It’s friday night and I’ve got a full weekend of DIY and mini teadrinkers ahead of me. Looking at planning a weekend away soon on the Arkose and looking for inspiration. Thinking of the peaks/yorks areas.

So if you could please post any pics you may have of your adventures/rides on gnarmac machines to keep going over the weekend. Thanks

Old fashioned CX machine rather than gnarmac (no disks)…

Off the beaten track on Grassington Moor

Old tin mines above Hebden

Boss Moor above Linton

Cheers Rusty. Love a bit of moorland riding 😀

OK, so it’s hardly massive gnar, but oh my this bike is fun to ride!

Not a photo, but a little video
[video]https://youtu.be/6LOJALHyeBU[/video]

I must have been asleep, but what’s Gnarmac?

I must have been asleep, but what’s Gnarmac?

I’m assuming it’s some crap STW special/latest craze word for a CX bike being used amazingly ‘off road’ i.e. what it’s designed for..

Nope. It’s an amusingly coined (not by me, I forget who!) term to describe that genre of bikes that fit somewhere between road/CX/hybrid/MTB. There’s not really a good term to cover the genre, and “gravel” sounds so silly. So, someone came up with gnarmac.

I think it’s rather good!

I’m devastated to find I’m not gnar as I still have cantis (albeit the stupidly expensive Avid Shorty Ultimates) 😥

There was a great video on here quite some time ago, some guy through some woods near Peebles I recall, on cx bike – I think the thread was called ‘aren’t cross bikes great’.

mine doing what grown up gnarmac bikes do….. 😀

[url=https://flic.kr/p/xHnrZS]cidImage_FOT356D.JPG[/url] by 20ston, on Flickr

“Gnar” enough for me Flash thanks 🙂

There was a great video on here quite some time ago, some guy through some woods near Peebles I recall, on cx bike – I think the thread was called ‘aren’t cross bikes great’.

Was that a guy on a Kona Jake the snake? I remember watching one a few years back and thinking I want one of those.

Don’t think it was a Kona Jake the Snake – guy did some trick moves to get over some logs I recall.

Bit of gravel grinding in SW Scotland.

Quick sunset ride from the beach into the Preseli.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/int-cross-bikes-brilliant

found it – Thurman Murman

Thats the one Nipper, no idea why I thought Kona but great video.

Oh dear lordy Tang. Do I like those pictures 😀

I took my Salsa Fargo up on to the Two Moors Way yesterday!

Yes, I did fall in that festering, stinking, s#%tty peat bog!

And Here’s a little extra bit I add on to my commute home

an old one here, Ardgarten Loop from around 2012

Post gnar, if that’s any good? after the Nutcracker descent, Dartmoor.

Some photos from my recent trip to North Wales. Found some awesome trails & lanes, ideal for this kind of bike.
[img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-McQg4yQx7P0/VdsNviVpzyI/AAAAAAAAAUk/RW04sw-LjjM/w1097-h823-no/IMG_0233.jpg[/img][img]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-t3JldsdKtPM/VdsN0Ax_FaI/AAAAAAAAAU4/h0GpIOsiww4/w1097-h823-no/IMG_0263.jpg[/img][img]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-W-qHDokAJWs/VdsN6Aj8FVI/AAAAAAAAAVE/DRIirIBDPXg/w1097-h823-no/IMG_0265.jpg[/img][img]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Ndi-Nk9z-LA/VdsN_aPgkZI/AAAAAAAAAVk/n3htS5kYXJQ/w1097-h823-no/IMG_0281.jpg[/img][img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5r5HAYFRkJ8/VdsOOW7Nb5I/AAAAAAAAAWM/y-OFOXNB0CE/w1097-h823-no/IMG_0297.jpg[/img][img]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qkvrRdXcg_k/VdsOU3bZGOI/AAAAAAAAAWc/m_B-N1giYDE/w1097-h823-no/IMG_0308.jpg[/img]

Was on the way back from work, saw the tide was out so decided to take the estuary/beach instead for a few miles

Mrs stu and myself Gnarmacing back in 2006. 😉
[url=https://flic.kr/p/nb5iP]2006_0910talgarth_cx0006[/url] by multispeedstu, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/nb5iV]2006_0910talgarth_cx0008[/url] by multispeedstu, on Flickr

Is this the right order of “off-roadness”?

road bike
gnarmac
CX
MTB

Is a sportive road bike with nobblies a gnarcore bike? When does it become a CX bike?

