Gravel Gear; Bars, Stem and Seat Post

Not so much a necessity for the bike to move from a commuter to a gravel ride but I plan to switch out the cockpit and seat post. As with all my other bikes I will be switching over to 3TCycling parts. For this ride I went with the Pro Version on all three pieces as indicated by the white stripe.

The Stem is the classic Arx Pro Stem, personally I prefer the wider faceplate of the Arx vs. the ArxII. The Team Stem has a red stripe and the only difference is titanium bolts, which would be very fitting as it’s a titanium frame but that would throw of the cosmetic look from the Ergoterra bars.

The Ergoterra Pro are 3Ts aluminum CX bars and by design offer a wide drop bar for cyclocross, with flared drops for elbow clearance on rough ground, and a reinforced central section for crosstop levers. It is tailored to provide more control over technical terrain. They too are available with a red stripe which are the Team version and are carbon fiber

Many Pros opt for aluminum bars over carbon fiber as carbon can become razor sharp if it breaks. When compared to aluminum which is much more likely to just bend under impact. With that said the latter seems a much safer bet. While I have no plans to crash it’s bound to happen sooner rather than later.

The final piece is the seat stem which I went with a Doric Pro with a 25mm set back. I have the Pro version on my Mountain Bike and the Team version on my road bike. There’s no doubt the carbon stem offers a bit more flex but I compared to the Lynskey I will not have anywhere near as much stand-over height and any flex would be lost, plus it’s the same argument for crashing too. This stem is actually retired and it took a bit of hunting around to locate one. I finally found one in Canada!


So now all I have to do is mount it all!