Hey forum community, my wife is wanting to get a new commuter bike and mentioned either that she wanted a mtb or a hybrid bike. This got me thinking, are gravel bikes a hybrid between road and mtbs? Are they just a hybrid bike with great marketing? I am interested in the history of the bike itself if you can point me in the right direction that be great. I am a history nerd....per se.
Inception of the term Gravel bikes
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Shinscrape
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Hey forum community, my wife is wanting to get a new commuter bike and mentioned either that she wanted a mtb or a hybrid bike. This got me thinking, are gravel bikes a hybrid between road and mtbs? Are they just a hybrid bike with great marketing? I am interested in the history of the bike itself if you can point me in the right direction that be great. I am a history nerd....per se.
Can't point you to a history source, but, no, gravel bikes are a type of road bike, meaning drop bar bikes originally used for pavement riding, not a mix of hybrid bikes and mtbs, both of which typically use flat bars of one type or another. The key difference is drop bars versus various types of flat bars. In other words, if you walk into a bike shop and ask to look at gravel bikes, you'll be shown bikes with drop bars. If you ask to see hybrids or mtbs, you'll be shown bikes with flat bars. You can ride gravel roads on any kind bike, of course. Gravel bike in today's lingo means drop bar bike, though.
The gravel bike movement started when some adventurous road bikers decided to venture off into gravel riding. That opened up many thousands of roads to ride and the design to make riding gravel more doable followed. Today, gravel bikes are basically road bikes with endurance (more relaxed) geometry than performance road bikes and clearance for larger tires for the sake of riding dirt and gravel.
You can certainly use gravel bikes or any kind of drop bar bikes for commuting, but the key to whether your wife will be happy with a gravel bike will mostly depend on how comfortable she is riding drop bar bikes. That's can be quite an adjustment if she's new to drop bars. There's a learning curve and time period needed to get comfy with riding a drop bar bike.
The gravel bike movement started when some adventurous road bikers decided to venture off into gravel riding. That opened up many thousands of roads to ride and the design to make riding gravel more doable followed. Today, gravel bikes are basically road bikes with endurance (more relaxed) geometry than performance road bikes and clearance for larger tires for the sake of riding dirt and gravel.
You can certainly use gravel bikes or any kind of drop bar bikes for commuting, but the key to whether your wife will be happy with a gravel bike will mostly depend on how comfortable she is riding drop bar bikes. That's can be quite an adjustment if she's new to drop bars. There's a learning curve and time period needed to get comfy with riding a drop bar bike.
For me, a gravel bike is a better road bike. Drop bars for multiple hand positions and tucking in a bit to get out of the wind. Bigger tires for more comfort in general and getting off of paved roads away from cars. More relaxed position for better comfort. Mounts for carrying stuff (on many of them).
History wise, idk. There were groups like the Rough Stuff Fellowship that were riding endurance road bikes off road years and years ago. Surly had the Cross Check out before the turn of century which has bigger tire clearance that many road or cyclocross bikes.
History wise, idk. There were groups like the Rough Stuff Fellowship that were riding endurance road bikes off road years and years ago. Surly had the Cross Check out before the turn of century which has bigger tire clearance that many road or cyclocross bikes.
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I use my gravel bike, Niner RLT 9 RDO, as my commuter bike.
Comfortable, efficient, relatively lightweight and I like the multiple hand position options with drop bars.
I ran Continental Terra Speed 35mm tires this year on the gravel bike. Not quite as fast as my old GP 5000's, but the extra volume helps to keep the comfort up when speed is not really my focus.
Comfortable, efficient, relatively lightweight and I like the multiple hand position options with drop bars.
I ran Continental Terra Speed 35mm tires this year on the gravel bike. Not quite as fast as my old GP 5000's, but the extra volume helps to keep the comfort up when speed is not really my focus.
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Interesting stuff. She currently rides a baby mama mobile radwagon but wants a bike for commuting and likes hybrid bikes. I am thinking that she should try out a few different styles to see her preference. The last acoustic bike she had was a hybrid specialized bike that was over 25 years old.
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My wife fell in love with drop bars the first time she rode them.
I think some of it was comfort and flexibility of hand positions, and part of it was a mental switch that she felt like she was really biking now with fancy drop bars.
Thankfully, my wife can ride the same size frames as me as she is relatively tall, so it's easy for me to be able to let her try stuff out on my bikes.
