I am a Mountainbiker with a Gravel-Bike (not with a carbon but a steel frame) and i love this thing. Challenging myself on single-track or just covering more distance is a great thing. Since I've got that bike the radius of my rides has increased a lot. I don't regret buying this beauty at all
I joked about this on the last Owen video, but Owen's throwing everything he's got at videos lately, and I genuinely appreciate his enthusiasm. It reminds me of Chris Packham's TV shows in the 90s and 2000s, in that it feels like they found the person who was the most excited in the world to be telling you about whatever animal was on-screen at the moment. Great work from the crew on this, as well; the camera work and editing has definitely stepped up over the course of the last year.
I'm a mountain biker that has had a gravel bike for the last 5 years. I've come to the conclusion that a hardtail MTB is better in almost every way as long as you don't want it to do double duty as a road bike
@@mathewpitman3314 this video was a waste of time. Did he ever talk about the gears? I kept skipping ahead to avoid his blathering so I may have missed it.
@@TheTrailRabbit bro no ad here...Most of the longer gravel rides I do I would not want to be on a mountain bike, especilly when there is 35 miles of tarmac involved! The great thing about gravel bikes is mixed terrain long rides are amazing, feel like your on a road bike on tarmac and then hitting the trails and single track like on a mtb! So much fun!
I commented in a video - when he went mtb’ing as a newbie - saying he is actually Superman in Clark Kent mode. Owen actually replied saying something like he wishes it was true.
comment section is rough from the regular audience.. as someone who drifted here; I've got an XC hardtail and a gravel bike; both are awesome and have different capabilities. The mondraker looks awesome. I like the mount points in the frame and fork as well. and massive triangle. solid adventure capability.
Gravel bikes are perfect for when my trails are too wet or snow covered. Gravel roads at lower elevations provide good spring training rides. Plus you're away from traffic!!
I love my Gravel bike and take it on multi day trips all the time. Gravel and MTB rides are great and the make for great GMBN and GCN crossover videos.
I have both. It’s just different flavours of riding. Gravel a mix of old school xc and road cycling. I don’t do roads anymore but still love the felling of speed and riding a ridged bike . MTB for when I’m ride with my mates for the fun times 😁
I ride mtb singletrack as much as possible but in Southern Colorado there are thousands of miles of dirt roads with very low traffic! The roads dry out a lot faster than the trails. A gravel bike rolls faster, has proper gearing and is the right tool for the job.
I am a mountain biker that has a gravel bike. And in my personal opinion is: Everytime I am off road on it, I wish I was on my trail bike. Everytime I am on the road on it, I wish I owned a road bike. Basically, when you can have several bikes there is no point in gravel bike, so I will be selling mine and looking for a good road bike instead
I have gone from road to gravel and tested 32mm slicks to see if I wanted to go faster again. I quickly got over it and went back to 38mm all road tyres. The comfort gravel bikes give you on the road is far better than being 1% faster for your strava followers
Depends... If all your friends have gravel bikes, it's really hard to keep up when they start cruising at over 20 mph. There's always bits of pavement that a drop bar is nice to have. Funny enough, my old 26" wheeled mtb with a 3x8 (44-32-26, 11-32 cassettte I think) bike was able to keep up but was getting too dilapidated to put more money into. My modern mtb and chunky tires with the 1x gearing is too slow on fast flats sections. I've tried my cyclocross bike too, but the gearing wasn't sustainable on the long climbs, the stiff and twitchy handling was back breaking, and skinny tires wore out really fast. I caved and got a gravel bike. I don't need carbon, just a budget aluminium gravel bike ($1500 USD on sale) with 2x front derailleur works for my legs. Love my Trek Checkpoint. Don't go too cheap because cable actuated brakes suck! Perfect gearing and geometry! Yuuuup n+1 and no regrets.
Until just recently, my Trek 520 steal framed touring bike has also performed well as a gravel bike. As time went on the terrain on my riddes have gotten more rough and technical. To spare my touring bike I baught a GIANT hardtail mountain bike with 29 inch wheels. What a difference an actual mountain bike can make.
I converted my 86 Miyata 710 to a 1x9 with flat bars and index shifter [instead of the downtube], and I ride it on and off road. Having bigger tires would be nice sometimes, but I get by with what I have.
I really like the look of the Mondraker! I've had my eye on it since it dropped. I was going to buy a new gravel bike this year but there wasn't anything on the market that "wowed" me. I bought a new Giant Defy "all road" endurance bike which I love but I'm still looking for that Gravel bike and I think I've found it. Great video guys. I'd love some of that warm arid weather too.
@zon3ful Not at all -- running a 2.20 Maxxis Ikon in front, 2.00 in the rear at 30 psi on a Cervelo ZFS-5 XCO build at 24 lbs . I can easily ride with my Gravel crew on pavement provided they all have 1x12 drive trains. But thats a full on XC race setup.
@zon3ful upon review of my statement I'll concede - the limitations of the XC on pavement is a bunch of factors. If I'm in a fast crew - I'll get smoked over the long haul. If I'm in a recreational ride - then it's speed deficit isn't an issue.
