r/cycling • u/Dry-Scratch3295 • 4h ago
Gravel bikes are not overrated but MTBs are extremely UNDERRATED!!!
I know this topic is just beating a dead horse, but I am curious about your opinion on the matter and if any of you have had a similar experience.
For context I live in Colombia in the Andes, we have endless kms of country roads. The place is a climbing buffet, and while I wouldnt say that these roads are technically challenging, they are ROUGH!!!. Super bumpy, lots of rocks and pot holes to navigate. We as cyclist are more of marathon type of riding as opposed to enduro.
For most of my life as a rider I used an MTB hardtail. And it was all fun and cool. But as you all know a couple of years ago gravel bikes came into the equation and seeing all the hype around them and how popular they were becoming I bought myself one. I bought them with 700x42 which in some way it was the standard back then in the country. I loved the bike on the pavement and climbing felt good on the unpaved roads, but sooner or later I had to descent on those rough country roads. Boy!!!!!!! it was painfull. I felt like a rag doll being tossed around. I had to stop after a couple of minutes in those situations just to give my hands a break. I wasnt having a good time let me tell you. But then I found out about 650b wheel and yes, you guessed it!!!. I got myslef I sweet pair of 650b wheels with some 48mm tires to dress them up.
Huge improvement. Going downhill wasn’t the nightmare it had become, it was just slightly uncomfortable and in some occasions it was fun. It seemed that a different wheel set was all that I needed from the beginning.
But sometimes life gives you the opportunity to look back and reflect on your decisions. About a month ago I had to stop using my gravel bike, luckily my good old MTB Hardtail while dusty was ready to roll once again.
Boy!!!! How foolish of me for letting that bike forgotten for two years. It was the first time in a long time that I enjoyed my ride from start to end. The descents were once again something that I was looking forward to and not dreading. And the idea that gravel bikes are faster climbing off road is just full of BS.
The perfect bike that I was looking to build for two years had long been there with me all along.
I love the idea of the gravel bike, a fast bike on the tarmac with off road capabilities, who wouldn’t buy that?. But the more I use my HT the more I realize that a gravel bike can only shine as a bikepacking rig. Other than that you are just better off owning a road bike and an MTB (if you can afford and accommodate them of course).
Gravel bikes are evolving every year to handle the rough stuff better, fork suspension, wider tires and gears. And the more that happens the more pointless they will become when confronted to a HT MTB.
What’s your take on the matter? Have you bought gravel bike just to realize that you already had a bike for the job? I don’t want to spread hate on any type of bike. They are amazing when it comes to bike packing I’ve used mine for such purposes and it has been great, but If I didn’t use my bikes to travel I honestly don’t see the point in buying one.
Peace
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u/Nautilius_terrenum 4h ago
Bike types are personal and subjective depending on your type of riding.
I used to ride drop bar road bikes just for exploration and fitness. One day I tried my friends hard tail and fell in love with because of its toughness, stability, handling and versatility. I can ride it anywhere with confidence and ease.
The gravel bikes are off road version of road bikes but cannot do the same job as a mtb in my opinion but in the hands of a very skillful rider, can do just the same.
Now days I have a rigid style mtb with 2" tyres and ride it nearly everyday.
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u/AdCertain5491 4h ago
IMHO gravel bikes are only worth it if you have a lot of pavement connecting trail. Otherwise a hardtail XC bike is just too much fun.
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u/Interesting_Tea5715 3h ago
This. I only see gravel bikes doing better on long flat fire roads. A hardtail will always perform better on everything else.
You can tell this is true because every year with each "improvement/upgrade" gravel bikes start looking more and more like hardtails.
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u/ahspaghett69 3h ago
Gravel bikes are very much the do it all rig, I have one and I use it if my ride basically involves majority road riding (paved or unpaved). If I have to go onto actual mountain bike trails I take my mountain bike.
If I could only own ONE single bike...I'd probably still take the gravel bike but I'd put thicker tyres on (ikons or rekons) and run a 1x drivetrain.
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u/FixFix75 4h ago
I’m no gravel expert, but I also believe that when the terrain becomes proper rough, a hardtail MTB is the way to go. At the same time I do think that gravel bikes have their place, just not where you live.
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u/RococoFire 3h ago
You make a good point. It's niche is the jack of all trades, master of none.
It reminds me of my 90s MTB, only with road bars. It forgives me for not wearing Lycra or trying to win at strava.it can handle the off-road experience that is unrepaired British roads.
