I’ve been riding for years, mostly on road with some rough country roads, tracks and bridleways; by today’s designations I guess that this would be considered gravel biking. I’m riding a rigid steel hardtail with a carbon fork (26″ 3×9, so rather old school). I love the bike I have, and don’t need as new one, but I’ll be 50 in November so have this as an excuse. I weighed my bike for the first time yesterday and it came up just over 27lbs, which I guess makes it a tank by most folks’ standards but it works for me; I have though been toying with the idea of getting a ‘proper’ gravel bike.

I ride a regular 36 mile loop once or twice a week which includes a little off road and a climb up Cheddar Gorge. I’m regularly overtaken by roadies who sail past me up the Gorge and disappear into the distance but I’m wise enough to know that even if I were on a top of the range carbon racer I’d still be overtaken regularly (and wouldn’t have the excuse that I was on an old, heavy mountain bike); I’m not really interested in buying speed or riding the same loop a tad quicker.

I’ve always fancied a Singular Swift (which I guess would keep me in familiar territory) and am rather bewildered by all the other options available.

On-One’s Full Monty looks interesting (or maybe a Sonder Cameo) and sells itself as a 50-50 bike; the problem I have is that although ‘on-road’ is fairly obvious, ‘off road’ covers everything from a gravel cycle track to a full on down hill run and I don’t know what sort of off road a gravel bike is suitable for. Some of the bridleways I occasionally ride are extremely rough; some were once tarmaced, probably for access to peat workings, they’re now hugely potholed and rutted with slabs of broken tarmac and fist sized rocks mixed in (possibly for heavy vehicle traction) and kick you about pretty roughly (they’re certainly not nice and swoopy); would a lightweight gravel bike cope with this?

I got very excited when I came across the Genesis Vagabond, as the “illegitimate lovechild of a road and mountain bike” sounded like just what I want and would give off road confidence (as in not shaking itself apart). However, the weight of the £999 off the peg bike on the Genesis website come up around 28.5Lbs and heavier than my current ride; the Vagabond frame and fork package is actually heavier than a Swift frame and fork and brings me back to the Swift.

I know that nobody can tell me what bike would be best but I’d be interested in ideas. The gravel bike category seems to include everything from ultralight all carbon waifs to steel tanks capable of fully laden off road touring and all sort of hijinks.

I still like the sound of a Singluar Swift (either flat barred or with drops) but am open to ideas. Perhaps I should keep the cash in the bank (I don’t have a lot) and keep enjoying what I have until it falls apart and has to be replaced.

My situation and age were very similar (almost identical) to yours when I decided to push the boat out and go for something different. I ditched the old-but-good steel 26er hybrid right after trying a Vagabond out. I’ve ridden marginally lighter MTBs/hybrids, but I’m kidding myself if I think that they felt better to ride. It’s a personal thing – I was not after a ‘monstercross’ (had never heard of one one) and was actually looking for a steel 29er MTB that would be suitable for bike-packing OR an AWOL, something suitable for all-road touring. What I ended up with was a steel drop-bar 29er ATB that feels surprisingly sprightly yet all-day comfortable, stable and sturdy enough I don’t think twice about loading it up and/or about hitting rough stuff at speed. Feels great, I didn’t even check the weight before buying, just rode and liked. I can lose 5 pounds of my girth in a week if I love a bike so much I can’t stay off it. In my book that’s a Very Good Thing. For someone else they wouldn’t be happy unless on a carbon whippet with their nose over the stem and their arse in the sky. Horses for courses.

My advice is request demos of a few of the type of bikes you are looking at. 50 is a good age to change up (or down!) a gear and it’s worth finding something that fits like a glove yet makes you grin a lot, preferably at speed. Whatever that is, you’ll (hopefully) know when you try it out. Not sure how that would work with a Singular, unless they have demo builds. Sure someonehere would let you have a go.

I did look at lighter gravel/CX bikes, specifically the Raleigh Mustang comp at tje time as I’d checked one out in an LBS and it seemed a great setup for poorer roads. But I like steel, and I like bike-packing/touring, and I like a lot of offroad*. There’re a few STW threads re Singular setups if you do a search here. And a sizeable Vagabond thread. Definitely demo a few different types of bike (ie offroad touring or gravel/cx) is all I can really say.

*Bridleways, RUPPs, farm tracks with bomb-holes, fire roads, you get the idea.

I ride a swift with drops and it’s great. It’s my go to bike at the moment. Quite heavy though…even with the American classic wheels I have on it I reckon it probably come in at the same as your current set up. Not tried to weigh it though…

Singular state that their dealers carry demo bikes 🙂

http://www.singularcycles.com/faq/

OP, whereabouts are you? I tried a Vagabond from Carb, Barnstaple.

One thing I didn’t mention – you ‘love’ the bike you have – that could well be the bike you want. Keep it for a while or always. Even if you buy a Shiny New Thing. I didn’t use my old 26er all last summer due to recurring injury and (however infrequent) sole use of the Vagabond. I made sure that I took the oldie out for one last ride before moving it on to a better home. Glad I did because it’s tough to find That One again, so really worth being sure.

Try out mates bikes, demo bikes, all sorts of bikes.

Also why not try out bikes of a different type, ie lightweight XC bikes. Or lightweight FS bikes – something different and modern may spark a completely different idea about what you fancy buying.

Get something different to your existing bike and still keep it so you have two, that doubles the riding fun options.