@@HLDefender Well I'm kind of stuck between getting an XC and a gravel bike. I ride mostly road but i'd love to do some longer gravel rides. No technical stuff just gravel + some pavement. I also find hoods on drop bars way more comfortable than a straight bar on long rides. I already have a hardtail and it's not great on pavement. But it's not really a light XC either. I'm genuinely curious, would you ride your XC one or two hours on pavement to get to the gravel sections?
@zon3ful - Yes - the Cervelo I built in particular is quite capable of riding for 2 hours on pavement. That being said, only a handful of builds can "hang" with gravel bikes. A 740mm carbon bar to keep the wrist fatigue down also helps. Specific lightweight wheels and narrow'ish tires in "gravel mode" also make it happen. But as stated earlier, the best XC setup tailored to gravel will never be as fast if your pushing limits. But bikes like the 100mm travel Cervelo certainly can be enjoyed on a casual gravel run.
Yesterday I was in a bike shop in Mesa, AZ. While waiting for my bike I saw a Trek 'Y' bike that was being changed into a Gravel bike. Had dropped bars, proper gravel wheels and tires. Really looked pretty good. I would be tempted into a Grave bike like this.
I have a FS mtb and gravel race bike but still bought an adventure gravel race bike last year. Perfect addition! Great for exploring manky gravel roads and can get you home safely if you make a few turns and end up on some single track. Also safer than a road bike if a driver decides to push you off the road into a field.
OK so I have never really ridden a drop bar. All my bikes, even my fixed gear road bike are straight bars or cruiser bars or ape hangers if you go to my chopper, so just wondering what it's like to get to the controls in the different hand positions and what hand position offers the best control of the bike? Might be a good topic for your next gravel video for us who haven't hit the gravel bike genre.
i love how my gravel bike/rigid drop bar mtb can turn a dull forest track into a challenging forest track. and being fully ridged it saves the expensive suspension on my fully in a muddy winter.
For me, drop bars are underwhelming. In turn, I have a gravel bike that gathers dust. OTOH, I have a 2014 (Ish) Salsa El Mariachi Ti with rigid forks running Schwalbe Thunder burts set up SS. No issues keeping up with the dedicated gravel machines everywhere but long flat roads and edges them out with the additional 10mm of tire when it gets chunky. If you already have a HT, try a similar setup first. Thunder Burts are fast!
I have both and I use both regularly. Some days I feel like a little dirt, so I grab the gravel bike. Other days I feel like going where no gravel bike should go, so I grab the MTB.
Gravel bikes take you back all right, right back to the late 80's mountain bike. There is nothing i can not do on an XC mountain bike that the gravel bike can do. As a matter of fact, i can do more on an XC bike.
Keeping things simple, what is simpler than simply owning just one bike. Personally, my EMTB is that machine. Yes, as kook as it sounds, I've gone on rides just as in this video, on a heavily enduro based EMTB no less. But more in the upwards of 50+kms journey. I know. "That's the wrong bike" or "cheating" or "boring" or whatever other negativity misery speaks. These rides, just like all rides, they are about fun, adventure, scenery, and literally roads less traveled. Sometimes, too, single track less traveled or known, if you know what I mean. Would I condering a gravel bike. No. Do I occasionally go on these gravel rides? Absolutely. Do I get the idea or enjoyment of these epic rides, I treasure them, as I would park laps. All on one bike, the same bike. Simpler. Cheers,
Yes, but not necessarily or strictly for gravel but to use as my road bike. Among my bikes are two flat bar gravel bikes. Sold my drop bar gravel two years ago for an endurance road bike but am thinking to sell it and buy another gravel bike as my all-around/atb drop bar.
I'm interested; as both a mountain biker and a roadie, I used to own a CX bike as my only bike and was quite surpised what I could tackle on that. I can't say i necessarily need one but I wouldn't rule out buying one at some point.
Gravel is like a drug addiction: it's expensive, you don't need it, all the dealers want to shove it to you and you quickly realise it's not even that fun. If you like bumpy and shaky just build a rigid mtb, otherwise a proper xc bike or even a trail bike is all you need.
I replaced a 2015 carbon roubaix with a salsa warbird grx 600. Initially loved it because of modern tech but now having taken it on combo road/gravel/trail rides it really has made me a stronger rider when I got back on my trail bike. Missing 18-20 teeth of gear range while climbing and at the same time having to pedal smoother or risk spinning out when you get back on the trail bike is wild. Could you experience the same on an XC bike? Sure. But I can also comfortably road ride.
Here in Philippines gravel bikes just cost more so I convert my MTB like a hybrid gravel bike with a 40t chainring and 11-36t cogs and swap my suspension with a rigid fork , it's greats can go up 50kph max speed and also on trails
@rhaeuneljamesalumbre8524 yeah Gravel bikes are kinda overpriced in the PH imo but It's kinda worth it, I've stayed here in the PH for almost a year now and I still ride my very first Gravel bike even though driving a motorcycle is much more convenient
Gravel bike = limited single track, no drops, no rock gardens, no technical trails With my XC hardtail can do far more than gravel bike…maybe not as fast but far more comfy…I’ll keep my MTB 🙂
Great video! Not the typical why a gravel should be your only bike. Nice ad for Mondraker also. I am mtber that also started riding gravel. My GF doesn’t ride MTB but she started gravel riding at the end of the season. We are planning some great adventures already.
