[Closed] Gravel - when did it officially

verbing a noun is nothing new but people seem more willing to coin slightly awkward examples like 'gravelling'. 'Podiuming' is one of the more preposterous ones but I work with a buzzword master who likes talking about 'sunsetting', 'finaling', 'whiteboarding' etc... Sadly without irony in most cases.

Hi this weekend I am going gravelling. It's a bit like cycling....only gooder

TBH I don't really understand what sort of riding you do on gravel - I mean obviosusly this is cycling so I know you probably need a very specific (and expensive) bike to do so, but I haven't a clue what it actually is.

I get it for the USA but not here.

More Marketing mince...anything to sell more stuff - bit like bikepacking is cycle touring, but trying to make it sound more exciting; gravel bikes are just road bikes with more material to withstand some rougher stuff other than marble smooth roads...so instead of buying a road bike that could be used to ride the Tour, you buy their second or third line of bikes which are too heavy due to having more material to withstand the rougher stuff...it is all just Marketing mince to make you spend more money.

Always worth reading the OP when you're foruming...

@DickBarton heavier bikes aren't heavier because they are stronger. They are heavier because they are crapper. Light bikes use exotic materials like carbon, and techniques like butting to reduce the required material while keeping the strength. The only place a "gravel bike" will have more material is the tyres, which will be wider so as to avoid punctures. It likely also has wider gaps for the wheels to allow for those tyres.
Doesn't need to be heavier though, my XC bike is only about a pound heavier than my carbon road bike, and that's strong enough for a fat lad to ride Afan 🙂

TBH I don't really understand what sort of riding you do on gravel

The same sort of riding you do on the road. You can easily use a standard road bike on them too. Grip is not a problem as not riding muddy, rocky, rooty stuff.

Only benefit of a more specific bike is that you can put bigger tyres on it so get a bit more comfort and float from the tyres.

Hmm, back in my day gravelling was called cyclocross.

Indeed - just rode my old Raleigh everywhere then - roads, fields, jumps in the woods etc. No helmets, camelbacks, spare tubes, strava. Just a bit of change fir a bottle of pop and marathon bar 😉 and a 3 speed sturmry archer!!!

How did we cope ?

Cyclocross is racing gravel

Enduro is racing trail

I think major brands started doing gravel bikes about 5 years ago, small brands before that

Is gravelling more or less hard hard core than adventuring

ok so what is a gravel?

Some mountain bike routes have road bits to join it all together

To me, gravel is road riding with off road bits to join it up.

I did read the op and I answered it...it became a verb when the marketing people realised they had something else they could use to sell the same bikes...they used it and then the public adopted it...

Isn't it really just that people have started to admit that having a bike that does a bit of everything but is still quite 'sporty' is actually quite a good idea?
Gravel is a just a way of making hybrids acceptable again 😀

gravel biking = I've no proper mountain biking near me and I'm not fit enough to keep up with the local roadies. 😆

I think it came about because 'can do a bit of road, some light touring, commuting, singletrack and off road (but not proper off road) all with some compromises if you're willing to live with them' just wasn't quite as catchy for the marketing department.

I have one, it's just a bike that suits what I currently do. Only being able to have one bike it suits me down to the ground. It's bloody great for general pissing about

I have one, it's just a bike that suits what I currently do. Only being able to have one bike it suits me down to the ground. It's bloody great for general pissing about

sounds ok to me.

Tbh I haven't read 'gravelling' used in any marketing and only somewhat knowingly in discussion or press. Gravel biking, riding, racing etc but not actually gravelling.

It's in the same category as someone using 'Enduro' as an adjective (bro, those goggles are totally enduro). Just people playing with words.

Gravel - Yes it's a current marketing trend but I like the bikes so I'm not too narked by it.

If someone gravels does that make them a graveller?

I guess the term comes from the US where they have massive networks of fire road trails for hundreds of kms at a time. We don't really have that here so the name 'gravel bike' is a bit silly.

But as above, they really are the one bike that can do it all, and can be a lot of fun. If I could only have one bike (for commuting, road and off road) it'd be a gravel bike like my Croix de Fer. I'm glad I can have more than 1 though because you can't ride proper mountains biking on a gravel bike (I'm sure some people will argue that point).

