Tyres. The rest originates from other disciplines. And it makes sense, as road surface is the only specific feature of gravel. Not duration, not intensity, not gradients, nor even cultural niche...
The no-broadcast of the women's race was inexcusable. All the good vibes in the current women pro cycling that inspire so many women and girls to start cycling, all the sponsors and manufacturer that start to get it and build top quality products for women - lost. Despite that huge miss, the track was really nice and WC worthy. Gravel is here to stay and it will inspire road, CX and MTB. It's so impressive to see what riders and bikes can do on all sorts of surface and purpose.
Not a sponsored athlete, so I would not subject my carbon fiber road shoes to lengthy hike-a-bike sessions : sometimes sport specific gear makes sense, in this case, spd shoes with a walking/running sole.(call them mtb xc or gravel shoes, whichever you prefer)
MTB mechs don't work with road shifters. At least mechanical one's don't, without separate cable pull converter. AXS and Di2 would work straight off, I think.
I never understood what the clutch is for. I have never dropped a chain while going over bumpy trails, neither with friction-shifted 2x5, nor 1990s Deore XT 2x8, nor Campa 9speed. The only time a chain leaves the chainring is if I'm getting impatient and try to shift both front and rear too quickly. If "shortly after one another" becomes "quasi simultaneously", then I'll lose a chain. Else never. So why is a clutch derailleur such a big deal?
@@turboseize I’m only guessing but it must be something to do with larger cassettes and longer chains, particularly 1x, so when in small 11 cog less chain slap + keeps the chain tight
Putting the pro's aside, I think a GRX 2x11 is one of the best 'real world' road / gravel groupsets you can have. When you've only got one bike and it has to take you racing, touring and bikepacking, just with a change of tyres, a gravel groupset is the way to go 😊
I don’t ride gravel but I got a grx rear derailleur and crank on my road, that 46-30 and 11-42 cassette sure gets me over those high grade hills, at 60 I can’t keep up on the flats with youngins and need all the help going up the hills. Thinking about an aspero with a 1x 10-50 mullet setup😂now that would be a one bike for everything
Where are these high grade hills that need a 30 ring and 42 sprocket? I'm 63 and still ride 20th century bikes. I've been out today on a 1953 Claud Butler Universal Club with 44 ring to 16, 19 & 22 three sprocket block. Cyclo Benelux 'Standard' 3 speed derailleur. 54 low is low enough. 74 is OK for cruising. Middle 63 inches is a 'Lady's normal'.
Gravel riding covers such a huge range of surfaces and terrain that I think there will always be a lot of different combinations used depending on the specific ride. When I lived in the Midwest US (Michigan), the gravel was mostly relatively flat with a big range of surface conditions. Now that I'm out West (Oregon), we do a lot of riding on old logging roads with pretty steep gradients as well as some single track, lots of loose rock but not that much mud. It is totally different.
If you're just beginning in gravel riding, start with what your bike is equipped with. As you progress and find your rhythm, then I think it's more feasible to change up your components.
Bar end shifter, MTB cassette, derailleur & chainset. Cheap simple solution that's worked faultlessly for many miles. I also have the choice of using 8, 9, 10 or 11 speed depending upon component bargains.
Companies are just creating further market segmentation by making gravel-specific parts instead of making MTB and RB components cross-compatible. As a bicycle rider (not a "cyclist") that's not willing to pay thousands of dollars for components, i'm glad chinese bicycle drivetrain companies exist.
It‘s all coming together. 1x gravel groupsets are just MTB groupsets with other shifters. I wonder why we don‘t see more gravel rear mechs with clutch in road racing, it could prevent a solid percentage of the dropped chains. Also I hope the compatibility on the Shimano side will catch up with SRAM when it comes to mixing stuff.
I really didn't like seeing Alex cringe at the thought that he had upset people on the "Influencer bike vault section". Like all of the team, Alex and Ollie bring a lot of humour to the channel while also providing top-quality information. If some "Influencers" are so fragile that they can't take a little bit of gentle teasing then they should maybe get off the internet or present a more authentic version of themselves.
I don’t care if its gravel only its more options so choose whatever fit your needs! Grx clutch on rear derailler is nice! I care way less then the gcn presentator do!
Hahahaha is gravel ready for it's own channel? You might have to fight Conor for presenter rights... He loves the muddy stuff 👉ua-cam.com/video/fnwr6YziBrE/v-deo.html
Hi Alex, I threw a normal 500ml Nalgene Everyday Bottle in a bottle cage under the downtube for a bike-packing trip through the Dolomites this summer, and it worked great. It has a full cap so no need to worry about dirt getting on the spout! Always great to have a bit of emergency water on the bike and if you have the mounting points, I say go for it. Good luck in the gravel race and love the show!
I've gotten a suggestion for a video, get Manon to interview the boss of the UCI in person and find out what they are doing with womens cycling, with questions like "why wasn't the womens world championship gravel race televised?" questions like that. It would be nice to see more womens cycling televised.
