So the upshot is pretty much as expected;

– lots of commuter use
– a fair bit of “didn’t get on with it … it’s too compromising … want to sell it … can’t sell it …”
– road speed not nearly quick enough
– road speed plenty quick enough
– particularly engaging on the rough stuff as one needs to seek new lines
– 29ers are much better all round

I guess you never know until you own one. I really didn’t get this any thought until a week or so ago – now I want one and am getting closer to justifying it. Some good secondhand deals around. Less so on new as those with hydro discs/105/newer Tiagra/un-crap wheels are not yet discounted enough from the £1500+ mark. Will keep looking.

I like a lot of you have been very undecided about a gravel bike even though some of my riding mates have them. In the end I decided I couldn’t justify the cost. However I had just upgraded the wheels on my disc road bike so had a spare pair of 700c wheels. A pair of cheap discs from eBay and they fit in my 26″ ht to make a very reasonable gravel bike. Why bother? Well I used to get fed up of trailing behind my gravelled-up mates on easy tracks and totally dropped on the road bits . I had the wheels anyway so for £10 for the discs I have a handy commuter/gravel bike

If you have an itch to scratch then get a secondhand one now, it’s the cheapest time of year to buy used bikes.

You can probably make a few quid selling in spring if it doesn’t turn out to be for you.

Be honest with the type of riding you enjoy and is practical where you live. If you live somewhere with a lot of quiet country lanes and gentle off road routes, then a CX bike is brilliant. Similarly if you plan on commuting a lot with one.

I bought one and never really got on with it as most of the offroad routes near me are better with a mountain bike, and the roads are far too busy to enjoy. The only thing I ended up using it for was commuting along a canal towpath every so often. I replaced it with a hardtail as my second bike instead.

And even just these few responses have highlighted my dilemma …

I think you may possibly be overthinking it. I ride the SDW area and am aiming to pick up a gravel bike mainly because I want one/N+1 etc.
The idea is to link up the easier trails/BWs with longer stretches of pot holed roads in order to create fast’ish 20-30mile loops – then pull out the hardtail for pure trail riding.
I also intend to ride to the footie more often, which is a 40mile roundtrip, but made more direct with the ability to cross a couple of off-road sections rather than keep purely to the busy roads on my road bike.

I could do all of the above on my current bikes, but I wants a gravel bike.
YOLO. etc.

Yup I bought one ragged it off road(it was uncomfortable mostly) and I used it as a winter road bike for a bit it was shit for that too 😆

Sold it

Bought a winter road bike and a new mtb all good now 😀

I use mine as my road bike and for any local offroading just change the tyres or use slick slidey tyres off road in the summer. Havent used mtb or road bike since I got it

Spacemonkey – I have a 2010 trek Portland (56cm I think) which I should sell. Its in pretty good nick, has cable shimano disc brakes, and is a metallic dark brown 🙂 I’d take £250 for it?

If I could afford/justify the expense, right now I’d sell my Arkrose and get a nice, racey 29er hardtail, with bar ends. Nearly as fast on road, faster off road, more versatile, more comfortable, easier to tubeless.

Should have kept my Scandal. 😳

<goes off to look at 29ers>Hmm, choices, choices …</goes off to look at 29ers>

Got a Saracen Hack, second hand about 5 years ago. Easily my most used bike by about 10x. And the one that has given me most satisfaction (not necessarily all out enjoyment, or an adrenaline rush … That’s still the MTB) and challenged my riding the most.

Commuting, and has been great for extended mixed terrain commutes. Have ridden most of my local North Leeds trails on it, it’s not great for the more technical stuff, but as I do 95% if my riding on local trails rather than travelling, it has (along with the SS rigid MTB) spiced up the familiar by challenging my riding in different ways.

I don’t have a road bike, really prefer to keep off the tarmac, but works ok on the few long road rides I’ve done. Done events like the Dirty Reiver (ideal bike) and 3 Peaks CX (not at all the ideal bike, but since those are the rules, that’s the kind of bike you have to ride!), and again, that event (and the training for it) really challenged and pushed my riding, and what I thought that kind of bike was capable of.

Like the OP, most of my leisure riding opportunities are limited to 2 hour blasts … On the MTB that’s a 30-35km loop, on the CX it’s 45-50km, so you can get further, and access farther away trails (albeit generally easier ones) on the Hack than on the HT.

