[Closed] So tell me, do I want a gravel bike?

will I be blown away by one

I would say "unlikely". They are by definition a compromise, I ride mine a lot, but on most rides there are bits were a road bike would be better, others where a hardtail would be better. But I know I can grab my 'gravel bike' (it's a cyclocross bike) and head out for 50 or 60 miles in the cotswolds and ride pretty much anything I see.

New Tripster?? Alu or Ti

http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/Catalogue/Models/Adventure/Tripster-AT

Yes, you need one. I got one in January to replace my old commuter, and I love it. It's a Rapide RL Disc 2, and weighs in at 11-ish kgs - so pretty heavy - but it rides brilliantly, and is a nice addition to my road bikes and mountain bike.

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Am I going to have much more fun on a nice light gravel bike or just get around a tad quicker?

Less fun, get round quicker sometimes, when not fixing punctures after getting cocky about what your gravel bike can handle.

[quote=irelanst ]will I be blown away by one
I would say "unlikely". They are by definition a compromise, I ride mine a lot, but on most rides there are bits were a road bike would be better, others where a hardtail would be better. But I know I can grab my 'gravel bike' (it's a cyclocross bike) and head out for 50 or 60 miles in the cotswolds and ride pretty much anything I see.

THIS

MTB wise it is rarely faster than my MTB on loops as you are faster up and slower down

However you can ride it anywhere

Nah, they're rubbish.
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🙂

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Get an old touring bike for peanuts & adapt with WTB nano tyres, sorted. Plenty then left to spend on coke/hookers for 50th.

It depends on the style of riding you do. I bought one but didn't really get on with it as the local riding didn't really suit it (busy roads but lots of local woods).

If you live somewhere with nice country roads and gravel farm tracks then it'd be perfect.

I had similar thoughts but went down the monster cross route and have not regretted it so far. I expect its significantly better than a genuine crosser off road which is what I like about it. Initially it felt quite quick on road through the winter, certainly more comfortable with the drop bars. Now that summer is here I realise that its actually quite slow on the road. I could probably quite easily find some quicker tyres but I expect its still going to be on the slow side.

So tell me, do I want a gravel bike?

I remain unconvinced.

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I brought one last autumn and still remain a bit underwelmed.

Better than a road bike but not as good as a mountain bike.

Never got this notion of it being a go anywhere bike. Yes you could take it down some technical stuff but you will be compromised. A mountain bike is a true go anywhere bike.

Definately a compromise. I do like my gravel / gnarmac / touring / not really a cx bike (croix de fer with 40mm nano's). Its great for commuting but that's about it really. For all other riding I find my self grabbing the solaris or the rigid with skinnies....can ride on the road fine with minimal drop in speed and then off road you have all the fun.

Probably personal preference a bit too as I have never really got on with drops.

Happily take the croix round swinners red trail which it copes with Hapily. It murders the fire roads but on anything a bit bumpy (and for those who ride swinley the cobbles of doom) it's not that fun In all honesty (despite trying to force myself to enjoy it and remember all the glossy adverts I saw in the magazines).

I had visions of me riding off road shredding the gnarrr like a pro but to be honest a mountain bike is just better and more flexible - fit fat tyres for off road... Or something like a marathon or big apple on road. It really is not that much slower at all.

Road bikes are another thing so won't comment on them as they are the devils work and should be nuked from orbit as well as the riders (IMHO of course)

bob_summers - Member

I remain unconvinced.

That looks rubbish.

The green bar tape, I mean. Obviously.

Depend where you ride.

The concept of mixed on-off road riding can be great. I love doing long rambling rides around the Valleys where there are lots of roads linking up lots of tracks. However because it's pretty rocky, and lots of it is steep, a gravel bike would make it just too difficult to enjoy. I use a rigid 29er which is perfect. A little slower on road but still entirely comfortable; but far more capable off-road than a gravel bike. I can do most technical and rocky descents albeit slower than on my sussers, and I can ride as fast as I like on the rough stuff.

My commuter is a serviceable gravel bike (actually a drop bar hybrid but the only difference seems to be 5mm on the rear axle) and I gave up trying to plan local rides where it made sense to use it and not the rigid 29er.

