[Closed] Gravel bike has ruined mountain biking

Looks like a good place for a rigid 29er ; )

Gravel biking is actually really quiet good, and not just a marketing ploy shocker!

Looks awesome, I'd have one too if I lived up there.

I suspect you're not really troubled by this turn of events, but just in case you are - don't worry, just crack on with it and try MTBing again when the urge takes you.

I guess my gravel bike is just an old-skool rigid 29er and would be even closer if I stuck some more sensible tyres on like a set on nanos.

I'm not complaining about the gravel bike being fun though, I'm just surprised and a little disappointed that something which I used to really love (riding my full suss MTB in the mountains) now feels like a chore.

Maybe you have lost your mtb skills over lockdown and do not feel like going fast on your cotic which will make it less fun. Doubt you can take such risk on a gravel bike so you've got used to playing it safe on your gravel bike.

Choice is good, I don't see a problem here. All that's happened is that the bike industry started making your ideal bike.

I just felt like a moan.

Why? You're enjoying riding, so why moan?

We all sit somewhere different on the timid to fearless scale, but starting off with this feeling

riding down stuff that I know I’m going to crash on sooner or later just seems even more stupid than it did before I had a few months away.

isn't going to end well for you mentally (and possibly physically).

I've seen your pics before and think you've got a great suitable bike in that flare max. And that photo above seems to be a gravel bike salesman's dream. I'm truly envious of where you live.

Would it help to consider the two things as entirely separate activities? Decide that you are going for a gravel ride from the door, or an MTB ride from the car, and enjoy what that brings. Or you'll spend half of every ride annoyed you're on the wrong bike.

Oh and @SaxonRider

All bikes are fun. 'Mountain Biking' has evolved into something more trail-centre-berms-and-whoops and gravel has back-filled the explorer gap to some degree. However I think that as Jameso says a rigid 29er might be the long term filler of that whole for the masses.

My mate traded in his MTB for a Gravel Bike and is riding more than ever. I got one so I could go out with him but have actually used my full suss for most trips as much as I like my big tyre, drop bar thing.

Problem for me with gravel/touring bikes is that my road bike makes them feel sluggish and anything other than towpaths or steady bridleway's make me turn to the MTB. Saying that, my Marin GB was cheap so can easily be justified within the stable and I expect to use it more as the weather turns.

N+1 is now a shorter travel hard tail to complete the fleet but don't tell the wife!

So, you like bimbling more than gnar. That's reasonable, you're not obliged to like gnar and if you're having fun, crack on! I like to ride gravel to get fit (it's more fun than road biking) and to explore - I've seen some lovely bits of the area on my gravel bike I'd never venture to on my mountain bike. But I also like riding real technical chunky stuff on my mountain bike.

Trumpton - I find after I've ridden my gravel bike a lot I'm quicker on the MTB. You get more familiar with getting your weight over the front, and my times are quicker even on stuff that's not even remotely like gravel biking such as the DH trails at Innerleithen. My pals I ride with have found the same.

Does this mean a FlareMax will soon be in the classifieds?

Just do both. If you change out of your mtb clothes post ride and have a thermos of soup or something you shouldn't get cold.think I'd go on my rigid mtb for local rides with views like those.dont think I know anything about gravel bike riding

However I think that as Jameso says a rigid 29er might be the long term filler of that whole for the masses.

Well I ride one a lot, and I sometimes wish for suspension. And I might get it if I could find a sus fork that rides like a rigid fork when locked out.

shivering in the car on the way home

Sounds like the problem is with your car not your bike.
Does the heater work?
All of the windows present?

So I bought a gravel bike and started exploring routes from my front door.

Which is what we used to do BITD on our MTBs. MTBing has changed, it doesn't mean you have to.

I suspect you’re not really troubled by this turn of events

I've certainly got no right to complain have I? That ride was probably the definitive gravel ride. It started with a killer road climb from Cock Bridge over to Tomintoul and then off road on some amazing tracks to get back to the car. The weather played its part but it's the variety that you can get on a gravel ride that still amazes me. From the almost constant roar or sports cars and motorbikes using the Lecht road as a race track to the almost total quiet of Glen Avon. Four and a half hours of riding, 3,800' of climbing and every minute was a joy.

