I recently got this absolute beauty and man I’m in love. Love the snappiness, huge clearance an it still has in frame storage ❤️

I spent a week camping in Ivanhoe Provincial Park in September. It's about 9 hours north of Toronto. The park sits between Timmins and Chapleau Ontario

Part of the reason for the trip was an 82 km ride that took me through the Esker trail that connects to a remote access road, out to a logging road, north to Hwy 101 and then back into the park

When planning the route the elevation suggested was 700 meters, and it ended up being 1,900 meters. The forest access trail was up and down all the way; surprisingly only a few hike-a-bike sections. There were a lot of blowdowns, the crews move out the big branches, but not the small ones, so it was slow going for about 5 km.

The logging road (Foleyet Lumber Road) is a nicely maintained gravel road, with some steep gradients. There isn't much logging in the area anymore, so no logging truck. I had an ATV pass me, and I saw one other car up to 101. Even Hwy 101 isn't too busy and I had 3 or 4 trucks pass me

The town of Foleyet (basically exists because CN rail has a junction there) is just off 101, about 16 kms from the park, and while I have ample food on the ride, I stopped at the Northern Lights Restaurant and had a reuben sandwich and beer. It definitely hit the spot. Then finished the ride

I did a few other small rides while I was up there and spent time relaxing. I was super happy to complete this route, as when I planned it, it was a bit of an unknown the condition of the forest access trail

Link to route

https://www.strava.com/routes/3550327836544933622

Finally had the chance to ride some gravel for the first time. Descending down loose gravel stressed me out a bit, and I did find myself on a MTB course above my skill level (not pictured). Climbing hills was also more technical than I thought. Found myself spinning out at moments. Adjusting weight towards the back wheel led to some accidental “wheelies” up loose gravel.

A lot of fun. Nothing left but to practice now!

Cooler temps, it was about 2C to 5C with no wind.

Here's few pictures to give you a glimpse of my incredible journey crossing the Massif Central in a 10 days solo trip, carrying my own stuff, an article came out if you want to have more details on this adventure : https://stajvelo.com/blogs/stories/gtmc-gravel-grande-traversee-du-massif-central

If you've some questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Photos are from a summer bikefishing quest. I posted a longer write-up here.

I was really only looking at mullet setups for the combo of speed and climbing. This is 42T with 10-52 and I love electronic shifting! Just did a short ride tonight, passed over a street that’s all cobblestones and it was like butter!

After several weeks without riding I was able to get out and amongst the colours for the first time this year. Got lucky and had some superb weather for it!

Easily the best time to ride.

After my last gravel bike got taken out with me on it, by a car, it was time for a new bike. Any excuse right?

Tested the new Norco Search and Santa Cruz Stigmata. Couldn’t quite get to grips with the price of bikes where looking at some of the parts and wheel choices. So went for a custom build after finding a brand new 2025 frame with a nice discount. Spec’d it how I wanted and still can massively under the retail price of the full builds.

With work commitments and travel I just have to wait 3 weeks to ride it

TLDR: I got lost, I bonked, but for 11 seconds I thought someone believed I was a team rider.

Always game for a challenge, especially after a lazy streak, so when I saw some awesome photos and a video posted on a route near me that I’ve never ridden by ao12, I thought… what the heck, let’s do this.

He was kind enough to share the Strava segments, so I threw them into Claude, and said, “Make me an epic gravel route using all of these segments. When you have an option for gravel, always take it.”

Got it back, gave it a sanity check and uploaded to Karoo. I picked a sunny day and, well today was it… so after a quick train from Barna to Sant Celoni, I was on my adventure.

Note: The trail was mentioned as spicy... but the first 3k was all road, 'gotta get to the hills I told myself.'

At 5k I was passed by a roadie, (no shame in my game), I started to see gravel routes but on I went, still on the road.

At 8k I saw lots of dirt, but I still wasn't on any of it, and thought Claude had done me dirty (via lack of it). That was foreshadowing. Soon enough, I was on some Catalan crushed gravel headed up, and life was good!

The trail had some fun rollers. I rode by a stream, crossed a bridge, got some views, passed a few of his photo op posts, and was feeling the vibe and the flow.

Now, I can get lost in an empty room. The Karoo only guarantees I have something to look at while I pedal. Sure enough, I came to a couple of forks that likely inspired Robert Frost, who, judging by the route Claude crafted, would be impressed with my bold decisions.

A twisted Goldilocks analogy comes to mind: a trail with too many tracks feels threadbare, one with none feels like a challenge, and one with a couple of tracks was just waaay too comfortable for me, a dude on a mission.

After a few questionable decisions, I was still on the Karoo route. My route, but not THE route.

Getting lost was part of the adventure. After two loops of one section and a couple of wrong turns, I was struggling with the Karoo navigation, so I turned to Claude again and explained the predicament. It came clean on how it did me dirty:

"Why you're looping: that's my fault. My file has a 60 m dead-end spur into the centre of Gualba, so the Karoo keeps asking for a U-turn."

I rejoined the real trail after some backtracking and met my first gravel rider while climbing a hill. He was coasting down and stopped next to me.

"Bon dia. Oye, ¿corres para Guava?"

Me, riding a Guava and wearing the kit: Wow, he thinks I'm a team rider! Next thought: Well, I ride ON a Guava, not FOR Guava… but let's not let a simple preposition get in the way of a budding friendship!

