I am a road cyclist, and I intend on getting a new bike soon. I’d like to use it to zoom around town for fun like I already do on my road bike, but I also want to be able to commute with it. As such, I’d like it to be able to handle light grass and dirt when I need to (no mud, gravel, excessive drops, etc). I’ve been thinking about a gravel or cross bike, but they’re just not quite “zoomy” enough for me; I like more aggressive geometry and a nice, aero frame. Additionally, there has been a growing trend for thicker tires on road bikes, so a modern road bike should be able to fit cross tires. Should I just get a new road bike and throw some 33mm cross tires on it? Or should I suck it up and get a cross/gravel bike that’s actually designed for dirt? On one hand I want to zoom and won’t be on dirt/grass all that much, but on the other I don’t want to ruin an expensive bike by taking it off-road when I shouldn’t. Help a brother out.
“gravel bike” has been a widening category over the last few years. Some are basically road bikes with extra clearance (further confused by road bikes going that route too) all the way to essentially drop-bar hardtail mtbs. I’m pretty sure you would find a bike with the “gravel” label that’s pretty aggressive while still being somewhat off-road capable. If you keep a second wheel set around, you can even convert it to a quasi road bike pretty easily.
I’ve actually never ridden a road bike, but I can say that I can fairly easily hold my own on my 2017 CX bike in a group ride with road cyclists on much newer and more expensive bikes. I’m sure it doesn’t feel quite as zoomy in direct comparison, but in my experience that’s a very relative thing.
Anecdotally, I swapped my trusty 33mm Schwalbe X One Speeds over to 40mm G One Allrounds last year, and for a few days the bike felt sluggish to me. But not only did that feeling evaporate very quickly; my reason for swapping - spongy steering on slightly deeper gravel and generally loose surfaces - went away and I can ride at least as fast or faster and safer on every surface as a result. And most of those surfaces my road cyclist friends can’t even dream of touching.
There’s ever more differentiation in gravel bikes. Some tuned for stiffness and speed, essentially road bikes with wider rims; others for carry capacity and comfort over long distances. I lean towards the speedy stiffness and higher tire pressures (my gravel friends mock me for it.)
While I’d certainly try a proper road bike when the opportunity arises, the choice is ultimately a very simple one for me: Whenever I’m out with road cyclists, I feel cramped by the routes that are simply off limit to the group and that would be very much on (as in: bring it!) for me. My bike can handle whatever comes my way, and the only limiting factors to speed are either my legs or my inner chicken.
If the woods and more technical passages have no appeal at all for you it’s probably not a good fit, but if they do even a little (and I think they do, even if just a little), I think there’s a wonderful world out there for you waiting to be explored. My heavily biased advice: Suck it up and get a cross/gravel bike. You might surprise yourself putting on 45mms one day and loving every minute.
Thanks for the opportunity to vent my love for gravel bikes.
Thanks for the opportunity to vent my love for gravel bikes.
Thank you for the opportunity to read it!
My father is also a road cyclist, so I didn’t grow up on mountain/hybrid bikes like most other children do; road bikes are pretty much all I know. I’d love to dip into other disciplines, but I don’t want to spend a bunch of money on a bike and then find out I don’t like it. However, I do fully agree with your point about road bikes being restrictive; I often have to take longer, much busier routes around my town when I could just take one of the many trails that go all throughout it. I don’t plan on doing any sort of technical trails, but I’d still like to have the ability to do the most basic of off-roading.
The thing is, I don’t really care about the number on my bike computer/watch’s speedometer. I just want to feel fast; I want to feel the wind, the rattle of the bike against the road, the momentum shift as I lean into a corner. That’s what I enjoy. From what I’m reading, you seem to get that very same thing! Perhaps gravel bikes aren’t too bad after all ;)
The occasional trail just to avoid traffic, sure. That’s the gateway drug right there and suddenly you’re climbing muddy 15% trails after heavy rainfall. Talk about a slippery slope! The disappointment in your dad’s face.
You can certainly feel very fast on a gravel. Since my bike came out before Shimano’s GRX groups did I have a regular 2x11 Ultegra road group on mine (fine, I swapped to the 11-34 cassette at some point, 36/52 chain rings in front.) 28mm slicks, and I’m pretty sure what I’d have is a road bike. (Hypothesis untested.)
I started out as a mountain biking kid with my dad, but pretty much exclusively road bike now. To be honest, I routinely go over grass and dirt on my road bike for shortcuts, as long as you’re careful it’s fine. Especially if you throw slightly more robust tires on them and it’s more the occasion than the rule I wouldn’t worry about it.
I picked up a Devinci St Tropez Hybrid, decades back, for commuting. If I recall it may have had 700c x 35 on it when I got it, but I had put narrower on later for more street riding, and kept a set of winter studded knobby tires for snow and mud rides. Steering geometry is steep enough/less trail than some casual bikes. It makes riding no hands on the street (when you want to rest your hands) kind of an unstable situation, as it wanta to turn at the slightest road or body change. But overall It’s been a fun bike.
Gravel bikes are not “zoomy” because they have bigger tires.
