Debating a gravel bike

luv2ride

https://off.road.cc/content/news/lauf-slashes-prices-by-around-25-across-range-with-direct-to-you-sales-6211

Have always been intrigued by the Lauf fork, and don't their bikes come with a bottle opener in place of a front derailleur? So....gravel...think i'd be tempted if had the cash to splash...

andyrac

teisetrotter said:

I would always say build the bike up to be what you want. I bought a great frame and whee-set from Parcours. Now I am adding the right-sized seat-post, stem and handlebar from USE. A saddle I know is comfortable from San Marco. Then I'll put the groupset I want with my choice of cranks and cassette on it.

Or I'd go Ribble because you can do all of the above from a UK company.

I'm tempted by the Ribble CGR, especially the 725 steel version. You have the choice of 700 or 650b, Shimano or Sram, 1x or 2x.....

shiz

I’ve enjoyed my tubeless experience. Have had very little punctures since - and when I do, it usually gets my home if I just pump it up once with a hand pump.
If you have a really big gash, then you just stick in an inner tube - but at least you’ve probably saved yourself a lot of puncture sagas before you get to that point...

chris_phillips

daniel_b said:

Evening,

I did have it in my head to try and build up an Addict over the next couple of years, but I might be coming round to the idea of considering a gravel bike.

We have, apparently, quite a lot of decent riding near us, and quite a few from the lbs ride out regularly.

I have bought some narrower tyres which I will fit to my 2006 Marin hardtail, to see if that means I can keep in reasonable contact, but if I really enjoy the terrain, then I might seriously consider a drop bar bike.

Come December my c2w scheme becomes available again and I have a 2k limit, though I know places where I can top it up.

I know precious little about gravel bikes, other than that I will probably want carbon if it lands within budget, and hyd discs.

Critically would you stick to inner tubes or go tubeless?
I have not been brave enough to try it on any bike yet, so no prior experience, though from friends I hear as many negative as positive experiences.

I do really like Scott, and I think they make a gravelesque bike.

Light would be good, but I have no idea what an average weight is for a gravel bike, 9kg?

Any market leading makes & models people would recommend?

Thanks

Dan

I must admit to echoing Fenix's point in defining a gravel bike, is it a marketing fad, first and foremost it's a bike with wide tyre tolerances, I do happen to own a canyon grail , but tbh it doesn't really do much more than my Dolan winter bike. It will be something else next year and your gravel bike will be sat in the garage/shed gathering dust. And really if you live in the south of England there are extremely limited gravel trails, Bridleways yes , disused railway lines which are inherently congested with horses, dogs and grumpy retired folk. I am loving the canyon but there are limited places to use its capabilities even in the glorious peak district.

DeVlaeminck

Yes there isn't a great deal of gravel riding round here (Derbyshire) that I've found unless you include the kind of cycle trails you get families out on. To be fair though on a gravel bike once it gets much rougher you are better off on a MTB. I'd also say tubeless are pretty much essential for gravel bikes as any proper off road tracks in the UK other than gravel cycle trails will mean punctures if you use tubes.

I have a heavyish gravel bike - a steel Genesis CDF. It's not a bad bike but if buying again I think I'd get a cyclocross race bike because they are just a bit more fun chucking them about on rough bridleways etc.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

For £1000, https://www.halfords.com/bikes/adventure-bikes/boardman-adv-8.9-mens-adventure-bike-2021---s-m-l-xl-frames-389606.html are sure to be popular when they launch next month.

fenix

Out on the road bikes today and had to stop twice due to recently gravelled roads making road chippings stick to my mates low clearance bike.
I can see gravel bikes* being necessary on roads now.

*Or just bikes with decent clearances

DeVlaeminck

My old Look 585 used to have that issue when I put 25mm tyres on it. I remember cigarette paper (it censors a 3 letter slang word for cigarette) clearances were seen as a positive not too long ago.

fenix

Oh yes. With custom steel builds clearances were fantastically tight. The tighter the better. How things change!

jrasero

When I want to go as fast as possible on clean tarmac in good weather I use my Canyon Ultimate CF SL DISC 8.0 w/ Continental GP 5000 28mm and for "gravel" rides, winter/fall, or just as an everyday bike I use my Planet X Tempest Rival 1 Titanium w/ Panaracer GravelKing 42mm.