You'd have to be pretty spoilt to moan about that. Particularly with everything else that's going on in the world. Any yet, and yet there is still a part of me that mourns the loss of enjoyment of the FlareMax. Maybe upset isn't the right word (that would be stupid) but I've been out and ridden routes that I loved last year and its weird how a year later you can struggle to find the joy in what you once thought was the best ride ever.

Lack of skill? Could be, but if anything I'd say that picking my way down off-road sections on the gravel thing has heightened my (admitted meagre) skills and makes the FlareMax seem like a rocket ship. I've been bombing a few sections and set a few PRs. But I can no longer seem to shut out that voice that keeps reminding me that one day it will go wrong and I'm going to find myself laying on this trail, in the middle of nowhere, on my own and in a lot of pain. I'm sure I'm less likely to crash the FlareMax than I am the gravel bike (at least off road) but the consequences of that crash are much higher.

I'll stick with it though and I'm sure the fun will come back. Something that was that enjoyable before will probably be enjoyable again.

Great pics - Glen Avon? I guess the thing is unless you know a loop is going to be quite well surfaced all the way round, a gravel bike gets quite uncomfortable enough to get you wishing for something a bit more plush.A HT is as far as I get - and often rigid 29r / 650b+. Suits me fine and as long as you're getting out and smiling, it's all good. Management of expectations?

All bikes are fun. All as suitable.

You also live in an ace place for a rigid, faster bike to cover ground on long glens, big climbs and road returns.

As a newbie to Gravel, and really to drop bar bikes in general, I can see what you are getting at.

I'm finding it hard to put my finger on exactly what it is about Gravel rides that I am enjoying, but enjoying them I am. Hugely. I do share your comments on the MTB feeling sluggish now.

After so long having only 1 bike, I think variety is helping.Nice to have a choice.

Which is what we used to do BITD on our MTBs. MTBing has changed, it doesn’t mean you have to.

TBH that's probably 90% of my cross/gravel riding. Even 10 years ago we would have been discussing a 'clean' run down tracks that are now judged on strava times not dabs. Ive got a bike for that sort of fun too, and equally I dont shy away from attempting stuff on the cross bike that it wasnt designed for. But the CX bike is by far the quickest tool for the job of covering distance off road. Even the roadie club now has an occasional gravel clubrun (although its always had a few nutters that did it, it just now has a name).

Sounds like the problem is with your car not your bike.
Does the heater work?
All of the windows present?

I see you mentioned where the trail is later in the thread. I dont think you should be allowed to post photos without saying where they are Roverpig!

I have swayed the other way and just got an XC bike (with suspension fork) after riding for years on more road bike like bikes with at times drop bars.
XC bike is marginally slower on the road but better fun and I am finding it more enjoyable and leads to more messing about than a gravel type bike (hopping over things, wheelies, manuals etc,.)
Also clearly does MTB stuff way better.

its weird how a year later you can struggle to find the joy in what you once thought was the best ride ever

I actually don't think so. We grow and evolve - or at least I do! I can't give you my favourite film or album, because I've listened, loved and moved on to new things. Same for riding. I actually keep three very different MTBs for completely different types of riding (luckily all of which are present near me) and I'll change focus between them over a course of 6-12 months, just to keep things fresh. When I wheel out my long travel bike I find that loads more cheeky tech have been built; when I get on my rigid 29er I find new places 30 miles from home; when I get on my XC bike I make myself faster.

Do more endos.

I get what you mean RP (worryingly enough😉)

I’ve been riding further / deeper into MTB territory on my gravel bike. So much do that I just bought a HT. Still feels sluggish for the more sedate bits but then takes over where I’d have likely stopped on the gravel bike.

Bikes are fun 😎

Well spotted @kcal and fair cop @daviek

Thanks for all the comments folks. I feel as though I should respond to them all, but then the thread would just be overly long (and self-indulgent). I do appreciate them all though, whether they are supportive or pointing out the flaws in my logic.

I'd agree that gravel bikes are basically filling the gap created by the evolution of MTBs. My first "MTB" was a rigid steel ATB (Raleigh Dune Dancer) back in the late 80s and the gravel bike does indeed feel like the spiritual successor of that bike, which I rode everywhere. It's faster on the road and actually better off-road too. If only because the brakes actually slow you down 🙂 But it largely does the same job.

Does this mean a FlareMax will soon be in the classifieds?

