I’ve got a 2019 Diverge Comp Sport and in muddy conditions I always have a rough time with the mud buildup. I’m running 40mm WTB Nanos and without fail the amount of mud that builds up will grind me to a halt. First it will clog up your forks, then on the rear it will build up between your drive side chainstay and the FD/Crankarms. After that you are on mud-clearing duty. This has been my major gripe along with my praxis alba cranks which are notorious for dropping chains and causing chains suck.
I haven’t tried running a narrower tire but that would be something I will do next year…maybe. If the mud cakes up and your running big fat tires I’d be prepared for regular scraping off of the mud.
Picture attached of one of my mudfests earlier in the year. This brought me to a halt as I couldn’t clean up enough to continue the climb and it was only the first 10 miles of a 50 mile route. I had to find a campsite bathroom to get enough water to wash my bike off so that I could get the chain back on the chain ring.
Talking about measurements, I threw some larger tires on my Madone. It’s an older bike, can’t remember the year, can’t remember the size of tires, but the bike is probably over 10 years old. The wheels fit really well in the frame, probably 6 or 7mm to the seat tube, and 15mm to the bottom bracket assembly. I didn’t realize there was possibly as little as 1mm at the top seat tube carbon fiber brake mount. I was shocked, and didn’t realize it was so close until after the ‘dirt trail’ race/ride I did. I could have gotten a stone or wood wedged in there, but thank ford, didn’t. That was so close.
The Pirelli/Roubaix experience had the tires bottoming out on the fork crown. They fit fine, but wouldn’t turn. The rear wheel wouldn’t fit at all. Disappointed…
One contributing factor is the nano has tall knobs close together and would collect mud. It seems like muddy gravel suits a closer to slick tire so it doesn’t collect as much mud. I haven’t tried to find a good gravel mud tire though, so that is just hearsay
. The rain finally stopped and I was able to get my Lauf out for its first ride. Initial impressions: the bike feels fast, comes up to speed quickly, 1x AXS shifting is really clean I plowed through a couple chunky sections and the fork suck up all the junk. The paint is really nice. I was waffling on the blue and glad I went that direction. A couple changes: the saddle didn’t make it out the driveway put on a Specalized, my butt and boys were happy. The Maxxis Rambler tires are slow, very puncture resistant but slow. They’ll be training tires but switch to Renee Herse for races. It has 172.5 cranks which are good but my bike fitter recommended 165s. I may switch them out soon but not a show stopper. All and all I’d rate it a great new bike day.
After taking my endurance road bike on some gravel in Western Maine, I think the Giant Revolt may be the best bike for all of the different types of unpaved riding I’d like to do. (Still need permission from the wife for N+1, though.)
The Revolt stack is a little higher than my road bike but within 7mm if I slam the stem. The reach is close enough to use the same size or 10mm shorter stem. The head tube angle and seat tube angle are within 0.5 degrees of my road bike, and I felt these were fine for control of the bike even during high speed descents. I didn’t take any sharp corners on my rides but definitely understand previous comments about wanting more bottom bracket drop on New England gravel.
The Fezzari Shafer, Lauf Seigla, and Canyon Grizl would all be great bikes, too. I have small reservations about the Shafer’s slack head tube angle and the Seigla’s shallow bottom bracket drop. I’m unsure what to think about the limited number of reports of the True Grit fork wobbling at speed.
QUESTION: In the meantime, are there any differences between the carbon Advanced Pro, 1, 2, and 3 frames, either 2022 or 2023, other than color? The 2022 Advanced 1 (SRAM Rival AXS 1x) is the closest to what I’d like and I can still find a few places with size medium in stock. However, the Advanced Pro frame set and Advanced 3 are the same price ($2400USD). If I was going to build up / change the drive train, curious why I wouldn’t get an Advanced 3 for the spare wheels and other components, especially given that I like the Terracotta color better than the Starry Night. Plus, the frame set appears sold out online. Anyone have pictures of either of these in real life?
I remember reading somewhere that the Advanced Pro is the same frame with a lighter, more compliant fork. That’s the only difference as far I can tell.
And I’d be happy to take some pictures of mine (2022 Revolt Advanced Pro) for you. Anything in particular you’re after?
@FergusYL If you don’t mind, I would appreciate some close up pictures of the seat tube where the post goes in. IIRC you’re running a round seat post, so I’m curious how that looks. Thanks!!
Sad panda. Still very much undecided on a gravel bike. I keep coming back to the Seigla but here’s another instance of a speed wobble. I would like to do some bikepacking with whatever gravel bike I get, so this is making me reconsider the Revolt, Grizl, or something else.
Link to private FB group, so might only work if you’re part of Lauf Owners Club.
I had a RaceMax, sold it, bought a 2021 Revolt. So far, it’s a blast. The stock wheels and tires that came with Advanced 2 are anchors, so looking to put a new wheelset soon. I feel that’ll save at least 400 grams.
@mcneese.chad roger. I’ll delete the link - it’s just a video of a speed wobble when the rider shifts his weight from the flat portion of the bar to the top of the shifters. He has a 2.5 lbs bar bag but doesn’t really put a lot of weight on the tops before the wobble happens. Disconcerting to say the least and has me questioning (again) the Seigla.
@DMC thanks for your comment on how much you enjoy your Revolt. Unbeknownst to you, I passed up a very good offer on a loaded RaceMax this weekend, so your comment is more timely than you realize.
If not mentioned Ventum has options to build to your liking with either the ability to buy a frame/fork, crank length, groups, bar type and bar width, PM or not, different wheels.
@FergusYL if price were no constraint then I’d definitely consider an Alchemy! It’s definitely got everything I think I want in a gravel bike, though. Maybe I need to save up a little while longer.
I’m curious if their new FSA damping headset will eliminate altogether or severely limit any of the wobble. I’ve personally never had that wobble on my true grit or Seigla
@TooManyDogs thanks for sharing. Didn’t know you were a 2x Lauf owner. I still keep coming back to the Seigla … maybe I’ll give it a try since it has a 30-day money back guarantee.
