Gravel - Please help me "get it"

[RShea]

It’s too bad the only option for handlebars are drops or flats


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There are more than those 2. Not as popular, but there are the Ape bars, the Time trial style "horn" handlebars, the pretzel handlebars, mustache handlebars, butterfly bars, and a few others possibly that are not as common as flat bars and drop style.
https://www.333fab.com/bicycle-handlebars/

[skaredshtles]

There are more than those 2.

[Eluder]

I've been ignoring this thread, has it been gotten? Because I too need help.

[nickwm21]

I need to explore the alt-bar scene…..

I am not a curly bar fan, granted I’ve only owned a proper road bike for two years or so a decade ago… My steel masi townie / commuter has some old DH risers and a short stem on it…

But every time I look at a mustache or H bar or flared drops… they don’t look comfortable…


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[Supermoon]

I've been ignoring this thread, has it been gotten? Because I too need help.

How do you feel about mustaches?

[mcski]

[gramboh]

Hahah the gravel memes are quality. Lots of the people in my roadie club have gravel bikes and are into it. Living in Vancouver I just don't get it, the gravel in town seems very limited and crappy. There's good stuff in Squamish/Fraser Valley, but there is also s-tier world class mountain biking which is way more fun. I love the speed and motion/"smoothness" of road riding, especially in a group. I just can't see taking a gravel bike into the woods instead of mountain biking or riding road.

[east or bust]

There are more than those 2. Not as popular, but there are the Ape bars, the Time trial style "horn" handlebars, the pretzel handlebars, mustache handlebars, butterfly bars, and a few others possibly that are not as common as flat bars and drop style.
https://www.333fab.com/bicycle-handlebars/

Those bullhorns are sweet

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Under ideal conditions road biking and mountain biking are more fun. But if I'm riding from my house a gravel bike is more fun. That's pretty much it.

[skaredshtles]

I laffed.

[singlesline]

I love the speed and motion/"smoothness" of road riding, especially in a group. I just can't see taking a gravel bike into the woods instead of mountain biking or riding road.

I think the group's another part of it. You can't draft in a little peloton on singletrack. And if you are somewhere where it is sketchy to ride a road bike on the roads alone, it is even sketchier 2-3 abreast.

Local shop does a weekly gravel ride here...its fun until I get dropped. Unfortunately that usually happens pretty fast because they have incredibly strong riders (I think most of the strava KOM/QOMs along the usual route were set during these rides), but the feeling of drafting is pretty neat.

Doesn't help that early in the ride they usually hit a 2-3mi stretch of singletrack that is beyond what anyone would call "gravel"...my chainstays limit rear tire clearance to around 35c so the whole thing gets pretty spicy compared to people running 45c Schwalbe G-Ones.

[evdog]

Goal this summer is to try out this "gravel riding" trend but on a 4 stroke dirtbike instead. Same, but different. It will surely escalate from dirt road cruises between burger joints to humping a heavy/loud/smelly machine up and down heinous backcountry singletrack, but for now I'm telling myself it's for touring between far flung pastry shops - that's what gravel is about AFAIK.

Haha I was going to post something similar. Bought my dual sport so I can check out forest roads for bikepacking routes without burning entire days on the MTB. It's also great for self shuttling. I'm too chicken to take it on singletrack though. Can't just pick it up and carry it like a MTB if I get stuck somewhere I can't get out of. : )

People like to bag on Socal but the upside to living here is we can MTB year round, so no need to ride gravel due to conditions. If it gets out of hand rainy like this year then it's time to dig, not ride.



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[Supermoon]

How do you not flip that thing backwards on a steep climb? That's a rad setup, though

[t.odd]

Hahah the gravel memes are quality. Lots of the people in my roadie club have gravel bikes and are into it. Living in Vancouver I just don't get it, the gravel in town seems very limited and crappy. There's good stuff in Squamish/Fraser Valley, but there is also s-tier world class mountain biking which is way more fun. I love the speed and motion/"smoothness" of road riding, especially in a group. I just can't see taking a gravel bike into the woods instead of mountain biking or riding road.

they're great for after dinner mixed surface rides...trying to get a quick hour ride in before dark after the kid goes to bed. They're just more versatile and open some more options. Super handy here in Squamish since there's so much available on dikes, mellower trails, bit of road, etc.

