yes, yes!

darrell1967

ugo.santalucia said:

DeVlaeminck said:

I find it's mainly cycle trails - old railway lines that sort of thing. Agree it is a bit limited - maybe there are areas with more trails than there are round here.

Yes, those lovely areas where nobody lives in the Highlands and in Wales... majority of potential customers with pockets deep enough to spend 3 grand on a gravel bike live in areas where they can't use one... and that is probably true in the US too...

This applies to a lot of our well to do clients in Putney and the surrounding areas.

They’ll have a couple of Pinarello’s in the garage (because Pinarello’s were the in thing a while ago) along with some skis, top end mtb’s and the ubiquitous Range Rover.

Not forgetting they’re all died-in-the-wool Chelsea fans with a corporate box. 😉

whyamihere

ugo.santalucia said:

DeVlaeminck said:

I find it's mainly cycle trails - old railway lines that sort of thing. Agree it is a bit limited - maybe there are areas with more trails than there are round here.

Yes, those lovely areas where nobody lives in the Highlands and in Wales... majority of potential customers with pockets deep enough to spend 3 grand on a gravel bike live in areas where they can't use one... and that is probably true in the US too...

Or the very urban West Midlands, for example. I have a 20km route from my house to Cannock Chase which involves maybe 1-2km on road. The rest is canals, bridleways, disused railways tracks etc - Too much for a road bike, but not really MTB terrain either. I'm about to move, and when I do the route to the Chase will be 40k but with about the same amount of road. It's not the most efficient way to get there, but that's not the point. It's fine if you don't like gravel bikes for some reason, but pretending there's nowhere in the UK to use them is just silly.

PMark

I commute in east london and the road surfaces vary between fresh tarmac and roads used by HGVs that haven’t been touched since the 70s. So for me a gravel bike would be perfect (or a road bike with discs that can take large tyres). So I always find this talk of still getting rim brakes amusing as I can’t imagine getting a rim brake bike again.

First.Aspect

PMark said:

I commute in east london and the road surfaces vary between fresh tarmac and roads used by HGVs that haven’t been touched since the 70s. So for me a gravel bike would be perfect (or a road bike with discs that can take large tyres). So I always find this talk of still getting rim brakes amusing as I can’t imagine getting a rim brake bike again.

Well that's just daft.

First.Aspect

Now if you objected to gravel bikes on account of them having existed under a different name for bloody ages, I'd agree.

I took a cross bike on 28c road tyres to the phone mast at 7stanes in Innerleithen 10 years ago. Pretty sure there was at least some gravel.

Now the geometry was 1-2mm outside of what could be considered a gravel bike, but I don't know where. Possibly the bottom bracket to who gives a shit measurement was different.

veronese68

See a lot of gravel bikes on the trail in Richmond Park. Not sure they're entirely necessary for that.

rick_chasey

Honest question why not buy a cross bike?

MattFalle

rick_chasey said:

Honest question why not buy a cross bike?

very good question well presented.

not sure, tbh. thats what i did and saved about a grand on marketing. saved another grand by not having Hunts on it.

suppose its all bout fashion, innit.

ugo.santalucia

rick_chasey said:

Honest question why not buy a cross bike?

Possibly because like rim brake bikes, they are a dying breed? You clearly need a gravel bike.

I am not objecting to a gravel bike per se... what I am objecting to is the huge range of these things available in the face of a minute network of suitable routes.

Someone mentioned Cannock Chase, yes, it's not far, I need to drive there though... realistically you'll go there once a month, maybe more when the weather is decent but there aren't too many families around (odd combination). You'll get bored eventually... it's not massive and the loops you can do are limited. As I said, I got excited about trails in Surrey, but got bored very quickly

pblakeney

PMark said:

I commute in east london and the road surfaces vary between fresh tarmac and roads used by HGVs that haven’t been touched since the 70s. So for me a gravel bike would be perfect (or a road bike with discs that can take large tyres). So I always find this talk of still getting rim brakes amusing as I can’t imagine getting a rim brake bike again.

Your future purchase will be disc braked because the road surfaces aren’t great. 🤔

ugo.santalucia

Anyway, they are not here to stay... they are fashionable thing now, but they'll disappear, just like fat bikes were a curiosity 10 years ago and every make had to offer one or two, but they are virtually disappeared already

First.Aspect

ugo.santalucia said:

rick_chasey said:

Honest question why not buy a cross bike?

Possibly because like rim brake bikes, they are a dying breed? You clearly need a gravel bike.

I am not objecting to a gravel bike per se... what I am objecting to is the huge range of these things available in the face of a minute network of suitable routes.