Love it …

Oddly though, whilst it does all my commuting, the ‘versatility’ that such bikes are sold with (ie trails on the weekend, rack & guards in the week) is the thing that has frustrated me the most … I can’t be bothered taking racks and guards on and off, so have just run it without for the last 2 years and put up with the road slop and spray and sweaty back when commuting …

As I’m 50 next month, and had the green light to put towards a ‘nice’ bike, I’ve ordered something of the same ilk … the new Pickenflick will be more of a dedicated gravel/monster cross bike, the Hack will revert to commuting only …

Easily the most used bike.

But, I use it so I can ride from the house into the Peaks for a few hours at a time and keep fit. CX bike has definitely improved my Mtb fitness.

Don’t use the CX bike for rough stuff, see no point.

I’d have a road bike if it wasn’t for all the cars, so a CX bike for me is a safer option. I can go on the road and around the forest tracks, bridleways etc. Places I wouldn’t take the Mtb because I’d feel that was overkill.

Depends on your situation.. But I bought one in August and it is by far my most used bike. To do a loop from my home with any remotely good off road stuff takes 2 hrs. And half of that is along canal paths and farm tracks, with only the middle bit worth taking the mtb for. At this time of the year I can rarely be assed with a 2 hr cycle, nor can I be assed taking the roadie out on damp wet, icy roads.

Cx bike let’s me avoid traffic and still get in a fun hours ride. Also.. An old farm track on an mtb is a means to get to more technical terrain, whilst on a cx bike its fun in itself.

The other thing I like about it is that for some reason I don’t care that it’s heavy, and not carbon, cable disks and only has tiagra. On any of my other bikes it bothers me if I don’t have the best kit, but on a bike that’s massively compromised on most terrain but rideable on everything it doesn’t seem to matter. I got mine on bike to work, a caadx which works out with tax savings as no more expensive than the hope brake set I bought for my mtb!

Definitely my most used bike and I wouldn’t be without one now. This is partly because the road roading in my area features a lot of pretty rough lanes and the MTB riding from my door is fairly tame. So I combine the two on a gravel bike. I don’t my Grade much slower than a pure road bike either, though the geometry means that its handling is not as quick. I do find it leads me to explore more.

My gravel bike, is a carbon 29er with rigid carbon forks.
It gets most use in the winter, when the dark/mud conspires against proper trail riding.

It’s running drops through the winter and switch back to flat bars in summer, for light off-road again.

I have two sets of wheels, one with 40c cross type tyres, one with road tyres. Swapped according to route/conditions.

All the time.
I still like a play in the singletrack with wide bars, but the distance I can cover on the cx pisses all over the mtb.
At least it does here in the south east.
Plus i get to wear lycra and look like a superhero*.
* According to five year old boy.

My gravel bike is a fixed gear track bike and it is my only bike so used every week. Every ride I do is a combination of road and fire-road with the odd mile of single-track thrown in.

The bike covers everything very well and the only times I would wish for an MTB are on a few 200 metre sections where it gets a bit rocky.

That is really down to where I live though (the less than challenging New Forest). If I lived near a trail centre I would probably have an MTB…

Time-wise, in the last couple of years probably more than my MTB. My trad road bikes gather dust, have done for maybe 4 years now. The fat-road bike does all my road miles and means I can check out the byway links and other stuff along the way, stops road riding getting too dull. It copes with the road surfaces better in a way that makes 25c tyres seem inadequate on many local roads.
It’s a little slower than my trad road bike over 2-5 hrs but I tend to ride to effort X time not av speed so I don’t care. On a longer ride it’s comfier and the differences level off.

– lots of commuter use
– a fair bit of “didn’t get on with it … it’s too compromising … want to sell it … can’t sell it …”
– road speed not nearly quick enough
– road speed plenty quick enough
– particularly engaging on the rough stuff as one needs to seek new lines
– 29ers are much better all round

On a few of those points, ime – the compromise is there but also what makes a fatter-tyred drop bar bike a potentially great bike. It’s all down to how much you enjoy riding it over a 29er or road-race bike (obv.. but anyway) – if you like the format the compromises mean you can do more and ride more variety, if you don’t it’s both slower on road and off road. Neither’s right or wrong.

