Gravel, Road or….

A Carbon XC Hardtail?

Currently blasting the Gravel Canal paths and Country roads on my Full Suss and Trek X Caliber 7.

But I’m really wanting to try a bit more road again but accessed via the Canal towpath. Now round Rishton it’s pure chunky gravel, with sections of full on slop after the never ending rain. But it does sometimes dry out.

Thinking of getting rid of the Xcaliber for something lighter, higher spec (thru axel instead of QR) with some brief flirts with road riding.

Tried a Road bike in 2015 a Triban 300 and absolutely hated it because the brakes felt useless and the skinny tyres plus pot holes felt like I was five minutes away from a visit to A&E

Got rid for a Merida Cyclocross 300 with Mechanical discs, felt much better but stupidly it was too big.

Not looking to be fast on roads but something a bit nicer than the X Caliber 7.

I’m currently riding a lot of gravel on an aggressive hard tail and wishing I still had a more xc inclined bike like my old Highball so I can still take decent singletrack detours.

If you’re wanting to try more road, an XC hardtail isn’t the way to go.  A gravel bike with tyres which have chunky side knobs and a harder centre profile will get through and slip, but will compromise the road aspect.

Unless you are after fast times or maybe riding for hours and hours a gravel bike with similar tyres to an XC MTB is not going to be that different.  Get the type of bike you enjoy riding.

If I was riding mostly road I would get a road bike as they are more enjoyable for me on the road but then I don’t mind the skinny tyres.

I have a gravel bike, a cube nuroad, it takes up to 50mm tyres, and is certainly usable on road if I put skinnier tyres on it. Skinnier is still 30mm.
Far more useful for me than a regular road bike.
Ymmv of course, but a gravel bike is a pretty versatile option imo/e.
Tyres are the key aspect.

I think a shedload of this comes down to whether you want to ride on drops or flat-bars and have front suspension or not. Slacker gravel bikes – Sonder Camino, SC Stigmata etc – with biggish tryes are surprisingly good off road – until they’re not… Racy, lightweight hardtails with quick tyres are always going to be better off road, but not quite as aero and likely fast rolling on the tarmac.

I suspect it depends a bit on your likely balance between tarmac and not tarmac and the nature of your off-road stuff and whether you’re bothered about how quick you go or not. I’m finding my battered old cross bike rebuilt with narrower bars and 32mm tubeless road slicks works pretty well for back roads and canal tow-paths plus the odd slightly rockier thing as along as I tread carefully.

I think I’d probably just buy whatever you like the idea of and ride it. It sounds like either a gravel bike or a very light hardtail will happily do the job, the first’ll be slightly faster on tarmac, the latter more capable off road. I do think it does possibly come down to bars and suspension or not.

I’d go gravel/cx bike over an xc bike, primarily because the gravel/cx bike will be:

• Lighter
• Cheaper to buy
• Cheaper to maintain
• Faster on the road
• More comfortable for longer rides
• More fun on easy off-road trails
• Easier to store and fit on trains and in cars

Some of the above are subjective but a lighter weight rigid lightweight cx bike is a thing immense fun on easier off-road trails. Nothing like it IME.

I have a really nice road bike and a really good full power, full sus e-bike. Before I got my gravel bike I was regretting giving away my really good Giant Trance.
Then I got a Specialized Diverge STR. I ride it everywhere. A couple of weeks ago my riding mate and I took out our road bikes (he has the same sort of line up as me, but a bit better) and we both wished we were on the Diverges. Unless we were going to do more than 50 miles, the gravel bikes would be better. Last Friday we decided to do a gravel ride over Cannock Chase and for a laugh we came back on the last few sections of the Monkey Trail. Ok, we dodged a few rocky bits but it was a complete blast.
There’s no doubt that the little bit of suspension of the STR makes a ton of difference though.

It sounds to me like you would enjoy a gravel bike. But that covers a pretty huge spectrum from slightly beefed up road bikes to very off-road capable, drop ‘bar mountain bikes. Even road “Endurance” bikes tend to have more upright geometry and 34mm ish tyre clearance; they are fine on towpaths; fun even.

I’d maybe start looking at the fast end of the gravel bike spectrum. If you bought something with decent tyre clearance and proper mudguard mounts, then you could slap some winter tyres and full ‘guards for the winter months… that would really extend its usage. Or something like the Sonder Camino* mentioned above… that could be built up fast and light, loaded for touring or beefed up for more adventurous outings. More money to spend? Then I’d look at the Mason bikes (Bokeh).

*Whereas I have quite a few drop ‘bar bikes, my wife just has one… a Camino. She has used it for everything: Road sportives, touring, gravel events, the lot. She refuses removal of her full length mudguards and loves the dropper post!

Anything that feels great on the road will feel compromised on rougher off-road tracks, and VV. That’s just the compromise of bars, tyres and riding position needs. Pick where you’re happy to compromise and go from there.

One option is the jack of all master of almost none, a rigid 29er with alt bars or a Fargo-style drop bar 29er. They’re (imo) not great or specialist on road or off-road but can do both and sit in the middle ground very well.

