I almost bought a gravel bike but opted to put a rigid fork and some semi slicks on my xc hardtail and I really like it!! I take it on and off-road, but my road bike is better on the road and my trail bike is better in the trails (that’s probably why they’re called that way 🙃)
The gravel bike is the easiest to just get out the door and ride. For MTB you have to get to the trail and for a regular road bike most roads are shit and you can't really enjoy them.
@@edrcozonoking It doesn't matter if I can afford it or not, I don't want it. I have MTB and CX bikes wich I'm almost not using, because I love my lightweight road bike riding on long hilly roads.
If you only have space for one chances are you live in an apartment and a track bike is ideal small footprint easy to maintain easy to negotiate stairs etc a gravel bike with a Cadillac wheelbase and giant wide bars will annoy you to no end in a city
A few arguments for a few bikes. Parts wear out slower making the maintenance cost about equal to one bike. Less likely to break parts if you use the right bike for the surface. If one bike is down for maintenance or in the shop you can still ride. Riding different disciplines make you a better all around rider and decreases the likelihood of overuse injuries and burnout.
I was going to point out both of these logical flaws - having 10 bikes doesn't mean 10x maintenance costs, presuming you ride each bike equally, then you'd be doing 1/10 the maintenance on each one due to that much less riding on each bike. I also take issue with maintenance costing 10% the cost of the bike per year, but yeah maybe if they're riding on surfaces not ideally suited to their bike.
Riding different disciplines; like switching from long distance road to dirt and gravel trails in the same ride? Good luck with that on a mountain bike.
Yeah, you've convinced me to ditch my 4 road bikes, 1 fixie, 1 cross and 3 mtbs for a gravel bike. Should I get a gravel adventure bike, gravel suspension bike, gravel aero bike, gravel climbing bike, gravel do-it-all bike or gravel what?
This setup was exactly in my head too..Looks like a very versatile bike..I'm hoping to buy one soon..Do you have one buddy??.any thoughts on how it rides,etc...cheers.👍🏻
Hi willow. I can honestly recommend it. Ive had mine since july 2020. Inrun it 1x10 with elliptical front ring. Light enough to go flat out on road and ive ridden over some mental terrain on dartmoor on the 650bs and its ace! 👍
I feel like a gravel bike can easily replace a road bike for most people, but it's not gonna replace a full sus mountain bike. I have both, and I feel like it's a good combo. My gravel bike is much better on the road and does pretty well down green or blue single track, but it's not gonna rip down a trail like my full sus mtb. That being said, the mtb is a grind on the road. Each has its place. I ride the gravel bike for workout and adventure. I ride the mtb for adrenaline and progression.
Yep, came here to say the exact same thing. I have two sets of wheels for my gravel bike. One for road the other for dirt. And then a short travel 29er Santa Cruz Tallboy. Best of all three worlds!
For me, less tinkering is an argument against having only one bike ;) (except having to wax chains more often...) A lot of my maintenance expenses go to wear components, that wear when being used (tires, cogs, chain, brake pads, etc.). Distributing use does not affect spending here
@@Best-mx2of IMO, the whole point of a gravel bike (and this video) is that they double as a road bike, one that can go almost anywhere, meaning you can do the large, fast group rides, or the slower social road rides, hence the drop bars. If you're not into any kind of road riding, then a gravel bike would be meaningless to you. Also, my gravel bike is significantly faster (and more fun) than my mountain bike on any dirt trails other than the most technical ones... not only because of the drop bars but also because it's just a much faster bike overall. If that weren't the case, gravel racers would use upright bars to win races.
Here's the ideal stable: 1. Aero race bike 2. All-around gravel bike (that can become endurance bike with wheel swap) 3. Dedicated trail/enduro bike (gravel can do light XC duties)
For me it’s that, but shifted to the right one notch: 1. Endurance road bike which can handle short stints of gravel/badly paved roads to bypass bits of road I’d rather avoid (this significantly increases my route options) 2. XC hardtail with some trail capabilities from modern geometry, but also works for gravel type rides 3. Full on enduro - rideable uphill, but needs to be bike park compatible and handle it when I case my landings!
I was riding gravel bikes from 2018 but in 2021 I've added MTB to my bike garage. Gravel is great but sometimes it just not good enought for some conditions like deep sand or forrest ride where hight maneurability is a must.
It's got to be in the right price/performance bracket for me. If your "all round" bike is really expensive you are shelling out for a comprise. You might aswell buy two lesser but class specific bikes for the same cost.
This! A mediocre mountain bike is going to be better off road, and a mediocre road bike will be better on road. A super duper XC mountain bike, or wide tire gravel bike, will NEVER be as good as two mediocre bikes that cost the same. Having said that, i have one super duper full suspension XC mountain bike, and with a second set of tires, its ...okay on road... but AMAZING off road and on gravel. Just a race car up and downhill...a very luxurious race car.
@@marcalvarez4890 And a 16lb pure roadbike is bliss.........as is a 24lb dual suspension XC bike.......and a gravel bike sucks as a mt bike big time.....nobody rides gravel bikes in the roadbike packs I ride in................too high a pace.
@@marcalvarez4890 Yup. My 2021 Intense Sniper wasnt cheap,but it is a light fast thing and rockets down rough hills or mountains.............gravel bikes will rattle teeth loose on same downhill.
Absolutely... I hate to say this, bike journalists have to cheer for manufacturers, regardless of some not-so-useful new bike category. Sure we all have bills to pay...
Maintenance is a calculation based on miles, toughness of terrain/use. having multiple bikes on a rack doesn't wear them out while not in use. store them cleaned and oiled up. I will maintain a large selection of bikes, I'm not using my light rim brake on tubs daily but it feels special to take it up a climb.
I have a gravel bike, a hybrid bike and a XC mountain bike. Having done tours on each I've come to the conclusion the XC is the only bike I need so have wasted money getting the gravel bike (the hybrid is one I've had for a long time and is used as a shopping bike nowadays). The XC was as fast on road and more comfortable off road with front suspension.
Over the years of "accumulating" bikes, I can honestly say that gravel bikes work most areas, but for instance no gravel bike will replace my Ibis Ripley nor are they meant to. However, it does an "okay" job of replacing my HT, but I would almost argue that my HT (Trek ProCaliber) does a better job of replacing the gravel bike. Swap of the tires and its almost as fast as the gravel bike on pavement (700x50 vs 29x2.1) and handily out speeds it off-road when the trails get even a little bit chunky. The other end of that is that I do have a very light fast CX (Trek Boone) that I use as my "adventure bike"...its by far the most comfortable for mixed terrain, but sustaining 30km/h on group rides are quite a bit taxing unless I get to tuck in on the draft. My wife bought me a Bianchi Oltre XR3 for my birthday...how could I turn it down so of course when its a gift, I will ride it. I have a lot of nice bikes, but I also do all my own maintenance, and I believe its much lower than 10% of the bike per year, but I am also not running anything exotic..no electronic groupsets or anything. The biggest purchase for me has been accessories and tires.
Freakishly,my new Canyon Endurace at 17lbs,rides way smoother than my gravelbike over sharp fast bumps and broken pavement. I dont know what all they did but it really works....I may ride it on light duty gravel rides it works so well.
I really enjoy my Warbird with two sets of wheels. Not sure why so many think a gravel bike is slow on the road if you have road wheels and tires. It's much faster than me on a hard tail on the road. Fun and fast on dirt roads. Usable on mild single track, which I do so infrequently that a mountain bike needed service each ride. There's no way I can compare my old 90's mountain bike (Giant Sedona) to a modern gravel bike. To each their own. I for one am glad for this trend.
A solid argument based on all points. In opinion it's good to have two as long as you've the resources to accommodate the additional steed. Gravel bikes are indeed becoming very popular everywhere. I'm actually working on converting a old 90s hybrid to a gravel bike. Cheers!
