We sat down with Damian Stones over a coffee recently and chatted about the setup of his Stigmata Gravel bike and the equipment he used for his latest adventure film Mākū.
Q: Looked like some pretty challenging trails you had on the menu for this adventure. Why choose a Stigmata gravel bike over the traditional hard tail mountain bike like a Highball?
A: First up, a trip like this is not everyone's cup of tea, but we were out to see how far we could push it on this bike and adding to it, it rained ... a lot. The terrain we covered on the trip was very diverse from gravel to sealed roads through to grade 5 single track tech.
I feel the Stigmata handled it like a champ. This bike has changed a lot from the previous model. Santa Cruz has made the Stigmata frame a lot more compliant, essentially what this means for me, is that it's way more comfortable to spend long hours on the bike. As said previously, the 650b wheels add to the capabilities of the bike.
Having a bike which has the ability to ride single track well and then cover gravel and sealed roads efficiently, we could cover a lot of kilometres in a short amount of time.
Q: What are your thoughts on the new 650b wheels on a gravel bike?
I was running the Shimano 650b GRX wheels with 2.1 Maxxis Beaver square knob, great for the front tire and the Race TT back tire for fast rolling. The benefits of running 650b with bigger tires - you pretty much get close to the size of a 29er / 700c, but also the benefits of clearance which in turn gives a more comfortable, cushioned ride. The wider tire also allows you to use lower tire pressure and a more stable ride with bigger loads. The bike feels more manoeuvrable in handle the technical trails better. Additionally, I felt like I had an extra climbing gear with 650B wheels compared to 700c, due to the smaller circumference which was pretty darn handy with so many big hills on the trip.
Q: For the gear junkies out there, can you give a quick rundown of what type of bike-packing bags you used?
A: I am an advocate for keeping it simple, run with what you've got in the garage. I run a traditional Stealth seat bag the "Pack horse," super reliable uncomplicated and has the ability to strap gear to the outside. On the drop bars, I use the Stealth Heaphy Harness with Sea to Summit dry bag. The key here is to use the right-sized dry bag for the width of your bars, so you can fit your hands around the brakes and bars without them rubbing. For me, the ability to spread your gear weight evenly around the bike is key for a predictable well-handling bike. Dry bags work well for distributing gear and weight around the bike, they are super durable, waterproof and uncomplicated. On the Forks of the bike I run with "Salsa anything Cages" I attach these to the forks using stainless steel hose clamps (wrap the carbon forks in rubber beforehand). Running dry bags on the forks keeps the weight low down keeping the bike more planted on the trail. Too much weight up high on the bike makes the bike flop around. And lastly, I borrowed an adjustable off-the-shelf frame bag from a mate. This was mostly good for holding snacks and freeze-dried food.
Q: The best piece of gear you couldn't do without
A: My bike of course. And then my Jetboil, there’s nothing better than hot meals in the wet cold conditions of a trip like this.
More Damian Stone adventures
More about the Santa Cruz Stigmata
