[Closed] Realising gravel bike are bit shit !

Mtbe you are just a crap rider?

I went gravel as I can find something to ride out of my back door that is a little bit technical but isn't technical enough for my mountain bike and doesn't take as much effort to ride there. Got few up loading the car to just go out on the bike when I can cycling to somewhere and have a bit of fun.

... it's not about the bike.....

Absolutely love mine, it's a repurposed CX frame with 40c tyres, full range of gears, suspension seatpost (recovering back injury).

Last night's ride was straying into journalist marketing puff, whether it's the geometry, the gearing, the slight aero or weight advantage over a fast light 29er with slicks, I don't know, but it felt rapid.

It actually forced me to ride faster than I wanted, it was supposed to be an easy bimble but I got a KOM (very obscure section only ridden by 24 people I should add) and some top tens, which did make me wonder whether it would be any fun riding it 'easy' as you'd be colliding with the bumps rather than skimming over them.

It also made me wonder if it was such a good idea for the long distance gravel trips I have planned for post-lockdown, not sure if you can really ride 150km of remote highland gravel 'on the rivet' the whole time, would get tiring...

I think gravel bikes are cursed with trying to be a lot of different things to different people to be honest.

ive got the Evil and it will ride all of my local MTB trails albeit not as quickly as my MTB. if you bought the road inspired gravel bikes then it isnt a surprise.
but all bikes are compromised. i rode 60k to the woods and back last weekend 80% on flowing singletrack, byways and roads would have been much better served on the gravel bike, when i finally got to the woods i was glad i had the MTB for the jumps, drops etc.

i see the gravel bike as a fitness tool but yes its compromised on technical stuff, but pedaling my mtb around the local byways, lanes and easy singletrack is also a massive compromise.

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You just need to find the right routes. Bit of backroads, sustrans paths, green/blue level singletrack, fireroads, stuff like that. They can get out of their depth pretty easily, but you can also cover a lot of distance. I consider mine an off-road capable tourer as opposed to an XC MTB.

I guess it depends on where your riding them, where I live there's loads of opportunities to ride from my door and do loops made up of smoothish bridleways with short tarmac sections, these loops would be dull and slow on a MTB and not really at all dooable on a road bike, the gravel bike (CDF stainless gravelised with 1 x GRX and DT Gravel wheels) is perfect, good fun and easily the bike I've been using the most for my government mandated daily exercise.

Fully understand that they're not for everyone. If I lived somewhere where all the offroad was steep or rocky then I'd probably not bother, but here, they're bob on.

Conclusion for me they were compromised on anything other than smooth ish tracks

It’s almost like the clue is in the name 😎

Can you name a type of bike that is less shit, and by less shit I mean less ‘compromised’ overall? ie something not too bad at surfaced roads, unsurfaced roads, towpaths, backroads, touring, commuting, going down the pub and generally getting around the world efficiently and comfortably?

OP - you'd be better pinning a big sign on your back that says KICK ME

its the reason i have 4 bikes....they are all compromised in some way shape or form.

it started with the realisation that my 170mm enduro bike is a bit shit when i rode it at the local trail centre blue/red route

I view mine mainly as a slightly more robust road bike which allows me to explore interesting paths just off the road rather than as a true off road bike.

Really enjoying it comfort wise on some of the audax rides I have done recently and the greater resistance of the 47mm 650b tyres compared to the 25mm 700c tyres on my roadie makes me happy to accept the slight loss of speed on flat, smooth surfaces.

"Gravel bike" seems to span a wide range of uses.

Conclusion for me they were compromised on anything other than smooth ish tracks and utter shite every where else !!

That's what they are for. The marketing machine says stuff like 'they are more capable than you think, you know' but that tells you nothing about how worthwhile they are on your trails for your riding.

Around Cardiff trails are quite rocky mostly, so much as I'd like a gravel bike it's a non-starter because I like going fast. Instead I have a rigid 29er, set up for speed with narrow bars and a racy position. It's a perfect halfway house - great to ride on the road because of the geometry, the rigid forks and the riding position, but it's still an MTB with 2.3" tyres and low gears.

