MTB vs Gravel bike

[volklpowdermaniac]

so mnt bikes are good for mnt biking,
road bikes are good for road biking

gravel bikes are OK at road and OK at mnt biking, and kinda ok/suck everywhere.


such amaizing place to go.

This is the correct take.

[plugboots]

This is the correct take.

Nope. Gravel bikes are good for gravel roads.

[Laps]

Looking good^^




Attachment 253321

Love that road!! Rode it last apring and the family that owns the land was out bbq-ing, saw me and two friends on our gravel bikes and laughed at is but told is to have fun. That was about the midpoint of an 80 mile, mostly gravel day.


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[gravitylover]

I just got this a few weeks ago, haven't had a drop bar bike in 30 years It's fun but like VT said it works my hands, I'm sure it'll get better with a shorter stem. Sorry for the pic during the build, I don't have anything more recent.

I bet Ti would be nice but $$$, steel is fine.

[plugboots]

Carbon bar & stem would help to damp the vibrations in your hands, plus you can put pads underneath the tape, and you should probably get the thickest tape as well. I like the DSP from lizard skins and they make a 3.2.

[Vt-Freeheel]

Love that road!! Rode it last apring and the family that owns the land was out bbq-ing, saw me and two friends on our gravel bikes and laughed at is but told is to have fun. That was about the midpoint of an 80 mile, mostly gravel day.


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It's such a beautiful place, they are lucky to have it. That area of Vermont is so full of great forest terrain. I just signed up for Rasputitsa, to beat the price increase. It also gives me a fitness goal for the early spring. #spinning

[Terrapin Ben]

Long time lurker, infrequent poster. Love what you do guys, just love it.

So, what's the deal with "all roads"? right? but seriously.... a few real questions...

I have never really ridden road bikes - just mountain bikes. But I do have an old steel ibis hakkalugi i commute on and occasionally take on longer rides (30 - 40 miles) on a mix of pavement, dirt, and gated forest roads. It has 700x40c tires on it and cantilever brakes. As others have noted, drop bars beat my hands up when riding rough roads. As i understand it, drop bars advantage to flat bars is that they let you get aerodynamic and give you more positions to put your hands, correct? Are there other advantages drop bars posses over flat bars?

Next question - what's the biggest difference between "all road" geometry and say a xc mountain bike geometry.

And finally, would a xc mountain bike with a rigid fork and narrow/semi slick tires make for a good all road/adventure machine?

Thanks!

[jamal]

Gravel bike geo and xc bike geo from a few years ago (before they got longer and slacker) I expect are not all that different, maybe slight differences in reach/stack because of the stem and bars, and a higher BB on the mtbs. A rigid mtb with faster tires would be just that. Probably good for a lot of gravel riding and especially fast descending but still a little slow on the roads. But an XC bike on XC tires still rolls pretty well, and even better if you go to like, 40mm WTB nanos or something. We have a "gravel" race near here with a lot of climbing and fast descending on rough roads, and I've just taken my mountain bike every time, and the guy who's won it twice does it on one too.

Don't underestimate the aero advantage of the drop bars. The narrower, lower position means you're going a couple mph faster at the same effort. I don't really move my hands around for comfort but more depending on conditions. Most of the time is up on the hoods because that's more upright and you can shift or brake. Drops for going faster but I'll also go to a TT-like position with my hands on the tops near the stem in those cases. Going down rougher terrain I'm more comfortable in the drops because it's lower and you can brake better and your hands aren't going to get bounced off the bars.

And then without suspension, tire size and pressure are key. Too high is just a shitty ride with less grip and on rougher surfaces the rolling resistance is actually worse. So getting that dialed in is pretty important. This summer I picked up a 40mm wtb nano front and kenda happy medium rear for more general riding on my cross bike. I've been able to run the front at 27psi, on skinny wheels with inner tubes, and the comfort and grip and stability on gravel and dirt roads is so much better compared to standard 33mm cross tires.

[plugboots]

I have never really ridden road bikes - just mountain bikes.
-You should rent a nice road bike sometime, there's well over 100 years of people experimenting to get to that place.
But I do have an old steel ibis hakkalugi i commute on and occasionally take on longer rides (30 - 40 miles) on a mix of pavement, dirt, and gated forest roads. It has 700x40c tires on it and cantilever brakes. As others have noted, drop bars beat my hands up when riding rough roads.
-If you ride a well fitting bike, and your hands are at the end of the drops, there's a lot of vibration damping there. Also so many other factors, like a good fork, which bars and stem, which wheelset and tires, which gloves, etc. go into whether your hands get numb or "beat up"
As i understand it, drop bars advantage to flat bars is that they let you get aerodynamic and give you more positions to put your hands, correct? Are there other advantages drop bars posses over flat bars?
-See above, but aerodynamics are important, as well as mixing up hand positions.

Next question - what's the biggest difference between "all road" geometry and say a xc mountain bike geometry.
-Go to almost any bike manufacturer's website and look at the drawings.

And finally, would a xc mountain bike with a rigid fork and narrow/semi slick tires make for a good all road/adventure machine?
-Sure, if that's all you can afford. It would work "good" not "great."

Thanks!

Also what others have said.

[HankScorpio]

And finally, would a xc mountain bike with a rigid fork and narrow/semi slick tires make for a good all road/adventure machine?

My gravel bike is simply a 6 year old steel XC mountain bike frame with short reach "off road" drop bars and road shifters/brakes and slick mtb tires. Everything else about is a mountain bike. If you have an older hardtail mtb kicking around, converting it to a grave/adventure bike is as simple as swapping out a few parts.