I think the gravel trend is the basis for the rebirth of the hardtail, as a hardtails are better gravelbikes and more versatile for most people. Think of relaxed offroad rides, bikepackin, trailrides, alpine riding even pavement or family rides. A hardtail can do it all. The only point a gravel has an advantage from my point of view is speed on pavement but that can be neglected for an versatile do it all bike as an hardtil is fast enough. for me my hardtail is the best gravel and do it all bike since 5 years now. Lets just call it Cross Country riding ;) Overall, however, the gravel trend is a nice trend, it brings people together when riding off-road, because no matter whether gravel or hardtail MTb it also works together.
"Taking back to the purist form," as in traction challenged narrow tires, precariously close to the crotch top tube, and the butt-punishing lack of suspension? I know that the gravel bike has opened up a whole new dimension for the roadie. But to a mountain biker, the gravel bike is just counterintuitive. Take for example the handlebar. Many mountain bikers have a dirt-bike background, where they are used to gripping the bars with the knuckles facing forward and not to the side. This allows them to stick out the outside elbow on a turn, just like on a dirt bike. A gravel bike? Not so easy to do. Truthfully, a gravel rider can have just as much fun in the dirt as a mountain biker. But a mountain biker trying to have fun on a gravel bike? It's just not there for many mountain bikers like me. Fighting for traction on hardpack, having to levitate above the saddle in anticipation of bumps; that's not fun. Still, we mountain bikers thank you for the video.
In short: the cool thing about this bike when you go offroad is: You are underbiked ;-) And that is sometimes a good thing because it adds fun to the normaly boring stuff again.
Ive had a carbon 2017 Apex chase with Ultegra mechanical groupset roadbike, sold it for exactly the price i bought it for. It was a brilliant bike, but i didnt enjoy it as much like i enjoy my xc bike. My fitness is pretty up to par, my action radius is around 75 miles on the xc bike on tarmac.
I do have the itch for a gravel bike , but I know when I'm off road i would just want to be on my xc bike , but I guess there is something fun about being under biked offroad
Like a Time Trial or a DH bike they are designed for a very specific purpose. A CX bike is very short (top tube and wheelbase) and steep angled compared to a gravel bike, and because the UCI rules stipulate a max 33mm tyre clearance in races Cross bikes have less tyre clearance. Also have at most one set of bottle cage mounts as cross races only last an hour.
@@matt_acton-varian Great explanation Matt! Think of CX bikes as your rally car of the curly bar world. Specialised to do a few things very well, but not a daily driver to be used outside of racing or skills training for that race.
@@outdoorswithalex164 these are pretty fun on the descents too! You're so underbiked with no suspension travel that what would be boring on a trail bike becomes challenging and fun
Hey, that is my home town and those are some of our usual tracks… but a bit more spicy on my F-Podium! You found a really wet track, that is really unusual here, but nice views of Elche area!
I put 700x40c gravel tyers on my gt avalanche it made it a touch faster on the road but way slower and rough off road 29x2.1 tyers seem to be the sweet spot looking forward to tryng it with rigid forks steepen up the head angle but curley bars are a step too far, its nice to experement had a boardman gravel years ago hated being limited to skinny tyres
@liquidmakor6793 normally I'd agree but doddy has his own channel where he talks about well everything bike related even non mondraker stuff , and gmbn have had past presenters come back when Marc Beaumont left to start racing again he came back to do a video, like wise on the gcn side
you would be surprised how far you will get. went on a muddy groep ride yesterday. was riding with my pedals in the mud on my gravel bike where a lot of people on expensive mtb's where pushing there bikes.
@@dannyheyrman4848 I'd rather be overbiked than underbiked on the trail - personal preference I guess. You'd be walking a gravel bike 10% of the time on my local trails, so it's a non starter for me.
@@TheTrailRabbit i rather take the right bike for the right job. my trail bike is overbiked and undergeared for 90% of the trails where a live. might make another choice if a live near your trails. but then again: walking 10% of the trails doesn't sound to bad for a rigid bike with skiny tires where it isn't designed to ride trails at all?
Just use a hard tail, same thing without stupid handlebars, has some front sus and probs a dropper to help off-road. I feel like gravel bikes are just mtb when mtb was first invented, in 20 years gravel bikes will have flat bars and full suss 😂😂
I think the only reason I want a gravel bike is because I live next to 300 miles of gravel trails. But, I already ride them on my hartail and on my road bike. So I don't need it, but I want ALL the bikes😢😂
Roadies " its as fast as (for 90% of ppl) but it can go off-road!" Mtbikers "its as capable as (for 90% of ppls rides) and its alot faster on the road"
I love mondraker and i have a mondraker raze that's simply a masterpiece but i don't think i want that bike for the simple reason that the cable routing is too integrated. For me gravel would be a tool to make it easier to go out for a ride all year round and i wouldn't want anything that could lead the water down the steartube and compromising the bearings
2020- I considered getting a Nukeproof Digger or Evil Chamois Hagar for commuting to work and winter rides, (luckily/unluckily) I was made redundant shortly afterwards and was able to buy an ebike with the money and bought a cheap mtb for commuting to my new job. I’m just not a fan of drop bars and disco slippers, a mate has been trying to get me out in Lycra for a road bike ride for years… No thanks!
