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if I wanted a flat bar bike.
if I wanted a flatbar "gravel" bike (commuter, hybrid, whatever). It would have rigid forks, a top gear higher than 32x11, and probably chunnky 700C tyres rather than skinny 29ers. Someone will probably tell me this last point is rubbish.
if I wanted an XC Hardtail mtb, it would be 2 degrees slacker and have a short travel dropper. (The dropper is an easy fix, but is a notable omission on the expensive builds as I said above.)
This bike has failed at being either.
bridleslayer
Perfect👌
Bikes built to handle just a bit more gnarl than a cyclopath hardcore shops bike
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Are you missing polyrhythmic metal e.g. typified by Fredik Thorndahl’s (Sp?) guitar work?
if I wanted an XC Hardtail mtb, it would be 2 degrees slacker and have a short travel dropper.
Yeah, but if I wanted one it wouldn’t, and I’m the one writing my list 🙂
I'll hang on for the mullet version.
I’m sure when it launched the Sonder Dial was called an XC bike, but apparently it’s now been (down graded?) to “aggro-gravel”, whatever that is!
How did it get from 'XC' to 'Aggro-Gravel' without stopping off at 'Hard-Tailings' along the way?
I've got an Enduro-Cross bike for bike packing on gnar, if that helps. Actually what happened to All-Mountain bikes (as opposed to Cross-Country) that used to be a thing.
Are you missing polyrhythmic metal e.g. typified by Fredik Thorndahl’s (Sp?) guitar work?
Also, by virtue of their lack of adherence to any genre, Primus.
Aggregate gravel seems more appropriate
Gnar Type 3
Bridal-slayer?
I'm pretty sure that one was coined about half a decade ago, possibly while collectively grumbling about the reinvention of CX bikes as "Gravel bikes"... Now look at the state of things.
But yeah, that is a "mountain bike" Not sure what an "Aggro-Gravel" is...
Not sure what an “Aggro-Gravel” is…
I think it is what is formerly known as "Gravel" in the same way "Aggro-Road" has replaced "Road" now that the highway code has been updated to hint that possibly cyclists shouldnt be considered targets and the right wing loons have got upset.
Am I the only person admiring the brake rotor shadow in that photo?
I'm building up a pas-ag gravel bike. Have I gone one niche too far?
a countryside bicycle
I like this. See also VTT.
So many painful terms taking off… often for things that are genuinely useful. This “agro-gravel”, a short travel head down hardtail, is ideal for most people getting into a bit of off road riding across most of the UK… but without a name (however much we hate the name) how do you let people know that? For the money, any longer travel full suspension bike would be far inferior to this for most people’s needs across whole areas of England in particular. So, now you have this type of bike (again), how do you describe it to people in a meaningful way? You can say it’s “just a bike”… but they all are.
I hate “downcountry”, but again, for a hell of a lot of people, those bikes are ideal for most of their riding. It’s a genuinely good category with an awful joke name. But what should they be called? You can say it’s “just a bike”… but they all are.
The term I hate most, and it’s applied to 2 of the most useful (for me) things to happen to bikes, the “Mullet”, really does my head in. But 29er front wheels rule… and don’t need pairing with 29er rear wheels to offer an advantage. What do you call this bike, if not the god awful Mullet name? And pairing road STi with MTB cassettes and rear mechs and 1x chainsets. Again, I’ve been running this for years, and for any drop bar bike you take off road on actual hills it transforms the bike… but it also uses that awful name. But what name would you use instead?
Ok. So a hardtail mtb is now called aggro graveling.
Maybe I'm getting old but the worst thing they ever did was to call this kind of ATB a mountain bike. Who uses this kind of bike in the mountains? Nothing wrong with a good XC bike though!
I think it is what is formerly known as “Gravel” in the same way “Aggro-Road” has replaced “Road” now that the highway code has been updated to hint that possibly cyclists shouldnt be considered targets and the right wing loons have got upset.
Groad
NSMB did videos on "Shit Mountainbikers Say", we need a series "Shit the industry comes out with"
I hate “downcountry”, but again, for a hell of a lot of people, those bikes are ideal for most of their riding. It’s a genuinely good category with an awful joke name.
The term itself is fine for me, it's just horrific when brands try to shoehorn clearly inappropriate bikes into the category to climb aboard the bandwagon. Like, erm, Cotic did with the FlareMax by putting a Sid on it.
😉
I believe the defining characteristic of downcountry bike should be that you wouldn't be giving up much if you took it to an XC race.
Aggro-gravel is a ridiculous name.
But do you think Alpkit/Sonder are some over-educated spotty teenagers sat in a marketing office in downtown Greyville, Oklahoma? No. They know what they're doing, and what you're doing, which is their marketing for them.
Like, erm, Cotic did with the FlareMax by putting a Sid on it.
Blame Guy Kesteven for that one!
He did the experimenting. And it works.
I believe the defining characteristic of downcountry bike should be that you wouldn’t be giving up much if you took it to an XC race.
Downcountry is an odd one. Should we listen to the guy who invented the term (as a joke) to describe riding modified XC bikes for fun and to deliberately challenge themselves technically in British Columbia, or has it transcended that, to just fit between trail and xc race because trail has got too fat and burly?
Just like gravel is no longer a collection of race series in midwest USA, but defines fairly specific but versatile genre of bikes.
Blame Guy Kesteven for that one!
I wouldn't be surprised if he was behind "aggro gravel" as well TBH. He's got form.
It might have ridden well but it was still an underforked trail bike.
But where does a "rough stuff" bike fit into this? Not the young lady up the road known for her loose morals and scruffy appearance by the way.
They probably called it Aggro Gravel to disassociate it with Mountain Biking which creates images of trail centre car parks and e-bikes now. Aggro Gravel is for younger riders who have the energy to ride for longer than an hour or so.
Aggro Gravel is for younger riders who have the energy to ride for longer than an hour or so.
And because 'adventure' riding now evokes images of dangle-mugs, plaid shirts and riding deliberately slowly 😎
Mathcore
Sorry what?
Re bike niches, I don't mind as long as there is a genuine difference. E.g. downcountry, that's an XC bike but with slacker angles than you'd expect which means it can do a little bit more a little more easily, and will be more relaxed to ride. I get that, it's a valid niche. I don't particularly care what it's called just as long as it's short and easier to type than the above entire sentence.