Some thoughts-
- To the comments that an 80s MTB is basically a modern gravel bike- I havent ridden an 80s MTB that is even close in feeling/handling to the gravel bikes Ive owned. An 80s MTB is as similar as a tandem to the gravel bikes Ive owned.
- I cant imagine going away from disc brakes and thru axles now that I have them on a gravel bike. I cant say I was really missing either with my old gravel bike, but there is just no downside to them.
- To the comment that a modern gravel bike is a touring bike- funny enough, I coverted my old gravel frame into a commute/touring bike. But that is only because the geometry and design happened to work well for what I want. There are many gravel bikes where the geometry is nothing like a touring bike.
- I have never understood the appeal of murdered out bikes and I am happy to see some more color coming into the brand lineups.
- What constitutes gravel is different from region to region, but I have never wanted to go for a gravel ride on 28mm tires and appreciate the 40-43mm tires I use. One of my road bikes has 28s that measure 31mm and they are OK to use for a couple miles of gravel from time to time, but not what I want for a metric century. More surface area and lower pressures make for a much better ride for me.
- It seems like more and more gravel races and rides have this couch/chair 'instagrammable moment' that is neat and all, but is clearly no longer original. Someone needs to change it up a bit and drop the Victorian chaise lounge and instead rock a large plastic tiger statue for people to sit on or something absurd like that.
That ride looks like some incredible scenery.