In theory a gravel bike could be you one and only do it all bike, but most gravel bikes will be less aero, weigh more, can have less gears, and be slower. For me the Tempest is a great juxtaposition to the Ultimate in many ways: while the Tempest is heavier, it's also stronger and a lot more impact resistant. While the Ultimate is faster due to weight, gearing, and aero-ness the Tempest is simply more comfortable due to the geometry, wider bars, and larger tire clearance. When I am riding my Ultimate every rock strike leaves me in agony thinking about possible damage, but with my Tempest I am actively seeking rocky bumpy paths and don't worry about scratches or dings on titanium at all.

I won't get into a philosophical debate on what material is king, but I will say titanium is a really ideal gravel or even mountain bike material since it's doesn't fatigue like aluminum, does not rust, it's lighter and stronger than steel, most titanium bikes are not painted so no worries about paint cracks or chips, and titanium is worlds better than carbon in terms of impact resistance. With this being said Titanium can be very expensive and most shops don't carry Titanium brands or models (there aren't many).

I used to run my previous 2016 Scott Scale 730 Carbon bike with slick gravel tires with the fork locked out most of the time and it was a great on gravel but as soon as I hit tarmac it was quite sluggish. With this said the the Scale was fairly light bike at 24lbs just with the gearing and fork you never could really push it.

davidof

fenix said:

What do pros ride on Strade Bianche ? Isn't that the ultimate gravel ride ?

I suspect marketing plays a big part.

this should do

teisetrotter

When road cycling was not popular you had race bikes and tourers. Tourers had easier gears i.e. a triple, mudguard and pannier fixing things. Then things got more popular and carbon arrived and we then had the 'sportive' and the compact chainset was born. So instead of race bikes only the young and strong could manage, 53-39 11-23, we then had racey bikes normal humans could use without the apparent embarrassment of a triple and things were better.

In all that time there was another bike quietly hanging around ............ the cyclocross bike. Now the cyclocross bike is doing the same journey as the race bike. The tourer is back ........ but now it's a gravel bike and instead of a triple we have a 1x from Campy, Sram and some other company that is not worth considering.

Also in the time before the gravel bike was invented yet another bike came along for those not touring ........ sorry bike packing. That was the hardtail mountain bike, a bike for off-road trails ...... sorry gravel trails ...... and not mountains. This bike was generally only available in specialist shops called Halfords. People could ride ..... sorry 'adventure bike pack' ........ along forest commission dead-flat roads, wild and uninhabited bits of Centerparcs, vastly small tracts of Surrey and annoy ramblers on paths ....... sorry adventure gravel routes'. Exploring places where only millions of people and their kids had taken their specialist Halfords machines before.

So now you can spend many thousands on a gravel bike and think you look cool with a beard and a satchel on your handlebars just in case you are marooned for days in the Surrey hills. You'll be safe in the knowledge that you're an adventurer, forging through the gravel frontiers of Britain staring disdainfully at the many tens of thousands of families happily going for a safe little spin with their kids on their Halford's specialist off-road machines.

I realise I have missed the aero genre here and yes I realise it is not a brown and lime green painted racing bicycle.

pippi_langsamer-2

jrasero said:

When I want to go as fast as possible on clean tarmac in good weather I use my Canyon Ultimate CF SL DISC 8.0 w/ Continental GP 5000 28mm and for "gravel" rides, winter/fall, or just as an everyday bike I use my Planet X Tempest Rival 1 Titanium w/ Panaracer GravelKing 42mm.

In theory a gravel bike could be you one and only do it all bike, but most gravel bikes will be less aero, weigh more, can have less gears, and be slower. For me the Tempest is a great juxtaposition to the Ultimate in many ways: while the Tempest is heavier, it's also stronger and a lot more impact resistant. While the Ultimate is faster due to weight, gearing, and aero-ness the Tempest is simply more comfortable due to the geometry, wider bars, and larger tire clearance. When I am riding my Ultimate every rock strike leaves me in agony thinking about possible damage, but with my Tempest I am actively seeking rocky bumpy paths and don't worry about scratches or dings on titanium at all.