[jacob_dbu]

And finally, would a xc mountain bike with a rigid fork and narrow/semi slick tires make for a good all road/adventure machine?

Absolutely, look at the Salsa Cutthroat...

[Groomer Gambler]

I did a few gravel races this summer with some of the gnarliest washboard...definitely would have been nice on a mtn bike but a few things I did to make it actually quite fun and not painful:

- Wide dirt drops with some flair (I run 46cm salsa cowchippers). I switched from 44cm cowbells to these and absolutely love them. Drops have never been so comfy. Flair gives you some leverage on descents. Run a few extra chips under your stem so that you can comfortably ride in the drops without being too hunched over too (reduces lower back fatigue). I love these bars so much I'd consider building up a dirt drop touring/light singletrack back with them.

- Double wrap bar tape. Use your old tape underneath then double wrap with thick gel tape. Absorbs bumps and I find thicker feeling bars alleviate pressure from gripping with your fingers.

- I ran 40mm cross tires on normal road width road rims and tubes ~40-45psi. If tubeless I'd probably go for ~30psi.

- Switched from canti to v-brakes so you don't have to pull the brakes as hard (especially helps with finger/wrist fatigue on long, loose descents). Disc brakes would be nice one day...

- Don't underestimate steel. Steel frames feel nice and a steel fork with some generous rake flexes to eat up some of the bumps.

[GeezerSteve]

Hell yeah, get real, get steel!

Anybody got experience with Redshift ShockStop stems?

[The Suit]

Wide dirt drops with some flair (I run 46cm salsa cowchippers). I switched from 44cm cowbells to these and absolutely love them. Drops have never been so comfy. Flair gives you some leverage on descents. Run a few extra chips under your stem so that you can comfortably ride in the drops without being too hunched over too (reduces lower back fatigue). I love these bars so much I'd consider building up a dirt drop touring/light singletrack back with them.

Just goes to show we're all different. I have two rides on my newly built-up gravel bike and I really (really, really) dislike the flared bars (3T Superghaia) that I put on it.

[jacob_dbu]

Hell yeah, get real, get steel!

Anybody got experience with Redshift ShockStop stems?

I'm also curious about this...and their new suspension seatpost which has yet to be released.

[GeezerSteve]

Yeah, HBs are a matter of personal preference. I tried flared bars and didn't like them. I prefer wide (46cm) shallow drop short reach road bars. In my big mile years, when I was a younger man with a more flexible spine, I liked wide deep drop bars.

[GeezerSteve]

I'm also curious about this

I recently spoke with a guy who puts in lots of miles who loves his Redshift stem on his gravel bike so much that he put them on his road bikes. I may try one but I figure I'd put a call out to the mags cuz more info is a good thing.

[swerishel]

A work in progress.
'91 Merlin frame with an assortment of parts accumulated over the years. Pedals and tires have been updated since this photo. My goal is kind of a Cunningham/Merlingham. Searching for a fork that will take roller cam brakes and not cost $900 like a new Type ll custom built from Potts. It's going to take me a while to get used to riding drop bars off road...only wiped out a few times so far.

[Benny Profane]

Well, here you go. This guy won a MTB race on a gravel bike.

https://www.velonews.com/2018/11/new...el-bike_481072

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[plugboots]

Well, here you go. This guy won a MTB race on a gravel bike.

https://www.velonews.com/2018/11/new...el-bike_481072

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“The Dirt: How (and why) Kabush won Iceman on a gravel bike”

So iceman is moving in w/ Geoff Kabush?

[HankScorpio]

Well, here you go. This guy won a MTB race on a gravel bike.

https://www.velonews.com/2018/11/new...el-bike_481072

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With the exception of the HUGE front ring and drop bars, that built is more XC mtb than gravel bike.

I've been seeing a trend in a custom "gravel" bikes that are going with 27.5 or 29 x 2.1 XC tires with shorter stems and wide gearing. Nothing wrong with that but the line between XC race hardtail and gravel bike is getting blurry at times.

[babybear]

“The Dirt: How (and why) Kabush won Iceman on a gravel bike”

So iceman is moving in w/ Geoff Kabush?

[bagtagley]

“The Dirt: How (and why) Kabush won Iceman on a gravel bike”

So iceman is moving in w/ Geoff Kabush?

That seems a bit presumptuous. Toothbrush and a pair of jeans at Geoff's place, maybe.

[plugboots]

With the exception of the HUGE front ring and drop bars, that built is more XC mtb than gravel bike.

I've been seeing a trend in a custom "gravel" bikes that are going with 27.5 or 29 x 2.1 XC tires with shorter stems and wide gearing. Nothing wrong with that but the line between XC race hardtail and gravel bike is getting blurry at times.

I thought the same. If you have the means, why not put together the exact spec needed for that specific race. In the interview he talks about how smooth the course, was, so why not ride the free UP bike and get some publicity for them? Maybe The Suit will rig up his the same sometimes.

[The Suit]

I thought the same. If you have the means, why not put together the exact spec needed for that specific race. In the interview he talks about how smooth the course, was, so why not ride the free UP bike and get some publicity for them? Maybe The Suit will rig up his the same sometimes.

Hah. I gotta update that thread. I only have two rides on the bike, and then Mrs. Suit took my saddle, so I need to get a new one before I can ride it again. It may just need tuning, but I'm not sure I love the 1x setup, so I can imagine switching to something more like Kabush's drivetrain. Otherwise my bike's not so different -- same brakes, 650b wheels with 47mm tires. His bottle cages look like mine, too.