6 Gravel Bike Trends That REALLY Annoy Us!

Gravel bikes seem to be taking over the world of cycling, but quite frankly, they are deeply flawed. As the discipline as boomed, it seems as though the tech hasn't been able to keep up with the level of popularity and it's left the bikes feeling a bit confused. We've rounded up all of those flaws and told you everything that we hate about gravel bikes. They are by no means perfect and there's a few things you should know before buying a gravel bike. What annoys you most about gravel bikes?

00:00 - Intro
00:56 - Gearing
03:09 - Rack Mounts
04:21 - Tyre Choice
05:31 - Lack Of Aggressive Tyres
07:11 - Too Pricey
08:51 - One Size Doesn't Fit All
10:18 - Outro

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#cycling #bikes #bicycles

[Hintonbro.]

Can barely remember ever wanting higher gears… but many many times wanting to shift to a lower gear and finding no more ! 😢

[grizlgrinder]

The versatility of the gravel bike is the appeal. I can hop on and off different surfaces, leaving my house on tarmac, getting on a crushed limestone rail trail, heading out to the country where I find varying degrees of light to chunky gravel on hills that can reach 15% gradient. As for tires, the Rene Herse Hurricane Ridge 48mm's are perfect for gravel while rolling smoothly over tarmac.

[nostromosolo]

I think gravel bikes splitting into two categories of adventure bikes AND race bikes is good. It leaves both to excel at their indented use. Id rather not compromise my bike for bikepacking so that a guy on the other side of the spectrum can do gravel racing with the same machine.

[gregbrown]

My gravel bike is a Giant Escape 3 hybrid converted to a 9 speed 11-36 cassette with a triple up front 48/36/26, hydraulic brakes, 45mm Pirelli Cinturato's and 790mm flat bars. All for under £1000 including the bike itself (£415 Jan. '22). I have toured on it, forest trails and various bridle paths and what have you.
My road bike, because I like a bit of comfort, is a Boardman 8.9ADV gravel bike with the original tyres removed, a Redshift stem and a set of 32's fitted. It doesn't have many attachment points, but I don't care. I live in a very hilly area so the standard gearing is ok but it wouldn't be any good at all if I loaded it up with bike packing stuff.
In other words, there's a lot of marketing shite going on and I for one haven't fallen for it. What I've done is a bit of research, decided what suits me and ignored the bike industry.

[Jasmine-ziqh]

As others have said — the gearing issue is pretty ridiculous. With a 1x setup on a 11-42, I really had to switch down to a 36T chainring — which is great, except it obviously leads me to spinning out when I’m just using it on steeper descents or for road-riding. For a bike that solidly works as both a bikepacking/gravel bike and road-capable all-arounder, I really think a wide-range 2x is the best option.

[lgarcia]

Gravel bikes are cool. But they can be very expensive as you mentioned. I rented one, did 40 miles and felt the vibration of each one of those miles in my arms for a week. The cost to buy of that one was $1700. The owner showed me a better option with a suspension for $5000. It was too much for me. I did love it, so the idea that came to mind was that I was basically riding a MTB with drop bars. And I did just that, fixed my old MTB into a “gravel” bike with drop bars. It does great! And I only spent $360 fixing it and replacing old parts.

[stefanwagener]

Excellent points, but the gearing misconception is also valid for road bikes, as not everyone is a young, slim and fit pro rider and might use it for long bike packing days in the Alps. So lower gearing would help road bikes as well, but I agree that for gravel bikes it becomes even more obvious of how wrong the gearing is. For the last 4 decades I always looked for the bikes with the lowest gearing and modified my current road bike from an 11-34 cassette to a MTB cassette with 11-40.

[lesand]

Thank you for making your first point that especially for bikepacking most gravel bikes don't have low-enough gears! I couldn't agree more!

