[Closed] Are Gravel Bikes Faster Than 29 er's

Do you ever ride "Proper" offroad? i.e. singletrack, big days in the woods or trudling across moors and/or mountains? Or is it all just "Gravel" and road riding?

If its just a bit of gravel even 25 or 25 tyres will cope, specially tubeless. Ive got a canyon endurance bike. Carbon wheels 28mm and its been up some muddy and rocky trails in Spain. Same wheels on the CX. Its di2 etc so is the top end cx. Gravel bikes = sales hype

Depends on the tyres I reckon. I’ve a Spesh sequoia, with 700x42 sawtooth tyres, and it’s pretty zippy on smooth gravel/rough roads. My rigid carbon 29er is vastly more capable on anything more tech than gravel, but slower, on account of the 29x2.4 ardents...

It sounds to me like you need a real road bike. One with 25mm tyres and drop bars. It will be a *lot* faster than a 29er on road, but off-road will be pretty terrible.

I've had both a very light rigid carbon bike and now and equally light cx/gravel bike with 35c tyres. And also light ish carbon xc FS.

The gravel bike is quite a bit nippier, mainly because you can get your head out of the wind.

Fastest KOM on a fire road on rigid carbon MTB - 28.8mph, on the Gravel 31.7.

But add more than a couple of corners or bumps and the full suss xc29 is faster than both.

I have a smooth local 36 miler: fastest speed on full suss xc 16.2 , fastest speed on gravel 16.6.

The rigid xc (which I now don't own) never seemed to be quicker, as the gains are from narrow tyres and drop bars at higher speeds.

I enjoy riding the gravel but it has sucked a little of the adventure out of my ride.

I have little route to town that runs alongside a river on a forest road, the route is 60% gravel 20% rough bikepath and 20% road.

Its 10.5km with 74m elevation gain and on the Diverge i have managed 24:32.  My Canyon Exceed CF 29er is nearly two minutes slower, 26:29.

Its a similar story with other segments , its the climbs especially the longer ones that the Diverge trashes the Exceed. However when it comes to descending, unless its smooth gravel the MTB has the advantage.

Diverge running trigger sport 33mm tyres, Exceeed Racing ralphs 2.25

PS Diverge 10.3kg , Exceed 10.0kg

I have had giant Anyroad carbon it was much faster on the road and light off road than my giant anthem 29er. (But the anthem is a full suspension bike)

on a path I always try for a KOM I managed 2.24 gravel bike 2.46 29er. And those times I go for it. Sad I know but it makes me happy.

so yes the gravel bike is faster on gravel than a 29er but not on real off road.

i now also have a full rigid 29 carbon, yes if it did not have 2.4in tires on and had 35-40mm it would go quick, only marginally slower than the gravel bike.

it sounds like you need to scratch the itch. I did when I brought my gravel bike, but it’s scratched now so iv sold it.

i have a real road bike, 29 anthem and full ridged now. Each for their own job and time.

eople on road bikes did the same ride in a good 1 1/2 hrs less than us …. is that all down to fitness (there were lots of hills) or also the bike??

Its down to fitness. If your longest ride is 52 miles that's the same as my  commute (I don't do it every day).

Total time :

Road bike 3h

MTB 3h40 (single speed)

Fat bike 4h10 (single speed, much lower gear).

There isn't 1h30 even between those extremes! If the MTB had gears it would probably be a bit closer too, especially the fat bike which is barely ticking over on the pedals for most of it.

I’ve also seen posts saying an upright is far more comfortable and many posts saying a MTB beyond 25 miles becomes uncomfortable and yet they’d happily do 110 miles on a road bike.

I've done 80+ on the SS MTB (towing a trailer) on a mixed road/gravel route. Comfort is subjective (beyond the physical stuff like saddle sores, numb palms, bike fit). Pootling around on the MTB is comfortable, you can see where you're going without craning your neck.  80 miles on the road bike is comfortable because the hand positions mean you don't get hand/arm aches and can duck out of the wind (getting low on an MTB isn't comfy).

All depends what the gravel is like.  If it is compact then my fastest times are on a fixed gear bike with 25c tyres but as soon as the gravel is loose then the 25c tyres tend to sink in more and slow you down.  I found a 40c tyre was faster on looser gravel because of this.   The MTB is never faster on gravel.

