Gravel bikes off tarmac?

[PH]

Clearly one could do this riding well before tubeless, disc brakes and "1x" tranmissions.

Has anybody ever suggested you couldn't?

[Benz3ne]

What proportion of these bikes do folk think are ridden much off tarmac/on grave/strade bianche (not a lot of those last two in britain of course)?

Hopefully not that many for the terrain in bold.
I use mine more off-road during the spring/summer/autumn than I do during winter. That said, I do enjoy a muddy blast on mine.
You're right, though, the adaptability is key for me (although mine is a cyclocross bike, technically, and is on 33c tyres but with a less relaxed geometry than the gravel bikes of now).

[Bmblbzzz]

It's a wide range from "cyclo cross without the UCI" to "I never go for a walk without my bike" and various points, not to say tangents, in between.

[peetee]

It's an argument, but I'm not sure it's right, weren't such bikes still very much considered off-roaders rather than mixed use?

Well true but not true. The problem then was as it is now. That being for the purpose of selling a bike or a range of them the marketing says that they should confirm to a category ie, road, hybrid, off-road, gravel etc. However the world doesn’t work like that; peoples requirements vary as much as the surfaces they chose to ride on. If I said I needed a powerful off-road vehicle would I or talking about a rally-cross car or a tractor?
A top quality late-90’s mountain bike was a do-it-all machine that with relatively inexpensive and simple alterations would be efficient, capable and comfortable off-road and on. I have commuted on mine, climbed Helvellyn and finished a ten mile TT just two minutes slower than on my road bike. All I did was changed the tyres.

[mattheus]

Clearly one could do this riding well before tubeless, disc brakes and "1x" tranmissions.

Has anybody ever suggested you couldn't?

Do you want an argument? We could have one if you want, it's what the internet's for, after all! x

I was addressing comments such as in this post: viewtopic.php?p=1761229#p1761229

[PH]

Clearly one could do this riding well before tubeless, disc brakes and "1x" tranmissions.

Has anybody ever suggested you couldn't?

Do you want an argument?

I'd rather you answered the question. rareposter's post is about the increased availability of suitable bikes and how that has influenced the popularity of such riding. No one has said it wan't previously possible, clearly it was.

[mattheus]

I'd rather you answered the question. rareposter's post is about the increased availability of suitable bikes and how that has influenced the popularity of such riding. No one has said it wan't previously possible, clearly it was.

Now reread the very first line of that post.

p.s. have you stopped beating your wife?

[PH]

I'd rather you answered the question. rareposter's post is about the increased availability of suitable bikes and how that has influenced the popularity of such riding. No one has said it wan't previously possible, clearly it was.

Now reread the very first line of that post.

What enabled gravel bikes to happen was disc brakes and tubeless tyres.

rareposter's post is about the increased availability of suitable bikes

These are discussions on the bikes, your point that people were doing this sort of riding before isn't disputed.

[mattheus]

These are discussions on the bikes, your point that people were doing this sort of riding before isn't disputed.

... errr ... ok??

If I've said something that you agree was true, but it's still upset you in some way, then I am deeply sorry.

p.s. you still haven't asnwered my question ...
pp.s. the TOPIC TITLE is about how these bikes are used. So I hope it's OK if I talk about that

[WillCycle]

Ignoring the spat going on above, and getting back to the port that started all this, mine is a gravel bike. However, I added full mudguards, a rack, dynamo lights and ride on Marathon + tyres.
That means to me it's simply a bike with great terrain ability. Obvs, it's a compromise: on tar, it's not as fast as my road bike. Off-road, it's not as good as a typical MTB. Overall though, while I do most of my riding on tar, I also ride some nasty off-road bits on it.

To me, and your views/experiences may differ, it's the perfect bike, meeting all my needs.

[gazza_d]

Before the marketing people got their teeth in gravel bikes were whatever you rode.

