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Have to admit I did rubbish gravel bikes a while back but I love my gravel bike impulse purchase. Went for a ride and it has a decent turn of speed on the road and was ok off road apart from the rocky bit.
Ride was crazy windy and I had to abandon my original route as the road just along from where the Peaks sign is shown was so windy it blew me off my bike and I couldn’t even stand up in it.
Fun bikes.
All bikes are fun. Riding is good.
Yep, I would have enjoyed that ride on an MTB , a road bike, a fixed gear bike. Not all bikes in all scenarios are fun though as I never enjoyed long rides on a BMX!
In shocking news - people now realise the dream of 150+ trail bikes isn’t what they need for 95% of their riding
Not really, when I ride my mtb or gravel I do completely different rides.
I would agree with scruff, different bikes for different rides.
I love gravel bikes, feels like riding in the 80’s!
I managed to match the speed of my road bike on the ride back into Holmfirth which was nice! Mind you I am amazingly slow so that’s no reflection on the different bike’s ability.
If gravel bikes existed when I were a lad, I'd have skipped the road bike and the rigid mtb and just gone gravel from the outset. Just perfect for my type of riding.
I can't even ride a rigid bike on the road let alone off.
Mine arrives in four weeks and I can’t wait.
Getting out to be honest is what it’s all about, gravel, road , trails I guess it doesn’t matter
Enjoying a 120mm full suspension at the minute. Both ends lock out and it is 650b with 2.6 tyres. I'm enjoying a pootle on the gravel roads locally on it. I really don't fancy drop bars or slimmer tyres. I'm only averaging around 15 miles though so my mileage can't warrant a dedicated bike.
Not really, when I ride my mtb or gravel I do completely different rides.
This.
It's why my do-it-all bike has 36mm tyres and more road tour suited than rocky singletrack suited.
Was up Holmemoss this morning on the ridgeline wouldn’t have fancied it on my gravel, that said the gravel bike is just so much faster up wessendon than I can get a mtb..
My missus was complaining this afternoon why road bikes ride from side to side in the road and I said look at the skinny 23mm tyres/wheels can’t handle the bumps in the road so go out of there way to avoiding grates and potholes,
My 37mm gravel tyres at 45psi can handle 25kmph on tarmac and I don’t have to avoid the potholes so much and has a huge bottom gear ratio to get up holmemoss
Been out on my gravel bike today. Mixed road and forest road ride with the odd clay track. Wet tracks but nice weather for a change. It’s the best all round bike for where I live for riding from the door.
I was the same as the OP, never saw the point until my mate got one and sold his MTB which in turn led to me buying a cheap bike second hand. Most ridden bike now, great fun.
Only problem with mine is that it’s ruined my enjoyment of a trail bike that I used to love. It just feels too sluggish after riding a fully rigid gravel bike for most of the past year. It’s still a far better bike for the descents of course but the climbs are just much less fun and they make up most of the ride. And no, I’m not interested in an eMTB 🙂
My gravel bike is by far my most-ridden bike. I'll happily ride it on most of the local singletrack and enjoy the added sketchiness. And I can knock out 50 miles far faster than on a hardtail. If I want to go fast off-road I'll use my FS and if I want to go a little bit faster on-road I'll use my road bike but for most of my rides, which are a bit of everything, the gravel bike is the best option.
I own what is now in hindsight is an early prototype gravel bike - a 2004 On One Ti Cross. 38mm tyre clearances, (very) slightly slacker geometry than most cross bikes of the time and bosses for most stuff. It came 4th in the 3 peak race, though sadly with Nick Craig riding it rather than me. It's been a club ride winter hack, commute bike, touring bike, cross race bike, sportive bike, adventure race bike, SDW in a day bike.
It lives guarded and racked as a full time commute bike now and I have an itch for a gravel bike that's ready to ride as a pure gravel bike. But I can't work out where the sweet spot is for me - my off road forest/estate/wind farm tracks are plentiful but mostly a lot more gnarly and broken up than the OPs pictures. Too skinny tyres and I'd rather be on my mtb for a significant proportion of the off road, too fat and the road sections will hardly be any better than a xc hardtail with slickish rubber. Find the sweetspot or it could just be I'd constantly rather by on a different bike.
Got 650 x 50c ventures on my gravel bike. Still good on the rd and enough rubber for the brick filled gravel roads round my way.
My Marin replaced my flat bar touring bike. Wasn’t expecting drops to be comfy but the front end is quite high (see pics) which suits my short arms really well. Always struggled to fit on most bikes because of it and always had sore necks and shoulders.
Still have my MTB, no problem there. But no “road” bike.
The biggest surprise was how well the WTB Resolute tyres rolled on the road but gripped surprisingly well off road. Will be hard to choose another tyre when these wear out.
What makes a gravel bike?
A road bike with wider tyres?
Please tell me and recommend some names
Thanks
What makes a gravel bike?
A road bike with wider tyres?Please tell me and recommend some names
Thanks
Kinda this but the geometry, comfort, gearing, braze ons and bar flare are slightly more off road centric. Value? Sonder, Pinnacle and Planet X. Sexy? Mason, OPEN and Niner. Leftfield? Shand, Lauf and Stooge. Also look at Surly, who kicked this all off. All worth a look.
What makes a gravel bike?
Ha! If you figure that out, let the rest of us know.
