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. 🙂
