Gravel porn

[mfezela]

Chamois Hagar by Evil

[Boab]

Realistic:


Dream on:

[FLV]

[Boab]

While we're on the subject, I wouldn't say no to a Moots Routt YBB. Although I'd stick some tie-dye Cane Creek eeWings on it...

[Bearbonesnorm]

Forgive me ... do you have to come from a road background to appreciate those? They all look quite uncomfy position wise and although they likely cost many 1000's, I feel no desire to ride any of them.

[ton]

i am with Stu on this. they all look very nice, but oh so uncomfy.
drop the saddle a couple of inch, and add a couple of inch to the steerer and mayby they would be comfy.

[FLV]

Spoil sports, its just shiny bikes

[PaulB2]

The Evil is love child of an all-mountain bike and a road bike, it's got a silly head angle for road riding.

[Boab]

Forgive me ... do you have to come from a road background to appreciate those?

Probably.

i am with Stu on this. they all look very nice, but oh so uncomfy.
drop the saddle a couple of inch, and add a couple of inch to the steerer and mayby they would be comfy.

The pair of you need to define uncomfy... If it's slaying proper gravel roads at speed, then that's the kind of bike I want. To be honest, I just wish I had more proper gravel roads to slay...

[faustus]

I'll stay out of the comfort debate as it differs so much from person to person....I do like the Moots, but on pure aesthetics, the chainset is still too big and impractical. I like 1x and chunky tyres...

[Laurensdad]

Lovely bikes. My trek920 (drop bar 29er) mirrors my roadbike position with 50mm ish of drop from saddle to bars. This was determined in a bike fit and takes into account my flexibility and core strength seeking to balance efficiency and comfort. It's good to have an engaged core, and glutes and hamstrings firing. The comfort is derived from the riders ability to manage the riding position.
It's been good for 700 miles in a week and long 100+ days of mixed terrain pedalling.

[faustus]

Lovely bikes. My trek920 (drop bar 29er) mirrors my roadbike position with 50mm ish of drop from saddle to bars. This was determined in a bike fit and takes into account my flexibility and core strength seeking to balance efficiency and comfort. It's good to have an engaged core, and glutes and hamstrings firing. The comfort is derived from the riders ability to manage the riding position.
It's been good for 700 miles in a week and long 100+ days of mixed terrain pedalling.

NIce! Care to share a pic? I've always liked the looks of the 920. I think i'm more at the 'fat-tyre touring' end of the gravel bike spectrum though...

[Laurensdad]

[Laurensdad]

@faustus I'm in the New Forest so when all this is done you're welcome to come take a look. Lots more pics on my Insta @philg1971
The above is with 29x2.2 vittorias, currently running 44mm wtb byways and mudguards until it dries up a bit.
Cheers
Phil

[faustus]

@faustus I'm in the New Forest so when all this is done you're welcome to come take a look. Lots more pics on my Insta @philg1971
The above is with 29x2.2 vittorias, currently running 44mm wtb byways and mudguards until it dries up a bit.
Cheers
Phil

Looks great, very tidy build! Thanks for the offer...i'm just putting the finishing touches on a new Camino Al, but I always appreciate an interesting bike. I was hoping to get to the New Forest before baby #2 arrives end April, but it ain't happening. Maybe see you some point on the other side!

[Asposium]

Having two gravel bikes I thought they were the mutts nuts for off-road and gravel type stuff
However, I have since bought a specialized epic comp carbon
Holy sh!t that thing is fast.
Okay, not as quick on the road, but way quicker than the gravel bikes off-road.
Maybe I’ve been wrong, maybe gravel bikes are all about marketing b0ll0cks and getting us to buy more bikes.

[Leerowe76]

Just get a mtb, this gravel lark for me is roadies to posh for mtbs hitting the dirt but not calling themselves mtbers I personally ride both road and off road and at first thought what a great concept but have since thought I'll stick to my mtb and I'll the road bike with the rubber it was born with without swapping out tyres to make an offroad bike out of it when I've already got 3 that do the job, I'm sure I'll get some flack for this opinion Just throwing in my 10p's worth

[Fat tyre kicker]

So if you fall for the marketing hype, does that make you a gravel pawn ?

