OVERTHINKIN’ IT.
You ever wonder if a smaller bike is indeed smaller? Do you ever feel the need to dab the blood from your eyes after pouring over yet another geo chart with a completely arbitrary format? You ever just want to do something for the hell of it?
I like to ask questions no one cares about. I love to conduct a good hypothesis.
Answers? Who cares. We’ll get one whether we want it or not, the wheels are in motion. So to speak.
Now the ‘why’ of this all involves a lot of… bags. The team wanted to embark on a sufferfest bikepacking overnighter and I wasn’t about to miss out on that. Which would have been an excellent idea if I had ever done that before.
But, there was a month to the trip and I decided that inexperience wouldn’t be an excuse with the vast plethora of info that occupies the particularly unshowered part of the bike-ternet. There was a curiosity in me that also wanted to see if New meant Better here. Are gravel bikes going in the right direction? Are they the ideal mule to schlep my sorry ass up to the summit of a mountain with 30lbs of camping peripherals? Does it matter?
I took stock of everything I would need on the bike and laid it out to get a picture of what was going to be shared in this experiment. I already owned some stuff from Outer Shell, and picked up a 16L seat pack to ensure I had enough high-volume storage. I opted for a half-framer on the account that I wanted two bottles, and there was a glaring issue in my camping kit. A two-person tent with less-than-ideal pole length. They were much to long to fit in any of the bags.
*Checks cost of a lightweight single person tent*
Alright we’re running it. I stumbled upon a forum where a real trekking old-head secured his tent poles using a cut portion of a mountain bike tube strapped to the seat tube. We went ahead and made that strategy work. I didn’t have a drybag for my sleeping bag either, and I just happened to have a nylon camp chair bag in the garage that worked almost perfectly. All-in on gear I spent a measly $160 on the seat pack, everything else I already had or improvised. Now this doesn’t include any of the gear that will go inside the packs, because if I‘m being honest I forgot to take those pictures and this hypothesis revolves more around the bikes themselves.
1x 2022 Stigmata 3 CC 54cm
First up is the workhorse we’ve all come to know over the past few years, the Stigmata 3 in a simple-yet-striking Gloss Lavender color.
A very composed no-fuss attitude with a touch of cyclocross heritage. The kit here is what I like to call bread & butter, everything you need and nothing you don’t: SRAM Rival 1x and rigid carbon fork, sittin on my control wheelset, Reserve 40|44s. I spent a good degree troubleshooting the setup, but once I nailed the art of hook and loop we had a viable loadout.
Up front, the disadvantage of the slightly smaller 54 frame just looks tucked. The tight clearances look *chef’s kiss* but it remained to be seen if that was detrimental to the ride experience.
Switching to your secondary is always faster than reloading.
Behold the ringer, my magnificent glittery Stigmata 4.
The kit on this thing is seriously badass: SRAM Red/T-Type Mullet, 40mm Rudy Ultimate all on top of those de-badged Reserve 40|44 wheels laced on DT240 hubs.
Does that newness and special silver glitter mean it’s a great velcro-strapped canvas? I slapped all those bags on there and sat back with my elbow on my knee, and my chin on my fist. It looked good. Something aggressive and timeless about black-on-black.
Best of all, everything fit comfortably with plennnnnty of clearance.
After doing the parts and bags and bits swap I saw some clear advantages for each bike become apparent. Mr. Lavender was about 3.5lbs lighter after the fact, but Mr. Goth Glitter had a slightly more flared handlebar which opened up the cockpit around the sleeping bag. The Stig 4 also allowed the installation of a fully loaded OneUp EDC tool in the steerer which freed up space on the rest of the bike for more gear (approx. 2 instant coffee packets).
A surprise tool that will come in handy later.
It seems it would be down to the ride test to determine the most ideal option here. I’m more of a long-legged 5’11 so I had high hopes that the 54 would almost feel more comfortable over 100mi and two days in the saddle.
I tested the bikes on two different rides each. One ride from my house to work, to pay attention the bikes comfort in stop-and-go type situations as well as make sure all the gear was secure with low consequence if something fell off. The second ride was a longer loop back into the Santa Cruz mountains and back down along an undulating Highway 1. This loop had a good bit of elevation, steep pitches, and under-maintained roads. It was also almost exactly 100ft/mi which is a nice round ratio for comparison.
To no huge surprise, the difference between these two bikes in terms of fit, was pure nuance. While the 54cm Stigmata 3 had a shorter reach overall, it came with a longer stem and slightly longer reach bar, and due to the lower stack height it wound up being a bit more rough on the hands than I expected. I guess we don’t call it the ‘Stigmata’ for nothing. The Large Stigmata 4 was definitely longer overall, but with a higher stack I felt the increase in reach wasn’t hugely detrimental to comfort.
Two velcro straps is all it takes.
I always like to consider the more mystical aspects of bike fit as well.
As in, sometimes when you ride a bike there’s an inexplicable feeling of difference. As in, this bike is just faster/slower, lighter/heavier, or comfortable/ouch-able. Despite maybe the numbers or evidence saying otherwise. Listen you can sit and crunch your numbers and debate the comfort factor of a 5mm difference in reach (disregarding head tube angles, front center, and seat tube angle because you don’t want to do the math), but at the end of the day, sometimes a bike just feels a certain way.
The Stig 3 may have been a less than ideal platform, but it felt faster than the Stig 4. Could it have been the longer wheelbase? The weight difference? Not really sure, but it’s also not necessary for me to try and explain that. It’s just bike magic.
The devil was in the details my friends. The Stigmata 4, with the new, longer SRAM Red hoods and the 40mm Rudy was noticeably more comfortable on both the short and long rides in terms of my sensitive little paws. Sure it comes with an increase in base bike weight, but I’ve also got a big ol’ dinner plate cheater cassette on that bike too. Which would come in handy for the big trip.
It felt a bit silly once I was on-road on the Stig 4, I mean it was just the obvious choice in terms of comfort and most of all, frame space and clearance. You’re probably saying “well duh bro it’s a bigger bike” and “why the hell did I just read all this to get the answer I already knew?”
I honestly don’t have that answer for you… I’m in that boat myself. I said it before, I’m really just doing this for shits and giggles, and if you’re not overthinkin it, you’re just thinkin’ it. Which is boring.
Final Form included some small additions and substitutions.
Proud to report that the trip went extremely well and as a result of my (kinda) extensive testing the setup was dialed. Now if only I could have remembered how I packed all my gear, as everything seemed to double in size when I repacked the morning of the second day. That’s for next time though.