How I Ruined My Gravel Motorcycle Trying to Make It ‘Progressive’ – Avoid Making the Same Mistake!

Given how a lot gravel race motorcycles have modified lately I determined I sought after to look what occurs to what’s a slightly ‘normal’ gravel motorcycle – my longer term Fairlight Secan 2.5 – if I changed it to incorporate all of the on-trend race elements: Very large tyres, slim bars, and suspension forks. I’ve attempted every in isolation, and they’ve their deserves, however in the end, regardless of it being sooner, I’m going to retire this setup once I am getting 5 mins to switch it again to a extra manufacturing unit spec. In brief, except you’re racing (and I imply in truth racing, no longer coming 456th in a gravel sportive), then go away the loopy setups to the professionals; you’ll have extra amusing, I promise. 

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New wheels, seatpost, bars, stem, forks and tyres all to be able to pass sooner. (Symbol credit score: Will Jones)Including a fork adjustments the geometry of the entire body although. (Symbol credit score: Will Jones)I may are compatible a 2.0″ entrance, however just a 45c rear tyre. (Symbol credit score: Will Jones)I wished a 130mm stem after I added the fork to get my right kind place. (Symbol credit score: Will Jones)Whilst those are superb at the street, on gravel you do want a bit extra leverage, particularly with a suspension fork. (Symbol credit score: Will Jones)The experimental setup

The ‘mess around’ part was pretty simple, or so I thought. Just bolt on a suspension fork, fit as wide a set of tyres as you can, add some narrow bars and away you go. Luckily, the Fairlight Secan is a very easy canvas on which to paint one’s ideas, what with fully external hose routing, relatively wide tyre clearances, and generally just being pretty normal. No funny business, which is part of the reason I gave it nearly full marks in my review. 

The forks were a set of RockShox Rudy XPLR, with 30mm of travel, a lockout switch on the shoulder, and clearance to take a 2.0” mountain bike tyre, which I’ll get to momentarily. This was the first thing I swapped, and initially, it made the bike feel as if I was suddenly falling off the back of it, so I then swapped the setback seatpost for a 0mm setback, inline option, which helped enormously.

The problem was, this more forward position meant the hoods were too close to my body, so my standard 90mm stem (sue me, I have a short torso and long elegant legs) for a mighty 130mm Pro option. Given that the fork slackens the head angle and makes the stem even more positive-rise, I then had to shunt the cockpit down a couple of spacers to get it into something approaching my ‘normal’ position.

Ok, so we’re at a point where the fork has been added and the position heavily modified. May as well go all in and fit the ludicrously narrow Lambda X-Wing bars that I ran on the road last year, which measure as little as 22cm between the hoods. I didn’t foresee any negative impacts here… Fortunately, they didn’t mess with the reach enough for any additional mods to be required for the setup.

Luckily, the tyres were a breeze, to a point. I initially fitted a pair of 2” Continental RaceKing XC tyres, but found out pretty swiftly that, while the rear triangle could just about accommodate such a big tyre, the Shimano GRX Di2 front derailleur was basically touching the rubber, and what with it being a steel frame with a lovely level of flex, on pedalling it rubbed, so the rear was swapped out for a 45c Vittoria Mezcal. The Rudy XPLR fork had no issues up front, though there’s not much more room to go larger without having no room for mud. It’s a little ugly running a larger front tyre, but it’s all I could manage, so away we go.

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I additionally put in the Fulcrum Sharq wheels that I examined closing yr. They have been nice however in reality stood out in crosswinds, and I sought after a suite of wheels that will permit me to hopefully keep in an aero place as frequently as imaginable, so those are compatible the invoice. 

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It seems a bit mad, and it’s speedy, however I would not in truth counsel you do all this on your personal motorcycle. (Symbol credit score: Will Jones)I had to switch to an in-line seatpost to forestall the sensation like I used to be falling off the again of the motorcycle. (Symbol credit score: Will Jones)I did not like this entrance finish. Please do not inform Dylan Johnson. (Symbol credit score: Will Jones)The dealing with implications

What happens, then, if you decide you want to emulate the pros? (Yes, this means you, Dylan Johnson, I’m sorry.) Well, I’ll preface this quickly with the fact that I think each mod has its benefits, but collectively, they made the bike feel pretty terrible. 

First up, running a suspension fork on a frame not initially designed to take one affects the geometry. The front end gets higher, so you have to modify your position, as I’ve already mentioned, but the head angle gets slacker too. I loved the standard handling of the Secan, and adding a fork made the front end feel wallowy and slow, with quite a noticeable amount of wheel-flop, whereby the wheel wants to turn itself over beyond a certain angle of steering input. This is compounded by the front-end bob that suspension gives when riding out of the saddle, which really doesn’t play well with the handlebars. 

This brings me onto the narrow bars; the slacker handling at the front was certainly compounded by the narrowness of them. I don’t hold all that much truck with the theory that you need to run super wide bars on gravel ‘for better control’ but at this extreme degree of narrowness, I really noticed the lack of leverage versus even something traditionally narrow for gravel like a 38cm bar. On steep, techy climbs, it made picking a line much harder, and out of the saddle, it massively compounded the wallowy front end in a way it never did on the road where I ran it with unchanged geometry. 

I can absolutely get on board with the wide tyres though, regardless of setup. Our own testing has proved them to be faster, they’re more comfortable, they give better control on rough ground, they cope better with mud, and they look wicked. 

Despite ruining the handling, the outcome was that the bike was noticeably faster. My average speeds, especially on rough sections and on faster road segments, were greatly improved by the two-hit combo of a far more aerodynamic position and the ability to just rumble over bumps in a way I was never able to before. But to what end? I’m not racing. I like going fast, but ultimately, the experience was worse. 

Whilst it used to be sooner, noticeably so even with no head unit to inform me, the unfavourable have an effect on at the dealing with used to be such that I will be swapping again to a regular construct once I will be able to.  (Symbol credit score: Will Jones)What would I stay?

While I am an advocate for narrow bars on the road and would happily use those Lambda bars on tarmac in certain contexts, I did not enjoy them for gravel riding. I missed the lack of leverage on punchy, out-of-the-saddle climbs, and on techy terrain, they made the steering feel vague in a way they didn’t really on tarmac. If I was racing, then I’d fit them, as the speed gains were tangible, but for a bike I ride for fun? No chance. 

As for the suspension fork? I am certainly on board with gravel suspension, but only for bikes that have been specifically designed to take a suspension fork. I recently spotted a new Canyon Grail online that appears to be specced with one from the factory, and I am certainly curious to see how this rides. I suspect far better than any retrofit setup.

Big tyres are here to stay. If I could fit 2” tyres to the Secan, I’d leave them on there, but for now, 45c will have to do. While this latest Canyon is probably going to upset the apple cart by introducing suspension to gravel race bikes, I actually think if gravel bike design continues as it is currently doing towards wider tyres, the need for suspension will essentially vanish. On something like the YT Szepter, the suspension really helped, but that bike came with comparatively narrow tyres. 

Sure, suspension will assist you to rumble over rocky terrain, and gravel race classes might get extra rad as motorcycle design progresses (because it has in cross-country), however at what level will we simply admit we wish a mountain motorcycle?