Originally Posted by
Spoonrobot
There's nothing inherently more comfortable about a gravel bike frame versus a road bike or endurance road bike frame. In reality most gravel bikes are significantly less comfortable than a comparable road bike because they feature larger diameter tubing formed for strength/durability which adds significant stiffness as does the oversized headtubes/steerers.
A road bike that fits 32s is much more comfortable than a gravel bike on 32s. Hell the gravel bike I won is as stiff and possibly stiffer than the track bike I own.
In theory I think you're probably right. But all that goes out the window when you add 40mm tires at 35psi. Someone posted recently about the impact of high volume, low psi tires and the vast majority of the vibration/impact reduction of a bike is found in the tires.