I might have crossed the line today when I dropped into a red mountain bike trail fully loaded… Came out unscathed though! Melchsee to Engelberg via Jochpass. Underbiking the Swiss “MTB” routes is a lot of fun!
by simplejackbikes
I might have crossed the line today when I dropped into a red mountain bike trail fully loaded… Came out unscathed though! Melchsee to Engelberg via Jochpass. Underbiking the Swiss “MTB” routes is a lot of fun!
by simplejackbikes
34 Comments
For the most part this looks like typical, average NA gravel routes, nowhere near mtb imo.
When you get back to the car and think “that would have been better on a mountain bike.”
Seconding that it looks like typical NA gravel.
that’s gravel
That looks like gravel or hardtail riding. A hardtail would probably be more fun on the descents.
20 years ago, that was mountain biking. Since then, mountain bikes have gotten bigger and more capable and the trails have leaned more towards downhill. And road bikes have adopted disc brakes and wider tires creating gravel bikes which fit in the niche abandoned by mountain bikers. Now those trails are solidly gravel biking.
When you need a flat bar and suspension.
The single track in the pics would be MTB here, but the very mild end of the range to me. That could be due to my local trail being a lot less smooth than what’s in the pictures.
Although I’ve never tried lift-serviced gravel biking, lol.
Like on the 10th photo there’s almost no gravel, I would say that’s the point!
When there are tree roots sticking out the floor. Until then, im ok
When you get a mountain bike.
Looks heavenly
I’d consider all of your photos as gravel paths rather than MTB paths, looking through a 2026 lens. The MTB paths near me feel like I’m underbiking even if I take a hardtail MTB on them. Over my lifetime, MTBing has gotten more extreme and gravel bikes have come to bridge the gap.
I love what you ride. Offbeat paths, something to explore, but not technical purely for the sake of being technical. My joy in riding is mostly from the exploration.
When you want to drink a beer during the ride,not after
Beautiful shots! I wouldn’t worry about the labels and would likely enjoy that ride on either type of bike.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
Anytime I say “I wish I had fatter tires and/or a suspension right now”
When it’s flat bars! 😬
(I “gravel” on the exact same trails I XC-mtb’d 25 years ago)
Nowadays there is no difference, but pre covid, when canyon was one of the few companies building bikes with 50mm tire clearance, gravel was for less chunky stuff. 2.25 in tires will take most abuse you’ll find on trails, I mean, I would never tackle a black on a gravel bike, but most blues i’ve come across can be done on those tires, and some comfort hopping stuff. I moved to a big mtb city last year and bought some mtbs, my biggest complaint has been, unless you go to trails, most mtbing is just gravel with features. Bikepacking, same thing. The route suggests 2.2 or thicker tires when most of the day I’m just on gravel of varying degrees of chunkiness.
Never carbrain
Rooty climbs?
That looks like it would be fine on a gravel bike… looks like some bits would be better on a mountain bike… but you always have to compromise a little.
That looks like an incredible ride tho.
Those swooping berms look tasty
The only difference is the handle bar at this point
That’s all “smooth single track” and “easy gravel” with the exception of the creek bed, which may have been a side shot. It’s a beautiful ride and looks like you enjoyed, which is what matters. The load may make it “underbiking”, but an underbiking enthusiast would make a day of it on 28 mm tires drop bar and walk a couple of pieces of the downhill and figure out a way to miss the creekbed or walk it. Truly undebiking the uphill would be easy. Doing it downhill would be an adventure.
I mean that’s a mountain bike so… I’d say it’s all mountain biking.
Looks like gravel to me, come New England where most of our “gravel” is unmaintained fire roads and hiking trails and you’ll appreciate it more 😂
Picture 4
Gravel biking is just MTB on hard mode.
When you start breaking spokes.
Is this gravel bike in the room with us?
That looks like my 1985 Ritchey Ascente Mountain bike with a flat bar, no suspension, and fatter tires. So gravel biking is retro mountain biking with a drop bar.
That. When babyheads enter the equation, you’re on singletrack.
Berms, roots, drops and jumps are definitely not be enjoyable on a gravel bike.
None of those photos show very technical stuff. Could all easily be done on a gravel bike.