I Raced A 100-Mile Gravel Epic & This Was My Bike!

For a 100-mile epic gravel race, our gravel beginner Chloe, needed an epic bike! Ahead of Big Sugar Alex & Chloe have got their hands on their new bikes built with comfort and compliance in mind. They were aboard the Lauf Seigla, equipped with Forge & Bond wheelset - it's time to check them out!
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‪@forgeandbond‬ 👉 gcn.eu/ForgeAndBond
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📸 Photos - © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sprint Cycling Agency
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[@gcntech]

What do you make of these gravel rigs? 🚴

[@jayhoughton4174]

I use a GRX with 11-36 at the back, gets me up hills I wouldn’t normally be able to ride

[@tominglefield9689]

I bought a seigla last year after suffering from carpal tunnel. 5000 miles later, it is my go to bike. My road bike has been out 3 times this year. Comfort on gravel is great, tracking on moderate single-track is very good, and speed is within .3 mph of my road bike. I couldn't be happier.

[@gcntech]

Gravel bikes make a great option for those looking for a little more confidence and a relaxed position. Great to hear that you are enjoying the Lauf 🙌

[@douglaspate9314]

Cool feedback. Thanks

[@user-os9vx9nm7n]

My Lauf Seigla with True Grit fork has extended my riding career after a bad crash and upper back injury two years ago. I ride a lot of gravel races in the southwest US and love the responsiveness, handling, and comfort of my Seigla. I see more of them all the time in the events I attend. Buy one, you'll love it!

[@chloepaton946]

Love this!

[@williamsylvia3962]

I’ve got the Lauf Seigla and I love it!

[@aliancemd]

I don’t have it and still love it :) I almost bought one, the only thing that stopped me was the fact that it is shipped from US, with a big transport and tax cost. Ended up with Canyon, which is quite rough on rocky roads

[@williamsylvia3962]

I love my siegla and it’s also worth point out that all of the GCN coverage with the bike was what gave me the confidence to buy a small brand bike that I had never heard so thank you GCN!

[@chloepaton946]

It's a great bike isn't it :)

[@neopentan1686]

i got a seigla earlier this year, love it. i put a mtb derailleur and a 10-52T cassette on and that has given me the range to climb any hill.

[@gcntech]

Oooof sounds like a beast! You could climb anything on cassette that big 🙌

[@burn31]

What derailleur did you use?

[@MarrafaCycling]

Great video! Did you miss a bigger chainring? About the Pirelli tyres are they fast? About handling with the suspension? Thanks in advance and Success for the race.

[@michaelfleming4015]

Those are outstanding bikes and she podiumed on her first gravel race, and a big one at that. Awesome. You didn’t mention your pedals. We’re you running mtb or road pedals. I know what I would do but we need to know what you did and why. 😂

[@jdmcdorce876]

In the video it looks like one of the flavors of Shimano SPD. One of Manon's videos suggested running road pedals for gravel is a sin lol.

[@alexpatonGCN]

Hey, we both used mountain bike SPD pedals. The duel sided aspect and the more rugged shoe worked best for us. But on a faster course with no chance of having to dismount I'd be going road setup

[@gcntech]

SPD VS SL 🥴

[@StrikerSG]

Great, Congrats, she´s amazing...

[@chloepaton946]

Ah, thank you!

[@pandatactical4530]

Love It! 💕💕💕

[@oneilwolfe407]

I’m loving the review in this bike. Makes me want to get a gravel bike just like that Lauf. ICE sounds brilliant on that setup

[@chloepaton946]

I love this bike!

[@galenkehler]

That crank idea isn't a new standard, Rotor has had 73mm axles for years. With their modular cranks, you can mix and match as you like, using MTB or Road arms.

[@sandgroper1970]

I remember watching the GCN video on the Lauf Fork back a few years.

[@donwinston]

Recyclable carbon is very interesting. Looking forward to Olliey's video.

[@strobo4unl]

Lauf is seriously incredible!

[@BETRNSX]

Def saving up and waiting for the right time to get a gravel bike and it’ll be a Lauf for sure. It’s got unique tech and just a unique brand. I do mostly road biking now and love my Bianchi Aria so I know it’ll be a tough choice deciding which to ride.

