What do you use your gravel bike for?
Discussion
I'm considering a Planet X gravel bike before C2W potentially disappears. I've got a heavy, truckish, FS enduro-type bike by Calibre, which only really gets used when I go to a bike park with my 9-year-old. I've got a pretty basic, 13-yr-old road bike (rim brakes, Tiagra, alu frame, carbon fork).
I'm in North Bucks, and mainly like the idea of a gravel bike because the roads are pretty appalling, and I have this notion that it will be nice to mix up road and off-road, and have something with slightly wider tyres for all those broken roads. It's a better thing to ride along on with children if we go to a forestry place or similar. Also, shiny.
Am I being drawn in by the whole "It's not much per month" thing though? I'm not sure North Bucks is ideal gravel territory - generally it is farmers fields from my experience of trying to go for walks. If I have to put the thing in/on a car, then it's barely going to be used or I may as well take my FS bike somewhere.
Anyone in the same area who can tell me I'm wrong and that actually there's loads of places for a gravel bike?
I'm in North Bucks, and mainly like the idea of a gravel bike because the roads are pretty appalling, and I have this notion that it will be nice to mix up road and off-road, and have something with slightly wider tyres for all those broken roads. It's a better thing to ride along on with children if we go to a forestry place or similar. Also, shiny.
Am I being drawn in by the whole "It's not much per month" thing though? I'm not sure North Bucks is ideal gravel territory - generally it is farmers fields from my experience of trying to go for walks. If I have to put the thing in/on a car, then it's barely going to be used or I may as well take my FS bike somewhere.
Anyone in the same area who can tell me I'm wrong and that actually there's loads of places for a gravel bike?
I live next to a forest with plenty of fire roads so I mainly use my Canyon Grizl for that, but I also use it for road rides at the mo.
I have a spare set of wheels with 32c GP5000 tyres for faster road rides, and I've just bought some 2.1 Vittoria Barzo and Mezcal tyres to replace the 45mm tyres that came with the Canyon for comfier / more gnarly off road use.
I've never felt like the 1 x 12 gearing of the Canyon isn't enough for road use and the bike is perfectly comfortable in both setups.
I also have a Norco Fluid trail bike which I use for serious mtb stuff.
If I had a road bike I'm not sure I'd need the gravel, but you may struggle to fit wider tyres on your older road bike.
I have a spare set of wheels with 32c GP5000 tyres for faster road rides, and I've just bought some 2.1 Vittoria Barzo and Mezcal tyres to replace the 45mm tyres that came with the Canyon for comfier / more gnarly off road use.
I've never felt like the 1 x 12 gearing of the Canyon isn't enough for road use and the bike is perfectly comfortable in both setups.
I also have a Norco Fluid trail bike which I use for serious mtb stuff.
If I had a road bike I'm not sure I'd need the gravel, but you may struggle to fit wider tyres on your older road bike.
I have a 2019 Giant Toughroad that I find is a great bike - I use it for my commute, and in the past have ridden it up into the hills out the back of Edinburgh a lot over the summers. I like it because it's rugged; in the past I have given myself those snake bike punctures going up curbs etc. It's faster than the previous cyclecross bike I had, and although it's not quite as low geared as an MTB I can cope with hills fine. I swapped the tubeless tyres for tubed kevlar ones and haven't had a puncture since. But most compellingly, shiny.
Prawo Jazdy said:
I'm considering a Planet X gravel bike before C2W potentially disappears. I've got a heavy, truckish, FS enduro-type bike by Calibre, which only really gets used when I go to a bike park with my 9-year-old. I've got a pretty basic, 13-yr-old road bike (rim brakes, Tiagra, alu frame, carbon fork).
I'm in North Bucks, and mainly like the idea of a gravel bike because the roads are pretty appalling, and I have this notion that it will be nice to mix up road and off-road, and have something with slightly wider tyres for all those broken roads. It's a better thing to ride along on with children if we go to a forestry place or similar. Also, shiny.
