Why do you like gravel?

[Stefan Mikes]

I shouldn't have mentioned Road Cycling at all, my bad. I do apologise.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Why don't you ride it to this day?

I wish!! I was 15 and it's long gone. Wish I did still have it, they are collector's items today, eagerly sought out, often converted to gravel bikes and bikepacking rigs. Geometry was ahead of its time and they were beautifully built so that 40 years later the tange frame and forks are still going strong! Just great fun to ride. Perfect for gravel.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

I only have a couple of 26ers in my collection now. My old 90s Rockhopper my teen son rides as a go to friends house everyday bike and this more recent Ridgeback I swapped some swept bars on, great fun in the summer for deep in the woods. Bounces along at a good pace.

 

[jabberwocky]

I only have a couple of 26ers in my collection now.

That ridgeback is lovely.

I still have my 2011 Ibis Mojo HD as my non electric MTB, though its been years since I rode it. Not sure I can even get good tires for it anymore. Was also ahead of its time geometry wise, with the 170mm Lyrik on it it runs about a 66.5 head angle, and lots of friends made fun of me at the time for basically trail riding a downhill bike. Now thats on the steep side for MTB and you can get gravel bikes that approach that! The bike it replaced was a 2004 Turner 5 Spot which had about a 69 head angle and I was also poked fun at for my super slack bike at the time.

Also still have my Soma Saga with 26 wheels, bar end shifters and rim brakes. Beautiful bike with some sentimental value (and probably only sentimental value; the market for 26" touring bikes with rim brakes basically doesn't exist last I checked). I actually ran the Soma for a bit as my gravel bike when I moved to Loudoun county before building my Motobecane.

 

[Chargeride]

Gravel riding is a fast-growing style of cycling that blends the long-distance flow of road riding with the off-road freedom of mountain biking. It takes place primarily on unpaved surfaces like dirt roads, fire roads, gravel tracks, bridleways, and canal towpaths.

Looks like Im a gravel rider with the wrong handlebars

 

[Rás Cnoic]

That ridgeback is lovely.

I still have my 2011 Ibis Mojo HD as my non electric MTB, though its been years since I rode it. Not sure I can even get good tires for it anymore. Was also ahead of its time geometry wise, with the 170mm Lyrik on it it runs about a 66.5 head angle, and lots of friends made fun of me at the time for basically trail riding a downhill bike. Now thats on the steep side for MTB and you can get gravel bikes that approach that! The bike it replaced was a 2004 Turner 5 Spot which had about a 69 head angle and I was also poked fun at for my super slack bike at the time.

Also still have my Soma Saga with 26 wheels, bar end shifters and rim brakes. Beautiful bike with some sentimental value (and probably only sentimental value; the market for 26" touring bikes with rim brakes basically doesn't exist last I checked). I actually ran the Soma for a bit as my gravel bike when I moved to Loudoun county before building my Motobecane.

The Soma Pescadero has been on my wish list for years. But expensive to import here. Such an elegant steel bike. Rim brakes still rock!

 

[PedalUma]

The Soma Pescadero has been on my wish list for years. But expensive to import here. Such an elegant steel bike. Rim brakes still rock!

Soma is South of Market St. in San Francisco. Pescadero is little coastal town on the way south to Santa Cruz. Those steel bikes are so very nice. Compliant. They have bosses everywhere and are ideal for gravel and bike packing/touring. I also agree about rim brakes. I like Jagwire MTB pro pads. You will never get a vapor lock. A 622 rim has much better leverage than 160 rotor by almost 4 times with less rotational weight.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Always makes me tense while on the tandem working about the front wheel sliding. we have lost traction steep climbs on back too.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Always makes me tense while on the tandem working about the front wheel sliding. we have lost traction steep climbs on back too.

What tires are on there?

 

[Gionnirocket]

You kill me with your facts @PedalUma.
A disc brake easily exerts 10X the clamping force eliminating the smaller disc factor and then some...Not to mention 10X easier on the hand and better modulation.
But I do like you

 

[Rás Cnoic]

You kill me with your facts @PedalUma.
A disc brake easily exerts 10X the clamping force eliminating the smaller disc factor and then some...Not to mention 10X easier on the hand and better modulation.
But I do like you

I love the hydros on my ebike would never change them but the simplicity of rim brakes on an elegant steel bike & the braking is fine. It's horses for courses I think.