I guess it depends how long you ride for. I have been through the whole gravel thing, had a nice frame built up by Cotic. I think it was a good step to get the feel for that kind of bike. If I lived urban the roadrat would be the bomb. I did enjoy it for a while but I live in the tweed valley. Why the hell would you be riding a gravel bike when the steeps (sort of) are on the door step. 35lb bike. 63 degree head angle, 80 deg STA. Yes please everyday. Strong quads and 20 miles is about as long as I want to be on a bike. I have a slack HT and even that can still do the distance. Under lockdown it is the perfect training rig between heavy weight training and nothing like a 30lb HT for 10 miles after Squats. Rather than any CX rig I would look at a high spec XC bike.

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The mistake you have made OP, is to assume that they are an alternative to a MTB. They are of course, an alternative to a road bike.

Its ok OP, we don't expect everyone to "get it"

Nobeerinthefridge
:The mistake you have made OP, is to assume that they are an alternative to a MTB. They are of course, an alternative to a road bike.

Well said.

The trail that Evil bikes rider is on is smoother than most of the tarmac near me.

47mm Horizons do feel cool on shitty roads I must say.

sailor74

i see the gravel bike as a fitness tool but yes its compromised on technical stuff, but pedaling my mtb around the local byways, lanes and easy singletrack is also a massive compromise.

This. I wouldn't take it to an MTB trail, but I've been glad to have it for local pedals with a bit of light offroad where I can grab it

but pedaling my mtb around the local byways, lanes and easy singletrack is also a massive compromise.

No real™ MTBer would do such a thing! That’s multidiscipline*/mincing and no German cars/motorway services stops/uplifts are involved in the getting there 😎

*A new-fashioned term for old-fashioned cycling.

I think part of the gravel bike thing is comparing it against what your MTB, and what you normally ride

My MTB is a rigid 29er so it does gravel really well but normal MTB is still fun too

Nobeer plus one

Not sure what you was expecting OP

It actually forced me to ride faster than I wanted,

I find that everytime i go from road to trail I imagine I'm Sagan hitting the pave, just cannot ride it slow!!!

Found my gravel bike was too much of a compromise off road so I replaced it with a rigid 29er MTB with fast rolling tyres (Pinnacle Ramin).

maybe my fault for trying to ride them more like an mtb

This
I havent encountered your problem because I have never tried to ride my gravel bike on my mtb trails. Clue is in the name. They are for gravel...or commuting...or exploring...or easy xc singletrack. Absolutely brilliant for pandemics!

My MTB is a rigid 29er

snap. The new ATBs.

With some fast-rolling tyres and small bar-ends then Roberta is your Uncle’s sister.

Realising gravel bike are bit shit !

Yet imo all bikes are ace, and riding them is even acerer.

FWIW, I do think 'gravel' bikes are a compromise. Particularly when compared to a really focused bike that is the modern mountain bike. I'm learning that the compromise makes it interesting and is useful for all sorts of rides.

Gravel bike in “not a mountain bike” shocker. Again.

It actually forced me to ride faster than I wanted, it was supposed to be an easy bimble but I got a KOM (very obscure section only ridden by 24 people I should add) and some top tens, which did make me wonder whether it would be any fun riding it ‘easy’ as you’d be colliding with the bumps rather than skimming over them.

I've been saying this for years. Ever since I first put CX tyres on my Amazon. There's often a required speed to bring everything together. It's one of the reasons I still fancy a proper, lightweight, racy CX bike too.

Yep - I tried twice but couldnt get them to work for the trails I ride on, fast in parts but then not at all fun on many surfaces. Now have a Mk4 Stooge and that covers what I need.

scotroutes
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OP – you’d be better pinning a big sign on your back that says KICK ME

lol.
If Die Hard with a Vengeance was remade for the modern era, John McClane wouldn't be told to go round a black neighbourhood wearing a racist sign, he'd be told to come on STW and slag off gravel bikes...

