These gravel bikes….

How comfortable are they on proper gravel fireroads?  Do you get shaken to bits, or do they have some give in them.  Obviously I’m not expecting suspension level comfort, but I have taken my genesis equilibrium on gravel on a few occasions short cutting busy roads, and it is not a comfortable experience at all.

Any stonking deals about?

Will depend on the size of tyres and the pressure you use. So variable.

Going faster helps.

High volume tyres are the thing. I’ve just gone from 700×35 to 650×47 on 25mm rims and the difference is notable.

no different to a touring bike. been riding those offroad since the 80’s.

I’ve got two sets of wheels, one 700c for tarmac commuting a set of 650b with 2 inch xc tyres on.If you get a frame with good clearance some big fast tyres really help but I found that fit is as important, I’ve bought a new frame supposedly too small for me but it’s way nicer to ride than my old one which I always felt too stretched out on.

My CdA (soon to be for sale ;)) with 40c Nano tyres is pretty smooth on gravel surfaces. Not really on full on rocky stuff, but anything mild off road is quite enjoyable.

Ive went from 700c on the caadx I had to my Salsa Vaya running 650b x 47 byways. Have to say it’s much comfier but the Salsa is also steel so that might be a contributing factor.

Here it is

a set of 650b with 2 inch xc tyres

Tyre’s wider than those I got on my first MTB! 😁

Yes, you get shaken to bits on anything but semi-smooth tracks. I tried an alternative route to work via a canal path that was partially cobbled and quite bumpy. Despite having 42c tyres the ride was not very comfortable. Would need proper MTB tyres/wheels or full suspension to have made the track bearable for every day riding. Relatively smooth tracks they’re OK on and pretty fun, but they’re not comfortable. Even big tyres on a gravel bike are actually not that big and tyres don’t do as good a job at being suspension as suspension is.

Really loving my Slate, so much so it’s pretty much all I have ridden in the last year. Despite only having 30mm of travel it’s pretty comfortable on light off road stuff, the carbon post help a bit as well.

Same as what Wobbliscott has said IME.  A pal on the continent has one of those Slates and he really likes it (he’s proper dyed in the wool mountain biker too).

Ive gone tubeless with 43mm gravelkings on my vaya, amazingly comfy over rough ground.  Im sure the extra width helps but tubeless is a revelation!

Tyres as wide as possible.

For long distance comfort I use Big Apples 2.35″. They have no tread to talk off, but running them at low pressures means there’s plenty grip because the tyre conforms to the road surface.

We’ve gone circle back to the early 90’s then?

My gravel bike was a boneshacker and offered nothing over my retro fleet so I binned it off.

It all depends what comfort you actually need, how long you ride, what type of gravel roads you are riding and what bikes you have used previously.

Even when I rode MTBs they were always rigid and on the gravel roads and easy single track I ride on I am comfortable riding a track bike on 25c tyres.  The fire roads are fairly compact gravel so if you stick to the more compacted areas they are not that different to roads (in fact sometimes more comfortable as they are a bit softer)

In very wet and muddy times then the 25c tyres are sketchy but that is a different topic.

Comfort is not something I think about when riding so guess it is not something that bothers me.

Same here for the slate.  I run a specialized cobl gobs carbon seat post. That made a huge difference to comfort on top

It depends if you repeatedly chant ‘gravel bike, gravel bike, gravel bike’ to yourself. They then have a wonderful magic carpet like ride quality

If you see them for what they are though you realise you have been duped in to buying the latest hipster +1 niche bike.  A road bike with compromise

Like I said up there – some folk need to pedal harder.

Niners MCR at Sea Otter this year should fit the bill.

Yes, yes that’s rear suspension.. can’t see the front suspension set up but sure it’s there somewhere..

As Kerley correctly points out it’s possible to ride it on a bike with narrow tyres.

That’s what we did in the days before mtb width tyres.

But there’s gravel and there’s gravel. There are also green roads. The more compliant your tyre, the better the experience, and a bigger volume allows you to cruise unconcernedly over stuff that looks heroic in the Paris Robaix.

A narrow tyre is very limiting once the gravel gets loose and deep or when the road is wet and soft.

Using wide tyres for gravel roads is not new. 2″ tyres were a preferred tyre for that purpose before WW1, but they disappeared after war time restrictions.

The British bike industry made special bikes with wide tyres for dirt roads for use in the colonies right up to the 1960s but did not sell them here.

1960 Rudge with 2″ tyres – but not our mtb 26″, it uses a 1¾” 571mm rim, so almost 27.5er, and slack HA too. 🙂

Several other UK brands also made colonial bikes with wide tyres, eg Elswick Hopper.

For gravel skinny is doable, but big and fat is better.

BTW if anyone has one of those Rudges lying around, I’d love to get my hands on it, 🙂

A little more detail then, riding the fireroads in the new forest  have about a 15mile x 2 of road to get there.  I’d like to be doing 50odd miles say 3-4 hour rides.  I have done these on my 29er but fancy something a bit quicker on the road sections.  The gravel is quite big in places and whilst sizeable on a road bike it’ not fun.  I’m after a bit of comfort over the road and a bit more speed over the mtb.

Slates look intetesting

I’ve got a cotic escapade with 40c nanos.  I Use it in 5he new forest on the fire roads, it’s quick and comfy enough. Go tubeless and ease the tire pressures to somewhere comfy enough for you.