<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">And also depends on how fast you are going.  Once you get to 20mph the aero advantage of the road bike position makes the bike faster (just as it does on the road)</span>

did our longest ride which was 52 miles (all road) and swapped for much more road friendly tyres but if I had of done that same ride on a gravel bike would it of been any easier / faster??  …. People on road bikes did the same ride in a good 1 1/2 hrs less than us ….

As noted above, 52 miles in approximately 3 hours is decent enough at approx 17mph on hilly route, so you were potentially 50% slower. Given the bike you say you were riding I should doubt it was just bike alone. Your n+1 might buy you some speed, but you can't buy fitness. On the bright side, getting fitter means riding more and harder, and it's fun!

If its just gravel then a good light aero gravel bike will win. Easy the position, higher gearing etc all just make it easier. After that to make any of them go faster you need fitness.

I’ve ditched the road bike completely and now just ride a decent carbon CX and have a spare set of road wheels with 28mm tyres. And the main set with 38mm gravel tyres.  It’s no slower on anything and faster over poor quality roads due to the larger tyres v 23c originally on the road bike.

Versus my mtb it is way faster on gravel, the mtb is kept for proper off road now.

YES and no. For 75:25 road though I’d be looking at a gravel bike or endurance road bike with 28mm+ tyres.  Main difference between my hard tail mtb and gravel bike is the riding position ie more aero on the drop bars, and gearing, my mtb will spin out in road sections , 32T 1x10 vs the gravel bikes 42T 1x11. Having owned both for a while, I’d be happy with a road bike and a mtb to be honest. But if you can only have one bike, or have the n+1 itch then a gravel bike might suit your riding slightly better.

or put drop bars on your mtb (you should at least try this, it’s fun!!).

It sounds like a gravel bike would be the best fit for your riding. You can swap tyres depending on how much off-road you plan to do or just compromise.

Do you ever ride “Proper” offroad? i.e. singletrack, big days in the woods or trudling across moors and/or mountains? Or is it all just “Gravel” and road riding?

No not at the moment bu I'd be keeping my 29er anyway and also have an older 26" MTB that I could use if ever I did.

It sounds to me like you need a real road bike. One with 25mm tyres and drop bars. It will be a *lot* faster than a 29er on road, but off-road will be pretty terrible.

Where I live you have a choice of some pretty horrible roads with lots of traffic to ride on or via a really scenic off road / country lane route via some gravel paths and as I cycle for pleasure tend to avoid the busy roads and take the scenic route as much as possible ..... I had seriously considered a full on road bike instead and down the road may still do so but just not for me at the moment.

Seems like I'm just going to have to scratch that itch .... wish I could find a decent 2nd hand one which is what I did with my 29er in case I didn't like it but now wouldn't exchange it for a brand new one as too attached to it ..... I'd have to hide the gravel bike from it in case it gets jealous 🙂

Cheers for everyone's input ... much appreciated!!

I have a particular ride that I do back home from work - it's 27 miles, reasonably flat. The route is 95% off-road on a mix of towpath, cobbles, dirt and farm tracks. No mud, but very little tarmac too. I don't do it every day (or even every week!) but it's a route that I'm pretty familiar with.

Over the last 6 years I've done it on several different mountain bikes, typically averaging around 2hr 25mins moving time, at around 11mph. This year, I switched to riding it on a gravel bike (Ridley X-Trail C) and in the 5 times I've ridden it since, I've never taken more than two hours, and got my fastest time down to 1hr 46mins averaging nearly 16mph.

I will say that the terrain does make a huge difference, but as soon as you get on trails where you can open it up, a gravel bike will leave even a decent XC bike for dead. Factor in a bit of tarmac too and it's a no brainer. Of course, all of this assumes that you are more interested in speed and times than comfort.

