I’ve never been too concerned about having to have exactly the ride bit of kit to match the designation a bike is meant to fit into but gravel bikes seem to be firmly placed in the rigid fork camp at present.

I’ve just spotted the MRP are now offering a suspension fork (40mm) for gravel bikes – the Baxter. It’s not cheap and looks a fairly serious piece of kit (unlike some very short travel forks that crop up on some cheaper hybrids). Is this the route that gravel bikes will be going in the future?

Do try and keep up!

😉

😀 Behind the times as usual!

So many things wrong with that top bike other than the forks.
Oh, about five years ago I put drops on my scalpel frame and lefty. It worked ok but no quicker than with the flat bar.

Where’s Greg when you need him…

Top tube shifter, too!

You guys are all a decade 15 years or more behind. Cannondale XS800.

My local bike shop has three Girvin flexistems in stock, if you want I’ll give you the details?

What happened to the shortened fox 32? they said they’d make a proper try of it if there was interest?

Cheaper buying early 90’s mtb 🙂

I still want one of those Cannondales. Not in blue though.

That Cannondale makes more “sense” as a gravel bike than any of the others.

I’m thinking of putting some old suspension forks and 26″ wheels with fat tyres on my gravel bike.

That Cannondale makes more “sense” as a gravel bike than any of the others.

Or you could just get a road bike with largish tyres and ride it on gravel. Something tells me people have been doing that for about 100 years….

Yeah, but why does it have to be about following arbitrary rules about what a bike should look like if it’s used for certain disciplines? If something works for someone then it’s a good idea for them.

Bez – Member
I still want one of those Cannondales. Not in blue though.

You and me both. They did it in a splendid Orange fade paint job, that’s the one I want. You?

Cannondale Slate has the 30mm Lefty Oliver. So it’s not a new concept. Just more choice.

Yeah, the orange was better. Personally I’d probably have the matt black and yellow, but I’d swap the yellow fork boot for a black one.

Did they do it in red?

I suppose what is new is making forks (again) intended for this market

It is hard to argue against more choice so I see it as a good thing

That picture of Museuuw’s Bianchi needs an ‘after’ shot showing him standing at the side of the road with it in pieces. Duclos Lasalle won Paris-Roubaix on the Lemond with Rockshox in 1992, a first, but the whole notion of roadbike suspension was destined for the dustbin when the following year Mapei dominated started their dominance riding rigid Colnago C40s and rigid bikes have dominated since. Having ridden the full distance 270km Paris-Roubaix a few times (not the current shandy-drinkers version) I do remember passing people on MTBs attempting to ride the Forest of Arenberg and literally bouncing-off the stones – IMO a pair of high volume tyres at relatively low pressures is just as effective for riding a high speeds on those types of irregular surfaces without the extra-weight and complexity of all the other stuff. They’ll be adding dropper posts next?

It all depends on what surfaces you ride on. I ride the gravel fire roads of the New Forest and am comfortable on 23c tyres on a track bike. I have no interest in suspension but I don’t ride for more than 30 miles. Others may jump at the chance of suspension if riding on much rougher roads for longer periods of time.

a rigid, weenie 29er with bigger tyres would be lighter and better offroad.

Buy one of those then. Someone else might prefer to ride a drop bar bike with a short travel fork. Is that allowed, or do we have to assert that one thing is definitely the right answer and that another is wrong because it’s not the same as something people were riding a century ago?

Lauf Grit FTW

I’m not telling people what to buy. I’m saying that a rigid 29er is lighter and better offroad.

Did they do it in red?

yes they did 😉

Also, just in case it’s of interest, any of the old* ‘F’ Series 26in hardtails will take a 650Bx38-42 (depending on actual size/tread) wheel which makes for an excellent home-brewed-Slate/Gravel/Bridleslayer/Gnarmac/Pottling/Mixed-terrain bike, with drops* or flats, and can be picked up for buttons.

* older ones have 50-70mm Headshocks so perfect, later are normally 80mm.
** they have fairly short top tubes, especially by modern standards so often using drops doesn’t require sizing down much/silly short stems on those bikes.

How about dropper posts for road bikes?
http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/ks-zeta-dropper-post-road-cyclocross-cross-country-35-50mm-46278/

I’m saying that a rigid 29er is lighter and better offroad.

But even if there’s only one definition of “best” and only one definition of “off road”, the brief here isn’t “design the bike that works best off road”.

where is all this gravel?
I never realised I needed a special bike just to get to the end of my drive…and what happens then – do I need to change bikes?

where is all this gravel?

All over bits of Scotland, Wales and England, HTH.

‘Gravel’ is often being used as a catchall term for mixed terrain riding, nice roads, bad roads, terrible roads, fire roads, woodland and forest roads, smoother trails, open moorland, common land etc. etc. You know, just general ‘biking’ wherever the mood takes you.