Never say never, but not yet. As @ayjaydoubleyou says, it's hard to think of an MTB that's really better suited to how and where I ride. The problems are all in my head and not in the bike of course.

Bikes are fun 😎

Ain't that the truth. I probably should have just said that and avoided all this navel gazing 🙂

MTB for excitement
Gravel for scenery
Road for dodging arseholes in cars

Sounds like the problem is with your car not your bike.
Does the heater work?
All of the windows present?

🙂 🙂

I did do what @trumpton suggested for a while i.e. took a thermos and a change of clothes with me. It did make the drive home less unpleasant, but a new bike is always the best answer, right.

I'd say maybe your mountain bike has ruined mountain biking! I'm not surprised a steel full suspension bike feels sluggish after riding a carbon gravel bike.

I got more and more into cyclocross and gravel because of how fast and versatile my Trek Superfly was, with 40mm tyres and the right handlebar setup it does the same job as my gravel bike and barely feels any slower. It's not even a very high end Superfly so I could easily make it lighter and faster if I really wanted.

Maybe you just need a lighter, faster MTB. Your comfort window might remain wide open due to how much more capable the MTB seems compared to the gravel bike.

edit: just realised where your pics are from. Am excite. Will be riding that track in two weeks time 🙂

Riding from your door rules.

Save the full suss bike for fully off road rides.

I've got a Singular Peregrine, 10 years old, people used to ask me about it, I'd explain, they'd ask if it was a hybrid. "Well, not exactly...".

Now they ask me if it's a gravel bike, and I can be snooty about that too! "Well, this has been around a bit longer than "Gravel" bikes..."

All the snoots. Not many opportunities for that sort of thing on the mtb. I should ride it more often.

It depends a bit where you live doesn't it?

I do a lot of riding from the door, not all of it is particularly interesting but if I think about the route, I can fit in 3 or 4 good descents and a couple of tech climbs that make it fun on a MTB.

I wouldn't want to do those on a gravel bike and missing them would make the ride a bit meh.

So I go on these rides on my MTB and enjoy seeking out the rough, bumpy, MTBy stuff and put up with the slight inefficiency of dragging a MTB along the tame stuff.

If there were no "fun" bits I would change my routes and bike choice I guess.

Will be riding that track in two weeks time

I hope the weather is as kind to you as it was to me. Here are a couple of pics from the track down from Tomintoul before you turn right into Glen Avon. It really is an amazing place to ride if you don’t care about the gnar and just want great scenery. Not big mountain or wild moorland, just really chilled riding.

Watch out for the adders though! I nearly ran over two of them. A small brown (presumably juvenile) one then a bit later a much bigger almost black one.

[url= https://i.postimg.cc/YCK0j74T/436-B354-D-3569-4-EA7-9080-9-F21-B5-D2109-D.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/YCK0j74T/436-B354-D-3569-4-EA7-9080-9-F21-B5-D2109-D.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

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Watch out for the adders though! I nearly ran over two of them.

Pretty certain I ran over a slow-worm the other week 🙁

Just realised I won't be passing through Glen Avon properly, shame, looks great. I'll be doing the usual (e.g. Cairngorms 300 loop) Tomintoul -> Loch Builg route

You'll still do the bit on those second two pictures then. You'll just have to avoid the temptation to turn right at the bridge 🙂 I find the bit around Loch Builg itself a bit annoying as the trail basically becomes a hiking trail for a bit. But it's only a short section and you can always stop and gaze into the water for a bit. That's what I did, until the midges found me.

Funnily enough I've just been putting that bit south of Loch Bulig down to Braemar into a loop to try this weekend if the weather and family duties allow.

@netrapier

I’ve got a Singular Peregrine, 10 years old, people used to ask me about it, I’d explain, they’d ask if it was a hybrid. “Well, not exactly…”.

he he, I'd get asked "what is *that*" too with mine. Once by a police patrol car 🙂 My response is usually along lines of "my general purpose / do-it-all bike"

@roverpig - the Cullardoch bit (up and over, b@stard climb and hell for leather descent, or the Glen Builg riverbed up towards Quoich and then back down into Braemar? I quite liked the Loch Builg bit last couple of times, just about rideable and a decent challenge.

you’re not obliged to like gnar

I think that's the nub of the matter; I kind of feel like I am. Not with the logical part of my brain of course. I'm quite capable of rationalising my cowardice. But the irrational part of my brain does still see it that way.