29ers being better all round … Better off-road yes. I’ve done road tours and long road rides on my rigid 29er with 2.0 slick tyres on and it’s good but not the same – that’s only because I generally like drop bar bikes. No logic in it, some of us are just a bit of a roadie at times. It’s ok, just don’t take it too far maybe..!

I think a lot of it depends on where you live, if you live somewhere with quality mountain biking on your doorstep then a mountain bike is best, its the tool for the job.

But i live in Norfolk and whilst it is not as dull as people think for off road riding, most of it is bridleway and paths linked up with stretches of road, so a muddy field boundary or path would be easy and dull on mountain bike, whereas on my singlespeed Charge Grinduro (whic was a bargain and rides really well) then you are slipping about and having to work to find grip, which makes it fun, plus it becomes my winter road bike when the roads round here are covered in mud from sugarbeet lorries and the road bike just has puncture after puncture and being SS it just gets slung back in dirty and pulled out again and ridden.

This is where i like gravel bikes they ride pretty well on road, fun off road if the riding doesn’t warrant a proper mountain bike and they are “all day” comfortable as they can cram in a 45-47c tyre, whereas a lot of CX bikes were fast but often not that comfortable for long days as they weren’t designed for that.

compromise

every bike is a compromise, imho

just calculated my stats… 25% of rides, 33% of ridden distance on the gravel bike

with a store room that essentially has a fullsuss, a hardtail and the gravel bike (the road bike is still a pile of components in the corner)

gravel bike gets used as a road bike (knowing that I can just nip down any off road trail to avoid specific roads), and as a gravel bike (where the few roads are the unavoidable bits of tarmac between my house and the forest about 10mins away)

forget if I have 32c or 35c tyres on mine. so proper cx/gravel – none of this 47c stuff which is practically an old school hardtail with funny handlebars.

Technically my proper road bike is my Brompton

My gravel bike is my commuter and predominantly used on the road. It’s my most used bike, but it’s set up for commuting so full guards, rack, D lock etc

For local MTB stuff I use a rigid MTB, which happens to be SS. I could do this on my gravel bike (many of the roadies do the same bits on CX bikes in winter), but it’s set up for commuting/road so rigid MTB is fine. All my local riding is very tame

HT for any proper off road riding

scud – Member
I think a lot of it depends on where you live, if you live somewhere with quality mountain biking on your doorstep then a mountain bike is best, its the tool for the job…

That seems logical, but living in the Highlands I find the bike I use most (except in winter) is my general purpose (aka gravel) bike.

With that I can go on big loops, part road, but mainly track. If I used my car to get to the trail, I’d have to do an out and back because usually the trail ends up on the other side of a somewhat bulky mountain.

Also even on a road bike, if I see a likely track, I’m likely to take a poke along it, so having a more capable bike is better.

Gravel bikes are a compromise, but for someone who rides for the scenery rather than through it, a very good one IMO. 🙂

I love mine, it’s almost all I’ve ridden since I got it in the late summer.

As with others, it’s opened up the number of trails that are accessible from my front door. Reminds me of my first mountain bike in the late 90s and the big XC club rides I used to do (mix of road and bridleways).

I also like that I often go out with no specific route in mind, but piece one together as I’m going along. I’ve found a few new routes like that recently.

Totally understand that if you live somewhere with great mountain biking on your doorstep, or prefer riding trail centres it’s not likely to be your thing.

Due to work commitments I mainly use my gravel bike at the moment.. So it travels with us and goes into our freight container. It’s more versatile than my mountain bike as I use both 700c and 650b wheelsets. So wherever I am in the world I can usually get a ride in. Portugal mid Jan 🙂 Mmmm dusty.

I’ve got one. Glad i bought it. Perfect for a non-technical fast blat around the fire roads and quiet country lanes. It’s light, responsive, and simple (no suspension and cable discs). Good in the summer evenings and good in the winter when mud means road detours around waterlogged trails.

I’ve still got a full-sus and a hardtail. And a rigid singlespeed semi-fat (just because). None could take the place of the gravel/cx.

I’ve even entered a cx race. I was crap. But it sharpened cornering skills up.

