I don't get it. What's the point. Just get a MTB.

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Exactly.

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Suffer Well.

I guess a gravel bike can be ridden on the road and off road making it a bit more versatile than a mountain bike.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

I wonder how gravel riders will like the mtb/shock/fork service intervals.

Rockshox wants an oil change every 50 hours, and full cleanings at 100 hours.
Kashima coated Fox stuff has intervals at 30 hours.

I won't be buying one of these but a typical gravel ride or race can be 30-60% road. For those sections you want the road setup and geometry (i.e. drop bars, STA, BB drop, TT length, etc.) but if the gravel sections are rough you may want some squish as well.

I only started seriously mountain biking about 2 years ago, couldn't believe how much shock maintenance costs at the LBS either.

Putting suspension on a gravel bike doesn't sound that crazy / dumb to me, but using hydraulic suspension does. As long as you're OK with fugly this is what Lauf's are for.

Me neither. I wouldn't mind having a bike like that, but I'm not buying any more bikes.

After spending the winter on mountain bikes, I find myself very bump sensitive on my road bike. It's partly because everything has been chip sealed, or is in need of work, but I miss my suspension on the road.

That's called a MTB with a drop bar.

Then again, "gravel bikes" are really just (the re-discovering of rigid) MTBs with a drop bar :-/

Best comment I read about that above bike: "Looks like it would be good for jumping sharks" LOL ;-)

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

MTBs can't be ridden on the road? Who knew??... :-/

Let me ask you this: What makes that bike above a "road bike" or "gravel bike" and NOT a MTB?

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

I thought the purpose of a gravel bike was putting road tires on it or knobby tires to go off road? Most mountain bikes have knobby tires. I just thought that's what gravel bikes were for.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

IMHO, if you need suspension on a "gravel bike", you don't need any active suspension elements...you just need wider tires (and lower pressure) with smaller diameter wheels to mount them on so the "working geometry" isn't altered appreciably.

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

What's stopping you from putting smooth tires on a MTB?

IME, the best "all-around" tire setup for gravel riding (including somewhat difficult single-track) is the most flexible, widest SMOOTH tires one can fit on the bike. The WTB "road plus" and Compass tires are great for this. They roll awesomely on pavement, and with the ability to run fairly low pressures, perform admirably off-road as well. Knobbies are really a bit over-rated for off-road use if you have tires that can conform to the surface anyway...

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

I haven't been on a mountain bike in probably 10 years.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

"That's called a MTB with a drop bar."

which i always thought was a pretty damned good idea.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

It actually is (which I'll admit I never knew before putting together an "all-road" bike)...but, I'd insert the caveat that IME it really helps to have a drop bar in which the drops have some flare to them.

This puts your hands position in the drops (and actuating the brakes) in an orientation that's somewhere between a traditional road bar and a flat MTB bar. I found it to enhance the off-pavement control quite a bit as compared to a traditional drop bar. I put a Salsa Cowchipper bar on my "all-road" rig...and my experience with that actually has me contemplating putting the same bar on my dual-suspension MTB.

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

"the drops have some flare to them"

something else i always thought was a good idea.

i'm producing some fight club triathlons this year (i'll put you on the mailing list if you want, very little running involved, but there is an honest swim) and the bike courses are all: bring the bike you need for the course. there are only two rules in fight club tri:

1. leave the place better than you found it; leave the locals glad you came;
2. no bike changes.

when you look at real world courses, point A to B, and there are plenty of these in santa barbara where you live, the "right" bike is probably yet to be commercially developed.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

http://salsacycles.com/...7_cutthroat_force_1x


and plenty of others I'm sure.


though of course I know tom's point is to get an old metal mtb frame and add your own drops.

I'd consider participating in one if I can do so like I've participated in "normal" tris in the past...i.e., as part of a relay ;-)





This rig I put together seems to work fairly well on pretty-much any "real world course" I've gone on around here...including ones that traverse areas typically thought of as "MTB-only" (the fenders are just for wet weather rides):


A 3T Exploro with the same componentry would be nice, and drop ~3-4 lbs off...but a bit more cash than I'd like to outlay. I've been actually thinking of swapping the frame/fork for a Fuji Jari frameset as well...

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Which probably explains your limited to no experience with disc brakes ;-)

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

How much mountain bike experience do you have? On what type of terrain?

Your above comment may apply to dry straight line traction, but once you lean the bike in to a turn, introduce mud/moisture, or during aggressive braking, you need knobs.

If you climb a grassy wet hill, ride on loose pine needles, or a multitude of other surfaces common in east coast single track, the knobs are essential. You need to dig down, or dig in, to get traction. Surface conformity is insufficient. I say this after a few hundred hours of recent experience playing around with a 27.5+ bike (27.5x3") while running pressure from 10-20 psi.

A LOT. I've been riding MTBs since 1986. Spent most of the '90s basically exclusively riding off-road.




Everything...but mostly west coast, rocky single-track.


Well...to be clear, the above comment is in regards to "all-road" style bikes, not necessarily full-blown MTBs.

I'll also say though that riding flexible, smooth tires off road was something I didn't think would work very well...until I tried it. 2 things led me to that point though: First, using a road bike with SKINNY (relatively) smooth tires on off-road trails for the Belgian Waffle Ride, and secondly having the chance to ride the 3T Exploro with the "road plus" WTB tires at the dirt demo at Interbike. Both of those experiences led me to try the widest, most flexible smooth tires I could find (Compass) on my 26" rims on the bike shown above. It's probably one of those things you don't "get" until you try it...and it's probably my early experiences with fully-rigid MTBs that contribute as well, for a few reasons relating to line selection and maintaining traction ;-)

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

I think this is an important difference. My terrain is quite different. I have everything except rocky singletrack.

Fair enough. I think your point may apply well to dirt, gravel roads, and places where I'd normally ride my CX bike. But in places where I ride my mtb, knobs are essential. I've played around with more XC'ish/smoother tires, with lower pressures to increase traction, and in wider widths. The traction just isn't sufficient. You will spin out on the short punchy climbs or wash out on corners.

I love drop bar mtn bike setups, I just think the're cool for some reason. I have an old steel bridgestone 26 inch wheeler with drops that I use as my commuter. Shod with shwalbe big apple plus tires, it might be the smoothest damn roller I've ever owned.

The only gripe I have is the amount of rise I have to run in the quill stem to even get close to the drops. And you see it a lot on these type of setups, just fugly imo.
The new drop bar setups from salsa and others have cured this with a little better geometry and they look so much better to my eye.

I cant imagine needing suspension, but hey, gotta sell bikes so it's something new in the shops!

Remember the Specialized Rock Combo from the 80s? Complete with flared "New Specialized ATB drop bar"...

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"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"