Show us your Gravel Bikes

[bikeworkshop]

Sorry to pull us back from the sublime...

It's made by Jon at Chickens Frame Emporium near Brighton. A bit more on it here...
Post in thread 'Chickens Frame Emporium 29er' https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/chickens-frame-emporium-29er.443001/post-3632221

to the ridiculous

This has been tempting me for a while as a cheap way to try one out. How bad can it be?

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/schwinn-scree-gravel-bike-black/_/R-p-X8657138

This is what a BSO is like:

The cables will get sticky at a whiff of rain.
The headset will drag.
The tyres will puncture.
The spokes will snap (if you ride it far enough, which you won't)
The saddle will feel horrible and rip easily.
The grips will be hard, or sticky
The seatpost will slip
The brakes will barely work from new
The gears will feel horrible
The front chainring will wear surprisingly fast, again b if you ride it a few hundred miles, which you won't.
The chain will snap
The freewheel will pack up after sounding awful ... again after those few hundred miles
The hubs will collapse.

A very small amount of use will necessitate more money spent on it than it cost in the first place.

There will be nothing left of value.
just scrap, pollution and wasted resources☹

No- one is ever pleased they bought cheap.
A lot of the original purchasers "want to get into cycling" but think bikes are toy money
- and after owning one of these, they either throw it away and give up,
or they throw it away and buy something at least 3x the price.

 

[Takingabreak]

Sorry to pull us back from the sublime...


to the ridiculous

This is what a BSO is like:

The cables will get sticky at a whiff of rain.
The headset will drag.
The tyres will puncture.
The spokes will snap (if you ride it far enough, which you won't)
The saddle will feel horrible and rip easily.
The grips will be hard, or sticky
The seatpost will slip
The brakes will barely work from new
The gears will feel horrible
The front chainring will wear surprisingly fast, again b if you ride it a few hundred miles, which you won't.
The chain will snap
The freewheel will pack up after sounding awful ... again after those few hundred miles
The hubs will collapse.

A very small amount of use will necessitate more money spent on it than it cost in the first place.

There will be nothing left of value.
just scrap, pollution and wasted resources☹

No- one is ever pleased they bought cheap.
A lot of the original purchasers "want to get into cycling" but think bikes are toy money
- and after owning one of these, they either throw it away and give up,
or they throw it away and buy something at least 3x the price.

You can't imagine how tempted I am to buy it now and report back to the forum everytime something breaks or falls off

 

[bikeworkshop]

It would make a cool thread.
I reckon do a mega-offroad tour!



https://www.cyclinguk.org/routes/great-north-trail-full-route
First ask decathlon if they will "loan" you the bike, or then have a whip round on here if they won't.

Then blog it

Not sure about the saddle though

 

[Gtpulse]

Adventuring to Bakery

I can’t remember the last ride I did that didn’t involve adventuring for baked goods!

I’d like to try a proper gravel bike - I put some wider knobbly tyres on my disc brake road bike and it made sense to a point but ended up popping a front tyre when it got too rough. Suspect a wider tyre and I wouldn’t have had that issue. Mostly used my modern MTB this year which has been great on dry trails. Looking to winter riding and probably mostly road/tracks that don’t get muddy, I’m thinking a gravel bike may be the ticket. The modern MTB runs out of gears on the road and hums a lot!

 

[Twozaskars]

It would make a cool thread.
I reckon do a mega-offroad tour!

View attachment 886325

https://www.cyclinguk.org/routes/great-north-trail-full-route
First ask decathlon if they will "loan" you the bike, or then have a whip round on here if they won't.

Then blog it

Not sure about the saddle though

I’ll chip in the 99p

 

[bikeworkshop]

I’ll chip in the 99p

I'd offer a tenner but I don't want to be responsible for bringing another cr4ppy bso into the world. I've seen too many.

If you find one "used" in gwo () i'm up for sponsorship

 

[slackboy]

Adventuring to Bakery

An artisan patisserie and flat white is central to the gravel biking experience.

I never commute without one

 

[d8mok]

An artisan patisserie and flat white is central to the gravel biking experience.

I never commute without one

View attachment 886412

I’ve evolved to taking my own Mr Kipling items on the ride with me so I don’t have to find a suitable bakery (or just that I’m tight)

 

[Twozaskars]

I’ve evolved to taking my own Mr Kipling items on the ride with me so I don’t have to find a suitable bakery (or just that I’m tight)

Where do you put your coffee?

 

[d8mok]

Where do you put your coffee?

I’m 40 and still have never tried Tea or Coffee. I’ve zero idea why that’s happened and doubt I will now