Gravel Bikes

[The Central Scrutinizer]

There seems to be a lot of interest at the moment in gravel or adventure bikes.
From someone who went from a hybrid to a road bike it doesn't interest me as i still like to take a chance on our roads.
From my observations there doesn't seem as many people riding on the road as there was a few years ago so are there more people opting to go off road.?

 

[vickster]

Plenty of cyclists on the roads in and around London. I’m sure there’ll be even more when it warms up and the evenings are lighter

I don’t know how many UK riders actually go off road on a gravel bike (just marketing guff anyhow, filling a niche for roadbikes with fatter tyres for potholed roads )

 

[ianrauk]

I see more bikes on the road on my commute and during leisure rides at the weekends these days then I have ever seen.

 

[I like Skol]

I don’t know how many UK riders actually go off road on a gravel bike

I do/did (waiting to replace my wrecked gravel bike after a nasty RTC!) and it was very capable too. I kind of agree about it being largely marketing guff though, just used as a label by the manufacturers so they can sell a bike with disc brakes and fatter tyres without having to sweat about the increased weight over a traditional 'road bike'.

From someone who went from a hybrid to a road bike it doesn't interest me as i still like to take a chance on our roads.

The thing about these bikes is that they are not specifically aimed at road or off-road use so have a less specialised purpose. I have used mine for commuting, 100+ mile road rides, leisure off-roading and even did a CX race recently with just a tyre swap. It does all these things really well, but then again, so does my rigid hybrid and so does my hardtail MTB when wearing a set of 2" slick tyres. Gravel bikes have always been around, they just weren't always called that.

Not sure why road cycling looks to be decreasing where you are because that certainly isn't the impression I get around my neck of the woods.....

 

[vickster]

I guess my Boardman ‘CX’ is now closer to a gravel bike with 32mm fairly slick tyres as opposed to 35mm knobblies. Still not sure I’d choose gravel as a riding surface. I avoid the stuff at the side of the roads and that which is spewing out of potholes!

 

[Globalti]

Gravel is a term used in the USA to describe un-metalled roads, of which there are rather a lot in the USA and Canada.

 

[Alan O]

There seems to be a lot of interest at the moment in gravel or adventure bikes.
From someone who went from a hybrid to a road bike it doesn't interest me as i still like to take a chance on our roads.
From my observations there doesn't seem as many people riding on the road as there was a few years ago so are there more people opting to go off road.?

I ride mostly on my steel Raleigh tourer with 32mm tyres, around 1/3 on road, 1/3 on tarmac cycle paths and 1/3 on unsurfaced tracks. I expect that's the market gravel bikes are aimed at these days, now that marketing departments have successfully sold so many skinny-tyre, no-mudguard, road-only bikes.

 

[delb0y]

My roadbike, a Tricross (32mm tyres), was bought ten years ago with the intention of being able to do unsurfaced stuff, too. I guess these days it might well be deemed a gravel bike. Anyway, it turns out that on long rides my favourite bits tended to be the farm tracks, the tow-paths, the bridle-paths - although generally there was a lot of road riding to get to those bits. So this year the plan is to do more of that sort of stuff rather than less and consequently I've bought something with even wider tyres and flat bars, but it'll still be closer to road riding than MTBing.

 

[mjr]

Gravel is a term used in the USA to describe un-metalled roads, of which there are rather a lot in the USA and Canada.

Similar here in Norfolk, but we also have stone roads which are surfaced with a fine crushed stone or often shells (we're near a fishing port) and green lanes that used to be grass but now tend to be mud thanks to all the 4x4 motorists playing.

Some of the gravel and stone roads can be useful low-traffic links shortening routes significantly if you've got the tyres for it (and the weather's dry). On others, your speed is so slow that it's quicker to go the long way round on tarmac, or you're playing chicken with huge farm or quarry vehicles.

 

[Deleted member 35268]

If I knew there were some decent, challenging and accessible gravel trails near me I would consider it, but I am still very much wed to the road and I would be reluctant to give that up and replace it with gravel. I am aware of a few trails here and there nearby but not enough to warrant excitement.

 

[pjd57]

My CX has 35mm tyres.
Is it a gravel bike , I don't know or care.
I use it on roads and paths and enjoy it.

Still have a hybrid for dodgy weather or when I want to take a bag.

Ignore the marketing and enjoy the cycling.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

My newest work/'365'/all-rounder is termed as a gravel bike

Not sure I understand the term for this country too, maybe it's the new phrase for a Cyclo-Cross bike?

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Collecting this Gravel Bike on Saturday - looking forward to it esp' with 34x34 low gear for my old legs and Lakeland's finest hills:

 

[I like Skol]

From my observations there doesn't seem as many people riding on the road as there was a few years ago so are there more people opting to go off road.?

I see more bikes on the road on my commute and during leisure rides at the weekends these days then I have ever seen.

Not sure why road cycling looks to be decreasing where you are because that certainly isn't the impression I get around my neck of the woods.....

Hmmmm.. Maybe there are less cyclists? http://road.cc/content/news/239086-new-survey-sport-england-reveals-drop-leisure-cycling

 

[fossala]

I started doing off road riding a few months ago after a decade of road riding. I love it, much more relaxing. I still ride on roads, it just gives me more options.