Thank goodness for gravel bikes! (or not?)

[horizon]

A cycling article in today's Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018 ... ader-powys

I suppose the author is saying that with gravel bikes you could do this tour (and I suppose he is being careful not to say that you couldn't otherwise). So what is he really saying?

He describes his gravel bike as follows:

A gravel bike, if you were wondering, is essentially a road bike that has relaxed frame angles (for a more comfortable riding position), can run wider, knobbly tyres for riding off-road and comes with mudguards and mounts for panniers.

Now I know that you know what I am thinking, that that sounds dangerously like a Dawes Galaxy, a traditional touring bike. But there may be a difference or two, who knows.

And then there is the carrying of his luggage:

I was “bikepacking” on a relatively heavy gravel bike with knobbly tyres and a large seatpack, and carrying a small rucksack.

So presumably anything to avoid panniers or maybe just a saddlebag.

What you may be justifiably asking now is, why comment? Well, because it is disinformation. To describe this kind of cycling as gravel riding or a rough track as a dirt road, or to call carrying luggage bike packing is just to import fashionable terminology to describe something that already existed but is being dressed up as something new. So that grates: what is it about us humans that we need to shun the existing and when we cannot, to rename it?

Your comments welcome!

[PH]

Nice article, I really don't care what the bike is called, I'm glad such practical bikes have made it into the mainstream. IMO anyone new to cycling and following fashion would be better served with one of these than the TdF inspired road bikes that have been popular over the last few years.
Fashion sells, good or bad, that's a philosophical question rather than a cycling one. But to equate the type of bike being marketed as a gravel bike, or adventure bike or whatever flavour name is currently in vogue with a traditional tourer is wrong. For example, have a look at Spa Cycle's website, the differences between the Elan and Tourer should be obvious, and whatever you think of the folk at Spa they're not usually accused of being slaves to fashion. I'm not saying you can't ride nearly any bike nearly anywhere, but if your luggage is minimal and you want something more road bike like, which also has some off road capability, these seem like a good choice.
To declare my interest, I'd like a Spa Elan, but it would replace my Audax bike rather than my tourer. I did an Audax which went to Lincolnshire yesterday, the difference between on and off road was none existent in places, I did it on my tourer with 35mm tyres, those on more traditional audax bikes or road bikes were struggling in places. I've come to the conclusion that 28mm tyres are no longer practical for the sorts of routes I like to ride, but neither are the attributes of a full tourer required.

[horizon]

But to equate the type of bike being marketed as a gravel bike, or adventure bike or whatever flavour name is currently in vogue with a traditional tourer is wrong.

I take your point on that - I did leave it open. And even if the bikes wre identical, the term touring bike is a misnomer in that a traditional touring bike could and can, as everyone points out, do a lot more besides touring. AIUI the only real difference between a gravel bike and "touring" bike is the ability to take wider tyres - i.e. it has pushed itself closer to a hybrid. So we probably do need a new term for such a bike. But I fear there might be a rush of rough-stuff afficionados saying that they did all this on fairly slim tyres anyway.

I posted this in the Tea Shop because my point was about language and how we use it to describe (and promote) cycling. But it only matters to those to whom it matters. I would have liked the author to make a nod towards other bikes.

[PH]

AIUI the only real difference between a gravel bike and "touring" bike is the ability to take wider tyres - i.e. it has pushed itself closer to a hybrid

I think there's a fair bit more to it than that, geometry with shorter chainstays (A reason panniers are less practical) and weight, maybe Colin would explain the design ideas of the Elan. If you like it's a hybrid between a tourer and a road bike, but calling it that would never sell!

I would have liked the author to make a nod towards other bikes.

Maybe, though I read it more about the ride than the bike.

[Si]

That article takes me back to the early 90s when i usef toride round there and quoth Double Dragon in the Neaudd arms. First time i got up to 50mph coming down the long fire road out of cwm henog. Pity they missed out the dothie valley. Also remember staying in clive powells mothers place.....she knew how to feed a hungry biker.


Ive just bought a gravel bike. Compared to my traditionsl steel tourer, its quicker, stops better, is more comfie. If im going kitchen sink camping then i would still take the tourer, and i think that in the long run the tourer will be more durable. There is certainly a difference between the two bikes. The gravel bike isnt just a traditional tourer with a different badge. But it isnt totally different, rather i see it as an evolution of the tourer for a specific set of uses. Id certainly rather use gravel bike than a tourer for that route. longer head tube, lower top tube, brakes that still work in the crap, etc.