I mainly ride Road but also do some mtb so use to off road but the other day I decided to try gravel. I used my canyon ultimate with continental 4 seasons on 28mm and a semi compact with 11-30 di2 group set . All I did was let some air out. It worked! I didn’t puncture using inner tubes and I didn’t crash (somehow ). No it wasn’t perfect and wasn’t as plush as some 2.3”’mtb tires but they gripped well and I took it on some ‘chunky gravel’ .Shows that you don’t need all the gear you can just get out there and enjoy it!
Re: the bike vault stuff. I’ve said this a few times under GCN Tech videos lately, but I feel the original spirit of the bike vault has been lost. When it first started, it was all about enthusing over people’s bikes - I remember Si and Jon Cannings giving a commuter bike a super nice because someone was getting out and doing it. Emma Pooley and Si gave my bike a super nice but the photo would get bashed by Alex/Ollie now as it wouldn’t meet the “rules”. I get that “it’s all a bit of fun” but at some point it’s worth being sensitive to the influence you have as a channel with loads of viewers. It’s good to spread positivity rather than negativity! It’d be great to see a return of the enthusiasm over people’s bikes rather than nit picking and elitism (whether supposedly ironic or not). Just my 2c.
@@MTBScotland yeah, conforming to the Velominati rules. The criticism part isn’t all that funny any more if you ask me. Better to point out things you do like than things you don’t!
I see what you're saying. But then every bike would be superniced to not hurt people's feelings.. This "participation trophy" mentality pervasive today is against competition so every snowflake out there can feel special.. that is nonsense. There are bikes nicer than others, therefore they are supernice.. Period.
@@ssenssel I see what you mean - but then this is the problem of a segment like this. It’s not about appeasing “snowflakes”, to me it’s about avoiding being needlessly nit-picky/elitist.
@@cowieson hate the whole valve tyre or the crank angle and chain cog shite. I just put my tyres on. who gives a fuck if they line up with the wheel graphics.
I've got a Tiagra on my gravel bike, which people have hacked to run a Deore M6000 11-36 cassette without any other alterations. I was riding with a fellow who had a 11-40 put on a Dura-ace with an adapter added to the derailleur hanger. Lots of options for getting over the hills when you're over the hill!
The only gravel specific components that I can think of is the wheels/tires and frame, you can combine other parts to a bike intended for gravel riding...IMO....other than that, I consider it as a hoax...
I think we won't see "the universal" gravel bike for the foreseeable future unless UCI regulates (please don't). On good dry surfaces with small gravel the road-inspired models will win, on very technical tracks and bad contions the MTB-inspired models will win. For the consumer it's probably not a good move to buy "the winning bike" unless they are riding exactly the same trails in Italy (congrats if you do, it's beautiful there).
No old skool Catholics on the GCN Tech set. Stig-mar-tar. The marks supposedly left on christ's hands and feet as a consequence of being crucified. Hard to get stigmata on your hands as the nails went through the wrists - hands would just tear away.....
Stigmata is from Greek; it's pronounced like lots of Greek/Latin words with a the same as stigmatize or stigmatism but with the ending having another a at the end. Stigmata is also a movie title
The whole gravel scene is an absolute joke, very clever marketing to get mugs to part with money for rubbish. For those that think gravel is the way forward your either a failed roadie who can't keep up, or a failed mountain biker with no skills.
The "is gravel stuff needed" question can't be answered when you only look to racing to provide an answer. This may come as a bit of a shock but there are people who ride bikes that do not race. Maybe a larger, more diverse sample is required if you want an actual representation of what people prioritise and want? 🤔
Still riding a 9 speed double chainring setup, canti brakes and inner tubes, old parts are far more economical as are regular tires £100 services your bike completely
Manon and Axel, my favorite GCN Tech Combo! Can't comment on how my bike uses gravel specific components. However, I might just swap over the existing handlebars for those gravel-drops.
Hello GCN Tech Crew! Yes the last bike in the Vault is mine and you got it right! It is a Shamrock Cycles Fluid Druid. Built full bespoke/custom for me in 2012. Custom geometry, custom paint, polished stainless steel fork crown and head tube lugs. Really proud it made the Big Show! Thanks!
I'm throwing together a gravel-commuter thing with a budget and I've got an old Deore 7-9 speed derailleur and a narrow-wide chainring in front. Some older light-ish trekking frame with disc brake mounts but old Tiagra levers. Also using a little Suntour NEX suspension fork with lockout, so its pretty much all over the place 😂 I will however put dt swiss gravel rims on it as the next step
I like my 2x GRX, except I don't see why there is such a huge overlap in gears between the 2 chainrings. I don't find it helpful. I just find i move from one extremity of the cassette to the other. I would prefer less overlap, such as on Ultegra. (Ok, so i could probably fit a bigger big ring, if i could be bothered, but why sell it like that?)
