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England doesnt really have enough easy access ‘gravel’ to really justify it so if its your only bike you will ultimately have to compromise.
Sigh
Even with all this, having a gravel bike as your only ride is still a compromise
Sigh again. If you live somewhere that only has roads, gravel and very easy single track then it is not a compromise at all. A gravel bike is the perfect bike for where I live and a ride can be made up of 80% gravel or 80% road with 5% of single track thrown in depending on what I fancy that day.
This is where I live and ride. Spot the gravel roads (in the UK no less!)
Ignore the stupid bike
My current only bike is a 1x rigid 26" thing which I've had on the go for almost 12 months. Most of my recent riding (Kielder, Borders, Calderdale, North Pennines) could be pigeonholed as the rougher end of gravel riding.
I'm curious enough that, following an imminent stripdown and rebuild, I'm thinking of combining the main MTB bits with drop bars and Sora levers from my road bike, to make a 2x9 gravelish thing. I've already got the cassette, 11-36 for less than £15, only remaining bit I need is one disk brake with roadie cable pull. If nothing else it'll be a cheap winter hacker before reinstating it as a mountain bike in the spring.
I think the cutoff between mtb and gravel is more gradational than people think, and there's lots of inspirational riding of this type in the UK. Question is, are you better doing it with a rigid MTB or a dedicated gravel bike...?
This is where I live and ride.
You have my sympathies #prayforkerley 😁
I would rather cruise along at a real slow pace off road on a single track, than have to cycle on long flat boring gravel roads.
TBH if you have an under-used £4k MTB you might as well chop it in now and claw back some of it's "residual value" (circa £2-2.5k?) which should be about enough to procure yourself a reasonable MTB and a reasonable Gravel bike (maybe a spare set of wheels to fit slicks to for road riding too?)...
That way you can explore the joys of other forms of riding/bikes without giving up MTBing and still avoid this apparent regret...
You'll regret it more if you hold onto an expensive toy you're barely using for even longer, and then end up spending even more on your next bike(s). As it stands you could make a relatively cost neutral change and try something new... Bikes are just tools/equipment at the end of the day, if you have the means to acquire better suited tools do so.
I would rather cruise along at a real slow pace off road on a single track, than have to cycle on long flat boring gravel roads.
I am happy for you. I would rather speed along a gravel road than a tarmac road with cars trying to kill me.
The key thing with gravel riding is that it is an alternative to road riding, not an alternative to mountain biking.
You have my sympathies #prayforkerley
Thanks but save them for someone else. I love living in the New Forest, it is a great place to live and ride and it is absolutely perfect for fast road/off road riding which is what I enjoy. The peaceful surroundings and clean air may not be for everyone of course.
The key thing with gravel riding is that it is an alternative to road riding, not an alternative to mountain biking
That is a valid and I think overlooked point.
I am of course being slightly tongue in cheek Kerley, but I agree with the below, especially in the south of the UK where there is less room for co-existance on the roads.
The key thing with gravel riding is that it is an alternative to road riding, not an alternative to mountain biking
The key thing with gravel riding is that it is an alternative to road riding, not an alternative to mountain biking
This was true for me. I bought a rigid drop bar ATB thingummy while living in Cornwall, partly because the only real commute and transport options by bike tended to be
1. Suicidal A roads or
2. Pot-hole-y and often muddy minor routes with dead ends linked by miles of farm tracks.
Cycling from A to B while avoiding the A road usually meant at least doubling yr mileage, so a comfortable rigid roady bike with fatter tyres and guards is IMO perfect for the endless miles of back lanes, tracks and tarmac-climbing.
But, even as a monstercross it sucks at MTB.
Well here it is.
Arrived Friday afternoon and built up pretty quickly. First impressions were of a well put together bike with good quality finishing kit. This is my first time using Sram shifters in roadie flavour, and they are very nice, comfy hand holds etc. The tyres, whilst big, are not as big as I was expecting (which is nice). Its heavy, weighing in at 11.6kg ! The stock wheels are very heavy by all accounts and obviously there is a lot of rubber. I may get some 700c wheels and 38-40mm tyres in the future for faster rides which should bring the overall weight down closer to 10kg.
