…Looks at Lauf bike sitting in corner…..recalls Big Sugar 2024….sure were a lot of them in that field anyway…felt damn good after 80 miles….
Joe
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Yeah, I saw tons of Sieglas this year.
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That’s the opposite of what I’m looking for, but I think it really depends on the rider and the course. Personally, I want a gravel bike that excels on the spots of the course that are selective in the race. In my experience, that isn’t the smooth sections where a road-centric gravel bike excels, it’s the heavy gravel and technical sections where a mtb-centric gravel bike excels. That works for me on the courses I prioritize, but certainly isn’t right for everyone on every course. And it also depends on how the race plays out. Big sugar is a great example where most of the course favors big tire volume and suspension, but the run in to the finish is a long grind on pavement where the big tires are a disadvantage. If you are optimizing for the finish, you might run faster/smaller tires. But with that setup, you may not make it to the finish with the group you want to be sprinting against (since your setup wasn’t optimized for the majority of the race).
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I raced my Epic 8 at Big Sugar last year to a decent result. I’d be on it again this year, but I bought a Siegla earlier in the season and will be racing it. I raced it on many of the same roads as Big Sugar ealier this year at Rule of 3 and it’s the perfect bike for that course in my opinion. If I had to chose between a gravel bike running 50’s and an XC flat bar bike on 2.2’s, I’d pick the XC bike for Big Sugar every time. The bigger volume tires save a bunch of watts on the heavy gravel sections and are also much better on the sketchy/fast descents. A 120/120 FS MTB is overkill for gravel racing, but with modern suspension (and particularly flight attendant), it doesn’t come with much baggage. My Epic 8 (which is a pig by epic 8 standards) is still lighter than the short travel Trek Checkout gravel bike. And my Epic is always locked out rigid when suspension isn’t needed.
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I guess this thing has been floating around the XC circuit, but I hadn’t really seen it till now. Cole Paton riding the new Giant Anthem at Little Sugar.
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Hatherly rode it in World Champs and Lenzerheide - glad to see Cole on it too! Looking forward to Giant releasing more info.
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100%….unfortunately gravel races locally are being dumbed down and becoming road races on dirt roads. I want more selective races with MMR’s, singletrack etc where skill and bike selection make the difference, not pack racing and team dynamics.
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The bikes are already leaning towards the 90s MTB why nor the courses too!?! 
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Agree and most of our local races are pretty tame also and have basically replaced local road races. But in my experience, a more MTB-centric drop bar bike isn’t really a handicap on smooth courses as long as you pick the right tires. Often comes with a little penalty in aero and weight (especially for bikes with suspension), but not a big difference maker. There is significant downside to a road-ish bike on chunky gravel courses, not a lot of downside to mtb-ish bikes on smooth courses. At least in my experience and for how I like to race.
I remember when I first started racing gravel and thought the best bike for gravel racing was basically a road race bike that fit bigger tires. So that’s what I bought. As a prior road racer, it seemed obvious and worked well on some courses. But it was a terrible choice on other courses. Young and foolish I was. 3 bikes later and I’m still learning what works best for me when it matters.
I’m guessing there will be flight attendant for the gravel 60 mm shock real soon. Would be the perfect setup for those chunky forest road “gravel races” you get out west.
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I raced gravel yesterday and there was minimal selection places, just speed, so a road bike w 30mm tires was a good choice - smooth road, right turn, left turn, no chunk and nothing requiring extra handling skills etc. it was pretty boring. I held the front group until half way and the speed and surges were just to much for my old bones. It’d been a completely different race w some creativity and imagination.
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Has anyone changed the integrated stem on the new Scalpel to a standard stem??
Very lovely, but please, can’t they get a matching fork?! 
I raced a gravel race very similar to what you just described on Saturday too. Did you do Grassroots Gravel in Pueblo CO?!
That Giant looks nice.
I have the Motives on my Epic 8 that I had built up in the spring. The braking power and modulation is very good but I have had a few niggling issues with them. The main issue is the pistons seem to stick a little after hard braking. For example when I go down a steep section, or have to brake hard going into a downhill switchback, the brakes will rub immediately afterwards and make a bit of a squealing sound. I few short flicks of the brake lever seems to reset the pistons. The recommendation I got was to “massage” the pistons like shown about 9 minutes into this video. However it never completely solved the problem, especially on the rear brake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmn7sll6Hik
Ultimately it hasn’t been too much of an issue but something I will ask the mechanic at the shop to address next time I bring the bike in for service.
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I’m in Michigan, so no. But Pueblo sounds better than cornfields 
I was at that race! Def smooth and fast but I really liked it. Did the 75 mile “half”.
I asked him at Cheq when he was getting the new bike and he dodged around the question. Good to see he is on it, betting that was a much better rig for little sugar.
Oh man, I am getting tempted to do this, I want to mount a light to those bars, and there isn’t anywhere to put it…
I have done quite a few FS vs HT tests in my time as a test/tech editor of Scandinavia’s biggest MTB-magazine. The data are pretty one sided for the riding I do. I have raced XC and marathon/stage races since mid ninetees. Now I race gravel and some technical marathons both in Norway and internationally.
Last test I did a few years ago - A BMC Four Stroke vs Canyon HT showed that the FS was faster both up and down in loose or technical terrain and only marginally slower on road climbs. Probably due to 800 grams extra weight.
I find the biggest advantage of a good FS is on technical flats and in undulating terraing with close to constant pedalling. The grip and the possibility of keeping the pedals going are the main advantages. On slow technical downhills I will say a dropper post makes a bigger difference than FS or HT. I would rather race a HT with a dropper than a FS with a rigid post in an XC race. A light FS with a dropper is obviously the best option.
I currently ride a Santa Cruz Blur C Trail with 2,35 Specialized FastTrak tires.
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