gravel vs road ?

[sk_pete]

i have old and dying cross bike, which needs some replacement.
at ~1000€ some basic level are available.

i´ve been thinking about purchasing fast road bike. but little scared by the thin wheels which bumps could be painful.
gravel seems fatter and more versatile. but geared a bit slower.
anybody had experience using both?

 

[wwillson]

Yes, I have experience with both. Thin 700x23c vs wider gravel or MTB tires are in two different worlds.

I've ridden my road bike 10s of thousands of miles, but in the last few years I might have put maybe 1,000 miles on it. Why you ask? Because I got a mountain bike with wide tires and a full suspension. The mountain bike is heavier, slower (I don't race, so I don't care), and rides orders of magnitude better. Plus riding on the roads is putting your life into someone else's hands that are looking at their phone, instead of the road. We have so many trails around here that I never have to ride on the road. It was just a matter of time before someone took me out, while looking at their phone. My rear sure feels better on the MTB after a two hour ride.

My $0.02

 

[Pablo]

Yes, I have experience with both. Thin 700x23c vs wider gravel or MTB tires are in two different worlds.

I've ridden my road bike 10s of thousands of miles, but in the last few years I might have put maybe 1,000 miles on it. Why you ask? Because I got a mountain bike with wide tires and a full suspension. The mountain bike is heavier, slower (I don't race, so I don't care), and rides orders of magnitude better. Plus riding on the roads is putting your life into someone else's hands that are looking at their phone, instead of the road. We have so many trails around here that I never have to ride on the road. It was just a matter of time before someone took me out, while looking at their phone. My rear sure feels better on the MTB after a two hour ride.

My $0.02

This, plus if I need to ride on a paved path with my wife with my 29er, I just lock the suspension in F and R with the flick of two levers.

EDIT: I have thought about buying a gravel bike, and a 27.5" MTB.........never a street bike though. I can't justify the $$$$. I would not ride them enough.

 

[Kira]

Yes, I have. Perhaps a fast bike-of-your-dreams and maybe a used 'everyday' bicycle.
Are you a long distance road rider? Only you can weigh the two.

 

[#18FAN]

What’s the budget fast is $$$$ but all in all it is the rider on the bike. You can get a 30c tire on a fast road. You won’t go any faster on a 23 a pro maybe but they don’t ride them as much anymore.

 

[IndyIan]

I got rid of my road bike years ago, being stuck only riding decent pavement was annoying/dangerous at times. Gravel and lesser maintained and traveled paved roads are more fun in my area. Also a gravel bike rider position is set up for longer rides, and on rougher pavement, the bigger tires can be faster that road bike skinnies... If I lived in Holland and had 1000's of miles of paved trails separate from traffic then a super fast road bike maybe fun to ride in a semi-serious group rides and do fast miles.
But my gravel biking buddies are mostly on hard tail mtbs and a 3.8" tire fat bike(which is astonishingly fast rolling, even compared to a true gravel bike!) and we get muddy and do some single track too, so a road bike is no good for me.
I do have some local strava climbing KOM's nearby that keep getting stolen by an old guy on a $12k carbon bike... Maybe a $6k carbon road bike would get me even? Its more fun taking the odd one back on my 25 year old mtb, but some are out of reach by me on that bike..... The speeds he can take into the bottom of some hills is an all out sprint on my mtb, and that's before the hill starts...

 

[JohnnyG]

Is a "gravel bike" the same as what they used to call a Hybrid?
Hybrids used those 700C tires and were excellent on trails, but mountain bikes were good fair on trails as well as off road.

 

[PF52]

Is a "gravel bike" the same as what they used to call a Hybrid?
Hybrids used those 700C tires and were excellent on trails, but mountain bikes were good fair on trails as well as off road.

Gravel bikes usually have drop bars, like a road bike. Probably slightly different frame geometry too and more "easy" gears for climbing.

The differences have become kind of blurred. Road bikes (well, most bikes actually) now come with disk brakes and thus have room for wider tires. Most road bikes now have 28mm tires, while a gravel bike might have 32mm. The old days of 23mm tires are probably over.

 

[UG_Passat]

i have old and dying cross bike, which needs some replacement.
at ~1000€ some basic level are available.

i´ve been thinking about purchasing fast road bike. but little scared by the thin wheels which bumps could be painful.
gravel seems fatter and more versatile. but geared a bit slower.
anybody had experience using both?

I have used a cross bike on the road, but I never liked the 46/36 crankset on the road, compared to my road bike's compact crankset (50/34), even when I swapped over my 25mm road tires, I didn't like the cross crankset on the road.

But a Shimano GRX (Ultegra level, iirc) RX600 crank is 46/30, so it would compensate for the extra weight of a 30mm or wide tire.