I normally enjoy the bike vault. People submit their photos and know what they’re letting themselves in for. But to randomly select people isn’t cool. They didn’t ask for your opinion, and it doesn’t look good to new viewers. To say people “didn’t get it” - is wrong… they did get it, it just wasn’t cool to target people 🤷🏼♀️
Great work by the new comedic Manon. Between the "spicy" tech and thanking past Manon, she's hitting new levels. Also loved that Reilly in the Bike vault. Whatever happened to the bell drops for UBER nice bikes, or are we secretly on the 9th bike vault bell because of that practice?
I am running a GRX 400 46/30 11 36 cassette. Nobody reviews this. However it's affordable, big range means it's more relevant for many. 40 mm Challenge Getaway gives low rolling resistance. MKS urban and Zefal nylon quarter clips give me lightweight versatility. GT carbon grade elite.
My Gravel bike have a mix MTB and Gravel stuff 27,5" wheels set an 50-584mm tires Conti Race king , 1x11 Sram NX Crankset whit 38oval kassett 11/46 for me my highes montain is 500mete r tall and i can clim it up
The only thing people care about from gravel are big cassettes. It's made everyone realize that a 12-40 should be the default on any bike sold to normal people. Even the pros are figuring out that huge cassettes are better (Roglic using gravel cassette to win his Giro ITT). This is why Campagnolo's new wireless groupsets are dead-in-the-water. The Vegan Cyclist has his Canyon AEROAD with 1x and an 11-52t. I have a Felt AR with a 54-39 and 12-40t at the back (easy to create by buying a spare 12t final cog). This is the future.
#askgcntech The RD-6870 (1st gen Ultegra short cage) is spec'd for 28T max cassette. If I put on a longer cage AND switch to 1x up front, approximately what range cassette could that RD go up to?
I utilize GRX 2x with 11-40 xt cassettes. In alignment with Alex's closing comments on the topic, I appreciate the robustness of the GRX front small chain ring. In trying a road chain ring (FSA K-force light) on light gravel with steep California climbs, I taco'd the small ring - had to use a rock to bang it straight so it would rotate past the chainstay and solely utilized big ring for 30 miles to home. This has not happened with the gravel group.
Gravel specific components exist for two reasons: Because of stupid Shimano MTB / Road lack of interoperability, and because they give a lot of drop bar riders more reasonable gear ranges. The world just wants MTB / Road interoperability and better gear ranges, we're not all Tadej Pogacar or living in Florida.
I have a cyclocross bike with road groupsets and components. I bought that years ago before the gravel fever started, and I swap some components with my road bike regularly, quite happy about the same. For really rough road/snow I use the mountain bike (mechanical sram) and also quite comfortable. ❤️✌🏾
#ASKGCNTECH Greetings Tech Gurus: simple question - changing my tyres for winter (I run tubeless in spring/summer) but, do I go for stronger protection tyres (Schwalbe Marathon-type) with a lighter inner tube or a lighter tyre with a heavier inner tube? Choices, choices but which is better? Speed-over-protection: that’s the question. Love the show. Be well.
what i don't get about gravel bikes, (and road) the obesession wit maintaining a short wheelbase regardless of size. so i didn't use a gravel frame when i built mine. i don't think i used any gravel specific parts, maybe the front chainring being a sram 1x 42t. everything else was a mix of sram road and moutainbike parts. fulcrum xc 29er wheels. road 46mm bars, 50mm stem (long wheelbase hybrid x type frame)
Photoren here, much thanks for the Supernice! I got my spare tube, levers, multi-tool, and CO2 in the lower storage, and my smart-tag, snacks, and eye drops in the top tube bag. Heavier stuff in the bottom to help the center of gravity. Smart-tag is bolted in with the bag.
A smart set-up! I commented elsewhere I carry a spare h20 bottle there but I cover the top with a piece of plastic wrap held in place with a rubber band.
....all this talk about bikes and components reminds me of what the Olympic coach at Colorado Springs said "....its the motor not the machine....now let's get to work!"
I run a 46/30 9-34 on my system six. At age 37 I still smoke a good portion of my local group made up of ages 20 somethings. This type of gearing has been happening for years. Mainstream media is just catching up.
In the Bike Vault you talked about a bottle mounted under the down tube. I believe that was a tool container, not a bottle. Manon’s comment was right on. She was right on about the lack of coverage of the women’s gravel championship. It was just wrong! I have a Diverge with full GRX and a Topstone with Shimano 105. Both are great, but I seem to be riding the diverge a lot more, commuting and trail riding etc. I do need to get the Wolf Tooth chain keeper. I loose my chain jumping curbs etc. and the clutch just doesn’t seem up to the job. Your show is great!
Rather than label the the components as for intended usage, how about standardize components so individual users can select what they need to make sense for themselves and have it be compatible. For creativity, a MTB with flat-bar shifters on compact 2 ring front and medium cassette rear with clutch rolling 700C size rubber. Wait is that a flat-bar gravel bike?? Sounds like a standard bottom bracket size is needed. Tee-Hee-Hee.
