My New Gravel Bike | Is Heavier Actually Better?

[@_cpdchua]

Love the clean integration! I'm also using red shift stem in my titanium gravel bike. Game changer!

[@grantritchie]

Amen

[@fennec13]

I ride my Ti gravel bike on and off trails and roads. I don't care about weight (vs say, a carbon fiber bike) its plenty light to me ! and so comfortable ! Your Rielly reminds me of me WHY cycles (Now Revel) R+ * lol. Similar in spec drivetrain too but 2X.

[@nogonoma]

Nice bike and set up. I'm a big believer in the power of titanium bikes as well. Enjoying the channel. Cheers.

[@grantritchie]

Thanks, it really is such a good base! Appreciate the comment 👌🏻

[@robertprue9968]

The trails you were riding are also my local trails, and there’s loads of little cheeky bits. I think I bumped into you once near Trowell garden centre a couple of months ago

[@grantritchie]

Yea I’m often through that way! What bike were you riding? Amazing trails around here.

[@robertprue9968]

@@grantritchie yeah great trails, I was riding a Trek checkpoint alr with a creaking seatpost.

[@alexbroekman9528]

What a stunning bike and such a good run through of the build 🚀

[@grantritchie]

Thanks dude 🙏

[@TESTA-CC]

I ride a vintage Reynolds 753 Peugeot Perthus Pro & Vitus 979 Dural. Other Mates have Carbon Bikes Canyon Grail CF & Planet X CF

[@loyanglionscc]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[@jcart-wr2xu]

I have just finished building my own Reilly reflex and it comes in at 8.53kg with 32mm tires. This is light enough for me especially as I am 82kg and 186mm, so saving another 200 or 300g is not going to make a huge difference

[@grantritchie]

Yea that’s really quite light for gravel! That’s the thing with these frames from Reilly, they are such a great base and then depending on what components you add you can create the style of bike you want (light, aero, comfortable, trail muncher) What spec have you got on there?

[@jcart-wr2xu]

SRAM force explr 1x with 10-36 cassette and zip 303 firecrest wheels with pirelli p-zero 32mm tires. I think that is where most of the weight difference is.

[@grantritchie]

@jcart-wr2xu what a beaut of a build! Would love to try that on mine and see how it feels.

[@dadcram]

My Genesis Fugio 30 starts at 11.2 kg without tools, spares and water! So 10kg is luxury

[@reeseprince8]

Ive got the topstone 4 2023 but planning on buying the grx groupset and pirelli 45c tyres i think it will look sick

[@paultushingham6816]

Agreed, comfort is more important on Gravel bikes... if your racing then carbon. I've got an aluminium Trek Checkpoint Driftless with mechanical shifting also. I think of it as an adventure bike... the wider the tyres the better... ?

[@grantritchie]

I guess it depends on the surfaces you typically ride, but I Iove the confidence of bigger tyres. But would probably prefer something narrower if I did a lot of road x gravel.

[@tonimacadonnie]

Thats actually the question I asked myself about my future fiancé.

[@davidcawthorne7115]

Funny but not necessarily politically correct. 😂❤

[@twowheelsintokyo7039]

Heavier may not be better, but at least her standards may be a little lower.

[@Paul9]

🤣

[@jeffpittman8725]

I wouldn't count on that.

[@CanItAlready]

​@@twowheelsintokyo7039You mean HIS standards. "Fiancé" is the male version, which may or may not be what the OP meant to say.

[@softblur]

nice cut at 1:44, the British Gravel :D. I actually think weight matters more than on the road because I tend to brake and accelerate way more on gravel. And comfort also matters more than on road :D I try to balance both as much as possible 🤑🤑🤑

[@grantritchie]

We’d all love the best of both worlds 😂

[@grantritchie]

That’s why I love the Redshift

[@lathamhardee]

I just recently ditched my carbon canyon for a titanium gravel bike with suspension seat post. Also went from 40mm to 47mm tires. It’s about 4lbs heavier but i don’t mind. No more rock chips in my chain stays 😂

[@grantritchie]

Yea, love that!

[@eekamouseman]

Really nice bike. I have the breezer radar expert and it's fantastic. 13kg. Slow on the up, great on the down. 😊

[@grantritchie]

Yea that’s the thing! Rapid down descents.

[@nickbaumcycling]

Bike looks awesome!

[@reeseprince8]

Ive got the topstone 4 2023 but planning on buying the grx groupset and pirelli 45c tyres and carbon seat post and handlebars to lower the weight think it will look sick

[@grantritchie]

Solid frame, I’ve also got a top stone. Mine has redshift stem and seat post which is great for comfort without too much weight add.

[@davidross8233]

My gravel bike is 14.5 kg. The only nod I’ve made to weight savings are titanium bars.

