Can A Gravel Bike Be A Good Road Bike?
#151
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Here's my abomination of a road/gravel bike, with 33mm rubber, a 28T in the back, and UDi2.
When I rode it to Slate Peak (highest road in the state, unpaved and nasty) somebody in the one small group of people up there said "Holy crap!" and I thought they were going to congratulate me on my effort, but the next words were "Cervelo makes a gravel bike?"
I have a lot of fun with it.
I like big burns and I cannot lie.
Larix occidentalis, aka western tamaracks. I passed a car coming down this road, the driver was being really timid. I dunno, maybe he was smarter than I am.
Washington Pass.
When I rode it to Slate Peak (highest road in the state, unpaved and nasty) somebody in the one small group of people up there said "Holy crap!" and I thought they were going to congratulate me on my effort, but the next words were "Cervelo makes a gravel bike?"
I have a lot of fun with it.
I like big burns and I cannot lie.
Larix occidentalis, aka western tamaracks. I passed a car coming down this road, the driver was being really timid. I dunno, maybe he was smarter than I am.
Washington Pass.
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#152
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I need to find bar tape that matches the brownish red in the frame.
#153
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Steel frame, large knobby tires (think MTB large), preferably with flat bars (or if you gonna go with drops, a "flared" dropbar), higher stack and shorter reach for easier control and comfort, depending on how large your tires are, maybe a suspension seatpost to ease road noise on your ass, wide range gearing to tackle hills/mountains (at least a 34 tooth in the cassette, even larger if possible), depending on the size of the chainring, either a 1x (small), or a 2x (a small and a larger one). If you are nostalgic, you can go with 3x. If you really mean business, you can even throw a suspension fork in that. Why not? I am all about personalization. Why go with something the market is pushing down our throats under false pretences. Some of the bikes that are sold under the gravel moniker are agressive road bike frames with plain old road groupsets attached over 700x32 (too thin) tires on carbon/aluminum rigid frames. This abomination of a bike is on market because people want to "look cool" to their friends. These bikes do exist because people realized that when you have dropbars on your bike, you look "professional". Manufacturers are all about sales and profit. They do not really care what they sell as long as it is what people want to buy. And most people just want to buy trash.
My gravel bike is carbon, which is what I wanted, has flared drop bars, came with 40mm tires, can fit 47's, 48/32 up front, 11-34 out back, suspension seatpost and bars for comfort, extra cage mounts, and fork mounts. It's been great on everything from pea gravel to rocks the size of oranges, gravel centuries, road centuries, single track (mild), all without any issues. Not sure what else I could want from a gravel bike.
#154
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This abomination of a bike is on market because people want to "look cool" to their friends. These bikes do exist because people realized that when you have dropbars on your bike, you look "professional".
Manufacturers are all about sales and profit. They do not really care what they sell as long as it is what people want to buy. And most people just want to buy trash.
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I don't think that anyone has a problem with you riding what you want to ride. What people have a problem with is you hearing the term "gravel bike" and then ignoring industry convention and substituting your own sensibilities upon the classification. That's like me deciding to associate apples with the word "tomato," and then getting in to a fight with people about how to make marinara.
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#158
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The internet nonconformist crusader returns once again to save the masses from the evil of having fun.
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#159
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The great thing about choices, pick the thing that works for you. There is NO shortage of bike types. You can buy anything between a velodrome track bike to the most slackest fat tired down hill bike and there are 194 versions of things in between those extremes. I'm not sure why people get hung up on needing affirmation and have choice supportive bias. You bought EXACTLY what you needed at the given time and can "prove" it was the best choice, that does not mean that is exactly what someone else needed. I'll probably never buy a drop bar without rack mounts and a decent chain stay length. That's me...
I have not tried the Thudbusters but the ones I have tried seem to bounce on the road when cadence gets up there. I could probably use it off road only but most of my rides are mixed. I go with a little less tire pressure and conforming tires or eventually I'll try a carbon or flexible bendy type post instead of a suspension one to take some bite away.