 

[Gionnirocket]

I love the hydros on my ebike would never change them but the simplicity of rim brakes on an elegant steel bike & the braking is fine. It's horses for courses I think.

Rim brakes function and can be more than adequate... but to use half facts to claim they generate more braking force is just silly.
I always found rim brakes to be a nuisance and welcomed disc brakes from the beginning.
ymmv

 

[Chargeride]

Rim brakes can be very powerful, but a bit of mud and its like wiping your bum with a plastic bag.

 

[jabberwocky]

The Soma Pescadero has been on my wish list for years. But expensive to import here. Such an elegant steel bike. Rim brakes still rock!

Its a very nice bike, just outdated by modern standards. With koolstop pads the rim brakes work ok. It was my winter commuter for several years before I moved to my WFH gig in 2017, since I could mount up the studded tires and only ride it when necessary. Studded tires are so. slow.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Back to the thread.... I kinda feel left out.
There really are no gravel paths in my general vicinity. Plenty of paved trail and such with many offshoots to earth trails so it's somewhat the same experience and I'm able to avoid vehicles.
That said it's been absolutely spectacular here in the lower Hudson valey/outer NYC area for the past few weeks. Not a drop of rain, 65°f temps with blue skies and wispy clouds... and the fall color just exploding making for optimal riding.
Easily my favorite time of year to ride.
I guess I'll have to settle for the crunch of autumn leaves instead of gravel while it lasts.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Looks like Im a gravel rider with the wrong handlebars

Ditto. Can't really call myself a "gravel cyclist" because I generally ride from home, and that means mostly pavement. But I'd prefer mostly gravel instead.

As for bars, my neck's a hard pass on drop bars, and the old MTBer in me prefers flat bars anyway — especially on gravel. Gravel racers may have their reasons for sticking with drop bars, but I'm not a racer. To each his own.

 

[PedalUma]

@Raz Cnioc, I have converted three Pashley Prosperos from the UK. Like the Soma's they are steel and have plenty of bosses for racks. They come with all Shimano Cues for gravel. On one I upped the 160 rotor to 203 for mountain bike packing and gave it those Schwalbe Hurricanes that are fast in the middle and have soft knobs on the edges. I get @Gionnirocket's point about hydros. But for a town bike I am fine with rim brakes with wide pads. I like simple.

 

[fooferdoggie]

What tires are on there?

Schwalbe Marathon Almotion not perfect but we mostly ride on the road.​

 

[jabberwocky]

Ditto. Can't really call myself a "gravel cyclist" because I generally ride from home, and that means mostly pavement. But I'd prefer mostly gravel instead.

As for bars, my neck's a hard pass on drop bars, and the old MTBer in me prefers flat bars anyway — especially on gravel. The racers may have their reasons for sticking with drop bars, but I'm not a racer. To each his own.

I take a pretty expansive view of "gravel". I think its anything thats mixed surface, even if thats "normal streets, plus rough pavement, plus paths/etc". I have a lot of friends who live closer to DC where there is basically no unpaved roads left, and they do rides that are ~80% pavement with the rest being paved paths, unpaved paths and maybe a little bit of singletrack in parks. I also know people whose gravel rides are 40 miles of road with 10 miles of actual MTB singletrack mixed in. I would say that creative routing to stay off streets as much as possible counts, even if almost none of it is picturesque gravel roads.

Flat bars are not uncommon in the gravel group I ride with. Several people ride their XC mtbs with flat bars. There are some flat bar gravel bikes, including a few Salsas that have been converted from drops. The Cannondale Tesoro is a popular gravel ebike in my area and that comes with flat bars. I don't think drops are at all a requirement for riding gravel.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

@Raz Cnioc, I have converted three Pashley Prosperos from the UK. Like the Soma's they are steel and have plenty of bosses for racks. They come with all Shimano Cues for gravel. On one I upped the 160 rotor to 203 for mountain bike packing and gave it those Schwalbe Hurricanes that are fast in the middle and have soft knobs on the edges. I get @Gionnirocket's point about hydros. But for a town bike I am fine with rim brakes with wide pads. I like simple.

Nice bikes.