Kurt's Pivot LES SL drop bar MTB - a purpose-built bikepacking rig

[@millardallen5299]

Looking to make some significant changes to my bike packing bike this year, looking to adjust my setup with some of what you have done. Awesome as always and kind of jealous of that route you did hugging the border!

[@kurt.refsnider]

This is a great style of setup for rough but non-singletrack adventures!

[@edzeppelin933]

Love those nano panniers. I'm looking to make some of my own very soon. Thanks for sharing Kurt!

[@albertoscycles]

How are those levers getting along with the calipers? Do the brakes feel mushy at all?

[@kurt.refsnider]

The combo feels great - no different than GRX levers mated to GRX calipers aside from maybe the XTR calipers offering what feels like *slightly* more power (or maybe that's the 180mm rotors).

[@ColoradoGooner]

Excellent setup. Curious what width the handlebar width was and how you determined that.

[@kurt.refsnider]

The handlebars are 500mm wide. I run some Pro Discovery drops on my gravel bike that are 440mm wide, and I wanted to try something notably wider than that for this bike so I could hopefully ride rockier terrain on the hoods with decent leverage, and these proved to work nicely for that.

[@ColoradoGooner]

@@kurt.refsnider Appreciate the response! This is my conundrum as well on a similar style build. On my Gravel bike i've run 440s and I have no idea how it would feel to have such wide bars. I'm guessing it didn't cause you and discomfort in the wrists or shoulders using the wide bars? Likewise did you go for the bigger flared version or the road style 10 degree and how did you like it? Most of these wider gravel bars are 20+ degrees these days vs your Pro Discovery which are on the more conservative end.

[@kurt.refsnider]

@@ColoradoGooner I like something more like a 20 or 30* flare so I can really tilt my hoods inward for a hand position there more like what I get on a flat bar. That's similar on both these Red Shift bars and my narrower Pro Discover 20* bars.

[@ColoradoGooner]

@@kurt.refsnider Cheers, thanks for the explanation. I'm getting wrist pain from inwards angled hoods/levers (~24 degrees) but perhaps it would be less of an issue on even wider bars. You've given me something to ponder and try.

[@kurt.refsnider]

@@ColoradoGooner Dang! More angled hoods *helped* my wrist pain, but our bodies certainly are all quite different. I hope you get that sorted out!