[Closed] do i want a gravel bike living near Plymouth?

Nope they are the new fat bike. Soon to be consigned to “what the **** pile”

Depends. Cycling up the old railway to Dartmoor and then looping round to Burrator and back in would be fine on a gravel bike.

yea that is the sort of thing i am thinking of but just wondering how often and how much varied terrain there is down here

I could probably make a decent gravel bike loop but a short travel 29r would be more versatile.

What can a gravel bike do that a hardtail can't?

Youll find lots of paths that are ok on a cx or gravel bike, but they'd also be ok on an mtb and there might be bits that would be a lot better on an mtb.

The only advantage I see is if you want a road bike but a bit more flexibility.

I live just outside of Plymouth and I can really only think of a few places where a gravel bike could be genuinely useful over a ‘normal’ road bike or a cross bike (which was always my preference).

this is kind of the crux. i have no interest in a road bike - I hate riding on road. i want a way of travelling off road in the south hams/dartmoor as quickly as possible. so will that be a by rigid or short travel 29ht or on a gravel bike?

I agree that the railway to Dartmoor and a Burrator loop would be fine on a gravel bike. Alternatively, it would actually be enjoyable on a 29 hardtail.

i want a way of travelling off road in the south hams/dartmoor as quickly as possible. so will that be a by rigid or short travel 29ht or on a gravel bike?

For travelling solely off road with a mix of terrain I would think the XC MTB would be quicker than a gravel bike. Gravel bikes are quicker on smoother gravel roads where you can take advantage of the more aero position but as soon as speeds get slower off road the aero advantage is less of a factor and as the terrain gets rougher the ability to ride over it more of a factor.

Fantastic thread, 10 posts of "anti-gravel bike echo chamber".

If you don't want one OP, just don't buy one...

i do want a gravel bike, but they seem v terrain specific. the thread by roverpig it think it was showed how amazing gravel bikes can be. i am not sure that paths like that exist where i live. i think they gravel bikes (like most bikes) are location specific.

i want to explore my area as quickly as possible. i am not sure whether a 29rigid/HT or a gravel will be better. based on my knowledge i am currently coming down to a 29HT/rigid but wanted the opinion of other locals hence including plymouth in title

So long story short, you still don't actually want a gravel bike (apparently there's special terrain near Plymouth) and so you're not buying a gravel bike...

I'd crack on with not buying the thing you don't want then...

i want to explore my area as quickly as possible. i am not sure whether a 29rigid/HT or a gravel will be better.

There will be so little in it just get the style of bike you like riding the most which is primarily drops versus risers unless by quickly as possible you mean counting the 0.1 mph differences?

I have ridden the loops where I live (with a fair amount of gravel) on road bikes, CX bikes, slack hardtail, rigid single speeds and more and the difference in overall time over an hour is a few minutes. It really doesn't matter...

No. Living in the South Hams I don't think we have enough suitable trails for a gravel bike. There are lots of short bridal paths that may suit a gravel bike, but the joining roads are so up and down you don't get any advantage over a XC hardtail. I would agree with Gunz, the Burrator loop would be more fun on an MTB. The tracks through Bellever woods would be suitable, but pretty limited.

Having said that if you wan't to do 60 plus mile rides on Dartmoor with something like the Burrator loop in the middle then it maybe the right bike for you.

For travelling solely off road with a mix of terrain I would think the XC MTB would be quicker than a gravel bike. Gravel bikes are quicker on smoother gravel roads where you can take advantage of the more aero position but as soon as speeds get slower off road the aero advantage is less of a factor and as the terrain gets rougher the ability to ride over it more of a factor.

You are quite correct, however, for me, thats why a gravel bike is fun. For the OP if you dont want to ride on roads I doubt a gravel bike is for you! The best fun I have on a gravel bike is hitting an offroad section carrying loads of road speed and clattering about on an inappropriate bike!

