I went over the handlebar crossing a dry creek bed with some roots I couldn’t negotiate well. My helmet did the job, got cracked and replaced. I suffered a couple cracked ribs and bruised shoulder. No big deal. It happens. It all healed.

Another time I was riding gravel at a pretty good clip with friends on a service road. I went slightly off line and hit a rut I couldn’t see because it was overgrown with grasses. I went over the handlebar and cracked my helmet. I continued on uninjured, and replaced my helmet for the next ride. I’ve had some other minor mishaps as well. I’ve clipped trees a couple times with my mountain bike handlebar, I’ve gone down on my road bike when I hit a seam in the road.

I’m a very active rider (100+ miles/week on average YOY), and even at 63 willing to get out of my comfort zone a bit here and there. I ride a lot of gravel (and I don’t mean rail beds converted to easy chat-covered paths) and surprise myself I’ve only crashed once on that type of surface. I’m giving up mountain biking. I don’t ride it very much at all, and am selling my mt bike to help fund my new one.

It’s all good and I hope to continue enjoying for years to come.

Good for you.

I am not sure the UK really has the equivalent of a lot of US gravel riding. Some Welsh or Scottish forest fire roads maybe.

I am utterly unsold on the ‘gravel bike’ craze here. Just canny marketing in my view, cyclo-cross was always a bit too niche to shift lots of kit. I am sure many will disagree!

Bruce

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Come to the American Midwest. Gravel will make all the sense in the world. I have a dedicated gravel drop-bar bike, and it’s one of my favorite forms of riding. :slight_smile:

Sounds like we ride about the same amount. I do 10,000 to 15,000km per year. I’m also just north of 60.

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Indeed. I’ve rolled around the Kansas gravel near Emporia a couple of times in early June. My avatar photo is me after the finish the first year. I’ll be back for a third go next year.

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I haven’t ridden Emporia, but would like to try the century route some day. My biggest gravel ride was Hairy Hundred out of Columbia MO, but I can’t do much more than 50-60 miles of gravel anymore. We have some 50 mile gravel races with 5000+’ of elevation gain, and I enjoy doing those. I have arthritis of the L3/L4 facet joints and the longer endurance rides just hurt too much to be any fun. I’ll do the 80 mile Copper Triangle next summer, but that’s about my limit these days.

I just surpassed 3600 miles today, so I’m on pace for aboput 5200 this year. My biggest year was 8540 miles with 420k’ of climbing. Starting next year I expect to get back to 6500+ miles.

This year is quieter for me…

Previous two years were big ones, though. Got in a million feet of climbing each year.

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A good friend I ride with completed over 19,200+ miles last year, and he works full time.