Are gravel bikes dead? We’re going to find out! Si & Ollie’ve just been supplied with two killer @ride_bmc bikes that have identical frames but different setups: one has road tyres and the other gravel. Si thinks this could spell the end for dedicated gravel bikes, but Ollie isn’t convinced… Who’s actually got it right? 🤔
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⏱️ Timestamps: ⏱️
00:00 Are gravel bikes dead?!
00:47 Can these BMC road bikes do it all?
01:28 The BMC Road Machine 01 & its “alter-ego”
02:32 Differences between gravel and road bikes
03:28 Is this is “all the gravel bike” people need?
05:01 Does it feel more like a road or gravel bike?
08:00 What does “gravel” really mean?
08:55 Swapping wheels & why use wider tyres
10:54 Ollie’s gravel test ride
12:16 So, are gravel bikes a thing of the past?
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What do you think? 🤔 Is a road bike with gravel tyres all you need, or are dedicated gravel bikes still king? 🚵♂️ Drop your thoughts below! 👇
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43 Comments
What do you think? 🤔 Is a road bike with gravel tyres all you need, or are dedicated gravel bikes still king? 🚵♂️ Drop your thoughts below! 👇
When your frame cracks you will remember your on a road bike, or even your back…
I get it, you guys don't want to ride cheap bikes on your job. I want to see Si suffer badly at Unbound, please Dan, make Simon do the race on a cheap bike:). I had a 2016 Diverge that did a good job of sharing paved roads with gravel roads, not so stable on single track though.
I have a nice roadbike (or two) but I also have a hybrid. The hybrid comes out as soon as salt goes on the road. Why? Because a cassette for the hybrid costs about £30 quid whilst a cassette for the road bike costs nearly £100 and, I get fit during the winter trying to rail an 11kg bike before the 7kg bike comes back to life in March.
Finally an affordable bike. I will buy 2 for each family member.
My Marida 500 has 35mm tyres. My 2012 Trek Domane 4.3 can only take 25mm. Love both but shy away from exploring on the Trek. Marida is my 'go anywhere'. ( Snowdon to the Fens in a day on road, tracks, tow paths).
Great video boys! I like the idea of one bike and change the wheels. And just love getting on Sy about the technical roads he tries to ride on with a gravel bike!
Very interesting insights. However if I’d go for an all rounder, I’d go for the S works Crux.
An endurance bike with gravel tyres for the comfortable riding position.
If it doesn't have 50mm clearance it's not a gravel bike
I find gravel bike so fun it can go a little off road and its literally fast
The Pinarello Crossista has accomplished this for years…aero shaping the same as the dogma, 40mm tire clearance, higher bottom bracket, and it’s a Pinarello, so……
No-road bikes do not have low enough gearing for gravel riding regardless of tire clearance.
Ollie, where on earth did you get those butt-ugly shoes?! 😱
Great show, guys. Cheers
Gravel bikes suck. Just so roadies can dress like mountain bikers
Not many bikes are racing bikes, but any bike is a road bike, a gravel bike, a commuter bike.
So it’s a hybrid then…..
I agree and disagree at the same time. Yes, for most people, this is as much gravel bike as they need. On the other hand I like where gravel specific bikes are going with models like the Merida Silex. Slacker and longer geometries have change MTBs a lot and I think a lot of it could also benefit gravel (and road) bikes.
Big deal, Salsa has been doing this for years… mind you at a way more affordable price range.
Gravel? Gravel! You call that compacted dirt gravel? That dirt is better than our general tar roads here in Port Elizabeth, South Africa 😂
I agree that most people really dont need an actually gravel bike, I have a gravel bike that fights huge tires. Now planning and looking for my next bike, lighter/quicker gravelish bike I will probably go something like an all road that can fit up to 38mm tires. still let me get fun but def quicker and lighter for the normal trails I usually ride that aren't hardcore at all.
N+1 is no more?
Gravel bikes already don't have low enough gearing for the hills we try and take them up. A road bike definitely doesn't have low enough gearing.
Introducing the new roadavel bike. SMH
It seems to me that we are reinventing the cyclocross bike. Unless you ride a drop bar bike in areas with technical gravel trails, like here on Vancouver's North Shore, aka MTB trails a CX bike makes a lot of sense for most people.
it's only a gravelbike when it can it mountainbike size wide tires.
we do that with cyclocross for many decate… same bike different tire for road or dirt.
LOL. When I was racing in the 1970s (think toe clips, nail-on cleats, and tubulars) we all had three bikes: road, track, and s**t (for riding around town). For the road bike I had three sets of wheels: training, racing, and cyclocross. For the track bike I had a pair of wheels for track and another set for grass track. That was it. It worked great.