I won't get into a philosophical debate on what material is king, but I will say titanium is a really ideal gravel or even mountain bike material since it's doesn't fatigue like aluminum, does not rust, it's lighter and stronger than steel, most titanium bikes are not painted so no worries about paint cracks or chips, and titanium is worlds better than carbon in terms of impact resistance. With this being said Titanium can be very expensive and most shops don't carry Titanium brands or models (there aren't many).

I used to run my previous 2016 Scott Scale 730 Carbon bike with slick gravel tires with the fork locked out most of the time and it was a great on gravel but as soon as I hit tarmac it was quite sluggish. With this said the the Scale was fairly light bike at 24lbs just with the gearing and fork you never could really push it.

I'm almost tempted with the Tempest (if they ever get more stock back in). I started thinking about other possibly bikes other than the Orbea Terra for reasons you point-out, ie resilience on the rough n ready gravel trails.

Two things worry me though. One, Planet-X seem to get awful reviews as a company these days still, and two- I had a Litespeed titanium frame years ago that I rode about twice before getting rid and replacing with a Scott CR-1. Admittedly, the Ghisallo was a super lightweight Ti frame, and I bought it for racing, but it was as stiff as the proverbial wet noodle. Awful thing (although it looked lovely).

It's a shame they have a press-fit BB in those Tempests too...

joe_totale-2

pippi_langsamer-2 said:

jrasero said:

When I want to go as fast as possible on clean tarmac in good weather I use my Canyon Ultimate CF SL DISC 8.0 w/ Continental GP 5000 28mm and for "gravel" rides, winter/fall, or just as an everyday bike I use my Planet X Tempest Rival 1 Titanium w/ Panaracer GravelKing 42mm.

In theory a gravel bike could be you one and only do it all bike, but most gravel bikes will be less aero, weigh more, can have less gears, and be slower. For me the Tempest is a great juxtaposition to the Ultimate in many ways: while the Tempest is heavier, it's also stronger and a lot more impact resistant. While the Ultimate is faster due to weight, gearing, and aero-ness the Tempest is simply more comfortable due to the geometry, wider bars, and larger tire clearance. When I am riding my Ultimate every rock strike leaves me in agony thinking about possible damage, but with my Tempest I am actively seeking rocky bumpy paths and don't worry about scratches or dings on titanium at all.

I won't get into a philosophical debate on what material is king, but I will say titanium is a really ideal gravel or even mountain bike material since it's doesn't fatigue like aluminum, does not rust, it's lighter and stronger than steel, most titanium bikes are not painted so no worries about paint cracks or chips, and titanium is worlds better than carbon in terms of impact resistance. With this being said Titanium can be very expensive and most shops don't carry Titanium brands or models (there aren't many).

I used to run my previous 2016 Scott Scale 730 Carbon bike with slick gravel tires with the fork locked out most of the time and it was a great on gravel but as soon as I hit tarmac it was quite sluggish. With this said the the Scale was fairly light bike at 24lbs just with the gearing and fork you never could really push it.

I'm almost tempted with the Tempest (if they ever get more stock back in). I started thinking about other possibly bikes other than the Orbea Terra for reasons you point-out, ie resilience on the rough n ready gravel trails.

Two things worry me though. One, Planet-X seem to get awful reviews as a company these days still, and two- I had a Litespeed titanium frame years ago that I rode about twice before getting rid and replacing with a Scott CR-1. Admittedly, the Ghisallo was a super lightweight Ti frame, and I bought it for racing, but it was as stiff as the proverbial wet noodle. Awful thing (although it looked lovely).

It's a shame they have a press-fit BB in those Tempests too...

I've been looking at a Tempest as well, the BB is a BSA one:

https://www.planetx.co.uk/imgs/products/px/950x600_constWH/FTPXTIGRV3_P3.jpg?v=qa

The geometry is basically the same as the Reilly Gradient which is no surprise seeing as they were designed by the same guy. The Gradient seems to review well, not so many reviews out there for the Planet X bike as they don't seem that keen on sending their bikes out to review.

pippi_langsamer-2

I've been looking at a Tempest as well, the BB is a BSA one:

https://www.planetx.co.uk/imgs/products/px/950x600_constWH/FTPXTIGRV3_P3.jpg?v=qa

Ah, nice- missed that...