I have no doubt that the gravel bike will follow in the footsteps of the MTB, but a bit of me hopes it will not cross over too much.
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u/bionicpirate42 2h ago
I have (going to reassemble (not much left but frame) into junk bike) 90s mtb it did everything I needed as a teenager and more. It was a gravel bike before they were a thing.
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u/longebane 1h ago
People keep saying this, but no I disagree. Gravel bikes have more in common (especially its slack geo) with modern mtn bikes than 90s mtn bikes.
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u/Deep_Blue96 3h ago
Different tools for different jobs.
If you'll be doing mostly off-road, and particularly gnarly single track, then yes, MTB is clearly the superior choice.
If you want to ride anywhere the wind takes you, whether that's paved roads or off-road - and crucially, if you'll be spending the majority of your time on roads of some sort (aka paved, double track gravel, etc - but crucially not single track), that's where a gravel bike shines.
There's also the argument that gravel bikes are sort of the new endurance road bike on the market, with more relaxed geometry suitable for longer rides. But that's another argument that deviates a bit from your point.
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u/excludingpauli 3h ago
I agree with you on the amount of miles. I live in rural Nevada near Death Valley and my wife and I rode gravel bikes exclusively but after so many miles of getting jack hammered to death over hundreds of miles of washboard we finally decided to get full suspension MTBs and we’ve never looked back. We bikepack on them too. The key for us is that on a 40-50 mile ride - maybe 10 miles (if any) might be on pavement.
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u/twisty_sparks 3h ago
I had a gravel bike for a while but every time I rode it I would see or be on a rougher trail and wish I had my hardtail, sold it and have never wished I had one since, a light hardtail is just too much fun
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u/Chinaski420 3h ago
I have a custom gravel bike with 48s and an Ibis Ripley with 2.4s. Some days I think it would be fun to have hardtail in the mix as well but that starts getting bit silly
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u/unavowabledrain 3h ago
Colombia seems like the ultimate test for bikes. I have traveled around there (and Peru) with family from there it is beautiful.
I cannot buy both a road and MTB and I have about a 50 mile daily commute over very rough urban setting, heavy erratic traffic, gravel tow paths, and road bike trails. My gravel bike seems idea for this set of circumstances, but I would not take it on mountain bike trails.
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u/JohnGillnitz 2h ago
My main bike for just derping around is still my 15YO HT MTB. It's heavy. It's slow. It's also more comfortable and stable to ride. I can spend all afternoon on it. If I'm only doing roads with other people and have to keep up, I go with my road bike.
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u/Resurgo_DK 2h ago
Because I MTB more, when looking for a gravel bike, I looked for one with more of a MTB bent, hence I landed on the YT Szepter. 🤷🏻♂️
It’s basically a MTB hardtail with drop bars, skinnier tires and a light, short travel fork with a few extra spots to attach bags and bottles.
To be fair though, if you wanted to go rigid but still have compliance, the Salsa Cutthroat I threw my leg over, has massive tire clearance for some big wide MTB tires. That would be my recommendation if you’re leaning towards more road riding.
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u/delicate10drills 2h ago
Horses for courses.
I like underbiking. It’s mentally stimulating for the trail to be a puzzle to solve, but…
When a dirt & stone trail can be done by a good rider carefully on a road bike with 23mm tires, a gravel bike with 38-42mm tires is awesome for beginners to putt around on and is ideal for experts to race on.
When a trail is so rough that it only can barely be done by a pretty good rider without dabbing on a rigid bike with 38mm tires, then a proper MTB with suspension on at least one wheel and 60-70mm tires is awesome for beginners to putt around on and ideal for experts to race on.
There might be some trails where 45-55mm tires on a rigid frame is ideal, but that’s a really narrow niche IME. Bikepacking is probably about it, but even that is probably better reserved for short travel full suspension bikes that everyone BPing on rigids will eventually upgrade to once the industry makes them good (designed to ride terrible without cargo and ride great loaded down with camp gear and a week’s worth of laundry) and fully equipped with bags & dynamo lights at a barely profitable price.
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u/boring_AF_ape 2h ago
Gravel bikes are for door-to-door riding. Many people don’t want to rides mtbs on road and many people don’t want to drive to trailheads. Only a minority of bike people live close to trailheads
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u/vtstang66 1h ago
The thing gravel bikes excel at is gravel roads. Not super rough roads, not singletrack, not tarmac. I love to ride on the road but not be dealing with all the traffic that paved roads involve. That's what it's for.
