Anyone with a gravel/adventure bike ?

[1982john]

How does this compare to a (cheapend) carbon road bike in terms of responsiveness/cornering. Thinking about changing my hybrid but want something that puts a smile on your face when you put your foot down.

Obviously it's not going to be as good but if you get a decent one (circa £1k) can you still accellerate fast etc.

Thanks!

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
I thought Halfords were doing a boardman gravel bike about a grand?

Carbon too I think IIRC?

If so it will be fast except for very wide gearing and tyres.........................

Edited its alu and reduced to £900 single chain wheel.
I suppose you be wanting mudguards
Gravel isn't that this years CX..................

http://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/217 ... s-are-home

[RodT]

I've got one of the earliest 'adventure' bikes- a CinelliHoboBootleg. It was marketed as 'the bike that didn't exist', and, at the time, it, or at least its category, didn't. It came fully equipped with mudguards and racks, and has high-quality components. It's geared well, and I like the bar-end shifters, though they might take some getting used to. You quickly learn to avoid stabbing yourself in the thigh with them.
I love it. I've toured extensively, where even heavily-loaded it is well-balanced and sprightly. I ride regular club runs with it and it's quite happy bashing around the mining trails here in Cornwall. The only thing I've changed is the saddle. I switched the original to my own B17.
Does it accelerate fast? Probably not with me on it. It weighs 12kg, so has considerable momentum once it get going- and it doesn't seem that hard to get it flying. It does everything a hybrid can do and is much more versatile.
I did receive a bit of abuse from a driver who cut me up at a junction. He said my bike was the 'colour of baby-puke'. Harsh, but probably true.

[1982john]

Hi,
I thought Halfords were doing a boardman gravel bike about a grand?

Carbon too I think IIRC?

If so it will be fast except for very wide gearing and tyres.........................

Edited its alu and reduced to £900 single chain wheel.
I suppose you be wanting mudguards
Gravel isn't that this years CX..................

http://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/217 ... s-are-home

That halfords one is a nice weight but only 11 gears? Think I might get slaughtered on a steep climb.

[RickH]

I got a 2016 Kona Sutra LTD in Feb (reduced by several hundred quid as the 2017 model was out). My Kinesis Tk hasn't been out of the shed since. OK the Kinesis isn't a carbon fibre but is a lightish responsive bike & I've really enjoyed riding it. I've done nearly 1500 miles on the Kona so far.

Even though the Kona (with a steel frame v Alu for the Tk) is a couple of kg heavier (mitigated slightly by mostly using an Alpkit seatpack instead of a rack & rackbag for my stuff) it doesn't appear to be noticeably slower on the road (I'm running 40mm Vittoria Voyager Hypers & even off road the Hypers hold their own on most stuff), especially when the road surface is less than pristine.

The top end speed may be a little lower - I've not got it up to much above 40mph yet! Speed is probably kept in check by the drag of my cheeks blowing out due to the grin riding the Kona puts on my face!

[Spinners]

How does this compare to a (cheapend) carbon road bike in terms of responsiveness/cornering. Thinking about changing my hybrid but want something that puts a smile on your face when you put your foot down.

I've had a carbon Boardman (now sold) and currently ride a Specialized AWOL and an aluminium Giant Defy (I'll ignore my hybrid commuting bike). The AWOL cannot compare with either of those two road bikes in terms of responsiveness and cornering but it really wasn't that much slower on a rolling 20km course I regularly use for my pre-work blast. It has better brakes and it really comes into it's own on a short section of gravel single-track but it's mass counts against it on the climbs. I've run it with stodgy 42mm tyres, decent 30mm tyres but found 35mm tyres to be the sweet spot.

The AWOL will never be an exciting bike and the only time it really puts a smile on my face is when I notice it is a totally silent bicycle with no creaks or squeaks unlike my Defy which is slowly doing my head in

[fossala]

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gt-grade-carbon ... road-bike/
Doubt you could do much better for an adventure bike for around £1k.

[reohn2]

How does this compare to a (cheapend) carbon road bike in terms of responsiveness/cornering. Thinking about changing my hybrid but want something that puts a smile on your face when you put your foot down.

Obviously it's not going to be as good but if you get a decent one (circa £1k) can you still accellerate fast etc.

Thanks!

Define 'responivenesss/cornering'.
Accelerating fast depends on strong legs,light wheels and tyres and a stiff frame,if you have these things you'll experience fast acceleration however there are compromises

[reohn2]

I got a 2016 Kona Sutra LTD in Feb (reduced by several hundred quid as the 2017 model was out). My Kinesis Tk hasn't been out of the shed since. OK the Kinesis isn't a carbon fibre but is a lightish responsive bike & I've really enjoyed riding it. I've done nearly 1500 miles on the Kona so far.

Even though the Kona (with a steel frame v Alu for the Tk) is a couple of kg heavier (mitigated slightly by mostly using an Alpkit seatpack instead of a rack & rackbag for my stuff) it doesn't appear to be noticeably slower on the road (I'm running 40mm Vittoria Voyager Hypers & even off road the Hypers hold their own on most stuff), especially when the road surface is less than pristine.

The top end speed may be a little lower - I've not got it up to much above 40mph yet! Speed is probably kept in check by the drag of my cheeks blowing out due to the grin riding the Kona puts on my face!

My Salsa Vayas have the same effect,my other bike(Thorn Audax Mk3 with an Ultegra gruppo) languished in the shed for two years before I realised I didnt need it and so sold it,never regreted it

[Brucey]

....the only time it really puts a smile on my face is when I notice it is a totally silent bicycle with no creaks or squeaks unlike my Defy which is slowly doing my head in

it could of course be that the defy is creaking for any one of the usual reasons; bits bolted together which are moving around a bit.

Or the frame could be breaking.... I have seen several Defy models which have cracked. One of the most weird types of crack was that there is a cutout in the head tube where the down tube joins on. You can inspect this region by removing the fork. The cracks can start in the cutout, and then progress into the welds, where they become visible and are usually noticed before the frame breaks. In the meantime the frame can be noisy, presumably because the cracks themselves are not making a silent progression...

Cracks in other locations are usually visible without any disassembly required.

So, if you have tried everything else, I would suggest that you inspect the frame carefully for cracks.

Re the OPs question; all things being equal you will have a stiffer frame, fatter tyres, and heavier wheels. A road bike that costs £300 will be a bit faster and perhaps nicer to ride on the road. With the 'gravel bike' you are buying versatility, not sprightly on-road manners...

cheers

[reohn2]

Brucey
You're a cheery soul

[Audax67]

Could do with a gravel bike in this neck of the woods.



...what the Germans call "französicher Asphalt".

[reohn2]

Ah chip n seal,the standard UK road surface,only that particular photo is lacking the potholes covered over by loose chippings found on the UK variant

[Audax67]

It doesn't show any potholes because 3 or 4 years back it was completely resurfaced with beautiful magic-carpet tarmac. There aren't any.

Never understood why they call it chip & seal since they seal it before they chip it. Should be seal and chips. Make mine walrus.

[pete75]

What will a so called gravel bike do that this won't?