Show us your Gravel Bikes / committee meeting

[wynne]

Front mechs?

Yes, they often run really close to the tyre. In my experience the tyre deposits clayey clag on them and that gets transmitted to drivechain, eventually (often pretty quickly) bringing everything to a standstill. It's why a lot of cross racers ran 1x before it was a "thing".
This is my favourite bike ever but it's pretty much a dry conditions only ride. It hardly clears 33mm tyres and soon clogs to a halt in the clag.

I don't like marketing guff, but I can see that a gravel bike can be a useful, adaptable, durable, all conditions, fast bike that allows you to cover distance at speed and explore the rougher stuff too - mixing it up however you like.

 

[Tootyred]

Early 80s gravel bike.......

 

[wiredfool]

Got this to see if the whole wider tire thing worked for me. 7500 miles on -- this is probably it's best config with a 650x42 on it.

 

[highlandsflyer]

Yes, they often run really close to the tyre. In my experience the tyre deposits clayey clag on them and that gets transmitted to drivechain, eventually (often pretty quickly) bringing everything to a standstill. It's why a lot of cross racers ran 1x before it was a "thing".
This is my favourite bike ever but it's pretty much a dry conditions only ride. It hardly clears 33mm tyres and soon clogs to a halt in the clag.
View attachment 887475
I don't like marketing guff, but I can see that a gravel bike can be a useful, adaptable, durable, all conditions, fast bike that allows you to cover distance at speed and explore the rougher stuff too - mixing it up however you like.

What you want is one of those new Clay Bikes. I've seen all sorts of solutions for keeping clart off your front mech, but binning it obviously wins. Agree 100% the sound of blocks grinding rims is painful to anyone with an ounce of mechanical sympathy. Notwithstanding the impediment to their function. Something quite exhilarating about unpredictable braking though.

 

[wynne]

I've already built my prototype silt bike...