[Closed] Do I want a gravel bike?

What does your mum think?

Ditched my road bike and made a gravel bike up (Singular Kite with 43mm rubber). Been used from road to coastal path to bridleway to the odd blue route. Not ridden my mountain bike in a year...
Lycra and clipless optional I prefer both...

Probably.

If you do no road, then stick with the hardtail with some XC tyres and light wheels.

I've just sold my gravel bike which was used for local riding, longer mixed rides (30-50 miles) and 'proper' gravel, a hardtail with 2x sets of wheels will be replacing it, a set for true winter MTB riding (mud) and a lightweight, fast rolling set for summer gravel/byway bashing. A nice fast hardtail will do the offroad bits a gravel bike will do, but a gravel bike will do the road stuff much better.

If I could ride loads of different trails from my door then I wouldn't bother with a gravel bike.

As it is , I have loads of really nice country roads that lead to ok'ish trails. I like riding fast and doing a reasonable distance but prefer offroad when it's offered so a strong road bike with chunky tyres makes more sense than anything else for most of my riding.

I thought I did but only because I was riding 10-12 miles on my HT to get to some offroady bits that I hadn't done to death.
Only I wanted flat bars, which seems to turn a gravel bike into a hybrid.
Hoped to get a Speedwork but to no avail & ended up finding a 2019 Spesh Sirrus on Fleabay locally for £400.
Put a Bel Air saddle & some gravel tyres on & mini bar ends, turns out it's the only bike I'm riding (from home)

I use my CX (uncool gravel) bike for pretty much everything more local than Swinley.

Depends on what you enjoy. It goes uphill in a more interesting way than an XC bike, probably quicker right up until you hit a level of tech that it can't cope with.

Same going down. On trail center trails it's surprisingly quick. But when things get less predictable you'll end up dragging the brakes and mincing.

Basically, it's got a wheelbase of just over a meter and 40mm tyres, if you clip a pebble it gets knocked off line. I've got PB's on mine on technical-ish trails, but they're probably accidental ones where I've never tried hard enough before.

Drop bars aren't massively faster, but they are soooooooooo much more comfortable. It's become my default bike. Mountainbike comes out for shorter or technical stuff, but for just going out for the day riding off-road it's the gravel bike.

I’d in all honesty prefer a Hardtail but the bobcat ways about 5 ton. The forks are recon coil with a straight steerer and 9mm Qr so fork options are limited.
And for £900 you get more for your money with a Hardtail than a Gravel bike.
Would something like a Trek X caliber 8 be better?

If I could only have one bike it would be a lightweight 29er aluminium xc hardtail with lockable Sus forks, dropper post and two sets of wheels, one with fast gravel tyres and one with mountain bike tyres.

Love my cross/gravel bike but it gets out of its depth pretty quickly on off-road trails. It's great for easy stuff though.

I’d in all honesty prefer a Hardtail but the bobcat ways about 5 ton. The forks are recon coil with a straight steerer and 9mm Qr so fork options are limited.
And for £900 you get more for your money with a Hardtail than a Gravel bike.
Would something like a Trek X caliber 8 be better?

Sell the bobcat and put the money from that and the £900 towards a much better hardtail? That is of course, if you can find any in stock...

For £900 on a gravel bike you'll be looking at cable discs which I wouldn't want.

https://advntr.cc/do-you-need-a-gravel-bike/

I also want to one under $20

Most of my riding is now canal towpaths, a mixture of paved, gravel, rutted gravel, rutted mud, sloppy mud and very very light trail across some fields.

You didn’t mention distance?

Pretty much any bike with tyres over 35c can deal with that. So ride the type of bike you’d enjoy riding the most? For that kind of riding I prefer rigid 29er (MTB, or monstercross for more miles) for the direct feel and the keen tracking.

Although if there are too many long miles on too much rutted gravel then some suspension forks (pref with lockout) would be likely. Sometimes for that kind of stuff I miss my old Cannondale F-series (CAAD3s & CAAD4s with 65/85mm Headshoks, lockout-lever stem-cap). Enjoyed with On One Mary Bars and Big Apples all summer long and mud tyres in winter. If only they’d been 29ers...