I'm disappointed with the poor TV cover of Gravel Champs as such. Yeah, the men's event was technically transmitted, but access to this material was highly limited. 🙁
On one end, we see all road and gravel with increasingly wide tire clearances. On the other, we see ultra fast road/track bikes with super wide forks. Why not…both…how about a universal road/gravel/rigid MTB bike fork that could fit 4” fat bike tires for those winter road rides in Minnesota, eh? Then slap some Zipp 404s on when it warms up… bet there is a dropout adapter that could make this work…
I’m just back from 10 days bike packing in France/ Belgium and is used a Hiplock (locking zip tie type lock) to secure my handle bar to the tent pole. It’s supper light weight and would surly slow someone down enough for me to try and save my bike Also I put a bottle mount under the down tube and used a topeak escape pod to store spares and tools. It has a neoprene liner and foam in the cap so it didn’t rattle.
What size frame does each presenter ride? I am a little fella at 165mm, 58 kilo and ride a size 51 Look 765. The size may be a tad too large but no aches or pains within the year of owning. Manon is exempt besides frame size , rude to ask a lady's weight.
these shows should be titled "are the specialty bikes and components we hype on GCN for the sake of our bike marketing sponsors pointless?" where I live, "gravel bikes" are owned by *weekend tools* riding the unpaved mixed use paths where moms with baby carriages and and dog walkers are trying to walk.
It depends on the brand. SRAM don’t specifically state any of there stuff is really gravel specific. But some parts are designed to run with wider tiers and cassettes. Hence there “wide”range in there cat, but really only effects the front and rear derailure the rest is the same across the board. Which I think is clever and I love the fact that you could if you wanted use mtb components with road. It something sram have a really nailed and Shimano and the rest don’t really have an answer for at this moment. Most road wheel are also rated for off road use as well for example roval alpinist clx 2 wheel can be used off road though they have arguably better options within the catalog.
Alex agreeing with “It’s your bike, set it up as you like” one week after destroying purpose oriented professional bikes is as a harder twist than Ollie going from worst to fittest GCN presenter
If you want only one bike, a gravel specific one is great, you can ride it on the road reasonably well, it's obviously great for gravel and you can even get away with some more extreme off road stuff. If you already have a mountain bike and a road bike just get some wider tires for your road bike and you are good, no need for a third bike.
My Diverge came with the Mullett setup. I hated it on the road. The spacing is too far apart. I changed it to an XPLR rear end. It's better but still not as smooth as road shifting.
Racing isn't the same as just riding so pretty pointless discussion. Frames are frames, wheels are wheels, cassettes are cassettes but road shoes offroad are stupid unless you are racing the world champs for obvious reasons.
Do you think shadow stands are more robust than leaning a bike against a wall??? Guess how many people had their bikes fall trying to use a shadow stand.
Do you use gravel-specific components for riding gravel? 👇
I don't have the mony for gravel at the moment but would live to give it a try
I do the opposite, On my Winter bike I run GRX Shifters and rear derailleur. The lower gearing helps with the extra weight!
Tyres. The rest originates from other disciplines. And it makes sense, as road surface is the only specific feature of gravel. Not duration, not intensity, not gradients, nor even cultural niche...
As government debt prevents road maintenance and repair, we will all be ridingon #GRAVEL
@@BIANCHI1984 You might like a carbon fiber gravel unicycle.
Week 31 of asking for a “the UCI has no jurisdiction here” T-shirt
The no-broadcast of the women's race was inexcusable. All the good vibes in the current women pro cycling that inspire so many women and girls to start cycling, all the sponsors and manufacturer that start to get it and build top quality products for women - lost. Despite that huge miss, the track was really nice and WC worthy. Gravel is here to stay and it will inspire road, CX and MTB. It's so impressive to see what riders and bikes can do on all sorts of surface and purpose.
Shame on them 👎👎
Not a sponsored athlete, so I would not subject my carbon fiber road shoes to lengthy hike-a-bike sessions : sometimes sport specific gear makes sense, in this case, spd shoes with a walking/running sole.(call them mtb xc or gravel shoes, whichever you prefer)
Whoa, Manon is still around! I thought she left months ago. Good to see she's "back".
Only here for the bike vault
You're still here though! Any bikes jump out for you on this weeks vault? 🚲
GCN Gravel cycling network 😢
I have a cyclocross bike that is better off road or on it than any so called grovel bike it’s just marketing
I think gravel components are amazing for even non racing road riders.
Better range, more comfort, easier to walk in.
What's not to love! 🙌 Comfort = speed for many people
Clutch rear mech is probably most important choice
so why not use mountain bike mech?
MTB mechs don't work with road shifters. At least mechanical one's don't, without separate cable pull converter. AXS and Di2 would work straight off, I think.
I never understood what the clutch is for. I have never dropped a chain while going over bumpy trails, neither with friction-shifted 2x5, nor 1990s Deore XT 2x8, nor Campa 9speed. The only time a chain leaves the chainring is if I'm getting impatient and try to shift both front and rear too quickly. If "shortly after one another" becomes "quasi simultaneously", then I'll lose a chain. Else never.
So why is a clutch derailleur such a big deal?
