Yes for me. Here in northern Minnesota, USA, our local Mtb trails are closed now, as the snow melts off and the frost leavesthe ground. Typically, we don’t start riding them until late May.
The amount of paved roads is limited, drivers are bad and the potholes are bigger than the rocks on the singletrack! So having a gravel bike to ride paved roads in more comfort, but also be able to access all the rural gravel roads really helps.

This isn’t unique to the current stay at home situation, but in other years I might travel south to go MTB riding.

today i taped a set of drop bars for the first time which i quite enjoyed.
so far so good but im only one ride in and ive got to assess the obligatory ‘wider bars and shorter stem’ setup yet

I Like the riding over there, so many options to make varied routes. I’m just riding the Detling/Boxley end of the Pilgrims Way which doesn’t have as many offshoots. It’s a bit of a stretch to link over Blue Bell Hill in my time available (even pre lockdown).

Another local! The west side of Pilgrims way from Boxley is part of my regular route so I’m well acquainted with that area! I don’t ride much to the top to north downs way purely because of the climb!!

Another local here too. I do have a gravel bike but it mainly gets used for riding to work (18 miles each way) or during the winter when the trails are a boggy and sometimes treacherous (on chalk) mess.
I did a 40 miler in September that started in Allington, along to Detling and up the hill, North Downs way to the M2 bridge, into Cobham Park, down to the valley, back up to the back of Holly Hill and then return to Allington roughly following the river. The gravel bike would have coped with it, but with that kind of mileage, mainly off-road, I opted for the hardtail, for comfort. There is a nice mix of woody Singletrack and short sharp drops in this area of Kent that are nice to ride on any kind of bike.

Gave “gravel” a go before it was even known as gravel (basically we were riding CX bikes with the biggest tyres we could feasibly cram in, meaning 35-40mm typically). A great idea, but the machinery available 5 years ago was mostly quite flawed. FFWD 5 years and there’s lots more choice, still mostly aimed at the roadie market though with 72deg HA’s and 100mm+ stems, but there we go. There is the odd gem coming through…

Speaking of which, have found the Gravel bike I’m going to buy! Wooohooo! Problem is, frames don’t land in the UK for another 6 weeks. Booooo. So I looked on ebay and facebook marketplace etc. for a “tide me over” gravel bike… People want stupid money for 2nd hand gravel bikes, it’s definitely the word of the moment!

So… For now… Found myself a nice barely used 29er XC bike, it arrives in a couple of days. Absolute bargain price, so much so that if I ride it for 6-8 weeks whilst waiting for the Gravel frameset I want, i’ll service it before sale and won’t lose any money on it for sure. The Bike…? A 2015 Cannondale F29 Carbon 4, ironically aside from the dropped top tube, all the crucial numbers (HA, reach, BB drop etc.) are all very close to a lot of modern gravel bikes! Maybe I’ll drop bar it…? Who knows!

Mboy, what frame are you looking at?

Another local here too. I do have a gravel bike but it mainly gets used for riding to work (18 miles each way) or during the winter when the trails are a boggy and sometimes treacherous (on chalk) mess.
I did a 40 miler in September that started in Allington, along to Detling and up the hill, North Downs way to the M2 bridge, into Cobham Park, down to the valley, back up to the back of Holly Hill and then return to Allington roughly following the river. The gravel bike would have coped with it, but with that kind of mileage, mainly off-road, I opted for the hardtail, for comfort. There is a nice mix of woody Singletrack and short sharp drops in this area of Kent that are nice to ride on any kind of bike.

Allington, huh…?

I’m within spitting distance of the Pippin, as the crow flies.

Once covid has been beaten I think there needs to be a north Kent gravel/light mtb ride arranged!

^ Awesome monstercrossing of Lava Dome 🙂 Something makes me think that frame may be a/few size/s too small for the rider

Nope

Next question! 😉

Something makes me think that frame may be a/few size/s too small for the rider

It’s an XL, with 27.5″ wheels slotted in. No frames are big enough, one just shifts the contact points around and it seems to work. I’m just posting up stuff on the build here; couple more regarding tyres and cable routings to go.

Allington, huh…?

I’m within spitting distance of the Pippin, as the crow flies.

Once covid has been beaten I think there needs to be a north Kent gravel/light mtb ride arranged!

Sounds good. My brother has a Revolt 0 so I’d drag him along too

I got this about a year ago, and it’s so versatile it’s replaced three bikes. I mostly bought it because I was finding road riding too stressfull with all the terrible driving. Strangely in the last few weeks the roads have been loads better and the footpaths bridleways overrun with people out for their daily allowance, so I might put the slicks back on till things are back to normal.

I’m lucky where I am in North Kent I’ve got a good amount of varied riding all around me to keep me busy,and all from the front door. I did borrow a nice new gravel bike for a day a while back….but came away realising I was content enough with bikes I already had for the riding here.

I’m hoping to explore the few bridleways near to home on the Arkose, most don’t seem obvious other than a finger board though.