No way! You don't have to follow every trend... A gravel wouldn't survive a month the way I ride 😂 Not even my trail bike made it, but my new enduro seems up for it!
So a gravel bike really is not an MTB, but more like an ATB from what, late 80s early 90s? I've a Specialized Rock hopper from 1994 (with mag 21 sus forks for good measure) with identical geometry - saved about 30 years and lots of money!
Hmm, they're better than no bike, or a road bike, but I'd much rather an MTB bike with some thin tires. I don't need 8 different bikes, I'd rather fewer that are more versatile.
So guys, when are you going to launch the Global Gravel Bike Network, GGBN??? Seriously, the idea of watching a "Why my next mountain bike should be a gravel bike!" video just isn't doing it for me, and I suspect that it isn't for many of your dedicated 2 million subscribers either (in fact I haven't even taken the time to watch the video, I just clicked on it to tell you how annoying this is). Next you'll be telling me that my next MTB ought to be an aero road bike! Oh, I understand that there will undoubtedly be a proportion of your audience who have been converted to gravel, but they're the ones who are crying out for GGBN ffs! I wouldn't mind, but I don't even subscribe to GMBN as I don't want to be notified every time a video like this gets produced. And yet because I watch (and love) GMBN, the gravel bike videos pop up in my RUclips feed regardless, which is really annoying. Yes, gravel biking is the fastest growing cycling industry trend and there exists a definite need to create such content, so please cater specifically to it and keep mountain biking as the niche sport it is.
Are you tempted by a gravel bike?
Already got one absolutely brilliant fun.
No
I didn’t see anything here that I couldn’t happily ride on my XC bike. So No
Nope, just put gravel style tyres on an xc bike and pump the shocks to max if you're tempted to try it.
No, it looks really boring.
I am a Mountainbiker with a Gravel-Bike (not with a carbon but a steel frame) and i love this thing. Challenging myself on single-track or just covering more distance is a great thing. Since I've got that bike the radius of my rides has increased a lot. I don't regret buying this beauty at all
This won't age well
100% agree. I live in the Midwest USA. Mtber first but have loved having a gravel bike the past 2 years. No regrets
MTB, Gravel and Road .. love them all!! Ride and enjoy
They should call it bike riding. It might catch on.
Amen!
I joked about this on the last Owen video, but Owen's throwing everything he's got at videos lately, and I genuinely appreciate his enthusiasm. It reminds me of Chris Packham's TV shows in the 90s and 2000s, in that it feels like they found the person who was the most excited in the world to be telling you about whatever animal was on-screen at the moment. Great work from the crew on this, as well; the camera work and editing has definitely stepped up over the course of the last year.
Oooft this is high high praise - thank you!
Cheers
Owen
Thankyou kindly 🙏
I'm a mountain biker that has had a gravel bike for the last 5 years. I've come to the conclusion that a hardtail MTB is better in almost every way as long as you don't want it to do double duty as a road bike
You never really answered the question abouts whats the difference from an XC mountain bike felt more like advert!
@@mathewpitman3314 this video was a waste of time. Did he ever talk about the gears? I kept skipping ahead to avoid his blathering so I may have missed it.
Get an XC hardtail if you actually want to enjoy riding off road.
It is just long add
@@TheTrailRabbit bro no ad here...Most of the longer gravel rides I do I would not want to be on a mountain bike, especilly when there is 35 miles of tarmac involved! The great thing about gravel bikes is mixed terrain long rides are amazing, feel like your on a road bike on tarmac and then hitting the trails and single track like on a mtb! So much fun!
Love it or hate it, can we all agree that Owen has been hiding his handling skills pretty well? That steep section and track stand, very slick.
I commented in a video - when he went mtb’ing as a newbie - saying he is actually Superman in Clark Kent mode. Owen actually replied saying something like he wishes it was true.
That was his stunt double.
The guys good! And since coming on board the presenting team has been working hard at it
comment section is rough from the regular audience.. as someone who drifted here; I've got an XC hardtail and a gravel bike; both are awesome and have different capabilities.
The mondraker looks awesome. I like the mount points in the frame and fork as well. and massive triangle. solid adventure capability.
Gravel bikes are perfect for when my trails are too wet or snow covered. Gravel roads at lower elevations provide good spring training rides. Plus you're away from traffic!!
Keeping away from the traffic is such an underrated thing!
Great video Owen.. My gravel bike was my gateway drug to mountain biking. More of an MTBer now, but I love the ride of my gravel bike once in awhile.
Thank you - and also great to know that Gravel was your gateway drug to the Off-road world!
Cheers
Owen
I love my Gravel bike and take it on multi day trips all the time. Gravel and MTB rides are great and the make for great GMBN and GCN crossover videos.
I have both. It’s just different flavours of riding. Gravel a mix of old school xc and road cycling. I don’t do roads anymore but still love the felling of speed and riding a ridged bike . MTB for when I’m ride with my mates for the fun times 😁
I ride mtb singletrack as much as possible but in Southern Colorado there are thousands of miles of dirt roads with very low traffic! The roads dry out a lot faster than the trails. A gravel bike rolls faster, has proper gearing and is the right tool for the job.
