I've done everything on my gravel bike, commuting, long rides, trails, bike packing and even simple errands. It's perfect for nearly everything. Although, I've opted for the more aggressive setup on mine with 2.25 inch tires and a short travel fork in the front. It removes the fear of potholes in the road that would normally scare roadies. I've been a long-time GMBN subscriber, and I will say that whatever bike Blake will ride, he can somehow make it seem fun to ride. He has that energy.
Yes, they are a road bike that can go off road, not an off-road bike. They are great at what they are designed for and that's gravel and they do road pretty well too. Singletrack not that great.
Yeah they seem like they’re not great at either. So maybe on a long trip with road and some bits of off road but when does anyone ever do that 🤷🏻♂️ Either cycle on the roads or head to trails for a couple of hours in which case a road bike or a MTB.
I’m sticking with my two-bike setup: XC bike for the rougher stuff and endurance bike for road and light gravel. My Domane can fit 35mm tires. If I need more than that I go for the XC hardtail.
That was my setup until this week. Got a stupidly good deal on a trek checkpoint that I couldn’t pass up. Truth is it’s not enough different from the domane to be necessary but I’m still having a blast on it. I like the one by setup and the frame is a bit more stretched out so I don’t feel as over the front wheel on descents.
As an owner of both gravel and XC bike i can say that i love both. They are somewhat similar, but not the same. I can't agree with Blake, to my mind gravel bike is not for the singletrack. It's simply too sketcy and uncomfortable. Gravel tires are nothing like XC tires, the grip is much less and they dig in sand. But the gravel bike is way faster and it's great for everything else, commuting, gravel, exploration, travel, road and simply riding along. Every time i do not have specific plan for the ride i grab my gravel bike. However if i'm heading for the woods, i would definitely pick XC bike.
I do a lot of gravel races and ended up getting in to mountain biking from it. Our local race series kept getting more extreme and adding more single track and tech to races. People on xc hard tails started destroying everyone. I built a hard tail with more gravel like geo and a big front chain ring and thought well of i have this I might as well try some xc races and I've been absolutely hooked on xcm since
Big chain ring is such a crazy hack for all kinds of riding. I have a 1x 44t oval on my gravel bike, and 10-52t GX Eagle in the rear, and I'd put it up against your gravel-y XC any day. I also have a trail HT.
Marketing BS. For trails, rocks roots, mountain climbs: Hardtail mtb. For gravel: gravel bike - it's how it's called, gravel is gravel (not rocks, not climbs). I have both, you cannot compare. And there are so many gravel routes, more than mtb trails, so why record a video there...
Never ridden a gravel bike but I would say for road riders who just want a little more adventure, they're going to be a good option as they're basically a beefed up road bike.
Longer mountain rides can include highways or roads to get back to the car. Having knobby tires is a detriment on those road sections. My gravel has the Fox 32ax Fork to save my hands and arms on the vertical descents.
Underbiking a breath of fresh air really hones the skills and bike handling. Loads of fun. Your not going to beat a MTB off road but if you like a challenge and want to improve your fitness gravel bikes are a must 👍
Don't knock gravel bikes! Underbiking is fun, especially on smooth singletrack. The climbs are a breeze on a gravel bike and the descents are sketchy AF!
I was underbiked today. I usually enjoy the challenge, but the forest service had just put down new “gravel” but instead of using gravel, they used rocks. All kinds of sharp edged things about 1.5” in diameter. Bike was slipping all over the place. Rocks being kicked up everywhere. It was awful. I drove my car on the newly rocked road, and it was sliding around and floating all over the place.
Love that Blake and Rich are gravelling in mtb territory 🙂 I think the versatility is the key argument in this use case…you can throw in laps and loops on the trails when you’re doing other rides. Rich’s conclusion is the right one…it doesn’t replace your MTB, but there’s definitely room in the garage for one. Love my Crux…and my Epic Evo…and my Ostro VAM
A trail bike and a gravel bike can ride everything. There are other 2 bike combos that will cover all the bases, but for me and where I live this is the best combo
As always, the answer is N+1. XC bikes are normally designed around a typical 1-1.5h XC race but a lot of gravel bikes are designed for long hours in the saddle. In the 90s we had the XC tour category for this which evolved into All Mountain bikes. More capable for alpine tours, yes, but also heavier and a bit overkill for your tours in less challenging terrain.
I think gravel bikes are a nice compromise but seem more aimed at roadies who want to do a bit of off road but want that familiar feel and position, similarly we mountain bikes mostly prefer our upright position and often suspension so would gravitate to xc or hardtails if we want to increase the speed on a little bit of road but still want to do mainly off road. More options on bike, encouraging more riders is never a bad thing.
Mountain biked & raced all my life (I am 50) but I LOVE my gravel bike. Perfect for canal rides, low grade mtb trails and getting in miles. Even been on "road" rides with roadie mates . Its opened up options and forced me to use skills that I had forgotten when taking the GB off road when muddy and technical as you dont have suspension and super fat tires to help you. You certainly have to think more when off road on skinny tires.. There is a place in this world for both. Finally cyclocross.. Enter a CX race on a gb, you will hurt in places you did not know existed!!