Took the fatty down to the beach today, the bedrock down by Maryport proved it could be a little techie with the right line choice, will definitely be heading there again.

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Couple of #screengrabs from the #hero8. The bedrock by #Maryport providing some #beachtech on today's #fatbike ride. #west_is_best_mtb #keepitlocal #rmcycleworks #calibredune #solwaycoast #igerscumbria #bike #ridethelakes #rigidmtb #beachride #outdoorsisfree #sendit #lovewhereyoulive

A post shared by Mark Gorman (@tinbasher79) on Apr 3, 2020 at 3:15pm PDT

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#beachride down to #maryportharbour today, lucky to live so close to the #beach. #solitude #calibredune #offyourtrolley #fatbike #rmcycleworks #west_is_best_mtb #lovewhereyoulive #ridethelakes #purplebits #4point8 #rigidmtb #igerscumbria #cumbria #solway #whatsonyourdoorstep #moodysky #sandycrack #harbour #bicycle #outdoorsisfree

A post shared by Mark Gorman (@tinbasher79) on Apr 3, 2020 at 2:41pm PDT

Not gravel, but I’ve bought a road bike (something I’d always vowed I’d never do), and loving it.

Like the OP, the closest decent XC riding is a 30 min drive away, and when you add that either side of a ride, it makes for a lot of time away from the kids – and with working long hours, I don’t get to see them enough already.

So the road bike is proving a massive hit. A 2 hour ride is only 2 hours out of the house, and I’m loving just going out and exploring – I know more about the area we live in (which we moved to a few years ago) after a month of road riding, than I’ve known over a number of years since we moved!

I got a genesis day one after I crashed my last commuter and I have to say I have enjoyed the fact that it’s opened up the option to commute home off road. It’s taking a bit of learning to ride stuff on drops though! That said I would never buy one purely for leisure.

Riding from your door has always been relevant. I don’t think it matters what type of bike you use.

2X Maxxis Rekon on the Cotic solaris max pumped up to 40psi, woosh
(sort of)
Road, fireroad, singletrack, love it

genesis day one

That was my first gravel bike, except the term didn’t exist back then so it was just a cyclocross bike that I used for long rides off road with my overnight gear in a waterproof saddle bag. Really regret selling it, had pimped it up with better cranks, White Industries freewheel, nice tyres etc. etc.

I do have a gravel bike but it mainly gets used for riding to work (18 miles each way) or during the winter when the trails are a boggy and sometimes treacherous (on chalk) mess.

It’s the commuting possibility that started my gravel musings. Pre lock down I was negotiating a new job which would have been a bike commute. My initial thought was to use my low spec Domane and get a fancier road bike for best.

Then I hit upon the idea of getting a gavel bike so I could ride part of the commute along the Medway to Allington and explore the bridleways at the weekend. All up in the air now and seeing the hardtail test in the mag has got me lusting after one of them!

It’s the commuting possibility that started my gravel musings. Pre lock down I was negotiating a new job which would have been a bike commute. My initial thought was to use my low spec Domane and get a fancier road bike for best.

Then I hit upon the idea of getting a gavel bike so I could ride part of the commute along the Medway to Allington and explore the bridleways at the weekend. All up in the air now and seeing the hardtail test in the mag has got me lusting after one of them!

I work up near Ebbsfleet so the gravel bike means I can ride along the river to Halling and once I get to Cuxton I have the option of riding through Cuxton or going through Cobham Woods. Once at Cobham I then cut through Jeskyns. The bike works really well for this.

I too saw the hardtail feature and now I want a ProCaliber, just for that paint job .

It’s the commuting possibility that started my gravel musings. Pre lock down I was negotiating a new job which would have been a bike commute. My initial thought was to use my low spec Domane and get a fancier road bike for best.

Then I hit upon the idea of getting a gavel bike so I could ride part of the commute along the Medway to Allington and explore the bridleways at the weekend. All up in the air now and seeing the hardtail test in the mag has got me lusting after one of them!

I use mine for the odd commute, if I didn’t start so early I’d do it more often.

My commute is 10 miles starting near to, and going over Allington lock, then straight up Bluebell hill (old Chatham Road, past the shell, under the a229, old Chatham Road again then on the path next to the road), then all the way down the other side to the dockside area of Chatham, near to the historic dockyard.

Takes me 45 minutes.

Then I use it for exploring bridleways in the evenings/weekends.

SW london (well actually NW surrey) resident here. All my local gravel routes are full of walkers so bought a road bike. Absolutely terrifying first road ride out yesterday on fairly empty roads – drafting buses is no fun so might stick to Zwift.

My commute is 10 miles starting near to, and going over Allington lock, then straight up Bluebell hill (old Chatham Road, past the shell, under the a229, old Chatham Road again then on the path next to the road), then all the way down the other side to the dockside area of Chatham, near to the historic dockyard.

