mrarkus

My son convinced me to try single-track trail. I have a Co-op Adv 2.3 gravel bike, he has a hardtail MTB. We ended up on an intermediate route with a LOT of roots, rocks, and quick directional changes...

In three months of road riding, most of it being clipped in, I managed not to fall. That changed quickly! Stopped to look at a map, unclipped on one side, and of course slowly fell on the other side Nice soft grass made it a good lesson. Then got cought going too slow once on the trail at the very beginning, and tasted some rocks. Managed to stay upright after that, and was amazed how much fun AND how scary some of these sections were. My butt was out of the seat a lot, but my upper body took some good beating. I started thinking, maybe I should try a suspension stem like Redshift? Anybody have any experience using one for this type of riding? Is it worth it?

Jughed

I ride single track with my son as well. He's on a hard tail MTB, 13 years old and falls/pain don't phase him!!

I'm on a CX bike with CX tires - hilly single track puts the bike and the rider (me) at their limits. I've gone down a few times - mostly from my front end washing out.

I ditched the clipless pedals and ride on flat pedals, and I will be putting some more aggressive 44mm tires on the bike.

Or - because N+1 is a real thing - I will pick up a used MTB.

RB1-luvr

underbiking is not for me, though I do admire at people who do it and am often amazed by their skills. Will be interested if/when you get a suspension stem.

mrarkus

Ha, my son is 13 as well! It's amazing what they can do, I'm just happy to stay on the bike... I've ordered the Redshift stem, will see if that helps at all, otherwise might go a 3rd bike route as well.

big john

What tires and pressure are you using?

mrarkus

Right now I got 40mm Schwalbe G-One RS, running them at 40 PSI on the trail, couple PSI higher than the SILCA calculator suggests.

Polaris OBark

I bought a second, 650b wheelset, and have put the widest tires my frame will allow on them. The front is 48mm; the rear is 42mm. What you describe is my normal ride, and unfortunately I am hitting the ground more now, rather than less. So to address that I finally bought a modern "downcountry" XC bike. I am still better on the gravel/all-road bike.

Jughed

I'm running similar style tires that are 37mm - great on gravel and pavement, not great on singletrack.

john m flores 

You did well to ride with your son! I was a clipped-in mountain biker in my youth but these days I prefer flat bars and platform pedals. I'm not a big fan of riding technical singletrack on a dropbar gravel bike - I don't like the feeling of my forward weight shift that being the drops (for access to the brakes) causes. Especially on steep/technical downhills through rock gardens and such.

t2p

G-One RS is a terrific tire in the speed department - but not so much in other areas

the 40 mm G-One RS might be around 38 mm (carcass) - which translates to around 1.5 “ tire

1.5” tire would be considered extremely narrow for just about any type of significant off road use

big john

I would think the size would be ok for mild trails but I would try to run the pressure as low as you can get away with in the front. I've only ridden a gravel type bike a few times but have been on mountain bikes and dirt bikes for 40 years. Low pressure is good on dirt.

t2p

similar here - although I can / will brake from the hoods

prefer flat bar for single track - especially for descents

some of this can be attributed to the bar width - ? - my 40mm bar too narrow for me for significant off road riding

mrarkus

Sorry, not RS, the R Evo. The one with full thread. I was initially looking at the RS, but wanted a more-rounded tire.

Steve B.

I've done some ST on my Topstone Gravel. Did not have issues with the Gravel Kings, they grip pretty well in our conditions, just didn't feel great on a narrower drop bar, much prefer a wide flat bar, makes it easier to get thru tight turns. Much prefer either of my mt. bikes for ST.

Eric F 

Keep at it, and work on your skills. It will make you a better rider in all conditions, and on every bike.

Personally, I enjoy the challenge of being under-biked, rather than always riding the bike that makes things easiest. I ride my gravel bike on most of the same local roads and trails that I ride my MTB, excluding just the most technically demanding. I'm currently running 44mm tires on my gravel bike, but have ridden all the same stuff on tires as narrow as 35mm.

I ride downhills and technical sections in the drops because it puts my weight lower and further back than being on the hoods, and control of the brakes is better. It does feel different than a MTB, and takes some getting used to.