I had a Specialized Rock Combo in 1990. The first gravel bike? No one understood it then either, but what an awesome bike it was. Loved it. Rode it everywhere.
I have an e-gravel bike and I'm firmly with Rich on this, it seems that people want to show horn this style of bike onto mountain bike trails. I live on the south coast and this is where the gravel bike is at its best, mixtures of cliff top paths, sea front tracks and a bit of road to link them all up. The gravel bike has its place.
Go for the gravel ride competition Blake & Rich!. As for Rich, as Blake said, you can put in a dropper post on your gravel bike. That';; be fun when descending! I'll wait for that episode!.
Yeah! And this combination of versatility and relative simplicity of construction is what bought me. I mostly do adventure/touring riding and I usually don't need MTB capabilities. Gravel bikie brings to the table everything I need. I guess XC would work well for me too, but for longer rides I prefer drop bars. They put my arms and hands in a more neutral, comfy position.
An XC bike with rigid forks, file tread tires and around the same weight will do the same job. Some good conversion mtb to gravel videos out there if you want to build one up on a smaller budget.
Not necessarily. I just converted my rigid XC bike back into a regular hardtail. I hated the stock Fox 34 Rhythm it came with, which is why I converted it to rigid with a Trek 1120 fork in the first place, but with my old 160 Lyrik Ult, it sings. As a rigid, even with a 29x3.0 on the front and i40 wheels front and rear, it did nothing that my flat bar gravel bike can't do, and was slower and harder on my wrists, etc. since the gravel bike can comfortably run a shockstop suspension stem, but the XC bike cannot. Rigid XC is just big gravel, due to modern tech/bikes.
Nice intro video to the gravel bike! I bought a salsa cutthroat gx with 52 tooth cassette and 29 x 2.2 inch tires and love it! Racing next to some who ride on 40 mm tires through single track and chunky gravel at 30 mph still has me scratching my head a little 🤔. But I do get dropped quickly on the tarmac.
My girlfriend and were faced with buying new bikes, so we rented gravel and hard tail xc bikes on different weekends. Our favorite rides are long paved climbs with techy but easy descents. We went for the MTB, just because of the comfort and versatility. We are speed / number or weight weenies, so the mtb was the way to go. But for someone else, i get the decision to go gravel.
I got a gravel bike to do some gravel racing but also found they are so much fun on single tracks and faster on the roads to get there. I also found that it made me a better mountain biker. I haven’t done any bike packing on it yet but plan to.
Rich is riding an all-road bike. With slick and narrow tires, I ride on hardpack. When it comes to trails (and fire roads where I live are almost like MTB tracks), I put on 2.0 - 2.2 conti race and cross kings (27.5) and raise the wide handlebars, almost like a rigid XC bike. That's what I call versatility, apart from the faff to replace bars and their positions for each context.
Gravel bikes are basically 80’s mtb’s. I love mine for grinding forest service roads and two tracks with occasional singletrack. It’s kind of fun doing singletrack just due to the simplistic nature but I enjoy riding a hardtail mtb more on flowy singletrack. If I could only have one bike it would probably be a gravel bike but I have a quiver of a gravel bike, fat bike, full sus trail bike, and a hard tail trail bike…. Not to mention some of my old mtb’s dating back to the mid 80’s when I started mtb’ing and honestly, they are all fun in their own ways. Riding bikes are fun.
Yes please to watching your guys take on the Tour Divide. That would be great. Interestingly, GCN has a gravel vs road vid today. Must be something in the air?
Put a different stem and flat handlebars and you have a light weight hybrid / xc bike. It's probably cheaper to buy a light weight hybrid in the first place, the next big thing will be hybrids renamed 'Urban bikes'.
Or just take out the front fork to make your xc a rigid,i love em.a tad old school but the weight saving alone make hell of a difference.still dont like seeing gravel bikes out there,i always think a roadie is lost lol
Have a Salsa Cutthroat with 29'er tires for on and off road fun. (Schwalbe Speed G-One, shockingly grippy) 😊 I truly believe you guys could have fun riding a beach crusher on single track. 😂 Thanks for a great video.
I like road bikes, gravel bikes, XC bikes and enduro bikes. They all have their home zone. I would rather not take a gravel bike on a S3 oder even not a S2 Trail - the natural living habit of a mountainbike. 😉
Who else is having flashbacks of that Halloween vid / Martyn's nightmare where Blake went full roadie? And was Doddy shaving his legs? Hahahah, good times
I can bairly tolerate those bars on my Vintage Apollo road bike that I used to ride to work cause it was 20 bucks. I couldnt imagine riding it with bigger tires offroad, that would be just aweful, and constantly at risk of smashing your face on the stem/bar being so close to it, one big root or rock, and your done, you've knocked yourself out. As for what its intended for, gravel, fire roads, walking paths with pedestrians everywhere, just ride a decent XC bike, I have my first Hardtail still, a GT Aggressor from 3 years ago, with zero upgrades, it works fine for all that, i'm not trying to win a race so weight doesnt matter, and if it gets stolen while i'm going into a store, who cares, it was 300 bucks. Most of my in town riding is actually on my Street BMX, as I cant pass up an opportunity to grind some ledges or rails or session a flat bank for a bit. Ride what you like, but be careful with those drop bars off road, the fire roads we have where I am, have watermelon boulders mixed in, and all other sizes of rocks to contend with, a gravel bike is not having a good time on those and your face is at serious risk of smashing the stem.
still a very hard NO from me. i prefer my hardtail for trails like this. it does make everything more fun, everything a mtb can do better than a gravelbike. the parts where a gravelbike shines are the parts i dont care about. the riding position, urghs, the position of the handlebars, ewwww. riding a gravelbike feels like always being in a super unneccesary aerodynamic position and having the permanent risk of going over the bars cause of this. it feels very unpleasant. very uncomftable. very holding back. i have tryed it and i hated it. gravelbikes are just roadbikes.