Am I being drawn in by the whole "It's not much per month" thing though? I'm not sure North Bucks is ideal gravel territory - generally it is farmers fields from my experience of trying to go for walks. If I have to put the thing in/on a car, then it's barely going to be used or I may as well take my FS bike somewhere.
Anyone in the same area who can tell me I'm wrong and that actually there's loads of places for a gravel bike?
My gravel bike is the most used bike I own .... and I'm a road rider 90% of the time. Its the versitility that I like the most ... it gets used off road all year round and on road as a winter bike. The fact that you can just go out and ride just about anywhere makes it such a great bike. I have two sets of wheels set up for road (35mm gravelking slicks) and gravel (Pirelli RC's and Spec pathfinders) and change between tyres from winter to summer. I'm in North Bucks, and mainly like the idea of a gravel bike because the roads are pretty appalling, and I have this notion that it will be nice to mix up road and off-road, and have something with slightly wider tyres for all those broken roads. It's a better thing to ride along on with children if we go to a forestry place or similar. Also, shiny.
Am I being drawn in by the whole "It's not much per month" thing though? I'm not sure North Bucks is ideal gravel territory - generally it is farmers fields from my experience of trying to go for walks. If I have to put the thing in/on a car, then it's barely going to be used or I may as well take my FS bike somewhere.
Anyone in the same area who can tell me I'm wrong and that actually there's loads of places for a gravel bike?
What you think you want the bike for seems very justified ... I'm sure there are plenty of bridalways which aren't just mud where you can explore from your doorstep. Oh and 35mm + tyres make the UK's road just about bearable.
I live in Milton Keynes (I guess this is also North Bucks??) I use my gravel bike a lot for linking bridleways together with road sections, its pretty fast and efficient but not as comfortable as the MTB in some sections. Also in the winter when the mud gets too much it starts to struggle so I tend to switch back to the hard tail or rigid MTB at this point. I'll also do a few big gravel rides per year (Brother big un, Brother in the wild, North London dirt, peak district etc) so its a good bit of kit to have available for these. My gravel bike(s) are probably the highest mileage/hours in the fleet
I live on the edge of the South Downs in one of the quainter, quiet Sussex villages. I have proper off road trails less than 5 minutes from door and miles of quiet country lanes too.
For years I have kept road riding and off road very separate; I had an old secondhand mtb for off road, so old it had 26" wheels, a triple chainset and inner tubes
It was as tough as old boots, relatively cheap to keep going and with 2.3" tyres could cope with the worst I asked of it on the South Downs.
I also have a 10 year old road bike, one of the first aero bikes, bought new. We've done 45,000 km
and I still get a kick out of riding it. It's only got clearance for 25 mm tyres though and rim brakes, so no mudguards, and having ridden it through several winters I started to realise this was bad for both of us. I'd go through a cassette and chain every year pretty much, and chainsets didn't last much longer (although I had 2 Ultegra chainsets that delaminated so it kind of hid the maintenance issue).
During this time my mates all got cross or gravel bikes of some kind, and it was too frustrating to try and ride with them on my MTB. I couldn't keep up on the road, and it had to be a fairly steep and/or bumpy downhill to catch them off road, and the aero bike just couldn't go off road. Well it could, but you have to go very slowly and take a lot of care, so group riding just wasn't possible.
About 13 months ago, I spied a Specialized Diverge on ebay for £1300, which new was over £3k. It had a double chainset, and was on 45 mm tyres for off roading, so I took the plunge. It's mainly my winter bike, having mudguards is a game changer for roads around here. On my road bike, if the roads are wet, my feet would get wet, and when you ride to and from work, putting wet socks and shoes back on to go home really is not a nice experience.
I think I have 3 perfect bikes now (I replaced the old MTB with a nice light modern Sonder hard tail) for most conditions. I still keep the MTB for longer tougher off road rides, the road bike for the lanes in the summer, and the Diverge is seeing me through winter. I take it off road, and I do some of the harder trails on it, but you have to take much more care and go more slowly, both for you and the bike.
