Everything Ben said makes sense to me. Also, gravel is no fad. As long as there are dirt roads, it's a thing. Gravel bikes are just more practical road bikes.
I enjoyed the conversation. Gravel is so broad with so many facets it’s hard to make blanket statements. Ben is talking about “Gravel Events”. I am, in his terms, an “outside dog” so 650b wheels with 48 mm tires or larger rule. So do steel frames with tons of attachment point because I do multiple day bikepacking trips. I think gravel is just getting off the pavement, off the beaten path and into nature. I enjoy entering events as well
I think it’s so popular because it’s actually a great bike type. Fast as a road bike, competent enough for the available local terrain. Most people were using mountain bikes for canal paths. Not needed. And a full spec up mtb on a tough route is easy if your competent, less of a challenge.. Gravel is the way forward, it’s just more fun, it’s like cyclocross. But longer races.
Non racing gravel is a big deal in US…many road racers or enthusiasts have a gravel bike and do most training and fun rides on gravel which is so much safer than roads
@@chrisvanbuggenum871 I was running BikeRadar’s US operation for a few years, where we did a bit of TH-cam. I worked for VeloNews for 10 years, but we didn’t do much TH-cam. Thanks for asking.
I will add my two cents…. I just participated in the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder, a 5 day event through the Oregon Cascades. Plenty of Pro's… Unbound winners, Olympians, etc. I rode in the Ironhorse category (on my Specialized Creo e-bike). It was a tough ride, but no one shunned me for riding an e-bike. We camped together, ate food together and encouraged one another. It was an amazing experience. Why is gravel so popular??? Community.
Look at it from a commercial point of view too. The road bike market is aging. Young guys aren't buying bikes. They are at the gym. The road bike scene is getting older. Guys inspired by Wiggins 10 years ago who bought their first bikes at 40 are now 50 and with the mythical stiffness of bikes getting silly high and to many unrideable, plus unobtainable in terms of pricing high volume fast tyres, riser bar's, dropper posts and luggage allow people comfort thus more time in the saddle and make it enjoyable. I've been selling bikes 17 years and have sold enough product to see this happening here and now. I sold 4 Whyte Dean bikes this weekend. £1550 - a great bike and to exactly the aforementioned customer. Don't judge them. Let's just be happy people are out there enjoying the delights of a good bike ride.
@@JQ0110 no its not. People are leaving hike shops empty handed as they cannot get what they want. Long lead times. No eta on product. Parts drought. Different in reality to what the press and customers think.
Coming from someone who has never owned a road bike, I currently have an MTB for full on red trails and a gravel bike with two sets of wheels for 'adventure' riding and road. I have used MTB for all purposes and the gravel bike for me is better, faster and more challenging.
Gravel is not just a fad. It's here to stay. As long as road riding remains more dangerous with more distractions and less accessible to new cyclists due to fear of traffic, gravel for the win.
I bought my first gravel frameset on Friday. My reasons are because my MTB is too slow rolling to keep up with my friends well, and my road bike has too thin tires to ride on the gravel paths we ride on. It's all about exercise and going to brunch spots for me. A little extra tire is always nice to cushion this 45 year old body with a bad back...and a suspension seatpost. ;)
I thought gravel was stupid and a waste of a bike until I tried it. I've done hundreds of thousands of miles on road and mountian bike. One gravel ride and I was converted immediately.
I've never understood the "Fad" perspective. The bikes allow you to ride so many different surfaces efficiently. I used to ride my road bike and would look at all the side roads, trails, and dirt roads and knew...."Nope". Now, I can pretty much ride anything.
I enjoy the combo of going reasonably fast, but also you need repair skills, self-support, and bike handling skills and strategy that will make as much difference as speed. It's like a thinking person's bike race. With enough variables and distance, speed isn't the only thing that makes you fast. You just go "medium" and then use everything else to minimize time losses. Going "hard" is of no use because it's too far and riddled with hazards anyway.
It should have already been a competition. Whats called gravel riding today is something most of us just called riding lol. Mix terrain was just terrain.
