Have We Killed Gravel Bikes? 4 Reasons Why…

With all the recent tech developments on gravel bikes are they now really just evolving into mountain bikes?

Content
00:00 Intro
00:26 Mountain bike tyres
2:55 What happened to 650b?
4:00 Suspension forks
5:56 Component convergence
7:16 Geometry similarities
8:48 Gravel bikes are mountain bikes now then? Or…

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Hello viewers and welcome back to the channel. Now in this video we’ll explore whether grammar bikes are evolving or just slowly becoming XC race bikes with drop handlebars. Is the category blowing too much or is this just natural evolution at play? We’re going to go through the topic in detail, discuss some key points about this evolution of gravel into pottery and mountain bikes and discuss in the comment section below. The tires that people are using on gravel bikes are the biggest indication, the biggest sign that gravel bikes are slowly morphing into mountain bike. For many years, a 40 or 45 mm gravel tire was pretty standard and still is very popular with most people taking up gravel in the the last few years. But we’ve seen a trend especially in the US led by some top level athletes and the likes of YouTuber Dylan Johnson promoting the benefits and the advantage of mountain bike tires on gravel bikes. So 2.1 2.2 squeezed into gravel frames where Austin clearance is very very limited. But there are various studies and Dylan Johnson himself has done some interesting studies and reports into the benefits and the advantage of a mountain bike tire. The roll resistance, the aerodynamics and the casing construction compared to a gravel tire of a similar width. I’ll link to his videos down below in case you missed them. But the big limitation with fitting mountain bike tires on a current gravel bike is clearance. Because bikes vary in clearance from the 42 of a Canyon Grail up to 57 of the Argon 18 dark matter and in the middle most bikes will take a 45 to 50. So clearance is an issue. Do we see more gravel bike going down the route of the Argon 18 Dark Matter and the Allied Able and taking a 57 or 60 mil wide tire or is that the limit of where tires can go on gravel bikes? And while mountain bike tires on gravel bikes are very popular right now for certain riders on certain courses, I wouldn’t say they are the blanket answer for every rider in every part of the world riding in every gravel scenario. And whether it’s a fad and whether we’re still talking about mountain bike tires on gravel bikes in the next two years or whether they faded away or whether it’s the new future, the new standard for gravel bike remains to be seen. I don’t have a crystal ball, but the way it’s going at the moment, it could go either way. But there’s no getting away from the benefits of a bigger tire. And I’ve been riding gravel bikes for the last 10 years. And the tires have been getting wider from 35, 38, to 40 to 45 to now 50. So, is a mountain bike tire just a natural next step in that evolution of tires getting wider and wider? Or are we just recreating ‘ 90s mountain bikes? and cybar. What I find really interesting right now is how it’s all about 29iner mountain bikes which fit on a 700c road rim. But the whole 650b movement from a few years ago has totally gone away. There’s no interest in 650b even though on paper it and on the trail it has much better benefits than a 29iner because you can get a mountain bike tire a 2.1 or 2.2 2-inch mountain bike tire on a smaller 650B rim and have a smaller outside diameter which fits onto a frame with less clearance issues and less geometry adjustment that is required on a bike like the Allied AEL or the Argon 18 Dark Matter because a mountain bike tire on a 29 rim is a big thing and fit on a gravel frame and retain that road bike sense of agility and responsiveness we want is a bit of a tricky thing. So, I can fully see 650B coming back. But the reason it probably won’t is because simply not the tire choice like there is on the mountain bike 29iner side. Riding a rigid carbon drop bar bike off-road can be pretty jarring and uncomfortable at times. And it’s another reason why tires have got wider and wider. And some bike manufacturers are doing clever things with their frame designs to increase compliance and flex the likes of the candel top stone and even suspension from the specialized future shock on the diverge to allow the ride to be suspended like a red shift suspension stem or there actual suspension forks. Rockshot released their Rudy 3 years ago. Fox have one. This is a new Cane Creek invert DC Swiss have launch one offering between 30 and 50 mm of travel. Is that pointless or is that the future of gravel bikes? We’ve seen Canyon offering the Grizzle with a suspension fork for the last handful of years and they relaunched their Grail Gravel race bike with a new DT Swiss. And at Unbound recently, we saw lots of riders including Rob Britain win the XL, the 350 mi race on a factor Austro Gravel with a Fox 32 suspension fork. So, we’re seeing more riders embrace suspension. As the racing getting faster, the courses are rough, fatigue, comfort, and speed over rough ground is a factor. I can see suspension becoming more popular. But it’s just the biggest sign yet that gravel bikes are turning into 90s mountain bikes. But the