I'd agree that 'UK Gravel' has roots in CX and day touring/exploring, or at least it did for me. Road miles to link up some tracks in an 80/20 sort of ride.
When I rode the white road sections of the Ridgeway on a CdF or Day One drop I didn't see it as 'gravel' as such, just a mild off-road route that could be ridden in a similar way to the rough little lanes that I equally enjoy and was finding my road bike struggled with. The 'Shitty Surface Roads bike' doesn't appeal to a marketing dept though.
US Gravel seems to have been that open county road use, 32-42mm tyres were fine and it's an old thing over there. DK200 was the focal point for the race scene that grew out of it and maybe those races are why there's a lot of skinny tyre gravel bikes on the market.
The odd aspect in all this to me is using a light, relatively road-biased ride position bike to ride a lot of off-road inc singletrack and rougher tracks. Fun as it is for a while, a few hours or so or the general period while that kind of riding has novelty value, the bike is either compromised in its handling because it's got road riding in the design or it's erring towards an MTB. If toward MTB the drop bars (95% of drops that aren't super-wide and flared to the point of equalling MTB bars) are a most often style or feature preference rather than a genuine benefit.
It's all about tyres and the ride position which the bars are a big part of.
But all that compromise stuff is subjective based on my/our own riding preferences and range, so it's wide open.
No, it’s to mess up all surfaces to the point that only a HT or FS makes sense. Bonus being no cars either!
@13thfloormonk Yes, Genesis bikes from start up to the Fortitude, was a one-man-band in that period. There were periods when I spent more time on the Day One drop bar than anything else, loved SS CX. Still have one built up as a town bike.
This was my winter bike back in 2010. Not sure what trendy name you’d give it today.
Mount vision with 29 wheels and cyclo cross tyres.
It was brilliant.
@zippykona if we're going down the Wacky Racers route here's my hill climb bike that I adapted for a local lockdown hill climb challenge:
66' head angle and 40c Nano's! Got me around 28.55 miles with 7168' of ascent in low gear heaven.
Mount vision with 29 wheels and cyclo cross tyres.
I like that. Makes sense in a similar way to how a Moulton combines wheel spec with suspension, just for a different use.
It's marketing.
It will need more than marketing for old full sus MTBs with 700c wheels and CX tyres to take off.
t will need more than marketing for old full sus MTBs with 700c wheels and CX tyres to take off.
Yeah, this isn't the logical conclusion to the gravel trend
It will need more than marketing for old full sus MTBs with 700c wheels and CX tyres to take off.
Yup, I find a bump jump does the trick nicely.
Yeah, this isn’t the logical conclusion to the gravel trend
I don't know about others, but one of the things I like about my gravel bike compared to the full sus I used to have is its simplicity. This is not that.
