Gravel

Wayne Plunger

Apart from builders merchants where is all this gravel for everybody to ride their gravel bike?

figbat

Mostly on the road, scattered liberally around the potholes.

kajjal

If you look down at the ground it is all over the place. A trail past a local farm is covered in it as are forestry fire roads. Just make sure you keep an eye on it, you never know.

PhilipPirrip

I've just glued gravel onto a set of rollers. Saves having to go outside looking for gravel altogether.

Matthewfalle

it is flowing around my ex's arteries and veins as she does not have a heart for pumping blood n tings around.

#vicious

isotonik

Gravel bikes were born and are popular in the U.S where there's plenty of gravel. tbh I think theres no real place for them here n the UK,

Gravel bike can't keep up with road bikes and are limited off road so they\re a bit of a jack of all trades master of none.

Cyclocross bikes arethe way to go off road

kajjal

isotonik wrote:

Gravel bikes were born and are popular in the U.S where there's plenty of gravel. tbh I think theres no real place for them here n the UK,

Gravel bike can't keep up with road bikes and are limited off road so they\re a bit of a jack of all trades master of none.

Cyclocross bikes arethe way to go off road

Why is a cx bike better than a gravel bike ?

whyamihere

The West Midlands has a lot. Canal paths, bridleways, forestry tracks, they're useful for linking sections together and making stuff which would be a bit boring on a mountain bike interesting again. The lines are very blurred between gravel and CX bikes until you start putting suspension and dropper posts on - I'd be just as happy on something sold as a CX bike as long as I could fit 40mm tyres and 2 bottle cages.

isotonik

Kajjal wrote:

isotonik wrote:

Gravel bikes were born and are popular in the U.S where there's plenty of gravel. tbh I think theres no real place for them here n the UK,

Gravel bike can't keep up with road bikes and are limited off road so they\re a bit of a jack of all trades master of none.

Cyclocross bikes arethe way to go off road

Why is a cx bike better than a gravel bike ?

Because a cx is built for one purpose, and it does the job very well. gearing, tyres, geometry.
I think alot of it is marketing bullshit

Alejandrosdog

isotonik wrote:

Kajjal wrote:

isotonik wrote:

Gravel bikes were born and are popular in the U.S where there's plenty of gravel. tbh I think theres no real place for them here n the UK,

Gravel bike can't keep up with road bikes and are limited off road so they\re a bit of a jack of all trades master of none.

Cyclocross bikes arethe way to go off road

Why is a cx bike better than a gravel bike ?

Because a cx is built for one purpose, and it does the job very well. gearing, tyres, geometry.
I think alot of it is marketing bullshit

In the UK it’s all marketing bs

aberdeen_lune

Tons of trails in Scotland that are suited to a gravel/cx bike. It’s nice to get off the road on to the trails for a change. A full mountain bike is overkill for a lot of these trails. In fact I reckon I could go 200miles from my door head over country from the east coast to the west with around 20 or 30 tarmac miles the rest on old railways lines now turned to bike trails, old drovers paths and national park trails. I need to plan that trip soon.

rwoofer

Loads of "gravel" riding in Surrey and a proper gravel bike is much faster than any other bike. Mine is a Fairlight Secan with 57mm XC race tyres.

Did a 83km gravel ride last weekend and the CX bikes just couldn't keep up off road and where no faster on road.

molteni_man

https://gravelmap.com/#@51.056966119391 ... ,10,hybrid

Here’s a starting point. In my area there’s tons more routes than shown on the map.

Wayne Plunger

Molteni Man wrote:

https://gravelmap.com/#@51.05696611939125,-1.1210828040336764,10,hybrid

Here’s a starting point. In my area there’s tons more routes than shown on the map.

That map probably explains why I wondered about gravel. There appears not to be any in the area I live. Thanks for sharing the link.

Matthewfalle

rwoofer wrote:

Loads of "gravel" riding in Surrey and a proper gravel bike is much faster than any other bike. Mine is a Fairlight Secan with 57mm XC race tyres.

