Do gravel bikes feel a bit dull and wooden on road?

supertwisted

I’m asking in general ‘as a rule’ terms, as I’m sure there are some exceptions.

My current road bike is a single speed Charge Plug on 32s. Its fine and enjoyable to ride for what it is, but exciting it is not. It can however go pretty much anywhere I need it to.

Im all but sold on a dedicated road bike next as that forms most of my riding these days. But is there a gravel bike that gives the excitement of a road bike on tarmac?

cruff

supertwisted said:

I’m asking in general ‘as a rule’ terms, as I’m sure there are some exceptions.

My current road bike is a single speed Charge Plug on 32s. Its fine and enjoyable to ride for what it is, but exciting it is not. It can however go pretty much anywhere I need it to.

Im all but sold on a dedicated road bike next as that forms most of my riding these days. But is there a gravel bike that gives the excitement of a road bike on tarmac?

Cervelo Aspero

ugo.santalucia

If you want a road bike, get a road bike not a gravel bike. If you want an exciting road bike, get a Supersix

step83

A gravel bike is going to feel a bit censored on road, it's basically a 90s mountain bike.
Rode mine for a few weeks rode my road bike today which felt far more connected and engaging. Horses for courses though.

joe_totale-2

step83 said:

A gravel bike is going to feel a bit censored on road, it's basically a 90s mountain bike.
Rode mine for a few weeks rode my road bike today which felt far more connected and engaging. Horses for courses though.

I found exactly the same and so have a couple of friends who also bought gravel bikes as winter bikes and now regret this decision. It's why endurance bikes still exist.

However, the Cervelo mentioned above does seem to buck this trend by being a very racy gravel bike but unfortunately, it's not cheap.

supertwisted

Thanks all, confirms my suspicions, gravel is definitely not for me.

fenix

Two sets of tyres/wheels ?

My double chainring cross bike with big clearances goes 99% as well as my best road bike when it's got skinny tyres on.

I don't see where the difference comes from otherwise. Maybe slightly less aero but not noticeably.

andyrac

Stick a decent set of road wheels/ tyres on one of the race type Gravel bikes and you should be fine. However, a bikepacking Gravel bike will seem...leisurely/boring.

poptart242

I have a Rondo HVRT and a Supersix Hi-Mod - the S/S is more fun to ride on the road, but the Rondo handles brilliantly in race geo too. Rondo has 60mm clinchers with 30mm tyres for road and the S/S has some shallow clinchers on 25s.

IF you had to have one bike and you HAD to go do gravel stuff, then go with something like the Rondo or Aspero as they basically have road geo.

singleton

There's a big range of "gravel" bikes - from something like a rigid MTB with drop bars (Saracen Levarg) to an endurance bike with large clearance (specialized diverge or Ridley kanzo speed).

One end of this spectrum will be very different to the other end.

cruff

singleton said:

There's a big range of "gravel" bikes - from something like a rigid MTB with drop bars (Saracen Levarg) to an endurance bike with large clearance (specialized diverge or Ridley kanzo speed).

One end of this spectrum will be very different to the other end.

Exactly

Pretty sure if I took the big wheels off my Aspero and put some deep sections on I could race on it (though would be under geared for crits or flat races with GRX). When I first bought it I went out on the road and did 33k/h for two hours - on a route I'd usually average 37 on with the race bike, and railed it round corners without issue, so I wouldn't call that 'dull and wooden'

Not all gravel bikes are created equal

zest28

I have some an older wheelset with 25mm tyres that I sometimes put on my gravel bike and it is fine really on the road.

monty_dogcp

I have a carbon Diverge with 2 pairs of wheels - with 40mm deep carbon wheels with 32 Panaracer Gravelking SKs it rides as fast as 99% of road bikes as ultimately it's down to the rider. Stand on the pedals and there's absolutely no sign of losing any power. What you might not get is the absolute 'zing' and feedback you get from a top-end road bike - but then again, that can become pretty tiresome after a few hours on rough roads and you can't use all your power as it skitters around corners.