Those early MTB/ATB days were tame by modern standards. Then I was a roadie for many years and only came to "proper" MTB riding fairly late in life. Ever since then I've looked at those black lines on the TrailForks map and thought "I wish I could ride those. Having the FlareMax in the shed allows me to claim that one day I might. But maybe it is time to accept that I never will.

It's not that I can't. Of course I'm capable of learning the skills (physical and mental) that would get me down. What I can't seem to do though is enjoy it enough to make the effort worthwhile.

Occasionally I'll challenge myself to ride something that scares me. Just to prove that I can. And I do. But I never enjoy it. I'm relieved when I get to the bottom and even more relieved that I don't have to do it again. So what's the point? Why not just accept that I prefer riding mellower trails? What am I trying to prove and who am I trying to prove it to?

Wow, talk about not letting this thread get too self indulgent 🙂

the Cullardoch bit (up and over, b@stard climb and hell for leather descent, or the Glen Builg riverbed up towards Quoich and then back down into Braemar?

I was looking at the Cullardoch bit as a loop coming in from the East and back via Gelder Shiel and Balmoral on the gravel bike. Sounds as though I might need lower gearing or just accept pushing up that climb. Not sure what the Quoich option is though. I've done a loop from Linn of Quoich on the FlareMax recently, which I actually enjoyed a lot. Probably because it was tame enough that I could have done it on the gravel bike 🙂

I absolutely get where you're coming from on the 'just don't feel it' bit -- sections of trails where I kind of feel queasy if it's suggested we do 'X' trail, I sometime ago with the flow and often arrange to RV at the bottom by alt route. Maybe just too old! I'm happy doing what I do, mostly, and the stuff I do with the bikes (rigid and HT, 29/27.5+) and SS old school 26" for blasts. To be fair I think I can tackle more now than I could say 10 years ago, some of 10UTB course for example; but bits of Badaguish XC course I'll balk at and just walk.

A few years ago I did a skills course with a good instructor who taught me a lot. The group were looking at a section and deciding if we each fancied giving it a go. He was saying, if you don't feel like it today that's fine. Just come back another day. After all, the mountain isn't going anywhere. He was right of course, but as you get older you do start to realise that the mountain might not be going anywhere, but you are.

I did ride that section by the way. Others in the group didn't and I didn't think any less of them. They just didn't feel like it at that moment. Funny how I can't be as kind to myself as I am to others. Anyway, I thought we were talking about bikes 🙂

Maybe you just also need a lighter, faster MTB

ftfy 😉

Maybe you just also need a lighter, faster MTB

Of course I do. A new bike is always the answer. What was the question again 🙂

[img] [/img]

I rode those trails a few weeks ago - out to Faindouran Lodge - no snakes but there were some skinny-dippers in the pool below the waterfall!

[img] [/img]

Rode from home south to Tomintoul today, did a lap of the red trails at Glenlivet and then Speyside Way north back home.

@dovebiker I saw that you'd done the Glenlivet red on your gravel bike a few weeks ago. I know it's quite a tame red but there are still a couple of bits I'm not sure I'd fancy on the gravel bike. At least not on 38mm slicks. What is the Speyside way like from Tomintoul north to Glenlivet Distillery? I tried the section north of that on the gravel bike a few weeks ago and won't be trying that again 🙂

Speyside Way from Tomintoul to Glenlivet distillery is 99% rideable at the moment - but might get a bit peat-boggy after rain. First section of descent from Carn Daimh is dodgy, otherwise the rest is well-surfaced gravel or crushed rock.

I did try riding the Speyside Way from Cragganmore to Grantown-on-Spey the other day - big mistake! Too much unrideable, and those horrible 'crusher' stile gates that'll munch a carbon frame if not careful

I did try riding the Speyside Way from Cragganmore to Grantown-on-Spey the other day – big mistake!

Some folk never learn 🙂

https://www.blog.scotroutes.com/2017/03/moray-way-no-way.html

This year, practically every ride has been rigid. I think it took out my retro full susser for one ride, and an old hardtail a couple of times. Other than that, its a gravel bike, a rigid singlespeed 29er, and a few road rides on a CX bike.

