Johnny_P wrote: ↑Fri Apr 26, 2024 10:50 am
coogles wrote: ↑Thu Apr 25, 2024 7:47 pm
Gravel bikes make me scratch my head a bit. They seem to me like they just aren't particularly good at anything. They aren't quick on the road if they have actual gravel tires, but then they aren't capable enough on true singletrack to make much sense there. If it's just rough roads you're trying to deal with, most endurance frames have clearance for like 40C tires now. If it's a more demanding "gravel" ride, some pros are going with drop-bar hardtails with an actual suspension fork.
Old roadies are cool but it has to kind of suck if you can't fit some fatter tires in there. Riding on 23s blows.
With careful tire selection they’re not worlds slower than a road bike. And yes you will be under-biked on MTB trails so you have to select the trail carefully, but honestly that can be kind of fun. It certainly makes most trails feel way more gnarly and wild.
I dunno. Dan’s use case is exactly how I used my gravel bike. 10 mile ride to/from trails on the street or path, and it was still a lot of fun to ride the trails.
I don’t understand gravel racing.
But bikes like this let you link a ton of stuff together.
Bolded is the big thing. If I can do the riding I want without touching my car, yes please. In an ideal world, my car would only be for pleasure drives, I want to commute where I need by bike and ride bikes for fun without getting my car dirty or burning fuel/time not riding.
I haven't done a gravel race but it looks fun. I'd like to do more large events but I have zero interest in shit where I could get hurt (no Crits, MTB short races). Gravel races seem to be abundant and the vibe I'm looking for to push myself.
How did/do you like the All City? I'm thinking of one, I have my 105 brifters, brakes, wheels, etc. from the Ribble I can use for a build, I'd like a steel bike with external cable routing as a gravel frame. It still might make more sense to just buy a built bike, but frankensteins are kinda fun. I'm also tempted to just grab a State frame, they're pretty darn cheap.