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The wife was away all weekend so I had to wait until Sunday evening for a test ride, and could only squeeze in an hour then.
Its fast enough on the road, and those big tyres have a nice little hum to them. I did 5 miles on tarmac to the nearest woods (setting a strava PB on for the total, and beating all my previous road ride times, make of that what you will). The first wood had a big sign up saying "No Cycling" which I decided to obey and carried on along the road a little further and found my first bridalway. It was steep (~20%) doubletrack but the 1x gearing allowed me to winch my way up. The back wheel spun out a few times while standing on the pedals and I quickly found where I needed to weight the bike. Got the top and it turned into a footpath, so I turned around and headed back down. Holding the drops and bouncing off the fist sized stones as fast as I dare to go. It was refreshing to have a bike that determines the limit instead of one that will go anywhere and just needs pointing in the right direction. I crossed over the road at the bottom of the hill and carried on along another couple of miles of farm tracks and bridalways before rejoining the road and heading home.
Although short it was great fun and reminded me of the days spent as a kid in the late 80`s riding my rigid Peugeot around the countryside hunting out tracks and trails to ride. Its a different kind of bike, not a pure gravel bike that is designed for speed, but more a go anywhere MTB crossover and will easily handle the rougher tracks and trails that a 34mm tyre cx or gravel bike would struggle on. Seems to be the perfect choice for my local area, I don't have miles of smooth fireroad type gravel, but there are plenty of rougher tracks that don't have enough elevation to make them worth riding on an MTB, but are fun on this sort of bike.
Holding the drops and bouncing off the fist sized stones as fast as I dare to go. It was refreshing to have a bike that determines the limit instead of one that will go anywhere and just needs pointing in the right direction.
I think this sums up that type of bike, if you want to just go fast get a mtb, if you want to take it a bit slow and challenge yourself a gravel bike works
Nice bike, looks great.
I fully approve of this bike choice. Basically the drop bar equivalent of my rigid 29er. IMO you need tyre volume if you're going to do off-road at anything above an absolute mince. I like riding rigid but I cannot see the attraction of wasting all your altitude oofing and ouching your way down some stony trail at 5mph for ten minutes because you've only got 32c tyres.
I think this sums up that type of bike, if you want to just go fast get a mtb, if you want to take it a bit slow and challenge yourself a gravel bike works
Or just keep going faster and develop your skills on a MTB? I'm constantly challenging myself on my MTB, intent on getting better, quicker, having more fun etc. Is gravel the new fat bike, ie an excuse to mince?
* I see we're back to comparing this to MTB's instead of road bikes again. 🙂
Or just keep going faster and develop your skills on a MTB?
This is why I keep a long travel bike - but I appreciate that speed is anathema to some people.
Or just keep going faster and develop your skills on a MTB? I’m constantly challenging myself on my MTB, intent on getting better, quicker, having more fun etc. Is gravel the new fat bike, ie an excuse to mince?
* I see we’re back to comparing this to MTB’s instead of road bikes again.
At my age with four kids and a mortgage I am fairly risk averse. I would rather go slower on a rigid bike with the same level of technical challenge, instead of having to go faster, bigger, harder on a Full sus mtb to achieve the same challenge. The risk of serious injury means I would rather not go a gazzilian miles an hour just to make it harder, I can do that by going slower on a different type of bike.
I’m constantly challenging myself on my MTB, intent on getting better, quicker, having more fun
Good for you!!
I just like riding my bike, I dont understand why my choice of bike seems to upset people on here. I ride a gravel bike, I could have a faster road bike, I could have a faster mtb, I could have a more focussed and faster cross bike, I could have a more appropriate tourer but my bike makes me smile and can give all the things above a go.
I don't think it upsets anyone fella, It's just a bit of chat! 🙂
I would rather go slower on a rigid bike with the same level of technical challenge
This is a valid point - on a tricky descent on my rigid bike I am never going more than about 7mph which means if I fall off I'll be fine.
Then again, the stuff I seek out on my big MTB is steep and tech which means it's not that quick either.
