Originally Posted by
Rolla
I don't think any of this really answers the question "what is a gravel bike," because the lines that separate mountain, gravel, CX, all-road, road plus, and adventure have blurred to the point of meaninglessness. Add to that the concept of "underbiking," and the distinctions become even less clear and important.
I take your point about the lines blurring. You did mention above that for really rough stuff you'd take your mountain bike; does that imply that you see MTB as the fatter tire/rougher trail end of the continuum? Presumably when you get down into the 20s tire width you're now on the "road" end.
I had to smile when you brought up underbiking. A while back I was riding the Blue Ridge Parkway, and at the end of the day there was a couple hundred yards of gravel driveway to the campsite. I rode my touring bike (32s) up the driveway, passing a half dozen other riders who'd decided the gravel was too much to ride, so they were walking. I'm sure there are riders who would think nothing of riding 25s up that driveway, but there's also the "brought the wrong horse for this course" mentality!