[evdog]

How do you not flip that thing backwards on a steep climb? That's a rad setup, though

I'm not doing anything more difficult than standard fire roads with the MTB on it.

[Supermoon]

I'm not doing anything more difficult than standard fire roads with the MTB on it.

Is that a purchased rack or DIY?

Sorry for the thread drift

[evdog]

It's purchased.... 2x2 Cycles. https://www.2x2cycles.com/product/moto-bicycle-rack/

Very solid carrier. Only issue I've had is trying to ride in sand... talk about the tail wagging the dog, the bike was all over the place with overcorrections. Do not recommend doing that! I also don't ride on roads that are rough or technical. Dropping the moto isn't an option, you'd have a 300lb moto slamming the MTB down on it's handlebar. Something would break for sure....

Otherwise only caution is make sure your bike has a solid subframe. Climberevan warned me this rack would crack the subframe. It did on my CRF230L. Found that crack about 10 days before the bike was stolen.

The 300L subframe is much stronger. And it's removable if I have another issue.

[Eluder]

How do you feel about mustaches?

I'm not a fan of riding them personally but to each their own.

[plugboots]

[alfajores]

Gravel biking is mountain biking from the 80's. But with much more expensive equipment than anyone would have considered smart in that era. Plus the tires can be a lot bigger now.

I recall riding a full hard mountain bike in the early 90s on the exact same trails we now gravel ride. That was called trail riding. We hike-a-biked our rides up and down the rock gardens we encountered and even had frame bags and stuff sacks on our racks. I had friends who did the same in Marin and Santa Cruz on 700c bikes in the 80s with the biggest tires they could fit, dropper posts without remote triggers (release below the seat), and eventually, the first front shocks on these bikes. Suddenly, gravel bikes emerge from burly road frames in the 2010s and now we are getting ruby front fork suspension or headset suspension, dropper posts, and even mountain or hybrid groupsets.

History repeats itself.

[waxman]

How do you not flip that thing backwards on a steep climb? That's a rad setup, though

the mtb acts as a wheelie bar, duh

[allmountainsnowskating]

Omg it's like you read my mind. The Gravel Grinder was in Bend last weekend, and the adventure vans were ridiculous

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[Peruvian]

Gravel biking is mountain biking from the 80's. But with much more expensive equipment than anyone would have considered smart in that era. Plus the tires can be a lot bigger now.

I recall riding a full hard mountain bike in the early 90s on the exact same trails we now gravel ride. That was called trail riding. We hike-a-biked our rides up and down the rock gardens we encountered and even had frame bags and stuff sacks on our racks. I had friends who did the same in Marin and Santa Cruz on 700c bikes in the 80s with the biggest tires they could fit, dropper posts without remote triggers (release below the seat), and eventually, the first front shocks on these bikes. Suddenly, gravel bikes emerge from burly road frames in the 2010s and now we are getting ruby front fork suspension or headset suspension, dropper posts, and even mountain or hybrid groupsets.

History repeats itself.

As the klunkers of the 70s would say about us mountain bikers in the 90s. [emoji849]

I spent $550 on my first mountain bike in 1990. It was a basic steel stiffy with low/mid grade components. That’s almost $1500 in todays dollars. You can find plenty of entry level gravel bikes for around $1500.

[XXX-er]

I used to deliver newspapers on a gravel bike, AKA a regular bike

a heavy CCM with a 3 spd Sturmey archer hub, steel rims

I would go to the Vancover po-lice auction and buy 2 or 3 stolen bikes for 5 or 10 $

fix them keep the best one for delivering news papers and sell the others for a free bike

[ironhippy]

Under ideal conditions road biking and mountain biking are more fun.

This is my take.

I can road or mountain bike ride from my house, so my gravel bike gets very little use.

I am lucky and have access to thousands of kms of paved low traffic roads that I can ride to from my house. I don't feel the need to get on the dirt roads (which are generally in bad shape around here).