[@chloepaton946]

You won't be disappointed!

[@peterthomas8053]

One of our son's has just bought a Lauf Seigla, and he loves it.👍

[@chloepaton946]

Great bike! Happy riding to your son

[@placesucantgoadv2579]

Good luck

[@treyquattro]

good teamwork!

[@gcntech]

Team work makes the dream work 🙌 We couldn't think of a better team than these two!

[@jordan1991r]

Best of luck to Angus and his Wife

[@gcntech]

Hahahaha! They smashed it 👉 kzbin.info/www/bejne/aoqaZId4YqukndE

[@archangel2492]

Im thinking of buying a Seigla , but my True Grit still working perfectly

[@michaels1381]

I was very impressed on her first gravel bike ride! I would like to know how many months did you guys prepare her a.k.a. Wife, on a awesome performance!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@orvillealdrich7601]

Well done Chloe (and Alex😂)

[@chloepaton946]

Thanks!

[@dscarriere]

AND and and the headtube angle is designed for stability aka speeeed

[@jessicamccarthy6429]

Awesome set up! Chloe is such a good presenter! How were the bikes to ride in the race? Did the fork make a difference to the vibrations?

[@chloepaton946]

The bikes were amazing to ride - very comfortable and I could definitely feel the difference from the fork - we had been lucky enough to use them for training in the months leading up so had time to get our set up dialled in!

[@jessicamccarthy6429]

@@chloepaton946 Thank you so much for replying! Awesome video, you need to be a permanet addition to GCN!

[@ttrout51]

What did you think of the ride quality/impressions given the the fork and the ICE technology?

[@chloepaton946]

I loved riding the Lauf Seigla - we had been lucky enough to ride the bikes before going to the race so had chance to get our set up dialled in - it's a very comfy bike to ride and I certainly think the fork & ICE technology is noticeable in helping to dampen the vibrations and generally give a smoother ride over the rough surfaces, I didn't get a sore back once - not like I sometimes do when I've been on my road bike! 😃

[@HD46409]

Traditionally, you don't use directional carbon fiber on forged carbon fiber products. The general process is to inject a combination of resin (or other binder) and basically chopped carbon fiber into a mold and let it cure with heat. There is no carbon fiber layup so the time it takes to make the piece is generally much faster (once you have the mold) and requires much less skill. Because of the random direction of the carbon fiber strands the material is more uni-directional (good) but heavier (bad) because you have to add more material to deal with stresses as you don't know exactly where the fibers are and how they are oriented. It's also a lot cheaper to make so if the wheels turn out to work well, then we should all expect cheaper bike wheels (2K for a forged wheel product is steep). FWIW, I don't know how these wheels are made or if there is something proprietary in their process that makes the product better and more expensive to produce.

[@mikefaxholm7148]

Its directional carbon fiber but with nylon rather than epoxy. This means that unlike regular carbon construction, it can be processed at the end of the wheels life into a forged product. Maybe not so many applications in cycling, but plenty in automotive etc.

[@HD46409]

@@mikefaxholm7148 OK. I looked and I couldn't find anything on their process. Are you saying that there are CF sheets (non-prepreg) or individual fiber weave (like with Time frames) so that the engineers have placed fiber in specific places with specific orientations to deal with anticipated strain issues? If so, then my assumptions are incorrect in my initial post. Cheers.

[@BrettStahl]

@@HD46409 The Forge and Bond wheels do not use a forged carbon fiber, they use a directional carbon fiber layup. The difference is we do not use resin in the layup. The Fusion Fiber material uses nylon polymers and the wheels are built with a specific layup so we can tune the stiffness, compliance, vibration damping, and weight. Because we use nylon polymers vs brittle resins you can take the trimmings, scraps, and any wheels at the end of their life and turn them into something else. As you see in the levers, this is done in the form of forged carbon. GCN is coming to visit the Forge and Bond factory soon to show the process we use. I hope this helps! Cheers!

[@HD46409]

@@BrettStahl Thanks. My original assumptions are clearly wrong. Looking forward to the GCN video. FWIW, it might be worth explaining that on your website if it's not already there (and I missed it). It's probably a really materials nerd point, but it couldn't hurt.