Same legs, same me, different bike. Oh, and I actually enjoy the ride even more now, although there's no question that a bit of comfort has been sacrificed to achieve it. Oh, and I got a couple of KOMs for my trouble too 🙂

my experience on my gravel bike would be that 29 er's are faster but that's all about the riders I suspect 🙁

Not so sure on all the enthusiasm above for narrowish tyres - the trend all seems the other wayand not sure if just fashion - yep ridden plenty of gravel on 25mm and 28mm tyres but for me 35mm is much more pleasant and with the huge choice in tyres now and endless threads can pick something that rolls ok on sealed roads

Personal preference I guess but maybe take care not to go for a 2nd hand bargain that overly limits tyre width

and as said two wheel sets depending on mix of gravel / roads is an option if really end up 90% road and really want to run narrow but have a back up for proper days out

I've got 35c Schwalbe G-One Allround on the gravel bike and 23c Pro One on the road bike (albeit on wide rims, so they measure more like 25s). I've used the gravel bike for group road rides from time to time (including yesterday, as it happens) and, for all but the fastest groups that I ride with, it's absolutely fine. Yesterday's ride was a 17mph run with some work colleagues and, tbh, it felt pretty easy going. I wouldn't use it on faster rides though - my legs aren't that strong and I'd only end up slowing the group, or being dropped on the first fast, flat section!

I bought a Croix de Fer for mixed riding but in the end decided I'd rather either just ride on road or off road with the appropriate bike rather than compromise. Having said that I've taken my Defy over a few rough off road surfaces and with the two sets of wheels I think a similar bike (with clearance for wider tyres than 28's on the Defy) would make as good a compromise as you are likely to get.

I bought a Croix de Fer for mixed riding but in the end decided I’d rather either just ride on road or off road with the appropriate bike rather than compromise.

Maybe it's a bike thing but I don't call my Canyon a compromise most of the time, fast enough on the roads for my fitness - I could get a bit more out of the defy but the roads are crap here.

For gravel/tow path/ fire road and all that it's fine, a mountain bike is the wrong bike for all of that.

On gravel, yes.

Down Snowdon Rangers path, no.

29er - more comfortable

Gravel - faster

I don’t call my Canyon a compromise most of the time, fast enough on the roads for my fitness

I felt the same about my Croix de Fer on the road, then I bought the Defy. The CdF now sits on the turbo trainer in the warehouse at work. Once I'd ridden the Defy the CdF just felt wooden and sluggish. As well as Turbo duty it's also set up with racks and guards so makes a very good general transport bike. And the Defy is actually more comfortable to ride over crappy road surfaces than the CdF. It's not about the capabilities of the bike just how pleasant each is to use for what you are doing.

this might just be me but I find riding drops off roads really hard. I just don't feel I have the control that I would like especially during braking.

The bike I use for mixed rides, normally tarmac cycle path and hill paths, is a genesis high latitude with rigid forks and 1.9 tyres. I find this really good for both surfaces

Over cobbles it's a 29er

when you say gravel do you mean the pot hole ridden rumbling roads that we have to drive on

that's a road bike mate

Over cobbles it’s a 29er

And the hundred KM or so in between?

And the hundred KM or so in between?

that's what bike swaps are for 😉

For what you're describing i'd take my CX/ gravel bike.

I rode the Dorset Gravel Dash this year. (100 miles 50:50 on:off road) There where a few sections where my XC hardtail would have been much more appropriate and quicker; steep & rough descents.  Some fire road bits where it;d be an even match and 50 miles of road where the CX bike is faster.

A lot of it's down to comfort though - my XC bike is fine for 100 miles off road but even 10 road miles it starts to seem inefficient and slightly annoying.

Gearing also plays a part in this. MTBs tend to be geared lower.

my XC bike is fine for 100 miles off road but even 10 road miles it starts to seem inefficient and slightly annoying.

I feel the same.  In reality it is probably only 1mph slower when riding solo but they just feel slow.

I get the same when switching bars around (which I do a lot as it only take a couple of minutes).  Risers feel great on gravel and off road but on the road they just don't feel efficient.  Bull horns and drops feel great on the road but not as good off road (especially for more technical, hopping over things etc,.)

And that is with all other things being equal on the bike.

this might just be me but I find riding drops off roads really hard

If you're going to ride drops off(proper)road then they need to be higher, like 'drops at the level you'd have flat bars at' high so that you can hook into the drops, have full braking and impacts push your hands and the bars into each other more securely.

If you try and ride on the hoods offroad impacts try to throw your hands over the top and off, especially when braking, and it's also harder to unweight on the hoods and maintain a decent grip. If you leave the drops at normal road height then you've normally got too much weight forward and can't unweight or manoeuvre proerly.

Tyres do make quite a difference. Fast rolling MTB tyres feel SO much quicker than gripper tyres with big knobblies

I'm thinking about getting a 2nd set of wheels for my Solaris to let me run some 2.1 Nanos