YT Szepter Core 4 Review – Gravel For MTBers?

For this YT Szepter review I’ve been testing a medium sized YT Szepter Core 4, the slightly pricier version – the Core 3 gets a slightly lower grade s …

By mark

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YT Szepter Core 4 Review – Gravel For MTBers?

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Can we have an article in the magazine, or even online where you compare a 90’s MTB to a gravel bike to a current MTB with gravel tyres? Perhaps with a control tyre? Panaracer gravel kings come in 26″ for example.

A gravel bike for mountain bikers- can I put gravel tyres on my MTB and just ride that? It’s got a suspension fork, dropper and awesome brakes already.
Perhaps a bigger chain ring?
Something on the bars to give another hand position- whisper it “bar ends?

I think there’s something that could be done but I think the significant difference is riding position more than tyres etc. We shall have a think!

is that unsagged on the capra? otherwise that is a huge difference in BB height

At some point I’m going to start a thread that enables me to write a polemic about the fact that many of things that are wrong in the world today can be placed at the feet (nominally) of gravel bikes.

Unsagged I think. Still messing with me settings!

So RockShox have taken an annoying fault with their droppers (the annoying squidgy that they all seem to develop over time, called it ‘Active ride’ and made it a selling point?

Can we have an article in the magazine, or even online where you compare a 90’s MTB to a gravel bike to a current MTB with gravel tyres

I think I could probably supply all the bikes required for that test…

@Ben_Haworth

I think there’s something that could be done but I think the significant difference is riding position more than tyres etc. We shall have a think!

Could you do/ have some stem and bar swapping to get the hand position closer?

Get some free tyres in for test purposes and use them to bribe members for a loan of bikes?

I’ve got a hello Dave in xl 29″ that I’d loan or come out with for “the test”. And a 61cm transition rapture that is on 35″ gravel kings

@slackboy

What bikes do you have have that match up?

I’ve not given this a great deal of time yet but initial thoughts are that, on a MTB, it’ll be hard to mimic how low hands are when in the drops on gravel bike.

Can we have an article in the magazine, or even online where you compare a 90’s MTB to a gravel bike to a current MTB with gravel tyres? Perhaps with a control tyre? Panaracer gravel kings come in 26″ for example

Great idea, mainly for the gravel vs. ’90s MTB bit.

And current MTB with gravel tyres (if included) should be a light hardtail, surely?

Sounds like a bike designed by an mtber who wants the idea of a gravel bike but actually hasn’t ever ridden a gravel bike. It’s a refreshing approach to the industry standard of using existing road bike geometry and adding some tyre clearance.
Worryingly for YT the big market is existing drop bar users and they’ll probably hate it whereas the majority of mtbers who dislike the thought of gravel bikes would love it but will never try it.

I love WTB resolutes btw

Could you do/ have some stem and bar swapping to get the hand position closer?

One of the fundamental differences between a gravel bike and a 90s MTB (other than faster rolling, larger diameter,tubeless tyres made from decent rubber and light but strong carcasses, and hydraulic brakes, and wide range, close ratio drivetrains and modern frame materials, and availability of brand new bikes, rather than 30yr old NOS bikes) is that the difference in bar position (and width) that gives a much more aerodynamic position on the bike which makes them quicker or easier to ride over long distances and on typically less technical terrain 🙂 (see also the lack of hybrid bikes in the TdF).

Well apart from aqueducts, crime and medicine what have the Romans gravel bikes ever done for us? 😉 ( Wink)

I have a gravel bike and never really get up to aerodynamic speeds. I bought super flared drops. Mostly these were good because my hands were wider, I was lower and the brakes worked better.

Maybe I’m just slow. Maybe I’ve got lucky and not had mega headwinds. Maybe I bought the wrong bike for me.

Horses for courses innit 🙂

I ride a lightweight gravel race bike, haven’t really ridden a road bike since. Very different to even my xc bikes (for good and for bad). Not sure I really get the more ‘adventure’ style relaxed gravel bikes tbh but they must work for some!

Today’s ride was prob 50-50 tarmac and dirt, with a few tracks that would have been better on MTB but the overall mix definitely suited the bike I was on.

other than faster rolling, larger diameter,tubeless tyres made from decent rubber and light but strong carcasses, and hydraulic brakes, and wide range, close ratio drivetrains and modern frame materials

This is exactly why it’d make a good feature IMO.

I guess the gravel bike would still be more terrifying than a ’90s MTB on modern trails though?

Gravel bike for MTBers just when the market is now starting to try and sell ‘All road bikes’ to the faithful, in stating the obvious for £4399 I could put together a pretty reasonable XC bike, trail bike or whatever or even a decent road bike – I can’t imagine this selling well, further I think front suspension forks on drop bar bikes only really exists in the world of bike journalism and supplied review bikes – I’ve yet to see anyone riding one but maybe I ride in the wrong places …