Spotted in Smiths today ...

[Bearbonesnorm]

Another spin off gravel / adventure magazine. Can't recall which publication it was on the back of but maybe Cycling Plus?

Anyway, I had a quick flip through and it looked okay, although I did spot a photograph of some tw@t having a campfire ... which meant I put it straight back on the shelf. It did look a little more down to earth than the one Cyclist publish.

[sean_iow]

Just seen this, I also had a quick look, saw a bloke with a pile of wood which I assume will become a fire.

What offended me most was the fact it's £9.99 for a magazine! Didn't buy it, I'm priced out of the market now if that's what magazines cost. Last weekend I got a chocolate pudding and a pint for less than that.

[ton]

i bought it yesterday. i always buy 1 magazine a month. for toilet reading.

[RIP]

i always buy 1 magazine a month. for toilet reading.

An obvious response being: a lot of cycling mags, in best bikepacking tradition, have a dual use in that respect

[sean_iow]

i bought it yesterday. i always buy 1 magazine a month. for toilet reading.

Is it any good? I know when a book is good as when I stand up my legs have gone dead and I can't walk property, it's the hard seat

[whitestone]

i bought it yesterday. i always buy 1 magazine a month. for toilet reading.

And I thought Izal had gone the way of the dodo

[BigdummySteve]

I know where your coming from Stu, but.
Secretly i attended a gravel w@nker event recently, don’t tell anyone shushhh

Ok so I arrive up at the Woods Grand Rando, but I’m confused. I Need to take my kit off the bike BEFORE I go for a ride? Now I’m confused, everyone seems to be pitching tents looking towards the stage, I’m no fool, this isn’t my first disco. Knowingly mine is pitched 180 degrees, I’m not antisocial, just don’t want to leave the tent for a wee.

Now I had a chance to look around, all sorts of gravel w&nkery was in evidence, I even spotted a couple of porteur racks coupled with cantilever brakes, the more outlandish even had 26” wheels

Gradually I realised I was one of the older people there, at a mere 52 years old at BB events I consider myself fresh. And the ratio of men to women was possibly 65/35! Obviously I chose one of the longer routes, 55 miles, the 85 was obviously for the elite.
After 40 miles great riding around the New forest I still felt fresh so I extended it to 70 one waved at Sean and Ralph on the isle of white.
After a really nice ride I had a pork belly roll, watched a good band, drank lots of nice beer and went to bed happy.
To be honest this is what I wanted when I was 20-30, don’t knock it, they are the future, Instagram etc included.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Gradually I realised I was one of the older people there, at a mere 52 years old at BB events I consider myself fresh. And the ratio of men to women was possibly 65/35! Obviously I chose one of the longer routes, 55 miles, the 85 was obviously for the elite.
After 40 miles great riding around the New forest I still felt fresh so I extended it to 70 one waved at Sean and Ralph on the isle of white.
After a really nice ride I had a pork belly roll, watched a good band, drank lots of nice beer and went to bed happy.
To be honest this is what I wanted when I was 20-30, don’t knock it, they are the future, Instagram etc included.

Bloody hell, I only mentioned that I'd spotted a new magazine but was a little disappointed to see that they were still willing to portray campfires

[jobro]

i bought it yesterday. i always buy 1 magazine a month. for toilet reading.

Give us a clue Ton. Whats it called?

[Bearbonesnorm]

[pistonbroke]

Is that Guy Kesteven on the cover? Didn't quite recognise him with a beard and without his trademark gob wide open.
I must have missed the launch of SPD wellies.

[slugwash]

Is that Guy Kesteven on the cover? ...........
I must have missed the launch of SPD wellies.

Judge Dredd wants his boots back...........

[Bearbonesnorm]

I know it shouldn't and I know I really shouldn't be bothered but that's never stopped me before ..... I do find it somewhat sad (only a little) that within the mainstream, bikepacking is now considered something you do on a gravel bike or dare I say, even a road bike rather than a mountainbike. Why am I bothered? Mainly because that shift becomes a limit on how far off the beaten track people can (or are willing to) explore.

[ScotRoutes]

that shift becomes a limit on how far off the beaten track people can (or are willing to) explore.

Thank feck for that

[jameso]

I do find it somewhat sad (only a little) that within the mainstream, bikepacking is now considered something you do on a gravel bike or dare I say, even a road bike rather than a mountainbike. Why am I bothered? Mainly because that shift becomes a limit on how far off the beaten track people can (or are willing to) explore.

I don't disagree, but
- RSF etc - you can push a bike on the tracks a gravel bike can't ride
- Gravel riding doesn't mean the same riders aren't MTB bikepacking
- I enjoy road riding as much as MTB on a bikepacking trip, it's just different. A gravel bike or whatever we'll call a non-road or non-MTB can get you along tiny lanes and onto the tracks at the end of them, and some terrain is pushing whatever bike you're on. Some trips I cover more ground and see more places, some trips I get more into a small area.
- It could get onto whether bikepacking is about the terrain or the packing/attitude, but I'm not sure there's any answer : )

I think 'gravel' for much of the media is just a way of saying 'off-road without all that extreme MTB stuff with jumps and goggles and loads of suspension'? It appeals to the large base of roadies out there and there will be (is) a move towards XC MTBs off the back of it. Olympic success in XC will help too.