Of course there are plenty of bikes that do span the genres, e.g. The grnesis cdf or marin four corners would be fine for traditional touring.

Something else i have noticed.....when istarted riding with my local MG we often went off down moderatly mild bridleways or cansl towpaths. But by around 10 years back no one wanted to do this as they were all on lightweight racey bikes. Maybe if people see gravel bikes as a more alluring all-rounder than a traditionsl tourer they may go back to the offroad bits again?

[RickH]

But I fear there might be a rush of rough-stuff afficionados saying that they did all this on fairly slim tyres anyway.

Maybe, but almost all the local riders in the local RSF group I sometimes ride out with* ride hardtail mountainbikes these days!

(*on my gravel bike - Kona Sutra Ltd shod with Vittoria Voyager Hypers - or, a few times, on the Circe Helios tandem with a child on the back)

[mercalia]

gravel bike = Treking bike?

[PH]

gravel bike = Treking bike?

Well a bike's a bike. But the term trekking bike usually refers the non drop bar continental version of a tourer, not really the same as what's being marketed now. It is an evolution in which I think disk brakes have played a part, when they started being fitted to road bikes it removed the tyre size restriction, if you do that you can start looking at what else you can do/sell...

[mnichols]

I have a touring bike and a gravel bike. I tour with both and there is a place for both, but if i only had room for one it would be the gravel bike because its so much more versatile.

When i bought the gravel bike it was the 7th in the stable. Now i think i could get away with 1 and a backup. In fact ive just given away two, and when the carbon bike goes to the great sportive in the sky I won't bother replacing it, ditto for the mtb. Ill just keep my gravel (Sonder) and Enigma Etape plus a few different wheels

If it was a car it would be a Range Rover - it just does everything....except maybe race

[Cugel]

.....
What you may be justifiably asking now is, why comment? Well, because it is disinformation. To describe this kind of cycling as gravel riding or a rough track as a dirt road, or to call carrying luggage bike packing is just to import fashionable terminology to describe something that already existed but is being dressed up as something new. So that grates: what is it about us humans that we need to shun the existing and when we cannot, to rename it?

Your comments welcome!

Although the geometry of a frame is fixed, many can be (re)configured with components of one sort or another to function in different ways. If the frame has various additions, it can be built with different wheels, bars, brakes, gears, tyres, guards, carriers and other bits to serve different functional requirements.

Some frames are a bit too dedicated to one thing. An aero TT or Tri frame is unlikely to be easily reconfigurable as a bike for touring.

I have what is nominally a cyclo-cross bike (a Specialised Tricross Comp from 2009) that has the frame elements enabling easy configuration into various things. It can be a fast road bike with high-end slick tyres on semi-aero wheels, lowered stem and higher gearing (courtesy of a slightly different cassette). It has the fixings for front and rear racks as well as mudguards, so can be a tourer, again with altered gear ratios (a triple chainset from Spa). It can (obviously) be a cyclo-cross bike with the appropriate tyres and gearing. It can even be a gravel bike. Perhaps one could TT on it if a bolt-on tri-bar were employed along with a 55t ring.

There are frames about that (unlike mine) will also allow changes of brake technology, gear technology and wheel size. One can have cantis or discs, derailleurs or hub gear, 700c of 650c (with any kind of tyre of variable width and tread). The frame geometry may not be the very best for this or that purpose but the human rider is very adaptable to a fairly neutral frame geometry.

The point I'm trying to make is that some bikes can do many things and some other bikes really can do everything, even if not to "professional" standards. (But then how many professional racers, cyclo-crossers, tourists, TT-riders or riders of the gravel tracks do we have here, eh)? Why call them a Nname-here type of bike? I know - marketing; the need for classifications by the tidy-minded.

Cugel, happy to rive and chop at taxonomies, schemas, nomenclatures and even the pigeon holes.

[iandriver]

Gravel bikes are sold globally, not just to the UK. When I go to the continent on a dropped bar tourer, it seems over there that this is far less common, very much a fashion thing in its own right in the UK. Flat or butterfly bars seem to be the norm there. Probably why the likes of Shimano don't bother with a dropped bar touring group set. Globally, there just isn't the market to pander to a UK fashion thing for dropped bar steel tourers. If you're used to flat bar bikes as a tourer, the gravel bikes are probably quite a bit different.