This is a valid point – on a tricky descent on my rigid bike I am never going more than about 7mph which means if I fall off I’ll be fine.
7mph is a slow running pace, surely you descend even tricky stuff quicker than that! :-0
Sounds like it's the perfect bike for you, trailwagger! Since I've been riding gravel bikes, I've barely touched my MTB - for me, gravel made me finally understand singlespeeds! I never got on with SS, but getting into gravel made me understand that thing of trimming away the excess and getting back to the basics of riding and I love it! There are thousands of miles of trails bridleways in this country that have got kind of boring on a modern MTB, which are suddenly fast and fun and challenging again on a gravel bike. And as you get more confident with it, you'll find it's capable of a damn sight more than you think, and pushing the limits of where you can ride it becomes part of the fun. Yeah, you're not going to be as fast on rocky or rooty descents as you would on an MTB with 3" tyres and suspension, but you'll still be pushing your limits (it's not mincing if you're working bloody hard!), and a gravel bike will absolutely fly in other places compared to that MTB. It's a different style of riding, and if it's the right style for you, it's awesome and you won't look back!
trailwagger - nice looking bike that and looks like the sort of trails where they can be a lot of fun. My own doorstep trails are a bit more farm track, semi-suburban and re-surfaced waggonways but the G-BIke (which no-one is calling them .. yet) is great for this. It also gives me the option to commute about 80% off roads which makes the whole thing more pleasant.
I have just taken a similar route to the OP and decided to try a gravel bike. Although most of my riding in the past few years has been road based I noticed lots of little trails and bridleways that looked tempting, but not on a 22mm tyred roadie.. .
Only just taken one ride on it so far last weekend, but I love the 'do it all' feel of the thing - it's more comfy on the road than my full-on race bikes, and off-road it's just as capable as my venerable old GT Zaskar.
Hopefully I will be more encouraged to just get out and ride...which after all is the most important thing..
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'The key thing with gravel riding is that it is an alternative to road riding, not an alternative to mountain biking'
This for me.
‘The key thing with gravel riding is that it is an alternative to road riding, not an alternative to mountain biking’
This for me.
I agree but the lines get blurred somewhat when you start to get more capable gravel bikes.
This is an alternative to road riding
This is something more
I agree with you there trailwagger, but I'd certainly rather have an MTB on that second trail!
I reckon gravel bikes shine when the trails are reasonable smooth and not too steep, but still resemble singletrack...
I agree with you there trailwagger, but I’d certainly rather have an MTB on that second trail!
But what if your 30 mile ride was 20% tarmac, 70% the first pic and 10% the second pic? This is why I like the versatility of a gravel bike, it handles all of those situations as a whole better than any other bike genre/type.
Oh, I completely agree with you there too.
All I was trying to capture with that picture is the sort of trail for which a gravel bike is ideal for the trail in hand (not just because there was a long road ride to get there), and for which it's not really just an alternative to road riding, i.e. it involves the sort of constant engagement and fun that mountain biking offers and road biking typically doesn't.
Yep, the ride I did on Monday is another good example. Railway path and singletrack dead-end road out of Lancaster station to the Bowland hills. Then the Roman road over the tops - initially reasonably graded gravel, but big, rounded rubble on the downhill to the roadhead at the Slaidburn End. Then more minor tarmac and railway lines back to Preston Station.
I was on the rigid MTB, the only bike I currently have. A road bike would've been fine on the railway paths and roads, a gravel bike OK on most of the Roman road - but a bit sketchy on the rubbly downhill. So what would be the ideal bike...?
And I think you'd have to be pretty jaded to suggest riding a fast, unsurfaced, traffic-free Roman road across high, open moorland on a sunny autumn day with a strong tailwind is somehow a poor substitute for other, 'better' forms of cycling...
I was on the rigid MTB, the only bike I currently have. A road bike would’ve been fine on the railway paths and roads, a gravel bike OK on most of the Roman road – but a bit sketchy on the rubbly downhill. So what would be the ideal bike…?
Sounds like a gravel bike would be the best compromise for that ride, therefore the ideal bike.
Not sure why people are finding this so hard.
Not sure why people are finding this so hard.
I don't think people are finding it hard, but there different shades of grey-val.