[Asposium]

Just get a mtb, this gravel lark for me is roadies to posh for mtbs hitting the dirt but not calling themselves mtbers I personally ride both road and off road and at first thought what a great concept but have since thought I'll stick to my mtb and I'll the road bike with the rubber it was born with without swapping out tyres to make an offroad bike out of it when I've already got 3 that do the job, I'm sure I'll get some flack for this opinion Just throwing in my 10p's worth

No flack
Comparing the two, the epic is far more comfortable and composed off-road (as one would hope). There is no competition from the gravel bike.
On-road the gravel has a slight edge, primarily due to gearing, as it is 2x
Having ridden various bikepacking events on the gravel bike it is a disadvantage and certainly slower overall.
I am mightily impressed with the epic.

[voodoo_simon]

Having two gravel bikes I thought they were the mutts nuts for off-road and gravel type stuff
However, I have since bought a specialized epic comp carbon
Holy sh!t that thing is fast.
Okay, not as quick on the road, but way quicker than the gravel bikes off-road.
Maybe I’ve been wrong, maybe gravel bikes are all about marketing b0ll0cks and getting us to buy more bikes.

I very nearly bought a gravel bike but instead opted for this*, as Aposium says, its slower on the road but much more capable off-road. Thought a gravel bike would be perfect to replace my road bike but I'm having plenty of fun on this.


*this does mean that I own a Trek though

[PaulB2]

I bought my gravel bike to replace my road bike and see it as a wide tyred road bike / light tourer. My regular off route is 5 miles of road, 15 miles of mostly wide ‘gravel’ (actually a combination of mud, sand and the odd bit of gravel) non-technical trails and 5 miles of road back. Back to back comparisons on that route with my XC full sis, the gravel bike is quite a bit quicker but that’s because it’s 10lbs lighter, has higher gearing and tyres better suited to that route. If I bought some lighter tubeless wheels and swapped out the chunkier trail tyres on the mtb it’d be closer. As soon as the trail gets rocky or rooty though the mtb is much better.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I tend to think the world of gravel could have gone either way but it appears more and more that it's something that's increasingly adopted by the road world? On reflecton, this probably makes sense given that a 'gravel' bike will likely open up new riding possibilities for the roadie. For the mountain biker, a gravel bike will remind them of times gone by when they rode round on a twitchy rigid bike with skinny tyres, It'll be fun for a while but will ultimately reduce their riding opportunities - unless of course, they enjoy riding on the road.

I think this is perhaps reflected in the direction that many manufacturers seem to be taking.

The above is either true or bollox depending where you're sitting

[Asposium]

I tend to think the world of gravel could have gone either way but it appears more and more that it's something that's increasingly adopted by the road world? On reflecton, this probably makes sense given that a 'gravel' bike will likely open up new riding possibilities for the roadie. For the mountain biker, a gravel bike will remind them of times gone by when they rode round on a twitchy rigid bike with skinny tyres, It'll be fun for a while but will ultimately reduce their riding opportunities - unless of course, they enjoy riding on the road.

I think this is perhaps reflected in the direction that many manufacturers seem to be taking.

The above is either true or bollox depending where you're sitting

Both have their uses
But for off-road bikepacking a mountain bike seems the most sensible; certainly having broken the frame on one of my gravel bikes

[voodoo_simon]

Probably didn’t make it clear but I’d still have a gravel bike and it would probably replace my road bike, so it would allow speed on the roads but I could also take a short cut through the woods or explore a dirt track that I would come across on the ride.

If I was only allowed one bike, it would be a hard tail mountain bike, if allowed two, then probably a gravel bike and then all bases would be covered for MY riding

Each bike has its used and it’s up to the end user what works best

[jameso]

Having two gravel bikes I thought they were the mutts nuts for off-road and gravel type stuff
However, I have since bought a specialized epic comp carbon
Holy sh!t that thing is fast.
Okay, not as quick on the road, but way quicker than the gravel bikes off-road.
Maybe I’ve been wrong, maybe gravel bikes are all about marketing b0ll0cks and getting us to buy more bikes.

Only marketing bollocks if a brand is saying a gravel bike is a genuinely good off-road bike. There is no gravel bike that is faster on basic off-road terrain (say, average bridleways or forest access road upwards) than a good XC MTB. Gravel bikes are (imo) laughably bad on actual singletrack with roots or any rocky bits. I still like riding them on mixed terrain loops but I thought we'd all agree that even a basic level of handling skills will get an MTB through those trails much faster.

I'm going OT though. Just checking in to see if any actual 'wow' bikes were up yet The Moots is quite nice. This really floats my boat though. Yes, I know.. it's a CX bike : )

(And the saddle and tape aren't my thing, but still. A nicely made timeless CX bike works for me.)