Someone mentioned Cannock Chase, yes, it's not far, I need to drive there though... realistically you'll go there once a month, maybe more when the weather is decent but there aren't too many families around (odd combination). You'll get bored eventually... it's not massive and the loops you can do are limited. As I said, I got excited about trails in Surrey, but got bored very quickly

Ugo I don't think you should buy a gravel bike.

First.Aspect

First.Aspect said:

ugo.santalucia said:

rick_chasey said:

Honest question why not buy a cross bike?

Possibly because like rim brake bikes, they are a dying breed? You clearly need a gravel bike.

I am not objecting to a gravel bike per se... what I am objecting to is the huge range of these things available in the face of a minute network of suitable routes.

Someone mentioned Cannock Chase, yes, it's not far, I need to drive there though... realistically you'll go there once a month, maybe more when the weather is decent but there aren't too many families around (odd combination). You'll get bored eventually... it's not massive and the loops you can do are limited. As I said, I got excited about trails in Surrey, but got bored very quickly

Ugo I don't think you should buy a gravel bike.

I also think you should steer clear of cross bikes, on account of they are the same.

ugo.santalucia

I agree.

People will keep buying these things for a while... get excited and ride the South Downs way... then they will stay in the garage forgotten and people won't replace them with the newer 1 x 14 model on the grounds that they don't use them enough to warrant another 3 grand... the second hand market will be flooded with this stuff and nobody will bother buying the newer uber expensive models and the all bubble will burst

Remember you heard it here first...

whyamihere

rick_chasey said:

Honest question why not buy a cross bike?

That's a fair thing to discuss. I bought my 'gravel' bike because I wanted a winter road bike with enough tyre clearance to let me put fat tyres on it in the summer and go off on the canals, bridleways etc. I chose a Specialized Diverge, which cost me a grand (for the alu version without the headshock thing). Looking now, I could still get a base level Diverge for £1099, while looking at the Crux, which is Specialized's CX bike, the cheapest one is £2750. In reality, the Diverge I have is very similar to what would be called a CX bike if it was marketed differently.

webboo

There is some sort of gravel race in Italy and I believe they did it as part of the recent Giro. Could anybody tell what make of gravel bikes they were riding.
I and few of my mates rode the 3 peaks cyclocross on road bikes with nobbly tyres as that’s all we had the time.
It’s all hype to get the gullible to buy things.

womack

The general public need to go beserk.

masjer

Maybe gravel bikes in the UK could have a niche use during the endless `surface dressing` season (hot tar with loose chipping scattered on top). Half of the lanes around my way are covered in the stuff.

elbowloh

Have any you guys tried riding the National Cycle routes?

I used to do London to Brighton fairly often with friends or on my own and we had a number of road routes. One day decided to try riding the national Cycle route down and it was wholly unsuitable for a road bike for good proportions of it, muddy tracks and gravel paths.

Maybe if you're a cyclist who isn't so confident on busier roads and would prefer following the national routes a gravel bike may be an option?

pblakeney

elbowloh said:

Maybe if you're a cyclist who isn't so confident on busier roads and would prefer following the national routes a gravel bike may be an option?

I know a guy who went down that route after too many incidents with cars.
He eventually decided it was a compromise with the worst of both worlds and has now went full mtb.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

The lanes on the western side of the South Downs at least have largely been neglected over the last four years, as much as I'd like to get an aero bike while I can make decent use of one, I suspect my next bike purchase will be a gravel bike that can fit wider tyres for more comfort.

secretsam

I heard Warren Rossiter on the BR podcast talking about being "under biked", which seems a good point - most Mountain bikes now seem to be so capable, so specialist, that they are possibly a bit dull to ride on 'normal' trails. Plus, they are vile on road, so you have to drive to ride (I mean, seriously?). I live near the Chilterns and the number you see being carted around on top of cars...
A gravel (or CX) bike will be slightly out of its depth on many trails, although will cope just fine with many. And therefore they'll test your skills, and be a lot of fun.

PS: Gravel bikes are just old fashioned Touring bikes, brought up to date and re-branded.
PPS: "Gravel" in the UK is nonsense and meaningless, as unlike the USA, we don't have gravel roads in abundance. "All-terrain" or "All-road" would be a better name, but not as catchy.
PPPS: CX bikes are a bit more racy, gravel a bit more slack.

ugo.santalucia

It's down to what you do... I know people in my club who do the same loop all year round... always the same loop... they would love a gravel bike.

