Considerations for hardtail and/or full suspension drop-bar gravel bikes
 

I know there are at least a few members here running hardtail or full suspension drop-bar gravel bikes and I'd like to hear how that's working for you. Just some things I've been wondering about:

Did you buy a stock mountain bike and add the drop bars and other required parts?

Did you build from the ground up?

How does the riding compare to a full-fledged mountain bike on gravel?

How does the riding compare to a rigid-cross style bike on gravel?

Suggestions/tips for sizing?

I've been having pretty decent success riding my hardtail mountain bike in the local gravel races and have been toying with getting another bike to set-up as a hardtail drop bar gravel racer. There doesn't seem to be much out there as suspension seems to be a non-starter right now as the gravel scene is still trying to move beyond cyclocross race bikes and into more developed bikes specifically for gravel.

Interested in this too, as I've thought off an on about buying a lower end MTB (used or new) and converting to drop bars. I'd probably go full rigid, but suspension fork with lockout would be OK too. Basically I'd like something akin to a poor man's Fargo.

My research on doing a conversion gets me to believe it might be easier to forego the drop bars and try an alt MTB bar like the Jones loop bar, velo orange crazy bar, or something similar. Otherwise, you end up buying too many parts, not to mention the geometry of a MTB with drops gets you too stretched out.

I think a full suspension would cool to try out with drops. I've always had to go with an super short stem with a pretty àggressive rise to compensate for the long reach that road bars give to mtbs. My current dropbar mtb I'm using a 60mm stem and was a hardtail single speed 26er. I also run a 44mm wide bar for a little more leverage on the bumpy stuff then a 40mm I normally run in my road bikes. My dropbar mtb is one of my most comfy bikes but they take a little bit to get set up correctly.

I don''t see much reason to go full suspension on a gravel bike, but a suspension fork would be nice sometimes

I've got a homebuild- like from a bag of spokes but that's hardly necessary, I just like building wheels- I used an Ican CX Wide frame, allows for a 40c tire (a little snug, rear needs to be deflated to install) and a Lauf TR29 fork. I had the carbon fork for a ride, went okay, but the Lauf just makes it smoother.
Yes, they are expensive. You can find them used, not everyone loves the Lauf.
There's a new model, the Grit, that has 35mm travel instead of the TR's 65. The intent is gravel, potholes, etc, not roots and rocks.

Lol I forgot about this thread. I ended up doing a conversion and have been pretty happy with it for rec riding. I'd added in my answers if anyone else finds this thread in the future. :D

I have a full suspension 29er with drop bars and it's an excellent bike for steep mountain roads frequented by gas powered all terrain vehicles that chew up the surface and scatter loose rocks. The big and fat tires keep me upright on loose surfaces that would spill CX bikes, or bog down 26" mtbs. The combination of low posture and hand position in the drops gives me a secure feeling and the roadie-like position allows me to ride extended climbs that go on for miles/hours all the way to the top of mountains. I had to install much lower gearing though because of the huge hoops, 20t on front 40t on back. If you can find a suitable used bike and like to tinker it's an interesting build. The downside is that suspension bikes are complicated and need more maintenance, and are heavier. If you don't have an application for this type of bike maybe something simpler is more practical. Think realistically about where you intend to ride and what's required there.

You could also build a nice fat tire drop bar gravel bike from a fully rigid vintage 26 mtb. I have one of these. I have BMX pedals and ride it wearing normal clothes and sandals. I'm shocked how much I love this old bike that someone had left on the curb for city cleanup. Building your own bike is a pain in the ass though, for example I've had to swap out many parts repeatedly until I find just the thing that works. Lot's of time spent building when I could have been riding.

If I had to do it all over again maybe I'd just buy a hardly-used bikesdirect hardtail from craigslist and put drop bars and roadie shifters on it. The ideal donor bike is one size too small, in my opinion, but I like to ride aero posture, xc, no jumps or hops.

Just noticed your final comment ;-)

Nice! Do you have any pics of your set up? I've seen a few other drop bar hardtails out at events but have not seen any FS rigs yet. I looked real hard at getting an NOS FS 26" bike before I did my hardtail conversion but since most of my riding is intact gravel roads I was worried it wouldn't be as fun/fast for events.

Definitely familiar with "roads" like the above, a lot of times the are paired with flatter sections of very large loose gravel (still steep!) and steeper sections that are rutted and require good judgement to pick a line and stay upright. Thankfully they're never very long but they do crop up frequently in North Georgia.

What's really funny is that I picked up a 29er hardtail for the conversion initially but decided I should ride it as an MTB at least once. It felt like such a huge improvement over my 26" bike that I decided to keep the 29er as an MTB and run the 26" as the drop bar bike. Now I'm wondering if I should switch them around. :lol:

Here's a pic of my bike, might be helpful for the thread. I'm still fiddling with the shifter location. I move them down a little when I want to feel like a roadie and then move them up when I want to feel like a 'crosser. :D
https://drandalls.files.wordpress.co...0011.jpg?w=640

And here's a pic comparing the bike set-up as an MTB compared with my road position:
https://drandalls.files.wordpress.co...2984.jpg?w=640

I need help
 

I was quite interested in what you mentioned in the forum. I was interested in learning more for your experience and to explore if you have any recommendations for me since I will be doing a similar set up. I'm interested in learning more about hand position from the drop bars you used. Did you use clip-drop bars? I will be doing a 545 mile ride for a charity and unfortunately the only bike I have is a full suspension mtb which i can modify. Any information or tips will help. Thanks!

@Spoonrobot,

What brand and size fenders are on the Soma?

Sks chromoplastic 700cx50mm, they fit better for the 650bx42 tires I was using. They’re fine fenders but I’ve since switched to aluminum fenders and I’ll never go back to plastic. Aluminum is much stiffer and does not wobble almost at all even on the roughest gravel I ride.