Originally Posted by
KalinDrew
Ive looked at the lauf seigla in the past. it looks like a very capable gravel machine. However I do most of my riding on a gravel levee (double track) it is by all means NOT a smooth gravel road which is why i consider an xc. I rode my dads diverge with future shock (1.5 i believe) for about and it was very rough at 16-17 mph. i rode a little on a paved backroad (not a single car passed me) and it was very smooth and much more comfortable than my old road bike. so someone tell me this; Will i be able to average close to the same speed (within 1-2 mph) with a hardtail xc mtb (thinking either a specialized chisel or a used sc highball i found on pinkbike) as a fully rigid gravel bike?? (putting out the same watts of course)
I can put up with the roughness if a gravel bike will be significantly faster (3 or 4 mph) than a properly setup hardtail xc bike. if it will only save me 1 or 2 mph then i will definitely take the xc bike as i occasionally ride super chunky mountain trails and would b nice to not push my current pig of a mtb around them.
My goal is not to have “fun” this is for training for those times i occasionally go to the mountains on my bike.
my version of fun is jumps and berms downhill all day but i live in a flat area and love anything two wheeled.
It’s hard to give you the definitive answers you’re asking for because there are too many variables. Any bike will be a compromise somewhere, and will excel more than others somewhere else. A hardtail MTB with fast-rolling tires (Schwalbe Thunder Burt, for example) will do pretty well compared to a gravel bike in a lot of situations where a gravel bike is at its best. If you want to also ride the same bike on terrain that is beyond the capabilities of a gravel bike (or your skills), then your choice seems pretty clear.
You have made multiple mentions (some subtle, some not) of why you think a hardtail MTB is a better choice for you. I think your mind was made up a long time ago. Great. Go with it.