Wait, would a M/L F700/800/900/1000/2000 etc take 650Bs with 40Cs? Gravel rocket potential...

I want one. Not getting one. But I want one. Thing is, like most gravel-curious people I'd be better served by just buying an uncool XC race bike from 5-10 years ago. But I just don't want one of those.

https://www.pedalroom.com/bike/cannondale-f700-aka-monsterslate-32151

Don’t plan to venture onto roads unless I have to.

Then unless you really want to ride drop bars on "canal towpaths, a mixture of paved, gravel, rutted gravel, rutted mud, sloppy mud and very very light trail across some fields." I would stick to an MTB.

What is drawing you to a gravel bike, do you think you will be faster, do you think it will be less work to ride same distance?

I think I just want something lighter. Anything more than 20 miles and it starts to feel like I’m pedalling a motorbike.
I have tried a CX bike in the past and hated it, couldn’t wait to get back on a Hardtail with wide bars and proper disc brakes. I think I’d be suited more towards a Trek Pro caliber but something slightly more budget friendly.
I can’t stand riding on the road unless I have to.

I’m right on the halfway point of the Leeds Liverpool canal which my house overlooks.

If you hated a cx bike, I doubt you’ll enjoy a gravel bike tbh, they’re not worlds apart really.
£900 would buy you some lovely wheels/tyres, refresh the drivetrain etc on your current bike.
For what you’re describing I’d want a lightish xc mtb.

I'm about to build up a sonder camino al with mtb double groupset and 650 wheels with hopefully a fastish xc tyre in 2.0 flavour. I'm going to try a pair of the alpkit confucious bars with the loop at the front as hopefully that can be used to stretch out a bit on road sections as per hoods on drop bars but a bit more control (for me) off road with the wider flat bar. could be ethier best of both worlds for me or worst of them!!

If you are not planning on many road miles I'd stick to a 29" XC MTB.

I have been comparing different styles this year and came to the conclusion that the margins between gravel and XC are narrow enough to come down to the ratio you ride between road/easy off road/naughty off road. Gravel and XC will both gobble up easy off road but if you are not hitting the tarmac why limit yourself off road?

I decide to go gravel (and am now selling my road bike) but my rides are probably 60/70% road. For off only I use my full suss.

If you do no road, then stick with the hardtail with some XC tyres and light wheels.

This.

Gravel Bikes look good, but personally I'd prefer a hardtail with a rigid fork (or lightweight suspension fork with lock out), wide bars and fast tyres/wheels. Just as fast, but more fun to ride and can handle more extreme stuff if you decide to change route mid ride.

Or just put together a rigid hack bike for winter, and buy something nicer in the spring when conditions improve.

I love my gravel bike; it's a different tool for a different job. I now spend more of the time on the MTB riding techy stuff, and stuff that's fun to ride on an MTB and less time using it on less techy stuff trying to munch miles.

My gravel bike I only ride from the door - there are a few nice places to ride but the ride there is a mix of towpath and road/city. It's great on the gravel and I do longer, sustained efforts. It'll go just about anywhere, though on really techy stuff it gets a bit stressful. I almost always put the MTB on the bike rack and drive to the forest - it's no fun at all on a towpath whereas the gravel bike is. The other day I wound up a roadie on a TT bike by going past him on my gravel bike and he went full aero and accelerated past me. Staying on his wheel down the road on my 40c gravel tyres was a fun challenge, but it was great too to nip down a little muddy track as a shortcut down to the riverside whilst he went on down the main road.

I disagree that it's like a CX bike - it really isn't much. Only insofar as an Enduro bike is "like" a full sus XC race bike. It's a very different ride - relaxed comfortable position.

Having a gravel bike actually means I enjoy my MTB rides more for what they are, because I have a different, better tool, for knocking out the miles.

I disagree that it’s like a CX bike – it really isn’t much.

That depends on which gravel bike you get (a race biased one or a backbacking biased one) and how you have a CX bike setup as that can be aggressive or relaxed depending on bar height, stem length etc,.

The differences are there but they are quite close and if somebody hated a CX bike, a gravel bike is not different enough to love a gravel bike is it.

I think I just want something lighter. Anything more than 20 miles and it starts to feel like I’m pedalling a motorbike.

