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Anyone Successfully Ride Their Gravel Bike on Single-Track?

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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.

Anyone Successfully Ride Their Gravel Bike on Single-Track?

Old 09-18-20, 09:31 AM
  #26  
chas58
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Originally Posted by mrv
the 30 year old Bianchi i picked up for $60 last year is my only trail bike, and the chainstays only clear 2.0in tires..... it's all i got!! (presently my Rockhopper is assigned to camping / touring duty.....)
Awesome!
I bought a state of the art MTB 30 years ago, and I'm still riding it. I've spent decades "waiting" on the industry to make up their mind (26, no 29, no 27.5, no back to 29) and figure out their standard. In the mean time those bikes have gotten so long/low/slack that they have lost their agility and ability to climb (but are great at downhill), so i end up riding my gravel bike on single track. ;-)
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Old 09-18-20, 02:19 PM
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Originally Posted by chas58
Awesome!
I bought a state of the art MTB 30 years ago, and I'm still riding it. I've spent decades "waiting" on the industry to make up their mind (26, no 29, no 27.5, no back to 29) and figure out their standard.
don't hold your breath. those are choices, not a standard. there is no plan for people to "make up their mind"because people like choices and variety. there are many kinds of cars, sneakers, and skis for the same reason that there are many kinds of mountain bikes.

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Old 09-18-20, 06:16 PM
  #28  
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So I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences. I will say that after taking both of my gravel bikes to my local bike park, I have a feel for both bikes on rough and slightly technical trails. Last week I rode my Toughroad and today I rode my Revolt, and I felt way more comfortable on my Toughroad ironically. For me, being as heavy as I am, I appreciate having 29" wheels with 23mm wide rims vs 700 x 47mm wheels on 19mm rims. I was a bit more sketched out on the Revolt despite it sailing up any incline & flat surface.

I think I will take my Toughroad to some trails this weekend to see what I "can't" ride on it. Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised.
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Old 09-19-20, 06:54 AM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by pbass
Hikers too - funny their expressions when they see a guy on what they think is a road bike bombing down some singletrack!
Add to that the spandex cycling kit, and we're quite a sight on the trail.

Dave
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Old 09-19-20, 09:57 AM
  #30  
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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.
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Old 09-21-20, 08:56 AM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by DarKris
So I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences. I will say that after taking both of my gravel bikes to my local bike park, I have a feel for both bikes on rough and slightly technical trails. Last week I rode my Toughroad and today I rode my Revolt, and I felt way more comfortable on my Toughroad ironically. For me, being as heavy as I am, I appreciate having 29" wheels with 23mm wide rims vs 700 x 47mm wheels on 19mm rims. I was a bit more sketched out on the Revolt despite it sailing up any incline & flat surface.

I think I will take my Toughroad to some trails this weekend to see what I "can't" ride on it. Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised.
Glad to hear it. You'll learn to read the trail, use your body weight, and pick your line and be a better biker because of it. Besides, underbiking is fun (as long as you don't take it too far).
Just don't hit any rocks/roots hard that are bigger than the size of your tire! ;-)
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Old 09-21-20, 05:35 PM
  #32  
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all the time...
love it..

not easy barely fun....not smart.
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Old 09-21-20, 05:52 PM
  #33  
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#TeamRimBrake
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Old 09-22-20, 09:32 AM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by thehammerdog
all the time...
love it..
I love that stuff. A little tarmac, a little gravel, a little single track.
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Old 09-24-20, 05:52 AM
  #35  
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So I rode my Toughroad on some singletrack this past weekend and It made me realize just how much bike setup can impact riding capabilities. I was messing around and decided to drop my stem a bit and this made climbing a bit better, at the cost of having a twitchy front end. Once I raised my bars back up I started railing some of the more "downhill" sections, and my front end felt way more planted on the trails. The one thing that gets rough is making tight turns when climbing because toe overlap with 29 x 2.25 tires is very real. I also realized post ride that I had my seat all the way back on the rails, so I pushed it forward to get my position more over the BB for climbing. Will have to test out again.