We were doing all sorts of unpaved roads in the north on touring bikes before mountain biking became mainstream.

Bikes evolve and then marketing people invent new genres of bikes all the time.

I ride mixed surfaces on my Moultons all the time. The Moulton AM-ATB was the original mass production full suspension mountain bike and is still a brilliant gravel bike.

I suspect that like a lot of MTBs in the 80s most gravel bikes that have been designed in sunnier climes would struggle in good old British goo.

If it works and you're riding it off tarmac then it's a gravel bike. Don't worry about the marketing. They'll invent something else soon.

Gaz

[mattheus]

I ride mixed surfaces on my Moultons all the time. The Moulton AM-ATB was the original mass production full suspension mountain bike and is still a brilliant gravel bike.

I knew those existed, but know very little. (I hear a lot of good things about the higher end road models.)

The latest fashion - sorry - innovation in gravel is small-travel suspension systems, that aren't especially visible at a distane; things like elastomer doo-hickies built into stems, or around the seat-tube areas. Such bikes are getting good press (if that means anything ..)
Did the Moulton have a lot of travel? (like regular full-sussers) or was it perhaps a fore-shadowing of these new beasties?

[mattheus]

It probably depends where you live, but around here there is a lot of forestry track riding in the hills, plus some ropey lanes that become more attractive if you have wider tyres. I do see folk on gravel bikes quite a lot. I watch out for them when I walk the whippet off lead, to avoid conflict. We have many miles of this sort of thing: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.63200 ... 240!8i5120 and https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.69739 ... 760!8i2880

That looks lovely. I once did a lovely road ride (through the dawn) from Neath station via Bwlch Mountain up to Rhigos. What a stunning area!
Had a click around the Afan Forest Park and every Streetview bubble seems to be you (or at least the same user as your links above)

Sadly not all of the UK is like that; I'm near the Chilterns and the Ridgeway, and even the latter is not really fun without biiig tyres in most conditions (although some sections are good).

[Nearholmer]

Before the marketing people got their teeth in gravel bikes were whatever you rode.

And, apart from what turned out to be a bit of a flash in the pan in the 90s, after which MTB seemed to disappear into ever more extreme courses in designated woods, very few people were doing it. Off-road, but short of MTB, was very, very definitely not popular; it was niche.

Now, because of marketing on the back of gravel road racing in the US, there are a lot of bikes around that are suitable for varying degrees/kinds of it, lots of people are doing it, and getting a buzz out of it, and as a result it is a whole lot simpler to get tyres and drivetrains that are suited to it, all of which I personally regard as A Good Thing.

This time round may prove to be another flash in the pan, or it may establish a lasting genre, only time will tell.

[gazza_d]

I ride mixed surfaces on my Moultons all the time. The Moulton AM-ATB was the original mass production full suspension mountain bike and is still a brilliant gravel bike.

I knew those existed, but know very little. (I hear a lot of good things about the higher end road models.)

The latest fashion - sorry - innovation in gravel is small-travel suspension systems, that aren't especially visible at a distane; things like elastomer doo-hickies built into stems, or around the seat-tube areas. Such bikes are getting good press (if that means anything ..)
Did the Moulton have a lot of travel? (like regular full-sussers) or was it perhaps a fore-shadowing of these new beasties?

No they don't have a lot of travel, but then they don't actually need it to be honest.
The suspension systems on modern MTBs are more like landing gear these days. It's like a ford focus vs a monster truck.

The suspension takes the sting out of things. I can ride over most tree root "speed bumps" without slowing down or taking the weight off. Keeping the bike weighted actually makes the suspension work better. You feel it but like a car the suspension takes most of the hit.
They work very well on hard pack stone surfaced trails.
I once managed to ride over a roadworks signs frame that had been left collapsed on the path. It was murky, dark and I didn't see it. It was bloody bumpy but the bitk just rode over it as I hit it at a decent rate. I don't recommend it though..

Gaz