Best Gravel Bike Upgrades!

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Strava

Thanks to Skin Grows Back for the amazing bags!

Thanks to Goodyear for the awesome tyres!

Thanks to Marin for the mind blowing bikes!

Thanks to Stayer for the sick wheels!

Thanks to Smith for the rad helmets and glasses!

Thanks to Attacus for the beautiful cycle clothing!

Thanks to Quad Lock for the best mounts!

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[pierrehenri]

I changed the tyres first- panaracers sk gravel- made a massive difference- saving for wider handlebars and a set of 650b’s - i ride a Specialized Diverge to commute!! Thanks for the tips🤘🏼

[cb]

Dave...I started with my pedals, from flat to clipless . then i did tires ? Bottle cages that actually HOLD the bottle . Yes. my first race, I lost my pedals a million times, spun out on mud, and after a rough patch, lost both bottles . I learned a lot the hard way, humility as well, as the course kicked my ass . Thanks ....Peace

[Barryens]

Bar tape recommendation: Lizard Skins 3.2mm. Not cheap, but nice and squishy. Also seems to last well.

[jasonisaac]

Choice upgrades, thanks Dave!
One of the best upgrades for my gravel bike was a PNW Components dropper post, also a Redshift Shockstop suspension stem.
I like Tasis bar wrap, (previously Fat Wrap), thick and super comfy. Greetings from Asheville, NC, USA.

[nadgeemark]

I put a Redshift Shockstop stem on my Headlands 2 and ditched the dropper post in favour of a lightweight carbon Hope post. Couldn’t be happier. Lighter overall bike weight and a much plusher ride. 👍🏼👍🏼

[sprintking]

If not running electronic gears, better quality gear cables inner and outer will improve the shifting, don’t want miss shifts on your bike

[platypushatstand]

Contact points: Ergon grips, Brooks saddle, Wellgo pedals; then brake pads (Swissstop Flash Pro BXP Blue). Specced tyres during ordering to Schwalbe Marathons and recently upgraded to Joseph Kuosac 50mm mid rise bars, much better ride.




Whilst I do ride a fair amount of gravel, I’m on a 2012 Brompton H6L.

[RK]

Supacaz bar tape, double wrapped for gravel riding works great to stop your hands from getting trashed. Even with a rear mech that has a clutch fitted your chain can still pop off when riding/racing gravel, a chain catcher is also worth investing in.

[mrgravyman]

What about clipless pedals? I've only ever ridden flats, but I've heard good things

[kgzlb]

As soon as I can lay my hands on one, I am swapping out my front forks for one of the new Rockshox Rudy Ultimate XPLR - game changer!

[randyhale]

Your right, carbon wheels do make a big difference. I did a gravel race this past weekend and I changed my carbon wheel for my aluminum wheels, and it felt a lot slower.

[peterjonmueller]

Carbon wheel upgrade is in fact 100% game changer... Dope YouTube channel btw.

[benben-myrk]

How about some carbon wheels for your Brompton and having another go at Everesting?

[fentuz]

Brake pads, if riding in hilly area with fast descents, brake pad that you trust and don’t fade is a must… i rode with e bike pads because on immediate bite and endurance. Recently swapped to gorilla nano (green) very good too.
Flare bars help in techy stuff

@Dave, instead of using an expensive 9-44 x 42, could you run cheaper 11-46 x 44?

[naj]

The mix of surfaces in that video is almost identical to my go to local 30km route (minus a few gravel and MTB trail sections). Currently use a hard tail but too slow on the tarmac. Getting a gravel bike, as soon as I can get hold of something in stock. The upgrade list is very useful 👍

[neal]

Tyres and wheels are a great upgrade. I just ordered a set of Stayer wheels. 35 deep 650b ones - totally agree that a bit of deep section looks AWESOME even if the aero-ness is a limited with such big tyres! 😎

[SioLazer]

seconding the wheels upgrade: I've done two wheel upgrades this year. The first is for my Marin Hawk Hill. I had to get a 1.0 since I'm 5'2" and I want a XS. There have been a few upgrades to it and the upgrade to carbon wheels was incredible. The second upgrade was to my Kona Rove NRB DL. The Rove is Kona's Swiss Army knife gravel bike. All my road bikes have rim brakes and 23x700c ... so winter riding is pretty limited for me. I had a road wheel set built for my gravel bike and it's just made it like I have two bikes now: a gravel bike and a new road bike.

[markbulmer]

Hello Dave how ya doing. I changed from steel wheels to 50mm deep section carbon and had nothing but bother from the rear wheel. 4 spokes have snapped at the hub since getting them in may this year. Ive lost faith and went back to my steel wheels. I don't know what to do with them they look amazing on but confidence has gone. I hadn't bashed them about either just popped on normal lanes avoiding potholes. Think ill get it fully respoked in the winter with stronger spokes see if that helps. Any ideas on what would help. Cant return as I'm second person but bought them with only couple of hundred miles on them so virtually new. Keep the vids coming dave take care 👍👍👍👍

[kellycechner]

Loved this video! What derailleur do you use with the E-Thirteen 10-44? I want to lower my gears but my GRX812 derailleur apparantly has a max low gear capacity of 42T, so I'm not sure where to start.

[duncanmartin]

Carbon wheels are only great if you have disc brakes. Obv on gravel that's pretty likely, but I figured it's worth saying...
Does that mean you have 5 power meters? Even got one on the MTB(s)? I love my powertap pedals, but I don't have power on any off-road bikes.