Gravel bike or cross country 29er?
I want a bike for hitting up some fairly mellow trails and generally getting some miles in and I'm not sure whether I should get a standard cross country 29er mountain bike or a gravel bike? Is a gravel bike that much faster on road? Can you still ride singletrack on them or does a hardtail with a lock out fork do pretty much the same thing?
I'm looking to spend about a grand as it's cycle to work scheme time...
3 comments
Yeah, I'd echo the below - though most 'gravel' bikes on sale in the UK aren't strictly gravel bikes which is a very specific category of bike for gravel racing. Gravel has turned in to something of a catch-all term for road bikes that can do a bit more than simply ride on the road and covers a fairly wide spectrum of off-road capability. To me some of 'em just look like road bikes - a good example there would be the Ribble CGR, at the other end of the spectrum would be something like the Sonder Camino, and somewhere in between are the Marin Gestalt and the Pinnacle Arkose. My personal fave is the GT Grade, but I would say that cos I've got one
A Gravel bike, with 40c tyres will have you rolling along quicker on most surfaces than a 29er mtb with 2.1 - 2.3tyres. Where they lose out of course is in techy sections where larger volume mtb tyres provide more grip and reassurance. They work well on most singletrack trails that you'd normally be happy with a old fashioned mtb on. No drops or jumps unless you're brave or crazy. Plus you can fit all kinda of stuff to them for the commute if you need to.