Something to keep in mind, there are 2 main categories of road bikes frames: the endurance road bike and the fast & responsive road bike

The gravel bike is more akin to the endurance road bike, which sacrifices agility for comfort for long rides or for rougher roads (and cobblestones)

The cyclocross bike is more like the fast and response road bike, which places more emphasis on agility.

 

[supton]

I think you have to define where you are going to be riding.

I routinely take my road bike on dirt roads, occasionally something that looks more like a well beaten trail. 28mm tires is all it would accommodate, but I find it does well enough for. Im not one for muddy riding nor technical stuff anymore, and prefer pavement in general, but with a more relaxed seating position.

 

[BISCUT]

Some great advice already. I have a Trek Domane road bike that takes 40's and I like fatty tires. I also have a Kish Ti gravel bike. Different bikes for different applications. I do NOT enjoy the ride of the Trek on even hard compact dirt roads found in many areas of VT and NH. The Kish Ti is s dream in those conditions. If I was to only be allowed 1 road/gravel grinder bike I would go this route:

https://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-US/bikes/stigmata

And a second set of wheels for road rides. I had one for 3 years and solid bike. I ended up selling it as I went 1x and I really need 2x for road and gravel. But that's just me.

 

[MRC01]

The gravel vs. road bike question is common. You can ride a gravel bike on the road, but you can't ride a road bike on gravel, so many people just get a gravel bike and ride it both ways. That's the simplest approach and it works just fine. A road bike is faster and more efficient, but you might not care. But a gravel bike should not be more comfortable than a road bike. If a road bike isn't comfortable to ride for hours, then it's not fitted right, or you should use wider tires with lower pressures.

Contrary to the latest fads, wider tires are not actually faster or more efficient than skinny tires (all else equal, appropriate tires & surfaces). The point is not that wide tires are faster, but they aren't (much) slower. What everyone's so excited about is that the performance penalty of a wider tire is much smaller than has been commonly believed for the past several decades. In some cases, there is no penalty. So if you want to run 30mm (wide) tires on a road bike, at around 60-75 PSI pressures, go right ahead. It will have great comfort and traction and any loss of efficiency might not even be noticeable.

In short, don't get a gravel bike because it's more comfortable, because it isn't. The reason to get a gravel bike is flexibility: one bike to ride them all (gravel or pavement).

All that said, I don't own a gravel bike. I ride my MTB for anything non paved, and my road bike for pavement. I put thousands of miles per year on each of them. But that's a whole 'nuther story.

 

[BISCUT]

The gravel vs. road bike question is common. You can ride a gravel bike on the road, but you can't ride a road bike on gravel, so many people just get a gravel bike and ride it both ways. That's the simplest approach and it works just fine. A road bike is faster and more efficient, but you might not care. But a gravel bike should not be more comfortable than a road bike. If a road bike isn't comfortable to ride for hours, then it's not fitted right, or you should use wider tires with lower pressures.

Contrary to the latest fads, wider tires are not actually faster or more efficient than skinny tires (all else equal, appropriate tires & surfaces). The point is not that wide tires are faster, but they aren't (much) slower. What everyone's so excited about is that the performance penalty of a wider tire is much smaller than has been commonly believed for the past several decades. In some cases, there is no penalty. So if you want to run 30mm (wide) tires on a road bike, at around 60-75 PSI pressures, go right ahead. It will have great comfort and traction and any loss of efficiency might not even be noticeable.

In short, don't get a gravel bike because it's more comfortable, because it isn't. The reason to get a gravel bike is flexibility: one bike to ride them all (gravel or pavement).

All that said, I don't own a gravel bike. I ride my MTB for anything non paved, and my road bike for pavement. I put thousands of miles per year on each of them. But that's a whole 'nuther story.

Definitely!

 

[MRC01]

One thing I will add is that on pavement I find a HUGE difference in efficiency between a MTB and road bike. My MTB is an efficient enduro/x-country type - full suspension, carbon frame, carbon wheels, weighs 25 lbs. ready to ride with pedals and knobby tires (tubeless). Back 8 years ago when I got this bike, it was among the lightest full suspension MTBs available. And it's still a very light/efficient MTB; I pass most of the other MTB riders going up the steep technical trails around here (they pass me on the downhills because I'm not that crazy). But "efficiency" is relative. Even the most efficient MTB is a far cry from the efficiency of a road bike.

Example: my local neighborhood ride, all pavement, is 14 miles, 1000' of climb, with a 20% grade section. On my road bike it typically takes me 53 minutes. On my MTB it typically takes me 62 minutes. That's 17% slower. These are averages over riding it many times over the years, the numbers are consistent. The ONLY difference is the bike, and any "normal" MTB would be even slower for an even bigger difference.