I have both a carbon xc hardtail (Scalpel HT, Racing Ralph/Ray tyres)) and a gravel bike (Gradient, Gravelking SK 43mm ). The Gradient is generally faster, but is definitely sketchier once you leave the relatively flat roads/gravel/towpaths. If you are in the mood for it, this can be fun. The Scalpel is very fast for an MTB, but has relatively modern geometry and is very surefooted off road for a 100mm hardtail. I think the road speed difference is mainly down to aero – holding the middle of the bars rather than the grips really helps.  I’m really lucky to have both of them, but if my interest was just towpaths and roads I’d choose the Gradient.

Had the same dilemma recently & ended up with a gravel.

2 weeks in & I can’t believe I didn’t get one sooner – it’s capable enough on & off road for 80% of the riding round here. Yeah, a road bike would be quicker on tarmac (if they ever repair the roads!) but it would be completely out of its depth on some of the tracks I’ve ridden.

It’s given me my mojo back tbh & also the ability to make some room in the garage offloading some other bikes.

Shimano hydro brakes and larger volume but semi-slick gravel tyres are the two things for me that made a huge difference to capability off-road without actually slowing down that much on road.

Gravel bike does sound like the way. My “gravel bike” is actually a CX bike (and more akin to a normal road bike in geometry than the longer slacker things nowadays) but it takes 43mm tires for rough stuff, or I have a set of fast 28mm tires for pure road use.

I descended Carn a’Chlamain on this bike (don’t get me wrong it was awful and I have 2 more MTBs since then, but I managed it), did the Dirty Reiver, and last week I did a 10 mile TT on it. Very versatile. Not amazing at anything but decent at everything.

I would look at a 2x gravel bike for what you describe wanting to do, the only real thing dictating how on/off-roady it is are the tyres and you can swap those with the seasons and intended use.

I like a good road bike with nice rolling tyres, but my Gravel bike with 40mm G-one all rounds is more for off-road use, fine on the road in-between bridal ways, forestry tracks and the odd bit of singletrack but that’s the way it’s currently setup.
I could hedge my bets on the one wheelset and just use a more road friendly, better rolling gravel tyre like Terreno Zeros or Gravelking SKs, but that would be a compromise off-road (for me), especially when its muddy and wet during winter, when I much prefer routes that mix up quiet country roads and trails to keep me from needing to deal with traffic.

Note: I am currently building a second wheelset for my gravel bike, specifically for winter road use, but that’s more to save my ‘Proper’ road bike from use in shitty weather, when I go out with my roady mates (who will all merrily trash their ‘Summer’ road bikes )…

Basically Tyres are the thing to think about and do make a significant difference to how a gravel bike rides on and off-road.

I think you need to try a gravel bike and see if it’s your bag (baby).

If you like it (I did) then your riding will change a bit as your plan rides around what it does best anyway.

Road riding for me was always just a necessary evil to get to the trails (I don’t drive), but I bought a gravel bike (Cube NuRoad) in 2018 for commuting to work and absolutely love it. It’s fast on the road on 700 x 40 G-One Allrounds and even better on forest paths, fireroads, mellow trails/singletrack and of course gravel. Anything you think is too tame on a MTB is generally great fun of a gravel bike. Dare I say it, I do even quite enjoy being on the road now if a if’s a quiet country road. Having always used hydro brakes on my MTBs I was initially dubious of the TRP Spyre mechanical disc brakes but to be honest they’ve been fine with a a decent set of pads. I was almost tempted to get some 650b wheels to put some chunkier tyres on for the rougher stuff, but ended up getting a new hardtail MTB instead.

With the roads the state they are I can’t understand anyone persisting with a proper road bike unless they are genuinely racing the thing.

2 weeks in & I can’t believe I didn’t get one sooner – it’s capable enough on & off road for 80% of the riding round here.

I’m about 2 years not weeks, but pretty much this. Sold my road bike when I purchased a second-hand Boardman ADV, I can’t imagine I’ll ever have another. Gravel bike for you all the way.

With the roads the state they are I can’t understand anyone persisting with a proper road bike unless they are genuinely racing the thing.

I have a nice gravel bike, and an even nicer road bike. For that reason, and for this reason

2 weeks in & I can’t believe I didn’t get one sooner – it’s capable enough on & off road for 80% of the riding round here.

the gravel bike is the one I choose like 70/80% of the time unless I’m being sociable and riding with the local roadie shop ride.

A road bike with 38c tyres is great on rough roads, yet still fast on smooth stuff.

What jameso says

I’d go for a fun 29er like a brother big bro, surly, stooge etc.

Slow on road but only an issue if that bothers you, great fun off

The only issue with gravel bikes on the road is when average speed gets above 30kph.  Once you’re above that, the tyre size is really a notable difference on speed/power required.

Don’t discount some of the newer Endurance road bikes that have larger tyre clearance unless it is large tyres you actually need. My Trek Domane currently has 38mm Specialzed Pathfinder Pro’s on it. I do the local bridleways/disused railways and road on it and the Pathfinders roll pretty okay on the road with the smooth centre tread.