Show us your Gravel Bikes

[M_Chavez]

"road" sections

PS a CX bike will be a lot faster than an adventure/gravel/rando. You'd want to get to the destination as quickly as possible so you can get off the dang thing

 

[bikeworkshop]

It was after VAT at the time, but admittedly, it was on big sale at the German retailer.

Feel your pain re open doors - I used to have a wee woodwork side business in addition to my day job that I ended up closing because keeping the door open ended up costing 4 times more than before brexit. I know we're buggered, but knowing it doesn't mean that I wholeheartedly agree with it

"Cough cough"
Taps gavel on mahogany tabletop

"Ladies and gentlemen - may I bring this meeting back to the matter in hand"
My bike here, affectionately known as the TiBride, started life as a dawes discovery 601 hybrid , supplied new in 2004 due to my beautiful longstaff having been eaten by a car.

(I was spat out, but spent some time recovering a serious brain injury)

I bought in the dawes because it had touring geometry and IS disc mounts, so I could fit drop bars, 105 stis and avid bb7 calipers.

I don't really like aluminium frames beyond their function and weight, so I designed a frame using this and galaxy angles and lengths, but dropped the bb a couple of extra cm and adjusted tube length slightly to my own preference.
And a little extra tyre clearance.

I then got the frame made in 3/2.5 titanium alloy by XACD in China. A story in itself - but the workmanship is fantastic.

It now carries a hydro 105 compact 11 speed groupset with slx 11-40 cassette and hope road 4pot calipers.
Oh and Purple Pandas, as you can see.
The perfect bike

 

[wynne]

Great thread rescue there.
My original "gravel" bike. A very old Orbea (Arama Tour I think it was called - the decals have long since worn off). Came with IS disc mount and canti studs (never tried both at the same time!).
Rode from Dieppe to Paris on and off road on it a few Sundays ago.

 

[M_Chavez]

Since we've decided it's a committee meeting, we need to define what constitutes a "gravel" bike.
It's most certainly not the ability to go on gravel (I can do that on my 25c summer road tyres or on a 26er), not a 1x chainset (I've got that on all my bikes), not drop bars (I had them on my monster cross).
So how is a "gravel" different from a monster cross, CX, tourer, randonneuse?

 

[grantoury]

we need to define what constitutes a "gravel" bike.

Good luck with that

 

[wynne]

Didn't mean to agitate your aggregate.
More of state of mind. I'm with you.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Call the Marketing Team!

 

[M_Chavez]

I'll start:
A CX frame is too aggressive, with too high a BB. It loses out significantly to a "gravel" frame.

You want to be able to enjoy a long day in the saddle, so the seatpost needs to be quite relaxed, otherwise you won't fit an honest man's Lepper onto it, never mind an overpriced-overhyped-hipstercandy brooks.

 

[bikeworkshop]

I bring you the 3 reasons:

A Gravel bike isn't a Cyclocross Bike because:
It has a lower BB

A Gravel Bike isn't a MTB because:
It has drop bars

A Gravel Bike isn't a Touring Bike because:
Touring Bikes don't exist in America

 

[grantoury]

I think the way "gravel" is confusing and muddying genres is rather liberating, it is a good thing that people see bicycles are useful for different purposes, and they can be configured in more ways than one.