Gravel bikes are hilarious fun but also effective on longer rides. They suffer when it's rough though and unless they're built strong, don't be jumping them!
@@ghostAFsky honest question, why not put a dropbar on a Hardtail? It's not much heavier than a gravel, has pretty much the same road capabilities and for me the biggest plus is having a front suspension. It makes riding even on rough roads so much more comfortable than a rigid fork.
I have a flat bar gravel bike that answers all of your concerns. Try it! They're fast as hell, fun on the pavement and off, and super comfortable. OTB concerns are a skill issue, outside the most extreme conditions (mine has a 71.5 head angle). I just took it down a crazy rock garden at Mt Diablo, and sure I had to go kind of slowly, but never came close to going out the front, even with a 120 stem. If you really can't handle it, slap an angleset in there (they're like $100), or get a Salsa Cutthroat or a Santa Cruz Stigmata, both of which have ~69 (nice) head angles.
if im not in a bikepark, then i ride on technical trails or jumplines on my hometrails, so a gravelbike will never suit my riding. i rarly sit on my bikes, i never ride on pavement.
@@zyrus4712 Wow, aren't you a badass? I bow to your superior MTB purity. I ride park, pavement, dirt jumps, and everything in between, and I love mixing and matching rides to bikes. I take the gravel bike on singletrack and to the dirt jumps, and I do cardio rides and hill climbs on my dirt jumper. Haven't yet taken the gravel bike (or the DJ for that matter) to the park, but it's on my list. Being a better road rider makes me a better MTBer, and vice versa. "Never" is a big word, and if you truly mean it, you're leaving a lot of fun on the table.
The truth is, modern bikes are so good now, they can cross over to other categories and sometimes their distinctions are blurred. One bike can do all(most) now. However, if you are a bike nut like me, you would still buy every bike for every category 😂
Mine goes on road, gravel and single track. Lots of fun. I can't ride my full sus to work, I wouldn't want to, and I can't really ride it from my doorstep along the transpennine for a long distance leg stretch. Gravel has its place, youve just got to be able to ride it there.
I still think it is just what I was doing in the 90's on an MTB but with drop bars and the lines are becoming more and more blurred where it ends and XC starts. But I suppose XC courses are alot more extreme now days so it has all just moved along. I do have a gravel bike myself. It is in my stable as my commuter and winter road bike. Also do the odd off road bit on it and agree on the same kind of terrain you based your video on you do have a smile on your face and have a giggle.
Once I bought a Turbo Levo I realized I'll never want a gravel bike. I ride with my gravel buddies just fine. The Levo is way more versatile than a gravel bike.
I have an hardtail MTB and a Gravel bike, I use the gravel bike for road riding (I didn't want to get an all out road bike as most aren't rated to my weight) and the MTB is for single track, I doubt i'll ever use the gravel bike for single track, I just don't think i'd trust it on the descents, but on the road, its superb, its fast and the climbs are so much easier on it.
Im still not understanding the whole gravel craze. Its like riding 90s mtb but with better brakes, drop bars, and better technology. Just build a rigid xc bike. Makes no sense.
I did exactely this... I found a rigid (and light) fork & frame, a flat carbon handlebars and a 2x10 MTB transmission... Works like a Gravel at a much lower cost!
Gravel bike is aimed towards those that ride long distance through both tarmac and gravel. Xc bike is not comfortable for long distance and way too slow on tarmac
Gravel bikes are fun in the right conditions. I think they are also destroying the cycling industry because with the right tyre setup they do the job of a road bike, endurance bike, all road bike and a short travel MTB. Im a lifelong MTB XC guy but my gravel bike by far gets the most use of everything in my garage.
I just converted my rigid XC bike back into a regular hardtail. I hated the stock Fox 34 Rhythm it came with, which is why I converted it to rigid with a Trek 1120 fork in the first place, but with my old 160 Lyrik Ult, it sings. As a rigid, even with a 29x3.0 on the front and i40 wheels front and rear, it did nothing that my flat bar gravel bike can't do, and was slower and harder on my wrists, etc. since the gravel bike can comfortably run a shockstop suspension stem, but the XC bike cannot.
You’ve missed the point of gravel bikes completely. There not ment for single track and popping off jumps, they are for going on gravel cycle paths on road rides. Stick to Mtb when you do proper off road.
Who cares what the point of a given bike is? One of the fastest ways to improve, and have the most fun, is to use bikes for what they're NOT meant for. I ride singletrack and dirt jumps on my gravel bike, and I do cardio road rides and hill climbs on my dirt jumper.