A £900 gravel bike will not be light and not sure any difference would be that big to you and guessing a tyre change to a lighter, narrower, less knobbly (i.e. more gravel bike like) tyre would probably give you what you need.

I use my CX (uncool gravel) bike for pretty much everything more local than Swinley.

How can you live with the shame?

You will do very well to better the spec of https://www.halfords.com/bikes/adventure-bikes/boardman-adv-8.9-mens-adventure-bike-2021---s-m-l-xl-frames-389606.html for £900 (if you have 10% discount from something like British Cycling membership).
Limited availability, but I can order up a built up M/L/XL in Southampton, to collect around 21st October.

Or if you fancied building a frameset up, £350 for https://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-malt-g2x-gravel-frameset-197832.html

Or just get a lighter more Xr orientated Hardtail.

This.

Based on my experience, I do think a hardtail would suit you better:

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/new-bike-day-gravelish/

Had several gravel bikes over the last few years inc a whyte gisburn, ritchey swiss cross and planet x tempest and have decided that a rigid hardtail is better for me so an rebuilding my old swift with jones bars for all day comfort- even on 40mm tyres if you are bimbling you feel every rock and root on a gravel bike and I have a mental block on 650b tyres for gravel!- as others have said if you are doing road work they are the best tool but drops terrify me if Im doing techy descents etc

Thing is, like most gravel-curious people I’d be better served by just buying an uncool XC race bike from 5-10 years ago.

Naaaaa, not in the slightest.

LLS XC bikes haven't reached my budget level yet (although I did buy a Scandal but that's a trail bike not an XC racer). So I'm still riding decidedly old school hardtails like Singular Swifts, El-Mariachi, Charge Cooker (the old one).

Drop bar'd bikes are just different. Quicker and more comfortable, but less capable.

How can you live with the shame?

Of living near Swinley, or having a CX bike?

The former I don't, I spend my evenings on rightmove daydreaming about buying a castle in northumberland for 50p.

The latter, by reminding myself that it cost £400, has hydraulic brakes, 22 gears and all the other good stuff. In fact my "gravel bike" and my new (to me) car I just bought could just about be squeezed into the OP's budget!

In fact my “gravel bike” and my new (to me) car I just bought could just about be squeezed into the OP’s budget!

This rings true! I bought two different ‘gravel’ bikes (old tourer on 28-32c, and a rigid 29er on 2.2s, flat bars and bar ends) AND got our old man’s (donated) throwaway car fixed (a new clutch, 2 x front tyres - through an MOT) for about £1k all in. The clutch and labour was half of that. I think there is an trend towards overbikedness/emperor’s new clothes.

All in all a good score and personal transport disasters averted for now. Still no hydraulic brakes yet. It is gravel after all 😎

I’m skeptical if even a ‘budget’ £900 quid modern hardtail is better for towpaths than a used Cannondale F700 from 20 ago at half the price. Although bigger wheels are a bonus IME.

if you are doing road work they are the best tool but drops terrify me if Im doing techy descents etc

Gravel bikes and techy descents are like downhill bikes on a 50-100mile towpath/country lane day out. Like comparing oranges to apples kippers.

I got my gravel bike, a carbon Norco Search XR 2 years ago when I started getting worried about getting thrown over the bars on my cx bike and hating riding on the road due to traffic. I absolutely love it and recommend them to anybody who asks me.
I also still have my Pace RC200 F5 that I was extremely proud of when I bought it. It is now fitted with rigid forks, disc front and v-brake rear.
Anybody who tells me that riding a modern gravel bike is like riding a 90's hardtail hasn't done it, even riding on the hoods I feel far more comfortable on the Norco.

No. Hardtail is what you want 🙂

Interesting. Just pushed the button on a Calibre Lost Lad gravel bike from them lot at Go Outdoors. £500 made it hard not to. 650 wheels with 47mm tyres (approx 1.8"). Decided to do it because lots of canal path, dirt tracks etc near me. The road bike is too bumpy, the hardtail is set up too much for 'proper' mountain biking and I've realised that long periods in one position on flat bars hurt my shoulders in a way that drops/hoods don't (could be solved by bar ends i guess, but a) it's not the 90s and b) n+1). And I like the idea of bombing along gravelly/cobbley/potholey stuff as fast as possible on a drop bar beast.

