"Hit some singletrack" On a gravel bike instead of a trail bike? I've tried that. It sucks. Sure I can get to the trails 5% sooner on the graveler if I have to ride a road or path there, but on trail it's 50% slower, if not more, and pickier, and just way less efficient to manage the wrong bike there. It's the opposite of "Go fast when you can". I take my graveler to the post office or general store often enough, and there is singletrack I could divert onto from the rail-path, but it's just not worth it on the gravel-ROAD bike, not enjoyable.
I think some mountain bikers remember when rigid bikes, literally based on road frames built stronger, were the norm or even the only choice. Gravel bikes effectively existed 40 years ago, and many people, including here, will say that time sucked relative to trail bikes now. To see others going down the same path of basically road bikes with bigger grippier tires, then adding tiny suspension forks, sometimes even mild rear suspension sometimes, and now getting longer and slacker, too; maybe it's disappointing to some that their history is seemingly completely ignored. Like, no shit that a longer & slacker bike with big soft tires handles better on anything not pavement-hard & -smooth, that's why trail bikes evolved from the old rigids to what we have now.
Doesn't help to hear the yammering about how it's the new glorious thing, how you need to experience this thing of riding a terribly uncapable bike on everything from roads to singletrack, for a modicum of more speed when it's very smooth.
Aug. 3, 2023, 10:57 a.m. - Justin White
"Hit some singletrack" On a gravel bike instead of a trail bike? I've tried that. It sucks. Sure I can get to the trails 5% sooner on the graveler if I have to ride a road or path there, but on trail it's 50% slower, if not more, and pickier, and just way less efficient to manage the wrong bike there. It's the opposite of "Go fast when you can". I take my graveler to the post office or general store often enough, and there is singletrack I could divert onto from the rail-path, but it's just not worth it on the gravel-ROAD bike, not enjoyable. I think some mountain bikers remember when rigid bikes, literally based on road frames built stronger, were the norm or even the only choice. Gravel bikes effectively existed 40 years ago, and many people, including here, will say that time sucked relative to trail bikes now. To see others going down the same path of basically road bikes with bigger grippier tires, then adding tiny suspension forks, sometimes even mild rear suspension sometimes, and now getting longer and slacker, too; maybe it's disappointing to some that their history is seemingly completely ignored. Like, no shit that a longer & slacker bike with big soft tires handles better on anything not pavement-hard & -smooth, that's why trail bikes evolved from the old rigids to what we have now. Doesn't help to hear the yammering about how it's the new glorious thing, how you need to experience this thing of riding a terribly uncapable bike on everything from roads to singletrack, for a modicum of more speed when it's very smooth.