If I lived somewhere else though I'd probably have one.

if i had the cash it would be spent on one of these

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For me the main advantage of that sort of bike is it's a road bike that when you see an interesting looking farm track you can go down it rather than noting it for later. It's also nice to be able to plot out a route on a map safe in the knowledge that if it turns out that one of the tiny roads you picked turns out to be not very roady the bike will cope. I've once or twice done that on a road bike and it's no fun.

It's also nice if your local roads are at the poorly end of the maintenance spectrum.

If I was going to be riding mostly off road all day then I'd take the 29er because I like to be comfortable and it's not that much slower even on smoothish tracks. No matter what anyone tells you 40mm tyres and drop bars are never going to be as pleasant over anything bumpy as 2.2+ inch tyres, flat bars and suspension.

The new Arkose LTD looks nice.
But if you've got a hardtail with some fast tubeless tyres, then you've already probably got the bike you seek.
On anything more rough than the most sedate fire road the bigger volume of a 29er race tyre is just faster and more comfortable.

If i was going for an adventure/gravel bike i'd be looking at something like the Mason Bokeh with two sets of wheels. That way you've got a gravel bike and an audax bike all in one.

Just bought a Genesis CdA for a bargain price as I really wanted to try one.

Enjoying it so far. Need some better tyres (got my eye on some Nanos). Think I want to try some flared drops too.

It's a bit heavier than I imagined, but it feels faster on less techy stuff and it's fun to ride!

I don't really have any desire to do laps of the local trail centre but I am now exploring my area and going further, faster than I ever would have done on a mountain bike. I don't have to worry about maintaining a load of shock components and bearings, I can ride from my door, it is less mucky, it is fast and I can tackle almost anything.

All bikes are a compromise, but I think gravel bikes make the fewest.

Vagabond or something similar. That's what I'm thinking of getting. Pretty much a rigid MTB with drops.

I have been following these threads with interest. At the moment I'm using a Cannondale trail sl 29er as my all purpose all road tourer. It can go anywhere, it's comfy but slow on the tarmac. I have been looking at a Norco Search with hyd brakes. Must resist!

I stuck rigid forks on my hardtail and since doing so have felt more strain in my wrists, especially the wrist I fractured a couple of years ago. Riding rigid is interesting as an exercise but not long term for me (not a fat bike owner).

I don't know if the experience would be similar on a cyclocross bike, perhaps their forks have a little more flex (than Exotic carbon forks) ?

Depends what you want a gravel bike for. I regard them as go anywhere bikes.

Your Singular Swift would make a perfect gravel bike IMO.

If you fit 2.35" tyres like the Schwalbe Big Apples you'll find they handle almost all offroad surfaces when the pressure is right. My 29er is set up as a gravel bike and I love it - it goes anywhere.

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I'll make a prediction:
The current crop of gravel bikes will be obsolete in a few years as folk discover the benefits of fatter tyres on offroad surfaces. They'll be like how you couldn't give away an mtb that couldn't fit 2.35" tyres.

That said, there's some lovely gravel bikes being made now, and you never need an excuse to do an N+1, so hang on to the Swift. 🙂

I fancy a 'gravel' type bike, but I'm also CX curious, and need it to work as a fairly fast road bike.

I'll mostly be riding back lanes as local main roads are fairly manic, mixed with fire tracks in the woods and a few bridleways.

I'm just gonna do what everyone did before gravel was a genre of its own and get a CX bike with big clearance and rack and mudguard mounts, probably a genesis. Lower end CX bikes seem quite a bit cheaper than gravel bikes with similar kit, though I accept are a bit of a different shape. It worked before, no reason it won't now.

Thanks for all the thoughts. Perhaps the simplest option would be to see if I can rent a gravel bike for a couple of days and see how I get on.

I don't own a Swift, but it's always been top of my upgrade list when the time came; I reckon it'd build up into a decent gravel bike (or Monstercross), but again, whether it would be a massive step up from my current ride is another question entirely.

I would say no. Have ridden some CX bikes (with bigger tyres) for the sort of stuff you are talking about.

My opinion is, it's basically one big, sh*t compromise. Decent HT is better on anything, near on as fast on boring stuff & they tend to feel just as slow and sluggish as an HT compared to a road bike on the road.

Love mine. If I had to keep one bike only, it would be this one.