There would be a smaller difference in efficiency between a gravel bike & road bike. But a gravel bike can't do rugged technical trails, and I love the speed & efficiency of a true road bike on the pavement, and I don't want 3 bikes. That said, a more popular 2-bike combo is gravel bike + MTB. This is in many ways more practical.

PS: from what I read, this 17% difference is in the right ballpark according to some sources: https://pedalchile.com/blog/road-vs-mtb
---
A road bicycle is 10 to 30% faster than a mountain bike and is 15% faster on average at the same power output on smooth, paved surfaces. Riding posture, rolling resistance, frame geometry, and weight are the main reasons for road bikes being faster with the same level of effort.

 

[sk_pete]

i see the trend the mtb drag is "deleted" by electric system, which i do not like also because extra price.
i´m not a mud/mtb guy. therefore looking into flesh powered road or gravel bikes, in reasonable price range.

I got rid of my road bike years ago, being stuck only riding decent pavement was annoying/dangerous at times.

not problem in my place.
i´m about to replace this (disintegrating) old badboy 500€ (back then)
quite familiar with 700c 35ish tyres.

so the question is, which one.
ctm is local producer, that ticks another box.
https://www-ctm-sk.translate.goog/b...l=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=sk&_x_tr_pto=wapp
https://www-ctm-sk.translate.goog/b..._sl=sk&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=sk&_x_tr_pto=wapp

In short, don't get a gravel bike because it's more comfortable, because it isn't. The reason to get a gravel bike is flexibility: one bike to ride them all (gravel or pavement).

1st sentence is surprise to me, kaboom.
i was slightly towards gravel, now i´m back in point zero.
how about road bike+flat pedals ...? leisure cyclist here.

 

[MRC01]

...
how about road bike+flat pedals ...? leisure cyclist here.

Asking that question tells me the answer: flat handlebar gravel bike. However, you also said:

i have old and dying cross bike, which needs some replacement. ...

Very few bikes actually need replacement. Most can be refurbished to like-new condition. If you are a good mechanic or have a friend who is, it can be less expensive and more satisfying to restore a vintage ride to cherry condition, compared to getting a new bike.

 

[Jack Watts]

I own both, but if I had to have one, I would just have a gravel bike. The gearing is a little lower but with my road wheels and 28mm tires, I have absolutely no problem hanging in fast group rides, and I wouldn't hesitate to use it for weekday races. Think of it this way: you can always put a faster/more narrow tire on a gravel bike, but you can't fit a gravel tire on (most) road bikes.

The lack of top end gearing is only an issue in some very select circumstances, and if you aren't racing it just won't be an issue. The pros outway the cons for the gravel bike, IMO. If you find that you want to ride some actually gravel/mild offroad stuff and do some fast road rides, just get a second set of wheels; one with a 28-32mm road tire, and one with a proper gravel tire with some tread.

 

[BISCUT]

I'm a flats guy even on the road bike. I use the same flats as my MTB's. I am currently running my AL wheels with 28 Conti's. That is as thin as I get. I'm still all "bagged" out on my road bike. The frame bag is great for stowing extra clothing as it was pretty cold around me this spring. I most often ride around 5am with some just need a sunshine ride in the late mornings.

Bikes are awesome!

 

[javacontour]

Gravel bikes usually have drop bars, like a road bike. Probably slightly different frame geometry too and more "easy" gears for climbing.

The differences have become kind of blurred. Road bikes (well, most bikes actually) now come with disk brakes and thus have room for wider tires. Most road bikes now have 28mm tires, while a gravel bike might have 32mm. The old days of 23mm tires are probably over.

And with disc brakes, I might be able to fit 32mm tires on my road bike.

My Specialized Roubaix comp has 28mm tires, and there seems to be plenty of room to go wider should I need to.

I didn't have any issues on the Katy trail last summer with it. But I only rode about 30 miles. Not sure I'd want to go hundreds of miles with that bike on a gravel trail.

But your mileage may vary.

 

[Jack Watts]

And with disc brakes, I might be able to fit 32mm tires on my road bike.

My Specialized Roubaix comp has 28mm tires, and there seems to be plenty of room to go wider should I need to.

I didn't have any issues on the Katy trail last summer with it. But I only rode about 30 miles. Not sure I'd want to go hundreds of miles with that bike on a gravel trail.

But your mileage may vary.

When you start talking about tire width and fitment on road bikes, you have to a bit careful, because there's "published width" and actual width, and the actual width can vary widely depending on internal rim width. A 30/32 will fit on an older Roubaix Comp with the stock wheels; if you have a wheel with an internal width of 23-25mm, a 32 will measure closer to 35mm, and you'll likely be out of clearance.

For folks who aren't racing, there is really no reason to run a tire under 35mm, IMO (unless you don't have clearance for it). These days even most guys racing locally are racing on 28's. With the exception of individual time trials, 23's are pretty much dead.