I never realised I needed a special bike just to get to the end of my drive…and what happens then – do I need to change bikes?

Nope, but you should carry your spare tarmac wheels with you just in case.

Different people live in different places and even people that live in the same place ride different stuff, bikes are a continuous spectrum of preferences, optimisation and compromise, and we all sit somewhere on the line, just be pleased there’s so much variety and so many options these days 😀

Doesn’t adding all that extra weight defeat the point? I fancied a lighter weight option to my MTB’s to get some miles in and was heading towards a road bike before switching to a CX at the last minute.

Never used it as it was a lump so didn’t really give me much benefit over the MTB’s. Had I got a proper roadie it might have got more use. Dosn’t adding a load more weight take a CX bike in to MTB territory?

dovebiker – Member
They’ll be adding dropper posts next?

I’ve just ordered one for my Kona Rove ST.
Fat tyres are more than adequate suspension but the BB is a little high in the corners.

My CX/gravel bike weighs 17lbs – with 40mm tubeless tyres I can keep up with my mates on road bikes and also go hacking off-down the numerous tracks and byways, particularly in summer. The state of quieter, country lanes away from traffic also makes it more practical. I’ve also got a MTB, fatbike and roadbikes – quite why I’d want one that tries to 3 jobs in one, but none of them well is beyond me. Of course bike companies want to create more sub-niches and sell you more redundant tech that requires parts and servicing.

I’ll be awkward and question the above definitions of gravel. That word means riding on gravel such as forestry and estate road. Knackered tarmac is just normal road riding and the rest is normal mountain biking. Well all this is to those of us who are old and grumpy.
My point is that for gravel you dont need suspension. No harm apart from more weight and complication and isn’t this the reason for 1x stuff. Of course none of this really matters does it?
Now what tyres for my fixed wheel trike on gravel and do i need rear supension?

Maybe accepting a single adjective to refer to something would be a matter of convenience and as such actually helpful in preventing the need for us to have to repeat these threads every single time someone wants to talk about a bike with a certain broad set of characteristics. Perhaps if we accepted that we often tend to use language in that way, when we hear “gravel bike” we might not have to think of a bike you can only ride on your driveway, and when someone wants to talk about a “gravel bike” we might not have to deal with this all over again.

Where do you mostly ride your mountain bike?

That word means riding on gravel such as forestry and estate road. Knackered tarmac is just normal road riding and the rest is normal mountain biking. Well all this is to those of us who are old and grumpy.

Even if you do contend that Gravel riding is only riding on gravel roads, there are still all the bits that link the gravel roads to each other, which are sometimes tarmac, sometimes dirt etc. Which means ‘going for a gravel ride’ invariably means ‘mixed terrain riding’.

Or you know, what Bez said.

of course none of this really matters does it?

not one tiny little bit no 😉

Now what tyres for my fixed wheel trike on gravel and do i need rear supension?

29er knobbly up front of course, 650b semi slick on the left rear, and 26er semi slick on the right rear, cos of course most gravel roads have a camber to them 😉

That picture of Museuuw’s Bianchi needs an ‘after’ shot showing him standing at the side of the road with it in pieces. Duclos Lasalle won Paris-Roubaix on the Lemond with Rockshox in 1992, a first, but the whole notion of roadbike suspension was destined for the dustbin when the following year Mapei dominated started their dominance riding rigid Colnago C40s and rigid bikes have dominated since. Having ridden the full distance 270km Paris-Roubaix a few times (not the current shandy-drinkers version) I do remember passing people on MTBs attempting to ride the Forest of Arenberg and literally bouncing-off the stones – IMO a pair of high volume tyres at relatively low pressures is just as effective for riding a high speeds on those types of irregular surfaces without the extra-weight and complexity of all the other stuff. They’ll be adding dropper posts next?

I think you have a bit of a point about small bumps, but you can set up forks to work on those bumps (whether riders will or not and whether they’ll look after them enough so they continue to are a totally separate matter). And didn’t the UCI ban suspension on road bikes at some point, this having more to do with rigid bikes dominating than any technical superiority? I could imagine with lockouts etc. you could get a massive advantage over the cobbles and keep out in front to win the race using ful sus benefits, all other things being equal of course – which they aren’t by far (some riders just have the knack of riding the cobbles which makes more difference than anything else).

the brief here isn’t “design the bike that works best off road”

No, but the original post is about fitting suspension forks, so the offroad capabilities are in focus. You don’t fit sus forks to improve the road performance…

But the balance between road and offroad is important, and only the rider can make that call based on the terrain they ride and where they want the sweetspot to be. I’ve ridden/own both a ‘gravel’ bike and a rigid 29er and I prefer the latter.

I should’ve declared an interest of course, I’m going to set up an old MTB with drop bars once my son’s too big for the weeride. This will essentially be a 26×2.1 (or so) gravel bike. I think it’ll be great for some rides, but I have no intention of taking it down really techy stuff.