@@turboseize I’m only guessing but it must be something to do with larger cassettes and longer chains, particularly 1x, so when in small 11 cog less chain slap + keeps the chain tight
@@turboseize Just answered your own question.
Putting the pro's aside, I think a GRX 2x11 is one of the best 'real world' road / gravel groupsets you can have. When you've only got one bike and it has to take you racing, touring and bikepacking, just with a change of tyres, a gravel groupset is the way to go 😊
No one is bringing track bikes to gravel. This is Manon’s time! “Manon goes bike packing on the new lotus”
I don’t ride gravel but I got a grx rear derailleur and crank on my road, that 46-30 and 11-42 cassette sure gets me over those high grade hills, at 60 I can’t keep up on the flats with youngins and need all the help going up the hills. Thinking about an aspero with a 1x 10-50 mullet setup😂now that would be a one bike for everything
Sounds awesome!
Nice set up 🎉
Me too, 11-42 rocks at 71😁
Where are these high grade hills that need a 30 ring and 42 sprocket?
I'm 63 and still ride 20th century bikes. I've been out today on a 1953 Claud Butler Universal Club with 44 ring to 16, 19 & 22 three sprocket block. Cyclo Benelux 'Standard' 3 speed derailleur. 54 low is low enough. 74 is OK for cruising. Middle 63 inches is a 'Lady's normal'.
I'm doing the same thing for the same purpose. 11-40 for me, though.
Gravel riding covers such a huge range of surfaces and terrain that I think there will always be a lot of different combinations used depending on the specific ride. When I lived in the Midwest US (Michigan), the gravel was mostly relatively flat with a big range of surface conditions. Now that I'm out West (Oregon), we do a lot of riding on old logging roads with pretty steep gradients as well as some single track, lots of loose rock but not that much mud. It is totally different.
It's marketing. Really all they would have needed to do was to make STI shifters compatible with mountain/touring hardware. Done.
I have a 1x mullet, rival shifters, force 1 crank with power spider and xo1 rear mech and cassette
If you're just beginning in gravel riding, start with what your bike is equipped with. As you progress and find your rhythm, then I think it's more feasible to change up your components.
We think this goes for lots of riding, enjoy the bike you've got and then start to build from there 🙌
Bar end shifter, MTB cassette, derailleur & chainset. Cheap simple solution that's worked faultlessly for many miles. I also have the choice of using 8, 9, 10 or 11 speed depending upon component bargains.
Companies are just creating further market segmentation by making gravel-specific parts instead of making MTB and RB components cross-compatible.
As a bicycle rider (not a "cyclist") that's not willing to pay thousands of dollars for components, i'm glad chinese bicycle drivetrain companies exist.
It‘s all coming together. 1x gravel groupsets are just MTB groupsets with other shifters. I wonder why we don‘t see more gravel rear mechs with clutch in road racing, it could prevent a solid percentage of the dropped chains. Also I hope the compatibility on the Shimano side will catch up with SRAM when it comes to mixing stuff.
I'm running old Tiara shifters with an old deore derailleur as a 1x9 with an 11-32T cassette (limit for the old derailleur) .
Works perfectly well
I really didn't like seeing Alex cringe at the thought that he had upset people on the "Influencer bike vault section". Like all of the team, Alex and Ollie bring a lot of humour to the channel while also providing top-quality information. If some "Influencers" are so fragile that they can't take a little bit of gentle teasing then they should maybe get off the internet or present a more authentic version of themselves.
I don’t care if its gravel only its more options so choose whatever fit your needs! Grx clutch on rear derailler is nice! I care way less then the gcn presentator do!
Gravel stuff is the perfect blend between the mountain bike world and the road world. Do we “need” it? No. Do I want all of it? Absolutely!
In addition to gravel specific components, we also need a gravel specific channel! I volunteer to be a presenter on GGN!
Hahahaha is gravel ready for it's own channel? You might have to fight Conor for presenter rights... He loves the muddy stuff 👉ua-cam.com/video/fnwr6YziBrE/v-deo.html
Hi Alex, I threw a normal 500ml Nalgene Everyday Bottle in a bottle cage under the downtube for a bike-packing trip through the Dolomites this summer, and it worked great. It has a full cap so no need to worry about dirt getting on the spout! Always great to have a bit of emergency water on the bike and if you have the mounting points, I say go for it. Good luck in the gravel race and love the show!
Or just pour the water from the dirty bottle under the downtube into one of the empty clean bottles inside the frame.
Great tip! He'll be sure to stay hydrated! Something that our other presenters aren't very good at ... cough cough Conor cough cough
I've gotten a suggestion for a video, get Manon to interview the boss of the UCI in person and find out what they are doing with womens cycling, with questions like "why wasn't the womens world championship gravel race televised?" questions like that.
It would be nice to see more womens cycling televised.
I mainly ride Road but also do some mtb so use to off road but the other day I decided to try gravel. I used my canyon ultimate with continental 4 seasons on 28mm and a semi compact with 11-30 di2 group set . All I did was let some air out. It worked! I didn’t puncture using inner tubes and I didn’t crash (somehow ). No it wasn’t perfect and wasn’t as plush as some 2.3”’mtb tires but they gripped well and I took it on some ‘chunky gravel’ .Shows that you don’t need all the gear you can just get out there and enjoy it!