Try 6 bikes 😁 E-Gravel (really for road but I hate road to this is as close as I would get) Short travel (120-130mm) aggressive cross country mountain bike Long travel (150-170mm) enduro e-mtb (for those big mountain days and electric assist because the flatlands of the midwest made me soft) Fat bike, because it snows.. A retro, (once upon a time) high end boutique 90s cross country bike now hanging in the garage that you may ride once per year because it was so good "back in the day" that you can't get rid of it but it is now technically obsolete. A hard tail bar bike made of of all the 90s bits you have left over but somehow still work together.
I have a gravel, Full sus and a hardtail, although I am currently using the gravel the most I think the do It all bike is a hardtail. Gravel is amazing but with a hardtail you can do everything while with the gravel you have big disadvantages in some technical terrain and even some bad maintained fireroads.
Yes gravel cannot be a do it all because it can't really safely do technical trails. hardtail is the closest thing to a do it all because you can safely do tarmac with it. Both would have disadvantages on a pure tarmac race. In my opinion the minimal setup to be able to do it all is a pair of a roadbike and a mountainbike. gravel would be an extra bike when you just want to feel different.
I’m currently living this life, two wheelsets one for pavement and one for gravel. For anyone who wants the smallest footprint and the best bang for buck, it really helps to have a gravel bike. But given the space and money, I could see myself buying an aero bike for the convenience of just hopping onto the bike based on the ride.
I used to do the same like you but I realized that switching the wheelsets on and off and fine tuning the brakes and shifters is just too much hassle. I learned the hard way that it's much easier to simply switch the bikes.
25 years ago I had this idea for a total bike, one for all, and I built one, starting from a cyclocross frame. After 3 years I bought a road bike, and since then the one-for-all bike is in the cellar.
For me, two bikes: 1. MTB enduro-grade (Marine Alpine Trail 7) with 2 sets of wheels (one with enduro style tyres the other one with a pair of super-fast XC tyres), that covers everything I can find off-road, I also have 2 chainrings (28T and 32T) that I swap depending on ride profile. 2. Gravel bike (ICAN X-Gravel frame) 1x 42T with 2 sets of wheels (45mm carbon and 32mm Conti GP 5000 with 11-36T cassette and a pair of 29er XC wheels with 50mm Maxxis Rambler and 11-42T cassette), it covers the other end of the spectrum with an overlap in he middle when it comes to XC single tracks. I do not race, so weight is not an issue for me as long as I can give a hard time to my riding buddies on pure-bred road racers or gravel bikes and as I managed to lose 5kgs over the last 2 months, I am now riding a 4.5kgs/$20,000 super-bike without the price-tag 😁😁
Primarily my gravel bike is a winter bike. The ability to run 35mm tyres + full length mudguards means there's no compromise on grip and staying dry. There are a couple of downsides though. Weight - this one is steel, built with components to survive commuting + winter riding. It weighs 12kg!! The other is aerodynamics and overall speed. The race bike is significantly faster for a given effort.
I'm in the multiple bike court. After upgrades & mods 5 yrs. ago, cost nothing to upkeep. I'm my own mechanic. Parts, nothing so far, as I clean chains every 1000 miles .Lube on a regular schedule. In the past, I can get 5-6 thousand miles out of a chain, before it reaches 0.05% wear . KB
If you could only have one, gravel bike would be it. But if you live anywhere that gets wet in winter, the humble hardtail (MTB) is still unbeatable for the fall and winter. You don't have to optimize it for weight or aero (so it can remain cheap) as you'll be mud-slugging anyway, and it's simply a more durable bike. Plus it can still handle trails and bumpy singletrack that a gravel bike can't. So the answer may be: HT MTB (full-sus if you live near serious hills/mountains) + a gravel bike that is on the faster end of the spectrum (think 35mm 'hard gravel' tyres). And if you want to go all-out, an extra (road only) wheelset for your gravel.
Love the channel, love everything bike..BUT..in my opinion, drop bars have zero business on bumpy off road conditions. I’d take a cross country hard tail for those rides all day long.
IMO, the whole point of a gravel bike (and this video) is that they double as a road bike, one that can go almost anywhere, meaning you can do the large, fast group rides, or the slower social road rides, hence the drop bars. If you're not into any kind of road riding, then a gravel bike would be meaningless to you. Also, my gravel bike is significantly faster (and more fun) than my mountain bike on any dirt trails other than the most technical ones... not only because of the drop bars but also because it's just a much faster bike overall. If that weren't the case, gravel racers would use upright bars to win races.
@@Lukearthwalker That’s what I initially thought as well. Turns out I just prefer specific bikes for specific disciplines. I totally agree with you that they are faster, I didn’t take into consideration the gearing on my Mtn bike compared to a road/gravel bike. I may, in time, just build a gravel specific bike with a little front suspension and some flat bars haha. I appreciate the comment!
@@Lukearthwalker Problem is tires that can deal with even very light offroad conditions will seriously slow you down in a road pack. Sure, you could swap out the wheels, but you could also swap out the bike. Hardtails are so cheap these days.
My road bike became kind of retired, when I bought a gravel bike. Nevertheless I prefer having two bikes. When the gravel bike fails, I have a backup solution. Up to now this has not been the case. But it is good to know to have a backup.
I can't afford more than one really good bike, but I can stretch to a couple of pairs of nice wheels as well as a mid range bike - so.... I have a 2020 Specialized Diverge Sport plus a pair of Hunt Aerowide 34 wheels and set of Roval Terra C wheels. This means with the Rovals shod with WTB Byway40's I have a great bikepacking rig (went from Brussels to north of Gothenburg last year). Same bike with the Hunts shod with Conti GP5000 32mm tires and I keep up on the Sunday club ride. Same bike with the original wheels and pathfinder pro42mm tires and I ride the forest trails around Brussels. One bike to do (mostly) it all!
i get the one bike thing and if i was to have just one then it would be a gravel but i like the variety from my collection, aluminium track bike, couple of steel classics, one for touring one for a fast everyday bike, a classic MTB for hauling and fun rides, a gravel bike and an aero endurance bike. it should be noted that I do love to rebuild and modernise classic bikes so one bike just won't do when i'm trying to build myself to bankruptcy
I used my roadbike on tuesday. When I came to a roadrepair with course gravel I almost lost balance, wished I was on my gravelbike. The gravelbike is slightly slower but far more safe and comfortable, and its 11-42 cassette climbs better when it gets too steep for my 11-25 road-cassette.
This is generally good advice IF you’d suggested getting another wheel set to enable quick switching between gravel wheels and faster road wheels. Often a quality wheel set will be cheaper than a whole new bike. Be sure to select the same exact caliper width so you don’t need to adjust those every time. One problem with this suggestion is that currently Gravel often means heavy as heck. My 2016 gravel build (1x) weighs 17 lbs however I see a lot of well spec’d gravel bikes weighing 18.5 lbs plus. Good luck keeping up with your mates on a spirited, hilly group ride especially if the bike weighs more like 20-23lbs. Yikes!
I've got 6 bikes from full suss trail bike to an old Allez...... A gravel bike with wide tyre clearance, a Redshift stem, 1x and bottle mounts could be my one and only.....Stick a 29er hardtail MTB in that and......I could live with it I suppose.
Recently sold my high spec carbon Colnago road bike as not doing such long road rides. I’m now using my Kinesis Tripster AT for both gravel & road duties. It has GRX 800 Double groupset with Mason Hunt wheels. I mainly do road, but when I want to do gravel I simply swap the Vittoria 30 road tires for my Panaracer gravel king tires. As I ditched tubeless on gravel bike due to reliability issues swapping tires is quick & easy. (Tubeless on road bike & mountain bike both faultless, but for some reason it was unreliable on gravel bike when I ride, despite trying different wheel & tire configurations). I then have a Spez Tero 4 ebike for off road duties. For me this is perfect pair of bikes 👍🏻😎
I have my CX for road and easy trails (still using only one wheelset), I plan to get road specific wheels and tyres in the future. When I have better trails to ride I'll get mountainbike again. So no gravelbike for me! It too bulky to look cool on road and not good enough for rocky trails.