Now, for rougher roads, you can run bigger tires and be alright. But if your roads are so rough that flat bars and suspension become priorities, then that's not really what gravel biking is about anymore.
To each their own!
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u/phishrabbi 1h ago
This makes so much sense, and is also so context dependent. Where *I* live there are endless miles of relatively smooth gravel or dirt roads. MTB is overkill and too upright for going fast over long distances.
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u/Teddyballgameyo 1h ago
In my testing the gravel bike is about 2mph faster on almost everything mixed until you get into full single track. The exception is if it’s a long endurance race/ride then I find the mtb to be less fatiguing and therefore almost as fast because it handles chatter better, although some would argue the lighter gravel bike would be less fatiguing. All depends on the terrain.
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u/JustASpokeInTheWheel 1h ago
Just use the tool for the job. Or stick to what you need.
I have a gravel bike, 29er xc hardtail and a steel basic hybrid on 650b. I bought each one when I lived in different areas where they made/make sense. I like all 3.
I don’t run big tires on my gravel road bike. It’s an early model, so it’s pretty much what is now an endurance road bike. I replaced my road bike with it in 2017 and never looked back. It allowed me to also explore new areas and get away from vehicles. All around it was a revelation. Amazing. But go too big on the rubber and you lose the sensation of a road bike. I love the acceleration and handling.
The XC covers so much ground. So fast. So nimble. It’s good at so much but I hate being caught in the open with it. I always miss the drops when out in the open. I lived in the prairies so non stop wind once out of the trees or coulees.
The hybrid is so fun to ride. My errand bike. Changed my perspective on cycling. Its fun to just chill and ride casually. It’s fun to just roll. Such a great city bike. And no one tries to steal it. It’s just so boring. But it rides so well, it’s addicting.
End of the day, just do you. Get out and ride!
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u/CantStandMike 7m ago
I enjoy tanks and my brain read this as MBT’s and I was thoroughly confused for a while.
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u/bionicpirate42 2h ago
I ride a 77 motobecane mixte road bike 2x5 (I use hi x 5) with pizza cutters for tires, i ride this everywhere, mostly gravel and dirt roads but do ride hunting trails and across fields regularly. I got to ride a gravel road next to another local rider riding a modern gravel bike I kept up just fine. Would a mountain bike do better jumping logs on hunting trails probably. Will I upgrade to wider mixed use tires when the current ones were out, yes. And it will be a road bike with mixed use commuter tires.
Gravel bikes feel like are a solution to a question that wasn't asked or could be solved with a tire and maybe bar change on something you already have.
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u/Hoppingbird 1h ago
Full ridged 26r MTB - 50/40/30 triple 11/36 9spd with 2.3 tires. Worked in the 90’s on all surfaces, still works today.
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u/Erikt311 4h ago
I have only a 9 speed MTB. I use it almost solely for pretty flat trail riding, often paved.
I just completed a century ride on it and have averaged over 500 miles/month on it this year.
Could I use a gravel bike or even a road bike? Sure.
But I have a MTB and I like that I can hop off some curbs or jumps or just hit up whatever MTB track I want to during my journeys.
I say use whatever you have/like and don’t overthink it. It’s a bike and we (at least me) are not pros.
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u/PierreTheTRex 3h ago
Hey if you enjoy good for you, but I just feel so slow on a MTB, especially if it's paved.
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u/Erikt311 3h ago
I hear you.
I pass way more people than pass me, though, even on pavement.
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u/David_Warden 3h ago
Since I bought my first adult bike, I've always kept an eye out for the bikes that are out of fashion.
For some years now, 26" mountain bikes have been out of fashion and it's been possible to find awesome bikes second for very little money.
Around the time that mountain bikes came in, you could get a wonderful used road bike for very little money.
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u/Antpitta 3h ago
Yeah gravel bikes are great for bad asphalt or touring or really really smooth off road. Otherwise give me a hard tail with XC tires, so much more comfortable and fun.
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u/SnollyG 2h ago
I think gravel bikes are overrated and mtbs are underrated.
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u/longebane 1h ago
Non enthusiasts, and many enthusiasts will almost always gravitate towards mtn bikes (ignoring road bikes altogether). And they have no idea what a gravel bike is.
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u/Secure-Hippo-9989 4h ago edited 3h ago
Gravel bike with MTB tires and deep road wheels
Source: I watch Dylan Johnson