@@andymtb3212 1 by ou 2 by ?
Anyone else ride gravel roads for years before they invented a “new” must have hype machine?!
Used to race cyclo-cross ….and the drop bar, larger clearance, bigger tyred, Road based bikes were deeply unloved …. Oh - hang on !!
Boardman hybrid thing just before they invented the term gravel always wished i could fit slightly bigger tyres on it
Yep CX bike all the way
I am a mountain biker that has a gravel bike. And in my personal opinion is:
Everytime I am off road on it, I wish I was on my trail bike. Everytime I am on the road on it, I wish I owned a road bike. Basically, when you can have several bikes there is no point in gravel bike, so I will be selling mine and looking for a good road bike instead
I have gone from road to gravel and tested 32mm slicks to see if I wanted to go faster again. I quickly got over it and went back to 38mm all road tyres. The comfort gravel bikes give you on the road is far better than being 1% faster for your strava followers
Glad to see my home tracks on GMBN. We have a nice landscape here in Elche and Aspe for MTB and gravel.
Amazing trails and so many different terrains so close - Enjoy!
Cheers
Owen
I was always a XC MTB rider, and last year bought a gravel bike. Love it.
Loving the use of the word “detritus” so cheeky 😂😂
Why wouldn’t you just ride your trail MTB on gravel?
Because it is boring. Like riding enduro bike on trails suited to XC
Depends... If all your friends have gravel bikes, it's really hard to keep up when they start cruising at over 20 mph. There's always bits of pavement that a drop bar is nice to have. Funny enough, my old 26" wheeled mtb with a 3x8 (44-32-26, 11-32 cassettte I think) bike was able to keep up but was getting too dilapidated to put more money into. My modern mtb and chunky tires with the 1x gearing is too slow on fast flats sections. I've tried my cyclocross bike too, but the gearing wasn't sustainable on the long climbs, the stiff and twitchy handling was back breaking, and skinny tires wore out really fast. I caved and got a gravel bike. I don't need carbon, just a budget aluminium gravel bike ($1500 USD on sale) with 2x front derailleur works for my legs. Love my Trek Checkpoint. Don't go too cheap because cable actuated brakes suck! Perfect gearing and geometry! Yuuuup n+1 and no regrets.
@@newttella1043waste of money
@@newttella1043 did the same thing and love it. Fun bike for riding single track with newbies too!
@@TCK71 cause
Road bike for mountain road ?
Until just recently, my Trek 520 steal framed touring bike has also performed well as a gravel bike. As time went on the terrain on my riddes have gotten more rough and technical. To spare my touring bike I baught a GIANT hardtail mountain bike with 29 inch wheels. What a difference an actual mountain bike can make.
Have Gravel and Mtb and love both
I converted my 86 Miyata 710 to a 1x9 with flat bars and index shifter [instead of the downtube], and I ride it on and off road. Having bigger tires would be nice sometimes, but I get by with what I have.
@ridethroughlifertl I had an 89 miyata with flatbars and down tube shifter. Loved that bike until it was stolen
I really like the look of the Mondraker! I've had my eye on it since it dropped. I was going to buy a new gravel bike this year but there wasn't anything on the market that "wowed" me. I bought a new Giant Defy "all road" endurance bike which I love but I'm still looking for that Gravel bike and I think I've found it. Great video guys. I'd love some of that warm arid weather too.
A well equipped and lightweight XC can do everything a gravel bike can do . And more...(edit: within reason. Speed being the limitations of the XC)
Except going on a paved road... funny how mountain bikes became limited
@zon3ful Not at all -- running a 2.20 Maxxis Ikon in front, 2.00 in the rear at 30 psi on a Cervelo ZFS-5 XCO build at 24 lbs . I can easily ride with my Gravel crew on pavement provided they all have 1x12 drive trains. But thats a full on XC race setup.
@zon3ful upon review of my statement I'll concede - the limitations of the XC on pavement is a bunch of factors. If I'm in a fast crew - I'll get smoked over the long haul. If I'm in a recreational ride - then it's speed deficit isn't an issue.
@@HLDefender Well I'm kind of stuck between getting an XC and a gravel bike. I ride mostly road but i'd love to do some longer gravel rides. No technical stuff just gravel + some pavement. I also find hoods on drop bars way more comfortable than a straight bar on long rides. I already have a hardtail and it's not great on pavement. But it's not really a light XC either. I'm genuinely curious, would you ride your XC one or two hours on pavement to get to the gravel sections?
@zon3ful - Yes - the Cervelo I built in particular is quite capable of riding for 2 hours on pavement. That being said, only a handful of builds can "hang" with gravel bikes. A 740mm carbon bar to keep the wrist fatigue down also helps. Specific lightweight wheels and narrow'ish tires in "gravel mode" also make it happen. But as stated earlier, the best XC setup tailored to gravel will never be as fast if your pushing limits. But bikes like the 100mm travel Cervelo certainly can be enjoyed on a casual gravel run.
Can somebody share this trail spot shown on the map?