Prefer it than an mtb on fire roads, feels more efficient.

Big tyres, drop bars, lovely!  Tyres are hefty, less hefty 2″ slicks are available  Marathon Supremes would be on the list.  If only they came in cream…

Love this pic, makes we want to piss off exploring for the day.  Roads, lanes, grassupthemiddle-tracks, singletrack, beer gardens…

DT78

…The gravel is quite big in places and whilst sizeable on a road bike it’ not fun…

Pop a set of these on your 29er for that purpose. You won’t be disappointed

https://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYSCGS1RGF/schwalbe-g-one-speed-raceguard-folding-tyre

Yes, yes that’s rear suspension.. can’t see the front suspension set up but sure it’s there somewhere..

Looks like it has one of those inverted RockShox forks (forx?)  – the RS-1 I think.  Whole thing looks spendy… ENVE Wheels, RS-1 :O

If you see them for what they are though you realise you have been duped in to buying the latest hipster +1 niche bike.  A road bike with compromise

Nah a road bike with less compromise 🙂

A bit more space to get bigger tyres in isn’t a bad thing, the roads around here aren’t exactly the smoothest and if you want to mix it up on the commute being able to ride on stuff other than tarmac without comedy moments/having to pootle.

I think the the gravel bike fits in the middle of the bike spectrum with full suspension mtb  one side and flat out Road Racing bikes on the  other side.

My god there are some massive pussies on this thread.

That niner has the rockshox rs-1 upside down xc fork.

They’re great fun.  Get the right frame material and stick to stuff that isn’t really boggy and you’ll enjoy it on proper fireroad and hard pack.  I run 40c tubeless 700c on a steel frame charge plug 3.

It’s faster than a mountain bike for the majority of riding.  ItsI more comfortable on the potholed roads of Lincolnshire and Rutland than a road bike.

It’s not a mountain bike though.  I used mine a fair bit for riding totally unsuitable trails.  I now reach for the plus bike instead.  However if I’m tackling any sort of road distance and likely to jaunt down unpaved cycle routes worhout jumps and big roots, the charge wins out.

I live on the doorstep of Wakerly and Fineshades and Rutland Water.  Rutland is perfectly doable on the gravel bike, Wakerly and Fineshades (esp off piste) need Id I’d rather be on the Kona Unit

I have done these on my 29er but fancy something a bit quicker on the road sections

Would a tyre change on the 29er achieve the biggest difference, not drop bars / slight change in geometry?

I use my CXer (rather used to) on the Gravel with some Gravel Grinder 38’s from Challenge on it. Pretty much perfect IMO.

Why not just buy a CXer and do the same?

I live in the New Forest (have done for 20 years) so there are probably not many sections of fire road I don’t know about.  There are no fire roads that cause me any issues on 25c tyres.

The ‘illegal’ single track sections are a different matter and can be quite challenging with sand, roots and ruts but that just adds to the fun as it is all too easy on an MTB.

Why not just buy a CXer and do the same?

Because CXers have limited tyre clearance and are a bit “racy” on account of being for CX.

30 miles of New Forest tracks & roads at 14.6mph avg on my Camino last night with 650×47 tyres.

Circa 40psi tubeless gives plenty of comfort without affecting rolling resistance too much.

It feels very much like my old ‘90s mtbs did to be honest.

It’s a piece of string, which you can probably gather from the answers. It’ll be more comfortable than your road bike, but by how much, really depends…

Personally, I think in this country, with the variety of terrain, a bigger tyre is a better choice. And with a big enough tyre, it can be more comfortable than a rigid 26er MTB. We don’t have 100s or miles of hardpack dirt roads like I imagine they do in California. A 32c tyre might get you by, but for some real versatility I’d look for something with as much clearance as you can get.

As above I run a Salsa Carbon seatpost on my Vaya, I think they are manufactured by Whiskey for them, and it does make a difference in the comfort level while riding, but as stated above they do have their limitations but I’ve managed gravel and Singletrack on mine. I let some air pressure out for the Singletrack running at around 28-30 psi. I also find for me I can ride straight from the house as opposed to loading up the car for a 1hr journey to a trail centre every time I fancy a run out.

Well I just rolled into work on my 2nd run of my Canyon Grail, the frame flex/forgivness is nice the big tyres also nice for the canal sections and the hardpack, then I got a bit lost hit the roads and was happy not to have MTB acceleration and speed in traffic

then there is the bit where UK roads are shit and it’s nice not to have to wince that badly when the pothole ends up bigger than you thought, though I did jump quite a few today. I’m never going to head off and slog round 80km of gravel road here in the UK, Tassie I might have done but for mixing it up and getting around generally it seem like a good compromise.

My eartly mtbs were xc oriented Konas and the like, and now XC oriented smal-travel FS bikes.

My Croix de fer and now Tripster ATR and quite different and have their own attractions based on the different riding position afforded by the drop bars – whch is why I have them.

They turn local loops that are pretty boring on the mtb into interesting and even somewhat technical rides.

A CX bike has different angles and handles differently to the ‘gravel’ bike which is a bit slacker.

Just did 25k this morning on WTB Nano’s at 40psi, Alu frame/fork (Charge Grinduro SS), mix of gravel path, single track with roots, rough wooden bridges and hopping up kerbs.

All was well.

Just to chip in,I found that wider flared bars made things a lot more comfi (on the drops obvs) and go faster 😉