I was able to manage decently well, however I'm not sure I would trust riding only this bike especially on trails I'm unfamiliar with. That said I ultimately bought a new trail hardtail so that I had a dedicated MTB again. However with the experience that I now have I'm going to take this opportunity to ride them back-to-back on local trails to see just how well the gravel bike matches up to the hardtail. That'll be fun
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Old 09-24-20, 10:56 AM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by DarKris
So I rode my Toughroad on some singletrack this past weekend and It made me realize just how much bike setup can impact riding capabilities. I was messing around and decided to drop my stem a bit and this made climbing a bit better, at the cost of having a twitchy front end. Once I raised my bars back up I started railing some of the more "downhill" sections, and my front end felt way more planted on the trails. The one thing that gets rough is making tight turns when climbing because toe overlap with 29 x 2.25 tires is very real. I also realized post ride that I had my seat all the way back on the rails, so I pushed it forward to get my position more over the BB for climbing. Will have to test out again.




I was able to manage decently well, however I'm not sure I would trust riding only this bike especially on trails I'm unfamiliar with. That said I ultimately bought a new trail hardtail so that I had a dedicated MTB again. However with the experience that I now have I'm going to take this opportunity to ride them back-to-back on local trails to see just how well the gravel bike matches up to the hardtail. That'll be fun
Well now you have the option. Get bored on your hardtail on the same 'ol trail? Take the gravel bike! It's like (almost) a whole new trail. Also, I don't know how your area is, but for me it's about 8 miles and lots of climbing on the road to get to my fave trails, so the gravel rig definitely is nicer than a MTB would be for the out-and-back part of the journey.

Last edited by pbass; 09-24-20 at 01:24 PM.
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Old 09-26-20, 06:08 PM
  #37  
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Went out today on my "gravel" bike.


A little insane but really fun. Cyclocross tubulars at low psi dampened the roots and rocks. Kettle Moraine, southern Wisconsin.
​​
​​​​​​Note that the wheels are Campy Tipo with Mavic tubular rims. These wheels are almost 50 years old. Just slightly out of true after 12 miles of brutal singletrack.

Last edited by big chainring; 10-07-20 at 05:28 PM.
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Old 09-30-20, 01:13 PM
  #38  
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Absolutely, even more comfortable ever since I got lower-pressure 50mm tires for this kind of stuff (as opposed to high-PSI 40mm):



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Old 09-30-20, 09:07 PM
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Originally Posted by autonomy
Absolutely, even more comfortable ever since I got lower-pressure 50mm tires for this kind of stuff (as opposed to high-PSI 40mm):



I'd love to try some high volume 700c's one day. I've got one bike with 650B x 47s, and one with 700c x 40. The difference in offroad handling and cushiness is quite significant. And offroad I can run the 650Bs in the mid to low 20's psi tubeless, and it shreds. I keep up with my teenager on his hardtail no prob.
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Old 10-02-20, 07:26 AM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by pbass
I'd love to try some high volume 700c's one day. I've got one bike with 650B x 47s, and one with 700c x 40. The difference in offroad handling and cushiness is quite significant. And offroad I can run the 650Bs in the mid to low 20's psi tubeless, and it shreds. I keep up with my teenager on his hardtail no prob.
I found I could put 54mm in my front fork (only 40 in the rear). Big fat tire in the front eats up roots/rocks, gives me flotation (if I need it) and also increases the trail by about 10mm.
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Old 10-08-20, 04:28 PM
  #41  
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i do all the time.

single track
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Old 10-16-20, 09:11 AM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by pbass
Hikers too - funny their expressions when they see a guy on what they think is a road bike bombing down some singletrack!
lol im the guy bombing single track at all the local parks in my area i had a 650b breezer doppler and that bike goes anywhere. currently awaiting a salsa warbird now
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Old 10-16-20, 10:18 AM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by msu2001la
Like anything, it varies depending on terrain.
The majority of marked MTB singletrack trails around me are pretty smooth and fast, mostly flat and a ton of fun to ride on a CX bike. There are sections where I have to slow down and pick careful lines, where on an MTB I'd just bomb through, but almost everything is rideable on a rigid bike. I've never understood why people in my area ride these trails on long travel bikes. Even when I ride MTB, a 100mm XC bike is plenty.