I think the position of hands on the drop handle bars is not that natural for dealing with rugged trails and that can be dangerous for beginners where the flat bars should be the choice for safety and stability and that should be mentioned
proper tires! most of a time everybody compares gravels to XCs on factory given tires which delicately saying are trash far worse than gravel ones in resistance terms. I replaced sh,ty maxxis recon race with michelin jet xc2 and boy what a difference, night and day
We used to use actual road bikes with skinny wheels and slick tyres offroad as kids way back in the 70's.... Then sensible people invented mountain bikes and I never looked back! :p
As a new gravel rider, I realised you can’t ride your gravel bike like a MTB.. there is a sweet spot for tire pressure - else your teeth will be chattering on the descents.
Take a gravel bike to a cx race and you'll slide the front out since they're designed to be stable at speed and are crap at tight turns. Take a cx bike to a gravel ride and you'll miss the fatter tyres and have a rough ride - if you don't puncture it'll be a riot!
In the 1990s, mountain bikes had no suspension either. But if you mainly ride on routes like in the video, I think a gravel bike is not comfortable. I would always use my full-sus Mountain bike here. I have also a gravelbike riding it on the road, but I am able to go during a longer ride offroad for a few miles if necessary.
He needs to try a Cotic Cascade, Otso Fenrir Ti, or Salsa Cutthroat gravel bike with Mezcal(XC not the 44mm gravel) or Peyotes & see how he really likes it.
6:20 Gravel bikes exist because someone had an idea in their childhood that they decided to try as an adult. We ALL wanted to ride in the woods on our ten speeds, but the technology wouldn’t let us. Which is why we made MTBs. Gravel bikes are just nostalgia. Change my mind.
Gravel bikes are for riding from your house on any road as far as you want to go. Hard tail xc bikes can do this too but not as comfortably. This video is entertaining and funny but I think most of us know it's not what gravel bikes are designed for. That's why my Merida Big Nine xc bike has a category 3 frame and the Merida Silex gravel bike I'm lusting after has a category 2 frame.
Have you ever tried gravel riding? Let us know what you think in the comments!
Of course, on XC bike ;D it's about having fun, bike does not matter that much.
And there is expression: "meters, not kilometers" ;)
I've done everything on my gravel bike, commuting, long rides, trails, bike packing and even simple errands. It's perfect for nearly everything. Although, I've opted for the more aggressive setup on mine with 2.25 inch tires and a short travel fork in the front. It removes the fear of potholes in the road that would normally scare roadies. I've been a long-time GMBN subscriber, and I will say that whatever bike Blake will ride, he can somehow make it seem fun to ride. He has that energy.
I'm a roadie, MTB, runner, gravel rider, and trail runner. I love the crossover of the gravel bike, it's a cool middle ground!
@@peterfranzjr.1190 same! All rounders rule!
It's good fun when underbiking a little. Annoying when that line is crossed
I have a gravel bike, and honestly, I prefer riding road with it. It’s more for the occasional cut thru off-road. Riding single track on one stinks.
Yes, they are a road bike that can go off road, not an off-road bike. They are great at what they are designed for and that's gravel and they do road pretty well too. Singletrack not that great.
This guy gets it.
Yeah, love my gravel for being able to quickly go anywhere and far but on those trails a XC would be much better…
Yeah they seem like they’re not great at either. So maybe on a long trip with road and some bits of off road but when does anyone ever do that 🤷🏻♂️ Either cycle on the roads or head to trails for a couple of hours in which case a road bike or a MTB.
I’m sticking with my two-bike setup: XC bike for the rougher stuff and endurance bike for road and light gravel. My Domane can fit 35mm tires. If I need more than that I go for the XC hardtail.
That was my setup until this week. Got a stupidly good deal on a trek checkpoint that I couldn’t pass up. Truth is it’s not enough different from the domane to be necessary but I’m still having a blast on it. I like the one by setup and the frame is a bit more stretched out so I don’t feel as over the front wheel on descents.
How much does your XC setup weigh?
I ride gravel but my gravel bike is a full-sus XC bike with gravel tires.
As an owner of both gravel and XC bike i can say that i love both. They are somewhat similar, but not the same. I can't agree with Blake, to my mind gravel bike is not for the singletrack. It's simply too sketcy and uncomfortable. Gravel tires are nothing like XC tires, the grip is much less and they dig in sand. But the gravel bike is way faster and it's great for everything else, commuting, gravel, exploration, travel, road and simply riding along. Every time i do not have specific plan for the ride i grab my gravel bike. However if i'm heading for the woods, i would definitely pick XC bike.
I do a lot of gravel races and ended up getting in to mountain biking from it. Our local race series kept getting more extreme and adding more single track and tech to races. People on xc hard tails started destroying everyone. I built a hard tail with more gravel like geo and a big front chain ring and thought well of i have this I might as well try some xc races and I've been absolutely hooked on xcm since
Big chain ring is such a crazy hack for all kinds of riding. I have a 1x 44t oval on my gravel bike, and 10-52t GX Eagle in the rear, and I'd put it up against your gravel-y XC any day. I also have a trail HT.
Haha. So basically, you just built a 90s MTB…
Next to my trail bike, My gravelbike with 45mm tires and 1x11I use it on xc trails, gravel and road. Very fun and versatile.
