Road Bike vs Gravel Bike

[Globalti]

Read my post here about my new 2020 Roubaix:

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/what-a-difference-six-years-makes-2020-roubaix.256595/

The more I ride this bike, the more I enjoy it. I've taken it up gravel and mud tracks and it coped superbly and came home filthy with mud. It is definitely faster than my old 2014 Roubaix SL4, that became apparent two weekends ago when I went out with a local shop chaingang; they were leaving me behind on long climbs but I was catching up on the flats and passing them on downhills. Even the ride leader commented that it looked a fast bike. Seems to me it's almost the perfect all-round tarmac/occasional gravel bike.

 

[vickster]

The OP does have a max budget of a grand though. Yours would appear to list at over £3k
She’s only been cycling a couple of times

 

[BalkanExpress]

Here's a new model with the Eddy Merckx name on it (is nothing sacred) to help flog it:
https://cyclingtips.com/2020/02/eddy-merckx-hageland-gravel-bike-review/

The Merckx brand is now owned by Ridley. They certainly know a thing or two about CX bikes and it is not a big jump from there to gravel.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

as others have said, tourers are also similar but I have a tourer, a Dawes Horizon. it is as smooth as you like over paths and roads but it rattles around off road on tow paths etc. its a great bike but I think the gravel adventure would be a little beyond what I would like to put it through.

Unfortunately, anything fitted with mudguards and a rack tends to twang and rattle a bit over rough surfaces, which can be mildly irritating, plus you need to keep on top of the maintenance and make sure that the various mounting bolts aren't vibrated loose by this sort of usage.
As a big believer in buying secondhand steel bikes cheaply, I now tend to use different bikes for different surfaces, and dry versus wet rides - rather than try to make one bike do everything. My tourer, a Raleigh Royal, is used minus it's guards and rack, as a fair weather comfortable road bike - rather than what it was actually built for. It's great on both tarmac and relatively smooth paths, and I really appreciate the excellent ride from the 531 frame plus the peaceful silence of not having accessories rattling over bumps.
If I need to carry anything, or it might rain (or has recently rained and the roads are still wet), I tend to use a Raleigh hybrid with 35 or 38 mm tyres, which is not as lively as the Royal to ride but is more practical.
For slightly rougher tuff, my weapon of choice is always a rigid 26" MTB, either without guards for dry surfaces, or with those indestructible plastic ones attached via the brake bridges/fork crown if I'm going anywhere muddy.
It's nice to have a choice of rides, plus if you get a bike out only to discover it has a flat tyre , you can simply take out a different bike and fix the flat later rather than have your ride delayed by an unplanned repair.

 

[Kestevan]

I'd have a look at the planet x London Road if they still do them.

A cracking "do anything" bike.

 

[simon.r]

I’m another recent gravel bike buyer. I posted my take on it here: https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/gravel-bikes-im-a-convert.254611/

 

[Wobbling]

Oh boy this is basically down to hype the gravel bike craze took off in the USA where they have loads of gravel roads,eg not black top in the uk we have a lot of forestry tracks part hardcore gravel part mud and reclaimed railway tracks compact various compounds rarely gravel.
A road bike as opposed to a road race bike will comfortably do rail track and road without a wider tyre and enable you to do a sportif a gravel bike railtrack forestry but not mountain trails or cyclocross and limited road but in a less aggressive riding position.
Have a look at the roads and tracks in your area pick a bike that does most of them dont pay more then £400 if you want to upgrade later get new wheels or gears the frame wont make that much difference

 

[Cycleops]

A road bike as opposed to a road race bike will comfortably do rail track and road without a wider tyre and enable you to do a sportif a gravel bike railtrack forestry but not mountain trails or cyclocross and limited road but in a less aggressive riding position.
Have a look at the roads and tracks in your area pick a bike that does most of them dont pay more then £400 if you want to upgrade later get new wheels or gears the frame wont make that much difference

Shhh, don't say that! The execs and shareholders of the bike companies won't be happy with you at all. 😄

Bye the way welcome to the forum.

 

[adehooper]

I'd have a look at the planet x London Road if they still do them.

A cracking "do anything" bike.

I'll second that, though I upgraded the wheels to DT Swiss and the drivetrain to SRAM Rival.

 

[faster]

Too a large degree I agree with you, so much so, that last January I stuck some 38mm gravel tyres on my old 1993 Dawes Super Galaxy and went gravel biking for a year. I even took the bike bikepacking up the Brocken mountain here in North Germany. However, whilst it was a good and competent gravel bike, it wasn't all rosy in the land of old bikes. The 38mm tyres were just a tad to big and were rubbing in the inside of the chainstay and the 27gear triple chain ring set up worked wonderfully off-road, however the bar end shifters are really not ideal off-road, where the bars are being constantly jostled around. Coupled with old cantilevers that are a pig to keep maintaining and then every time you braked on muddy rims you heard that joyous sandpaper sound of the rims wearing away under the brake blocks.