Tires, cables, pads, and lube are all I spend on my bikes' maintenance, when not upgrading. If you do your own maintenance you'll save time and money in the long run even after putting in for tools and a stand. So many strong riders I've met, don't know how to adjust their mechanical derailleurs, or ride chains that have been through a tar pit. For me, the hobby is equal amounts what you do on the road as on the bike stand.
Multiple bikes for different types of riding. No one bike can do them all well. All ti bikes and we are talking a Road, XC Race Hard-tail and a FS XC bike. The Gravel is well beyond endurance but meant for mostly smooth single track.
Living on National Living Wage I only have 1 choice, a do it all bike. Commuting, long distance rides and eventually a bit of gravel. I currently ride a Sonder Camino AL. I've had it about 5 months. Built it up from a frame set using as many parts as possible from my Raleigh Randonneur. Can only afford one set of wheels at the moment. Tried 45mm tyres and now trying 28's to see the difference. I am 55 and still at least 2-3 stone overweight ☹. IF, and that's a BIG IF, I had the money then I would probably go the multiple bike route. You really need a master not a jack of all trades to do a proper job 😀.
I have 3 bikes, one road, one CX (yes cross not gravel) and one MTB. I feel like I could compromise the road bike and have the CX bike play that role too with a simple tire change, however, for the type of MTB I do a CX or Gravel would not do it. But yes if you can only have one bike for whatever reason, a gravel bike is probably the right pick
I own three bikes: a road bike, a touring bike, and a gravel bike. In the last year, I've only ever ridden the gravel bike, even when touring or road riding.
I get the gist but the down bars are uncomfortable in long rides and don't help on jumps. Your bike might be light but after adding all the features you are back to a heavy bike. I think an enduro and a 2nd road bike with gravel tires is enough. Also, if you have a variety of bikes then you can provide a great opinion to others, so having a garage full of bikes is actually fun. Its like your shoes. Plus its even better than having clunker cars that depreciate far even more than bikes do and makes your yard look stale.
I have about 10 bikes including a 7.2 kg Olmo. I got a Felt gravel bike before the winter and since then I hadn’t touched the other bikes! Well the Olmo can be beaten for mountain climbs but for everything else the Felt wins despite the 4 kg extra
29er hardtail with swappable suspension fork or rigid fork is my all rounder. Wide flat bars give much better control in the rough stuff, up and down. If you want to do bunch rides on sealed roads (which I don't) then you need a road bike as well. Who can be bothered changing tyres between rides?
@@lucanus8997 only for the weight saving - about a kilo. but i wouldn't swap forks often. Once or twice a year depending on what sort of riding is ahead.
Dude, I rode Monkey Trail at Cannock on a totally rigid Kona Lava Dome with 26x1.95 Farmer John tyres, V brakes (with KoolStop pads mind you) and no dropper post (obvs - they weren't around then). Most of it was about doable. The steepest highest drops made of stones were best walked, it made meache so much a dwas nowhere near fun for most of the time. It was hard work and scary in parts. I'm not binning my new hardtail with it's 27.5 inch wheels, disk brakes, front sus and a dropper - I'd consider that a minimum for those sorts of trails and I'd quite like a 29er tbh (although I still don't 'need' full sus - that's what knees are for) I think a rigid carbon fork would snap if you pushed it. The Kona had a beefy P2 CroMo job. I love my CX bike although want to upgrade it soon but it can't do everything even a hardtail MTB can. Not with me riding it anyway. Granted I don't feel the need for a road bike - the CX does good enough there for me.
Before I hand in my velomobile, my gravel bike has to go. But it's true, the gravel bike makes a lot of fun, especially because it's light, even with mudguards, frame bag and luggage rack
Honestly, a regular hardtail (with rigid fork if you want, like an Orbea Alma) wins over a gravel bike on so many different fronts： 1. Lighter，you can already build a 5.9kg hardtail now (see an UNO build on youtube); 2. Cheaper, as MTB parts are almost always cheaper; I built up my CCC (Cheap Chinese Carbon) hardtail for something like $1100 at barely 9kg (950g frame, 500g fork, XT group + hydraulic brakes). 3. Better control and versatility; Maybe 1% slower on gravel/road, but 5%-50% faster/in greater control offroad, especially when the trail gets sketchy. In my book, the only setting where a gravel bike is appropriate is smooth, fairly flat gravel roads, which is not even that common in many countries. Typically roads are either paved, or unpaved (not smooth at all). My bet is gravel is a category that will disappear in 10 years.
You only need a lightweight hardtail Mountain Bike. I know that for a fact as I have one. Gravel Bikes are total fads, shame people haven't realised that yet. The fact these are slowly turning into mountain bikes is ridiculous.
I'm moving over seas so I'm going to have to go from 7 bikes to 1 bike and a gravel bike with large clearance with a second 650B wheelset for versatility is what I'm going with.
What you really need to do is build your own. Mtb based hybrid frame, clearance up to 700x50mm. , mtb cranks with road spider and 34/50. Mtb rear end and 11-36 180/160mm rotors for good heat soak.
Almost convinced but only one bike I’d have an xc mtb n put road tyres on if required. We do long off road on our Procaliber’s and though mega my CX bike just couldn’t cope with the terrain. (it’s bloomin scary on an easy mtb downhill route).Unless you were Chris Acrig!
I have 4 bikes, but have been limited one lately as we had to temporarily move out of our home. I have ridden singletrack and road on a gravel bike lately. Definitely not as fast as a road bike on pavement. Still miss the other three bikes (road bike, fixed gear, MTB). I could probably go without the MTB, it's a 90s specialized, basically a gravel bike lol.
I have a gravel bike with two wheelsets/tire types to cover road riding, commuting, multi-terrain (including milder single-track). Then I have a full-suspension mountain bike for "real" mountain biking. So two bikes. :)
Just got into gravel bikes, but you know what the biggest pain was riding road bikes before? Traveling down a cool road, thinking it will connect conveniently to another one you know of, then it's just 30 meters of rock and you have to ride ALL THE WAY BACK because even just walking destroys your spd sl cleats...hence why I haven't touched my road bikes because I love the "go anywhere" aspect.
I really dont see the point. I have nice hardtail and i can ride everywhere,even on tarmac lol..it wont hurt me if racebikes passes me or like. So why by road bike geo bike and then tune it for mtb riding? Why just buy directly a hardtail or full suspension? Even if you add wider tyres,dropper or 50 mm fork,gravel bike is never as comfy on trails than hardtail.
I think it comes down to 2 reasons why some use gravel bike over hard tail 1) they want to be able to travel faster on both dirt and pavement. 2) a lot of these gravel riders love to decent dirt paths at the speed of road bikes…hard tails can’t do that due to gear ratios. The adrenaline of going down dirt paths gives the rider a different experience. It can be argued the same way people pick and choose between hard tail or full suspension bikes. The experience!
@@bonbonflippers4298 Fair enough if your preferred riding encompasses a particular style or terrain, but to say "it's the only bike you need" without that qualifier just isn't true. As many have said a hard tail XC bike is the most versatile simply because you can ride at a fairly decent pace on the most varied types of surfaces and conditions.
@@SteelR4t "it's the only bike you need" it's just a marketing term and only applies to people that don't do terrain that's more for mountain bikes. Depending on the terrain you like to ride in determines if a gravel bike is all you need. I have a gravel bike that pretty much defines it as the only bike I need since I mostly do pavement with a little dirt riding when I am bored. I do not use my gravel bike as a mountain bike because that's not what it's intended for. I like to ride to the dirt paths thats 40miles away instead of driving there and explore. That's why I bought a gravel bike, I've tried riding my xc bike through pavement and it was just painfully slow due to its gear ratio and geometry. Also numbing hands using flat bar vs drop bar.
I ride a gravel bike and a fat bike. I would be missing out on too much if I just had one of them! There’s a bit of overlap for sure between the two, but I think snow and singletrack are way more fun on the fatbike (plus 4.0 width is the minimum on all groomed snow trails in my area). All that said, I put the most saddle time on my gravel bike. Absolutely my favorite ride I own.