Not missing suspension at all 🙂 I'm sure if I had a modern 29er full susser it would be pretty good but my old 26ers just don't compare to riding the rigid bikes!

I ride my rigid bike a lot, and I love it, but only when on the flat and climbing. Every time I descent (around here anyway) I miss suspension 🙂

I've pretty much had a gravel/mixed surface bike since I started mountain biking in 2005. 90% of my riding is around where I live so picking which bike I ride generally also helps pick my route.

All are good but just different.

Recently I've been loving my new Trek Crockett cross bike and have been getting steadily braver with what trails I ride. The other night I found myself riding some local trails at night on it and realised that I should have been on my mountain bike as there is little room for error with a fully ridgid bikes with 38mm tyres and a 71 degree head angle.

For easy fast dry trails though I can't think of a better bike for a few hours.

I’ve just sold my full suss as the majority of my rides now don’t warrant it.
Most of my rides are canal paths, forest tracks and country back roads.
Currently using a Marin Bobcat trail 5 29er. Great for gravel as I just couldn’t get on with drop bars if I fancied heading down a muddy rooty chute.

I too have been shedding suspension. My oldest HT now has carbon forks and 700c wheels which makes it a very effective pseudo gravel bike. My FS has been stripped to provide parts for a new HT, a 29er which at least has suspension forks. However I have just been riding in the Tweed valley and am now thinking I might rebuild the FS.
The HT was great for the more xc loops round Peebles but Glentress and Inners were hard work!

Surely this is why n+1 exists?

The problem I find is that you spend so much time thinking and deciding about one bike/discipline that you feel invested in it - then when you find you like something else a bit more or just as much it feels like you're losing all that previous investment and there's a sense of guilt, which you try and justify with an 'all or nothing' approach.
Have a number of bikes, make each one great and then ride what you want, when you feel like it!

I'm currently wrestling with a fixie that i'm debating turning into a retro road bike...i'm almost losing sleep over it!!

I have two MTBs and one gravel bike.

A full sus for fun stuff in the dry
A hardtail for fun stuff in the wet
A gravel bike for mileage, exploring and commuting.

One of the problems with living in Kent (amongst others) is that if you want to do any kind of long ride, you spend a fair amount of time linking trails up by tarmac.
On Tuesday I did a 60 mile ride which included the Kent section of the North Downs Way and Pilgrims Way, a large portion of which is road.
I’m not massively keen on road riding, so I find the gravel bike is great for getting your head down and getting to the next section of trail asap. Love it.

Most folk I know who ride gravel are roadies, looking to get off the busy roads and a comfier, more capable bike, I don't really know (or can think of at least) that has opted for gravel over MTB.

Lovely pics OP.

Have a number of bikes, make each one great and then ride what you want, when you feel like it!

Doesn't work for me. Something in my head only allows me to have one bike and I like the fact I don't have a choice of bike.
Go to garage, get on bike and ride it (road, off road, gravel). Different bikes will be faster and slower on different surfaces but so what, I am not racing in a specific category.

I don’t really know (or can think of at least) that has opted for gravel over MTB.

I'm sort of in-between, I'm a roadie now (there, I've admitted it!) who still wants some off-road jollies but in a style which is still roady-ish e.g. doesn't require suspension* or gnarly skillz!

I was never a smooth rider to begin with and anything that requires lots of body english e.g. unweighting front wheel, hopping, jumping etc. just puts me off, too much potential to aggravate twitchy lower back muscles etc.

Had an awesome ride on the gravel bike yesterday though, pure CX in as much as there was lots of mud, lots of pedalling and lots of sliding round corners but virtually no lumpy bumpy bits, so 90% of what I loved about MTB anyway just with pedalling instead of gravity. Seems a fair compromise.

If you call it 'training for CX' then you have an excuse to unclip and run/jump over the bits you would previously try and bunny hop anyway 😀

*although I still run a Thudbuster for longer rides

I’m sort of in-between, I’m a roadie now

Aye, but I'd already disowned you! 🙂

I don’t really know (or can think of at least) that has opted for gravel over MTB.

Hi! As I said earlier, gravel is more like the kind of mtbing that I got into in the early 90s. I got bored with driving somewhere to ride round in circles, and spend more time now on exploring lanes and tracks accessible from my door.

Most folk I know who ride gravel are roadies, looking to get off the busy roads and a comfier, more capable bike, I don’t really know (or can think of at least) that has opted for gravel over MTB.

