I have a Topstone Carbon which is pretty capable offroad, until it isn't. I also have a full sus Giant Trance which is too capable, where I ride it all the travel is unnecessary 80% of the time, and I barely notice a difference if I forget to unlock the rear shock. However a gravel bike just wouldn't cut it. Gravel is too chunky and loose, forest paths are full of little rocks, or the terrain is too uneven. I've ridden one of those routes on a hardtail and had a blast, but I also took my gravel bike on it and didn't really enjoy myself.
Now I'm looking at Orbea Alma, an XC hardtail, but is it too similar to a gravel bike? I'm not interested in jumps, berms, drops (maybe little ones), gnar. An occasional rock garden is the most I will do, I'm more interested in efficient pedaling, climbing and comfort on 3 hours of rough gravel and forest trails
https://imgur.com/a/cGvUYOb This is the kind of terrain I ride with occasional rougher features https://streamable.com/ve9sqb
edit: album link
by widowhanzo
3 Comments
This is where the saying n+1 comes from. I too suffered from too many bikes too little time. I think a hard tail is a fun bike to own i have a chameleon and it was so good at my local trails I actually sold my full suspension bike. And with even xc bikes becoming more capable in even rougher spots its not a terrible idea.
There’s definitely a different appeal to hardtails and gravel bikes, and potentially space for both. Gravel bikes are great for longer rides, mostly paved but more versatile than a road bike. Hardtails are great for mostly offroad rides, where on road sections are mostly just to get between different trails.
Of course, if you don’t enjoy your full sus bike for the sorts of rides you actually do then you might start to question why you would be keeping it.
Totally understand where you are coming from, I have a 40-45mm tire gravel bike, a 140mm/130mm full sus with 2.5″/2.4″ tires, and a 140mm steel hardtail with 2.3″/2.25″ tires. There is a noticeable gap for something with 40-120mm travel and fast mtb tires, as well as geometry between the 71deg head tube of the gravel and 65deg of the mtbs.
There are very lightweight XC full sus bikes in the sub 10kg range and usually have remote lockouts for climbing. So I would consider that too if you don’t mind the cost/maintenance, they should climb hills just fine.
There are also some XC soft tails with compliant backends but no rear shock.
If you plan to get rid of your full sus trail bike maybe i would get a more versatile hardtail, something with around 66-67 head tube angle and 120mm fork. Light and fast enough but not so XC that it means you have to avoid certain routes.