Re: the bike vault stuff. I’ve said this a few times under GCN Tech videos lately, but I feel the original spirit of the bike vault has been lost. When it first started, it was all about enthusing over people’s bikes - I remember Si and Jon Cannings giving a commuter bike a super nice because someone was getting out and doing it. Emma Pooley and Si gave my bike a super nice but the photo would get bashed by Alex/Ollie now as it wouldn’t meet the “rules”.
I get that “it’s all a bit of fun” but at some point it’s worth being sensitive to the influence you have as a channel with loads of viewers. It’s good to spread positivity rather than negativity!
It’d be great to see a return of the enthusiasm over people’s bikes rather than nit picking and elitism (whether supposedly ironic or not). Just my 2c.
more like photo critique.
@@MTBScotland yeah, conforming to the Velominati rules. The criticism part isn’t all that funny any more if you ask me. Better to point out things you do like than things you don’t!
I see what you're saying. But then every bike would be superniced to not hurt people's feelings.. This "participation trophy" mentality pervasive today is against competition so every snowflake out there can feel special.. that is nonsense.
There are bikes nicer than others, therefore they are supernice.. Period.
@@ssenssel I see what you mean - but then this is the problem of a segment like this. It’s not about appeasing “snowflakes”, to me it’s about avoiding being needlessly nit-picky/elitist.
@@cowieson hate the whole valve tyre or the crank angle and chain cog shite. I just put my tyres on. who gives a fuck if they line up with the wheel graphics.
I've got a Tiagra on my gravel bike, which people have hacked to run a Deore M6000 11-36 cassette without any other alterations. I was riding with a fellow who had a 11-40 put on a Dura-ace with an adapter added to the derailleur hanger. Lots of options for getting over the hills when you're over the hill!
No.. I ride sora, triple chainset.. cheap as chips and tough 💪
Same, use a 26 tooth inner chainring on mine.
The only gravel specific components that I can think of is the wheels/tires and frame, you can combine other parts to a bike intended for gravel riding...IMO....other than that, I consider it as a hoax...
Yes. I have an old mtb with slickish tyres on.
Hence ‘gravel’.
Bikes generally are a load of bollocks.
I should know - I’ve bought 11.
I think we won't see "the universal" gravel bike for the foreseeable future unless UCI regulates (please don't). On good dry surfaces with small gravel the road-inspired models will win, on very technical tracks and bad contions the MTB-inspired models will win. For the consumer it's probably not a good move to buy "the winning bike" unless they are riding exactly the same trails in Italy (congrats if you do, it's beautiful there).
No old skool Catholics on the GCN Tech set. Stig-mar-tar. The marks supposedly left on christ's hands and feet as a consequence of being crucified. Hard to get stigmata on your hands as the nails went through the wrists - hands would just tear away.....
For me as you age the rear cassette gets bigger start on road then mtb and finally gravel
Cyclocross bikes have forever been equipped with road groupsets. Why would it be a problem for gravel bikes?
Stigmata is from Greek; it's pronounced like lots of Greek/Latin words with a the same as stigmatize or stigmatism but with the ending having another a at the end. Stigmata is also a movie title
The whole gravel scene is an absolute joke, very clever marketing to get mugs to part with money for rubbish.
For those that think gravel is the way forward your either a failed roadie who can't keep up, or a failed mountain biker with no skills.
The "is gravel stuff needed" question can't be answered when you only look to racing to provide an answer.
This may come as a bit of a shock but there are people who ride bikes that do not race.
Maybe a larger, more diverse sample is required if you want an actual representation of what people prioritise and want? 🤔
Still riding a 9 speed double chainring setup, canti brakes and inner tubes, old parts are far more economical as are regular tires £100 services your bike completely
Manon and Axel, my favorite GCN Tech Combo! Can't comment on how my bike uses gravel specific components. However, I might just swap over the existing handlebars for those gravel-drops.
Hello GCN Tech Crew! Yes the last bike in the Vault is mine and you got it right! It is a Shamrock Cycles Fluid Druid. Built full bespoke/custom for me in 2012. Custom geometry, custom paint, polished stainless steel fork crown and head tube lugs. Really proud it made the Big Show! Thanks!
75 just bought a Giant Revolt, fantastic on the trails I ride. If it works it works if it sucks it sucks. Love the gravel tech.
Nice name for a bike, the Santa Cruz Bleeding Hands.
I'm throwing together a gravel-commuter thing with a budget and I've got an old Deore 7-9 speed derailleur and a narrow-wide chainring in front.
Some older light-ish trekking frame with disc brake mounts but old Tiagra levers.