[JonRoth_MusicSourceProDJ]

I'm a firm believer in a 2X drivetrain for gravel bikes. The 1X just doesn't have enough gears for the variety of terrain one may encounter. IMHO

[fencedmusic]

I've got a gravel bike, it has brilliant gearing, all the mounting points i could ever need, mud guard mounts, pannier rack mounts, and running g one all rounds and its great on the road and the trail.. 👍

[cyclingjoezone]

I’m so glad I still ride the original gravel bike, my atb (all-terrain-bike), a 1986 Zebra I bought new at Bicycle Habitat.
I run 1.6 Continental Contacts.

[kinglamhui]

One of the point Gravel bike better than touring/ hybrid bike is the weight usually sit between 8.5kg to 10.5kg, plus drop bar provide different handling positions and more aero, in a long distance it saves a lot of energy, and reduce chance of fatigue

In terms of mounting bolts, there are two types gravel bike, for example gravel “road” bike like Specialized Crux and Specialized Diverge which is on the touring adventure side which has as much as mounting points as touring bike

Then gear raito, 1x setup is very enough for a average 9kg ish gravel bike, although touring/ mountain bike got a lower ratio, they are also from 12kg up, so that that 3kg different makes up a lot more room for luggage if you are doing bikepacking (touring)

Tyre clearance, new disc brake road bike can usually fit up to 35mm tyres, but on rougher gravel road, 35mm is not enough unless you are pro…..plus bottom bracket of gravel bike sits a bit higher than road bike, which does a better job when you are riding on forest terrain, also the vibration absorption of the frame is much better than a road bike

[Prosper_NA]

This video can be summed up by the following: Gravel bikes are the adjustable wrench of bikes, and while it works almost everywhere, the experience is typically better with a set of wrenches i.e. bikes designed for the specific use case. Also, there aren't enough tire options.

[philippethibaut]

Spot On. Going for the adventure side I went for a Bombtrack Beyond, 36t 11/42, and fitted Smart Sam's 2.1. Plenty of attach points. Very happy about this setup. But found the EUR 2600 price tag a bit pricey...

[joelcade]

Good summary. We all knew these & they will continue to be issues but oh agree about the gearing. Huge front chainrings on a lot of gravel bikes that will never see a race of any kind.

[billydcunningham]

Ya!!! Finally, intelligence !! Extreme low gearing, isn't offered. Which is most important system on bicycle. I added triple crank, shamano 9020, 22 x30x40, to my rei adv 3.2 10spd cassette 11 to 36. And dropped weight.650b x50mm .20lbfront 23rear. Comfortable,
Very efficient. Hauls large, heavy loads. Total confidence. Gearing, I would like to play with 11x40. I've never pushed, guess some enjoy pushing. Many new bickers, get discouraged (can't get up hill, or even crash. Enter electric market. No thanks, for me!!! 👍😁

[SergioCristancho]

Taking notes... But agree to disagree on many levels... My main concern is why to say or supply a electronic shifting on a gravel bike... That is destined for the most harder longer and distant places to ride... When you need is not micro smooth shifting you need is a long last durable group set that has not limited battery... Except your legs... Ergo a lot of potential in gears... For many different cadences and comfort.

[Pionirish]

Spot on with the rack mounts!

On tyres I find it's more of an issue with 650b tyres not having enough choice. I can get lots of lightweight options but no super tough options for commuting or bikepacking, like say Marathon Plus or Conti Contact Plus, which only come in 700c

This is on the face of it a bit of a clickbait-y list video, but is actually very nicely considered. Thanks!

[MattRose]

I haven't yet felt to buy a dedicated gravel bike. When I'm afraid to leave the tarmac with my road bike, or winter approaches, I just put some cyclocross tires on like you said. When I want to go on trails, I take my mountainbike. And for longer tours I have my trekking bike fit with Schwalbe Marathon tour plus for rougher terrain and mounts for four saddle bags.

[veiledozark]

Good points, especially gearing and rack mounts