Yesterday I was in a bike shop in Mesa, AZ. While waiting for my bike I saw a Trek 'Y' bike that was being changed into a Gravel bike. Had dropped bars, proper gravel wheels and tires. Really looked pretty good. I would be tempted into a Grave bike like this.
I have a FS mtb and gravel race bike but still bought an adventure gravel race bike last year. Perfect addition! Great for exploring manky gravel roads and can get you home safely if you make a few turns and end up on some single track. Also safer than a road bike if a driver decides to push you off the road into a field.
n+1 rules!
I love the cheeky track stand at 4:40
Thanks for spotting it!
Cheers
Owen
I actually installed rigid forks on my extra MTB hardtail frame turning it into some sort of full rigid gravel bike
If its a 29er you can fit 700c gravel tyees on it but i found it was way too rough and slow off road
Nice! How does it go?
@@gmbn it's just like a light and low travelled xc bike except the forks don't move (I used straight handlebars not drop bars)
Done the same to my 2015 rockhopper. Great bike
OK so I have never really ridden a drop bar. All my bikes, even my fixed gear road bike are straight bars or cruiser bars or ape hangers if you go to my chopper, so just wondering what it's like to get to the controls in the different hand positions and what hand position offers the best control of the bike? Might be a good topic for your next gravel video for us who haven't hit the gravel bike genre.
i love how my gravel bike/rigid drop bar mtb can turn a dull forest track into a challenging forest track. and being fully ridged it saves the expensive suspension on my fully in a muddy winter.
We have gcn with their mtb video and now gmbn with their gravel bike video? We're in the dark timeline now.
For me, drop bars are underwhelming. In turn, I have a gravel bike that gathers dust.
OTOH, I have a 2014 (Ish) Salsa El Mariachi Ti with rigid forks running Schwalbe Thunder burts set up SS. No issues keeping up with the dedicated gravel machines everywhere but long flat roads and edges them out with the additional 10mm of tire when it gets chunky. If you already have a HT, try a similar setup first. Thunder Burts are fast!
A tyre that is fast on the road grippy enough off road smart sam or cheap halfords 2.1s rear nobby nic speed grip up front
I have both and I use both regularly. Some days I feel like a little dirt, so I grab the gravel bike. Other days I feel like going where no gravel bike should go, so I grab the MTB.
Gravel bikes take you back all right, right back to the late 80's mountain bike. There is nothing i can not do on an XC mountain bike that the gravel bike can do. As a matter of fact, i can do more on an XC bike.
Do you prefer? XC or Gravel 🤔
@gmbn I prefer XC, with those 2 choices. My preference is enduro/freeride
Keeping things simple, what is simpler than simply owning just one bike. Personally, my EMTB is that machine. Yes, as kook as it sounds, I've gone on rides just as in this video, on a heavily enduro based EMTB no less. But more in the upwards of 50+kms journey.
I know. "That's the wrong bike" or "cheating" or "boring" or whatever other negativity misery speaks. These rides, just like all rides, they are about fun, adventure, scenery, and literally roads less traveled. Sometimes, too, single track less traveled or known, if you know what I mean.
Would I condering a gravel bike. No. Do I occasionally go on these gravel rides? Absolutely. Do I get the idea or enjoyment of these epic rides, I treasure them, as I would park laps. All on one bike, the same bike. Simpler. Cheers,
I think gravel bikes are meant for GCN content.
Yes, but not necessarily or strictly for gravel but to use as my road bike. Among my bikes are two flat bar gravel bikes. Sold my drop bar gravel two years ago for an endurance road bike but am thinking to sell it and buy another gravel bike as my all-around/atb drop bar.
Which smith helmet are you wearing? Looks awesome!
Nah, everybody needs a fatbike
a lot of gravel bikes are under geared for old people like me. Then if you want to go bike packing they become hike a bikes. How was this one?
I'm interested; as both a mountain biker and a roadie, I used to own a CX bike as my only bike and was quite surpised what I could tackle on that. I can't say i necessarily need one but I wouldn't rule out buying one at some point.
I have an enduro Alpine Trail E1 and a XC Trek Xcaliber. Im pretty much served
That looked like a great route.
It was great - awesome mix of it all the fun stuff!
Cheers
Owen
Gravel is like a drug addiction: it's expensive, you don't need it, all the dealers want to shove it to you and you quickly realise it's not even that fun. If you like bumpy and shaky just build a rigid mtb, otherwise a proper xc bike or even a trail bike is all you need.
I replaced a 2015 carbon roubaix with a salsa warbird grx 600. Initially loved it because of modern tech but now having taken it on combo road/gravel/trail rides it really has made me a stronger rider when I got back on my trail bike. Missing 18-20 teeth of gear range while climbing and at the same time having to pedal smoother or risk spinning out when you get back on the trail bike is wild. Could you experience the same on an XC bike? Sure. But I can also comfortably road ride.
Here in Philippines gravel bikes just cost more so I convert my MTB like a hybrid gravel bike with a 40t chainring and 11-36t cogs and swap my suspension with a rigid fork , it's greats can go up 50kph max speed and also on trails
@rhaeuneljamesalumbre8524 yeah Gravel bikes are kinda overpriced in the PH imo but It's kinda worth it, I've stayed here in the PH for almost a year now and I still ride my very first Gravel bike even though driving a motorcycle is much more convenient
Gravel bike = limited single track, no drops, no rock gardens, no technical trails
With my XC hardtail can do far more than gravel bike…maybe not as fast but far more comfy…I’ll keep my MTB 🙂
Gravel on GMBN
I haven't watched for years.
