Senaste innehållet av JonathanR

If you can stretch for electronic shifting, please consider the model with SRAM Rival. It really is worth it. I would never go back to cables for a gravel bike. The braking on that generation of SRAM is also outrageously good.

Mid September is what I've heard. The LeBron spec Grizl is a bike I'd love to test ride! I do find the 2xl to be a little compact for me. I'm 3cm shorter than LeBron though

The second single track isn't quite so awful now. It was changed completely, thank goodness. When I test rode it before, there were actual jumps in the final 800m single track section. It's now a fair bit tamer. I made a segment for the final single track to the finish line, so others know...

Interesting observations and I take your points. For me as a big rider, 40mm is simply never an option. The pressure that I have to run them at not to bottom out means that they are crap on everything apart from Cat 1 and asphalt. 45mm is the absolute minimum for me. I am actually not so...

That is true to an extent, though there are plenty of times when I wish I had bigger tyres than what I'm running. What I expect I'll end up on in a year or so is 32" 2.4s. I think for more normal sized people, 50-55mm is ideal. I've done somewhere in the region of 45,000km gravel in the last 4...

If you can justify it, change the bike for one with 50-55mm clearance. It's game changing. I have both a Grizl and a Grail in the garage. The Grail is wonderfully fast so long as I stick to champagne gravel. The Grizl is just faster from point A to point B because I can go full speed anywhere.

For most gravel for most riders, MTB tires are faster than gravel tires. Especially in a race situation where you're not at liberty to pick the best lines through corners. If you're racing on asphalt/cat 1 and some cat 2, choose Thunderburts or any of the 50-55mm Schwalbe Pro tires (I don't...

Out on a short social ride this afternoon on Hallandsåsen, I only had one goal, which was to try to crack 600w for 3 minutes. I've been really close lots of times, inching my pb up to 599w. So we tackled one of the steep climbs out of Båstad. I was on my gravel bike (I'm down here for work...

First ride out on my tyre setup for 2 of my 3 competitions next month. 2.25" Rocket Ron up front, 2.1" Racing Ralph on the back. Still quite a lot of clearance on the gen 1 Grizl. Mounted to 27mm internal, 60mm deep Serenade wheels. They are really very fast, corner amazingly and are supple...

I know it's a really complicated process. I've had long chats with the guys at Abloc and have course checked/altered for them, so I am aware of the complications. The advantage of our area is that it's very quiet, so an inconvenience for residents should be minimal

Lots of very good points there, and thank you for your input! I too feel that having plenty of hills is really important. If nothing else, having a spread out field is just safer, and it sorts out who is the strongest rider, not just who is best at drafting. Repeated hills of varying steepness...

I guess that gravel is like many of the other forms of cycling in that most of the people who are riding it aren't competing. That being said, our cycle club here in Virserum has organised large mountain bike races, on account of us having Dackestupet right here in the village. So the...

I am surprised that there isn't more engagement in this topic. I would have thought that democratising the design of a race course would have been appealing to many riders.

A wonderful write-up and a pleasure to host you! You are always welcome 😊

I haven't looked into the pricing. I have no financial interest in the competition. My only interest is putting on a good competition.