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If I did it again, I'd be looking at a drop bar Swift. There's a bunch of tyres that I can't use that I'd like to, 2.2-2.35.

I am no longer tempted by a proper gravel bike, I wanted one but because of sore wrists etc. decided I still wanted suspension. Ended up getting a 100mm travel 29er (a Trek Superfly).

Have since fitted 40c slicks (Kenda Kwick Tendrils) and narrower bars/longer stem. Effectively turning it into a gravel bike but without the drops and with 100mm travel.

First proper 'gravel' ride I've done was linking together some remote, dead end singletrack roads with 10km of landrover track.

The 'gravel' set up allowed me to enjoy the road sections, the bike was fast, smooth and I didn't feel like I was wasting energy chewing at tarmac with big MTB tyres.

The landrover section was OK, the climb was good, tyres gripped well etc. but the flat and the descent wasn't much fun, even with 100mm travel and 40c tyres (albeit probably overinflated at 60psi) I just got kicked around a lot, couldn't settle into a rhythm pedalling and generally just yearned to get back on the smooth tarmac!

Guess I'm just getting old and don't like jolty, lumpy riding, but at least having fatter MTB tyres would have made that landrover track section more enjoyable, or perhaps just lowering the tyre pressures 🙄

Aaaaanway, point I'm trying to make is that for me, the only benefit was being able to link the two tarmac roads by tolerating the landrover track in the middle. If I thought I would be riding lots of the landrover track style stuff (unless I knew it would be smooth forest road style stuff) I would probably stick to an MTB.

Bear in mind the above experiences are on an MTB with 100mm forks, I would have enjoyed the bumpy rocky stuff even [u]less[/u] on a rigid fork.

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I've had CX bikes (trendy new category-defining label to sell more bikes now is 'Gravel Bike') for the past 30 years, and just sold my current one in favour of a lightweight, fast 29er.

I'd say it all depends on the trails and terrain you will be riding. While Gravel Bikes are pushed as 'go anywhere' bikes - while they can 'go anywhere' I all-too-often found myself going slower on the rougher bits than I would on an MTB, and slower on the smoother bits than I do on my Road bike.

Their versatility is wonderful - but as others have stated, its also a compromise.

I reluctantly acknowledged to myself that the majority of routes I ride on my CX/Gravel bike are in fact faster, more fun and more pleasurable on a lightweight 29er, but YMMV.

See if you can take a ride on a borrowed CX/Gravel bike and ride your local terrain...

So you got a mountain bike and fitted narrow tyres at silly high pressure any wonder why you were "kicked around"

Try 35/30 psi

I've done all sorts on mine.

It's brilliant for commuting in the winter with some 25mm tyres in "road" mode.

It's great for summer, when I can take the occasional trail on the way home with my 38mm tyres in "gravel" mode. Also, perfect for the sort of rides I do with Mrs Dubs (mostly canals / that sort of mixed use path).

It's not that comfortable for multi day long rides over bumpy terrain, even with 40mm tyres.

I'm weighing up whether to replace it with a Trek Superfly for "all duties" or keeping it and just getting a Genesis Longitude for the bikepacking stuff.

Thread hijack - how much of a "head down/arse up" machine is the Superfly?

+1 Genesis Vagabond for rough surfaces and all-day comfort. I'm quite amazed at the range of terrain it covers with often just a change in tyre-pressures. I'd ideally like a spare wheelset shod with 35c to complement the Nano 2.1s but the Nanos are so far a great do-it-all compromise. I was going to sell the Vagabond and replace with an MTB for 'playtime' and social riding/trails, but it pains me so to lose the Vagabond that N+1 is the smartest answer. I can wait.:)

Just stay off the more sketchy MTB stuff unless you're in control deep in the drops. Same goes for any drop-bar offroad machine.

See if you can take a ride on a borrowed CX/Gravel bike and ride your local terrain...

^. This. I bagged a demo from LBS (having never ridden a monster-cross before), and was immediately smitten. Like all bikes, it's not a bike for everyone, so deffo try first.

So you got a mountain bike and fitted narrow tyres at silly high pressure any wonder why you were "kicked around"

Try 35/30 psi

Wot he sed. I have my 28c road tyres at 65/75

I all-too-often found myself going slower on the rougher bits than I would on an MTB, and slower on the smoother bits than I do on my Road bike.