Gone again.
Great video! Not the typical why a gravel should be your only bike. Nice ad for Mondraker also.
I am mtber that also started riding gravel. My GF doesn’t ride MTB but she started gravel riding at the end of the season. We are planning some great adventures already.
Awesome to hear! Enjoy your gravel adventures together
I think the gravel trend is the basis for the rebirth of the hardtail, as a hardtails are better gravelbikes and more versatile for most people. Think of relaxed offroad rides, bikepackin, trailrides, alpine riding even pavement or family rides. A hardtail can do it all. The only point a gravel has an advantage from my point of view is speed on pavement but that can be neglected for an versatile do it all bike as an hardtil is fast enough.
for me my hardtail is the best gravel and do it all bike since 5 years now. Lets just call it Cross Country riding ;)
Overall, however, the gravel trend is a nice trend, it brings people together when riding off-road, because no matter whether gravel or hardtail MTb it also works together.
Great insights!
Thanks for sharing
Cheers
Owen
New channel? GGBN?
Certainly tempted as an alternative for a different big ride
45 is narrow, 50 are not slower on pawed, but so much faster and provide comfort on bumpy roads. I will change my gravel only on that will take 57+
"Taking back to the purist form," as in traction challenged narrow tires, precariously close to the crotch top tube, and the butt-punishing lack of suspension? I know that the gravel bike has opened up a whole new dimension for the roadie. But to a mountain biker, the gravel bike is just counterintuitive. Take for example the handlebar. Many mountain bikers have a dirt-bike background, where they are used to gripping the bars with the knuckles facing forward and not to the side. This allows them to stick out the outside elbow on a turn, just like on a dirt bike. A gravel bike? Not so easy to do. Truthfully, a gravel rider can have just as much fun in the dirt as a mountain biker. But a mountain biker trying to have fun on a gravel bike? It's just not there for many mountain bikers like me. Fighting for traction on hardpack, having to levitate above the saddle in anticipation of bumps; that's not fun. Still, we mountain bikers thank you for the video.
In short: the cool thing about this bike when you go offroad is: You are underbiked ;-) And that is sometimes a good thing because it adds fun to the normaly boring stuff again.
Not wrong!
So why not ride a penny farthing?
Ive had a carbon 2017 Apex chase with Ultegra mechanical groupset roadbike, sold it for exactly the price i bought it for. It was a brilliant bike, but i didnt enjoy it as much like i enjoy my xc bike. My fitness is pretty up to par, my action radius is around 75 miles on the xc bike on tarmac.
I do have the itch for a gravel bike , but I know when I'm off road i would just want to be on my xc bike , but I guess there is something fun about being under biked offroad
Is there any link to the route? (GPX/KOMOOT or such)
What happened to cyclocross?
Like a Time Trial or a DH bike they are designed for a very specific purpose. A CX bike is very short (top tube and wheelbase) and steep angled compared to a gravel bike, and because the UCI rules stipulate a max 33mm tyre clearance in races Cross bikes have less tyre clearance. Also have at most one set of bottle cage mounts as cross races only last an hour.
@@matt_acton-varian Great explanation Matt! Think of CX bikes as your rally car of the curly bar world. Specialised to do a few things very well, but not a daily driver to be used outside of racing or skills training for that race.
This is global MOUNTAIN BIKE network not global gravel network
Nothing against gravel but i come here for mountain biking
This what mtb used to be. When you actually had to pedal and be fit. No shuttles and ski lifts
But it’s done on a mountain though 😅
@ yeah but you can actually have fun on the descents on a mountain bike
@@outdoorswithalex164 these are pretty fun on the descents too! You're so underbiked with no suspension travel that what would be boring on a trail bike becomes challenging and fun
Great bikes are specialized designs suitable for a specific environment. Any "does it all" will not, and the tradeoffs are readily evident.
Hey, that is my home town and those are some of our usual tracks… but a bit more spicy on my F-Podium! You found a really wet track, that is really unusual here, but nice views of Elche area!
I put 700x40c gravel tyers on my gt avalanche it made it a touch faster on the road but way slower and rough off road 29x2.1 tyers seem to be the sweet spot looking forward to tryng it with rigid forks steepen up the head angle but curley bars are a step too far, its nice to experement had a boardman gravel years ago hated being limited to skinny tyres
Missed a trick not getting Doddy to feature on this 😅
i have a feeling there's some contractual stuff at play either from GMBN or Doddy's side. Im sure the guys met up with him and catch up.
@liquidmakor6793 normally I'd agree but doddy has his own channel where he talks about well everything bike related even non mondraker stuff , and gmbn have had past presenters come back when Marc Beaumont left to start racing again he came back to do a video, like wise on the gcn side
I owning 3 bikes. XC bike, steel adventure touring bike and gravel bike. If I only can own 1 single bike, a sturdy metal gravel bike is my choice.
the term ATB should be revamped to address this genre
Most people would be much better off on a hardtail MTB than a gravel bike. You'll be walking the gravel bike on anything other than smooth dirt.
you would be surprised how far you will get. went on a muddy groep ride yesterday. was riding with my pedals in the mud on my gravel bike where a lot of people on expensive mtb's where pushing there bikes.