[@grantritchie]

If you enjoy riding it, no point in changing it. Bet that thing flies down hills.

[@kornenator]

Cool bike! Ti is quite a bit out of my budget, but i'd love to try one someday. Used to have these tyres, but i found the compound to be a bit soft, they wear out noticeably quicker, i'd be curious to see how they hold up for you

[@grantritchie]

Yea they aren’t cheap, but hopefully a solid investment for the future! Will have to wait and see on how I get on with the tyres.

[@petersouthernboy6327]

Titanium bikes have actually come down in price and is now comparable to carbon.

[@endtimeslips4660]

need careful with concrete stair or wood plank in the middle of overgrowth wood. sometime it have a mold and that where the hidden danger we use stiff cycling shoes it very slippery when walking on the mold or moss. i did fell once and starch my bike

[@grantritchie]

😬😬😬

[@davehunt2191]

I can attest that at times that a heavier MTB does preform better while descending because, it tracks better due to the weight. How is that possible? It forces the tiers to track better and helps negate deflection. I don’t agree fully with that a heavier gravel bike works better but, if it works for you then that’s fine.

[@grantritchie]

I’ll admit, it’s always a balance, but I don’t think weight is necessarily the enemy all the time.

[@lovenottheworld5723]

My Surly Cross Check is a good gravel bike. The weight helps it stick down.

[@lowercvsegod]

What cycling shoes do you got in this video? Nice bike btw. :D

[@grantritchie]

QUOC Gran Tourers 👌🏻

[@lowercvsegod]

@@grantritchie Thanks mate!

[@MagicshineLights]

🙌

[@manwithnoname6580]

Interesting. I have a Giant Revolt Advanced Pro all carbon ( gravel) and a Giant TCR Advanced Pro all carbon ( road) . The Revolt is 1kg heavier than the TCR and I run 40mm gravel tyres on it, compared to the 25mm tyres on the TCR. I use both on the same routes, on the same tarmac roads, and the fat-tyred heavier gravel bike is consistently faster. If anyone can help me to understand why, I’ll buy you a pint ! 🍺

[@OutThere42]

Gearing, tire rolling resistance, plus momentum once you get up to speed?

[@andrew9579]

That doesn’t make sense. What tyre pressures are you running on both bikes?

[@brasstinmancrazy]

Smoother is faster and those larger tires will mean you bounce around less and keep traction and can keep the power smoother, you'll also feel fresher during and end of the ride. If you have a power meter check out the status and see how you fair over the same segments for power and overall.

[@manwithnoname6580]

@@OutThere42 yes I think momentum does come into play here. Once I get up to speed on a flat section it just stays at that speed with what seems to be minimal effort.

[@manwithnoname6580]

@@andrew9579 60psi on the gravel bike, 70 on the TCR.

[@PolyglotBikepacker]

It doesn't matter if you're 3kg or more too heavy. A 14kg bike is perfect for a 200 km ride

[@davidcawthorne7115]

Just buy a bike and ride it I rarely think wow this is a heavy bike. Sometimes I think I need more gears. Depending where I am and which of my 4 bikes I am riding. And how old my legs feel.

[@MacMasore]

Well, no. Does it matter much? That’s a different question. If all else equal I would always pick the lighter bike

[@ZenEndurance]

If the surface is choppy, heavier actually smooths it out.

[@grantritchie]

That’s what I feel with this bike, it just eats the trails up.

[@petersouthernboy6327]

BBW bike

[@aintnobodygottime4dat]

Carbon Forks on an off-road bike........WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

[@grantritchie]

What would you prefer?

[@pen2199]

My bikes a anvil, surly lht, go slow get there with the kitchen sink

[@cjohnson3836]

Reilly cool bike...ba dump tsss. But I do have to say, I can't get with this "race grave" idea. That bike is a race gravel bike. So it a topstone. And a warbird. And a kaius. There's no such thing as "race grave" and at the same time, all gravel bikes are race bikes. Because gravel is way too broad of a category and what people are racing in Europe I would never take on many races in the US that are borderline XC territory. Frankly, we need to ditch European biases on what is bike racing when it comes to gravel. The sport didn't come from Europe anyways.

[@HNedel]

That’s an european channel talking about a british bike. Why would european channels not be euro focused?

[@cjohnson3836]

@@HNedel Because European mentality toward gravel is wrong. I thought that was obvious. And where the bike was made is irrelevant. On some terrain that bike is underbiking. On some its overbiking. And on some, its the most appropriate to race with. There's no such thing as "gravel race" category.

[@mr.baphomet-fpv]

Nice bike！！ I consider GRADIENT and REFLEX. Both seems very great. How is your commends？

[@grantritchie]

Depends on what you’ll be using it for?