Also using a little Suntour NEX suspension fork with lockout, so its pretty much all over the place 😂
I will however put dt swiss gravel rims on it as the next step
The stigmata are the marks left from the nails on Jesus's hands and feet and the spear in his side. I've always pronounced it as stigmarta
I like my 2x GRX, except I don't see why there is such a huge overlap in gears between the 2 chainrings. I don't find it helpful. I just find i move from one extremity of the cassette to the other. I would prefer less overlap, such as on Ultegra. (Ok, so i could probably fit a bigger big ring, if i could be bothered, but why sell it like that?)
I normally enjoy the bike vault. People submit their photos and know what they’re letting themselves in for. But to randomly select people isn’t cool. They didn’t ask for your opinion, and it doesn’t look good to new viewers. To say people “didn’t get it” - is wrong… they did get it, it just wasn’t cool to target people 🤷🏼♀️
Don't worry Andreas, you're not a complete moron!
Just converted my Giant defy to 'gravel' with a set of 35mm panaracer GKss, with 105 Mechanicsl 50/34 compact and a 34×11 it does ok 🤷♂️
Stigmata is pronounced Stig-mah-tah.
Great work by the new comedic Manon. Between the "spicy" tech and thanking past Manon, she's hitting new levels.
Also loved that Reilly in the Bike vault. Whatever happened to the bell drops for UBER nice bikes, or are we secretly on the 9th bike vault bell because of that practice?
Mtb running gear on a road bike!!
Quick answer: No
Lol I think Alex needs to say sorry to Katie on her next Rapha club run. The none elitist one though😂😂😂😂
Gravel IS a hoax :-)
"Gravel" is a con.
It took 10 years for BMC to design the Aeroad!!! Amazing :)
I am running a GRX 400 46/30 11 36 cassette. Nobody reviews this. However it's affordable, big range means it's more relevant for many. 40 mm Challenge Getaway gives low rolling resistance. MKS urban and Zefal nylon quarter clips give me lightweight versatility. GT carbon grade elite.
My Gravel bike have a mix MTB and Gravel stuff 27,5" wheels set an 50-584mm tires Conti Race king , 1x11 Sram NX Crankset whit 38oval kassett 11/46 for me my highes montain is 500mete r tall and i can clim it up
The only thing people care about from gravel are big cassettes. It's made everyone realize that a 12-40 should be the default on any bike sold to normal people. Even the pros are figuring out that huge cassettes are better (Roglic using gravel cassette to win his Giro ITT). This is why Campagnolo's new wireless groupsets are dead-in-the-water. The Vegan Cyclist has his Canyon AEROAD with 1x and an 11-52t. I have a Felt AR with a 54-39 and 12-40t at the back (easy to create by buying a spare 12t final cog). This is the future.
#askgcntech The RD-6870 (1st gen Ultegra short cage) is spec'd for 28T max cassette. If I put on a longer cage AND switch to 1x up front, approximately what range cassette could that RD go up to?
I utilize GRX 2x with 11-40 xt cassettes. In alignment with Alex's closing comments on the topic, I appreciate the robustness of the GRX front small chain ring. In trying a road chain ring (FSA K-force light) on light gravel with steep California climbs, I taco'd the small ring - had to use a rock to bang it straight so it would rotate past the chainstay and solely utilized big ring for 30 miles to home. This has not happened with the gravel group.
Gravel specific components exist for two reasons: Because of stupid Shimano MTB / Road lack of interoperability, and because they give a lot of drop bar riders more reasonable gear ranges. The world just wants MTB / Road interoperability and better gear ranges, we're not all Tadej Pogacar or living in Florida.
I have a cyclocross bike with road groupsets and components. I bought that years ago before the gravel fever started, and I swap some components with my road bike regularly, quite happy about the same. For really rough road/snow I use the mountain bike (mechanical sram) and also quite comfortable. ❤️✌🏾
#ASKGCNTECH Greetings Tech Gurus: simple question - changing my tyres for winter (I run tubeless in spring/summer) but, do I go for stronger protection tyres (Schwalbe Marathon-type) with a lighter inner tube or a lighter tyre with a heavier inner tube? Choices, choices but which is better? Speed-over-protection: that’s the question. Love the show. Be well.
what i don't get about gravel bikes, (and road) the obesession wit maintaining a short wheelbase regardless of size. so i didn't use a gravel frame when i built mine.
i don't think i used any gravel specific parts, maybe the front chainring being a sram 1x 42t. everything else was a mix of sram road and moutainbike parts. fulcrum xc 29er wheels. road 46mm bars, 50mm stem (long wheelbase hybrid x type frame)
Photoren here, much thanks for the Supernice! I got my spare tube, levers, multi-tool, and CO2 in the lower storage, and my smart-tag, snacks, and eye drops in the top tube bag. Heavier stuff in the bottom to help the center of gravity. Smart-tag is bolted in with the bag.
A smart set-up! I commented elsewhere I carry a spare h20 bottle there but I cover the top with a piece of plastic wrap held in place with a rubber band.
....all this talk about bikes and components reminds me of what the Olympic coach at Colorado Springs said "....its the motor not the machine....now let's get to work!"
I run a 46/30 9-34 on my system six. At age 37 I still smoke a good portion of my local group made up of ages 20 somethings.