I find that everytime i go from road to trail I imagine I’m Sagan hitting the pave, just cannot ride it slow!!!

No co-incidence the KOM I got was a farm track skirting the edge of some fields, so basically lots of 90 degree corners lined with tall grass, and the track itself was sun-baked tractor tracks in mud, so not unlike some big lumpy cobbles! It was even dusty which fuelled the Paris-Roubaix fantasy a little bit more..

I love my Gravel bikes. 65km on Sunday with approximately 70% on gravel and singletrack at an average speed of 27kph.

I love the way a gravel bike feels on loose stuff, it moves around, but isn’t jittery like a road bike on 32s would be, it’s just pure, unadulterated, fun!

65km on my 29er would be hard bloody work and on gravel it would be so sure footed as to be largely boring, but this was done fast and happy.

I’m quite lucky in that I have lots of gravel trails near me.

gravel bikes are for the bits of trail that are boring on your slack angled long travel mtb as you wouldn't even notice them, they make mundane trails fun and quicker to get to from home as they are more efficient on tarmac than your slack angled long travel mtb. an mtb they are not, fun they are

You just need to find the right routes.

This for sure, I never used to enjoy riding my cyclocross bike on the trails purly because I was riding the wrong trails. I dug it put 38mm tyres on it lowered the gearing and it's loads of fun on gravel, tracks and adobe.

Gravel bike in “not a mountain bike” shocker. Again.

I will point out there's plenty of gravel bike riders who push the idea that they can replace a mtb 🤔
For me anyway they quickly get out of their depth, especially on steep rocky technical trails. Some riders can manage just about anything on them, but for us mortals their slower, more scary and less fun on tougher going.

Can you name a type of bike that is less shit, and by less shit I mean less ‘compromised’ overall? ie something not too bad at surfaced roads, unsurfaced roads, towpaths, backroads, touring, commuting, going down the pub and generally getting around the world efficiently and comfortably?

Yes, a parts-bin MTB, the likes of which most of us on here can put together for peanuts. It'll likely have 1x, powerful disc brakes, strong tubeless-ready wheels and good geo for the rough stuff. Stick some £20 SPD/flat flip pedals on and it'll get you to the pub and back too.

Mine (29er Inbred) is comfy for 100km road/bridleway rides and odd looking enough not to be nicked in town.

The local boutique MTB LBS recently started group gravel rides up, where the £8k Santa Cruz lovers of the gnar are now all into £4k drop-bar bikes. No doubt noses would be sniffed if I turned up on my shed creation. But I'm 100% sure most would secretly prefer to ride it on those oh-so-cool group gravel rides.

gravel bikes are for the bits of trail that are boring on your slack angled long travel mtb

Nope, they're for the bits of rough surface that unskilled roadies shite their chamois on.

Great thread, very stw

I agree 100%

If Die Hard with a Vengeance was remade for the modern era, John McClane wouldn’t be told to go round a black neighbourhood wearing a racist sign, he’d be told to come on STW and slag off gravel bikes…

Love mine at the moment.

It's all I'm using.

The cross over from a road bike is correct.

Flared drops just made it for me

I have several bikes. The two most grin inducing, fastest, fun bikes are a rigid singlespeed, and a gravel bike. They are my 'go to' bikes for 'natural' singletrack, byways and bridleways. My full susser feels like an absolute energy sucking lazy sloth in comparison, but in its day it was quite a fast nimble ride/climber.

The gravel and rigid singlespeed are quite close in disciplines, the gravel bike is just the obvious choice for any ride that involves big distances or anything with more than about 10 minutes of road riding, rigid mtb for whooping across fields at close to 40mph 🙂 (I've just entered the world of 29ers and can't get my head around how much faster it rolls!)