I just love all videos including Blake
PLEASE DO THE TOUR DIVIDE Gravel Race! That would be AWESOME!!! 😎💯💯💯💯
The Tour Divide is really an MTB race as the majority of the bikes are an MTB.
Pointless, he knows he'd have far more fun on an XC bike
Gravel vs XC video needed!
@@elmomos no it really isn't 😂
Marketing BS. For trails, rocks roots, mountain climbs: Hardtail mtb.
For gravel: gravel bike - it's how it's called, gravel is gravel (not rocks, not climbs).
I have both, you cannot compare.
And there are so many gravel routes, more than mtb trails, so why record a video there...
My gravel bike is mostly used as a bike packing bike and I really like it. But for the occaisonal road ride or on forst roads, it is good fun too 😅
Never ridden a gravel bike but I would say for road riders who just want a little more adventure, they're going to be a good option as they're basically a beefed up road bike.
Gravel bike for road and gravel aka not technical stuff. Hardtail mtb for forest, single tracks, etc. FS XC for marathon races.
what does FS stands for?
@@xosece Full Suspension
Longer mountain rides can include highways or roads to get back to the car. Having knobby tires is a detriment on those road sections. My gravel has the Fox 32ax Fork to save my hands and arms on the vertical descents.
Underbiking a breath of fresh air really hones the skills and bike handling. Loads of fun. Your not going to beat a MTB off road but if you like a challenge and want to improve your fitness gravel bikes are a must 👍
How about a manual challenge between a gravel bike and mountain bike, then finish off with a very steep, technical descent? That would be good video.
Don't knock gravel bikes! Underbiking is fun, especially on smooth singletrack. The climbs are a breeze on a gravel bike and the descents are sketchy AF!
I was underbiked today. I usually enjoy the challenge, but the forest service had just put down new “gravel” but instead of using gravel, they used rocks. All kinds of sharp edged things about 1.5” in diameter. Bike was slipping all over the place. Rocks being kicked up everywhere. It was awful. I drove my car on the newly rocked road, and it was sliding around and floating all over the place.
Yes! Tour divide all the way :)
Hold my beer 😅😅😅
@@Richard_Payne_GMBN cant skip a challenge like that... ;)
Love that Blake and Rich are gravelling in mtb territory 🙂 I think the versatility is the key argument in this use case…you can throw in laps and loops on the trails when you’re doing other rides. Rich’s conclusion is the right one…it doesn’t replace your MTB, but there’s definitely room in the garage for one. Love my Crux…and my Epic Evo…and my Ostro VAM
I tried it once. Fast on smooth stuff, but not comfy. And rubbish downhill
A trail bike and a gravel bike can ride everything. There are other 2 bike combos that will cover all the bases, but for me and where I live this is the best combo
For me it's XC and Enduro
My point exactly, Commencal Meta TR and Sonder Camino Ti, best bike combo for me.
RIDE ALL THE BIKES!!!
Exactly, no such thing as hating a bike. Just ebikes, but I don't consider them bikes..:P
@@Johnslist Ebikes are real bikes too.Hater!;)
@@mixjon76 I know, I fully support the ADA
As always, the answer is N+1. XC bikes are normally designed around a typical 1-1.5h XC race but a lot of gravel bikes are designed for long hours in the saddle. In the 90s we had the XC tour category for this which evolved into All Mountain bikes. More capable for alpine tours, yes, but also heavier and a bit overkill for your tours in less challenging terrain.
I just use my trail bike as gravel bike
I think gravel bikes are a nice compromise but seem more aimed at roadies who want to do a bit of off road but want that familiar feel and position, similarly we mountain bikes mostly prefer our upright position and often suspension so would gravitate to xc or hardtails if we want to increase the speed on a little bit of road but still want to do mainly off road. More options on bike, encouraging more riders is never a bad thing.
Mountain biked & raced all my life (I am 50) but I LOVE my gravel bike. Perfect for canal rides, low grade mtb trails and getting in miles. Even been on "road" rides with roadie mates . Its opened up options and forced me to use skills that I had forgotten when taking the GB off road when muddy and technical as you dont have suspension and super fat tires to help you. You certainly have to think more when off road on skinny tires.. There is a place in this world for both. Finally cyclocross.. Enter a CX race on a gb, you will hurt in places you did not know existed!!
Blake, we all know you would rather be riding your Scout.
I had a Specialized Rock Combo in 1990. The first gravel bike? No one understood it then either, but what an awesome bike it was. Loved it. Rode it everywhere.
I have an e-gravel bike and I'm firmly with Rich on this, it seems that people want to show horn this style of bike onto mountain bike trails.
I live on the south coast and this is where the gravel bike is at its best, mixtures of cliff top paths, sea front tracks and a bit of road to link them all up.
The gravel bike has its place.
Go for the gravel ride competition Blake & Rich!. As for Rich, as Blake said, you can put in a dropper post on your gravel bike. That';; be fun when descending! I'll wait for that episode!.
Yes, do the tour divide! That would be awesome.
Yeah! And this combination of versatility and relative simplicity of construction is what bought me. I mostly do adventure/touring riding and I usually don't need MTB capabilities. Gravel bikie brings to the table everything I need. I guess XC would work well for me too, but for longer rides I prefer drop bars. They put my arms and hands in a more neutral, comfy position.