I guess the term comes from the US where they have massive networks of fire road trails for hundreds of kms at a time. We don't really have that here so the name 'gravel bike' is a bit silly.

Yep.

The gravel roads in the flyover states are where I see a lot of it coming from.

Equally though, we talk about riding 'mountain bikes' when very few ever see a mountain. A descriptive term, little more.

"Gravel" is up there with "Artisan" and "Hand Cut" when it comes to sounding like a ****er.

It's relaxed off road riding whilst looking at clouds n'that, with headwinds.

gravel biking = I've no proper mountain biking near me and I'm not [s] fit enough to keep up[/s] sad enough to want to go out with the local roadies.

It's making the best of the local riding.

The narrower your tyres and the less suspension the more technical the offroad seems, so this type of bike makes the most of your local bridleways/flat forest trails, etc.

Plus the drop bar position enhances it further and also helps with alternating to standing sprints compared with a mtb position.

Riding roads is a completely different proposition, no naturally undulating ground to ride/pump, no small drops, no occasional bumpy sections to ride. No cars to contend with, no or less fumes to breath.

http://a-pic-a-ride.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/gravel-riding-into-past.html?m=1

Total marketing BS? Yes, but also great fun

If someone gravels does that make them a graveller?

Surely they'd be a gravy?

Makes no odds to me about the bikes, if people enjoy riding them then it is all good stuff. I just get wound up by the marketing hype over things that have been around and been used for years...

If there is an activity of laying gravel, then gravelling would cover that, i.e. putting gravel on your driveway.

You could do that while riding your bike but doesn't sound like the quickest way to get the job done.

TurnerGuy, was only gently taking the pee, you've no need to justify anything you enjoy doing. 😀

my bike gravelling last last month.

[img] [/img]

20mm recycled drainage gravel, if you're interested.

Nobody seems keen to adopt 'Trailcentreing' or 'bikeparking' for an alternative to Mountainbiking although it's perhaps more honest description of a lot of folks off-road cycling. Doesn't quite have the same x-treme vibe somehow.

on the topic of the actual bikes: cross bikes have obviously been around for years, I reckon the main 'innovation' such as it is with the newer bikes is more generous tyre clearance or dual wheel compatibility + early disc brake adoption onto drop bar bikes. Other than that, yes, not a lot new.

Although I've had a couple of proper roadie bikes, these sort of things are perfect for me. My commute takes in some bridleways - some with actual gravel on them - road and some farm tracks. There's also a network of old coal wagon lines on my doorstep that have been turned into bridleways and are good fun on a cross bike but a bit dull on MTB. I likes them.

marketing hype over things that have been around and been used for years

Not a personal dig DB, but this sort of argument has been trotted out every time the bike industry has recognised a niche and tried to exploit it.

Yes it's part marketing BS, but also I'd argue there are always subtle nuances which make each niche distinct. I'd also suggest the manufacturers see the niche developing, design bikes around it, and THEN enter the marketing men.

Bikebacking is touring without racks and panniers, the idea being that the bikes handle better/ar emore versatile.

Gravel is CX but predominantly on smooth tracks/forest roads, and probably over longer distances, so no need for the higher BB and probably a more comfort oriented geometry.

Yes the distinctions are small, and yes you could 'gravel' on a 'CX' bike, or 'CX' on a gravel bike (nod to the OP 😉 ) but to claim it's 100% marketing BS is either laziness, or failing to see the small differences.

Anyone for Tarmacing, or asphalting to be more precise?...

Last Sunday I could have braved the traffic and ridden my road bike to MIL's. Instead I took my SSCX down the canal towpaths, saw some wildlife, was a lot less scary than Tottenham's two way one way system.

This morning I could have braved the morning commuting traffic, or gone to the Forest where its extremely muddy, the mud doesn't bother me but I do have to work. Instead I rode 1.4km to a park which has hardback footways with small loose gravel (yes really) and a some grassy bits to ride several 4km loops - Gunpowder park if anyone's interested - and avoided all the school runs / post ride cleaning.