Me, you will struggle to find two rides that look the same out of 1,000, so I get bored very quickly of going off road... there just aren't enough routes to keep me interested

Ben6899

As far as gravel tracks are concerned, you may as well as get a modern tourer (or early 90s race geometry frame and fork) that you can get robust* 28s into.

All you need.

And if that’s not up to it, then you’re probably on trails that are more MTB anyway.

*Spesh Gripton rather than Vittoria Corsa, say

rick_chasey

secretsam said:

I heard Warren Rossiter on the BR podcast talking about being "under biked", which seems a good point - most Mountain bikes now seem to be so capable, so specialist, that they are possibly a bit dull to ride on 'normal' trails. Plus, they are vile on road, so you have to drive to ride (I mean, seriously?). I live near the Chilterns and the number you see being carted around on top of cars...
A gravel (or CX) bike will be slightly out of its depth on many trails, although will cope just fine with many. And therefore they'll test your skills, and be a lot of fun.

PS: Gravel bikes are just old fashioned Touring bikes, brought up to date and re-branded.
PPS: "Gravel" in the UK is nonsense and meaningless, as unlike the USA, we don't have gravel roads in abundance. "All-terrain" or "All-road" would be a better name, but not as catchy.
PPPS: CX bikes are a bit more racy, gravel a bit more slack.

So when you mean slack do people mean basically the handlebars are a bit higher and the bottom bracket is further forward versus the saddle, and a bit more rake on the fork?

DeVlaeminck

I ended up buying a rigid semi fat mountain bike for rides that include bridleways, tow paths etc .

I just found riding the gravel bike on anything remotely technical - even rutted tracks - unpleasant rather than fun.

Ben6899

rick_chasey said:

secretsam said:

I heard Warren Rossiter on the BR podcast talking about being "under biked", which seems a good point - most Mountain bikes now seem to be so capable, so specialist, that they are possibly a bit dull to ride on 'normal' trails. Plus, they are vile on road, so you have to drive to ride (I mean, seriously?). I live near the Chilterns and the number you see being carted around on top of cars...
A gravel (or CX) bike will be slightly out of its depth on many trails, although will cope just fine with many. And therefore they'll test your skills, and be a lot of fun.

PS: Gravel bikes are just old fashioned Touring bikes, brought up to date and re-branded.
PPS: "Gravel" in the UK is nonsense and meaningless, as unlike the USA, we don't have gravel roads in abundance. "All-terrain" or "All-road" would be a better name, but not as catchy.
PPPS: CX bikes are a bit more racy, gravel a bit more slack.

So when you mean slack do people mean basically the handlebars are a bit higher and the bottom bracket is further forward versus the saddle, and a bit more rake on the fork?

All rotated towards the rider, about the bottom bracket. Shortens the reach.

gsk82

secretsam said:

I heard Warren Rossiter on the BR podcast talking about being "under biked", which seems a good point - most Mountain bikes now seem to be so capable, so specialist, that they are possibly a bit dull to ride on 'normal' trails. Plus, they are vile on road, so you have to drive to ride (I mean, seriously?). I live near the Chilterns and the number you see being carted around on top of cars...
A gravel (or CX) bike will be slightly out of its depth on many trails, although will cope just fine with many. And therefore they'll test your skills, and be a lot of fun.

PS: Gravel bikes are just old fashioned Touring bikes, brought up to date and re-branded.
PPS: "Gravel" in the UK is nonsense and meaningless, as unlike the USA, we don't have gravel roads in abundance. "All-terrain" or "All-road" would be a better name, but not as catchy.
PPPS: CX bikes are a bit more racy, gravel a bit more slack.

Touring? Is that like bike packing?

elbowloh

gsk82 said:

secretsam said:

I heard Warren Rossiter on the BR podcast talking about being "under biked", which seems a good point - most Mountain bikes now seem to be so capable, so specialist, that they are possibly a bit dull to ride on 'normal' trails. Plus, they are vile on road, so you have to drive to ride (I mean, seriously?). I live near the Chilterns and the number you see being carted around on top of cars...
A gravel (or CX) bike will be slightly out of its depth on many trails, although will cope just fine with many. And therefore they'll test your skills, and be a lot of fun.

PS: Gravel bikes are just old fashioned Touring bikes, brought up to date and re-branded.
PPS: "Gravel" in the UK is nonsense and meaningless, as unlike the USA, we don't have gravel roads in abundance. "All-terrain" or "All-road" would be a better name, but not as catchy.
PPPS: CX bikes are a bit more racy, gravel a bit more slack.

Touring? Is that like bike packing?

Not sure if serious? 🤔

MattFalle

i think its a good question very well presented tbh.