@@dannyheyrman4848 I'd rather be overbiked than underbiked on the trail - personal preference I guess. You'd be walking a gravel bike 10% of the time on my local trails, so it's a non starter for me.
@@TheTrailRabbit i rather take the right bike for the right job. my trail bike is overbiked and undergeared for 90% of the trails where a live. might make another choice if a live near your trails. but then again: walking 10% of the trails doesn't sound to bad for a rigid bike with skiny tires where it isn't designed to ride trails at all?
@@dannyheyrman4848 idk about you but I don't go riding to hike!
Just bought one
Just use a hard tail, same thing without stupid handlebars, has some front sus and probs a dropper to help off-road.
I feel like gravel bikes are just mtb when mtb was first invented, in 20 years gravel bikes will have flat bars and full suss 😂😂
A Mountainbike channel which is pushing gravel? 🤔 The sponsors have to much stock? No, just no. Buy a XC hardtail. Solved.
I ride everything, but my go to gravel bike is a trek raiil! LOL
is this the video about Tapas? :D
In a way - yes?
Cheers
Owen
For trails xc mtb is all you need. Drop bars are for the roads.
do you have GPX route
Blimey - give that presenter a Blue Peter badge…
Oooft thats high praise!
Cheers
Owen
Yes- that’s why I put more miles on my Single Speed than any other of my bikes…
I have road, mountain, and gravel bikes. I go back and forth between loving the mountain or gravel bike more. I don’t love road riding.
SO DOES IT FIT 2.2 RACE KINGS OR NOT
I think the only reason I want a gravel bike is because I live next to 300 miles of gravel trails. But, I already ride them on my hartail and on my road bike. So I don't need it, but I want ALL the bikes😢😂
Definitely not ...
Great video! But the crooked helmet triggered me 😂
Sorry...
Roadies " its as fast as (for 90% of ppl) but it can go off-road!"
Mtbikers "its as capable as (for 90% of ppls rides) and its alot faster on the road"
Nothing wrong with gravel bikes. 6 years on a gravel bike. No mountains where I live.
You can ride the same trails on a retro 90s mtb bike and it won't be slower.
I love mondraker and i have a mondraker raze that's simply a masterpiece but i don't think i want that bike for the simple reason that the cable routing is too integrated. For me gravel would be a tool to make it easier to go out for a ride all year round and i wouldn't want anything that could lead the water down the steartube and compromising the bearings
No way, MTB rules.stay cool 😎👍.
no cameo from Doddy? 🤔
Don't think he was actually about in Spain at the time!
2020- I considered getting a Nukeproof Digger or Evil Chamois Hagar for commuting to work and winter rides, (luckily/unluckily) I was made redundant shortly afterwards and was able to buy an ebike with the money and bought a cheap mtb for commuting to my new job. I’m just not a fan of drop bars and disco slippers, a mate has been trying to get me out in Lycra for a road bike ride for years… No thanks!
How is a gravel bike more comfortable when you’re more stretched out and more bent over?
Try it out! Long distance-wise wise it's more comfortable
fixed bikes are fun but gravel Idk
No way! You don't have to follow every trend... A gravel wouldn't survive a month the way I ride 😂 Not even my trail bike made it, but my new enduro seems up for it!
So a gravel bike really is not an MTB, but more like an ATB from what, late 80s early 90s?
I've a Specialized Rock hopper from 1994 (with mag 21 sus forks for good measure) with identical geometry - saved about 30 years and lots of money!
thanks, but no.
No suspension, no dropperpost, one derraileur, they must be cheap as well!
Hmm, they're better than no bike, or a road bike, but I'd much rather an MTB bike with some thin tires. I don't need 8 different bikes, I'd rather fewer that are more versatile.
I sold my Mega and got a gravel bike. It’s bloody awesome
so you don't needed mega in the first place
Is that to compensate the last video on GCN?🤣
Maybe there should be a new channel called Global Gravel Bike Network. The amount you guys go on about these wretched things it would make sense.
So guys, when are you going to launch the Global Gravel Bike Network, GGBN??? Seriously, the idea of watching a "Why my next mountain bike should be a gravel bike!" video just isn't doing it for me, and I suspect that it isn't for many of your dedicated 2 million subscribers either (in fact I haven't even taken the time to watch the video, I just clicked on it to tell you how annoying this is). Next you'll be telling me that my next MTB ought to be an aero road bike! Oh, I understand that there will undoubtedly be a proportion of your audience who have been converted to gravel, but they're the ones who are crying out for GGBN ffs!
I wouldn't mind, but I don't even subscribe to GMBN as I don't want to be notified every time a video like this gets produced. And yet because I watch (and love) GMBN, the gravel bike videos pop up in my RUclips feed regardless, which is really annoying. Yes, gravel biking is the fastest growing cycling industry trend and there exists a definite need to create such content, so please cater specifically to it and keep mountain biking as the niche sport it is.