Now this is the bike you’re meant to bring to Silk Road

Been riding a drop bar mountain bike for the past 5 years in the Colorado rockies. People loose their minds when they see it and can't believe it's able to ride in the mountains. And then they try to follow me down the trail.

To set up a dropbar hardtail you'll want to get the Hope RX4 + hydraulic brakes for the greatest braking. force brakes worked fine too. To stay wired, use Ratio chip and ratchet replacement on your existing mtb rear mech. Or go wireless and go hog wild.

I've tried Thunder Burts in 29 x 2.25. Yes, they are fast, better rear than front, grip is not the greatest, but if you are not sponsored by Schwalbe, i would highly recommend Vittoria Mezcals. Unbelievably good tire. Fast, really fast, grippy and puncture resistent. Super dry conditions try it with an XC Terenno in the rear. Incredibly 50% of the Tour Divide rode them this year -they must be good. Cheers.

Dropper post would be good for that bike build.

I’m running a poor man’s version of this with an all steel genesis vagabond frame and judy gold fork - it’s a flipping monster - very fast, very capable...

That is a good looking bike. Should get some fun miles out of that setup. My next change is aero bars on my tour bike. Just for another hand hold. Take care, Al

I run surly corner bars on my Trek Roscoe. Basically the cheap mans drop bar hardtail. Still need to change the tires for more CX tires for a little more speed.

I Made one like this using my cheap Pacific bike few years ago, it's actually nice but I set front suss stiff

Definitely making a comeback. Nice one Chris. 👍🇮🇪

Just bought a Salsa Cutthroat and immediately ordered a RockShox SID SL.

Hey Chris, hope you’re well… have been chatting with my friends on doing a bike packing trip back end of summer/autumn on the road in Spain and we’ve been discussing a few options. Haven’t really found many videos anywhere with people suggesting areas to ride. Thought it could be a video idea for you to do, maybe with you suggesting a few countries and places to check out, with some links to a few routes… especially as a man who’s done a fair bit of bike packing. Anyway, good luck with the upcoming endeavour.

If you want to try how drop bar mtb's feel without spending big bucks, put a Surly Corner bar on your mtb. That way you don't need any road bike components, so the experience costs you only about 100US$.

yep....the future since 1988 😉😆...John Tomac knows 👊

interesting setup, reminds me of the sort of thing that leah willcox rides.

It's a Bobby Dazzler of a bike, Chris 👌🏻

Chris, Shimano is making a 11-51 casette. Look for: Shimano Deore CS-M5100 11-51T 11speed. It is cheap but heavy :D

A very nice spec Chris 👍A few tweaks at home to dial it in to 100%. What is your bike bag of choice? Mines Scicon? I just pad it out with extra bubble wrap inside. Been on around 14 trips abroad. Protects the bike well. Have a great weekend Chris! 😎

OMG Chris… the airline has broken your bar ends!!!

I live in Scotland. The gravel riding gets more offroad than gravel more often than not. My convertred 26inch hardtail is way faster than any rigid gravel bike on the terrain up here and on longer rides you dont get the sh@t beaten out of you either. Total no brainer to go shock.

What frame size is your bike and how tall are you? Thx for any help and kind regards

Your drop bar hard tail probably needs balancing out with a decent 80s mullet! 🤣

Do you think this would work with a Cyon Exceed CF 7? (The drop bars)

What’s it weigh? I’m curious for building something similar.. thanks!

Using the GR/XTR Di2 with 11-speed, did you miss the 12th gear?

did you choose the fork because of your injuries🤔

Not true. Shimano has a Deore 11-speed 11-51cassette.

What drop bars did you use ?

2:05 man I thought Agent 47 is out to get you

Is there a difference between the 2 pot shimano deore mtb caliper compared to the gravel 2 pot caliper?

Nope, they aren't 😅

All yapping no riding