The same cannot be said for areas out West. There are many MTB trails in Colorado, for instance, that would not be fun on a CX/Gravel bike and even an XC style MTB would be challenging.

It's also funny to think back to the late 70's, early 80's when I was a kid. I routinely rode hiking trails around my house on a 10 speed road bike. My buddies and I would build dirt jumps and practice tail whips off of them, bomb through mud and gravel, set up log jumps, etc. I remember taking my 10-speed road bike into the LBS with a taco'ed rear wheel when I was around 12-13 years old and asking the shop owner if they had any wheels that wouldn't bend when I took them off of dirt jumps. He showed me a new Specialized Rockhopper with a triple front crank and cantilever brakes, and I knew I had to have one. I came home with a repaired rear wheel and a MTB magazine, and started pestering my parents immediately for a new bike.
I had some sears banana seat cruiser bar bike that I never found a jump to big for. trashed a bunch of wheels. I ended up with a sweet 10 speed (found in a trash pile) that thing was awesome for trail rides.
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Old 10-16-20, 01:37 PM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by msu2001la
L . . . I've never understood why people in my area ride these trails on long travel bikes. Even when I ride MTB, a 100mm XC bike is plenty. . . .
It's the same everywhere. I ride in SoCal in an area where, granted, there are some serious trails that warrant a full suspension bike, or at least a hardtail (though many of us still tackle them on rigid rides anyway. But many folks you see who will never even approach that kind of technical riding are slogging around with suspension that they don't "need" at all. Especially at the more entry-level and mid-level. People have been convinced they need suspension for comfort, so they end up with these heavy boat anchors that often see more pavement than dirt. It's silly, IMHO. I guess this rant is for another thread though!
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Old 10-16-20, 02:07 PM
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Originally Posted by pbass
It's the same everywhere. I ride in SoCal in an area where, granted, there are some serious trails that warrant a full suspension bike, or at least a hardtail (though many of us still tackle them on rigid rides anyway. But many folks you see who will never even approach that kind of technical riding are slogging around with suspension that they don't "need" at all. Especially at the more entry-level and mid-level. People have been convinced they need suspension for comfort, so they end up with these heavy boat anchors that often see more pavement than dirt. It's silly, IMHO. I guess this rant is for another thread though!
It's about the lifestlye. Look at people with Jeeps and other such 'offroaders' who never take them off pavement, or maybe only a couple times a year?

I was riding my road bike with 28mm tires ones on what I thought was going to be unpaved but level hardpack road. Turned out it was more of a rocky doubletrack in the forest. I took it slow and we both survived. Also, I swear, my 2-door coupe is more of a SUV than actual SUVs.
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Old 10-22-20, 03:06 PM
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I think it depends on your definition of “successfully” and what kind of single track you’re talking about.
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Old 10-22-20, 03:52 PM
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Originally Posted by autonomy
It's about the lifestlye. Look at people with Jeeps and other such 'offroaders' who never take them off pavement, or maybe only a couple times a year?

I was riding my road bike with 28mm tires ones on what I thought was going to be unpaved but level hardpack road. Turned out it was more of a rocky doubletrack in the forest. I took it slow and we both survived. Also, I swear, my 2-door coupe is more of a SUV than actual SUVs.
Q: What is the difference between a Jeep and a Rental Car?
A: you really can drive anywhere in a rental car.
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Old 10-22-20, 08:22 PM
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My only bike. I ride it everywhere.
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Old 10-22-20, 08:52 PM
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Originally Posted by gorillimo
My only bike. I ride it everywhere.
Pretty hard to beat a CC if you have one bike for everything.
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Old 10-22-20, 11:06 PM
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Originally Posted by pbass
Pretty hard to beat a CC if you have one bike for everything.
Don’t have to, I choose to.! Devotee of the Grant Peterson “just ride” philosophy. Sold my Klein road and FSR mt bikes.
Use this for everything. It’s a bike, ride it!
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