I live about an hour from you in north Cornwall and my gravel bike is easily the most used bike I have owned.
Loads of trails around us down here but more importantly, the gravel bike allows you to actually ride to them.
Good example of a recent ride: bude to minehead, then two moors way, across exmoor and Dartmoor, then princetown back to bude... 220 miles 18000ft of climbing, loads of off-road and all on the gravel bike.
Also if the roads down your way are like ours up here, a road bike is useless and a gravel bike fills that void for fitness and training on the knackered B roads.
Also all the lame trail centres down here, that are dull as dishwater on an mtb, cardinham, haldon, llanyhdrock etc, are all tonnes of fun on a gravel bike

As you know, I love mine, but still wouldn’t recommend it for the OP. Although I tend to take pictures on the off road bits I find the best use for the gravel bikes is on rides that are at least 50% road. I was roadie for many years and still enjoy it. I find that the performance of the gravel bike on the road is so much better than an MTB* that it makes up for it being not as good off road.

Obviously they are great if you have endless miles of good gravel tracks. But despite what my pictures might suggest that’s rarely the case in the UK.

I find that they are perfect for a road ride where you want to include some off road sections, but if I was riding off road all day with a few road sections to link things together I’d still take the MTB.

Also if you don’t enjoy riding on the road you are unlikely to appreciate the advantages of a gravel bike over an XC MTB so I’d just stick to the MTB and avoid roads as much as possible.

* Yes you can build an MTB that is good on the road but then it’s basically a gravel bike.

EDIT: I should point out that I know very little about the Plymouth area so can’t comment specifically on what it’s like there, but since the OP mentioned my thread I thought I should respond.

I had one and will be getting another at some point. Mainly for riding on canal towpath, bridleways and roads. The roads around here are in such a shit state that a gravel bike with decent sized tyres just makes sense. That and the more relaxed riding position than a road bike just works for me. Not a fan of road bikes, but like drops for longer rides.

At the end of the day you can ride whatever you like wherever you like. It’s all bikes and therefore all good. Gravel bikes just seem like sensible bikes for a bit of everything riding to me.

Are you all mad?

Of course you need more bikes. I live just down the road in Brixham and have 2 hard tails, a roadie and a CX bike. The CX bike gets out a lot as the quiet roads round here are a complete mess boardering on tracks. I regularly ride up to Dartmoor and have found plenty of routes that don't really need the hardtail.

So, yes you do want a gravel bike as it is another bike. That's the rule.

I have an On One Free Ranger gravel bike as my only bike now and I live in Devon.Having no interest in racing or chain ganging I use it 5 days a week for recreation.Recently I swopped from my 38c tubeless to 30c tubeless as an experiment and did not like the narrower tyres which were less comfortable but slightly faster.

Living in Devon I have done the off-road Princetown loop,the Tarka mud and gravel trail from Torrington to Meeth and endured what passes for a tarmac surface on numerous cycle tracks.I also cycle locally on typical Devon lanes,the surfaces of which are third world in places.

The point of a gravel bike is that it is a drop handle bar fast bike which replaces ordinary road bikes because of its versatility.It is not a replacement for a trail centre mountain bike.You can put lightweight wheels and tyres on it and use it on the road,or you can put on a tougher set of wheels and wider tyres and explore rougher terrain.

One bike to do everything.

When it comes to n+1, IMO it usually makes sense to diversify.

My ~3 years old Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc is my road bike, not exactly aero even with its tall headtube, but it's fine for my non-race sub 100 mile rides.

I urgently needed a new commuter after my fatbike driveside crank sheared, plus it also needed the gearing sorted and it became such a drag to commute on when the freehub died on the 29er wheelset, so rather than spending ~£150-200 on it (excluding wheel) now and not knowing how long I would be without a commuter I decided to buy a Voodoo Marasa for £405.

I really fancied the new Boardman ADV 8.9 adventure bike for £900 with my British Cycling discount, for something that could do winter rides and maybe the odd light off road, but just like my Cube there's no way I'd use it to pop to the shops and I'd be paranoid about something happening to it at work.

So I went for the Marasa, probably what I should have bought instead of the Wazoo fatbike in 2016, but the Wazoo was a fun bike to give me back cycling confidence after my RTA. It's not going to get me to work as quick as a road bike, but the gains are small. It's a bit heavy, but it has a good gear range with a triple chainset. I could use in the winter for smaller rides in the South Downs lanes and it has clearance for 50mm tyres for a bit of light off road. And if anything happens to it while locked up doing shopping or out at work, I'll be gutted, but it's going to cost less to replace than the ADV 8.9 would be.