Generally speaking, taller stack, clearance for bigger tyres, possibly more sloping top tube, although not necessarily. Slacker head angle is not unusual compared to road bikes. Some might have dropper post routing.
What makes a gravel bike?
It is really whatever you want it to be if the question is what bike is best for riding on gravel at a good pace.
Best style of bike for fast riding is drop bar road bike so start with that and makes changes based on what you need (more relaxed geometry, larger tyre clearance, bosses of stuff etc,.) and then look for a bike that meets those requirements.
“Gravel” is my default bike of choice. Local roads are rubbish and need interlinking off road sections to be enjoyable (and safe), local trails are too tame on an MTB and have lots of roads to link them together.
Tried the CX bike route with a Kinesis, rubbish, tried the “gravel” route with a Camino, blooody excellent. Love it.
160mm both ends, road, gravel, trails, jumps, drops, 🙂
Keep your gravel, i don't mind going 1mph slower on the road 🙂
In shocking news – people now realise the dream of 150+ trail bikes isn’t what they need for 95% of their riding
Equally shocking news, the UK has a very varied geography and terrain.
Thankfully.
I'm a total convert, it gives me the range to do big exploratory off road loops from my doorstep, it has opened up some excellent new adventures in the Highlands that I wouldn't have considered on the MTB, and for gnar just substitute flat muddy CX stuff and a lot more pedalling, would swear I'm spending more time going sideways round corners than I ever did on the MTB...
Of course, I loved my Superfly with skinnier slick tyres too, just could never find a handlebar setup that I would want to spend 6+ hrs on...
I have no problem enjoying a gravel bike and a FS MTb
I do think travel restrictions have really boosted the value of having a bike that's happy on and off road
Tried the CX bike route with a Kinesis, rubbish, tried the “gravel” route with a Camino, blooody excellent. Love it.
Care to elaborate? It's obviously a subtle difference in the grand scheme of things but clearly made a huge difference to you.
The biggest surprise was how well the WTB Resolute tyres rolled on the road but gripped surprisingly well off road. Will be hard to choose another tyre when these wear out.
Might one humbly suggest purchasing said/same tyres in anticipation of above occurrences?
Care to elaborate? It’s obviously a subtle difference in the grand scheme of things but clearly made a huge difference to you.
I built a Kinesis CX1 frameset into a gravel bike.
I love the quick handling and don't notice the slightly higher BB.
Tyre clearance is a bit limited, would love to go wider but 40mm is the limit, and even that required some precision wheelbuilding and some heli-tape on the inside of the chain-stays.
In fact I'd say the biggest drawback of a CX frame is the shorter headtube, I have about 50mm of spacers, a +12deg stem AND a 20mm rise drop bar on the front of mine, just to make it a bit more practical for long rough days out or multi-day tours
If gravel bikes existed when I were a lad, I’d have skipped the road bike and the rigid mtb and just gone gravel from the outset.
Old rigid mtb = gravel bike
Old rigid mtb = gravel bike
See I don’t get that at all. I have some retro konas and other old rigid bikes and they are worlds apart to me.
Old rigid mtb = gravel bike
Apart from the fact the 2 bikes are not the same in anyway...
Old rigid mtb = gravel bike
except for wheel size, tyre size, disc brakes, frame material, drop bars, 1x, carbon posts. Apart from that they are exactly the same thing.
This is just something people throw into conversation, why im not sure. What they really mean is gravel riding is very similar to the riding everyone did on rigid mtbs back in the day. The bikes however are completely different.
Yeah, I have retro MTB's and modern gravel. Not the same.
except for wheel size, tyre size, disc brakes, frame material, drop bars, 1x, carbon posts. Apart from that they are exactly the same thing.
This is just something people throw into conversation, why im not sure. What they really mean is gravel riding is very similar to the riding everyone did on rigid mtbs back in the day. The bikes however are completely different.
Fair enough, I am making the definition on the stuff that the thing will be doing, rather than the constituent parts of the thing.
Of course, the fact that we now buy a new thing that will do the same stuff as the old thing, and that stuff is being sold as new stuff that can now be done, entirely demonstrates the wonder of marketing.
except for wheel size, tyre size, disc brakes, frame material, drop bars, 1x, carbon posts. Apart from that they are exactly the same thing.
Well of course they arent identical but. The brakes and drive trains have moved on but they have on all bikes
26 inch wheels are within mms of 650b
Loads of 650 gravel tyres are the same width as older mtb tyres
The position on my old kona with hands on bar ends is very similar to hands on the hoods of my gravel bike
The handling is similar with hands fairly close together well forward of the steerer
They are suitable for similar things. Ok on the road. Fine for touring. Great on moderate off road terrain. Horrible on anything rough and rocky
I bought a new cx bike, hated it so bought a new gravel bike. Liked it much more but soon got bored of it even though where I live now it makes more sense. Sold it in the first lock down and now am back on mtbs.
Top Tip
get a 2nd wheelset. A pair of those unfashionable pre-Boost-but-bolt-thru mountain bike wheels you've got lying at the back of the shed. Perfect.
I got a Canyon Grail AL and had an old wheelset hanging up. More knobbly on one set, slick and wide on the other. 2 minutes to swap out and I've really got the most versatile bike I've ever had.
The Marin I bought actually uses QR wheels which suits the wheels I transferred from my tourer which are SP Dynamo front hub and XT rear hub.