Gravel porn

[Lazarus]

My gravel bike is no faster than my MTB over 4 hour rides locally - its faster up and slower down
That is not why I ride off road but its why i only commute on it.
YMMV

[whitestone]

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

Pretty much this. Round us there are several BWs/BOATs that are just a bit too rough for a road bike but are fine on a CX/gravel bike and offer short cuts or avoid nasty bits of main road.

[FLV]

Personally, I don't really enjoy riding a road bike with 25/28's on it as it just feels like I'm taking a kicking for an extra 8kph or whatever it is.
I like riding my #gravelwanker bike as its simply different. I can ride the same back roads and trails on any of my 3 bikes and get 3 different experiences depending on how the mood takes me. Simple as that really. Same reason I swap between sus forks and rigid on the hardtail and same reason I buy and sell so many bike I guess. I like messing in the garage and enjoy riding different things.

[ScotRoutes]

I like all my bikes. They all have different strengths. Sometimes I even take the most appropriate one for the planned route

My VN Amazon #gradventourer is the one I'd cut back to if I had to sell the rest.

[JoseMcTavish]

I think the gravel genre of bikes are ideal for people who like to ride straight from their door and get a bit of offroad riding in. For many people this will involve road stretches to link up any track/trails they want to try out. When I built up my VN Amazon #gradventourer back in the day, that was my exact intent and it has fit that purpose ideally. Having said that, I find myself straying off road when it is in road mode with 28mm tyres anyway!

[jameso]

Personally, I don't really enjoy riding a road bike with 25/28's on it as it just feels like I'm taking a kicking for an extra 8kph or whatever it is.

I know what you mean, I got a shock when getting back onto my Equilibrium winter bike (25s and rim brakes, low bars) early new year. Used to be on it all the time and have hardly touched it in last 2 years. I wish it gave me an extra 8kph : ) More like +3 or 4kph average for me over a longer ride - was a bit disappointed but it's slower, more rattly or nervous as often as it is faster. Depends on the roads. I love the contrast to the 650B disc braked gravel bike though. And these warm days .. the Colnago is coming out from under the covers tomorrow or Friday. That's on 23s with dodgy roadie pedals+shoes too

[FLV]

.. the Colnago is coming out from under the covers tomorrow or Friday. That's on 23s with dodgy roadie pedals+shoes too

Sounds.... fun?

[Chew]

My #GravelWanker bike

Sensible 28/38 11-32 gearing
Great for pottering around on country lanes and picking up farm tracks


Yes, i still need to tape the bars, and no they're not my weeds...

[Boab]

Wrong, wrong, wrong...

[Boab]

Reminiscent of Eighties fluro socks...

[johnnystorm]

Any excuse to post up a pic of the Pink Panther...
(Not strictly a gravel bike but, y'know!)

IMG_20200216_173213.jpg

(140.12 KiB) Downloaded 1597 times

[Bearlegged]

[on-one]
[Neon]
*Scratching my eyes out*

[sean_iow]

[on-one]
[Neon]
*Scratching my eyes out*

If the sun's out tomorrow I'll get my lime green Planet X out of the shed and photograph if for you

[Leerowe76]

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.


I myself have Procaliber RSL and tbh on the road can still pack a punch and you can’t beat getting a roadie in your sights on a climb or the flat tbh if you got the legs you can get pacey on a lightweight 29er, as for the brand I own 4 and not to shabby ones at that

[voodoo_simon]

Have been thinking of swapping the front ring over, it’s only got 30T and my previous bike had a 36T, so trying to weigh what’s best. Always hear comments of “ive never needed higher gears on a ride...”, so giving this setup a go first

[sean_iow]

Taken me all week to get round to getting it out of the shed



Photo location just for In Reverse Path needs weeding, shed needs painting, bike needs washing, still has the winter commutting mudguards on 3/10

[Bearlegged]

[TheBrownDog]

Isn't the clue in the name ... gravel bike. Best ridden on gravel roads.

I bought a Pinnacle Arkose a while back and it was brilliant at the job it was designed and bought for, which was to ride the 12 miles to work along canal paths, bridleways and roads. It's a brilliant bike and the sort of thing I'd have given my left one for on my big trips back at the Tail End of the Dachshund of Time. I so wish I hadn't moved it on. Could do with it now.

Anyhoo, as good as it it, it was not fun on anything with roots or drops or squirrelly bits. Terrifying actually. I rode it on the Chilterns Winter Bivvy two years back as my OO Fatty had refused to play and I must have come off it half a dozen times - three times alone on a snow-filled mud-drenched chute Reg led us down.

I remember John Tomac racing XC on bikes with drop bars 30 years ago. He was A God. I'm not him but, eh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxKki3eWg2M

[Bearbonesnorm]

This was my original take on Gravel from around 7 years ago. Glad to see nowt's really changed.

https://bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.c ... acker.html

[jameso]

Sounds.... fun?

It was - some smooth roads with a tailwind were just what I needed. Bonus that the roads are a lot quieter at the mo and away from the dog walkers/runners/lockdown escapee families in the woods, so felt like the right place to be.

Anyhoo, as good as it it, it was not fun on anything with roots or drops or squirrelly bits. Terrifying actually.

couldn't agree more ...

[cycleofaddiction]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/c6QmDvypSa4oJyhg6

I'm a little sad to say my hardtail has taken a back seat since I bought my Salsa Warbird. It's got a little bit of extra cushion from the Redshiftsports Shockstem and Ergon seatpost and I love it. Most of my mtb rides always had a significant amount of road sections in them and I can just cover more ground, and faster on my Salsa. I'm also at an age now where I'm starting to think twice about tackling really technical stuff so I would likely be walking my mtb across technical stuff anyway.

It's the right choice for about 70/80% of my riding.

[mfezela]

Why?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Because many people seem to believe that more is better?

[PaulB2]

[BigdummySteve]

Because many people seem to believe that more is better?

Sometimes it is, I want a dropbar mountain bike, which to be fair is not a gravel bike. If I could graft the rear end of a trek procalibre onto a cutthroat front it would be all the gravel bike and MTB I’d need.....most of the time.