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Have we come full circle with road bikes yet?

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Cyclocross and Gravelbiking (Recreational) This has to be the most physically intense sport ever invented. It's high speed bicycle racing on a short off road course or riding the off pavement rides on gravel like : "Unbound Gravel". We also have a dedicated Racing forum for the Cyclocross Hard Core Racers.

Have we come full circle with road bikes yet?

Old 11-26-22, 10:50 PM
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Symox
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Have we come full circle with road bikes yet?

Looks like early tour de France had gravel bikes!



I saw this picture and chuckled.
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Old 11-26-22, 10:57 PM
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many more pics, but here's a couple


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Old 11-27-22, 10:58 PM
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Yup, some of the TDF routes were unpaved.
Apples oranges and whatnot.
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Old 11-28-22, 12:03 PM
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It's always about the road towards specialization. It is now happening in the gravel bike world. Today we have gravel race bikes, and gravel adventure bikes.
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Old 11-28-22, 04:03 PM
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Back in the day when Schwinn ruled my world, I had relaxed geometry, plenty of clearance and 32mm tires (1 & 1/4). 40 years later I have relaxed geometry, plenty of clearance and 32mm tires. Of course the ride experience is totally different. For example, my brakes work, there is no chrome on my wheels, and I don't have a cast iron crank set.
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Old 11-29-22, 07:49 AM
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Originally Posted by chas58
Back in the day when Schwinn ruled my world, I had relaxed geometry, plenty of clearance and 32mm tires (1 & 1/4). 40 years later I have relaxed geometry, plenty of clearance and 32mm tires. Of course the ride experience is totally different. For example, my brakes work, there is no chrome on my wheels, and I don't have a cast iron crank set.
But you probably have a big dent in your bank account
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Old 11-29-22, 02:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Clipped_in
It's always about the road towards specialization. It is now happening in the gravel bike world. Today we have gravel race bikes, and gravel adventure bikes.
Agreed and I expect further segmentation and specialization in the world of gravel riding and racing. I think of the way MTB started as one all-encompassing segment and then quickly got separated into DH and XC as different race categories. On the recreational end of things bikes run the range from XC, Trail, Enduro, Fat Bikes, etc - there's a huge range of bike styles that work for many different types of riding.

I think most people still refer to all of this collectively as "Mountain Biking", but there's a huge spectrum of terrain and riding types. Some of it works for racing and some of it doesn't.

Gravel will probably do the same. It's not hard to imagine that gravel racing will get separated out into different types. On one end there will be speed events that look basically like UCI road races with team support and minimalist setups - on the opposite end will be more of an adventure style race, where riders may tackle more challenging terrain, have to dismount and carry bikes, fully self support, etc. Of course there will always be recreational "gravel riding" that runs the entire spectrum between road and MTB.
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Old 11-29-22, 03:06 PM
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Sure...they may have been able to ride that gravel with road bikes, but nobody said it was fun, enjoyable or comfortable. The wider tire gravel bikes we have today make for a more stable and comfortable bike to ride.
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Old 11-30-22, 08:38 AM
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Yes, there is specialization, but also popular are the so-called "all-rounders", which can tackle most anything you encounter. For folks who ride a variety of terrain and don't wish to store and maintain multiple bicycles they make a lot of sense.

And yes, they have their limitations, but you know that going in.

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Old 11-30-22, 08:50 AM
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Originally Posted by prj71
Sure...they may have been able to ride that gravel with road bikes, but nobody said it was fun, enjoyable or comfortable. The wider tire gravel bikes we have today make for a more stable and comfortable bike to ride.
Or fast.

It's worth noting that only 1 out of 5 riders in that last shot is even trying to ride. Their bikes were poorly suited for the task. The fact that they were able to suffer their way up and over these climbs on vastly inferior equipment is a testament to their determination and skill.
Put any of those guys on a modern carbon gravel bike with 40mm tubeless tires, disc brakes and wide range gearing and they would've obliterated the competition on those roads.
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Old 11-30-22, 09:16 AM
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Originally Posted by msu2001la
Or fast.

It's worth noting that only 1 out of 5 riders in that last shot is even trying to ride. Their bikes were poorly suited for the task. The fact that they were able to suffer their way up and over these climbs on vastly inferior equipment is a testament to their determination and skill.
Put any of those guys on a modern carbon gravel bike with 40mm tubeless tires, disc brakes and wide range gearing and they would've obliterated the competition on those roads.
Agree!!!
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Old 11-30-22, 09:59 AM
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Originally Posted by TugaDude
Yes, there is specialization, but also popular are the so-called "all-rounders", which can tackle most anything you encounter. For folks who ride a variety of terrain and don't wish to store and maintain multiple bicycles they make a lot of sense.

And yes, they have their limitations, but you know that going in.
Correct - also context matters. Someone interested in racing is going to make different equipment decisions than a consumer looking for a bike to get out and tackle a wide variety of terrain.

This happened a while ago in MTB. In the 90's when MTB racing was evolving, the market was mostly focused on variations of XC race bikes. DH racing was a very specific niche and the bikes designed for that were worthless for going uphill. I remember when lift-access MTB terrain first became a thing in the 90's and riding XC style bikes on some pretty crazy stuff. Today we still have high-end race-specific XC and DH bikes, but most of the consumer market is somewhere in the middle - Trail/Enduro/All Mountain bikes that are good for tackling a wide variety of terrain and riding styles, but you won't see these types of bikes at a UCI race.

I think gravel is (and will continue) to follow a similar path as MTB. I don't think gravel race bikes will really be all that popular of a consumer choice in the years to come.
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