For years I have always ridden any bike I have had anywhere accepting the compromise of my or the bikes limits. I was cynical at the marketing blurb at first but caved in and got a Kinesis Crosslight Pro6 disc a couple of years back. It's been a revelation, it really is a good compromise for the general type of riding where we are in the New Forest (lots of gravel tracks mixed with potholed road sections). I really like the brakes, wide range of gears, the comfort - maybe to do with the geometry, flared bars with thick tape and bigger WTB Riddler tyres. So not shit to me, perfect, but I guess it does depend on where you live and your type of regular riding as others have said.

It's just a marketing phrase for a type of bike that has always existed. As marketing scum bags are involved, they are currently over hyped. Sounds like you fell for the hype.

I currently have two bikes for this type of riding. A ten year old Orange R8 with Project 2 forks, 26 inch wheels, drop bars, and front and rear racks, and a 18 year old Kaffenback with 700c wheels, drop bars, and the ability to take crosser tyres up to 32mm.

I suspect I'll still be riding both when sales and marketing have moved on from selling crossers with plus size tyres. Maybe they'll move on to selling motorbikes with electric engines. Anything to keep consumerism and capitalism racing along.

I will point out there’s plenty of gravel bike riders who push the idea that they can replace a mtb 🤔

Strawriders? 😉

I had one and have to agree with the OP. Fair enough, mine was not top of the range but it felt like a lump on the road and meh off it. Sold it and bought a HT, then sold that and got a road bike. Road bike makes sense in a way the gravel didn't as a ying to the FS yang.

For gravel mincing I have my retro bikes.

I obviously still maintain an interest in buying another gravel bike because n+1.

It’s just a marketing phrase for a type of bike that has always existed. As marketing scum bags are involved, they are currently over hyped. Sounds like you fell for the hype.

Yeah, to be fair CX with drops was a thing 30 years ago.

Didn't work for me so went back to a ht set up for bikepacking.
Is it a tourer is it an mtb who knows but it's a darn site more comfortable and utilitarian.

I reckon my Arkose is more capable off-road than the MTBs I started out on in the early 90s.

13thfloormonk
not sure if you can really ride 150km of remote highland gravel ‘on the rivet’ the whole time, would get tiring…

It can go from nice gravel to oh shit in seconds... 🙂

I have a trek Slash , Giant Defy advanced and just got the bearings done on my Trek Superfly . Since Covid ive not any had any need to ride the slash but have used the superfly constantly. When my c2w comes round in August I had planned a gravel bike but beginning to wonder If I really need one. My plan was to sell the superfly but its been a blast the last few weeks and I know Id struggle to ride some of the stuff on a gravel bike.

Will see what happens cant imagine there are much better than a heavy hardtail with drop bars.

I'm not really qualified to comment. But why let that spoil the fun?

My BIL recently got a gravel bike which he let me have a quick go on the other week.

Now granted it had SPD pedals on and I had normal shoes, so it was a bit sketchy.

Other than that, it had a dropper and disc brakes, and a 1x gearing setup so was basically great. Pedalled really nicely. Then the bridleway headed downhill and then I noticed the riding position and the narrow bars.

So, IDK, I guess it depends what you're expecting. With proper pedals I can imagine one being great for whizzing around in a pedally sort of manner while coping with somewhat bumpy terrain. If you want to shred your local deathgnar woods it's maybe not the best tool in the box.

My plan was to sell the superfly but its been a blast the last few weeks

Funny, it was my Superfly that got me hooked on the idea, stuck narrower bars and 38c tyres on it and started going further and faster. Did a couple of seasons CX on it too with CX tyres and even narrower chopped down bars.

The Superfly could end up being my longer distance cruiser if my Kinesis turns out to be too much of a handful, would just keep the Kinesis for CX duties.

I've got a few bikes, the gravel bike being the most recent acquisition. I don't need it, but it's certainly fun. It reminds me of when I was a teenager in the early 70s riding my Sun 5 speed racer off-road and breaking it - except that the gravel bike doesn't break. It's just as capable off-road as my 92 Eldridge Grade was, but much nicer on road. I'll admit that is a bit slower on-road than I expected, but it's very comfortable on the rubbish road surfaces we now have to put up with.

mmmmmmmmm!