Bike maintenance has to do with wear… so if you arn’t using a bike it doesn’t wear and you can only use one bike at a time…. Therefore by riding lots of bikes you are spreading wear out over many bikes instead of the same amount of wear as on one. More over some bikes are stronger than others - so will wear faster if they are used for things that they really aren’t good at… so I think it is still better to have a selection of suitable bikes for each kind of endeavour…
Yes an iPhone can replace a dedicated camera but a dedicated camera can do things an iPhone could never do in the right hands, for some that lives in the suburbs absolutely but someone that lives in the city would appreciate a smaller wheelbase functionally more narrow bars and bigger gears more adept to cruise at high speed with
For those like me who was unfamiliar with the phrase : “ a ‘service course’ full of different bikes” “ A service course is a team’s operational base, where bikes and equipment are stored, mechanics work when not at races, and vehicles are serviced”
I don’t get the whole Gravel bike thing, you said it yourself it’s basically “up-cycled” 90’s MTB no suspension bike. Why go back in time, bike industry has moved on and improved… I rather have a hard tail MTB as a 2nd bike than a Gravel bike (too many compromises). Gravel bikes are slow and sluggish on the road, compared to a road bike and pretty uncomfortable off-road compared to a hard-tail MTB, not even talking about full suspension one. Regarding value for money, good hard-tail MTB with hydraulic brakes starts at £650, you’re lucky if you find a Gravel bike with hydraulic brakes for under £1500 and usually get lot less gears with it. The obsession with going 1x, meant that brands like Shimano ended up developing a whole new Gravel specific groupset (GRX). SRAM went the other way and redeveloped their road offerings from Rival up to Red to run as 1x or with double chainrings. But that didn’t come without a cost. Price of their groupsets skyrocketed as a result, not even talking about their chains. Their chains are as flexi as spaghetti, to cope with the massive cross-chaining. As a result they don’t last very long and stretch very easily. Back in a day, in my teens, I owned a bike marketed as a hybrid cross country. Which was basically a front suspension MTB with 700c wheels and skinnier tyres to MTB. Value for money was excellent. For me, a Gravel bike should come with front suspension, otherwise it doesn’t make sense, it just becomes a heavy overpriced endurance road bike with big tyre clearance…
With such versatility in mind why do gravel bikes only have a 1X chainring system. How are you supposed to go up double digit slopes and still pedal at 45km/h (28miles/hour). A 2X or 3X system is really better suited for an all-round bike, but the industry simply saves money by not using it and gives the excuse that it's to save weight.
All those points also apply to fat bikes! Mountain biking, commuting, bikepacking, gravel riding, around the world adventure, mud, snow, sand, tarmac, forest, you name it... If you truly want to live with only one bike, then you can't beat a good fat bike, right? Of course a gravel bike is faster, but not as versatile.
I'm loving my Specialized Turbo Creo SL EVO this winter but it certainly couldn't be my only bike. I need at least two mountain bikes (an acoustic short travel trail bike and an electric long travel enduro mountain bike) and a fat bike for the snowy winter single-track riding. That's enough for me...
The trend where the Gravel bikes thend to switch (even more wider tires and suspension) makes it less capable for me. For me a Gravel Bike is a Road Bike where I can include dirt roads etc. If I want to hit the trails I use my hard-tail MTB.
I rather have multiple bikes..right tools for the job is more fun. More bikes..means less wear and tear on costly road equipment. I mainly choose lower specs build on offroad bikes.. because they get hammered ..cheaper to replace
Great idea. And if I HAD to choose 'just one bike', the Cannondale Synapse would be my choice. However, I'm 5-7 bike sort of fellow. And I'm a roadie exclusively. So, there's that ;-) Great video!
Tried that. And after several months, returned to MTB machine. Just wayyyy wayyyy more comfortable! jejeej. But then again that is just me being 50. Gravel bike not as comfy, makes no sense for me.
@@bikeradar I have to say you guys are great at navigating the cycling culture minefield. Can't help but smile at those cheeky quips you put in this video.
I lived fine with a gravel bike, until the pandemic. I realized I needed a trail bike for the short rides, my gravel bike sucks for short rides. Now I'm learning to jump and stuff.
Gravel bikes aren't the best choice for any style of riding. If you're doing a mix of DH and XC then a FS with decent lock-out covers all the bases. If you're doing road then a road-bike is the only option. If you want a jack-of-all-trades then a good HT will be perfect. Gravel bikes are decent at bike-packing on established trails but that's it. Even then I would get something like a Cannondale Topstone with minimal travel to allow me more ride comfort and versatility. I wouldn't be taking to forest trails on a bike with zero travel like in this video, that's just daft. Look at @4:15 where he's being rattled around on a trail with no rough features. Gravel bikes don't fill any niche effectively.
Show me a gravel bike at 7.0 kg and I'm in. Otherwise I'll have my rim brake road bike for dancing up hills and my disc brake gravel bike for winter and the non-paved stuff. They've both definitely got their place but this is a nice solution if you have budget/space constraints.
Have any more reasons? Leave them in the comments and maybe we'll make a commenters edition of this video!
No reason, I don't need and I don't want a gravel bike.
I almost bought a gravel bike but opted to put a rigid fork and some semi slicks on my xc hardtail and I really like it!! I take it on and off-road, but my road bike is better on the road and my trail bike is better in the trails (that’s probably why they’re called that way 🙃)
@@romanpramuka2703 you write "I don't need" I read "I can't afford".
The gravel bike is the easiest to just get out the door and ride. For MTB you have to get to the trail and for a regular road bike most roads are shit and you can't really enjoy them.
@@edrcozonoking It doesn't matter if I can afford it or not, I don't want it. I have MTB and CX bikes wich I'm almost not using, because I love my lightweight road bike riding on long hilly roads.
If you only have space for 1 bike, then yes a gravel bike is all you need. However, if you have space for 7 bikes, you should have 7 bikes.
space, not money is definitely the limiting factor.
@@DevanSisson if money is no issue (?!?!): buy yourself more space!
and one of them is a gravel.
for me gravel is not the bike to rule them all, it's yet another bike to have.🤣
If you only have space for one chances are you live in an apartment and a track bike is ideal small footprint easy to maintain easy to negotiate stairs etc a gravel bike with a Cadillac wheelbase and giant wide bars will annoy you to no end in a city
Amen.
A few arguments for a few bikes. Parts wear out slower making the maintenance cost about equal to one bike. Less likely to break parts if you use the right bike for the surface. If one bike is down for maintenance or in the shop you can still ride. Riding different disciplines make you a better all around rider and decreases the likelihood of overuse injuries and burnout.
And get one with a SA XRD3 or XL 5 speed. Once a year lube. Drum brakes go 30,000 miles.
I was going to point out both of these logical flaws - having 10 bikes doesn't mean 10x maintenance costs, presuming you ride each bike equally, then you'd be doing 1/10 the maintenance on each one due to that much less riding on each bike. I also take issue with maintenance costing 10% the cost of the bike per year, but yeah maybe if they're riding on surfaces not ideally suited to their bike.
Riding different disciplines; like switching from long distance road to dirt and gravel trails in the same ride? Good luck with that on a mountain bike.
Yeah, you've convinced me to ditch my 4 road bikes, 1 fixie, 1 cross and 3 mtbs for a gravel bike. Should I get a gravel adventure bike, gravel suspension bike, gravel aero bike, gravel climbing bike, gravel do-it-all bike or gravel what?
Tifosi cavazzo and 3 sets of wheels! Hunt aero 50 with 30mm tyres, fulcrum db4 with 700c x 45 and 650b x 2.1 mtb tyres. Boooooom 👍
This setup was exactly in my head too..Looks like a very versatile bike..I'm hoping to buy one soon..Do you have one buddy??.any thoughts on how it rides,etc...cheers.👍🏻
Hi willow. I can honestly recommend it. Ive had mine since july 2020. Inrun it 1x10 with elliptical front ring. Light enough to go flat out on road and ive ridden over some mental terrain on dartmoor on the 650bs and its ace! 👍
thanks for the input buddy.Nice to hear good things about this bike..Makes me want it even more now..