Nice video, interesting discussion for Gravel, although I'm dedicated to (amateur) road cycling...with 2 of my Top 5 cycling vloggers [the other three are Matt Stephens (Sigma Sports), James Huang (CyclingTips) & Matthew Loveridge (ex-BikeRadar, now???)]. Thanks to both for make this happen but also for being normal people and speaking like us.
MTB feels rubbish on pavement Road bike feels rubbish off pavement Gravel bikes just feel slightly less rubbish on both to get by :) That's why people love them
I still regularly ride a full rigid single speed so I’m no stranger to a dying trend. Even if gravel fizzles out a bit, I have embraced gravel for its benefits; especially its wonderful fringe benefit of being off the road where a distracted driver could easily ruin your day.
l quit road riding for a year now. The main reason for the switch is safety. The chances to be killed by a distracted careless driver on gravel is a lot less. I care less about racing.
In the past people cycled on things that looked exactly like those things you call a new invention. Then the silliness of emulating motorbikes started and people without a clue about bikes (americans) started to buy in to all this suspension this suspension that nonsense. The biggest stupidity was using 26'' wheels for bikes intended to be ridden by grown man. Remember that?
Watching this 31/7/22, rode Asse-Bosberg-Muur-Oude-Kwaremont-Paterberg-Koppenberg-Asse ride (Ben Delaney's shirt) 160km yesterday while Remco Evenepoel wins San Sebastian 2022😏 :)
Yeah, aero bars, I could tell this guy looks like the fast-gravel type. And I grin and say thanks for a great conversation, David and Ben. And I like that the gravel scene originated in the heartland of our nation, with the biggest event in Kansas every year. It is all much like the Indy 500 and its significance to auto racing since its opening and even Louis Chevrolet, THE Chevrolet of the car company and a successful bicycle racer and designer and builder, left Chevrolet to build his own race car and win Indy--and, yikes, that cost him everything eventually as he had sold his Chevy shares to go racing. And with gravel these days, I think surely a huge draw is the reasonable risk of it all. I mean, I was all for road and crit racing until I was in a four-man break in a crit in '84 and something happened up front and I was fourth and flying and flipping and landing on my back. And here I was just happily chasing points and about to advance to Cat. 2. But no, I was a 24-year-old with a real life and that was enough for me, just way too risky to be at the whim of whatever happens on the asphalt. Still, I remain thankful for the experience and my handful of victories and I truly appreciated the USCF and everyone who organized and presented those races. And same with today's organizers of gravel and fondos and whatever. And U.S. Army organizers, too, like when I was stationed at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas in '82, I won a big bike race which began and ended at the Command and General Staff College on a summer day of sporting events, with a cook-out afterwards. And I paired my cycling shorts with a BE ALL YOU CAN BE Army T-shirt. And hey, I had to represent the team. :)
I get it But from what I see hard tail mountain bike always seems to be the better choice for me I live in the city but still perfer mountain bike because if I want to go up or down curbs steps or whatever I don't want to be limited I'm always looking for some way to go that is more fun and a little challenging and I'm 60
Look, it's nice that it was small and more about hanging out, but it was never just about community. The very moment a race is a race, there is by default, elitists, people who want to win, people who want to be the best. There is nothing wrong with that. And I don't understand why people are so offended by it. You can join a race just to finish, that's fine, nobody minds. But why when a competitive racer wants to win the other contestants get salty about it? What mindset do you have to have to think people shouldn't be allowed to "try as hard as possible to win"? And I'm going to give you a news flash, the more famous a sport gets, the more competitive it gets. If you want community with no "competitive elitists" go to a charity event or something. There are endless of those. Also, go to the real races. The community is still and will be there. It is human nature. To be competitive. *a healthy fact humans and all other creatures* being challenged results in growth.
David - east coast USA has some great gravel as well (because most cycling journalists in US live on west coast --- that's often what is discussed). Vermont, central NY, Pennsylvania, VA, NC, (Appalachian mtns) etc...has some world class gravel riding also ! It's also can be cheaper to get a sweet Airbnb as a base for riding in an eastern town near state / national forest lands where gravel is aplenty (Asheville NC, Roanoke VA, Burlington VT, Lewisburg, PA etc.) than it might be in Boulder CO :) We also have water (streams / rivers aplenty !) on the east coast. No risk of planning a trip and being unridable due to forest fires / air quality issues that burden west coast from mid-summer through Fall (and with climate change - will unfortunately - increasingly continue to do so...).