Of course versatility comes at a price. If there was one bike that could do everything, was as good at each bit as bikes specifically designed for those bits, then all bikes would look like that one bike.

So you got a mountain bike and fitted narrow tyres at silly high pressure any wonder why you were "kicked around"

Try 35/30 psi

Well no, I didn't 'wonder', I knew fine well, as I said in my post. But that wouldn't really have changed much, at 30/35psi I'd just have been stopping to fix punctures instead (as someone pointed out above) and would have been slower on the road. Simply dropping tyre pressure doesn't make the difference between hanging up and getting jolted around on rocks, and skimming over and maintaining your pedalling rhythm. That's what higher volume MTB tyres and suspension are for.

Sure you could say I should have gone tubeless etc. but what I'm trying to get at (as others have pointed out) is that it's a compromise, and depending on the OPs preferences perhaps all he really needs/wants is a faster MTB.

JimW - as stock the Superfly really isn't head down/arse up, I actually had to retrofit a longer stem and flip it to get a position closer to a gravel bike. Stock stem and bars are 90mm and 780mm wide, it was a great position for proper off-road, could pick the front wheel up easily and even managed to loop out a couple of times getting carried away manualling puddles 😳

Tried it and didn't like it.
Never seemed to be very forgiving. I guess there's only so much flex you can build into a rigid disc fork.
I have an old 90's Raleigh M trax - that is comfier off-road.

I use a 100mm 29er hardtail instead now.

That looks rubbish.

The green bar tape, I mean

To be fair, it doesn't spoil a pretty bike.

Rather than a compromise, I think of it as enabling new stuff. I like the GT for linking up two or three local MTB loops. I'd generally only ride one, getting to/from by train, but the GT makes short work of the road links. I run 32mm slick road tyres, massive compromise for the dirt even at 40psi, but they're OK as long as I don't go daft. Pumped back up when passing a garage.

I also commute 2h a day on it, racking up 1200m on a mix of semi- and unpaved mountain roads, which I'd not bother with on my road bike.

Just get a rigid 29er, if you feel the need you can always monstercross it later, in fact I recon your Swift idea is best, gives you complete versatility between hardtail, monstercross, tourer, rigid 29er 🙂

I have an old 90's Raleigh M trax - that is comfier off-road

! Strangely, I moved my well-beloved 90s M-Trax on to make way for the Vagabond. Both double -butted cromo with rigid steel forks. I'd say both bikes are very (if not identically) comparable in comfort, I just prefer the bigger hoops, wider tyres and drops.

This just goes to show exactly how sharply 'YMMV'. Another pointer to try before you buy.

Just get a rigid 29er, if you feel the need you can always monstercross

Sounds sensible. It can also work the other way - ie my monstercross may well be due to try some straight bars/loops or similar. Versatility is much easier these days.

*edit - forgot gratuitous pic

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Gravel bikes are a bit like what we knew as 'Bikes' years back, they just have drop bars now

It does a bit of everything, doesn't excel at anything, but it gets around anything you need it to and it's fun

My Arkose is my commuter and my most ridden bike. It's basically a road bike with 32c tyres, rack and mudguards. I can take it off road, and do, but only on light off road tracks. Nothing serious as it's not much fun with my marathon plus tyres and extra bits on it (D lock, rack, guards). But it does everything I ask of it, and doesn't complain

It gives me more options that a pure road bike would. Technically my only pure road bike is my Brompton!

Get a cross bike and an extra set of lightweight road wheels. I use 1x10 gearing with different tyres and cassettes for cross and road. To be honest a cross/gravel bike will always be a bit of a compromise compared with a rigid HT. But you won't be averaging 20 mph on a road loop on a HT 29er 😉

Without getting hung up on the petty differences between CX, gravel, touring and "all-road" bikes…

If you live in an area where you have lots of non-technical off-road paths which are fragmented by stretches of road, then a drop-bar bike that lets you hack round these things quickly and efficiently is a wonderful thing. If you don't over-reach its capabilities on the off-road bits then it's vastly more enjoyable than an MTB on the tarmac, and with a change of tyres you have a perfectly decent road bike.

