Best type of bike for on-road and off-road cycling?

[cougie uk]

Wardy - head off to YouTube and look up someone like Juliet Elliott.

She's doing a lot of gravel biking at the moment and you can see what her bike gets over.

Chris Boardman only has two bikes at home now. One to ride to the train station - a hybrid and the other to ride for fun - and adventure/gravel bike.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Yeah I think I may. Seems like a decent bike for the price. I think I would prefer drops overall for the longer distance rides. But again I'm not entirely sure. Which is why I wanted to try both types out to see what I prefer. I know I'd have to get used to drops like

Those Merlins look good, reckon they would do the job + you could tailor tyres to what type of riding you end up doing most.
Not sure it helps you decide, but i do this short cut track in Shotwick on MTB, gravel and road bikes....

On road bike when even dry its not ideal just feels too twitchy, MTB and gravel bike fly up it.
But...it turns into a mud bath in winter then even gravel bike struggles (on 38c tyres)... so i take the MTB and it looks like this after

Not sure if it helps decide but gravel bike is the jack of all trades, unless you want to be a stump jumping mud-plugger

 

[cougie uk]

Shotwick in North Wales ? What track is that ?

 

[Grant Fondo]

Shotwick in North Wales ? What track is that ?

Its the one up to St Michaels church

 

[Grant Fondo]

Green Lane West i think?

 

[Wardy940]

Yeah that definitely helps. They're some of the kind of tracks I'm thinking of. We have loads of them round here. I think the Merlin gravel bike is the way to go.

That's the way I saw it as I started to do more research into them. That they're great on most surfaces, particularly when dry, but not brilliant on any single given surface. Maybe I'll invest in a MTB if I really enjoy the off road surfaces.

And thanks cougie I'll her a watch. I've just been watching a couple of guys test gravel bikes up against MTBs in an off road scenario and they seemed to really like them.

 

[cougie uk]

Its the one up to St Michaels church

Aah is that instead of going down woodbank ? Not tried that one.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Aah is that instead of going down woodbank ? Not tried that one.

Its an odd one, you get on to it off Shotwick Rd (Wales), but at the top near the church its in England

 

[cougie uk]

Its an odd one, you get on to it off Shotwick Rd (Wales), but at the top near the church its in England

We usually head onto the Greenway coming back from Wales but will have a gander at this one. Always good to find a new route.

 

[chriswoody]

Well they are kind of forestry tracks through woods. And from what I've seen on YouTube gravel bikes handle regular pathways through woods. They seem to handle things like roots quite well. Where I live I literally have the north Yorkshire Dale's on my doorstep so it would that kind of terrain if you know what I mean. I feel like I've confused things with my inexperience haha.

This is exactly the kind of terrain I have around where I live, a real mix of forest trails and roads. A mountain bike would be too slow on the roads as well as overkill on the forest tracks and a road bike would struggle on the off road stuff. A gravel bike is perfect though, mine is shod with 44m tyres and will handle a surprising amount off-road, mud, tree roots, rocks and all, as well as being quick on road.

 

[Wardy940]

Yeah that's exactly the type of terrain I was thinking of. I could get to a lot of places like that from where I am. I think I'll definitely go for a gravel bike. I like the sound of the versatility.

Random question, is it normal for new bikes to come without pedals?

 

[vickster]

Yeah that's exactly the type of terrain I was thinking of. I could get to a lot of places like that from where I am. I think I'll definitely go for a gravel bike. I like the sound of the versatility.

Random question, is it normal for new bikes to come without pedals?

Yes (as lots of people add a clip less system) or they may come with cheap resin ones (I’m sure Merlin would chuck some in the box if you call and ask). Reasonable metal flat Pedals cost £15 ish

 

[Wardy940]

Ah ok, thanks. You've all been super helpful. It seems a really friendly forum.

 

[ChrisEyles]

A bit late to the party, but I think a gravel type bike makes a lot of sense for exploring back roads, green lanes, forestry tracks etc. Nice and efficient on road and no worrying about squirrelly handling on looser surfaces.

An old 90s rigid MTB is basically the same thing but with flat bars instead of drops - as long as you can live with rim brakes (great in the dry, not quite so much in wet muddy conditions).

If you're riding "proper" MTB terrain in anger, either one is going to struggle, but it's perfectly possible to pick your way down that sort of terrain, albeit a lot more slowly & cautiously than on a MTB with suspension and fat knobby tyres.

There are always going to be trade offs in on/off road capability but sounds like a gravel bike would be a good choice for the sort of riding you're looking at.