Did a 83km gravel ride last weekend and the CX bikes just couldn't keep up off road and where no faster on road.

why couldn't they keep up out of interest?
#intrigued

photonic69

Within the next five years most British roads will be nothing but gravel if the state of our local roads are anything to go by.

#buygravelbikesnow

MiddleRinger

There's an abundance of gravel roads down here in Tasmania. Most of them are ride-able on a standard road bike with a bit of care. They would be much better suited to something with wider than 28mm tyres, but a full on mountain bike would be overkill (although you could throw in some singletrack and trails to link the gravel).

Most of the new bikes being churned out are pure marketing. You don't need a different bike just to ride a bit of gravel road. I can of course see the appeal of a gravel/CX bike, but probably not for me.

Alejandrosdog

Matthewfalle wrote:

rwoofer wrote:

Loads of "gravel" riding in Surrey and a proper gravel bike is much faster than any other bike. Mine is a Fairlight Secan with 57mm XC race tyres.

Did a 83km gravel ride last weekend and the CX bikes just couldn't keep up off road and where no faster on road.

why couldn't they keep up out of interest?
#intrigued

they werent slammed.

Alejandrosdog

Molteni Man wrote:

https://gravelmap.com/#@51.05696611939125,-1.1210828040336764,10,hybrid

Here’s a starting point. In my area there’s tons more routes than shown on the map.

that map shows things like the Ridgeway, thats not gravel its difficult to ride on a road bike granted but any old bike with wider tyres is fine. As it has been for the last 30 years i've been riding on it.

Likewise the southdowns way, a bit drier than the ridgeway but nothing special. If non technical off road is gravel and includes routes like that and old railway lines then there is lots of "gravel" but they've been available to ride for since beeching did his thing.

The outback of Australia has gravel, Kansas has gravel roads, some large forestry commission roads are gravel but the rest is just looking for somewhere your modern bit of marketing bike might be better than a roadbike and a trail bike would be overkill.

joe_totale-2

That gravel map includes A Roads!
There's also plenty of other tarmac roads in decent condition which road cyclists use all the time.

monkimark

Molteni Man wrote:

https://gravelmap.com/#@51.05696611939125,-1.1210828040336764,10,hybrid

Here’s a starting point. In my area there’s tons more routes than shown on the map.

That looks like exactly what I wanted for planning a route this weekend, until i looked at the 'gravel' in the area I'm going to and realised that it's all on smooth tarmac like this.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0759685 ... bfov%3D100

aberdeen_lune

My understanding is that a gravel bike is slacker than a CX bike I.e. a longer wheelbase. So not so flickable round tight bends more suited to long days in the saddle than a 40 minute twisty lap cxer requires. Also wider tyre clearance CXers were traditionally 33mm or so. Gravel gets you up into the 40s or even 50mm tyres.

So basically it’s a road bike with big tyre clearance. To me it’s just another option for the cyclist. Ideally you could have a road race bike, a gravel bike and an XC bike. Just pick the one for the route your taking that day. Oh and a pub bike that no one would nick. What’s not to like it’s all more choice for the consumer.

angry_bird

isotonik wrote:

Gravel bikes were born and are popular in the U.S where there's plenty of gravel. tbh I think theres no real place for them here n the UK

I think you need to get out and see the UK a bit more then. Out my door I can spend a couple of minutes (maybe more like 3 or 4) on the road then be on nothing but gravel and rocky tracks for several hours, before another minute back home (it's downhill so faster) on the road...

joe_totale-2

Angry Bird wrote:

isotonik wrote:

Gravel bikes were born and are popular in the U.S where there's plenty of gravel. tbh I think theres no real place for them here n the UK

I think you need to get out and see the UK a bit more then. Out my door I can spend a couple of minutes (maybe more like 3 or 4) on the road then be on nothing but gravel and rocky tracks for several hours, before another minute back home (it's downhill so faster) on the road...