I feel like a gravel bike can easily replace a road bike for most people, but it's not gonna replace a full sus mountain bike. I have both, and I feel like it's a good combo. My gravel bike is much better on the road and does pretty well down green or blue single track, but it's not gonna rip down a trail like my full sus mtb. That being said, the mtb is a grind on the road. Each has its place. I ride the gravel bike for workout and adventure. I ride the mtb for adrenaline and progression.
Yep, came here to say the exact same thing. I have two sets of wheels for my gravel bike. One for road the other for dirt. And then a short travel 29er Santa Cruz Tallboy. Best of all three worlds!
For me, less tinkering is an argument against having only one bike ;) (except having to wax chains more often...)
A lot of my maintenance expenses go to wear components, that wear when being used (tires, cogs, chain, brake pads, etc.). Distributing use does not affect spending here
Now that I have a road-bike and a MTB I have two main reasons why I don't need my gravel-bike anymore 😄
Dont care didnt ask plus your profile picture is cringe
@@k4kuj4_.-18 He has a point. A MTB is the original gravel bike.
A mountain bike is the perfect gravel bike just get an extra pair of wheels with hybrid tyres.
@@Best-mx2of IMO, the whole point of a gravel bike (and this video) is that they double as a road bike, one that can go almost anywhere, meaning you can do the large, fast group rides, or the slower social road rides, hence the drop bars. If you're not into any kind of road riding, then a gravel bike would be meaningless to you.
Also, my gravel bike is significantly faster (and more fun) than my mountain bike on any dirt trails other than the most technical ones... not only because of the drop bars but also because it's just a much faster bike overall. If that weren't the case, gravel racers would use upright bars to win races.
Here's the ideal stable:
1. Aero race bike
2. All-around gravel bike (that can become endurance bike with wheel swap)
3. Dedicated trail/enduro bike (gravel can do light XC duties)
For me it’s that, but shifted to the right one notch:
1. Endurance road bike which can handle short stints of gravel/badly paved roads to bypass bits of road I’d rather avoid (this significantly increases my route options)
2. XC hardtail with some trail capabilities from modern geometry, but also works for gravel type rides
3. Full on enduro - rideable uphill, but needs to be bike park compatible and handle it when I case my landings!
1.track bike that clears 30c
2. 26 inch mtb with a front rack
3. Cross bike
I'm poor can't afford the trendy shit lol
@@richdyer2000 Yep, this is the ideal. You can ride literally everything with this setup and do it well.
I was riding gravel bikes from 2018 but in 2021 I've added MTB to my bike garage. Gravel is great but sometimes it just not good enought for some conditions like deep sand or forrest ride where hight maneurability is a must.
MTB cross country bike can bring you every where 😁
It's got to be in the right price/performance bracket for me. If your "all round" bike is really expensive you are shelling out for a comprise. You might aswell buy two lesser but class specific bikes for the same cost.
This!
A mediocre mountain bike is going to be better off road, and a mediocre road bike will be better on road.
A super duper XC mountain bike, or wide tire gravel bike, will NEVER be as good as two mediocre bikes that cost the same.
Having said that, i have one super duper full suspension XC mountain bike, and with a second set of tires, its ...okay on road... but AMAZING off road and on gravel. Just a race car up and downhill...a very luxurious race car.
@@marcalvarez4890 And a 16lb pure roadbike is bliss.........as is a 24lb dual suspension XC bike.......and a gravel bike sucks as a mt bike big time.....nobody rides gravel bikes in the roadbike packs I ride in................too high a pace.
@@marcalvarez4890 Yup. My 2021 Intense Sniper wasnt cheap,but it is a light fast thing and rockets down rough hills or mountains.............gravel bikes will rattle teeth loose on same downhill.
Absolutely... I hate to say this, bike journalists have to cheer for manufacturers, regardless of some not-so-useful new bike category. Sure we all have bills to pay...
Maintenance is a calculation based on miles, toughness of terrain/use. having multiple bikes on a rack doesn't wear them out while not in use. store them cleaned and oiled up. I will maintain a large selection of bikes, I'm not using my light rim brake on tubs daily but it feels special to take it up a climb.
I have a gravel bike, a hybrid bike and a XC mountain bike. Having done tours on each I've come to the conclusion the XC is the only bike I need so have wasted money getting the gravel bike (the hybrid is one I've had for a long time and is used as a shopping bike nowadays). The XC was as fast on road and more comfortable off road with front suspension.
Over the years of "accumulating" bikes, I can honestly say that gravel bikes work most areas, but for instance no gravel bike will replace my Ibis Ripley nor are they meant to.
However, it does an "okay" job of replacing my HT, but I would almost argue that my HT (Trek ProCaliber) does a better job of replacing the gravel bike. Swap of the tires and its almost as fast as the gravel bike on pavement (700x50 vs 29x2.1) and handily out speeds it off-road when the trails get even a little bit chunky.
The other end of that is that I do have a very light fast CX (Trek Boone) that I use as my "adventure bike"...its by far the most comfortable for mixed terrain, but sustaining 30km/h on group rides are quite a bit taxing unless I get to tuck in on the draft. My wife bought me a Bianchi Oltre XR3 for my birthday...how could I turn it down so of course when its a gift, I will ride it.
I have a lot of nice bikes, but I also do all my own maintenance, and I believe its much lower than 10% of the bike per year, but I am also not running anything exotic..no electronic groupsets or anything. The biggest purchase for me has been accessories and tires.
Freakishly,my new Canyon Endurace at 17lbs,rides way smoother than my gravelbike over sharp fast bumps and broken pavement. I dont know what all they did but it really works....I may ride it on light duty gravel rides it works so well.
I really enjoy my Warbird with two sets of wheels. Not sure why so many think a gravel bike is slow on the road if you have road wheels and tires. It's much faster than me on a hard tail on the road. Fun and fast on dirt roads. Usable on mild single track, which I do so infrequently that a mountain bike needed service each ride. There's no way I can compare my old 90's mountain bike (Giant Sedona) to a modern gravel bike. To each their own. I for one am glad for this trend.
A solid argument based on all points. In opinion it's good to have two as long as you've the resources to accommodate the additional steed. Gravel bikes are indeed becoming very popular everywhere. I'm actually working on converting a old 90s hybrid to a gravel bike. Cheers!
I did the same to my hybrid bike and use it to just go everywhere short of mountain biking.
You online need 4 bikes
Gravel
Hardtail
Fixed gear
Lugged steel frame road.
That’s it!
Try 6 bikes 😁
E-Gravel (really for road but I hate road to this is as close as I would get)
Short travel (120-130mm) aggressive cross country mountain bike
Long travel (150-170mm) enduro e-mtb (for those big mountain days and electric assist because the flatlands of the midwest made me soft)
Fat bike, because it snows..
A retro, (once upon a time) high end boutique 90s cross country bike now hanging in the garage that you may ride once per year because it was so good "back in the day" that you can't get rid of it but it is now technically obsolete.
A hard tail bar bike made of of all the 90s bits you have left over but somehow still work together.
I have a gravel, Full sus and a hardtail, although I am currently using the gravel the most I think the do It all bike is a hardtail. Gravel is amazing but with a hardtail you can do everything while with the gravel you have big disadvantages in some technical terrain and even some bad maintained fireroads.
Yes gravel cannot be a do it all because it can't really safely do technical trails. hardtail is the closest thing to a do it all because you can safely do tarmac with it. Both would have disadvantages on a pure tarmac race.
In my opinion the minimal setup to be able to do it all is a pair of a roadbike and a mountainbike. gravel would be an extra bike when you just want to feel different.
I’m currently living this life, two wheelsets one for pavement and one for gravel. For anyone who wants the smallest footprint and the best bang for buck, it really helps to have a gravel bike.
But given the space and money, I could see myself buying an aero bike for the convenience of just hopping onto the bike based on the ride.