I live on the NY/Pennsylvania border and while my gravel bike and I have a lot of fun, I would politely suggest that the trips I have made to Oregon and California put the East Coast to shame. Maybe it’s just because it’s different to my norm, but Spring/Summer in Bend, Oregon, is paradise :-)
Are we not even going to talk about the contradiction on Ben's statement? "Using a bike it's not supposed to run on gravel" part then talk about a lady on a Fatbike on the next sentence? Why are we just not using an MTB for this race then? It's fine if some people wants to start something new but this has been driven by profit to sell gravel bikes that are practically useless as a Trek Procaliber would have done the job.
I ride on roads some, but would rather get on gravel where there are a lot fewer cars and trucks. The roads I ride on are also quite quiet. Roads are just too dangerous overall so the appeal of road bikes will always be limited. My local bike shop says that people just don't want skinny tires. They only have mountain type bikes for sale.
Sure! The core of gravel racing compared to an Ironman event makes sense but the bulk of it worldwide is nothing but marketing and hype. Hype driven by brands who wants to sell cyclists a new bike and set of equipments they don't already have. TH-camrs who push it for content as it's something different and gets a lot of clicks. I have seen so many people buying a gravel bike just because of GCN or TH-cam hype only to not know what to do with it after a handful of rides. It's as silly as people buying Fatbikes 2 years ago!
It's cycling on unsurfaced roads with a marketing message of "adventure", "freedom" and "youth". It's like Red Bull drinks, add to that marketing message some events and shows, and the product will sell.
Why Is Gravel So Popular Right Now? I didn't realise it was! I don't know anyone who owns a gravel bike and there is hardly anywhere to ride one in the UK anyway, just use a XC MTB
Yeah the UK isn't really a place for MTB apart from places in Scotland and Wales. Public space is limited in the UK and most roads are Sealed. Even MTBing is tough to find lots of proper high hills in England apart from Cumbria.
I think there needs to be more variety, for example gravel multi day stage races, or Enduro style multi stage events. At the moment, it seems too many are just like one day road races - but on gravel. They don't look too technical - hence former pro road racers turning up. Good to see Ben on here; talks a lot of sense. I still recall his review of the Trek Domane Gravel....."it's not a Gravel bike".
The Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder just wrapped up (5 days). I did the Cascades Gravel Grinder a couple of years ago, which is 3 days of racing, including a short time trial. Highly recommended, if that’s the sort of thing you’re looking for.
I experimented with only one bike for a whole year. I had a Reilly gradient gravel with 3 sets of wheels. 1x aero road with 28mm tyres, 1 x 700 x 43 & 1 x 650b. I was trying to see if you could live with just one bike and the answer was yes. BUT really the answer was no. The reality is a gravel bike is nowhere near as good as a road bike on the road. It just doesn't look or feel right. Even though I could hold 22 mph average on it I just couldn't enjoy it. Then there is off road for which it is designed. We have to remember that these bikes were designed for American gravel roads, long flat with occasional climbs etc. UK gravel is not like that. Its constant climbing @ 20% plus and you have to mix singletrack in there. When you put a gravel bike up against a light MTB say at 9kg and put 2.0 slick tyres on the MTB the reality is the MTB eats it alive and is far more fun to ride than the gravel bike. Personally after the year I was desperate to get back on other bike. I've ridden segments that I have pb'd on my gravel bike with my new bikes and I have easily smashed them. So if you are in the market for only one bike then yes a gravel bike makes perfect sense in the uk. If you just love bikes and you are lucky enough to be able to afford a few then I reckon a gravel bike should be bottom of your list. A decent road bike with a very light MTB will deliver more speed and more fun. These are just my opinions of course.
Gravel is good but gravel will always be limited to accessibility. Cycling for sport or recreation is always going to struggle against an ever expanding urban environment. Outside of North American flatlands the sport struggles to find the perfect fast roads and fire tracks.Cx and xc is popular because it allows off-road riders to bike in more places.