[@johngannon1]

A gorgeous bike set up to dream about. Two things though - can anything really be frictionless? And with the CO2 canisters, how come Alex used the pump? Although I was impressed with that being the only puncture so swinging back to going tubeless.

[@gavanconroy8453]

My best guess would be because Silca advise to not use co2 with their sealant and with their brand partnerships he is following their recommendations?

[@johngannon1]

I didn’t know that was the recommendation - thanks. Of course, my next question is in that case, why have the CO2 at all then?

[@themostobviousname]

@@johngannon1 CO2 canisters will be very helpful in re-seating the tubeless tire bead if you had to remove the tire for a patch repair. Inflates much quicker. You don’t really need to worry about the CO2 affecting the sealant since you should be replacing the tire after the ride anyway.

[@GCNalex]

Hi John, i used a pump as the tyre only needed a small top up of air and it would have felt a waste to use a CO2 canister for that. The lauf fork is friction-less due to that fact there are zero moving parts in contact with eachother, its a neat design. Tubeless as im sure you know i love it, especially on gravel, but its not always the best option for people

[@michaelpeppersack8599]

nice

[@pandatactical4530]

The Seigla 🔥🔥🔥

[@gcntech]

Our thoughts exactly 👀

[@vakantieman3270]

I wish gcn would make more videos of good “budget” bikes. Bikes around the 1000-2000 price. Gcn normalize 8000+ euro bikes by exposure.

[@glenni249]

They make plenty of videos about less expensive bikes, but for a manufacturer to fund their overseas trip, they're going to want their pricier models on display in return.

[@vakantieman3270]

@@glenni249 no they only make comparison videos of trash bikes compared to pro level. Like a 300 decathlon bike vs a 5000k bike. Guess we all know why. Sponsors want to talk about their most expensive bike bjt their quarter priced bikes will do 80% of why the pro bikes do..

[@aliancemd]

Lauf does not have any 8k+ bikes but you have a point. That won’t change because sponsors spend money on them to get more money out of their viewers - 2 winners, sponsor and GCN, “1” loser, the viewer convinced he needs to spend on heavily overpriced products

[@vakantieman3270]

@@aliancemd dont get me wrong they’re amazing pieces of tech and if money isn’t an option those would probably be my pick (in that price range). But I also have been riding a bike long enough to know that a good sun 2k bike will get you around the world just fine. My point is that for 95% of the riders a sub 3k bike should do everything they need.

[@Hintonbro.]

It’s an advertisement - get over it

[@wesrobmat]

I want one...in pink!

[@lexx348]

How do I find this video?

[@Westonisler]

@gcntech what are the heights of the riders on the size small and size medium respectively?

[@chloepaton946]

I'm 165cm, Alex is about 183cm!

[@Westonisler]

Thank you @chloeypaton946 I’m 175cm so right in the middle of the S and M. Based on your experience riding the bikes, would you recommend sizing up or down?

[@mauroburger7043]

What shoes are those? Thanks.

[@mlee6050]

DMT I guess, they got a video a year ago about pick the right shoes and they look similar

[@chloepaton946]

We both wore the DMT KR0!

[@TheUsername1302]

What size was chloe on?

[@chloepaton946]

I was riding an XS, I'm 165cm tall

[@bikeskimawk670]

Please explain what you mean about components being in compliance.

[@Kim_Miller]

'Compliance' is a term meaning how comfortable the bike is over rough roads. Think of it as the opposite of super-stiff. The handlebars have a little flex in them. The seat post has a little flex in it. The wheels and tyres absorb road buzz. That sort of thing.

[@gcntech]

What Kim said 👀

[@gcntech]

What Is Compliance? 🥴

[@kubackjeee]

What bike size did You pick Alex?

[@alexpatonGCN]

We both ran near identical setups, apart from the geometry and measurements of course haha

[@kubackjeee]

​@@alexpatonGCNyeah but asking about size :)

[@alexpatonGCN]

@@kubackjeee large for me XS for Chloe 👍

[@kubackjeee]

​@@alexpatonGCNthanks mate!

[@glharlor]

Nonstandard crank setakes this a no go for me

[@michaelevans797]

Lush

[@davehause8571]

Microscopic flexing carbon rims... hahahahaha. Yeah, so compliant. Should have tested that compliance with those recycled tire levers. I'd like to see how much they bend.