Had one since January (Tempest) and haven't ridden anything else since. It's the perfect join the dots bike, linking all those NCN / landy track / woodland path and tarmac sections together in a way that my hardtail can't match and my road bike wouldn't even consider. Perfect pandemic pootler.

downshep
...It’s the perfect join the dots bike, linking all those NCN / landy track / woodland path and tarmac sections together in a way that my hardtail can’t match and my road bike wouldn’t even consider.

That sums it up nicely.

If you're wanting a fast bike, then there's one for each of those categories, but none do it all as well.

I'm sure for a lot of people, being a bit shit is part of the appeal- same as singlespeeds, fatbikes, rigids, cross bikes. These can do other things really well too of course but I've always liked to have at least one bike where instead of being me and the bike vs the trail, it's me vs the bike and the trail

Try telling the blokes racing Strada bianche that you need 40c's and a 67 degree HA to ride off tarmac.

You're just gullible consumers wanting to spend money and hoping that it will make you happy. If you had a MTB you'd ride it and enjoy it. If you had a road bike you'd go and ride it and enjoy it. The irony is that most of you crave a gravel bike because you were sold a 170/170 29er to ride the red route at dalby.

Your enjoyment isn't magnified by anything magical, titanium or niche and owning it doesn't make you special.

We are not for want of wonders, but want of wonder. Go get some CBT and spend the money on making memories when this all eases up.

Try telling the blokes racing Strada bianche that you need 40c’s and a 67 degree HA to ride off tarmac.

...you mean the trained professionals with full time mechanics following them in cars with spare bikes on the roof? Trained professionals who still finish the event looking utterly destroyed, assuming a puncture or mechanical hasn't finished the event for them? Good example!

I see gravel bikes as

Just another marketing excuse to create another segment.

A reason for middle aged gnar MTB riders who have never had a road bike / CX bike to admit that they don’t need their 150mm gnar enduro bike because actually they only gnar riding they do is on a gravel track. (but now they can do it and be kool, and wear baggies)

Christ knows how pro riders have ridden Paris-Roubaix for years on their flimsy road bikes, or some of us have ridden the 3 peaks on CX bikes.

It's really semantics. From my point of view gravel bikes are simply a return to the norm. Take any pre 1970s EU/UK sports/roadster bike and you have a bike that fits the multipurpose capabilities of the American gravel bike.

It was a bike capable of getting you to where the countryside starts and to ride through it. In the UK it was the sort of bike favoured by the RSF set, and I suspect the UK idea of a gravel bike is more that than the USA version where there are tens of thousands of graded dirt roads.

And a shout out for On-One for spotting the gap in the market because IMO the Pompino was a "gravel" bike before it became a trend (yes, I know about the Dawes Galaxy and others).

There's more to riding bikes in the mountains than heading downhill being gnar.

Christ knows how pro riders have ridden Paris-Roubaix for years on their flimsy road bikes, or some of us have ridden the 3 peaks on CX bikes.

*Swoon*

And a shout out for On-One for spotting the gap in the market because IMO the Pompino was a “gravel” bike before it became a trend

Did the Pompino pre-date the Kona Sutra?

I see gravel bikes as

Just another marketing excuse to create another segment.

Sort of, to a point, it's just giving us another choice, and choice is great, what a time to be alive!.

Does make me chuckle when folk on here slag off enduro riders as some kind of fashion victim, and don't see their new found gravel bikes in the same light... 🙂

Mine makes a great winter bike when the trails are too boggy to ride.

Try telling the blokes racing Strada bianche that you need 40c’s and a 67 degree HA to ride off tarmac.

Strada B is hardly the mtb trails the OP mentioned though is it? It's more like a long lumpy disused rail way turned into a bike path than you can even ride a road bike on.....oh wait, that is what they are riding.

I bought a Salsa Fargo from Charlie in 2011, I bought it because I was into bikepacking and thought it would be ideal, this was "back in the day" before we called it gravel riding, monster cross was the genre I suppose.