😂 I do chuckle when people talk about gravel bikes being 'comfortable'.

If you want to be comfortable on a bike, don't do it with 38mm tyres on rough tracks. The gravel bike is the one I pick up if I want to go out and come back absolutely wrecked (but without having to drive to Wales).

Mostly it's just a speed thing, the gravel bike eats up the other 95% of the ride and only hits its limit on the 5% the hardtail was designed for.

It's also a bit of a mindset, but maybe that's just the people I ride with. If I'm going out with a group on the gravel bikes, it's not about sitting up and taking it easy on the climbs or flat bits, it's mostly just going a fast as you can, all the time. Whereas MTB for a lot of groups has evolved into "winch and plummet" with a haribo/drinks stop at the top of every hill. as a result, if I'm going MTB'ing I tend to either go alone or drive to meet up with faster groups.

I'm finding this a very interesting thread. I've been MTBing for nearly 30 years, and only in the past few years have got myself a road bike. I think as the bikes wear out I'm heading for a gravel bike and a slack XC susser like the Ripley or Tallboy. Locally the road bike is fun but as I keep away from busier roads, in general the surface is becoming more like a gravel road anyway. So I think the road bike will be replaced with a gravel bike, more comfortable on the rough roads and capable of linking in a few bridleways. As for MTBing, I'm still a huge fan, but not of the newer trail centres with massive jumps and smooth wide trail. I get that it requires a skill that I don't particularly have, but to me the consequences of a crash are too high given the speeds and the size of features. I prefer natural feeling trails, with a nice mix of flow, chunk and tight twists and turns - if it's topped of with great views then so much the better. It will be interesting to see how trail centres and MTBing in general changes over the next few years.

Gravel bike has improved mountain biking me. I no longer use the fs mtb for routes that could be done on the gravel bike (a Kona Sutra Ltd with 29x2.1 tyres, so better than the mtbs I rode in the 80s and 90s) and when I do get the fs bike out I make sure I use it for something interesting and appropriate.
What the gravel bike has made useless is my hardtail. Half of its use is covered by the gravel bike, the other half by the fs bike.
So if anyone wants a xl Marin Pine Mountain 2, let me know!

I've been debating on getting a set of 27.5 wheels for the CAADX, currently on 700x35 marathons but Mrs TFW has been enjoying our fireroad rides lately and I wonder if I'd be comfier on 27.5x1.5 as I doubt I'd get anything wider through the chain stays.

I do chuckle when people talk about gravel bikes being ‘comfortable’.

In comparison to a 25c equipped stiff road bike.

95% of the ride and only hits its limit on the 5% the hardtail was designed for.

Entirely down to you living where you do.

I’ve been debating on getting a set of 27.5 wheels for the CAADX, currently on 700×35 marathons but Mrs TFW has been enjoying our fireroad rides lately and I wonder if I’d be comfier on 27.5×1.5 as I doubt I’d get anything wider through the chain stays.

700x38 Schwalbe tyres fit, a 38c Vittoria fits but left no real mud room as the ETRO number is 40-622..

I run a 35c tyre in winter and 38c in summer, I reckon something like a 38mm terreno dry would work in summer (but CX Comps are cheaper). 38c is 1.5" so I wouldn't bother with 650b for that. 650b only really works for bikes with short chainstays but lots of clearance, so you fit a 2" tyre that has the same diameter as the 700c option, but more width. If the diameter has to shrink then you're just sacrificing ground clearance.

Same the other way around, you see them advertised as 650bx2.2 or 700x2.1, when in reality 700x40 would be a more realistic choice for the big wheel without ruining the handling by raising the BB.

700×35

= 1.38"

I doubt that fitting a 1.5" tyre is going to make any difference.

That's what I was thinking really, thought about the smaller wheels then wondered if I'd actually notice anything. It's probably worth doing on a frame with more clearance using a wider tyre.
Thanks guys.

I got a gravel bike quite a few years ago when it was still a new thing, in fact it was sold as an “adventure” bike and its initial purpose was to be a foul weather training bike with full guards but once i realised it took 40mm tyres I started riding off road. There is no “gravel” as such here so I just did my usual trails.
What I found was I could ride most of what I did on a hard tail (anyone who’s ridden the coast here with Doug will know the trails) with the odd section I’d have to walk down. I’m not exactly a riding god anyway; I have to walk down some bits even with a MTB. Best of all, I could ride to a trail on road, let a few psi out the tyres, then even ride to another trail and do that one too. And bestest bestest of all was getting back on a LLS 29er with gloopy tyres and everything felt like cheating!