[@jayhoughton4174]

“And it’s thanks to lauf bikes… that this epic ride was made possible”… because otherwise I’d have to do it on a bog standard bike like everyone else 😮

[@matthiaswuest7271]

Gcn is a business dude

[@hippo71124]

@@matthiaswuest7271I reckon a lot of viewers of various channels these days expect content creators can live off photosynthesis and pay off whatever expenses involved with magic.

[@pandatactical4530]

Many of us are riding the Seigla and loving it.

[@chloepaton946]

We were very lucky to be able to ride these bikes and make the trip possible! We saw loads of cool bikes during the race including plenty of other Lauf's! 😃

[@pandatactical4530]

Rode the Lauf at Unbound this year and it was great! @@chloepaton946

[@BrianRPaterson]

Nice looking bikes, but another bottom bracket standard? Ugh.

[@jewi5844]

10k + plus bikes only a few mortal souls will be able to afford lol

[@rogersimmons8788]

Or a few!

[@jewi5844]

indeed :)@@rogersimmons8788 Qnd I know what I am talking about because I have 10k + bikes my store who never ever move.

[@wonderwatch2239]

Look at the bike wolt, the 10k+ road bikes are everywhere. If no one bought them, they would disappear quite fast.🤷‍♂️

[@KwadSkwad]

you can get a seigla with wireless shifting for closer to $3k. it’s direct to consumer. you don’t have to get top end groupsets.

[@pandatactical4530]

The Seigla is Absolutely the best value for your buck on the market today! You can get electronic shifting for $3k! The Race model comes with Force group set, carbon wheels and carbon wheels for mid $4K.

[@eagerbob]

So the wheels are *NOT* recyclable. Sure, you could make a set of tire levers out of the discarded wheels, or a spectacle case, but that is about it and that hardly qualifies as recycling and does not make it environmently friendly all of a sudden. The fact that it cannot be made in a wheel, or a frame again says it all really.

[@on2play736]

Am I the first one? Am I the first one? I'm the first one! WooHoo!!!

[@johntrussell7228]

11 minute long ad

[@kyqx]

Welcome to the internet!

[@markxkovacic]

I enjoyed all 11 minutes.

[@jameslee-pevenhull5087]

Poser's paradise.

[@sirnubenegra]

Real gravel bikes have flat bars

[@Shadowboost]

Drop bars only. Mountain bikes for flat bars

[@aliancemd]

All the people at gravel races would argue otherwise. In general, I’ve put 35mm on a regular road bike and it rides anything, especially if I put Cyclocross pressure into the tires, which comfortably rides over very rough, rocky terrain.

[@jdmcdorce876]

My experience (in the upper midwest USA) with gravel races is that they are typically mixed surfaces along the route, ranging from paved roads to sand single tracks, with each course layout being a little different. I've seen bikes range from "pure" road bikes to "pure" mountain bikes, with what is marketed as a "gravel bike" being somewhat of a hybrid between the two (IMHO road bikes with mountain bike influenced tires and drivetrains). As long as you're not running aero bars, one can pretty much "run what they brung". That said, some events favor flat bar mountain bikes due to the "technical terrain", others seem to favor drop bar bikes with 35c or wider tires. The last gravel race that I ran was a mix of paved road and gravel roads, with 10, 25, and 50 mile options. Drop bar bikes were certainly the majority, but there were also mountain bikes, fat bikes, and even fitness bikes in the mix (noting the 50 was around 95% drop bar and the remaining fat bikes).

[@daniels.2720]

...'puhl-lease'...

[@jayhoughton4174]

Another GCN commercial break

[@steveroberts5032]

Would you rather pay a subscription? Also you don't have to watch.

[@jayhoughton4174]

@@steveroberts5032 you don’t have to reply either

[@steveroberts5032]

@@jayhoughton4174 But I enjoyed watching it. Would you rather a tech channel with no tech?

[@jayhoughton4174]

@@steveroberts5032 I’d rather have the freedom to make comments without being badgered by fanboys

[@steveroberts5032]

@@jayhoughton4174 Hilarious!