My opinion (so do disregard it if it’s a load of bawls), you don’t need a steel, Ti or Carbon frame. Aluminium (with a carbon fork) should serve the use you described.

I would worry less about weight (although Al’ does well in this regard), realistically it’s going to make less difference than the body position the bike gives you and tyre choice, comfort and efficiency will get you up cheddar gorge feeling fresher than saving a bag of sugar.

It sounds like you want to stitch together loops that take in bridleways and woodland with some roads and “Gravel” bikes are a very good tool for doing just that, more efficient than an MTB on road, more robust than a road bike off.

But Think more about what you are going to do with such a bike, if it’s primarily going to be doing local loops and commuting, rack/guard eyelets might be handy but a heavier duty steel frame/fork intended to travel the globe with 50lbs of luggage will be overkill and unladen probably feel quite “dead” take a look at some of the more ‘common’ aluminium framed/carbon forked efforts about, for the sort of budget you’re considering you could do worse than an Arkose…

Thanks for the thoughts. I guess I’m stretching the Gravel Bike designation to cover a range of bikes that would all work in an on/off road guise (hybrid, gravel bike, gnarmac, cross, monstercross, off road tourer, rigid hardtail etc.) but there does seem to be a lot of crossover and I’m still a little vague as to how ‘off road’ off road actually means in a gravel bike sense.

I’m happy to try any frame material but do like steel (and probably can’t afford titanium – the Sonder Broken Road looks nice!).

I’m in no rush and still happy with what I’ve got, so there’s plenty of time to think about options and perhaps try a few bikes out (I’m in Somerset).

I forgot to add, I think that I’d like something available as a frameset to build up myself, rather than an off the peg bike (although off the peg is likely to be more cost efficient).

Sounds like you’re in love with the idea if a Swift, which is a very sensible place to be. My advice is to go with your heart. No one ever regrets buying a Swift and it’s such a versatile bike you can change the set-up – to anything from drop bar ‘gravel’ to B+ – if you feel the urge.

I think you are describing what molgrips normally rides.

Hopefully he’ll be on soon to see this, but the sort of bike he has assembled matches your criteria pretty much perfectly. And it looks really good, too.

I wouldn’t get too hung up on the weight of the Vagabond. The 2016 model was nearly 2 pounds lighter – they replaced the Deore crankset and BB with Samox(?) branded parts which are a fair bit heavier.

I bought a 2016 in a sale for £750 – replaced the heavy seatpost and saddle with a USE carbon seatpost and a Charge Spoon, and went tubeless. Weight is approx. 25lbs on my fishing scales. I also bought a spare set of disc 700c wheels to put road tyres on (£50 in the On-One sale!)

It’s a very versatile bike – with the 2.1 tyres on I’ve taken around trail centres, local singletrack and even (accidentally!) over some drop-offs on a new trail. With the road wheels on I’ve used it for 60+ mile road rides on back lanes and B roads.

I’m doing a similar thing. Built a monstercrosser from my old 29er and now refining it. I really like the cow chipper dropped bars. I have put Hylex brakes on and got the Gevanalle conversion to run 2×10.

Now I have a bike that can do 25mph on the road but is also at home on BW’s or more. I rode with front suspension today but also have some carbon forks coming (to replace some I broke).

I love riding off road and also like riding from home. If you mix BWs and road this approach makes a lot of sense. I was never that comfortable on this bike when it had flat bars (for doing these sorts of rides with road sections). I also used to run it S/S which was fine off road but just too slow on the road.

If you are ever up in Kent you are welcome to have a play with my drop barred swift. Got some bar end shifters coming this week to replace the bodged mtb shifter on an exposure light mount!

So here’s the thing – you said it yourself – it doesn’t matter how fast you ride.

So the bike really doesn’t matter that much, so long as it fits and does the rides you want. Presumably all your options will.

So buy the one you fancy, as there’s fun in having a new bike, that makes you want to ride it. And the reason could just be a nice colour, or you like the idea of it etc etc… it’s all just riding a big circle and ending up back where you started after all. do it on a bike that makes you smile.

I live in South Wales, with loads of tracks on the mountains that are generally rocky, and you often have to link up with steep rocky bits and lots of road. So I needed a bike that could handle much more than a gravel bike on 40c tyres.

I built a Salsa El Mariachi with a rigid fork, 2.3″ tyres and a flat high sweep bar. It’s built to have a riding position similar to a road bike on the hoods. The bar is important, on one fleegle pro which is 660mm and whatever sweep it is, 23 degrees I think; and also the bike has a 71 degree head angle which I think makes it better on road. It certainly is very comfortable place to sit and pedal both on road and off. Feels quick on road but due to the fat tyres I can handle most off road too, albeit much more slowly on the way down.

I didn’t intend to use it for local woodsy stuff, but I do for some reason. But it’s really versatile. I can fit forks and wider bars to make it a faster off road bike, or I can fit drops and 45c tyres and it’s a gravel bike.

Definitely a modern hybrid.

^ Sounds a lot like my Swift with Jones bars. I had Fleegles on before and they were very good. A flattish bar with some sweep is avery versatile thing.

Thanks again to everyone for the thoughts. I did think about the Salsa El Mariachi a while ago (and their Fargo’s been on the radar too). The Swift is still looking good though (and very versatile) and there’s still plenty of mileage in my 26er, so nothing needs to be rushed.