NS Rag+ is now my only bike. It just makes sense for where I am in life at the moment. I can ride from the door and around Macc Forest or along the canal and Middlewood way with ease. My plan is to have this and one day a nice short travel full sus bike. I believe that will pretty much cover all my riding. Really surprised y how capable the Rag is and it’s pretty fast on road too

Well I did a local 75 min loop on the HT in the persistent rain this afternoon. 75% road with the rest mainly flowing BWs and a bit of ST.

A bit sketchy in the real gloopy mud but I imagine a gravel bike would have fishtailed even more? Likewise unsure how a gravel bike would have improved the ride. I think part of me is contemplating this being my main type/length of riding over winter and for that I don’t ‘need’ a gravel bike. I still want one though. Hmm.

Of course you don’t need a gravel bike for that. But you still might prefer it on a gravel bike

One of my rules of thumb is by used, It you don’t like it it won’t loose much value. I wouldn’t bother holding out for hydro’s. Just get an old Arkose, Boardman CX, London road etc and go for it

andytherocketeer – Member
…where the few roads are the unavoidable bits of tarmac…

Good definition. We need a snappy word for that.

I suspect that it’s having that sort of attitude that defines whether or not you’re the sort of person who would benefit from a gravel bike. Maybe it’s the rider definition that matters, not the bike.

So my bike isn’t a gravel bike, it’s a tarmac avoider’s bike. 🙂

It’s like the industry has designed a whole new bike genre based on the mountain bikes we rode in the nineties, except they have put drop handlebars on them (a la Tomac) and updated them with modern acrutements like disk brakes 😉

If anyone is thinking of trying gravel and still rides a 26 inch mountain bike, I can sell you some 1.5 inch Continental Cross Country tyres I still have in the shed

My gravel bike (Scott addict gravel) is by far my favourite bike. It’s carbon and got hydro discs and I’m glad I saved hard and bought something nice because I really notice the difference over the old cx I had before.

As others have said it probably depends where you live. I’m between the New Forest and the South Downs, with plenty of highly dubious “roads” in between, so it just works round here. I dont do all out road riding anymore other than when I’m with the ladz but I don’t have any trouble keeping up. I’ve found 30mm tyres is the perfect balance for the kind of riding I do. That wouldn’t work for a lot of people though.

Gets used for commuting, but also a fair bit of other stuff. I took it on a business trip last month.

As has been mentioned,the amount of use the ‘Gravel Bike’ gets is very location dependent.
From my front door it’s a 18 mile drive to rivi or just over a hours drive to the South Lakes,so at the moment the MTB hardly gets used.
The beach is less than 10 miles away & the roads are quiet country lanes,there’a also the Cheshire Lines disused railway line & Leeds – Liverpool canal towpath.The Gravel Bike is great on this terrain so it’s the go to bike.The road bike is superior on the quiet lanes,but obviously not as suited to the bumpy stuff.

I ride the Banshee more, but I ride the Rove further.
Unfortunately the DBR Axis TT, doesn’t get ridden as much as it should.

The other thing I like about it is that for some reason I don’t care that it’s heavy, and not carbon, cable disks and only has tiagra. On any of my other bikes it bothers me if I don’t have the best kit, but on a bike that’s massively compromised on most terrain but rideable on everything it doesn’t seem to matter.

^^This^^ Mine is cobbled together from ebay and the spares bin; 1×9 with cable discs and it does just what I need, no more, rather than detract from the enjoyability of it, being such a basic bike that can tackle distances and mixed terrain makes me like it all the more if it was dripping with Dura Ace and Carbon I don’t think I’d love it any more, odd as that might sound.

As with others, it’s opened up the number of trails that are accessible from my front door. Reminds me of my first mountain bike in the late 90s and the big XC club rides I used to do (mix of road and bridleways).

I also like that I often go out with no specific route in mind, but piece one together as I’m going along. I’ve found a few new routes like that recently.

I’ve said it before, it reminds me of the bikes I rode in the early 90s when I was getting into MTBing; rigid forks, narrower (flat) bars 1.95″ tyres (probably pumped up too hard), a relatively narrow range of gears, canti brakes…. Basic machines that could go off-road but were nothing like as capable as a modern MTB, that’s essentially the appeal of a “modern” CX based “Gravel” bike, at least for me.