I visit a mate in Girona a fair bit and they absolutely do have gravel there, so that’s fun, and riding the 1000m road climb to the top of Mont du Mere de dieu (sp?) and bombing back down on grippy forest trails was immensely entertaining- riding a mtb to the top of that would be a pain.

Riding from your door rules.

+1

It would feel really alien to me to drive and ride. And I'd probably forget something important.

Hmmm - I'm in two minds about this.

New to the area (Nairn/Moray/North of Cairgorms) and it really is a riding Nirvana in every flavour. The road riding is sublime, there is some pretty epic proper MTBing a sensible drive away of the natural and trail variety in 3 out of 4 points of the compass and there are miles and miles of forestry/moorland tracks.

The tracks are great but around every corner lurks a potential gravel bike unfriendly bit of baby's head sized loose stuff. In truth it really is hardtail territory. Linking it up with road and the hardtail is a bit draggy to be fun. A 'fast' gravel bike with skinner tyres and the rougher off road bits become bobbins. A gravel bike beefed up with bigger tyres might either be the best compromise or just a bit naffer than necessary at everything.

Not quite gravel....but the XC bike has had way much more use in 2020 than for a good few years. Covering ground a lot faster than the other MTBs... made me question having a full suss sitting around. I've been taking days off work and doing 60 or 70 milers.

And then I drove to the Lakes at the weekend and did the Borrowdale Bash. My first "proper" riding other than a trip to the Surrey Hills a couple of months back. And everything made sense again - rekindled my love with the bigger bike.

650b definitely gave my trusty Tripster a new lease of life. It was always pretty good on the South Downs but much more sure-footed on the odd challenging descent now. More pedal strikes though...

i bought a gravel bike earlier in the year (Evil Chamois Hagar) and ride it loads, it has quickly become my favorite bike and im fortunate enough to own an SB130. ive just sold my big enduro rig with a view to buying a second gravel bike although the one im looking at next is really a 'monstercross'.

for years we have embraced longer travel, slacker head angles, and now electric motors and i have come to the realisation that making the riding easier hasnt made it any more fun, in fact quite the opposite.

i dont think gravel bikes have ruined mountain biking, mountain biking has, gravel bikes are just making the local stuff fun again (there isnt much to get excited about in Kent).

the one thing that has really ruined mountain biking though has been lock down!

@convert - I'm further over than you and stray into your area only occasionally - take the all purpose bike (Peregrine) for excursions usually but as you say there's always some filling rattling section. Been OK so far - road to Rafford, Dava Way to Dava Moor, then explore on road/off-road after that - Darnaway forest is vast e.g.

It's gone full circle.
That's how mtb all started for me back in late 80s

@UK_FLATLANDER I feel you man. I call it the Flow & Jumps generation, my 15 yr old is growing up with "catch berms" and doubles etc. He flies on the smoother trails, granted he has full on teenage recklessness and has yet to stack at high speed and break bones. But when he gets to nagdery slow speed tech he let's his old man lead as he admits I'm better skilled at the old school stuff.

I bought a gravel bike and started exploring routes from my front door.

You can do that on an MTB too. A short-travel 29" XC bike with semi-slicks would be my choice.

No intention of getting a gravel bike, not for any negative reason I might add, but an interesting thread to read.👍

In truth I probably should have one for my type of riding....but that's another matter.

For a good few years I used to swap from a suspension trail bike to a light rigid singlespeed for winter. Of course that's about 6 months of the year in this country. I struggled getting back on the full sus. It felt heavy, sluggish and vague. Took the fun out of riding. I don't think being fit standing up on a singlespeed translated seamlessly into jumping on a geared bike either. Always took a good 2-3 weeks riding the trail bike before it felt like I was getting back into the swing of things.

Now I've got a gravel bike and could see a similar situation arising if I rode it exclusively for ages. However I don't see myself using it for every ride like with the rigid. So I wouldn't expect to get back into the Flare Max straight away. Give it some time, and maybe a diet...