Weird. Up until last March I did the exact same commute. I used to work in one of the office blocks opposite the Ship and Trades. I didn’t really enjoy riding through Chatham and had people shouting at me, almost got knocked off a couple of times and even had local kids throwing things at me. Lovely.

blimey, if there are any more kent MTBers/gravelriders, we’ll have to start a new genre and call them Kentish Bikes or Bikes of Kent.

That map above seems to have more mapped in the local woods I used to ride in as a teen than I rode myself (Chattenden/Lodge Hill).

What’s now called route 179 is my old loop (plus the extra bit out to Allhallows). That plus out to Camer park if I went the other way.  Back then, I was 100% roadie. Gravel bike would be perfect for 80% of what I ride both here (I moved to Germany some years ago) and back home in Kent (that’s still home even if I do only go back once a year).

Often used to ride my old Raleigh Winner out to the bottle kilns near Cliffe Fort and Egypt bay etc. too.

The concept leaves me cold.

Ride all the tedious bits of XC riding, but more-so?

Definitely not for me.

I work up near Ebbsfleet

That’s a fair commute- at least it’s downhill on the way back!

Just for fun,do you North West Kent folk recognise this bit of gravel :

Full Metal Jacket

TLDR but the answer is yes:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B92GXoUlnmf

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More gravel today, just suits lockdown so well. No hurry, no gnar, riding from the front door.

A post shared by Calvin Ferns (@calvinferns87) on Mar 29, 2020 at 5:39am PDT

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Had a sore throat and headaches for a few days since sat, really put me on edge given the circumstances. Felt loads better this morning and just had to get out this aft. So so glad I did, took it as easy as I could and stayed well away from everyone! Best of luck all in these strange times

A post shared by Calvin Ferns (@calvinferns87) on Mar 25, 2020 at 1:07pm PDT

Ride all the tedious bits of XC riding, but more-so?

Depends on your definition of “tedious”. I don’t need maximum gnarr to enjoy a ride in the countryside.

Ride all the tedious bits of XC riding, but more-so?

It must wear you out being so hard-core gnarly all the time! 😋

All this is not even 30 minutes ride from my door, the spacechicken is perfect for it.

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Cannot believe how quiet it is out there, if only every #summerseve could be like this! #gravelbike #notravelforgravel #avoidingotherpeople #spacechicken #avoidingothers #stayathome

A post shared by Paul Sims (@tallpaul.s) on Apr 5, 2020 at 11:52am PDT

@gravesendgrunt, yes, mead wall I think (or somewhere around there).  Used to do wide games in Scouts around there (a long time ago). that must have been around the time of all the hoohar about stopping spraying the area and all the locals thought they’d catch malaria.

CATS Eyes was partially filmed around there too (and the dockyard, although shed loads of stuff is filmed there).

Only film set I practically rode my bike in to was a version of Great Expectations at Cooling. I assume it was that, which would have been pretty accurate real location.

Maybe that’s one for the other film thread rather than gravel riding one?

Ride down driveway, ride down my street for 200m, turn right, ride 100m to the river and cross the bridge and into the woods where all sorts of tech descents await for the inbound leg of the route. Outbound I can ride from here and apart from the odd road crossing, can ride for hours and hours off road on some ace trails.

Its the reason I don’t own a gravel/cross/whatever marketing people are calling it today bike when I have decent 160mm gnarpoon country on my doorstep.

Its the reason I don’t own a gravel/cross/whatever marketing people are calling it today bike when I have decent 160mm gnarpoon country on my doorstep.

Lucky Barsteward.

Fair enough, if you have that sort of thing, or a couple of munros, or the surrey hills on your doorstep, a gravel bike probably isn’t as appealing.

It must wear you out being so hard-core gnarly all the time!

You must be well rested, I suppose. Being so binary allows you to reduce the energy consumption of your brain? After all, once you’ve swung as far as you can one way, it requires no more thinking.
😉

You must be well rested, I suppose. Being so binary allows you to reduce the energy consumption of your brain? After all, once you’ve swung as far as you can one way, it requires no more thinking.
😉

Not well rested today, no! 😁

I’ve said plenty of times, I’m lucky to be surrounded by proper techy riding – I’m in the middle of South Wales. I ride about four times a week, more at this time of year when the trails dry out. I would be worn out if I was riding the gnar every ride. And there’s loads of scenic rides around here that need something in between my trail bike and a road bike…

Mboy, what frame are you looking at?

RideFustle Causeway GR1 👍🏻

I got rid of my CX bike a few months back, so am using this time to get out on the hardtail way more than previously, on some local trails. There are miles and miles of empty forest tracks I could ride from my door, so funnily enough the idea of a ‘gravel bike’ did occur to me the other day. The moment passed though as I realised that my hardtail is fine for 90% of the riding I’m doing at the moment.

I can see how it might make sense for some though, especially where there might be a road section to do before getting out somewhere.

I’ve said plenty of times, I’m lucky to be surrounded by proper techy riding – I’m in the middle of South Wales.

Where? Been exploring the Valleys a bit more lately.

RideFustle Causeway GR1

looks good. would definitely go with the shorter stem given the head angle.