The bulk of my job here at Cyclingnews is to test things. There’s spotting pro tech and being an eagle-eyed race reporter, trying to work out what X rider is using at Y race and if it’s significant, but mostly it’s seeing if certain tech innovations are actually any good. Often, this takes the form of new product releases, which get tested in isolation, but sometimes it’s simply a case (to paraphrase) of mucking about and finding out what happens.
Given how much gravel race bikes have changed in recent years I decided I wanted to see what happens to what is a relatively ‘normal’ gravel bike - my long term Fairlight Secan 2.5 - if I modified it to include all the on-trend race components: Very wide tyres, narrow bars, and suspension forks. I’ve tried each in isolation, and they have their merits, but ultimately, despite it being faster, I am going to retire this setup as soon as I get five minutes to swap it back to a more factory spec. In short, unless you’re racing (and I mean actually racing, not coming 456th in a gravel sportive), then leave the crazy setups to the pros; you’ll have more fun, I promise.
