Think I looking for a "gravel" bike,. How much to pay? which all rounder / buy or mod second hand MTB

[ChrisEyles]

My Raleigh Royal touring bike is basically a gravel bike with mud guards & rear rack (even changed the road crankset for a lower gearef MTB one). It's very versatile, if I had to go down to just one bike (I'd cry) this is the one I'd keep. Currently running 32mm schwalbe marathons, they last forever but planning on going up to 35mm or 38mm marathons when they finally wear out for a bit more fun off road.

 

[jase_31]

Thanks for the comments. Last time I bought bike (some time ago :-) I dont remember it being so complicated. Having use of the MTB over the last few weeks, has convinced me that isnt what I want!, it seems that more of a road based bike, with 32mm tyres is a reasonable all rounder, so just need to decide if to go for something new? or a second hand road bike and make a few mods.

 

[ChrisEyles]

If you're mechanically minded you'll get a much better bargain going second hand. Gravel bikes seem quite trendy ATM but you can pick up a reasonable old steel frame bike for very little second hand. Plus it gives you a little project for the lockdown!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It’s not complicated .

Any bike, without suspension and clearances up to about 35mm, will do for ”gravel” riding.

 

[jase_31]

What gearing should I be looking at on a road bike to gravel conversion with say 32mm tyres. I have been playing around with some online calculators but I am now more confused? 1x or 2x front chainset, and what size cassette on the back?

 

[Pale Rider]

You don't own a bike at present.

There is no point buying the wrong type of bike just to convert it to the right type.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

My Raleigh Royal touring bike is basically a gravel bike with mud guards & rear rack (even changed the road crankset for a lower gearef MTB one). It's very versatile, if I had to go down to just one bike (I'd cry) this is the one I'd keep. Currently running 32mm schwalbe marathons, they last forever but planning on going up to 35mm or 38mm marathons when they finally wear out for a bit more fun off road.

My Raleigh Royal rides lovely, being a Reynolds 531 steel frame with good geometry. Even on it's original 27" x 1 1/8" tyres it is more comfortable on poor tarmac and gravel surfaces than it has any right to be. It certainly looks like the frame has enough clearance to run 35mm Marathons if I fitted 700c wheels, or 27" x 1 1/4" on the current rims.
A women's frame Raleigh Pioneer hybrid from the 90's would be cheap, as would a drop bar mixte touring frame from the same or slightly earlier era, if you choose carefully. Men's bikes tend to go for slightly more money and sometimes decent womens ones can be picked up for next to nothing if you keep your eyes open. As a bonus, a womens bike tends to have less mechanical wear and tear on it than a mens one of the same age. Secondhand ones have often not been ridden very much and have spent years sitting in garages just gathering dust and not getting worn out.

 

[vickster]

What gearing should I be looking at on a road bike to gravel conversion with say 32mm tyres. I have been playing around with some online calculators but I am now more confused? 1x or 2x front chainset, and what size cassette on the back?

How hilly is the terrain?

All my geared drop bar bikes are 50-34 on the front and 11-32 on the back. Work well for me wherever I ride (not very hilly, and I’m still on the heavy side with bad knees).

I think you might be over thinking this a bit for your first bike

 

[ChrisEyles]

Get a triple up front (either road 50/40/30 if you like to push big gears or MTB 42/32/24 if you're a twiddler like me) and 11-32 on the back, you'll have all the gears you need even if you're carrying bike packing gear with you.

All this stuff you read about triple cranks being more complicated and harder to maintain or not shifting as well is complete BS.

Plus if you run a triple crank, you can get by with just 8 sprockets on the rear instead of the 10 or 11 you'd need with a 1x crank. Much much cheaper to buy parts for, and more mechanically robust. You can see why the marketing people Love it!

 

[ChrisEyles]

@SkipdiverJohn agreed old 27" road bikes make very capable gravel bikes. The only disadvantage I can see is that threaded headsets have a tendency to work loose if you're hammering them down rocky descents, while a more modern A-headset tends to hold up better. I speak from experience here, it's not nice careering down a rough track with a loose headset!

 

[figbat]

My home made gravel bike is 1x10: 11-34T with a 34T chainring. I use it more off- than on-road and it does spin out on faster road sections but I didn’t want to lose climbing capability. Ideally I’d get a wider cassette and longer chainring but for a bitsa bike I’m happy enough with it now.

 

[Grant Fondo]

I quite mechanically minded, so dont mind a bit of a project. I never thought about going from converting a road bike to gravel, but it is something worth looking at. Ive found a guide at
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1CCH0LrVlo


Has anyone done this? If I go down this road looking like starting with a road bike, rather than MTB and using 28 -32 tyres.

My budget is flexible - as Im pretty new to this I dont want to spend too much, but enough to get something decent that I am not looking to change/upgrade straight away, my budget is therefore guided by recommendation here.

I turned my wifes Spesh road bike into a 'hybrid' flatbar, tyre clearance the big issue as others have said. Too much of a compromise, wrong frame angles etc.
I got one of these gravel bikes last summer, takes 40mm+ tyres, but has now become fast summer bike on Conti 32's. Love it.

 

[ChrisEyles]

The most sensible answer is probably just to get a second hand road/touring bike with 27 x 1,1/4" or 700c x 32mm and ride it as is, however that may be. You'll soon learn for yourself what you like and don't like, and can then make an informed decision about how to modify it if necessary, or to buy a slightly different style of bike if that'd be more appropriate.

I love nerding out over builds and projects, but at the end of the day I have fun on pretty much any bike I'm riding.

Do keep us posted on how the search is going though 😃

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

old 27" road bikes make very capable gravel bikes. The only disadvantage I can see is that threaded headsets have a tendency to work loose if you're hammering them down rocky descents

I don't ride any of my bikes on extreme terrain, and I have never found any problem with headsets loosening with any kind of use, so long as the locknuts are nipped up so the adjustable cup is loaded and not free to rotate on the steerer threads. I have acquired used bikes with slack headsets but have always found either a total lack of grease in the bearings, or a loose locknut, or both. Once I have regreased and adjusted such headsets, they have not worked loose again subsequently.

 

[12boy]

I've learned there are 2 kinds of bike parts , the consumables such as chains, tires, brake pads, and chain rings and rear sprockets as examples that can wear out, sometimes quickly, and more permanent parts such as frames, forks, seat posts and stems, and to some extent cartridge bearing hubs, headsets and bottom brackets. My strategy has been to get the best I could from the second group and plan on replacing the first when needed. As far as frames go, Reynolds 531, Columbus, Truetemper, and Tange frames, butted and lugged, in good shape would be my preference, especially as older ones will often take nice 700c 35 mm tires easily. Nice chrome-moly 80s mtn bikes can be fairly light and very nice too. With these fine machines it can be bitchin to have several sets of wheels. I have interchangeable ones with studded snow tires and others with fat Slicks or gravel type tires, to suit whatever the day's riding requires. Since a quality used bike costs less, this paves the way for upgrades like cartridge bearings or extra wheels.