In both cases my SSCX sitting in the shed with lights on with perfect for both, just pluck it out and ride it. And I think thats the point - its about being able to pick up a bike and ride it around places, whereas the Road and MTB are more specific tools for a specific job.

Didn't see that as a dig but it is just marketing...putting a new spin on the same thing to sell it on again. It happens with everything...at the end of the day, it is a bike that can be ridden across various terrains...which has been around long before the mountain bike as well...so if a marketing department can get mileage from renaming something to sell more than that is what happens...

I mean obviosusly this is cycling so I know you probably need a very specific (and expensive) bike to do so

If you can all put your obstructive cynicism aside for a while, even though I know how important it makes you all feel..

A gravel bike is different to a road bike. It has fatter tyres. And there are now loads of them available, often very economically priced. Many road bikes cannot fit larger tyres on, but these can.

So you could call it a bigger-tyred-more-relaxed-geometry road bike, but why the hell would you? You all ride mountain bikes, and not fat-tyred-suspension-fittable-flat-barred bikes, don't you?

I don't understand why you are all moaning so bitterly. Gravel bikes are popular, cheap, better for many of us than road bikes, and yet a different riding position to MTBs. Why's there a problem? No-one's calling them a revolutionary innovation, are they? It's just another design of bike - bikes are good.

It is new in the sense that most major manufacturers how have bikes to suit it. 10 years ago they didn't. CX bikes were a rare niche. You can walk into a shop and ask for a gravel bike. In the past, if you'd gone in and asked for a road bike with room for 40c tyres you'd have either been given a funny look or offered a cheap sit-up hybrid.

Bikepacking is not touring. Touring is doing it on roads and camping in campsites if at all; bikepacking is off-road and is predominantly wild camping. What's the problem with using a word to describe an activity? Of course it's not new, no-one's claiming otherwise.

Put your whinging into something positive!

It seems like a useful description, if you're not being pedantic about specifically riding on gravel.

A lot of bike shops have their "all road" or "adventure" or "gravel" bikes lumped in with the road category, and it's hard to find information on tyre clearance.

There definitely seems to be a markup for buying a trendy niche bike but it's nice to know if you're looking at a bike designed for the riding you want.

Pinnacle Arkose, £800. Fail to see who's being fleeced there.

Didn't see that as a dig but it is just marketing...putting a new spin on the same thing to sell it on again.

But it's not the same thing, that's my point. A gravel bike is not the same as a CX bike. The differences are there if you look.

Sure, if you already have a CX bike I personally wouldn't try and insist you replace it with a gravel bike, but if you're in the market for a new bike, and predominantly want to ride easy tracks, for rides longer than an hour, and don't fancy racing 200 other masochists in a field at the same time, then a 'gravel' bike will be a slightly better choice than a 'CX' bike.

Given the vast networks of Gravel Roads in the U.S. sweeping through ruggedly dramatic landscapes, under the canopy of an expansive sky..... on this side of the Atlantic perhaps all we're doing is Pebble-Dashing?

I'm not sure why everyone is determined to equate Gravel and CX. There's overlap, but CX is a very specific form of off-road racing. It just happens that most CX bikes sold never race but instead are used for the general purpose of somewhat roughtier drop bar bike that is fine off road. If anything, the emergence of Gravel and Adventure bikes frees mfrs to be a little more honest and stop pretending they're selling CX bikes, so they can strip out anything that was desirable for muddy circuit racing under UCI rules, but not needed for general use. Gravel bikes could this have much more clearance, CX race bikes have their max tyre width dictated by the UCI...

isn't it just the outer ring at Richmond Park?

Nobeerinthefridge - Member

Anyone for Tarmacing

Dirty boy.

"Gravelling" is just what normal people call cycling, but with added marketing.

I guess the term comes from the US where they have massive networks of fire road trails for hundreds of kms at a time. We don't really have that here so the name 'gravel bike' is a bit silly.

There are 100s of miles of byways/ bridleways that are perfect gravel bike territory hants/ wilts/ dorset.

Gravelling" is just what normal people call cycling, but with added marketing.