3:23, I wanted Ollie to keep going and note how gravel bikes are becoming cross-country MTB with drop bars.
The Roadmanchine that retails for a third of the one in the video I have it. Its my first road bike. Love it so far. Got it as I was going to change most of the components and make it my own bike.
I do tend to agree that this type of bike is probably the best single bike for those of us who want to do road and gravel, basically a road bike that has wide clearance and internal storage. I looked into this bike when it came out and it was on my short list, but ultimately couldn't find anything I loved more than the ENVE Fray and that's what I bought. I love it and do 80% of my rides on it now, but I am keeping my SIegla for the truly knarly gravel or MTB'ing with my son. The Aspera, Ribble Allroad and some others probable provide more value as lower price points.
Yet another GCN Gravel Bike vs….. GCN continue with this year's strategy of click baiting viewers. Ooo a bike with smooth tyres. Ooo a bike with knobbly tyres. Ooo I wonder if they will behave differently? Yawn
How many videos about this fake controversy are you going to make??? A bike is a bike is a bike. What it's called by the manufacturer… or the industry… or even the buyer / user–is just window dressing. This BMC bike for example is miles away from the first Road Machine… it is a completely different bike… yet they keep calling it a Road Machine… which proves that nomenclature is meaningless. It IS a gravel bike… by virtually any definition… yet they call it a Road Machine instead of a Gravel Machine. Etc.
What's really more shocking is how long it took "The Industry" to figure out that bigger tires–in general–are "better". I have some pretty expensive road bikes that aren't that old that I can't even run 28mm tires on–because either the frame or the brake calipers won't allow it. And yet, suddenly, in just maybe 10 yrs or less that ENTIRE industry-wide philosophy–of running no bigger than 23 to 25m tires on road bikes–has been completely blown up. Or even disc brakes on road bikes. I mean… it's not like nobody thought of that before. Lemond had a production disc brake road bike (the Poprad) as far back as 2006 but Shimano started developing and offering disc brake gear in the early 1970s. So why did it take so long for the pro peloton and the bicycle industry in general to start integrating this shit into road bikes–which would have clearly allowed for larger tires to become a thing decades ago???
When I first got my Triban 5 road bike as a newb to the 'sports' side of cycling- I was dismayed to learnt that CX tyres wouldn't fit (ignoring the fact it had rubbish brakes for off road anyway) as Lo! I had to buy another genre of bike in order to participate.
Instead, I chose to have a go on my MTB and not bother racing the regional champs.
A few years later, I thought a gravel bike might be a good hack for that but when I raced CX on my Diverge, I found I was getting loads of pedal strikes with the lower BB height so that wasn't the answer either.
Nor was my Diverge great on the road. It was passable- and I had a few good 100 mile smash up road rides on it but, once I bought a disc road bike, I found I was preferring that to the Diverge on road and my old MTB to the Diverge off road.
I'd have been interested to see what these BMC's with CX tyres could do shoved into a CX race too 🤔
Ultimately, I guess everything is a trade off. The less bikes you are able to have, the more compromises you have to accept.
At the price though- You could buy 2x £2k CX race bikes, a £4k road bike and a £4k hardtail with a gravel wheelset and drop-bar handlebar setup for gravel racing and tick almost every box most people need.
Bang on! A road bike you can ride off road but would take your MTB if it were trails and rock. Hang on, isn't that cyclocross?
If it can't clear 2.0" MTB tyres it's not a gravel bike
Minute : 13:42 PERU 🇵🇪……i am from Perú 😊…… You all are welcome to My country 🤗
I bought a gravel bike a couple of years ago but very soon learned to hate the drop bars. They beat up on my hands horribly. I switched to a flat bar and love it, so much easier on my hands and better shifting and braking. I do not understand drop bars on an off road bike. Why?
Rovel bike for the win.
Before “gravel” bikes I was riding a Scott addict with 23 tyres at 100psi on gravel all day long , seriously was just fine.
I can easily do 25-30 kmh on a single track and my gravel rig feels quite happy doing it. Tires are just 45 mm.
Not that much people wants to "win Unbound", wide tires and relaxed geometry are great for long distance adventures which is the true gravel origin. That BMC looks to me closer to a modern cyclocross… super fun for shorter adrenaline rides.
I ran two wheelsets with my Domane for a few years. I ran 30's and I was able to fit in a 40 comfortably. I eventually sold it and got a CheckPoint frame and now run 45's that measure out to 47's and 35 road tires on my road wheels.