I used to do the same like you but I realized that switching the wheelsets on and off and fine tuning the brakes and shifters is just too much hassle. I learned the hard way that it's much easier to simply switch the bikes.
@@DilbertMuc yeah that’s what’s pushing me towards buying a second bike, but I avoided the need to adjust disc brakes so far by using shims.
@@josephoutdoors Be very carefull not to fall into that infamous n+1 bike trap. There is almost no return from it. (6 bikes in my storage now) :D))))
@@DilbertMuc my wallet is ready 😤 lol
25 years ago I had this idea for a total bike, one for all, and I built one, starting from a cyclocross frame. After 3 years I bought a road bike, and since then the one-for-all bike is in the cellar.
For me, two bikes:
1. MTB enduro-grade (Marine Alpine Trail 7) with 2 sets of wheels (one with enduro style tyres the other one with a pair of super-fast XC tyres), that covers everything I can find off-road, I also have 2 chainrings (28T and 32T) that I swap depending on ride profile.
2. Gravel bike (ICAN X-Gravel frame) 1x 42T with 2 sets of wheels (45mm carbon and 32mm Conti GP 5000 with 11-36T cassette and a pair of 29er XC wheels with 50mm Maxxis Rambler and 11-42T cassette), it covers the other end of the spectrum with an overlap in he middle when it comes to XC single tracks.
I do not race, so weight is not an issue for me as long as I can give a hard time to my riding buddies on pure-bred road racers or gravel bikes and as I managed to lose 5kgs over the last 2 months, I am now riding a 4.5kgs/$20,000 super-bike without the price-tag 😁😁
Primarily my gravel bike is a winter bike. The ability to run 35mm tyres + full length mudguards means there's no compromise on grip and staying dry.
There are a couple of downsides though. Weight - this one is steel, built with components to survive commuting + winter riding. It weighs 12kg!!
The other is aerodynamics and overall speed. The race bike is significantly faster for a given effort.
People who like to say weight doesnt matter,are pulling your leg.
I'm in the multiple bike court. After upgrades & mods 5 yrs. ago, cost nothing to upkeep. I'm my own mechanic. Parts, nothing so far, as I clean chains every 1000 miles .Lube on a regular schedule. In the past, I can get 5-6 thousand miles out of a chain, before it reaches 0.05% wear . KB
If you could only have one, gravel bike would be it. But if you live anywhere that gets wet in winter, the humble hardtail (MTB) is still unbeatable for the fall and winter. You don't have to optimize it for weight or aero (so it can remain cheap) as you'll be mud-slugging anyway, and it's simply a more durable bike. Plus it can still handle trails and bumpy singletrack that a gravel bike can't. So the answer may be: HT MTB (full-sus if you live near serious hills/mountains) + a gravel bike that is on the faster end of the spectrum (think 35mm 'hard gravel' tyres). And if you want to go all-out, an extra (road only) wheelset for your gravel.
Love the channel, love everything bike..BUT..in my opinion, drop bars have zero business on bumpy off road conditions. I’d take a cross country hard tail for those rides all day long.
@@lucanus8997 You’re speaking my language!
IMO, the whole point of a gravel bike (and this video) is that they double as a road bike, one that can go almost anywhere, meaning you can do the large, fast group rides, or the slower social road rides, hence the drop bars. If you're not into any kind of road riding, then a gravel bike would be meaningless to you.
Also, my gravel bike is significantly faster (and more fun) than my mountain bike on any dirt trails other than the most technical ones... not only because of the drop bars but also because it's just a much faster bike overall. If that weren't the case, gravel racers would use upright bars to win races.
@@Lukearthwalker That’s what I initially thought as well. Turns out I just prefer specific bikes for specific disciplines. I totally agree with you that they are faster, I didn’t take into consideration the gearing on my Mtn bike compared to a road/gravel bike. I may, in time, just build a gravel specific bike with a little front suspension and some flat bars haha. I appreciate the comment!
@@lucanus8997 yep, can't argue about that.
@@Lukearthwalker Problem is tires that can deal with even very light offroad conditions will seriously slow you down in a road pack. Sure, you could swap out the wheels, but you could also swap out the bike. Hardtails are so cheap these days.
My road bike became kind of retired, when I bought a gravel bike. Nevertheless I prefer having two bikes. When the gravel bike fails, I have a backup solution. Up to now this has not been the case. But it is good to know to have a backup.
I can't afford more than one really good bike, but I can stretch to a couple of pairs of nice wheels as well as a mid range bike - so.... I have a 2020 Specialized Diverge Sport plus a pair of Hunt Aerowide 34 wheels and set of Roval Terra C wheels. This means with the Rovals shod with WTB Byway40's I have a great bikepacking rig (went from Brussels to north of Gothenburg last year). Same bike with the Hunts shod with Conti GP5000 32mm tires and I keep up on the Sunday club ride. Same bike with the original wheels and pathfinder pro42mm tires and I ride the forest trails around Brussels. One bike to do (mostly) it all!
i get the one bike thing and if i was to have just one then it would be a gravel but i like the variety from my collection, aluminium track bike, couple of steel classics, one for touring one for a fast everyday bike, a classic MTB for hauling and fun rides, a gravel bike and an aero endurance bike. it should be noted that I do love to rebuild and modernise classic bikes so one bike just won't do when i'm trying to build myself to bankruptcy
I used my roadbike on tuesday. When I came to a roadrepair with course gravel I almost lost balance, wished I was on my gravelbike. The gravelbike is slightly slower but far more safe and comfortable, and its 11-42 cassette climbs better when it gets too steep for my 11-25 road-cassette.
This is generally good advice IF you’d suggested getting another wheel set to enable quick switching between gravel wheels and faster road wheels. Often a quality wheel set will be cheaper than a whole new bike. Be sure to select the same exact caliper width so you don’t need to adjust those every time. One problem with this suggestion is that currently Gravel often means heavy as heck. My 2016 gravel build (1x) weighs 17 lbs however I see a lot of well spec’d gravel bikes weighing 18.5 lbs plus. Good luck keeping up with your mates on a spirited, hilly group ride especially if the bike weighs more like 20-23lbs. Yikes!
I've got 6 bikes from full suss trail bike to an old Allez......
A gravel bike with wide tyre clearance, a Redshift stem, 1x and bottle mounts could be my one and only.....Stick a 29er hardtail MTB in that and......I could live with it I suppose.
Recently sold my high spec carbon Colnago road bike as not doing such long road rides. I’m now using my Kinesis Tripster AT for both gravel & road duties. It has GRX 800 Double groupset with Mason Hunt wheels.
I mainly do road, but when I want to do gravel I simply swap the Vittoria 30 road tires for my Panaracer gravel king tires. As I ditched tubeless on gravel bike due to reliability issues swapping tires is quick & easy. (Tubeless on road bike & mountain bike both faultless, but for some reason it was unreliable on gravel bike when I ride, despite trying different wheel & tire configurations).
I then have a Spez Tero 4 ebike for off road duties.
For me this is perfect pair of bikes 👍🏻😎
I have my CX for road and easy trails (still using only one wheelset), I plan to get road specific wheels and tyres in the future. When I have better trails to ride I'll get mountainbike again. So no gravelbike for me! It too bulky to look cool on road and not good enough for rocky trails.
Tires, cables, pads, and lube are all I spend on my bikes' maintenance, when not upgrading. If you do your own maintenance you'll save time and money in the long run even after putting in for tools and a stand. So many strong riders I've met, don't know how to adjust their mechanical derailleurs, or ride chains that have been through a tar pit. For me, the hobby is equal amounts what you do on the road as on the bike stand.
I have more than 10 bikes. The one I usually grab is one of my gravel bikes.
1:31 that is my place for a gravel bike , although rigid forks is a lot of pain even on flat offroad (if you ride fast)
Multiple bikes for different types of riding. No one bike can do them all well.
All ti bikes and we are talking a Road, XC Race Hard-tail and a FS XC bike. The Gravel is well beyond endurance but meant for mostly smooth single track.