For years I have kept road riding and off road very separate; I had an old secondhand mtb for off road, so old it had 26" wheels, a triple chainset and inner tubes
It was as tough as old boots, relatively cheap to keep going and with 2.3" tyres could cope with the worst I asked of it on the South Downs.I also have a 10 year old road bike, one of the first aero bikes, bought new. We've done 45,000 km
and I still get a kick out of riding it. It's only got clearance for 25 mm tyres though and rim brakes, so no mudguards, and having ridden it through several winters I started to realise this was bad for both of us. I'd go through a cassette and chain every year pretty much, and chainsets didn't last much longer (although I had 2 Ultegra chainsets that delaminated so it kind of hid the maintenance issue).During this time my mates all got cross or gravel bikes of some kind, and it was too frustrating to try and ride with them on my MTB. I couldn't keep up on the road, and it had to be a fairly steep and/or bumpy downhill to catch them off road, and the aero bike just couldn't go off road. Well it could, but you have to go very slowly and take a lot of care, so group riding just wasn't possible.
About 13 months ago, I spied a Specialized Diverge on ebay for £1300, which new was over £3k. It had a double chainset, and was on 45 mm tyres for off roading, so I took the plunge. It's mainly my winter bike, having mudguards is a game changer for roads around here. On my road bike, if the roads are wet, my feet would get wet, and when you ride to and from work, putting wet socks and shoes back on to go home really is not a nice experience.
I think I have 3 perfect bikes now (I replaced the old MTB with a nice light modern Sonder hard tail) for most conditions. I still keep the MTB for longer tougher off road rides, the road bike for the lanes in the summer, and the Diverge is seeing me through winter. I take it off road, and I do some of the harder trails on it, but you have to take much more care and go more slowly, both for you and the bike.
I use mine as a winter bike but also for year round gravel (mostly fast gravel/fire roads/dirt paths, not technical). Two sets of identical wheels, one with road tyres, one with 'knobbly' tyres for easy change-over. It spends most of its time on road tyres. (WTB Horizon 47s)
Its a great fun bike, 1x chain ring so a little limited at the top end as a winter bike, but stress free and as robust as a rock. A real bomber.
Its a great fun bike, 1x chain ring so a little limited at the top end as a winter bike, but stress free and as robust as a rock. A real bomber.
I went from a road and gravel bike down to just the gravel with a spare set of road wheels. Love mine and it’s done all sorts. 3 coasts to coasts on it, and a few lairy glorious gravel events too. I used to have the Planet X free ranger so I can recommend it, superb bike and very capable. My current gravel I built to my own spec from the frame up. It’s a vitus substance so same frame as the free ranger with sram electronic 1x and hunt wheels.
They really are a do it all bike. Not as fast as a road bike and you can’t jump off stuff like on a mtb but as an alrounder they are brill. The fact they can hold a decent pace on tarmac and then do single track, gravel, mud all in one ride is why they are so popular.
They really are a do it all bike. Not as fast as a road bike and you can’t jump off stuff like on a mtb but as an alrounder they are brill. The fact they can hold a decent pace on tarmac and then do single track, gravel, mud all in one ride is why they are so popular.
I live near Altrincham & use mine on local bridleways, there’s a 45mile signed route near me that’s good to do, I’ll do variations of that also. Carrington Moss is just up the road & that’s great to rip around for an hour. Ridden to Southport on the TPT plenty of times & the other way to Doncaster. I’ve loaded it up with luggage and done an off road C2C & I rode to Whitby off road in August. Great bikes & versatile, a set of road wheels/tyres increases its usability even more.
Have a look at an OS map at BWs etc and piece together something. Thats what I do as theres no decent mountain biking rideable from my doorstep but there is some excellent gravel riding by using minor roads, bridleways and a few sustrans routes. Dead easy to smash a scenic 30 mile ride out in a couple of hours doing a mix of surfaces. Was a cynic but now a convert - perfect for doorstep rides. I'm going to plan some bigger rides next summer and load it with bike packing gear to do some overnighters etc.