It's very much an area dependent thing, I live in South East London, there's sod all gravel here in easy reach. If I lived in the New Forest or Scotland then I'd be all over a gravel bike.

cgfw201

there really is a surprising amount of 'gravel' in the UK.

I live in South West London and can be in a Park within 2 mins of the door and ride all the way to the South Coast 95% off-road on bridleways, farm tracks, gravel roads, towpaths and through parks.

It's not necessarily that easy to find but the routes exist and with a bit of trial & error there is a tonne of it around.

And this is inside the M25. Presume in the rest of the country it's even better. Might not be 200 mile long gravel roads like the USA but you don't need them. A gravel bike just gives you access to a huge spectrum of off road riding.

Gravel & CX bikes are nearly identical. I've got 650b knobbly tyres on mine which can go anywhere from soft mud to sand, gravel and road.

davep1

Alejandrosdog wrote:

Molteni Man wrote:

https://gravelmap.com/#@51.05696611939125,-1.1210828040336764,10,hybrid

Here’s a starting point. In my area there’s tons more routes than shown on the map.

that map shows things like the Ridgeway, thats not gravel its difficult to ride on a road bike granted but any old bike with wider tyres is fine. As it has been for the last 30 years i've been riding on it.

Likewise the southdowns way, a bit drier than the ridgeway but nothing special. If non technical off road is gravel and includes routes like that and old railway lines then there is lots of "gravel" but they've been available to ride for since beeching did his thing.

The outback of Australia has gravel, Kansas has gravel roads, some large forestry commission roads are gravel but the rest is just looking for somewhere your modern bit of marketing bike might be better than a roadbike and a trail bike would be overkill.

See, I don't think the SDW is suitable for a gravel bike or cx; at least not with anything less than 40 mm tyres. There are grassy sections of the SDW but there are also flinty sections, rooty sections, chalky sections...a friend of mine destroyed his cx tyres when he tried an event on the Downs.
Now the Downslink is more like it, especially as the councils seem to be gradually taming the surface.

cgfw201

DaveP1 wrote:

Alejandrosdog wrote:

Molteni Man wrote:

https://gravelmap.com/#@51.05696611939125,-1.1210828040336764,10,hybrid

Here’s a starting point. In my area there’s tons more routes than shown on the map.

that map shows things like the Ridgeway, thats not gravel its difficult to ride on a road bike granted but any old bike with wider tyres is fine. As it has been for the last 30 years i've been riding on it.

Likewise the southdowns way, a bit drier than the ridgeway but nothing special. If non technical off road is gravel and includes routes like that and old railway lines then there is lots of "gravel" but they've been available to ride for since beeching did his thing.

The outback of Australia has gravel, Kansas has gravel roads, some large forestry commission roads are gravel but the rest is just looking for somewhere your modern bit of marketing bike might be better than a roadbike and a trail bike would be overkill.

See, I don't think the SDW is suitable for a gravel bike or cx; at least not with anything less than 40 mm tyres. There are grassy sections of the SDW but there are also flinty sections, rooty sections, chalky sections...a friend of mine destroyed his cx tyres when he tried an event on the Downs.
Now the Downslink is more like it, especially as the councils seem to be gradually taming the surface.

SDW is no trouble on a CX with 35mm tyres if the weather's been ok, but is definitely more enjoyable on 42/45s.

flasher

Do people actually use the drops on their gravel bikes?

whyamihere

Flasher wrote:

Do people actually use the drops on their gravel bikes?

Yep.

step83

Joe Totale wrote:

That gravel map includes A Roads!
There's also plenty of other tarmac roads in decent condition which road cyclists use all the time.

Well technically tarmac is just gravel and tar...

Horses for courses though, till these things came about you could do it on a hard tail mountain bike with something like a Maxxis Crossmark or Schwalbe Smart Sams. now obviously we need these.

aberdeen_lune

Don’t see what your moaning about. Gravel bikes are just an extra option for you if you want another n +1. If you are happy with what you have then great. No one is forcing anyone to buy.
I’d rather have loads of choice than one or two options. Don’t complain about another excuse to buy a bike.