How to Ride Over Obstacles on a Gravel Bike

Question

How should a rider of a gravel bike overcome a log or a similar obstruction?

Answer 1

When attempting to go over obstacles on a gravel bike, begin practicing raisi ng your front then back wheel over obstacles such as a stick or a piece of wood. Start with smaller tires, and as you’re able to handle them, work your way to larger tires. The trick is to perform an involuntary wheelie and then bring your feet behind you while squeezing the object. In time, you will be able to go over different types of hurdles without stepping off the bike.

Comments

Gravel =  Level 1 Mountain Biking    :).        Get those bar ends back on and some fast tyre treads :)  Ok either bike does the same thing ...  But MTBs let you go more extreme  ..

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Interesting - I think for advice about clearing logs it is worth looking at some basin MTB skills. I have never understood the advice on steep technical descents to go down on the drops, as this pushes your centre of gravity forward, which can be a bad thing for going over the bars if you hit an obstruction. Is it because it gives you a bit more braking leverage / control?

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Any advice for bunny hops or raising the rear of the bike without clipless pedals?

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A proper bunny hop would be better technique than lifting the front & pulling the rear wheels up. Even with the lower height needed for gravel riding, it puts less strain on the body.

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Small tips for going over stuff :

When practicing scary shits like jumping over things, you can try by going over imaginary obstacles at first ! Then go over stuff bigger and bigger

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Make sure you have clearance to ride other obstacles though.

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Practicing jumping with a Dollar store pool noodle… gets confidence going and doesn’t catch the back tire as much so you can get your foot down.

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A roadie error on getting over obstacles is trying to just lift the whole bike up - both wheels - and jump it. Tends to lead to disaster if you miss-time it and the front wheel hits the lump. As shown in the content get that front wheel up and over. As long as the front goes over your log / rock then in theory the back should too, even if you are just starting out on the knack of lifting the back as you go over. You might bang the back wheel a bit to start but at least it's not an OTB situation. Whatever you do don't hit the obstacle with the front wheel.

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No, it did not look like a gun, it looked like a log. I think it is good to ride technical gravel standing up so to cushion through hard obstacles and when already off the saddle, you can go the Ollie Bridgewood way.

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That lifting the back wheel to hop obstacles is terrible advice