EDIT: got mine on C2W. Sonder Camino - cheapest one I could get with the 1x groupset and hydro brakes. Its absolutely brilliant...
EDIT: got mine on C2W. Sonder Camino - cheapest one I could get with the 1x groupset and hydro brakes. Its absolutely brilliant...
Those that swap wheels over for road/off-road, how much difference do you find between the tyres?
I'm looking at a gravel bike to take over commuting duties from my battered cheap road bike and leaning towards something like a Ribble Allgrit E AL, which uses a hub motor, making wheel swaps practically a non-starter. I'd also use it for light off road use with my daughter, so really nothing too taxing and was probably going to put some more road orientated tyres on it.
I currently do about a mile of bridleways (as part of a much longer road ride) each way to work on 32mm slick road tyres, so hoping for an improvement over that even with road orientated gravel tyres.
I'm looking at a gravel bike to take over commuting duties from my battered cheap road bike and leaning towards something like a Ribble Allgrit E AL, which uses a hub motor, making wheel swaps practically a non-starter. I'd also use it for light off road use with my daughter, so really nothing too taxing and was probably going to put some more road orientated tyres on it.
I currently do about a mile of bridleways (as part of a much longer road ride) each way to work on 32mm slick road tyres, so hoping for an improvement over that even with road orientated gravel tyres.
I had been a bit of a gravel bike sceptic, but after using my cyclocross bike to do the Badger Divide, a 300 mile trek across the Scottish mountains, I opted to get a Lauf Seigla.
It's a much better tool for the job. My CX is one I race on, so aggressive geometry, tight gearing and skinny 33mm tyres - exhausting if you are doing anything over 2 hours or so (The Reiver almost broke me).
The Lauf, with the 30mm of travel up front is more relaxed, easier to throw around and has a much better gearing range. It has 50mm tyres, so handles the muddy stuff well and has plenty of grip - I tend to ride like I was on my mountain bike, so not exactly forgiving.
Like all things bike, there's a law of £££££ and diminishing returns and lot of w
kyness, but a decent gravel bike is a joy to ride compared to using a mountain bike. andySC said:
I live near Altrincham & use mine on local bridleways, there s a 45mile signed route near me that s good to do, I ll do variations of that also. Carrington Moss is just up the road & that s great to rip around for an hour. Ridden to Southport on the TPT plenty of times & the other way to Doncaster. I ve loaded it up with luggage and done an off road C2C & I rode to Whitby off road in August. Great bikes & versatile, a set of road wheels/tyres increases its usability even more.
I do a lot of my gravel riding on the TPT, especially when roads are icy or the higher trails are really stty. A great 100km-ish loop for me, jump on at Bowden, ride all the way to the old Runcorn bridge, then back via a combination of trails and canal towpaths. Ends up being 60-70% off road.cml24 said:
Those that swap wheels over for road/off-road, how much difference do you find between the tyres?
I'm looking at a gravel bike to take over commuting duties from my battered cheap road bike and leaning towards something like a Ribble Allgrit E AL, which uses a hub motor, making wheel swaps practically a non-starter. I'd also use it for light off road use with my daughter, so really nothing too taxing and was probably going to put some more road orientated tyres on it.
I currently do about a mile of bridleways (as part of a much longer road ride) each way to work on 32mm slick road tyres, so hoping for an improvement over that even with road orientated gravel tyres.
A lot, but I have very road biased tyres and then very off-road biased tyres. I'm sure a middle ground option with a centre spine would be a more than happy medium. I'm looking at a gravel bike to take over commuting duties from my battered cheap road bike and leaning towards something like a Ribble Allgrit E AL, which uses a hub motor, making wheel swaps practically a non-starter. I'd also use it for light off road use with my daughter, so really nothing too taxing and was probably going to put some more road orientated tyres on it.
