Originally Posted by
Rolla
I remember reading that article a few years ago after a friend mentioned "monstercross" and I was intrigued enough that I went googling. Rereading it, I was struck by this quote:
"Monster cross is a bike designed to fill the gap between a cyclocross bike and a mountain bike. A true do-it-all bike that rides singletrack, pavement and gravel well. Key features are rather simple: tires between 38-45mm tires and dirt drop handlebars."
Bold parts for emphasis. What was monstercross in 2018 (and before) is now just a standard gravel bike. Back then, gravel bikes were generally either CX bikes or "endurance" road bikes with 32mm tires, treaded and without. Fast forward to 2021 and my current year Diverge, and many others, are now standard with 38mm tires (I toy with the idea of 42mm when I wear out my current tires) and of course drop bars, and depending on rider skill can be as much fun on single track as they are on pavement and forest roads. Seems that maybe gravel merged into and subsumed monstercross, while CX stayed distinct?