"¡Sí, las bicicletas Guava son muy bien!" in my no bueno Español.

Him, looking puzzled: "No… ¿a qué distancia está Gualba?"

I'm fluent in the Spanish lifestyle, but still wrestling the language.

"Ah… vale, vale, vale (the hardest working word in Spain). Claro, dos K. 😂 ¡Adéu!" 

Up I went, emptied both bottles, and cleared the hill. I found a historic church/museum with a bathroom to fill up, but the water wasn't potable, so I was drinking humidity until the next town. Happily, it wasn't too far.

I hit a bar for some Messi sweat (Vichy Catalan, for those not following), a cerveza to boost testosterone, and chips to make it a complete and balanced Spanish meal.

I gave Claude an update since I had a 15:45 train to catch. Surprisingly, it didn't suggest I continue on my trail of faux tears. It told me to take the road to a nearby train station and call it a day.

Fool me once Claude, I thought… so I kept pedaling. But 5k later, with 70 minutes to cover 23k with a 350m gravel climb, I tucked tail, played roadie, and slow-pedaled back to Sant Celoni.

Some sugar therapy followed, a chocolate cake and a cortado, and I hopped on my train home.

Epic day. Wouldn't change a thing!

I bought a new bike and I'm riding on various courses. I rode a mountain course, and the scenery is really nice.

The time change just happened here in Sweden this past weekend so i figured I would make use of the morning daylight to get a ride in before work. I'm not really a morning person so the struggle was real at 6am starting the ride but it was worth getting out there for the lovely sunrise. A nice easy 45km gravel ride at a relaxed pace but just enough hills and variable forest paths to keep it interesting.

Das CUBE Nuroad Rookie ONE in Cappuccino’n’Brown (XXS) ist ein sportliches Gravelbike mit leichtem Aluminiumrahmen, 9-Gang-Schaltung von Shimano CUES und hydraulischen Scheibenbremsen. Die 45 mm breiten Reifen bieten guten Halt auf Asphalt, Schotter und Waldwegen. Mit einem Gewicht von etwa 11,9 kg eignet es sich für alltägliche Fahrten und längere Touren.

Im planning on buying this deep n wide gravel wheels for my bike. The aim is to optimize airflow and feel for 45-50mm tires.

My frame can take up to 50mm but on current 27mm internal alu rims, they bulge to 53mm and have spear clearance.

I currently have Vittoria terreno t50 50mm (photo is reference of the wheels, not my rig)

What do you think its best for my case, 45x38 (29 int) or 50x41(32int).

I think weight difference wont be noticeable.

Reference:

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EGH9gsS

70F today and for the week. Exploring nature and history along the Potomac river.

Anyone fan of Chiru bikes? I had it built from Alpin frame by Baroudeur Cycles https://www.baroudeur-cycles.com/ in Lyon and I am very happy with it

Derailleur is SRAM AXS with 34/10-52. Force brakes 180/160mm.

I already bikepacked with it on Transverdon, Slovenia West loop.

Wheels are also custom by Voodooz Wheels https://vdzwheels.com/en (carbon rims and titanium+carbon spokes), SON 29S dynamo.

Size: S, total weight with pedals 10,2kg

These are both super aggressive knobby tires which I absolutely need for the gravel I ride. But I have like 6-10 miles of road one way to get to those trails. There’s a lot of fast road descents and tight corners.

Does anyone have experience with either tire? Which tire has more grip ON TARMAC? Or are they basically identical?

Hello! Hoping to get some thoughts from you all. I’m new to this type of cycling so open to any and all thoughts in this.

2026 Giant Revolt 1
- swapped the saddle and it’s almost as far forward as it goes, maybe have 1-2mm left I can push forward
- Flipped the 8 degree stem up (60mm)
- Swapped from stock 38mm tires to 45mm tubeless tires

The stock handle bar is 42cm, with a 7-8 degree flare, 72mm reach and 125mm drop.
I’m riding some chill gravel but also some loose rock descents and rocky/rooty single track in the PNW and I’m wishing I could ride my drops for more control but they feel so far down that I feel I’m going to fly over my handle bar, and also the low flare doesn’t add any confidence either.

Questions for you all:

1. How’s the fit based on what you’re seeing here?
2. I’m considering swapping the handlebar to increase comfort actually using my drops at all. Considering the PNW the coast gen 2 (65mm reach, 105mm drop, 20 degree flare, 44cm width), the Spank Flare 25 (65mm reach, 110mm drop, 25 degree flare, in the 42cm or 44cm width) or maybe doing something crazy like the Topshelf with 50mm rise (70mm reach, 110mm drop tho effective drop much less, 25 degree flare). The Topshelf is appealing due to the rise and being in a more upright position and also effectively bringing the drops up by like 65mm compared to my stock bar. But the other two are contenders for price (coast) and dampening (spank) and also because I worry a 50mm rise could totally ruin the way the bike rides. Thoughts?

Edit to add: maybe I should be adding the Kitchen sink (70mm reach, 20mm rise, 25 flare, 110mm drop) as a contender.

In a perfect world I’d have the Ritchey Beacons but with a 20-25 degree flare rather than 35, keeping the short 65mm reach and mega shallow 80mm drops. Or, a slight rise to offset a deeper drop. Sadly I don’t think this handlebar exists??

Anyway, thanks for reading and any tips you might have!

Beautiful fall morning here in SoFla. One of those days I felt like I could ride forever. Found some new equestrian trails.