question and dilemma is if you want suspension on a gravel bike with 30 or 40 mil, are you just better off with a mountain bike, a hard tail mountain bike with a usable range of suspension, 100 to 120 mil of travel, not the measly amount of travel we have here? Let me know what you think by dropping a comment down below. It’s fair to say that gravel bikes now owe a lot to mountain bikes when it comes to components and some ways do very closely mirror a mountain bike just with different shape handlebars. I’m talking of trends like one by gearing wide range massive cassettes. The Eagle T52 is popular both mountain bikes and on gravel bikes. We have features like dropper seat posts for riding down steep trails. We have inframe storage in the down tube becoming very popular as well. And even the handlebars while still being dropped are getting wider as well. You get big wide flared handlebars if you’re not an aero geek. Those then are the most obvious signs of component convergence from mountain bike to gravel bike. But what else can a gravel bike borrow from a mountain bike while still being a gravel bike? There’s a shape of the handlebar of course, but that’s probably going a step too far. But we have seen some people blurring the line between the two categories with drop bars on mountain bikes and flat bars on gravel bikes, which I personally think is fantastic. It’s just a lot of fun and great to see people push the limits and the boundaries of what is possible and not possible and have a bit of fun along the way. Another more subtle indication that gravel bikes are turning into mountain bikes is the geometry. We are now seeing quite a few gravel bikes take a bigger leaf out of the mountain bike geometry playbook in terms of those important measurements and angles. Some are very mild like a specialized Crux which has a longer reach and a shorter stem like you get a mountain bike and some are more extreme like the evil Shami Hager which probably show where the limit to a mountain bike inspired gravel bike is a bike I still not ridden not seen one in the flesh yet but a very radical very extreme bike and if you compare the geometry of a typical gravel bike to a ‘ 90s mountain bike hard tail there isn’t much in it at all I did a compar comparison of two such bikes about 2 or 3 years ago. I’ll link that video down below. And really interesting how similar those bikes are in terms of the geometry, but the way they ride is very very different thanks and technology on a gravel bike compared to that old ’90s mountain bike which pretty janky in places. But is that use of mountain bike geometry a bike designed for riding off-road on technical trails which many people are now doing on a gravel bike? Is that really a bad thing? If you want a gravel bike to be more capable when riding off-road over bumpy terrain and down single track, then surely lean more towards a mountain bike and away from a road bike is a natural evolution for such a bike. So based on the evidence I presented in today’s video, it’s clear that gravel bikes are slowly turning into mountain bikes, but I don’t think they are actually turning into mountain bikes. and the two will be inseparable in the future. For me, there’s still a clear difference despite the amount of borrow technology from mountain bikes over to gravel. And it’s the attitude I take when riding either bike. The shape of the handlebars dictates how I ride that bike. For me, gravel is about speed, about distance, it’s about adventure, exploring. It’s mixed terrain, road and off-road, and it’s often about bike packing. And for me, mountain biking is about riding in the woods. It’s about riding technical trails, riding predominantly off-road, no tarmac involved at all. The distance is lower, the speed is lower. It’s less about exploring, but seeking out technical trails and having a lot of fun. That’s not to say you can’t ride a mountain bike in the same way you ride a grab bike for speed and distance, because lots do, but for me, I don’t. So very different approaches and attitudes when I ride either bike based on the shape of the handlebars. But all that said, riding a gravel bike with some of the features from a mountain bike does make that drop bar bike much more capable when riding what I like to call tame mountain bike trails and makes a bikes a lot more fun and less hamstrung when it come to a technical trail. But the key issue for me for gravel is retaining the simplicity. I enjoy I enjoy being underbiked and a bike that’s fast on the road like a road bike so it doesn’t give up speed and isn’t lethargic on the road but still good off-road. So for me I can see a downside to borrow more technology from mountain bikes as taking gravel away from their simplicity and the purity of their bikes which I love so much. So yes, the future is very interesting, but the real challenge all this experimentation, but it is just that is somebody buying their first gravel bike. I mean, where do you start? You’re bombarded with choice and opinions on what is right and what’s not right. So a good place to start is to watch a video of the best gravel bikes currently available. Give a watch load of info in there and then drop a question down below in the comment section. But that is all today. Thank you so much for watching. I’ll see you again very soon.