Great video, thank you. Blake’s evil laugh is awesome. And yes do the Tour Divide or something similar.
An XC bike with rigid forks, file tread tires and around the same weight will do the same job. Some good conversion mtb to gravel videos out there if you want to build one up on a smaller budget.
Not necessarily. I just converted my rigid XC bike back into a regular hardtail. I hated the stock Fox 34 Rhythm it came with, which is why I converted it to rigid with a Trek 1120 fork in the first place, but with my old 160 Lyrik Ult, it sings. As a rigid, even with a 29x3.0 on the front and i40 wheels front and rear, it did nothing that my flat bar gravel bike can't do, and was slower and harder on my wrists, etc. since the gravel bike can comfortably run a shockstop suspension stem, but the XC bike cannot. Rigid XC is just big gravel, due to modern tech/bikes.
Love my gravel bike. It’s 7km from mine on roads to the local trails. Fast to ride there, have a little shred and then ride back. Ideal.
Just got my first gravel bike . Mtb’r through and through. It’s a hoot !! Great addition to the stable
Gravel riding is more fun on an XC bike. Almost as fast, more comfy, and you get the option to do some light shredding if you get bored.
DO IT! The more the better! You are fun AND up for the job!! Go for it!
Nice intro video to the gravel bike! I bought a salsa cutthroat gx with 52 tooth cassette and 29 x 2.2 inch tires and love it! Racing next to some who ride on 40 mm tires through single track and chunky gravel at 30 mph still has me scratching my head a little 🤔. But I do get dropped quickly on the tarmac.
Yes, Tour Divide, do it!! And make a feature length film of it.
i've got two gravel bikes and no mtb. living the biking dream. depends on what you want to do on a bike really, innit?
My girlfriend and were faced with buying new bikes, so we rented gravel and hard tail xc bikes on different weekends. Our favorite rides are long paved climbs with techy but easy descents. We went for the MTB, just because of the comfort and versatility. We are speed / number or weight weenies, so the mtb was the way to go. But for someone else, i get the decision to go gravel.
Yes, you should tag-team the tour divide
Richs face at 7.39 when Blake suggested a gravel race 😮 😂
Definitely do the Tour Divide! 😃
yes yes yes to you two doing the tour divide!!
Tour divide would make an epic film
I got a gravel bike to do some gravel racing but also found they are so much fun on single tracks and faster on the roads to get there. I also found that it made me a better mountain biker. I haven’t done any bike packing on it yet but plan to.
Rich is riding an all-road bike. With slick and narrow tires, I ride on hardpack. When it comes to trails (and fire roads where I live are almost like MTB tracks), I put on 2.0 - 2.2 conti race and cross kings (27.5) and raise the wide handlebars, almost like a rigid XC bike. That's what I call versatility, apart from the faff to replace bars and their positions for each context.
Love my gravel bike for mixed road / off road rides. 😃
Gravel bikes are basically 80’s mtb’s. I love mine for grinding forest service roads and two tracks with occasional singletrack. It’s kind of fun doing singletrack just due to the simplistic nature but I enjoy riding a hardtail mtb more on flowy singletrack. If I could only have one bike it would probably be a gravel bike but I have a quiver of a gravel bike, fat bike, full sus trail bike, and a hard tail trail bike…. Not to mention some of my old mtb’s dating back to the mid 80’s when I started mtb’ing and honestly, they are all fun in their own ways. Riding bikes are fun.
Yes please to watching your guys take on the Tour Divide. That would be great.
Interestingly, GCN has a gravel vs road vid today. Must be something in the air?
Xc bike with rigid forks. Job done 👍
Put a different stem and flat handlebars and you have a light weight hybrid / xc bike. It's probably cheaper to buy a light weight hybrid in the first place, the next big thing will be hybrids renamed 'Urban bikes'.
DO SOME TIMED COMPARISONS, please? XC vs Gravel, loops, uphill segments only, downhill segments only, tech climbs, tech dns, etc.
great shout, i'll see what i can do
Road or MTB....owned a Gravel bike before...happiness was when i sold it. 😅 Great video though..🚲
I’ve been considering converting my old 2012 Niner Jet9Rdo into a full squish gravel 🤷♂️
Or just take out the front fork to make your xc a rigid,i love em.a tad old school but the weight saving alone make hell of a difference.still dont like seeing gravel bikes out there,i always think a roadie is lost lol
Nah, this is something I'd do with a spare frame and components, just for a laugh, but actually buying one? Never.
Have a Salsa Cutthroat with 29'er tires for on and off road fun. (Schwalbe Speed G-One, shockingly grippy) 😊
I truly believe you guys could have fun riding a beach crusher on single track. 😂 Thanks for a great video.
I like road bikes, gravel bikes, XC bikes and enduro bikes. They all have their home zone. I would rather not take a gravel bike on a S3 oder even not a S2 Trail - the natural living habit of a mountainbike. 😉
Who else is having flashbacks of that Halloween vid / Martyn's nightmare where Blake went full roadie? And was Doddy shaving his legs? Hahahah, good times
pls do a video on gravel wheels on XC bikes! Then make a comparison to see if the performance is better or not.