This type of gearing has been happening for years. Mainstream media is just catching up.
The question should be, do we need gravel? we already have XCO and roads.
In the Bike Vault you talked about a bottle mounted under the down tube. I believe that was a tool container, not a bottle. Manon’s comment was right on. She was right on about the lack of coverage of the women’s gravel championship. It was just wrong! I have a Diverge with full GRX and a Topstone with Shimano 105. Both are great, but I seem to be riding the diverge a lot more, commuting and trail riding etc. I do need to get the Wolf Tooth chain keeper. I loose my chain jumping curbs etc. and the clutch just doesn’t seem up to the job. Your show is great!
BIKE VAULT needs theme music. Obviously it must be Anita Wards
Ring My Bell 🔔
Rather than label the the components as for intended usage, how about standardize components so individual users can select what they need to make sense for themselves and have it be compatible. For creativity, a MTB with flat-bar shifters on compact 2 ring front and medium cassette rear with clutch rolling 700C size rubber. Wait is that a flat-bar gravel bike?? Sounds like a standard bottom bracket size is needed. Tee-Hee-Hee.
I'm disappointed with the poor TV cover of Gravel Champs as such. Yeah, the men's event was technically transmitted, but access to this material was highly limited. 🙁
On one end, we see all road and gravel with increasingly wide tire clearances. On the other, we see ultra fast road/track bikes with super wide forks. Why not…both…how about a universal road/gravel/rigid MTB bike fork that could fit 4” fat bike tires for those winter road rides in Minnesota, eh? Then slap some Zipp 404s on when it warms up… bet there is a dropout adapter that could make this work…
The world's was like 1/2 distance compared to most US Gravel events. Everyone was cut short
I’m just back from 10 days bike packing in France/ Belgium and is used a Hiplock (locking zip tie type lock) to secure my handle bar to the tent pole. It’s supper light weight and would surly slow someone down enough for me to try and save my bike
Also I put a bottle mount under the down tube and used a topeak escape pod to store spares and tools. It has a neoprene liner and foam in the cap so it didn’t rattle.
What size frame does each presenter ride? I am a little fella at 165mm, 58 kilo and ride a size 51 Look 765. The size may be a tad too large but no aches or pains within the year of owning.
Manon is exempt besides frame size , rude to ask a lady's weight.
these shows should be titled "are the specialty bikes and components we hype on GCN for the sake of our bike marketing sponsors pointless?" where I live, "gravel bikes" are owned by *weekend tools* riding the unpaved mixed use paths where moms with baby carriages and and dog walkers are trying to walk.
Be offended!
It depends on the brand. SRAM don’t specifically state any of there stuff is really gravel specific. But some parts are designed to run with wider tiers and cassettes. Hence there “wide”range in there cat, but really only effects the front and rear derailure the rest is the same across the board. Which I think is clever and I love the fact that you could if you wanted use mtb components with road. It something sram have a really nailed and Shimano and the rest don’t really have an answer for at this moment. Most road wheel are also rated for off road use as well for example roval alpinist clx 2 wheel can be used off road though they have arguably better options within the catalog.
Naughty boy Andre upsetting the snowflakes……..please upset them some more this week!
Awesome video, lots of fun, always enjoyed Manon sitting in, it also was hilarious the Manon / Manon colab…..lol
Alex agreeing with “It’s your bike, set it up as you like” one week after destroying purpose oriented professional bikes is as a harder twist than Ollie going from worst to fittest GCN presenter
If you look at that downhill single trail you ask whether they should simply use MTBs ... this is really rough ground!
If you want only one bike, a gravel specific one is great, you can ride it on the road reasonably well, it's obviously great for gravel and you can even get away with some more extreme off road stuff. If you already have a mountain bike and a road bike just get some wider tires for your road bike and you are good, no need for a third bike.
I love Alex's shirt. For a moment, i thought there was a GCN text box floating on top of the video.
My Diverge came with the Mullett setup. I hated it on the road. The spacing is too far apart. I changed it to an XPLR rear end. It's better but still not as smooth as road shifting.
Racing isn't the same as just riding so pretty pointless discussion. Frames are frames, wheels are wheels, cassettes are cassettes but road shoes offroad are stupid unless you are racing the world champs for obvious reasons.
24:47 can't get a "super nice" bc it has a Garmin Varia radar. That would considered "unnecessary" as per your own rules.
If you could ask Maurice Garin a 35 lb fixie is PERFECT
That most Supernice bike was mind-melting 🤤😍
Do you think shadow stands are more robust than leaning a bike against a wall??? Guess how many people had their bikes fall trying to use a shadow stand.
just to let you know, a cog moves with a cog. A sprocket moves with a chain.
5:50 - Tannus? Don't tell me they're being used in gravel???
You do not need ask for excuse rgd Your last weeks bike vault! 🤦♂️
Seems the riders are as confused as the general public as to what is best!!!.
Start with a really good gravel bike, then fix it, ride it. Easy.
Mannon's hottest and spiciest moment of the show is on 18:52.
If this would be not a bike channel...