Gravel Bike Thread

They are really just old school mountain bikes with drop bars so I figured fair game for the MTB gear thread.

Anyone ride one? Feel free to post your setups, ask questions etc. 

I converted my old karate monkey to a gravel ride last year. Got my wife a kona rove dl for her birthday - she loves it! We haven't been mountain biking since I gave it to her. The 27.5 wheels make a lot of sense on her 52 cm frame. The outside diameter of the tire is actually a bit larger than on her 700c road bike so it rolls nicely and is more manageable on trails than a 700c gravel rig would have been. 

Long live classic steel mountain bikes disguised as pseudo road bikes!

well really Gravel bikes have bigger wheels to make them faster, room for wider tires and the cockpit is more sorted for drop bars

I use a 20 yr old steel kona that i liberated from junior before he could fuck it up riding off of  a garage roof, I  run 1.95s with a close block pattern which works well in gravel, also have city slickers which are very fast on pavement, I have an xvert super or a steel fork with pannier racks depending on app, almost every part has been replaced, I think of it as a swiss army bike  andits even red

Bought a Ragley Trig at the beginning of last year after my commuter decided to bite the dust. I really like the geo and it doubles as my roadbike although I would love to have bigger gears. 

Apart from that, am pretty happy about it, still run the stock parts, only switched to Continental Contact Speed tires since I mostly ride tarmack and bike paths, the whole gravel and fireroad thing is still somewhat alien to me. 

Added a rack for pannier bags since I am really tired of a backpack for my commutes. 

I would always prefer a proper mtb for such long rides through forests.

Posted by: XXX_er

I run 1.95s with a close block pattern which works well in gravel

What tires? I've got slicks for commuting on my '93 MTB, but have been looking for something with a more gravel oriented tread. Not much available for 26" wheels these days. Schwalbe Hurricane is one that looks good.

I'd really like to get a Giant Revolt to replace my ancient commuter and road bikes, but COVID scarcity and price increases have put that on hold.

^Same =.  Attempted to get a Revolt this year.  Might serious look at a Naked though in the future.

Posted by: PaulB

What tires?  I've got slicks for commuting on my '93 MTB, but have been looking for something with a more gravel oriented tread. Not much available for 26" wheels these days.

I got a couple 1.95 Spez ground Control from waaaaaaaaay back in teh day I hoarding.

just sayin'... heh

For when I restores my steel Vertex

WTB all teranasauras which are long out of production, in any case I'm thinking i should just get new bike at some point

Posted by: Mic

Bought a Ragley Trig at the beginning of last year after my commuter decided to bite the dust. I really like the geo and it doubles as my roadbike although I would love to have bigger gears. 

Apart from that, am pretty happy about it, still run the stock parts, only switched to Continental Contact Speed tires since I mostly ride tarmack and bike paths, the whole gravel and fireroad thing is still somewhat alien to me. 

Added a rack for pannier bags since I am really tired of a backpack for my commutes. 

I would always prefer a proper mtb for such long rides through forests.

That bike looks really nice. I was using the contact speed for a while. It is good on tarmac, not so good on gravel. I was initially planning to use my gravel bike mostly on roads but have been riding more and more on gravel and trails. Picked up same size (42c) Gravelking's and was a bit apprehensive about any additional rolling resistance on roads. My strava segment times are no slower on roads and faster on gravel. I have to say, the gravel tire designs are really slick and I wouldn't shy away from a true gravel tire just because you are mainly riding roads.

Posted by: Endur-Bro

^Same =.  Attempted to get a Revolt this year.  Might serious look at a Naked though in the future.

wait for the new one…

currently on a bombrack ext-c 1st gen with 650b wheels. gonna switch to the new revolt as soon as it is available (could take a while)

You can’t go wrong on a Revolt Advanced.   If you want one next year, better place an order for one now.  Such a great road/path/trail bike.   We did both upgrade from the stock Giant tires though, lost a lb in rotational weight. 

I installed fenders, just in time for the heat dome.

considering prices, they are going up as everything next year, best bang for the buck will the the revolt advanced pro 1 if you are into electric shifting…

Last summer I found a new-old-stock 2013 Kona King Kahuna 22” frame that would become my gravel and XC bike. Took the winter to collect random but carefully selected parts for it, and started riding the completed bike in April this year.

12 speed XT, 120mm Pike and a smattering of Raceface parts. 2.2 tires. Code brakes.

Weights about 25 lbs. and allows me to go most anywhere. I probably ride it more than my full suspension bike, to be honest. I dig the versatility and speed. The longest ride I’ve done on it is 90 km.

I made a few monster cross mountain bike conversion type road bike things over the years and never really rode them. It always seemed like the worst of both worlds. My gravel bike tries to blend a bunch of positive traits and it must be working because I ride mine as much as my mountain bike. It's got classic 90s mtb geometry at 71/73 but it's got a long road bike head tube and 700c/29" wheels. Also hydraulic discs and moderate 38mm tires since I use it more as a road bike  + than pure gravel. I'm not really trying to push the limit of what I can do on this bike terrain-wise because I have a mountain bike for that. The gravel bike is for tearing around the city, exploring stuff and finding unusual spots on the map.

Got a discounted Ridley CX from MEC a few years ago just on the front end of the gravel trend.  Turns out it’s all the stuff I liked about early MTB, longer rides, great for just exploring around town.  Swapped out to a flared out spank bar which helps on descents.  Would like to build one up with a wide flat bar and use for blasting lost lake loops in Whistler.  Great fun