The Ultimate Gravel VS Mountain Bike Showdown! | Which Is Faster?

Have we finally got to the bottom of the gravel bike VS mountain bike debate once and for all? Simon is joined by an esteemed mountain biker, Isaac, from our sister channel GMBN for an epic mixed surface 100-mile ride past canals, over gravel, and up and down hills. Which bike will make for an easier ride? 👀🚴

0:00 - Intro
2:27 - The bikes
4:04 - Canal
8:25 - Climbing
12:31 - Descending
14:33 - Straight tarmac

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What do you think is better? Gravel or mountain bike? 👀 Let us know in the comment section below! 💬

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[gcn]

What would you choose? Gravel or Mtb? 🤔

[petrzaba]

Just bought my first gravel bike. This kind od riding is exactly what I do majority of the time. I keep my trusty XC 29 hardtail for the trail trips. Best to have both, every bike has its ups and downs but both are fun in their element. 🚴‍♂️

[shaun]

The best bike is the one you have for the places you ride, no matter what anybody else says, it's a personal preference. Where I ride, a Gravel bike might be 1-2kph quicker, but a hardtail MTB will be safer, quicker on the descents and 90% as capable everywhere else.

[raykleiner]

The question is not which is faster but which is more fun! The course taken clearly favored gravel, there are other courses bettter suited to MTB. Even so, really enjoy these videos with Simon.

[neilsmyth]

I love when they are going up hill, how Simon is breathing so heavy and Isaac is right beside him explaining without breaking a sweat. . lol

[Intentsrig]

Woulda been interesting to see power numbers. On the flat sections, climb and the pavement. Would like to see how much power Isaac was having to do to keep up.

[FlatSpinMan]

Isaac’s dry sense of humour is great. I loved his line about turning corners.

[lawrencegoodwin]

What I learned (again) is that I’d prefer to be on a gravel bike when riding gravel and a mtb when riding big jumps, technical, berms and mtb stuff. This ride was all gravel all the way. I didn’t see one double or table top. A good question might be which type of riding takes more skills. 😊 But the question being asked is “which is faster” one also has to ask what kind of riding are we doing. Clearly, a gravel bike is faster on a gravel surface, but a mtb is faster on mtb stuff.

[Wolit]

The funny thing is that mountain bike handlebars were not that wide in the past. That was so that we didn't have to worry about catching on trees when riding singletrack. We also had bar ends attached that allowed for a change of position when climbing. I still ride with this set up

[chrisridesbicycles]

Only Si can talk about CdA wearing sunglasses the size of a barn door. 😂

[JohnMFlores]

Looking forward to seeing more Isaac. Great addition to the team

[DavidMackenzie]

Looked like a great ride. Main take away for me was how much of the ride was traffic free. I don't want super gnarly mtb routes but I love being away from the traffic in those liminal spaces Issac mentioned.

[stujm]

I’d try gravel biking, I think any kind of cycling is fantastic and worth having a go, though I’m a mountain biker at heart. Excellent content guys, yet again. We need more crossover vids like this.

[omfgyhs]

I had a gravel bike and a 140mm travel MTB - the gravel bike got sold after a year of owning it. Truth is I was taking both bikes on the same routes and the mountain bike was SO much more fun and comfortable.

[colinburdon]

Add SQlabs inner bar ends and a RIDE FARR loop and the MTB would be many times more comfortable on a ride of that duration. Looking at that terrain the gravel bike may still have made more sense as it was not rough (Horse section excluded - they are a pain). Once the terrain gets rougher then the MTB with the additional upgrades to the handlebar would really shine. Can also find flat bars with 12 deg or 16 deg sweep for better wrist ergonomics and retain the control benefits on rough terrain. Great video though - would like to have seen who used the most energy over the ride as this is what I thought they'd do since riding together throughout.

[gilescudmore]

I have 29er MTB and gravel and thinking of getting rid of one, but each time I ride I think "this is ace I'll get rid of the other" so still got both!

[cruachan]

This in a nutshell is why I bought a gravel bike, exactly the type of terrain on my local routes (although a bit hillier because I'm in Scotland, but the weather certainly looked familiar!)

[martinaxe]

These are the kind of rides I dream about. Exploring new routes with flats, hills, descents, mixed surfaces and mixed weather.

[proinseasokiellig]

I was a cycle courier in London 30yrs ago, I started on a racing bike and slide out..eventually twisting the frame.
I got a mountain bike, the wide handlebars annoyed me, I got a hacksaw and chopped them down, ...this allowed me to fly through standing traffic without clipping their mirrors, it also transformed the riding experience completely.
You should try it.

[TiberiusMoon]

The guy in the back thinking @ 1:20
"He has such a nice bike, I need a new one."
"Lookt at it" *sigh*