Horses for courses. The road bike for road. Gravel for off road non techy stuff and the mountain bike (Shan GT) for the real stuff.

I reckon conflating cx bikes with gravel is missing the point. CX bikes are racers. Built to he light and very stiff with steep angles. Less compliance in the frame because who needs it when half the time you're carrying it and the rest sprinting. Gravel bikes are longer, slacker, more compliant, more comfortable

I'm in a similar boat. Looking around the 500 Mark there seems good options with cable discs. Then a jump to the Boardman at 1000 ( or 900 discounted) with proper hydro discs.
And that Boardman adv looks great but for some reason I can't help wanting the other one they do

https://www.halfords.com/bikes/cyclocross-bikes/boardman-cxr-8.9-cyclocross-bike-528973.html

It's their cyclo-cross bike at the same "level".
I can't really explain why, it might be the 1x, or the wishbone stays or a bit of both and other things.
The thing is, I don't really want to do CX racing, but I want something for going out on and going anywhere I want for a few hours, on and off road, but nothing gnarly. What they sell gravel/adventure bikes for. Eventually I might like to put different tyres on occasionally for road rides, maybe even a triathlon race. Would be a commuter too probably.
I'm coming at this from a having a mountain bike only viewpoint, never had CX, gravel, or road bike and realistically will only ever purchase one. In geometry the CX is a touch longer, and. 5 degrees stepper in the head angle, but there's not much in it. The " marketing" seems to point me towards the Boardman adv gravel bike, but still can't help wanting the CX one more. What am I getting wrong ?

Tyre clearance. I don't know about the Boardmans specifically, but a CX bike may be much more limited in tyre size. A rigid bike on 33mm tyres is pretty brutal on all but the smoothest of off-road surfaces.

If you don't want to race, get something that will take at least 42mm tyres and ideally a bit more to keep your options open.

Thanks pdw, that makes sense.
I'll try and find somewhere with them both in stock, then go have a look with a tape measure.

A rigid bike on 33mm tyres is pretty brutal on all but the smoothest of off-road surfaces.

I use what are supposedly cx bikes rather than gravel, a Planet X XLS and a norco for 98% of my off road stuff. The px is tight at the back, 35 max but tbh any harshness is mitigated by the fact that it easily takes a 40 on the front which takes a lot of the sting out of it

Since the move to discs a lot of CX bikes take much bigger tyres than 33c. A lot of them did before discs too and the 33c is a UCI limitation rather than a frame limitation in most cases.

A CX bike is not a gravel bike but they are a lot closer together than a hardtail MTB...

Our Boardman CX comp has 35mm tyres and guards. Without the guards, I think you could squeeze in a 38mm or so.

The big difference between the Boardman and my new Merlin G2P is geometry and comfort. The lower BB, more relaxed head angle and slightly taller front end is much more composed at speed, on and off road. The tyres and full carbon fork of the Merlin (Vs alloy steerer on Boardman) is much 'softer' on bigger bumps.

I’ve just bought a Genesis Fugio and like it. Good for from the door riding and has a bit of a hooligan streak. Not tried anything too technical yet, but reckon it’ll either be fun or terrifying. Tis a fine line between the two. If I can save up for a short travel 29er I reckon I’ll have all the bikes I need.

Tell me you got a pink one?

Which reminds me

The new Singlebe Marilyn made me look twice.

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[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50428095747_6cde77ac4f_h.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50428095747_6cde77ac4f_h.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2jQaaYF ]SingleBe Marilyn[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/singlebebikes/ ]SingleBe Bikes[/url], on Flickr

Tell me you got a pink one?

No, the sun fade one. Last years model. Looks lovely in the flesh so to speak. The new one is a great colour though

Just worked out my gravel bike is bang on the OP's budget

2nd hand Pinnacle Arkose X: £450 (hardly ridden)

Set of 650b wheels plus 47c tyres £300

Venturemax bars: £50

USE Carbon post and Fizik saddle £100

Ridden 5000km on it since I bought it 18 months ago.

To be fair, I would have used my other bikes more if no covid but riding from my door it just seems the best option every time