Gravel bikes need to be thought of on a scale, with pure road bikes that have slightly fatter tyres and occasional forays onto gravel, at one end, and then the other end are bikes that are essentially 29'er mountain bikes with drop bars, at the other. My old galaxy sat quite comfortably at the lower end of the scale and if that was my need then I would probably still be using it on a daily basis. However, I had a hankering to go more towards the other end and wanted something that could handle more demanding trail riding as well as still be comfortable and reasonably nippy on the road.

The Kona Sutra LTD that I purchased is a revelation after the old Galaxy. It still has a steel frame, because at heart I still love a bit of tradition, however, it has Hydraulic discs a 1x11 drivetrain and a STI lever to take care of the shifting. It also has clearance for up to 50mm tubeless tyres, which will handle the kind of riding I'm doing much better.

Interestingly, I'm no faster on this bike than the old Galaxy, however, the bike is much more comfortable in this environment, no creaks or groans from the frame as I slam it through the potholes, I have also ventured onto much more adventurous terrain than I could take the Galaxy, the fatter, lower pressure tyres roll much easier over everything. Crucially the gears are a revelation, only a rear shifter to worry about and quick fast efficient changes from a stable position on the bars, no need to move my hands around to change gear. The brakes are quite simply brilliant as well and with the added knowledge of the fact that I'm not wearing the rims out.

A marketing mans triumph or just a much more efficient and capable machine for mixed terrain riding?

What a good, balanced post. Refreshing to see against a backdrop of not all, but many forum members who sneer at anything new. In answer to your last question, yes, your new bike is just better.

Gravel bikes aren't just marketing - they are another option and something that in my opinion fills a hole in the market that wasn't previously filled. Up until recently, if you wanted a drop bar bike with really wide clearances that took mudguards/rack etc and went well off road, you wouldn't have much choice.

I'm well aware that the bike was not far from perfected over 100 years ago and that pretty much all bikes are very versatile and can do almost anything you'd want of them, but a modern bike designed for the task in hand will just do it better.

Whilst I've got a nice modern road bike, I use an early nineties rigid mountain bike as my do it all/off road/tourer and it does most stuff fairly well. I can carry a decent load on it, the gears are really low so it climbs anything, it can cover most terrain (even on slick tires) and probably most surprising of all, it's really quick on the road - not a great deal slower than a road bike.

It's also bloody heavy, flexy, has flat bars, and the cantilever brakes are just miserable. A nice carbon gravel bike would be the perfect replacement for what I use it for, but I soldier on with it, probably more for sentimental reasons than anything - I've had it most of my life.

Obviously, there are a few exceptions (press fit bottom brackets, obviously, and the benefits of 1x and Di2 are completely lost on me), but new bikes are better than old bikes and why people try to argue otherwise is a mystery.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Oh boy this is basically down to hype the gravel bike craze took off in the USA where they have loads of gravel roads,eg not black top in the uk we have a lot of forestry tracks part hardcore gravel part mud and reclaimed railway tracks compact various compounds rarely gravel.
A road bike as opposed to a road race bike will comfortably do rail track and road without a wider tyre and enable you to do a sportif a gravel bike railtrack forestry but not mountain trails or cyclocross and limited road but in a less aggressive riding position.
Have a look at the roads and tracks in your area pick a bike that does most of them dont pay more then £400 if you want to upgrade later get new wheels or gears the frame wont make that much difference

I would agree to some extent, but being restricted to 28c tyres does have its limitations, levels of concentration on gnarley rutted tracks being one. If my endurance bike had the clearance i would never have gone gravel.

 

[carlosfandangus]

A few months ago I built a gravel bike from a new frame and groupset, I have 10 miles of gravel track only 50m away from home, this old dis used railway track bisects the island, I have ridden it on the Synapse on 28mm tyres and on a mountain bike with 2.5 tyres the mountain bike although great, it was not fun on the road, I find that my 38mm tyres with some tread on the "gravel bike" will allow me to ride the gravel some really bad tarmac and also the parts that are a muddy path, it also does not disappoint on the road either

 

[Rusty Nails]

I have been thinking of buying a carbon road bike or a gravel bike this year and last week bought a 2017 Genesis Datum, after reading the reviews, and think it will cover both of my wants.

I do a fair bit of riding in the Brecon Beacons where there are great open roads, forestry roads and smoothish single track (I do not do technical rides). Up until now it has always been a compromise between using my mtb or my road bike, but I hope that this bike will give me good options for all sorts of rides.

I have only just got back riding again after a few months off and am looking forward to getting my enthusiasm back with this new bike.

 

[simon.r]

I’ve just been trawling through some old photos and realise I had a gravel bike (ish) in 2003:

 

[alecstilleyedye]

i’ve got 2, a ribble cgr sl, which is out of the op’s stated budget, and a boardman cx comp.

both are/were used for daily commuting over the 64km round trip to manchester and back. the boardman was perfectly good and cost a fairly reasonable £650. it did 22,000 odd km over 2.5 years before i traded up. whilst i had to replace the bottom bracket, headset bearings, chain, cassette and chainring, this bike would be perfect for someone not doing the sort of milage i do.

halfords have an upgraded boardman cx bike for £1k, which looks a very good spec (sram apex hydraulic discs)…