Originally Posted by
mstateglfr
Many people ride their gravel bikes on roads so sketchy off road experiences with rim brake MTBs have no bearing on how they ride.
I ride my gravel bike on gravel roads. They are roads that are just unpaved. Rim brakes stop me fine on these roads. To be clear, disc brakes also stop me fine on the same roads. I currently have hydraulic disc brakes but used rim brakes with 30 year old cantilever brakes for a long time which stopped me fine. Those cantilever brakes are still on that frame which is now set up for commuting and errands...and the brakes continue to stop me just fine.
I totally understand why you like hydraulic disc brakes for those sketchy MTB rides. Again though, recognize that MTB is different from gravel, even if some brands try to blur the lines. And its awesome to underbike and use your gravel bike on singletrack- I do it, but thats on relatively flat river bottom singletrack that is twisty so there are no sketchy incidents.
^None of this is me hating on disc brakes. I have them and they work fine. They havent been a revelation for gravel riding though.
Yeah, I understand and I get that it’s all dependant on how and where people want to ride their bikes.
For me, I use my gravel bike everywhere I can. Including MTB trails. Of course, here in the UK, our gravel roads can quickly turn into sloppy muddy affairs, and having disc brakes suits those situations for me better.
Thats the beauty of course. Everyone can like what they like. Unfortunately for the OP, it seems that non disc brake gravel bikes are thin on the ground….
OP, As others have said, maybe look out for a cyclocross bike? But bear in mind the tyre clearance will probably be smaller and in most cases the frame geo will be more aggressive.