I have not tried the Thudbusters but the ones I have tried seem to bounce on the road when cadence gets up there. I could probably use it off road only but most of my rides are mixed. I go with a little less tire pressure and conforming tires or eventually I'll try a carbon or flexible bendy type post instead of a suspension one to take some bite away.
Last edited by u235; 09-20-19 at 04:00 PM.
#160
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I'm trying to follow your logic:
1. You are faster on a CX bike than you are on a full-suspension mountain bike.
2. Therefore, a CX bike will make a good road bike with a change of wheels.
3. But, the CX bike will only work as a road bike if you know how to ride CX, which Americans don't because they learned to ride on mountain bikes.
Is that about right?
1. You are faster on a CX bike than you are on a full-suspension mountain bike.
2. Therefore, a CX bike will make a good road bike with a change of wheels.
3. But, the CX bike will only work as a road bike if you know how to ride CX, which Americans don't because they learned to ride on mountain bikes.
Is that about right?
Also you don't seem to follow a conversation very well - is English your second language? Maybe you can explain to me what difference you believe there is between a CX and a road bike?
Are you riding a Walmart bike and dreaming that you now are in heaven? I'm sitting here with A Colnago CLX3.0, a Colnago Master,, a Lemond Zurich, a Pinarello Stelvio, a Pinarello Torino, a Ridley XBow , a Redline Conquest, a Basso Loto, a Backroads Chohalo and a Mercian in the garage. I've built every one of them from frame up and most with Campy Record components. I've sold off a Trek HiFi 29er and a Gary Fisher full suspension and a couple of hardtails. I missed riding the first three months of the year so I only have 3,500 miles and 138,000 ft of climbing. I finished off last year with 4,500 miles and over 250,000 ft of climbing and I'm 75 years old and started riding when a hot setup was a Peugeot PX-10 with sewups. I have a large bag of Bontrager caps that Keith gave to me when he was closing his doors in Santa Cruz after he sold his name off.
Out of curiosity what have you done? I don't mean to insult you but neither do I need someone other than my two brothers and my wife insulting me.
#161
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So you like to ride a MTB on gravel, whatever works for you.
My gravel bike is carbon, which is what I wanted, has flared drop bars, came with 40mm tires, can fit 47's, 48/32 up front, 11-34 out back, suspension seatpost and bars for comfort, extra cage mounts, and fork mounts. It's been great on everything from pea gravel to rocks the size of oranges, gravel centuries, road centuries, single track (mild), all without any issues. Not sure what else I could want from a gravel bike.
My gravel bike is carbon, which is what I wanted, has flared drop bars, came with 40mm tires, can fit 47's, 48/32 up front, 11-34 out back, suspension seatpost and bars for comfort, extra cage mounts, and fork mounts. It's been great on everything from pea gravel to rocks the size of oranges, gravel centuries, road centuries, single track (mild), all without any issues. Not sure what else I could want from a gravel bike.
#162
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I can't say that I see the point of a carbon fiber gravel bike. Since you're riding 33 mm tires (good choice) aluminum bikes are much cheaper and you don't have to worry about the frame being too stiff.
#163
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- comfortable
- versatile
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- look good
- trendy
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#164
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Are you riding a Walmart bike and dreaming that you now are in heaven? I'm sitting here with A Colnago CLX3.0, a Colnago Master,, a Lemond Zurich, a Pinarello Stelvio, a Pinarello Torino, a Ridley XBow , a Redline Conquest, a Basso Loto, a Backroads Chohalo and a Mercian in the garage. I've built every one of them from frame up and most with Campy Record components. I've sold off a Trek HiFi 29er and a Gary Fisher full suspension and a couple of hardtails. I missed riding the first three months of the year so I only have 3,500 miles and 138,000 ft of climbing. I finished off last year with 4,500 miles and over 250,000 ft of climbing and I'm 75 years old and started riding when a hot setup was a Peugeot PX-10 with sewups. I have a large bag of Bontrager caps that Keith gave to me when he was closing his doors in Santa Cruz after he sold his name off.
We are all impressed.***
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#166
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I'm not sure what you're talking about. A gravel bike is nothing more than a road bike with sufficient tire clearance for up to 32 or so gravel knobbys. Most of the bikes before 1985 would do that. I can't say that I ever even used special tires to ride gravel roads and just went from asphalt to dirt road without even thinking about it. And that's when a wide tire was 23mm.
