Finally finished. If you’ve followed the last few posts about work I’ve been doing on the bike, you’ve seen a few changes. Took the last, and perhaps most important, change out on a test ride today: new tires.
I’d heard good things about Panaracer’s Gravel King line of tires, but the biggest size my bike can take are 32s and the smallest Panaracer had in tubeless was 35s. Until now. The new model SS fits — just barely — and it’s tubeless.
So I mounted them the other day and finally got around to riding them on a decent 44-degree day.
And they were excellent! Because the wider tire runs at lower pressure, they’re softer on the road. Because tubeless can run at even lower pressure, even better. I had the front tire at 40psi — half of what I would ride on 25s…even my old 28s. And I got to do a bit of riding through some construction today and learned rather quickly that I can be more comfortable and have more confidence in the tires on the rougher terrain.
And with that, I’ve pretty much completed the conversion to gravel…well, as best I can. I have a feeling I’m going to be enjoying this year…
When you do your conversion to the steel frame you might also want to consider going to disc brakes. I like the way they perform on hills as well as when you get the unexpected shower. The chain ring is very intriguing. I’m curious if they make it any smaller then the 42 you have. I may have to investigate it a little further. I believe my chain ring is a 32 on the Fatback. Stamps I was looking at are alloy so they’re a bit pricier. I know composites are every bit as durable these days but I just can’t get past the idea that I prefer the metal over plastic.
I’m not sold on disc brakes for a couple of reasons. 1) higher maintenance and 2) increased rigidity of the fork and so less ability to absorb the road. I know they perform better in certain conditions, but I’m seldom out in those conditions – not to the point where the rim brakes (which technically are also “disc” – just a bigger disc!) would matter.
I’ve looked at the Wolftooth site and the 42 is the biggest size they have in elliptical. It starts at 28 and goes by 2’s all the way up to 42, so looks like you have plenty of choices. I liked the site gear-calculator.com for figuring out what a good ratio would be for my riding. You may be able to fidget with it and come up with a good range that fits what you want to do with your bike.
I’m not too particular about pedal material. I figure 6 years on two sets of composite pedals is as good as 6 on one set of metal. I don’t have a big field for comparison, but I liked the Stamps because they allow me to move my feet to the best position on the pedal for whatever situation I find myself. The other pair I used I could just not get my feet in the right places very easily — I think it had a lot to do with the pin placement. I’m also considering that I’ll only do flats in the winter when I might need to put my foot down quickly (and when my ventilated cleated shoes make for really cold feet). And yeah, the large Stamps will accommodate winter boots if you’re taking your fat tire out in the wild.