Tyres are the key factor here: to make it work you want something that will roll fast on road but still grip off-road. Your local geology and the passing of the seasons will dictate whether that means fat-and-smooth at low pressure or narrow-and-knobby at high pressure. (Note that if it's the former you will need enough frame/fork clearance. Though a wide 650b may be an option.)

If your off-road involves lots of pitching the bike fore and aft underneath you, ie constant rooty/rocky terrain rather than merely rough or loose surfaces, then IME/IMO drop bars start becoming questionable. Flared bars are one option but there comes a point where absorbing constant undulation simply necessitates the flat bar on an MTB.

Personally, for the riding I do these days, a bike like this is perfect. It's what I ride most: fast enough on the road, competent enough off-road. It pays to choose wisely: some will feel sluggish on the road, others will feel too skittish off-road, but there should be a sweet spot. Took a couple of attempts to find the bike that hit mine, but once you've chosen the right frameset the only significant compromise is (inevitably) tyres.

So, if you think it'll work for you and your local routes, it probably will, and it'll probably be thoroughly enjoyable. If you have doubts about more challenging bits of off-road, they're probably justified.

Much as I enjoy the mountain bike trails I spend most of my time riding very bumpy potholed country lanes & off road cycle paths.For this riding a 'gravel/Cx' bike is ideal.
Last year I bought a Norco Search & if I had to drop to one bike this is the bike I would keep.
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On a few occasions I've even gone to the beach with it,not often enough to justify a Fatty yet..
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^^^That post from Bez pretty much sums it up ^^^

I think Bez hits the nail on the head. If the offroad riding you envisage is similar to Malvern riders pic ^^^ and you're going to link it with decent road stretches then a gravel bike would be a nice bike to do it on. My offroad consisted of taking my pinnacle arkose down the surrey hills trails which was, quite frankly, rubbish. Whilst you could do it, it wasn't at all enjoyable. It very quickly goes from being a fun challenge to uncomfortable to why didn't I just ride my mtb. Sure a very short stretch on the flat offroad/road jaunt might be good fun but if it is sustained then you'll have more fun on an mtb.

Left field suggestion is you could always look at something like a Jones? Either the plus or the normal.

+1 on agreeing with Bez.

My riding is often entails:

an area where you have lots of non-technical off-road paths which are fragmented by stretches of road

However the little bits of fun time trails that lay either just off those paths or at the end of them mean I have a pretty much old school XC geometry 29er HT for the role.

Mine isn't that light. Has wider bars and tyres than I need for most of the time but I enjoy riding it. Any extra weight or drag hopefully just adds to my fitness 😆

So it really depends what you want from your rides.

Demo time methinks! 😉

I've been riding CX bikes since the mid 90s and just like the adaptability of them. I have my 96 islabike steel bike which has room for 40mm tyres, a carbon Argon18 which is fast but with clearance only for 33mm tyres and is a very sharp handling bike, and a Bokeh which is currently set up with 2.1" 650b Thunder Burt, but will be going back to 38mm Compass Loup Loup Pass tyres ready for Exmouth Exodus.
They don't cope that well with super technical trails, but they do enough of it well enough for me. Much as Bez says.

100% agree with Bez.

Some of those pics give an nice impression of sauntering along nice tracks.

However thats the point for me. Racing bikes are for getting from A-B quickly. Alot of those tracks Id prefer a an XC full susser so you can relax , not worry about lines, and dive down harder tracks when you see them.

My local rides are the perfect mix of road and bridleway for a Gravel Bike, bought a Giant Revolt a couple of years ago and it's great.

Running 28mm Continental GP4000 II at the moment, fast on the road and OK on hardpack dirt, grass is OK if dry. Got a bit skittish on a forest track that had just been redone with new aggregate and was a bit lumpy and you can forget anythying resembling mud.

It is a bit easy to get caught up in the marketing detail. It's a big scale with a bike for various points on the scale. Choose one or if you have the room and budget, buy more than one.

It's good that we have choice 🙂

I have no technical skills what so ever (so no highly technical off-road) and ride mostly road (some of which can be pretty rough itself around here) and a few tracks, trails and bridleways.

I'm sure that I'd get on fine with a gravel bike, but that said, I already get on fine with what I have and nice fat semi-slicks are fast enough and comfy. There are plenty of options though and I keep coming back to a Singular Swift whose frame and fork package seems of a similar weight to many steel gravel bike framesets (and lighter that some); I do keep eyeing up Pinnacle's Arkose though!