I currently do about a mile of bridleways (as part of a much longer road ride) each way to work on 32mm slick road tyres, so hoping for an improvement over that even with road orientated gravel tyres.
Had a gravel bike since 2014 and now on my 3rd different one. I got one initially for commuting and racing cx which it did fine for a year, then it became a commuter only bike with some guards and road tyres on and did this for a number of years as I rode my CX bike for some off road or my mtb.
I then got a boardman ADV 9.0 in 2020 and then upgrade to the 9.4 in 2023, which again has been used as a winter hack and summer off roader on some 40mm Terreno Mix, but these don't last round this way with the flints of the South Downs. With my MTB being used off road for tougher rides and in the winter.
However since getting a 29inch full sus last year, it's just too easy to ride on most of the trails up on the South Downs, rolling over everything in sight with ease. The boardman was good but only took a 45mm tyre, I wanted something that'd take a 50mm tyre or mtb tyre with a little suspension, and settled for a Giant Revolt X, it's been great, goes well on road on Vittoria Terreno Mix and had it on the trails last week in some quite deep mud and it coped fine. Ironically destroyed one of the tyres last Thursday in the dark going through a pothole on the road... This will be my main winter bike now so I can keep the CX bikes clean and fresh for racing.
I then got a boardman ADV 9.0 in 2020 and then upgrade to the 9.4 in 2023, which again has been used as a winter hack and summer off roader on some 40mm Terreno Mix, but these don't last round this way with the flints of the South Downs. With my MTB being used off road for tougher rides and in the winter.
However since getting a 29inch full sus last year, it's just too easy to ride on most of the trails up on the South Downs, rolling over everything in sight with ease. The boardman was good but only took a 45mm tyre, I wanted something that'd take a 50mm tyre or mtb tyre with a little suspension, and settled for a Giant Revolt X, it's been great, goes well on road on Vittoria Terreno Mix and had it on the trails last week in some quite deep mud and it coped fine. Ironically destroyed one of the tyres last Thursday in the dark going through a pothole on the road... This will be my main winter bike now so I can keep the CX bikes clean and fresh for racing.
My gravel bike is, like many have said here, my most used bike. It's my winter road bike for 6 months of the year, with 700x32 slick-ish Gravelking tyres, and usually full mudguards, and gives no problems on club runs even with 1x gearing. It's my dedicated gravel bike over the summer, running 650x45c WTB offroad tyres on a different set of wheels. It's also the bike I tend to use for family bimbling up and down bridleways and tow paths, or around the park, regardless of which wheels I have installed; even the semi slick 35mm Gravelkings work absolutely fine on firm gravel.
Swapping between the sets of wheels is the work of a couple of seconds if I want to get muddy in the winter, as they each have a cassette and brake discs permanently installed - taking the muguards on or off takes far longer (but less than 5 minutes) if I can be bothered to do that. If you do go down the two-sets-of-wheels route, I strongly recommend having two cassettes, which makes the swap much quicker. You can also run a slightly wider gear range for gravel compared to road, although you can't go too different unless you want to start mucking around with different chains.
Swapping between the sets of wheels is the work of a couple of seconds if I want to get muddy in the winter, as they each have a cassette and brake discs permanently installed - taking the muguards on or off takes far longer (but less than 5 minutes) if I can be bothered to do that. If you do go down the two-sets-of-wheels route, I strongly recommend having two cassettes, which makes the swap much quicker. You can also run a slightly wider gear range for gravel compared to road, although you can't go too different unless you want to start mucking around with different chains.
I’ve got a Sonder Camino which I bought as a comfy road bike that I could ride without Lycra. It still serves that purpose but I’ve done quite a lot more with it, too - including a number of fairly challenging gravel sportives. It’s really good fun and it’s the only bike I wouldn’t sell (unless I was replacing it with another… I’m resisting checking the Alpkit sales at the moment!).
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