r/G1explorers

I switched my drops to Nitto Granolas (posted inquiry the other day). Still a little work im progress as obviously I need to swap out the brifters but wanted to show anyone since I imagine someone else will eventually look. Drop bar model for the updated drive train and tires, had the original one few years back and loved the geo though now I can't seem to find a comfy spot hence swapping the bars

Reside in Jersey.
Riding a medium sized frame, color is as in picture.
Upgrades…..new saddle already purchased I just have to pick up and install. Not sure on upgrades as of yet. I’ll be taking it in for a tune soon.

I’ve rode this same trail before on my MTB and struggled. My OT G1 v2 got me there with no effort and was great to ride.

We both have mountain bikes but we find the bikes overkill for a lot of the riding we do. Sometimes, we just want to ride some easier trails with portions paved. Flat bar gravel bikes seemed like the sweet spot for us and there’s nothing even close to the G1 available here in terms of value. The cheapest Norco is $1,500 Canadian!

Seems like we were lucky to find them in stock based on posts here. Mine will go nicely with my Ozark Trail Ridge I got 3 seasons ago.

Only rode it for about 15 minutes before work but it feels so fast and nimble. It’s very fun

I finally got my hands on the elusive large drop bar G.1 thanks to six months of patiently watching Facebook marketplace.

I had to re-scale the 80 mile overnight ride that I had planned to take that day. But it was totally worth it.
Rode out 20 miles spend some time at an open mic night at a winery and camped overnight before going to a diner in the morning and heading on home

Been looking to get one of these for three weeks and it has been out of stock. Finally bit the bullet for online delivery and this is what the front of the stem looks like. Should I return this and start over or just swap it out for a spare stem I have in the parts bin?

Woke up the other day and decided to ride the explorer for 100 miles. Had previously ridden 50 & 75 mile rides over the past two weeks, but had never attempted a century before. Packed up some water, carbs, and electrolytes, then I hit the greenway.

The bike was a solid 3/5 stars for me. The ride went fine, but the main challenges I found were comfort (which very likely could be due to poor bikefit), brake calipers requiring mid-ride adjustment, and derailleur also requiring adjustment twice.

For this ride I put 700x35c gravelking SS+ tires on the bike with TPU tubes. This made a huge difference with speed and grip. I really don’t like the tires that come on this bike, they are very thin and I found myself losing grip often with them. I understand they have to reach a price point but if there was one change I would make, it would be to have slightly better tires. The stock ones are somewhat translucent if you hold them up to the sun. 🌞

The night before the ride I had cleaned and oiled the drivetrain, made sure the shifting was good, and adjusted the brake calipers to eliminate rubbing on the rotor. During the ride I had to tighten the shifter cable twice, which to be fair is probably just cable stretch… but still annoying. The calipers needed adjustment to eliminate rub twice, the second time it happened worse than the first as it was noticeably slowing me down. Luckily both of these issues are pretty easy to fix with a multi tool.

Overall the ride went well, and I’m very grateful that this bike exists. If this bike wasn’t sub $300, I wouldn’t have been able to pick it up and get introduced to the whole cycling universe. Now that I’ve had the experience that I’ve had with this bike, I’m saving to get a higher quality bike, checking out new upgrades and accessories I can add to the explorer while I save, just completely absorbed into the hobby!

I would recommend this bike to anybody that is able to learn how to fix things on the bike. You’re going to have to buy tools and learn how to maintain and repair the bike. For example i had a bolt strip out and destroy the threads on the stem during a short ride around the neighborhood, the handle bars shifted forward and I thought I was gonna go over the bars. Luckily this was easy to fix and I was able to replace the stem for less than $20 with a replacement from Amazon. So as long as you’re able to learn to repair stuff I think you would have a good time with this bike.

She just goes. No quesrions asked. Hit up downtown fort worth and finished with some light gravel.