I’ll weigh in late. The single reason I use my hard tail 29” wheeled, 1X mt. bike for single track is it’s the better choice for single track. My local stuff is super twisty and is not fun on a drop bar bike, the handling is just not as good on a drop bar as on a much wider flat bar. As well, no front suspension makes riding roots painful on the gravel bike. But to each his own, as not everybody’s riding conditions are the same and I’m glad I can own different bikes for different terrain conditions.