I can bairly tolerate those bars on my Vintage Apollo road bike that I used to ride to work cause it was 20 bucks. I couldnt imagine riding it with bigger tires offroad, that would be just aweful, and constantly at risk of smashing your face on the stem/bar being so close to it, one big root or rock, and your done, you've knocked yourself out.
As for what its intended for, gravel, fire roads, walking paths with pedestrians everywhere, just ride a decent XC bike, I have my first Hardtail still, a GT Aggressor from 3 years ago, with zero upgrades, it works fine for all that, i'm not trying to win a race so weight doesnt matter, and if it gets stolen while i'm going into a store, who cares, it was 300 bucks.
Most of my in town riding is actually on my Street BMX, as I cant pass up an opportunity to grind some ledges or rails or session a flat bank for a bit.
Ride what you like, but be careful with those drop bars off road, the fire roads we have where I am, have watermelon boulders mixed in, and all other sizes of rocks to contend with, a gravel bike is not having a good time on those and your face is at serious risk of smashing the stem.
still a very hard NO from me. i prefer my hardtail for trails like this. it does make everything more fun, everything a mtb can do better than a gravelbike. the parts where a gravelbike shines are the parts i dont care about. the riding position, urghs, the position of the handlebars, ewwww. riding a gravelbike feels like always being in a super unneccesary aerodynamic position and having the permanent risk of going over the bars cause of this. it feels very unpleasant. very uncomftable. very holding back. i have tryed it and i hated it. gravelbikes are just roadbikes.
Gravel bikes are hilarious fun but also effective on longer rides. They suffer when it's rough though and unless they're built strong, don't be jumping them!
@@ghostAFsky honest question, why not put a dropbar on a Hardtail? It's not much heavier than a gravel, has pretty much the same road capabilities and for me the biggest plus is having a front suspension. It makes riding even on rough roads so much more comfortable than a rigid fork.
I have a flat bar gravel bike that answers all of your concerns. Try it! They're fast as hell, fun on the pavement and off, and super comfortable. OTB concerns are a skill issue, outside the most extreme conditions (mine has a 71.5 head angle). I just took it down a crazy rock garden at Mt Diablo, and sure I had to go kind of slowly, but never came close to going out the front, even with a 120 stem. If you really can't handle it, slap an angleset in there (they're like $100), or get a Salsa Cutthroat or a Santa Cruz Stigmata, both of which have ~69 (nice) head angles.
if im not in a bikepark, then i ride on technical trails or jumplines on my hometrails, so a gravelbike will never suit my riding. i rarly sit on my bikes, i never ride on pavement.
@@zyrus4712 Wow, aren't you a badass? I bow to your superior MTB purity. I ride park, pavement, dirt jumps, and everything in between, and I love mixing and matching rides to bikes. I take the gravel bike on singletrack and to the dirt jumps, and I do cardio rides and hill climbs on my dirt jumper. Haven't yet taken the gravel bike (or the DJ for that matter) to the park, but it's on my list. Being a better road rider makes me a better MTBer, and vice versa. "Never" is a big word, and if you truly mean it, you're leaving a lot of fun on the table.
The truth is, modern bikes are so good now, they can cross over to other categories and sometimes their distinctions are blurred. One bike can do all(most) now. However, if you are a bike nut like me, you would still buy every bike for every category 😂
Mine goes on road, gravel and single track. Lots of fun. I can't ride my full sus to work, I wouldn't want to, and I can't really ride it from my doorstep along the transpennine for a long distance leg stretch. Gravel has its place, youve just got to be able to ride it there.
I still think it is just what I was doing in the 90's on an MTB but with drop bars and the lines are becoming more and more blurred where it ends and XC starts. But I suppose XC courses are alot more extreme now days so it has all just moved along. I do have a gravel bike myself. It is in my stable as my commuter and winter road bike. Also do the odd off road bit on it and agree on the same kind of terrain you based your video on you do have a smile on your face and have a giggle.
No way you’d catch me riding a zero suspension bike over all that. My body would take weeks to forgive me lol
Once I bought a Turbo Levo I realized I'll never want a gravel bike. I ride with my gravel buddies just fine. The Levo is way more versatile than a gravel bike.
Reminds me years ago in gmbn nightmare episode where martin dreamt of gmbn presenters turning into roadies... They've come true😂
The jorts... classy 🤣
I have an hardtail MTB and a Gravel bike, I use the gravel bike for road riding (I didn't want to get an all out road bike as most aren't rated to my weight) and the MTB is for single track, I doubt i'll ever use the gravel bike for single track, I just don't think i'd trust it on the descents, but on the road, its superb, its fast and the climbs are so much easier on it.
🤣 Oh Rich 🤭 I would love to see you doing the The Tour de Vide or the Tuscany Trail.
Im still not understanding the whole gravel craze. Its like riding 90s mtb but with better brakes, drop bars, and better technology. Just build a rigid xc bike. Makes no sense.
I did exactely this... I found a rigid (and light) fork & frame, a flat carbon handlebars and a 2x10 MTB transmission... Works like a Gravel at a much lower cost!
