Gravel bikes exist because Mountain biking has got boring

[Ming the Merciless]

An interesting take on why gravel bikes exist, and what they are the modern equivalent of. Certainly resonated with me.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC_xFpg_UmA

 

[Threevok]

Wiping your arse gets boring after a while too

That doesn't mean I'm switching to sandpaper though

 

[fossyant]

Hardly boring.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Gravel bikes exist because people make them...

They are already adding suspension forks

 

[Algarvecycling]

I certainly see the appeal of a gravel bike, we have plenty of hard pack gravel roads that would warrant their use here, but given I race MTB XC on some pretty demanding courses, a gravel bike holds very limited appeal to me - my 29er is faster over 60km and 1200m of single track rocky terrain and is far from boring given how technical some parts are.

I think it depends upon where you live and the local trails available to you. To me a gravel bike is simply a road bike suited to dirt roads and blurs the lines with a CX bike. Nowhere near the same as MTB'ing in my local context where we have very technical challenges. But then I agree that MTB's on easy trails, given how capable they are, could be considered boring in such environments.

 

[cyberknight]

In the usa i believe there a lot of gravel roads and a lot of races are held on them, didnt a road pro just switch over to it ? Market niche exploited by the bike companies

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Just "road" bikes with slightly fatter tyres aren't they?

 

[Globalti]

Mountain bikes evolved quite fast from lightweight rigid all-purpose XC bikes into must-have DH bikes with ridiculously wide bars and huge wheels, full suspension, disc brakes and only the engine missing, so heavy and low-geared that you could only freewheel them down hills. A fair number of people will have grown up thinking that's how a mountain bike had to be and not realising that in the beginning people actually shouldered them up mountains before trail centres were invented.

So yes I think it's unsurprising that a more trendy version of the original XC mountain bikes has appeared on the scene.

 

[ColinJ]

I certainly see the appeal of a gravel bike, we have plenty of hard pack gravel roads that would warrant their use here, but given I race MTB XC on some pretty demanding courses, a gravel bike holds very limited appeal to me - my 29er is faster over 60km and 1200m of single track rocky terrain and is far from boring given how technical some parts are.

I think it depends upon where you live and the local trails available to you. To me a gravel bike is simply a road bike suited to dirt roads and blurs the lines with a CX bike. Nowhere near the same as MTB'ing in my local context where we have very technical challenges. But then I agree that MTB's on easy trails, given how capable they are, could be considered boring in such environments.

I have a CX bike and I have ridden it on a couple of our local technical bridleways but didn't really enjoy doing so. Rocks and rocks that I can ride over easily on my old hardtail mountain bike were too much... If I pumped the tyres up hard I got battered, and if I didn't I got snakebite punctures.

I have since fitted mudguards and rack to the CX bike. I will use it as a bad weather bike, a bike for light touring, and on gravel tracks. I'll repair my mountain bike and use that on the serious rough stuff!

 

[MichaelW2]

I have a CX bike and I have ridden it on a couple of our local technical bridleways but didn't really enjoy doing so. Rocks and rocks that I can ride over easily on my old hardtail mountain bike were too much... If I pumped the tyres up hard I got battered, and if I didn't I got snakebite punctures.

I have since fitted mudguards and rack to the CX bike. I will use it as a bad weather bike, a bike for light touring, and on gravel tracks. I'll repair my mountain bike and use that on the serious rough stuff!

Riding a gravel/cx bike on trails is technically harder than riding a suspension mtb. If you want to challenge your skills and don't have a nearby steep, long, difficult hill to ride, then it makes a lot of sense to "downgrade" your bike.
I have ridden lots of the South Downs Way on a road bike with 28mm tyres ( +rack and guards) and it was tricky but fun.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Riding a gravel/cx bike on trails is technically harder than riding a suspension mtb. If you want to challenge your skills and don't have a nearby steep, long, difficult hill to ride, then it makes a lot of sense to "downgrade" your bike.
I have ridden lots of the South Downs Way on a road bike with 28mm tyres ( +rack and guards) and it was tricky but fun.

Tbf to the lads in the film they did say that gravel bikes are not suitable, or at least not as suitable as MTBs, for the more technical rides.

I like singletrack and forest fire road riding and much of the time an MTB, certainly full sus, is totally overkill. It literally is a case of horses for courses.

In the new year I plan to buy or build up a gravel bike which I suspect will get used more than my MTB.

I thought the first rule of cycling was about always needing N+1, and for me a gravel or cyclocross bike will be the next +1. I will still keep the road, MTB, and hybrid bikes.

 

[Globalti]

I owned a Specialized Tricross for a couple of years, which made an excellent tourer with its triple chainset and good luggage-carrying. One fine night I took it out for a ride with the local mountain bike club, which was quite revealing: on climbs and on the flat, as you would expect, it left the mountain bikes standing. But on rocky flats or downhills it was hopeless and I ended up walking down a BW that would have been a breeze on my XC bike with suspension forks. In fact while walking down in the dark I sprained my ankle but that's another story.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Tbf to the lads in the film they did say that gravel bikes are not suitable, or at least not as suitable as MTBs, for the more technical rides.

Indeed and their point is that for most riders the local trails they go on, offer no challenge on a modern mountain bike. If you live near more technical trails then a mtn bike makes more sense. But for a lot of people the modern gravel bike is an evolution of the mtn bikes being ridden on local trails in the 90s, and better suited to their local trails.

 

[Ian H]

Slippery marketing terms.

 

[Milzy]

The MTB will never die. It’s just there’s so many different variations pushed by marketing. You always get those churchbell ends who will cycle to work on a huge MTB because they think it looks cooler than a road bike, sacrificing all that efficiency.