It was cyclocross. Now rebranded as 'gravel' :) It is road bike, later they rebrand it smth like "asphalt". :) And experts then will hype and give you "proof" that it is different things:)
That's what I always laugh at how essentially a gravel frame is closely related to cyclocross geometry, yet haters will say gravel is just a 90's MTB with dropbars. It can't be both.
Opinion as popular as gravel bikes: It's a good balance between everyday use, rough surface and (road) speed to allow all other N+1 to be more focused on their primary role.
It’s basically impossible to organize a long road race, but a lot easy to persuade some county officials to let you borrow some fire road logging road or trails for the weekend.
Racing ruins everything for the rest of us. We can’t get high quality components that aren’t heinously overpriced and aimed at 135lb riders who will pay anything for nonsensical gram savings. We can’t ride the roads without drivers lumping us in with the 4-abreast roadie swarms that aggravate them. We are treated as though we’re just hobbyists. No one pays attention to the Unbound XL because the big names are in the 200. Bikes that aren’t sprint oriented are scoffed at. And elite riders drive 2000 miles to ride a few hours so they can get a medal, taking the fun out of it for locals. Annoying AF.
It's 💩, it's just the industry trying to milk more money from the consumer. Gravel bikes are just hard tail mountain bikes that have dropped handle bars and look similar to aluminium roadbikes. I just don't get why everyone is so hyped up about them 😂😂😂
At 70 I can’t afford another fall! Gravel increases my chance of falling. So, no. There are plenty of paved trails where I live. Rarely have get on the streets. But If you have a used one cheap to sell. I’ll might bite. But then I have a mt bike for the little off road that I do. So, no, probably not.
Everything Ben said makes sense to me. Also, gravel is no fad. As long as there are dirt roads, it's a thing. Gravel bikes are just more practical road bikes.
I always enjoy Ben's common sense perspective and straight forward delivery.
I enjoy both disciplines immensely
I enjoyed the conversation. Gravel is so broad with so many facets it’s hard to make blanket statements. Ben is talking about “Gravel Events”. I am, in his terms, an “outside dog” so 650b wheels with 48 mm tires or larger rule. So do steel frames with tons of attachment point because I do multiple day bikepacking trips. I think gravel is just getting off the pavement, off the beaten path and into nature. I enjoy entering events as well
Ben is the most genuine, humble, thoughtful US cycling commentators I've had the pleasure to listen to. Thanks for the video. Loved it. 🚴♂️🇦🇺
Glad you enjoyed it Mark!
That is very kind, Mark. Thank you. I am trying to follow Dave’s lead and have started my own TH-cam channel. Please check it out. Thank you.
I think it’s so popular because it’s actually a great bike type. Fast as a road bike, competent enough for the available local terrain.
Most people were using mountain bikes for canal paths. Not needed. And a full spec up mtb on a tough route is easy if your competent, less of a challenge..
Gravel is the way forward, it’s just more fun, it’s like cyclocross. But longer races.
Non racing gravel is a big deal in US…many road racers or enthusiasts have a gravel bike and do most training and fun rides on gravel which is so much safer than roads
I’m the guy just trying to survive in the back having the time of my life !
David and Ben, two of my favorite people in the business. Well done.
for sure! sad Ben got cut in the Outside layoffs(redundancies?)
Thanks! And thanks to David for having me and tolerating my Covid fog in a fun conversation.
@@TheRidewithBenDelaney i know your face, but i have not seen it in ages, what channel were you on?
@@chrisvanbuggenum871 I was running BikeRadar’s US operation for a few years, where we did a bit of TH-cam. I worked for VeloNews for 10 years, but we didn’t do much TH-cam. Thanks for asking.
@@TheRidewithBenDelaney it was bikeradar! I've missed your reviews. Really glad I've found your channel now.
Great interview. As an American living in Belgium I appreciate the various takes on gravel.
I will add my two cents…. I just participated in the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder, a 5 day event through the Oregon Cascades. Plenty of Pro's… Unbound winners, Olympians, etc. I rode in the Ironhorse category (on my Specialized Creo e-bike). It was a tough ride, but no one shunned me for riding an e-bike. We camped together, ate food together and encouraged one another. It was an amazing experience. Why is gravel so popular??? Community.