I might sound defensive here, I'm not sure I really am defending it. I do think 'gravel' + 'bikepacking' is selling a fairly poor experience off-road to most riders. I feel like the bike industry is letting riders down when they say a gravel bike is ideal for many of these 'XC and lanes' routes like KAW where I see fairly new riders struggling on overloaded and under-tyred bikes with the least suitable type of bars (imho), hardly looking like they're enjoying the freedom of the open tracks. That's the bit I think is off sometimes. If riders don't stray too far off the lanes on their gravel bikes that's ok, they probably have a better experience for it like old-school tourers do. Plenty of them will get a more suitable bike to explore the tracks in due course. It may be about where you come into all this from, road or MTB background?

[Bearbonesnorm]

RSF etc - you can push a bike on the tracks a gravel bike can't ride

True, yet I feel that the 'spirit' of the RSF is missing from many riders.

I might sound defensive here, I'm not sure I really am defending it. I do think 'gravel' + 'bikepacking' is selling a fairly poor experience off-road to most riders. I feel like the bike industry is letting riders down when they say a gravel bike is ideal for many of these 'XC and lanes' routes like KAW where I see fairly new riders struggling on overloaded and under-tyred bikes with the least suitable type of bars (imho), hardly looking like they're enjoying the freedom of the open tracks. That's the bit I think is off sometimes. If riders don't stray too far off the lanes on their gravel bikes that's ok, they probably have a better experience for it like old-school tourers do. Plenty of them will get a more suitable bike to explore the tracks in due course

Perhaps you only need count how many 'is this route suitable for a gravel bike' comments you see on the internet to know that the average gravel bike is a limiting factor for the average rider.

Thank feck for that

That's why I limited my botheredness

[RIP]

[whitestone]

GCN put up a recent video entitled: "Who's to blame for gravel?". OK a bit click baity but one point made during the video was that the United States has roughly 4 million miles of road. Of which 1.4 million miles are unsurfaced, i.e. "gravel". Yes, that's 1.4 million miles which is basically enough to visit every Spar in Wales 52 times*.

The nearest I've had to a gravel bike was when I singlespeeded the On-One Pompetamine, i.e. recreated the original Pompino, and put 38c WTB Riddlers on it. That was reasonably capable on mildly bumpy lanes. I don't think I'd have taken it around a trail centre though. At the other end of the scale I test rode a Trek gravel bike and even on the road it was disappointing, dunno what it would have been like off-road but I doubt it would have been much better as it basically had a road 105 groupset.

We saw quite a few gravel/adventure/CX bikes on the KAW and, to be fair, a wide range of riding abilities associated with same - from some who were evidently fine riding up Butser Hill and rather quickly down some of the more technical descents on the SDW to those who walked the same. So in the UK I think that to get the most from a gravel bike you probably need to have some off-road MTB experience.

*I might have made that bit up

[Bearbonesnorm]

So in the UK I think that to get the most from a gravel bike you probably need to have some off-road MTB experience.

Uhm, I think that may have something to do with it Bob. I tend to think those hitting it from a road background would perhaps be better served with a late 80's / early 90's mountainbike.

[psling]

, i.e. recreated the original Pompino

Ooh, I had a Pompino. Great bike! Rode it a few times at mtb centres, Afan, Cwm Carn, etc. but never put bike packing bags on it. In fact I don't think Revelate had even 'invented' them then

I seem to recall reading some time back about a couple of riders riding down through France to Spain 'touring' on Il Pompinos

I still enjoy reading paper magazines but sometimes I have to have a word with myself when picking up mags like this one; I've been around a while and sometimes forget how it was learning new stuff and routes from the original ATB mags

[jameso]

Perhaps you only need count how many 'is this route suitable for a gravel bike' comments you see on the internet to know that the average gravel bike is a limiting factor for the average rider.

It probably is. I think the lighter weight and drop bars suggest an easier ride but the reality off-road is different?

So in the UK I think that to get the most from a gravel bike you probably need to have some off-road MTB experience.

I'm a competent but not highly skilled MTBer, that MTB experience is why I either get frustrated by an average gravel bike after a while off-road or I just pootle and accept the underbikedness.
I always saw these bikes as road bikes that didn't give up at the first sign of a byway, ie a few tracks among a load of rough lanes and pleasant roads. It's those saying to the average audience that these bikes are fine for UK 'gravel' routes that I'd question, though I don't think many actually are without a big disclaimer. It's just easy to pitch the gravel thing. I suspect XC MTB in a format closer to early 90s MTB with 29" wheels will replace many of them in time (we'll see how that comment ages).

[ScotRoutes]

I suspect XC MTB in a format closer to early 90s MTB with 29" wheels will replace many of them in time (we'll see how that comment ages).

Hmm. I'm actually coming to the conclusion that, if it isn't best done with Plus tyres, then a gravel bike is the tool for the job.

[arkay]

Surely they missed a trick with the title, though?

[Bearbonesnorm]

I was waiting for that and I'm so glad someone has obliged

[HUX]

Is that a leather axle shiner strap thingy I can see on the front hub?
Probably some revolutionary new fangled material though!