Re:
I'll give it one more go.
Retro Spud":3oj82lhz said:
dyna-ti":3oj82lhz said:
Ahh, but is this not the latest industry buzz word for what is effectively just cyclocross ?
What he said ^^ Amazes me how many times marketing can re invent the same wheel.
Cyclocross is a race discipline, it is riding a bike flat out for @ 45 minutes in the mud, you don't have any bottle cages, mudguard mounts or rack mounts on a cross bike, they were traditionally designed with 700c x 30c ish knobbly tyres in mind, 1 gear at the front, the geometry is like a racing road bike, fairly aggressive. A new 'gravel' bike is more upright, slacker angles, wider handlebars, often 650B but at least with a wider tyre than a 35c, it will take a rack, probably a front rack/anything cages too, it has a couple of bottle cage mounts.
ultrazenith":3oj82lhz said:
1. At my LBS I saw a gravel bike for the first time in Portugal. When I asked how the geometry on this 3 grand bike differs to my 90s steel MTB (the numbers don't lie), the proprietor was visibly irritated, but then he'd prefer to sell a 3 grand bike than encourage a customer to put gravel tires on a 90s MTB.
Maybe he didn't know the geometry differences, I don't, but a NORBA shaped 90s MTB with a 22" top tube and an 80mm head tube isn't going to work for me for instance, it's too long, and too short. Also, yeah, he wants to sell you a bike, it's his job!
3. I did my own gravel / all road ride, 120 km along the St. James way from Porto to Valença, and my 90s steel MTB, the famous Brian Rouke that's been loved by various retrobikers over the years felt tlike the perfect tool for the mix of tarmac, rough back roads, gravel and woodland single track.
A question for those who have one of the various drop-bar off road / gravel bikes: have you ever checked how much faster you the gravel / drop bar bike is on road or gravel, compared to a 90s MTB with fast rolling tyres?
I don't care how much faster I am, for me it isn't about riding something as quick as possible or cock-waving my way through Strava, and I rarely ride the same roads more than once (except the commute) as variety is the spice of life and all that. For me, and I suspect other people as well, it's the convenience of being able to mount bags easily, have a drop bar with multiple positions for comfort and control
and roll on the narrower than MTB, but larger than retro MTB 650B x 43 tyre. To flip that question around, how do you know you wouldn't be more comfortable doing that ride on a gravel bike?
Ultimately, you can do those long gravel rides on an MTB, or a retro MTB, or a cross bike, or a hybrid, or a crosstrail, or your mum's shopper, but taking the blinkered opinion that everything new in a shop is merely thought up so Mike Sinyard can put another floor on his house is as bad as thinking the only bike you can use for a gravel ride is a £5k carbon cookie cutter bike from a big company with a titanium mug dangling from the saddle bag. I am in the Industry, I see what they do, I get the resistance, but as well as being fashionable and faddy 'gravel/gnarmac/Grinduro/adventure/all road bikes' are A) getting people out there riding new trails; B) Actually quite good at what they are designed for and; C) based on the bikes your Grandad was riding (assuming he was French, active in the 50s and liked to get out and about).
The OP's question was
Has anyone built a Gravel bike using a retro frame if you have can I see some photos please also was it a worthwhile project or should I stick to riding retro mtb
not 'what is your opinion on a category of bike you haven't even ridden?'
I have built one, it was worthwhile, you can stick to riding retro MTB if you want, or do both, as long as you are out there riding it's all good.