Looks like Ben has finally got his own channel up and running. Top bloke. Always talks sense.
Cheers, Mark!
Look at it from a commercial point of view too. The road bike market is aging. Young guys aren't buying bikes. They are at the gym. The road bike scene is getting older. Guys inspired by Wiggins 10 years ago who bought their first bikes at 40 are now 50 and with the mythical stiffness of bikes getting silly high and to many unrideable, plus unobtainable in terms of pricing high volume fast tyres, riser bar's, dropper posts and luggage allow people comfort thus more time in the saddle and make it enjoyable. I've been selling bikes 17 years and have sold enough product to see this happening here and now. I sold 4 Whyte Dean bikes this weekend. £1550 - a great bike and to exactly the aforementioned customer. Don't judge them. Let's just be happy people are out there enjoying the delights of a good bike ride.
@@JQ0110 no its not. People are leaving hike shops empty handed as they cannot get what they want. Long lead times. No eta on product. Parts drought. Different in reality to what the press and customers think.
I got to ride with Sagan in the 100 mile version; we were neck and neck at the start :)
2 of my favorite bike experts! Glad you two got to chop it up!!
Coming from someone who has never owned a road bike, I currently have an MTB for full on red trails and a gravel bike with two sets of wheels for 'adventure' riding and road. I have used MTB for all purposes and the gravel bike for me is better, faster and more challenging.
Gravel is not just a fad. It's here to stay. As long as road riding remains more dangerous with more distractions and less accessible to new cyclists due to fear of traffic, gravel for the win.
I bought my first gravel frameset on Friday. My reasons are because my MTB is too slow rolling to keep up with my friends well, and my road bike has too thin tires to ride on the gravel paths we ride on. It's all about exercise and going to brunch spots for me. A little extra tire is always nice to cushion this 45 year old body with a bad back...and a suspension seatpost. ;)
I thought gravel was stupid and a waste of a bike until I tried it. I've done hundreds of thousands of miles on road and mountian bike. One gravel ride and I was converted immediately.
That was awesome. What is gravel…..FUN
Love this conversation. Both of you did a great job. Very entertaining. Watched the whole thing!
Thanks!
I've never understood the "Fad" perspective. The bikes allow you to ride so many different surfaces efficiently. I used to ride my road bike and would look at all the side roads, trails, and dirt roads and knew...."Nope". Now, I can pretty much ride anything.
Gravel feels more like really old school retro racing from when safety bikes were first invented.
Why.
Simple.
No cars to worry about.
Gravel is popular because (in the words of Arcade Fire) "we know a place where no cars go". Oh and no UCI is a bonus too.
I enjoy the combo of going reasonably fast, but also you need repair skills, self-support, and bike handling skills and strategy that will make as much difference as speed. It's like a thinking person's bike race. With enough variables and distance, speed isn't the only thing that makes you fast. You just go "medium" and then use everything else to minimize time losses. Going "hard" is of no use because it's too far and riddled with hazards anyway.
It should have already been a competition. Whats called gravel riding today is something most of us just called riding lol. Mix terrain was just terrain.
Nice video, interesting discussion for Gravel, although I'm dedicated to (amateur) road cycling...with 2 of my Top 5 cycling vloggers [the other three are Matt Stephens (Sigma Sports), James Huang (CyclingTips) & Matthew Loveridge (ex-BikeRadar, now???)]. Thanks to both for make this happen but also for being normal people and speaking like us.
Glad you enjoyed it Lazaros 😃
MTB feels rubbish on pavement
Road bike feels rubbish off pavement
Gravel bikes just feel slightly less rubbish on both to get by :)
That's why people love them
Loved this!
I still regularly ride a full rigid single speed so I’m no stranger to a dying trend. Even if gravel fizzles out a bit, I have embraced gravel for its benefits; especially its wonderful fringe benefit of being off the road where a distracted driver could easily ruin your day.
l quit road riding for a year now. The main reason for the switch is safety. The chances to be killed by a distracted careless driver on gravel is a lot less. I care less about racing.
Yes, just completing what ever ride I decide to accomplish.. Goes a long way.