Living on National Living Wage I only have 1 choice, a do it all bike.
Commuting, long distance rides and eventually a bit of gravel.
I currently ride a Sonder Camino AL.
I've had it about 5 months.
Built it up from a frame set using as many parts as possible from my Raleigh Randonneur.
Can only afford one set of wheels at the moment.
Tried 45mm tyres and now trying 28's to see the difference.
I am 55 and still at least 2-3 stone overweight ☹.
IF, and that's a BIG IF, I had the money then I would probably go the multiple bike route.
You really need a master not a jack of all trades to do a proper job 😀.
I have 3 bikes, one road, one CX (yes cross not gravel) and one MTB. I feel like I could compromise the road bike and have the CX bike play that role too with a simple tire change, however, for the type of MTB I do a CX or Gravel would not do it. But yes if you can only have one bike for whatever reason, a gravel bike is probably the right pick
I own three bikes: a road bike, a touring bike, and a gravel bike. In the last year, I've only ever ridden the gravel bike, even when touring or road riding.
I get the gist but the down bars are uncomfortable in long rides and don't help on jumps. Your bike might be light but after adding all the features you are back to a heavy bike. I think an enduro and a 2nd road bike with gravel tires is enough. Also, if you have a variety of bikes then you can provide a great opinion to others, so having a garage full of bikes is actually fun. Its like your shoes. Plus its even better than having clunker cars that depreciate far even more than bikes do and makes your yard look stale.
A hard trail mountain bike with a lockout fork is more versatile than a gravel bike. It's a far better option if you're only going to have one bike.
I have about 10 bikes including a 7.2 kg Olmo. I got a Felt gravel bike before the winter and since then I hadn’t touched the other bikes! Well the Olmo can be beaten for mountain climbs but for everything else the Felt wins despite the 4 kg extra
29er hardtail with swappable suspension fork or rigid fork is my all rounder. Wide flat bars give much better control in the rough stuff, up and down. If you want to do bunch rides on sealed roads (which I don't) then you need a road bike as well. Who can be bothered changing tyres between rides?
@@lucanus8997 only for the weight saving - about a kilo. but i wouldn't swap forks often. Once or twice a year depending on what sort of riding is ahead.
Santa Cruz Stigmata. . Great handling off road and snappy power transfer on the road. Smooth as butta!!
Dude, I rode Monkey Trail at Cannock on a totally rigid Kona Lava Dome with 26x1.95 Farmer John tyres, V brakes (with KoolStop pads mind you) and no dropper post (obvs - they weren't around then).
Most of it was about doable. The steepest highest drops made of stones were best walked, it made meache so much a dwas nowhere near fun for most of the time. It was hard work and scary in parts.
I'm not binning my new hardtail with it's 27.5 inch wheels, disk brakes, front sus and a dropper - I'd consider that a minimum for those sorts of trails and I'd quite like a 29er tbh (although I still don't 'need' full sus - that's what knees are for)
I think a rigid carbon fork would snap if you pushed it. The Kona had a beefy P2 CroMo job.
I love my CX bike although want to upgrade it soon but it can't do everything even a hardtail MTB can. Not with me riding it anyway.
Granted I don't feel the need for a road bike - the CX does good enough there for me.
Before I hand in my velomobile, my gravel bike has to go.
But it's true, the gravel bike makes a lot of fun, especially because it's light, even with mudguards, frame bag and luggage rack
I’m on a track bike so it’s pennies, I need to get my wheels sorted after my crash though
Honestly, a regular hardtail (with rigid fork if you want, like an Orbea Alma) wins over a gravel bike on so many different fronts：
1. Lighter，you can already build a 5.9kg hardtail now (see an UNO build on youtube);
2. Cheaper, as MTB parts are almost always cheaper; I built up my CCC (Cheap Chinese Carbon) hardtail for something like $1100 at barely 9kg (950g frame, 500g fork, XT group + hydraulic brakes).
3. Better control and versatility; Maybe 1% slower on gravel/road, but 5%-50% faster/in greater control offroad, especially when the trail gets sketchy.
In my book, the only setting where a gravel bike is appropriate is smooth, fairly flat gravel roads, which is not even that common in many countries. Typically roads are either paved, or unpaved (not smooth at all).
My bet is gravel is a category that will disappear in 10 years.
You only need a lightweight hardtail Mountain Bike. I know that for a fact as I have one. Gravel Bikes are total fads, shame people haven't realised that yet. The fact these are slowly turning into mountain bikes is ridiculous.
I'm moving over seas so I'm going to have to go from 7 bikes to 1 bike and a gravel bike with large clearance with a second 650B wheelset for versatility is what I'm going with.
What you really need to do is build your own.
Mtb based hybrid frame, clearance up to 700x50mm. , mtb cranks with road spider and 34/50.
Mtb rear end and 11-36
180/160mm rotors for good heat soak.
Almost convinced but only one bike I’d have an xc mtb n put road tyres on if required. We do long off road on our Procaliber’s and though mega my CX bike just couldn’t cope with the terrain. (it’s bloomin scary on an easy mtb downhill route).Unless you were Chris Acrig!
I have 4 bikes, but have been limited one lately as we had to temporarily move out of our home. I have ridden singletrack and road on a gravel bike lately. Definitely not as fast as a road bike on pavement. Still miss the other three bikes (road bike, fixed gear, MTB). I could probably go without the MTB, it's a 90s specialized, basically a gravel bike lol.
buy gravel, buy suspension fork, buy flatbar.... whait a minute
I have a gravel bike with two wheelsets/tire types to cover road riding, commuting, multi-terrain (including milder single-track). Then I have a full-suspension mountain bike for "real" mountain biking. So two bikes. :)
#1: Modern road bike. #2: Back packing/Touring bike. #3 HT mountain bike. These 3 bikes will take me everywhere I need to go.
Both my husband and I just have gravel bikes and it works great.
Just got into gravel bikes, but you know what the biggest pain was riding road bikes before? Traveling down a cool road, thinking it will connect conveniently to another one you know of, then it's just 30 meters of rock and you have to ride ALL THE WAY BACK because even just walking destroys your spd sl cleats...hence why I haven't touched my road bikes because I love the "go anywhere" aspect.
Could never give up the road bike for commuting, but man these gravel bikes look enticing for joy riding etc!
I really dont see the point. I have nice hardtail and i can ride everywhere,even on tarmac lol..it wont hurt me if racebikes passes me or like. So why by road bike geo bike and then tune it for mtb riding? Why just buy directly a hardtail or full suspension? Even if you add wider tyres,dropper or 50 mm fork,gravel bike is never as comfy on trails than hardtail.
I think it comes down to 2 reasons why some use gravel bike over hard tail 1) they want to be able to travel faster on both dirt and pavement. 2) a lot of these gravel riders love to decent dirt paths at the speed of road bikes…hard tails can’t do that due to gear ratios. The adrenaline of going down dirt paths gives the rider a different experience.
It can be argued the same way people pick and choose between hard tail or full suspension bikes. The experience!
@@bonbonflippers4298 Well that is one point of view
@@bonbonflippers4298 Fair enough if your preferred riding encompasses a particular style or terrain, but to say "it's the only bike you need" without that qualifier just isn't true.
As many have said a hard tail XC bike is the most versatile simply because you can ride at a fairly decent pace on the most varied types of surfaces and conditions.
Well i sold my hardtail and buyed a full suspension : Mondraker Foxy...it is even nicer than HT
@@SteelR4t "it's the only bike you need" it's just a marketing term and only applies to people that don't do terrain that's more for mountain bikes.
Depending on the terrain you like to ride in determines if a gravel bike is all you need. I have a gravel bike that pretty much defines it as the only bike I need since I mostly do pavement with a little dirt riding when I am bored. I do not use my gravel bike as a mountain bike because that's not what it's intended for.
I like to ride to the dirt paths thats 40miles away instead of driving there and explore. That's why I bought a gravel bike, I've tried riding my xc bike through pavement and it was just painfully slow due to its gear ratio and geometry. Also numbing hands using flat bar vs drop bar.