Not sure why people are finding this so hard.
If there are two sides on this thread, from my reading of their reply, I think montgomery is on yours (ours)
140mm 2.3" 29er mountain bike down Stanage plantation = brakes off fun
0mm 32mm 700c gravel bike down Stanage plantation = brakes on fun
ergo, 100% internet fact, all bikes are fun
I've not really touched my mountain bikes since getting a gravel bike, actually not true, I've not really touched them since getting one that I like (the first one was rubbish). I'd got a bit bored of doing the same loops on the mountain bike and driving further to do new stuff was eating into riding time. Right now gravel suits my thirst for exploring new areas and my reduced free time as its easier to ride from the door.
I agree but the lines get blurred somewhat when you start to get more capable gravel bikes.
And indeed as you get more capable on gravel bikes. They certainly encourage you to sharpen up your handling!
140mm 2.3″ 29er mountain bike down Stanage plantation = brakes off fun
0mm 32mm 700c gravel bike down Stanage plantation = brakes on fun
ergo, 100% internet fact, all bikes are fun
Yup. And there's so much choice now for you to decide which is the funnest!
Yup. And there’s so much choice now for you to decide which is the funnest!
Well actually you're likely to see a hardtail and a full suspension in the classifieds really soon.
But what if your 30 mile ride was 20% tarmac, 70% the first pic and 10% the second pic? This is why I like the versatility of a gravel bike, it handles all of those situations as a whole better than any other bike genre/type.
Rigid 29er. Like a gravel bike but with better handlebars 😉
edit - links broken. removed
Whilst road riding on a 130mm FS with gnarly tyres and 800mm bars is a chore, road riding on a rigid 29er with fast tyres and 660mm bars lower than the saddle is not.
So even if.your ride is 50% road, so what? You're comfortable and efficient. Sure you might be a few mins slower, but that is far less of a disadvantage to me than having to slow to a crawl when it gets good and rocky.
Rigid 29er. Like a gravel bike but with better handlebars
flat bar gravel. Flavel, if you will
The key thing with gravel riding is that it is an alternative to road riding, not an alternative to mountain biking
I'm going to disagree on that. Sometimes it is, but on other occasions I am riding on a gravel bike doing routes that I used to do on an mtb.
Flavel bike, I'd buy one, in fact I had one
Whilst road riding on a 130mm FS with gnarly tyres and 800mm bars is a chore, road riding on a rigid 29er with fast tyres and 660mm bars lower than the saddle is not.
So even <span class="skimlinks-unlinked">if.your</span> ride is 50% road, so what? You’re comfortable and efficient. Sure you might be a few mins slower, but that is far less of a disadvantage to me than having to slow to a crawl when it gets good and rocky.
Perhaps, but I'd say it depends how techy the offroad bits are. Or perhaps the ideal is these
https://www.cyclingabout.com/velo-orange-crazy-bar-review/
Perhaps, but I’d say it depends how techy the offroad bits are
I'm going to say I can do basically any natural tech trail in South Wales on my rigid 29er. The only stuff I avoid is the man-made unofficial bike park stuff in the woods. Although I have ridden some of it on the rigid bike.
The situation I have is that there are loads of mountain-top trail in South Wales, but they link up with roads that can be pretty rough, and they often require a hefty ride out to get to (if you don't want to do the same ones all the time or do an 8 hour epic). Then to get down the mountains you often need to do something steep and usually rocky. Then coupled with the moorland peaty stuff, you really need an MTB I reckon. Or, as said, something with big tyres. The OP's Genesis would do much of it, but perhaps not the steep stuff. But that is quite South Wales specific.
+ 1 For those velo orange crazy bars I have them on a tourer I converted to a gravel bike they really do work well and give you far more choice with your bike regards what you can ride and feel in control.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tSFQCUyk9uqLn7rF6
I did my first full ride out at the weekend. It was amazing! Pretty cold with a ground frost, but clear blue skies, Autumn leaves on the ground and 20 miles of tarmac, gravel, singletrack and grass. I haven't had that much fun on a bike for years. The Fugio handled everything with ease and was supremely comfortable.
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