In the past people just cycled gravel on mountain bikes and didn't know it can be done more effectively, more on single track roads and less in mud.
Lol I did my first gravel race on a souped up road bike 28 mm tubeless. I got 8th out of 80.
In the past people cycled on things that looked exactly like those things you call a new invention. Then the silliness of emulating motorbikes started and people without a clue about bikes (americans) started to buy in to all this suspension this suspension that nonsense. The biggest stupidity was using 26'' wheels for bikes intended to be ridden by grown man. Remember that?
Great 👍 interview, like both channels. Enjoyed this one from start to finish👌 maybe you can visit Boulder Colorado one day and do that 18mi decend😍
Watching this 31/7/22, rode Asse-Bosberg-Muur-Oude-Kwaremont-Paterberg-Koppenberg-Asse ride (Ben Delaney's shirt) 160km yesterday while Remco Evenepoel wins San Sebastian 2022😏 :)
In my mind I see a picture with Coppi and Bartoli ascending the Aubisque on a gravel road!
That was great !!!!
Glad you enjoyed it Trey :)
I have been riding gravel for 30 years…
I think it's really popular right now because marketing departments are really good at their job.
Yeah, aero bars, I could tell this guy looks like the fast-gravel type. And I grin and say thanks for a great conversation, David and Ben. And I like that the gravel scene originated in the heartland of our nation, with the biggest event in Kansas every year. It is all much like the Indy 500 and its significance to auto racing since its opening and even Louis Chevrolet, THE Chevrolet of the car company and a successful bicycle racer and designer and builder, left Chevrolet to build his own race car and win Indy--and, yikes, that cost him everything eventually as he had sold his Chevy shares to go racing. And with gravel these days, I think surely a huge draw is the reasonable risk of it all. I mean, I was all for road and crit racing until I was in a four-man break in a crit in '84 and something happened up front and I was fourth and flying and flipping and landing on my back. And here I was just happily chasing points and about to advance to Cat. 2. But no, I was a 24-year-old with a real life and that was enough for me, just way too risky to be at the whim of whatever happens on the asphalt. Still, I remain thankful for the experience and my handful of victories and I truly appreciated the USCF and everyone who organized and presented those races. And same with today's organizers of gravel and fondos and whatever. And U.S. Army organizers, too, like when I was stationed at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas in '82, I won a big bike race which began and ended at the Command and General Staff College on a summer day of sporting events, with a cook-out afterwards. And I paired my cycling shorts with a BE ALL YOU CAN BE Army T-shirt. And hey, I had to represent the team. :)
Next year Sand Bikes will be all the rage...
I get it
But from what I see hard tail mountain bike always seems to be the better choice for me
I live in the city but still perfer mountain bike because if I want to go up or down curbs steps or whatever I don't want to be limited
I'm always looking for some way to go that is more fun and a little challenging and I'm 60
Mr. Delaney: sir, you can have my 650b's... just as soon as you pry them from my COLD. DEAD. HANDS. 😁😁
Look, it's nice that it was small and more about hanging out, but it was never just about community.
The very moment a race is a race, there is by default, elitists, people who want to win, people who want to be the best.
There is nothing wrong with that. And I don't understand why people are so offended by it.
You can join a race just to finish, that's fine, nobody minds. But why when a competitive racer wants to win the other contestants get salty about it?
What mindset do you have to have to think people shouldn't be allowed to "try as hard as possible to win"?
And I'm going to give you a news flash, the more famous a sport gets, the more competitive it gets.
If you want community with no "competitive elitists" go to a charity event or something. There are endless of those.
Also, go to the real races. The community is still and will be there.
It is human nature. To be competitive. *a healthy fact humans and all other creatures* being challenged results in growth.
A high speed crash on gravel must be devastating.
Depends, sometimes if it’s just on sand it’s not bad at all.
I prefer smooth pavement. No dust and you go faster.
Gravel is fine but in my area there just isn't much gravel to ride.