I assume a hybrid is still a jack-of-no-trades, master of even fewer 🙂

No photos mid-gnar, but I’ve ridden red grade trail centre stuff on my Cotic X. It’s great for me, because I don’t huck or shred, but I do ride off-road sections in the middle of longer road rides. If your rides include three different north Pennine dales, and start and finish at home, they’re absolutely brilliant.

Is this the right order of “off-roadness”?

road bike
gnarmac
CX
MTB

Is a sportive road bike with nobblies a gnarcore bike? When does it become a CX bike?

Where does enduroad fit? 😉

Is this Enduroad?
A bit more sik than Gnarmac.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/bMDef]2006_0402steps[/url] by multispeedstu, on Flickr

Some brilliant pictures here, thanks all. Keep them coming please.

Franki that trip looks perfect for me! How is The GT Grade, intrigued by it. What tyre clearance does it offer?

I had an amazing time in Wales! I love the Grade. It’s pretty rapid on the road, not as snappy acceleration as a race bike (obviously), but it wasn’t designed for sprinting out of corners. It’s really comfy for long rides and I’m seriously impressed with it off road. There were a few sections where I thought – “no chance, but I’ll give it a shot,” and I got through clean – both up & down hill. I was a bit cautious to begin with (I’d not ridden a road bike for nearly 20 years!), but before long became aware that I could push it a fair amount without disaster.
35mm is the widest tyre recommended. You could squeeze a bit more in, but mud clearance would be an issue. To be honest, I was bombing down loose, rocky fireroads and taking rockier stuff at a reasonable pace without scary moments or pinch flatting on my 35mm Landcruisers, so a bigger tyre doesn’t seem necessary.
I haven’t touched my MTB since I bought it. (Shh! Don’t tell.)

stilltortoise – Member
Is this the right order of “off-roadness”?

road bike
gnarmac
CX
MTB

fwiw, i reckon gnarmac is more ‘off-roady’ than cx.

as we’re always being told, at length, by the cx bores, ‘cyclocross’ is a race format.

as such, it has rules, like maximum tyre width, etc. The course is a closed controlled environment, they change bikes when they get muddy, they only ride for an hour, and never very far from the carpark.

gnarmac is more or less what mountain biking was back in the day, only with better brakes.

perhaps we should rename Gnarmac “cross-country”…

maybe, but the problem with dropping the (not so) subtle tarmac reference, is that you’d maybe focus on the off-road element. soon you’d want suspension, and bigger tyres, and different handlebars, and even more suspension, and then you’ve gone all Enduro, and you’re driving to the hills again.

rename Gnarmac “cross-country”…

But where is the possibility for BNG and next season colours in that?

Friend of mine Kaza somevhere between Rushup Edge and Hayfield

Me and Kaza at the bottom of Jacob’s Ladder.

Cheers!
I.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/wNTeuG]Down the gully[/url] by Benman1980, on Flickr

Cheeky at the back of Cote de Oughtibridge

So is a gnarmac a disk braked cx bike or any hybrid derivative.

it’s a state of mind.

It is a good excuse to go out and ride.

Cheers!
I.

I haven’t touched my MTB since I bought it.

Same here. My mtb will be stripped and sold soon to be honest. For me it’s a bike that just works and as has already been said it just reminds me of biking back in the day.

I amazed about the sensitivity of some folk on here though, personally I don’t care what type of bike people ride, surely it’s just about riding bikes on whatever terrain you choose isn’t it?

Well here’s my gnarrmac
The cheapest bike I own but love it, done more miles on this than all my other bikes put togeather.