Gravel bike is aimed towards those that ride long distance through both tarmac and gravel. Xc bike is not comfortable for long distance and way too slow on tarmac
Gravel bikes are fun in the right conditions. I think they are also destroying the cycling industry because with the right tyre setup they do the job of a road bike, endurance bike, all road bike and a short travel MTB. Im a lifelong MTB XC guy but my gravel bike by far gets the most use of everything in my garage.
Same here mate @@samuel-JF1981
I just converted my rigid XC bike back into a regular hardtail. I hated the stock Fox 34 Rhythm it came with, which is why I converted it to rigid with a Trek 1120 fork in the first place, but with my old 160 Lyrik Ult, it sings. As a rigid, even with a 29x3.0 on the front and i40 wheels front and rear, it did nothing that my flat bar gravel bike can't do, and was slower and harder on my wrists, etc. since the gravel bike can comfortably run a shockstop suspension stem, but the XC bike cannot.
You’ve missed the point of gravel bikes completely. There not ment for single track and popping off jumps, they are for going on gravel cycle paths on road rides. Stick to Mtb when you do proper off road.
exactly gravel bike are stupid and serve no purpose.
Did you even watch the damn video, they literally stated this
Who cares what the point of a given bike is? One of the fastest ways to improve, and have the most fun, is to use bikes for what they're NOT meant for. I ride singletrack and dirt jumps on my gravel bike, and I do cardio road rides and hill climbs on my dirt jumper.
Yes, the Tour Divide would be very cool. No to the gravel bikes. I'm with others that say Road or MTB. A hardtail is all I really need.
I hear Brompton now has a gravel bike too🎉🎉🎉😂😂
So how about a video on riding to the single track trails and do a few loops then head home. Leave the four wheeled cage home. Bet Si would meet ya.
Some gravels are just xc bikes with curly bars. Change my mind.
I think the position of hands on the drop handle bars is not that natural for dealing with rugged trails and that can be dangerous for beginners where the flat bars should be the choice for safety and stability and that should be mentioned
Definitely way much more funner ! 🤷🏼♂️ I'm team gravel bike here 🤗😂
A 29er hard tail MTB with the proper tires can do anything a gravel bike does better and far more comfortable and safe.
proper tires! most of a time everybody compares gravels to XCs on factory given tires which delicately saying are trash far worse than gravel ones in resistance terms. I replaced sh,ty maxxis recon race with michelin jet xc2 and boy what a difference, night and day
@@msgeorgem I think will try them. Cheers
Ps my problem with Michelin is that they are drying out to fast where I am riding.
@@akissparaskevopoulos after 1k not much of wear, they are very comfy and efficient on low preassures.
I have all, full sus, xc, road and gravel and the only one I ride is the gravel it’s fantastic
Next year there will be gravel cross, extreme xc,... further and further division so we all end up thinking we need more bikes...
We used to use actual road bikes with skinny wheels and slick tyres offroad as kids way back in the 70's....
Then sensible people invented mountain bikes and I never looked back! :p
"My arse is killing me, Blake" --Rich
If you're going to add suspension and a dropper post to your gravel bike, just get a hardtail.
As a new gravel rider, I realised you can’t ride your gravel bike like a MTB.. there is a sweet spot for tire pressure - else your teeth will be chattering on the descents.
And 45mm tires make a lot of differents
Gravel bikes another way the industry can pull our pants down ...Surely they are just cyclo-cross bikes
Different geometry; CX bikes are full on race bikes for an hours racing.......
Take a gravel bike to a cx race and you'll slide the front out since they're designed to be stable at speed and are crap at tight turns. Take a cx bike to a gravel ride and you'll miss the fatter tyres and have a rough ride - if you don't puncture it'll be a riot!
CX max tyre clearance is 33mm and the frame is tiny gravels are usually longer with almost MTB tyre clearance.
They are definitely not the same
👊 couldn't put it better myself!
i want to see 3 of you blake,niel and rich for 1 content because i have fun to watch your videos tips and technique for trail 🤭😁
Love my gravel bike! Just as much as my mtb, really
In the 1990s, mountain bikes had no suspension either. But if you mainly ride on routes like in the video, I think a gravel bike is not comfortable. I would always use my full-sus Mountain bike here. I have also a gravelbike riding it on the road, but I am able to go during a longer ride offroad for a few miles if necessary.
I’m still unsure about gravel bikes I use my hardtail to ride to work on. Thinking to save money and put some xc tyres on
He needs to try a Cotic Cascade, Otso Fenrir Ti, or Salsa Cutthroat gravel bike with Mezcal(XC not the 44mm gravel) or Peyotes & see how he really likes it.
HELL YA!!! Get after it.
...and Global Gravel Bike Network was born!
Gravel bikes are the best...
6:20 Gravel bikes exist because someone had an idea in their childhood that they decided to try as an adult. We ALL wanted to ride in the woods on our ten speeds, but the technology wouldn’t let us.
Which is why we made MTBs.
Gravel bikes are just nostalgia. Change my mind.
😂 they associative as mountain bikes!
Gravel bikes are for riding from your house on any road as far as you want to go.
Hard tail xc bikes can do this too but not as comfortably.
This video is entertaining and funny but I think most of us know it's not what gravel bikes are designed for.
That's why my Merida Big Nine xc bike has a category 3 frame and the Merida Silex gravel bike I'm lusting after has a category 2 frame.