David - east coast USA has some great gravel as well (because most cycling journalists in US live on west coast --- that's often what is discussed). Vermont, central NY, Pennsylvania, VA, NC, (Appalachian mtns) etc...has some world class gravel riding also ! It's also can be cheaper to get a sweet Airbnb as a base for riding in an eastern town near state / national forest lands where gravel is aplenty (Asheville NC, Roanoke VA, Burlington VT, Lewisburg, PA etc.) than it might be in Boulder CO :) We also have water (streams / rivers aplenty !) on the east coast. No risk of planning a trip and being unridable due to forest fires / air quality issues that burden west coast from mid-summer through Fall (and with climate change - will unfortunately - increasingly continue to do so...).
Sounds like I need to organise a trip...
I live on the NY/Pennsylvania border and while my gravel bike and I have a lot of fun, I would politely suggest that the trips I have made to Oregon and California put the East Coast to shame. Maybe it’s just because it’s different to my norm, but Spring/Summer in Bend, Oregon, is paradise :-)
Are we not even going to talk about the contradiction on Ben's statement?
"Using a bike it's not supposed to run on gravel" part then talk about a lady on a Fatbike on the next sentence? Why are we just not using an MTB for this race then?
It's fine if some people wants to start something new but this has been driven by profit to sell gravel bikes that are practically useless as a Trek Procaliber would have done the job.
Cool….(Ben)………(David)……………….Warm
I ride on roads some, but would rather get on gravel where there are a lot fewer cars and trucks. The roads I ride on are also quite quiet. Roads are just too dangerous overall so the appeal of road bikes will always be limited. My local bike shop says that people just don't want skinny tires. They only have mountain type bikes for sale.
We gave up on good urban planning in America. Hence the bike sales figures reflect this.
As long as the UCI doesn't get involved gravel racing will be here to stay.
Sure! The core of gravel racing compared to an Ironman event makes sense but the bulk of it worldwide is nothing but marketing and hype.
Hype driven by brands who wants to sell cyclists a new bike and set of equipments they don't already have.
TH-camrs who push it for content as it's something different and gets a lot of clicks.
I have seen so many people buying a gravel bike just because of GCN or TH-cam hype only to not know what to do with it after a handful of rides.
It's as silly as people buying Fatbikes 2 years ago!
Cyclocross, which is what it is, wasn't "born in the USA". Only the marketing to the masses started there.
Its just cycling on unsurfaced roads....hardly anything new, unsurfaced roads in the UK were called green lanes just a change of name.
so in Italy....bad tarmac... hahaha
It's cycling on unsurfaced roads with a marketing message of "adventure", "freedom" and "youth". It's like Red Bull drinks, add to that marketing message some events and shows, and the product will sell.
@@Dee-Ell so Coppi and Bartali have done long time ago....riding gravel during all Giro...or Tour de France
Why Is Gravel So Popular Right Now? I didn't realise it was! I don't know anyone who owns a gravel bike and there is hardly anywhere to ride one in the UK anyway, just use a XC MTB
Yeah the UK isn't really a place for MTB apart from places in Scotland and Wales. Public space is limited in the UK and most roads are Sealed. Even MTBing is tough to find lots of proper high hills in England apart from Cumbria.
Total nonsense! there are plenty of off-road trail and routes in the uk that are good for gravel bikes
Very popular here in NZ.
News flash; your tiny, soggy island isn't very relevant to the rest of the world.
I think there needs to be more variety, for example gravel multi day stage races, or Enduro style multi stage events. At the moment, it seems too many are just like one day road races - but on gravel. They don't look too technical - hence former pro road racers turning up.
Good to see Ben on here; talks a lot of sense. I still recall his review of the Trek Domane Gravel....."it's not a Gravel bike".
The Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder just wrapped up (5 days). I did the Cascades Gravel Grinder a couple of years ago, which is 3 days of racing, including a short time trial. Highly recommended, if that’s the sort of thing you’re looking for.
It's a sort of cross between road cycling and mountain biking, and it's trendy. Like bell bottoms and leisure suits.
There are no Pro Racing in the US and even the amateur racing is not big anymore. So everyone is hyping gravel.
Pretty much half of all the local road races in the spring died. Gravel races happen in the fall. The cycling talen has to go somewhere.
