Hi. Looking for advice to figure out where I might get some improvement on my gravel bike speed.
currently riding a stock trek checkpoint with the (supposedly garbage) GR1 team issue tires. Wear bibs and a tight fitting jersey too. Riding a mix of roads and gravel.
I guess what I’m trying to narrow down is it the equipment or the machine that is the target improvement.
Clearly changing the tires would make some difference, but am I just imagining that I will jump up to 25kph magically? Aero? Seems like a basic question, but appreciate some ideas. Here is an example of a ride from yesterday where I did 22.8 kph.
the other thing is my heart rate gets up there but I think that’s just a sign for more z2 training
The answer is probably both equipment and training, but far more important is training. And by that, I just mean riding more. You don’t necessarily need to “train”. The more you ride, the more you can ride and the faster you will probably go. Your speed isn’t out of the norm or anything. There are 15mph gravel group rides where I live.
I bought a gen 3 Checkpoint a month or so ago and it came with Bontrager Girona tires (pretty much last on the list at www.bicyclerollingresistance.com) and ridiculously wide 46cm bars. I swapped the bars immediately and tires after a few rides and noticed a nice boost in speed.
Fitness and bike fit are going to have a huge impact of course, but you can get a nice boost with good tires right away.
If you’re coming from a road background gravel can feel surprisingly slow. I don’t think there’s much we can do to help you in this situation. Generally, the higher your w/kg, the faster you should be able to go. I’m also in the camp that working on performance is usually going to be better than optimizing bike weight and such. Obviously, check things where you could be losing efficiency like drivetrain, disc brake rub, bottom bracket grinding, etc. There are many things that could slow down your bike, but a lot of it is also just perception.
Not sure if you’re riding only gravel, road or a mix but for reference GP5000s are under 10w. Now, that 20w difference won’t all translate into speed but a good portion should.
Yeah those are the ones. How are the gp5000 on gravel?
Everyone raves about the pathfinders, but they are impossible to get right now it seems. Cinturato H also seem well regarded.
The main gravel here is maybe some rail trail type surface. Not riding single track or mtb with this bike for sure. I have another steel flat bar bike with 2.35 for that sort adventure.
There’s lots of good fast tires out there. I’d check out bicycle rolling resistance or look at some of the threads on here. The Schwalbe G-one RX is a pretty solid and fast tire. Wider is ‘often’ faster. If you can fit it, got at least a 45, but 50 even more so unless your gravel is super hard packed, practically like pavement.
Also have to note your elevation gain. Over 34km, that’s a LOT compared to some riders. That’s how much I would probably see over my typical 50-60 mile rides.
What’s your weight? That matters even more so with that much elevation gain in a short distance.
I’d say don’t overthink it too much - 22-23kph on mixed gravel/road is actually pretty normal. Swapping those GR1s for something faster-rolling could help a bit, but it won’t be a night-and-day difference. Biggest gains usually come from consistent training and building up your engine, not just the gear. Stick with more zone 2 rides, keep an eye on your heart rate, and speed will come with time. Tires might give you a couple extra kph, your legs will give you the rest.
Keep training. Equipment will only help so much. A lot of focus on aero right now but can you make the same amount of power in your most aero position as you can in your most powerful position? Most folks cannot do it and it is a thing to work on when you are on the trainer. Also the rides where I am fastest I typically do not put out the most NP or AP but I feel fast due to the nature of weather, drafting, etc. I may have a "slow” ride mph/kph wise and am cooked and sad at the end but then see numbers I haven’t seen all season so some of it is being efficient and not wasting energy. As for tires the G One RX is a huge hitter in my local scene with many riders going for the 45 or 50 on the Checkpoints. I have ridden the RS in a 40, Terra Speeds in 45, and Burts in 2.1 and all of these are miles above the stock tires so you really cannot go wrong with a fast rated gravel tire.
This is not surprising: the increased rolling resistance means that absolute power is more important when riding off road. That’s why even when you are going uphill, pure watts (as opposed to W/kg) will be important.
If you don’t know the route/surface, corners, etc there is really nothing you can say about the max speed.. And since he’s talking about kph and not mph he’s probable european, so maybe not the straight gravel roads you typically see in the US. A lot of corners will also slow you down a lot, specially when you are new to gravel and maybe taking them on the slow/safe side.
Further, just train more.. with a higher fitness level comes higher speeds. It’s just a fact that riding on dirt takes more power so it will never be as fast as pure road
I do break a bit on some hills but that’s more of an ease off when riding alone.
Addition question. What is the important of low RR tires vs fitness for extended distance efforts. I have a 165km ride planned for later this year. Effort wise it’s fine, I’ll aim for a power value that’s sustainable. I assume then the tires would speed that up, marginally only?