I've got my 1992 Bianchi Project 5 cyclocross bike rigged for gravel and touring, but I really wish I could rig it for disc brakes . . .
I ride a gravel bike and a fat bike. I would be missing out on too much if I just had one of them!
There’s a bit of overlap for sure between the two, but I think snow and singletrack are way more fun on the fatbike (plus 4.0 width is the minimum on all groomed snow trails in my area).
All that said, I put the most saddle time on my gravel bike. Absolutely my favorite ride I own.
Get a fat tyre ebike. It will do great both on and off road and you won't look like a pratt wearing lycra.
what's the difference between gravel bike and MTB? In webshops over here there is no such category as gravel bike
Well how does it perform in the winter time ? A regular MTB hard tail is the better choice i think
i have a gravel bike. But i would never sell my MTB ;)
I have a rigid fork xc mountain bike (9kg's) I'd never buy a gravel bike now, in fact, i sold one.
Bike maintenance has to do with wear… so if you arn’t using a bike it doesn’t wear and you can only use one bike at a time…. Therefore by riding lots of bikes you are spreading wear out over many bikes instead of the same amount of wear as on one. More over some bikes are stronger than others - so will wear faster if they are used for things that they really aren’t good at… so I think it is still better to have a selection of suitable bikes for each kind of endeavour…
What bike is the one that shows up @ 0:42? I'm looking for that cool rear mudgard! Thanks!
I recently got a Lauf Anywhere, and it is absolutely fantastic!
Yes an iPhone can replace a dedicated camera but a dedicated camera can do things an iPhone could never do in the right hands, for some that lives in the suburbs absolutely but someone that lives in the city would appreciate a smaller wheelbase functionally more narrow bars and bigger gears more adept to cruise at high speed with
I like the camera/iPhone comparison
For those like me who was unfamiliar with the phrase : “ a ‘service course’ full of different bikes”
“ A service course is a team’s operational base, where bikes and equipment are stored, mechanics work when not at races, and vehicles are serviced”
You are so right! I have a Cervelo Aspero with 40mm gravel tires and reserve wheels for gravel and ENVE 45 with 30mm tires for the road/Zwift.
what is the best stem size for drop bars in gravel bikes?
I don’t get the whole Gravel bike thing, you said it yourself it’s basically “up-cycled” 90’s MTB no suspension bike. Why go back in time, bike industry has moved on and improved…
I rather have a hard tail MTB as a 2nd bike than a Gravel bike (too many compromises).
Gravel bikes are slow and sluggish on the road, compared to a road bike and pretty uncomfortable off-road compared to a hard-tail MTB, not even talking about full suspension one.
Regarding value for money, good hard-tail MTB with hydraulic brakes starts at £650, you’re lucky if you find a Gravel bike with hydraulic brakes for under £1500 and usually get lot less gears with it. The obsession with going 1x, meant that brands like Shimano ended up developing a whole new Gravel specific groupset (GRX). SRAM went the other way and redeveloped their road offerings from Rival up to Red to run as 1x or with double chainrings. But that didn’t come without a cost. Price of their groupsets skyrocketed as a result, not even talking about their chains. Their chains are as flexi as spaghetti, to cope with the massive cross-chaining. As a result they don’t last very long and stretch very easily.
Back in a day, in my teens, I owned a bike marketed as a hybrid cross country. Which was basically a front suspension MTB with 700c wheels and skinnier tyres to MTB. Value for money was excellent.
For me, a Gravel bike should come with front suspension, otherwise it doesn’t make sense, it just becomes a heavy overpriced endurance road bike with big tyre clearance…
With such versatility in mind why do gravel bikes only have a 1X chainring system. How are you supposed to go up double digit slopes and still pedal at 45km/h (28miles/hour). A 2X or 3X system is really better suited for an all-round bike, but the industry simply saves money by not using it and gives the excuse that it's to save weight.
What would be the smallest frame size I could get on a gravel bike please
I actually prefer a flat bar road bike with gravel tyres. I may try a flat bar gravel bike (more road then mtb) next time round
Nice! Love flat bars myself.
All those points also apply to fat bikes! Mountain biking, commuting, bikepacking, gravel riding, around the world adventure, mud, snow, sand, tarmac, forest, you name it... If you truly want to live with only one bike, then you can't beat a good fat bike, right? Of course a gravel bike is faster, but not as versatile.
All the way through this vid I was thinking just buy a mountain bike, I can't really see the point of this genre.
what the difference between road bike, gravel bike, mtb ?
I'm loving my Specialized Turbo Creo SL EVO this winter but it certainly couldn't be my only bike. I need at least two mountain bikes (an acoustic short travel trail bike and an electric long travel enduro mountain bike) and a fat bike for the snowy winter single-track riding. That's enough for me...
Depends on where u live and what kind of roads/off-roads are around you
The trend where the Gravel bikes thend to switch (even more wider tires and suspension) makes it less capable for me. For me a Gravel Bike is a Road Bike where I can include dirt roads etc. If I want to hit the trails I use my hard-tail MTB.
A good hardtail for me. And a fat bike for winter fluffiness if you happen to live in a winter city.
I rather have multiple bikes..right tools for the job is more fun. More bikes..means less wear and tear on costly road equipment. I mainly choose lower specs build on offroad bikes.. because they get hammered ..cheaper to replace
Cannondale SuperX, 50/34 11speed, 3 wheelsets, lots of tyres 😀
I’ve gone from 3 bikes to 1 Gravel & I love it
Great idea. And if I HAD to choose 'just one bike', the Cannondale Synapse would be my choice. However, I'm 5-7 bike sort of fellow. And I'm a roadie exclusively. So, there's that ;-) Great video!
I only have a road bike at the moment but now I want a gravel bike too!
Tried that. And after several months, returned to MTB machine. Just wayyyy wayyyy more comfortable! jejeej. But then again that is just me being 50. Gravel bike not as comfy, makes no sense for me.
why do i need a gravel bike when i already have a trail hardtail more than capable than gravel bike?
So what you're REALLY saying is: I only need my retro 90s mtb? 😉
Our videographer Max would agree with you on that one! He's riding the Peugeot in this video by the way 😄
@@bikeradar I have to say you guys are great at navigating the cycling culture minefield. Can't help but smile at those cheeky quips you put in this video.
@@MW-ud8zp Thanks for your comment! Subscribe for more 🥰
My gravel bike is not a 35 lb steel bike with cable v-brakes and flat bars, but if that suits your needs, then rock it.
@@bikeradar with 26” wheels?
I lived fine with a gravel bike, until the pandemic. I realized I needed a trail bike for the short rides, my gravel bike sucks for short rides. Now I'm learning to jump and stuff.
Gravel bikes aren't the best choice for any style of riding. If you're doing a mix of DH and XC then a FS with decent lock-out covers all the bases. If you're doing road then a road-bike is the only option. If you want a jack-of-all-trades then a good HT will be perfect. Gravel bikes are decent at bike-packing on established trails but that's it. Even then I would get something like a Cannondale Topstone with minimal travel to allow me more ride comfort and versatility. I wouldn't be taking to forest trails on a bike with zero travel like in this video, that's just daft. Look at @4:15 where he's being rattled around on a trail with no rough features. Gravel bikes don't fill any niche effectively.
Okay. I'm convinced. I'll buy myself a gravel bike 🥰
I’m sooo ready for a gravel bike !! I need a Felt Breed 20 !!!!
I have an On One Free Ranger and 2 sets of wheels and will be selling my old Trek Madone 3.5 👍🏽
I am riding only one bike and it's a #hardtrailbike. The other bike is a tandem for my wife and me 😅
What’s the bike at 0:19?
Show me a gravel bike at 7.0 kg and I'm in. Otherwise I'll have my rim brake road bike for dancing up hills and my disc brake gravel bike for winter and the non-paved stuff. They've both definitely got their place but this is a nice solution if you have budget/space constraints.