I experimented with only one bike for a whole year. I had a Reilly gradient gravel with 3 sets of wheels. 1x aero road with 28mm tyres, 1 x 700 x 43 & 1 x 650b. I was trying to see if you could live with just one bike and the answer was yes. BUT really the answer was no. The reality is a gravel bike is nowhere near as good as a road bike on the road. It just doesn't look or feel right. Even though I could hold 22 mph average on it I just couldn't enjoy it.
Then there is off road for which it is designed. We have to remember that these bikes were designed for American gravel roads, long flat with occasional climbs etc. UK gravel is not like that. Its constant climbing @ 20% plus and you have to mix singletrack in there. When you put a gravel bike up against a light MTB say at 9kg and put 2.0 slick tyres on the MTB the reality is the MTB eats it alive and is far more fun to ride than the gravel bike.
Personally after the year I was desperate to get back on other bike. I've ridden segments that I have pb'd on my gravel bike with my new bikes and I have easily smashed them.
So if you are in the market for only one bike then yes a gravel bike makes perfect sense in the uk.
If you just love bikes and you are lucky enough to be able to afford a few then I reckon a gravel bike should be bottom of your list. A decent road bike with a very light MTB will deliver more speed and more fun. These are just my opinions of course.
Gravel is good but gravel will always be limited to accessibility. Cycling for sport or recreation is always going to struggle against an ever expanding urban environment. Outside of North American flatlands the sport struggles to find the perfect fast roads and fire tracks.Cx and xc is popular because it allows off-road riders to bike in more places.
Have you been to Belgium or the Netherlands?
It was cyclocross. Now rebranded as 'gravel' :) It is road bike, later they rebrand it smth like "asphalt". :) And experts then will hype and give you "proof" that it is different things:)
That's what I always laugh at how essentially a gravel frame is closely related to cyclocross geometry, yet haters will say gravel is just a 90's MTB with dropbars.
It can't be both.
Exactly! I was not sure what's so "new" about "gravel" bike, it's just like the cyclocross bike I bought 10 years ago.
I just mad about tri bars. I mean, c'mon, we all know everyone should be running old Sting-Ray high-rise bars. :)
Because pavement sucks
This convinces me that you can sell a turd wrapped in silk.
Unpopular opinion: gravel = hype. Buy a MTB for off road use.
100%
Opinion as popular as gravel bikes:
It's a good balance between everyday use, rough surface and (road) speed to allow all other N+1 to be more focused on their primary role.
very unpopular and seems like youve never ridden a gravel bike. a lot more fun for many folks
My MTBs now gather dust thanks to my gravel bike arriving. But whatever bike you have, just ride.
MTB for offroad, Gravel for onroad
Gravel is road cycling rebranded for americans.
It’s basically impossible to organize a long road race, but a lot easy to persuade some county officials to let you borrow some fire road logging road or trails for the weekend.
Racing ruins everything for the rest of us. We can’t get high quality components that aren’t heinously overpriced and aimed at 135lb riders who will pay anything for nonsensical gram savings. We can’t ride the roads without drivers lumping us in with the 4-abreast roadie swarms that aggravate them. We are treated as though we’re just hobbyists. No one pays attention to the Unbound XL because the big names are in the 200. Bikes that aren’t sprint oriented are scoffed at. And elite riders drive 2000 miles to ride a few hours so they can get a medal, taking the fun out of it for locals. Annoying AF.
It's 💩, it's just the industry trying to milk more money from the consumer. Gravel bikes are just hard tail mountain bikes that have dropped handle bars and look similar to aluminium roadbikes.
I just don't get why everyone is so hyped up about them 😂😂😂
Gravel has a big problem right now. RIP Mo.
At 70 I can’t afford another fall! Gravel increases my chance of falling. So, no. There are plenty of paved trails where I live. Rarely have get on the streets. But If you have a used one cheap to sell. I’ll might bite. But then I have a mt bike for the little off road that I do. So, no, probably not.
yes. Gravel bikes is hype. A new revenue model. Just my 2 cents.
Waiting for the "MTB's are superior" guys to comment.
Second
Gravel is a non starter for me because it requires disc brakes
Gravel doesn’t require disc brakes. Cantilever brake bikes work and were the norm before gravel bikes became a thing.