My quest to turn my hybrid bike into a real grave bike
Hey y'all! I need your help, expertise, and experience for my current bike setup.
Growing up on the country side I used to only ride heavy basic hard tail mountain bikes in my youth. I've been living in an urban environment since I moved out with like 20 yo.
Soon after I got my first bike which was not an MTB. A simple fitness bike I'd say. Perfect for commuting / urban environments. Since I have this bike I don't use my MTB anymore... It just feels so slow and heavy now.
I needed a bike which allows me to actually ride on gravel but isn't as heavy as a MTB and works well for light bikepacking. So, naturally I gravited towards gravel bikes to find a compromise. However, I don't like the seating angle and drop handlebar of gravel bikes.
I recently bought a Spacialized Sirrus X 4.0 which sometimes gets labelled as a flatbar gravel bike, hybrid bike, fitness bike. After riding ot for a bit I'd say it is definitely a hybrid/fitness bike not a gravel bike. I love the stock tires (Specialized Pathfinder Sport, 38mm) but they are just not enough for gravel cycling. If the pressure is right I can ride light gravel but even the. I feel every bump since it's stills bike with 38mm tires and no real suspension, only light "future shock" suspension stem right below the handlebar. Also it doesn't have that many mounting bolts. Attached yoou find a picture of my bike.
It's still a great bike! But I need to upgrade it and turn it into a REAL flatbar gravel bike
- New Tires
From what I know the bike officially supports tires up until 42mm. I'm sure 45mm tires would fit as well, but I guess then I would have not enough tire clearance? Attached you find pictures of the tires I'm considering buying. I really like one thing about the stock tires: the smooth middle part. It really makes a difference on road. So maybe just buying the same tires but 42 or 45 mm? clearance if I install 45mm tires tubeless the tire clearance is better then with tube? I don't know much about that to be honest. I don't even know if I should mount the tires tubeless or not when I have the option. I found other similar tires that could work. But considering 42mm is kot that thick either, maybe I should use something like the Specialized Rhombus tires (attached) to have a better experience on gravel but sacrificibg that smooth road feel. As long as I can ride on gravel medium gravel with ease and occasional short heavy gravel distances without the fear of destroying my tires I'm good. For real heavy gravel action / off-road I still have my MTB and I plan to buy a new MTB as well.
- Suspension
Since the bike doesn't have real suspension besides the future shock thing, I'm thinking of option to add some sort of suspension. I know I won't be able to add sohnificant suspension but if I can add a little bit combined with thicker tires with the right pressure I should be fine. So the only options as far as I know are seatposts / saddle with shock suspension. However, I I fear that I could not really use my saddle bag then. Though the saddle bag also works with dropper seatposts if I mount it the right way. So, maybe it should also work with suspended seatposts / saddles?
- Other changes
I'm thinking of adding togs / thumb over grips or inner bar end grips to be able to change my grip for comfort on long rides.