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Well, I started racing on the road in about 1990, and we would do a lot of rural riding in central Texas that would incorporate some dirt roads. We would run our biggest tires (23mm!!!) to give a little comfort out there.
In the mid to late 90s, I used to race the Boulder Roubaix, and that has a good 25-30% gravel around Boulder Reservoir.
I I found that my 1st gen Surly Cross Check with 32mm tires was way faster and more comfortable on that course than my road bike!
That history out of the way, hybrid/comfort bikes were much more upright and generally of poorer spec/quality than either road or mountain bikes. They were targeted towards bike paths, commuter duty, and neighborhood cruising.
I might suggest that she try a modern gravel bike, because as @FrankS29 experienced, shallow drop, short reach drop bars could be a good thing for her!
In the mid to late 90s, I used to race the Boulder Roubaix, and that has a good 25-30% gravel around Boulder Reservoir.
I I found that my 1st gen Surly Cross Check with 32mm tires was way faster and more comfortable on that course than my road bike!
That history out of the way, hybrid/comfort bikes were much more upright and generally of poorer spec/quality than either road or mountain bikes. They were targeted towards bike paths, commuter duty, and neighborhood cruising.
I might suggest that she try a modern gravel bike, because as @FrankS29 experienced, shallow drop, short reach drop bars could be a good thing for her!
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I really believe it came about (gravel) from cyclocross. Cyclocross was started so that road racers could retain their fitness in the off season. These riders sometimes would venture out and do longer distance rides. Some long, XC type cyclocross races popped up and that was really the start.
As far as bikes are concerned, gravel bikes are not road, mountain or hybrid bikes. They mostly resemble cyclocross bikes and some cyclocross bikes can be great gravel bikes and vice-versa.
As far as bikes are concerned, gravel bikes are not road, mountain or hybrid bikes. They mostly resemble cyclocross bikes and some cyclocross bikes can be great gravel bikes and vice-versa.
You’ve nailed it. People later started using cross bikes as an all ‘rounder for road, commuting, snooping around on bad roads. Some still choose cross bikes for this mixed duty role.
If I could only have one bike for all of my double track use (paved and unpaved) and for bike paths (paved and crushed limestone), it would be my gravel bike.
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This is why I really like my Sonder Camino, which is a little more of a cyclocross rig/endurance road machine, geometry wise. It's great for exploring things that are technically a road, but more a fire road, dirt road, gravel road, jeep road, etc. If things start to be variable (big rocks and roots, etc) I'm just going to reach for my hardtail, so I have no need for a super slack dropper equipped machine.
I needed a new road bike, so I bought a gravel bike (Cannondale Topstone because prodeal) and put 32mm road tires on it.
As well as a 125mm dropper.
I love it.
As a road bike.
Meanwhile for riding anything that isn’t paved, I remain a mountain bike believer.
=sParty
As well as a 125mm dropper.
I love it.
As a road bike.
Meanwhile for riding anything that isn’t paved, I remain a mountain bike believer.
=sParty
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what dropper?I needed a new road bike, so I bought a gravel bike (Cannondale Topstone because prodeal) and put 32mm road tires on it.
As well as a 125mm dropper.
I love it.
As a road bike.
Meanwhile for riding anything that isn’t paved, I remain a mountain bike believer.
=sParty
I’m trying to decide if I’m big enough of a jerk to add an AXS dropper to my gravel bike to match my new XPLR AXS drivetrain.
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I’d say do it just so you can tap both levers at the same time to drop it 🤣what dropper?
I’m trying to decide if I’m big enough of a jerk to add an AXS dropper to my gravel bike to match my new XPLR AXS drivetrain.
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What's old is new again. It's what the bike industry is famous for.
cyclingtips.com
Bruce Gordon’s Rock 'n Road Titanium: a gravel bike decades ahead of its time
43 mm-wide mixed-terrain tires, stable geometry, drop bars, wide-range gearing, and front suspension — in 1993.
cyclingtips.com
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If you haven't looked at this thread, I feel a lot of the genesis of the gravel segment sprung from these users: I Beg You, More MONSTERCROSS
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I love monstercross. My gravel bike has 46/30 in the front and 11-40 in the rear, clearance for 29x2.1 tires. Works really well for all types of riding.
It has been ten years since Salsa launched the Warbird.
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