No, it's just how language evolves. People play with words. It's just that some people like to whine about some people doing it, and accuse them of being somehow gullible or something to do with marketing.

You sound like a right load of miserable tossers. I don't hear you complaining about people going "mountain biking". Maybe you should start? I'm sure the forum would be a much better place with more whingeing in it.

I'm sure the forum would be a much better place with more whingeing in it.

Starch at the ready?

In answer to the original question ..no idea and couldn't "give one"anyway..
But as the conversation has evolved into something a little different ..here is an article from April 2016 which tries to explain things when 500 gnarly gravellers took part in a 200km race on our limited gravel road network in Kielder Forest ..
http://road.cc/content/news/186134-preview-dirty-reiver-200km-gravel-race-kielder-forest-weekend
..and all this time here's me thinking that I've been forest fire road riding in between bridlewaying ..

Macadaming or earthing today, perhaps even some rooty-tooting - that is the question. Toughie.....

Yep ..dont envy your decision ..
Personally I'm going out loamering in the woods ..
Hey hang ON..can I patent that term ..
Loam bikes ...are the future ..

I almost went for loaming too but that complicated the glove choice

🙂

I love the trend toward more sensible bikes.

I don't like the term Gravel because it's ugly, inappropriate and inaccurate.

For something designed to be the perfect allrounder, with variations and choices for all, including grumpy old sods like me, we need something succinct and elegant.

How about 'bicycle'?

nickc -
gravel biking = I've no proper mountain biking near me and I'm not fit enough to keep up with the local roadies

This. Pretty much.
Except in my case I'm too unfit to ride the mountains also 😆

I'm failing at seeing why it's mattering. Evolution, of language, of toys/bikes - it's all good (or at least not bad) and if you're not liking it, I'm advising ignoring it, or scorning it from a distance. Call it aloofing.
After all, riding around forests on loose, finely crushed rock surfaces is more gravel than 'Mountain'.
Right, I'm off to do some fire roading.

How about 'bicycle'?

Ok. So if you went into a shop and asked for a bicycle, what would you come out with?

You'd probably have five minutes where the assistant asked you what kind of riding you wanted it for, and then he'd say 'what you want is a gravel bike'. You could have saved five minutes by asking for one in the first place.

molgrips - Member

Ok. So if you went into a shop and asked for a bicycle, what would you come out with?

A bicycle?
I'm sure tourer, do it all bike, allrounder etc would get me the same thing.

No need to use the ugly and innacurate G word at all.
🙂

Except for communicating with other cyclists maybe? Since everyone knows what it means.

The M word (Mountain bike) is also inaccurate. Shall we start a thread about that? 🙂

I have thought long and hard about getting a so called gravel/adventure bike. The type of riding I tend to do these days is riding from home to the nearest bridleway then off up cycleways the odd sneaky footpath or country back roads. I use a cannondale trail SL 29er. It's pretty quick for a mountain bike but not compared to a CX/gravel adventure bike. I would be able to go a bit further and faster with an adventure bike but the 29er allows me to just about go anywhere through just about anything. It is very flexible and really comfy but slow.
Do I need one? Probably not.
Do I want one? Of course!

molgrips - Member
Except for communicating with other cyclists maybe? Since everyone knows what it means

On the contrary, it would appear that nobody knows or cares what it means.

Gravel bike - relaxed geom, dropped bars, wider tyres. I thought we all knew that?

The term is used a lot on here.

As I've said elsewhere, any bike can be a "gravel bike".

But for once a marketing push is doing us a favour for the sort of real life riding many of us do.

I see gravel bikes as being like cx bikes would have been without the dead hand of the UCI, ie cx bikes with room for wider tyres and decent brakes.

Once there's a racing class for them, they'll get ruined with bikes set up for riding positions intended for aerobic athletes with the reactions of a cat being peddled to pudgy middleaged men (where have we seen that before?).

And no doubt there will be special "gravel" riding gear.

I like the term. To me it's succinct and descriptive of the type of use they're intended for whereas "hybrid" implied a compromised mtb for dodderers.

Enjoy them now before they get ruined by the racing cliques. There's some lovely examples around and we RSF riders think they're spot on. 🙂