Gravel bikes are more to replace road bikes, I would consider getting rid of my road bike for the gravel but not the MTB. The gravel bike opens up road riding to more interesting trails that you would never ride an mtb to as there is too much road to get to them.

East edge of Dartmoor here. For me, my gravel bike made the road bikes redundant - they're all gone now, and much like a few people have said, a gravel bike is more flexible and durable than any road bike and is hence ideal for our network of barely maintained roads around here. I do use it off road too and will agree that an MTB will be better a lot of the time, but the rides I've been piecing together are now longer and a very varied mix of terrain and gravel bikes are perfect for that. They're great for exploring the lanes, being nosey down tracks, etc - I've found lots of pieces of lovely single track that I wouldn't have done prior to having a bike that promoted my inner explorer. It'll not make me get rid of mountain bikes though - they now tend to just get used for rides I know will need them, and those rides now seem to be getting shorter and more technical. That's how it worked out for me - certainly not going to say that it'll be the same for everyone, and I think if I really could only have one bike, it'd still be an MTB. Fingers crossed that never happens!

I see gravel bikes as just more tech cx bikes, ie a better cx bike for those who don't race.
I think they are great (I haven't got one (yet)), its all riding.

I own a Gravel bike and a XC hardtail 29er

The Gravel bike is great if you need to ride on road to get to some off road/gravel paths (Im in Portsmouth and its a 5 mile road ride just to get out of the Island) i can manage gravel paths, QECP blue route (slowly and i have a dropper fitted) and some XC stuff on it

What its best for is cruising along roads averaging 16-20mph and seeing a gravel path or trail and just dashing down it to see where it goes, its great for exploring like that, did a 50 mile gravel ride last Sunday

The XC 29er hardtail is the same weight as the gravel bike (10.5kg) running 2.25 XC tyres and a lockout on the forks

Its slower on the road, not as comfortable as the gravel bike, carbon frame has flex in the rear end which is great off road but annoying on road, so much that i no longer ride it somewhere to ride off road, i just chuck it in the car and go somewhere instead

Off road its great obviously as that what its designed for

What ever you chose will be a compromise, one will be quicker to ride to off road areas but slower and less capable once you get there

The other will be slower to get to any off road but once your there its will be more than capable

thanks for all the positive contributions - really helpful.

the idea is to open up my riding without turning into a roadie (nothing against them i am just scared of cars!)

Devonboy whereabouts are you? if not far from Plym would love to have a look at your OO freeranger its one of the bikes on the shortlist, along with the OO Whippet etc.

What can a gravel bike do that a hardtail can’t?

Be less tedious on tarmac between off road bits than a MTB is

Just to complicate things there are gravel bikes and gravel bikes! My light carbon gravel bike pretty much is the modern equivalent of my 1993 orange clockwork, reasonable similar geometry, no suspension complications, and I’m pretty much riding similar terrain, routes on it. The drop bars just give a bit more efficiency on the road bits and are prob as wide as the cut down bars (Hot rods) on my clockwork were. I like the multi positions on the drops just like I loved the control stix bar ends on my clockwork. I’ve got lots of relatively flat or rolling gravel forestry tracks, bridleways (note spelling), double track farm tracks and narrow poorLy surfaced lanes in between. I can ride from my house and go explore without getting bored or feeling overbiked. When I moved here I had a full suss trail bike. It just didn’t work here. Pick your terrain, pick your bike. That’s the beauty of niche bikes and choice.

Be less tedious on tarmac between off road bits than a MTB is

Guess I am not as easily bored. In fact I know I am not as I can go for a 2 hour ride on a 56" fixed gear (very spinny and very low top speed) and not be bored and not have to put the bike in the car!

Not sure what is so tedious about riding 1mph slower on tarmac and why that 1mph would matter when out riding on my own and that slower speed is worth it for the increased fun when getting off of the tarmac but we are all different.

Rigid mtb with some "alt" bars. Still good for even pretty technical terrain and small drops and still nice to ride on tarmac / smooth gravel. Swap bars and tyres for something like a riser with a short stem and it can become very trail orientated or with narrower high pressure tyres and the right sten bars combo can be quite road happy.

Set it up at the compromise position that suits you. Cheap to try between different set-ups as only bars maybe stem and tyres to swap, some of which you may already have available.

what sort of thing you thinking the brick? a kona unit? sonder frontier? alt bars what are they?