People pointed and laughed at me, especially my riding buddies, but now they all have gravel bikes with skinner tyres than my Fargo and are therefore slower off road.

As it turns out I did 2 or 3 Welsh Ride Things on the Fargo and realised that my Trance would make bombing down lakeland passes more fun, and it doesn't really matter what bike you are dragging across a welsh bog.

But I still love my Fargo, it's easily the most versatile bike I own and really fast in the right conditions, really comfortable and capable, just avoid sustained rock gardens and really steep stuff and it'll pretty much ride anything I'm capable of, it will be the bike I still own into my old age when all my bottle has gone and I just want to pootle around or tour.

Currently it is on my turbo, but I'll get a cheap road bike and liberate it again soon.

Riders finish Strada bianche done for because they've just raced a world tour one day classic. They look worse at the end of liege Bastogne liege; your 43c tyres would just have them finishing slower.

And the OP already established that he'd have more fun on a mountain bike as soon as it gets anywhere technical. I don't really see your point - the segment is about selling you on the need to buy something new to satisfy an internal paucity, not filling it with experiences.

scotroutes
Did the Pompino pre-date the Kona Sutra?

No idea, but I'm pretty sure it was in a completely different price bracket in the UK market.

It’s really semantics. From my point of view gravel bikes are simply a return to the norm. Take any pre 1970s EU/UK sports/roadster bike and you have a bike that fits the multipurpose capabilities of the American gravel bike.

I’m sorta with Epi on this, everything started to go more niche once bikes went more recreational so the gravel is just a return to something more general purpose as it’ll take a variety of tyre/wheel sizes and fulfill more roles.

My rides are typically 40% road, 55% gravel and 5% single track. They are perfect for a gravel bike and a gravel bike make the most sense (I don't ride a gravel bike but it still makes most sense on paper)

The whole ride is a compromise so any bike chosen is a compromise. Just pick the bike you like riding the most and get on with it (in my case a 28c tyres fixed gear)

And the OP already established that he’d have more fun on a mountain bike as soon as it gets anywhere technical

Well that depends on how you're getting to the technical bits. Which is the point you seem determined to miss.

I cobbled together the Lockdown Lava Dome at the end of February. I didn't want to spend much money, and I have no interest in n+1 (one mountain bike, one road bike, that's it). The bike has been a bit of a revelation and, if I was in the market for a new bike, it'd be something from the burlier end of the gravel spectrum. It would, note, be replacing the road bike, not the mountain bike...

Around Cardiff trails are quite rocky mostly, so much as I’d like a gravel bike it’s a non-starter because I like going fast.

This is a reflection on your riding, not the trails around Cardiff.

Christ knows how pro riders have ridden Paris-Roubaix for years on their flimsy road bikes,

In serious discomfort, that's how.

I have no idea what the problem is here. We now have more choice than ever, which means you can get a better bike for what you want to do.

I have no idea why people are bitching about that on the internet. Everything that any company makes is subject to marketing, nit just gravel bikes. And you don't have to buy the thing that is marketed. That's under your control, not theirs. If you want to ride trails in a road bike or road on an MTB, go right ahead.

This is a reflection on your riding, not the trails around Cardiff.

It's both.

Mis-sold rubbish in my opinion.

I tried to spread mine on the driveway & it didn't work at all!

This place confuses me sometimes. I can't understand why anybody would deem any bike shit just because it doesn't suit their needs, but nor can I understand why bike owners get so defensive. If my "gravel" bike doesn't suit you that's fine by me.

Personally mine was never meant to replace my MTB and if it wasn't for lockdown I'd be riding the MTB in remote(ish) bits of Scotland by now. But it has replaced my road bike, mainly because I'm old and slow anyway now, so might as well enjoy the comfort and the ability to explore those interesting looking tracks when the fancy takes me. But it's just a bike. If you want something a bit more capable off road but a bit slower on road or something a bit faster on road but a bit slower off road you've got plenty of choices. Just pick one and (don't) be a dick about it 🙂