I was originally torn between a light 29er HT (or rigid), and a gravel bike.

I was looking at 29er options and wanted to customer build ideally. Full bikes didn't really come with the components that I wanted and were always stretching the budget.

I was all set to spend £1000 on an Arkose Alfine 8, but spotted the CdA in the classifieds and went for that.

The bike itself is immaculate! I want some new tyres and possibly some flared drops and wider range cassette too. Also, it's worlds apart from my Stumpy, so N+1 and all that 🙂

my 2p - I bought a gravel /CX bike off ebay earlier this year thinking i'd use it for commuting and on the local trails (Bristol - Ashton Court & Leigh Woods). I found it far too "leany-forward" for commuting with a back pack on (i've never liked drop-bars, even on the hoods), and absolutely horrible on the (mostly cobbled, unless they've been recently resurfaced) trails compared to my hardtail MTB.

I sold it a few weeks later - the reclaimed bike-budget might go on a spare set of wheels and touring/ gravel tyres for the 29er HT.

last time this came up (admittedly about CX bikes, but pretty similar in my book). I got shot down for slating my CX bike and saying a rigid 29er with thin tyres was better.

But everyone seems to have come round to my thinking. So my vote is a light weight rigid 29er, narrow bars and as thin as tyres (tubeless) as you are comfortable with off road.

rickonwheels did u buy my cx bike ? you picked it up near reading ?

rickonwheels did u buy my cx bike ? you picked it up near reading ?

No mine was picked up (and re-sold) in Bristol!

I think the drop bars thing is all about fit. I've tried to get on with them a few times and always preferred flat bars.

This time though, the frame is the right size for me and the stem has a bit of a rise when flipped over. Saddle is near the same height as the bars for once and it much more comfortable!

Still wanna try some flared ones though 🙂

I got shot down for slating my CX bike and saying a rigid 29er with thin tyres was better.

if you enjoy it great. IME my 29er rides awful with cross tyres. put them on a cross bike and it;s fine. don't know why. geometery?

I love my gravel bike. big 100 mile days of farm tracks/ bridleways and byways.

I went on a short, test bikepacking ride the other night (bear with me) on my 650b Soul, basically part of the gap route in the Brecon Beacons, anyway, most of the ride was on a wide, flattish, stoney track with some bigger rocks and loose sections ocasionaly, but not what I'd call difficult or technical.

Now I'd not have wanted to have ridden it on a CX/gravel bike, or a rigid MTB to be honest as you'd just get shook to shit, sure you could, and you'd be tough and all that, but suspension is just nicer and means you can ride in comfort for longer.

So a MTB (hardtail or full sus) with reasonable tyres is what you need, but what I was lacking was an alternate hand position, those long drags and monotonous bumpy tracks can end up making your wrists ache. So a monstercross, or a hardtail with bar ends would be ideal for that sort of thing, for me, and no slouch on road either.

I can average 15mph on road on my Soul for a 1.5 hour ride, on fairly knobbly tyres, so a 29er on XC race type tyres, with bar ends would be a perfect bike for 'gravel' type riding if the road sections are short in my opinion, you barely lose anything on road but your off road options are much better, mote comfortable and in control and with a few tweaks you have a trail centre ripper too.

Apologies for spelling and grammar up there, ^ I'm tired.

I have a road bike, CX / gravel and a 29er HT. And while I ride the CX most it really is the biggest compromise and least 'fun'. Drop bars are awful on anything steep IMO. So the 2 things that guide which bike are the following:

1) Balance of road to offroad.

2) Technicality / steepness of offroad.

Malvern Rider * Bustaspokes pics look perfect for a gravel bike. If your local trails are much steeper and / or rougher than than that, then 29er is a better option.

Gravel bike works well in the new forest. Plenty of fireroads that are boring on an mtb. Mtb for more techs rocky stuff and gravel bike for exploring/ linking gravel tracks, byeways and roads etc. Mines an escapade with flared drops, and 40c nanos. Roubaix bar tape as well helps a little bit perhaps. Wouldn't want to spend much time anywhere rocky though. It's for trails where sitting down to pedal is efficient.