Gravel bike or road bike for my first bike

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weebeanysbro
Posts: 11
Joined: 16 Jun 2021, 3:34pm

Gravel bike or road bike for my first bike

Post by weebeanysbro »

Had my mind set on a road bike but not so sure now :roll: I'd be using for a number of things; commuting on dodgy Irish roads, weekend rides, fitness training and hopefully some triathlons next year. want to own only 1 bike ideally. My main concern is that the road bike with their 25/28mm tyres won't make for a nice experience during the potholes, cracks and debris typically found on commute.
Jamesh
Posts: 2963
Joined: 2 Jan 2017, 5:56pm

Re: Gravel bike or road bike for my first bike

Post by Jamesh »

Problem with own bike fits all bike is that it will be ok in all areas but not the best at any one thing.

I have a cx bike - pre gravel bike that is great off-road but so so on road and is the last bike I would choose to take out.

However it's the first choice for going on holiday when I was a do it all bike.

Cheers James
freeflow
Posts: 1637
Joined: 29 Aug 2011, 1:54pm

Re: Gravel bike or road bike for my first bike

Post by freeflow »

You should consider a frame that can take disc brakes and wide tyres. Then invest in different sets of wheels/tyres for different tasks.
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geomannie
Posts: 1093
Joined: 13 May 2009, 6:07pm

Re: Gravel bike or road bike for my first bike

Post by geomannie »

28mm tyres are fine for a commute. I have used little else for decades. If you want to include triathlons you could consider an audax style bike, essentially a fast tourer. They are comfortable, practical but can nip on when the situation demands.

Some ideas here https://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/14 ... kes-257956
geomannie
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RickH
Posts: 5834
Joined: 5 Mar 2012, 6:39pm
Location: Horwich, Lancs.

Re: Gravel bike or road bike for my first bike

Post by RickH »

:twisted: From my personal experience I would go for gravel every time! :D

I had an old mountainbike - a 1986 Muddy Fox - that I'd had since new. By 2016 I was finding flat bars to be a pain, literally &, with thumbs tending towards arthritis, mtb shifters got unconfortable to use after an hour or so of riding. I looked at converting the Muddy Fox to drops but in the end I found a 2016 Kona Sutra Ltd going for a well discounted price in early 2017. With supple, slick 40mm tyres fitted I discovered it to be as quick as my old road bike (Kinesis Tk) & far more comfortable on poor roads. Off road it is better than my old school, no suspension mtb - even with slick tyres - apart from on slippy mud which can get rather sketchy.

With all that the old Kinesis hasn't been ridden since. As well as being fun to ride the Kona makes a good workhorse with rack mounts both front & rear. Apart from the tandem it has become "my bike", whether for pooling round with grandchildren, doing the shopping, or 50+ mile road rides. I'm riding a lot more off road too as I can enjoy the cycle to/between the off road bits without feeling like I'm riding a slug when on the road.
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
mattsccm
Posts: 5103
Joined: 28 Nov 2009, 9:44pm

Re: Gravel bike or road bike for my first bike

Post by mattsccm »

You'll have to do a bit of sorting of opinions. Eg I use CX bikes on the road. Nice and nippy. Might I suggest something either at the gravel end of the road sepctrum or the roady end of the gravel bikes :roll:
Avoid something with slack angles and whopping tyres plus millions of braze ons. Something with a front mech tends to be a bit more dual purpose both in its gears and the makers intentions. Advertised room for 30mm tyres plus mudguards gives scope for winter commuting and back road riding (thats what I use) or some summer off roading with no guards and some knobblies fitted .
For an idea look at the Boardman ADV range.
NickJP
Posts: 798
Joined: 24 Sep 2018, 7:11pm
Location: Canberra, OZ

Re: Gravel bike or road bike for my first bike

Post by NickJP »

My choice would be a bike that can take tyres up in the 30-40mm range if wanted. The road bikes from my racing days that are limited to 25mm tyres pretty much just hang on hooks in the garage these days - over anything other than really good road surfaces, I just dislike the excessive jarring from the bumps. Even when I'm going out with a training bunch of racing cyclists, I still tend to grab a bike shod with 32-35mm lightweight file tread tyres. You give up virtually nothing in speed and gain considerably in comfort.
gregoryoftours
Posts: 2234
Joined: 22 May 2011, 7:14pm

Re: Gravel bike or road bike for my first bike

Post by gregoryoftours »

I'd say from what you've said that a gravel bike would fit better than a road bike. I'd agree about looking for one with a 2x drivetrain. You'll be at a disadvantage doing triathlons with a gravel bike but a 2x setup would at least give you higher top gears, have smaller jumps between the gears than 1x and is overall is better for the more varied types of riding that you plan to do. If you want to be competitive then get a triathlon/TT bike and forget about commuting on it or using it for much else!
pwa
Posts: 17371
Joined: 2 Oct 2011, 8:55pm

Re: Gravel bike or road bike for my first bike

Post by pwa »

As long as the bike allows you to get into a good aero position, the fact that it is a gravel bike won't slow you down much. You can stick lightweight racy tyres on it for triathlons, then switch back to more sensible tyres for other rides.

Triathletes tend to favour having the saddle a bit further forward than many of us are comfortable with, so you need to decide just how committed you are to fast times. If it were me, I'd settle for not being quite so fast, but having a position that works better for my long leisure rides. But you may be different.
simonix
Posts: 6
Joined: 8 Jun 2021, 10:08pm

Re: Gravel bike or road bike for my first bike

Post by simonix »

Hi there. A complete forum newbie here, but I was in a very similar position to the OP very recently.

I have spent most of my life trudging around everywhere on my XC type MTBs. I also have a single speed/fixed road bike to commute on.

I really wanted something faster than my MTB (*read, easier to pedal on the road!), but was still comfortable over our “lovely” English country roads.

As much as I loved the idea of a 7-8kg road bike with gears as a replacement for my SS, a gravel bike actually made more sense.

As a result, I now have a new Diverge Elite E5. Can take massive tyres if needed (currently on 38c which look skinny!), has a 2x10 gear set which gives me better high gears and actually a lower gear than most of the 1x11s that are out there, and I love it!

Very comfortable and much much faster than my MTB. It is heavy compared to a “proper” road bike @ 10kg, but I’m a big tall guy (*read overweight) and this bike feels like it can take a real beating!

Smashed it through some local MTB trails and it did surprisingly well and I could ride it home on the roads with ease.

I am sure that a specific road bike would be even faster, but I reckon this is more versatile for my needs. I ain’t no racer, I just ride because I love cycling.
mattsccm
Posts: 5103
Joined: 28 Nov 2009, 9:44pm

Re: Gravel bike or road bike for my first bike

Post by mattsccm »

Turning a road bike into something a touch better for TTs or Tri's can be easily done with some vlip on aero bars and maybe dropping/inverting the stem plus use a spare seat post mounted backwards to get you over the BB and onto those bars.
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