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#168
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It's super neat that you ride gravel on 23mm or narrower tires. Just recognize that many others choose to use a different size tire for what are obvious reasons.
Me personally- a 23mm or narrower tire would not be fun to ride on gravel around me. I would deflect and bounce around more than what i do with a wider tire. I would absorb more vibration than what i do with a wider tire.
There is simply no upside to riding gravel with a 23mm or smaller tire, so bragging about how it was done without thought is funny.
Ultimately, what constitutes comfort for each rider is different. And what constitutes gravel for each region of the country is different. Some may find a 23mm tire at 120psi works for them in a certain area. Others may find a 40mm tire at 40psi works for them in a certain area.
Its bold to claim someone is 'doing it wrong'.
#169
Non omnino gravis
More stack
Longer wheelbase
Room for larger tires
Higher bottom bracket
No mounts beyond cage bosses
Lower standover height
...but it will still have two wheels, pedals in the middle, and all of the other bike bits, so it's mostly the same.
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Interesting data point for me. Did a solo century on Saturday, same route I did about six months ago. First time out was on my aero road bike, this time was on the gravel bike with road tires. On most of my usual routes and group rides, I haven't noticed much difference between the two bikes. But riding solo for 100 miles, there is no doubt that the gravel bike is slower. Probably mostly due to rider position, then to a lesser extent, frame and gearing. But I was about 10 mins slower, and the kicker is that when I did it on the aero bike it stormed hard for the last 30 miles, so that slowed me down even more (weather was clear and perfect this past weekend). Not a big deal to me, just interesting to see the difference is much more apparent over a longer distance, which makes sense.
It'll be interesting to see how it goes when I do that route again with the new Tarmac.
It'll be interesting to see how it goes when I do that route again with the new Tarmac.
#171
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Interesting data point for me. Did a solo century on Saturday, same route I did about six months ago. First time out was on my aero road bike, this time was on the gravel bike with road tires. On most of my usual routes and group rides, I haven't noticed much difference between the two bikes. But riding solo for 100 miles, there is no doubt that the gravel bike is slower. Probably mostly due to rider position, then to a lesser extent, frame and gearing. But I was about 10 mins slower, and the kicker is that when I did it on the aero bike it stormed hard for the last 30 miles, so that slowed me down even more (weather was clear and perfect this past weekend). Not a big deal to me, just interesting to see the difference is much more apparent over a longer distance, which makes sense.
It'll be interesting to see how it goes when I do that route again with the new Tarmac.
It'll be interesting to see how it goes when I do that route again with the new Tarmac.
Random selection:
Last edited by u235; 09-23-19 at 08:29 AM.
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#172
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Is a "gravel bike" just a more sturdily built CX bike with relaxed geometry and big tires? If so sure it can be a good road bike but it will likely be heavier and more difficult to get really aero so I think that some tradeoffs are inevitable compared with road bikes.
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Is a "gravel bike" just a more sturdily built CX bike with relaxed geometry and big tires? If so sure it can be a good road bike but it will likely be heavier and more difficult to get really aero so I think that some tradeoffs are inevitable compared with road bikes.
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No doubt, always variables at play. I was surprised tho, I fully expected to be faster on Sat, given that my fitness has improved, and the weather was better (warmer, but that storm def slowed me down the last 30 miles of my previous ride).
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Interesting data point for me. Did a solo century on Saturday, same route I did about six months ago. First time out was on my aero road bike, this time was on the gravel bike with road tires. On most of my usual routes and group rides, I haven't noticed much difference between the two bikes. But riding solo for 100 miles, there is no doubt that the gravel bike is slower. Probably mostly due to rider position, then to a lesser extent, frame and gearing. But I was about 10 mins slower, and the kicker is that when I did it on the aero bike it stormed hard for the last 30 miles, so that slowed me down even more (weather was clear and perfect this past weekend). Not a big deal to me, just interesting to see the difference is much more apparent over a longer distance, which makes sense.