Is A Gravel Bike Better Than A Mountain Bike?

This is gravel bike vs mountain bike: beach edition! Manon and Anna from @gmbntech race Battle on the Beach in Wales to compare how their respective bikes perform on the sand. Manon rides an Orbea Terra equipped with Shimano GRX Di2 and GRX Carbon wheels, whilst Anna’s on a Canyon Exceed using Shimano’s XTR mechanical groupset. Who will win?

00:00 Intro
01:35 The bikes
06:35 The race
15:13 Summary

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Which bike would you choose? 👀 Let us know in the comments below! 💬

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[gcn]

Which bike would you choose? 👀 Let us know in the comments below! 👇

[ents]

Whether gravel or mountain bike makes no difference. The main thing is to be out in the fresh air and on a bike.

[mtzeeh]

I bought a Mountainbike first, and then bought a Gravelbike in a size down, because I wanted to get something that is faster on roads, but with a little added comfort compared to a road bike. Love both of them, but definitely prefer the mountainbike because it can just go everywhere, even if you're a little slower.
Absolutely love how the matte black Orbea Gravelbike looks.

[cra_]

13:05 Check out that madlad with those plus tires holding onto the fork crown for aero

[stujm]

You two need to do A LOT more videos together, this is epic. Absolutely love it.

[knarf_on_a_bike]

I loved Anna's "suspension sounds" at 1:57. 🤣🤣🤣

[matt_acton-varian]

Welcome to the Roadie channel Anna! These two flying the flag for women's cycling on GCN, loving it! Surely a dream team for International Women's Day content on both channels!

[sethgriffiths]

Anna is a superstar, loved her attitude and presenting style, wish she was a roadie and came over to support Manon on more comparison rides! Great team and great video!

[antonintopol]

Here in Czechia, gravels are just second bikes for roadies :D But frankly, XC bike fitted with slim tyres can do what gravel can. Gravel with thicker tyres is not even close to XC bike. But 99% of non-tarmac routes are 1/3 roots and loam, 1/3 rock gardens, 1/3 dirt paths. Tried gravel few times, makes no sense at all to me. Felt like MTB from 90s with worse gearing.

[duyle]

Let’s look at the terrains.
Gravel bike:
Paved roads = yes
Hard pact dirt and sand = yes
Loose beach sand = no
Mud = yes
Gravel = yes
Technical climbs = no
Flow trail and single track = yes
Steep technical descents = no
Feeestyle drops = no
Urban downhill and freestyle = no

Mountain bike:
All the above = YES

Now which bike is the true “do it all”?

[BIIIKES]

Gravel bike is a "do most things" bike. A hardtail MTB is a "do it all" bike.

[dvs]

Saw lots of gravel bikes walking on the single track part. Didn’t see many mountain bikes walking except when they encountered the large groups walking, which had a lot of drop bars in the pack. 😉

[pauloosterhout]

Thank you Anna and Manon for this super video! The Battle of the Beach looks like one of the most fun cycling events ever. Unlike at a lot of road races, everyone there had a big smile on their face.

[smefour]

Well the massive que for the single track probably killed it for the MTB

[frankharradence]

Good video, for me a gravel bike. I own a Shand Stooshie gravel spec bike, Rockshox 40mm fork, Zipp 303s wheels 38mm tyres & Di2 GRX. Changed my standard Cassette to one with a 40 tooth large ring,
Little larger than Shimano recommend but in two years use absolutely no problems, many others have also done this mod to their GRX. Massive improvement to climbing etc.

[estebanarayaguzman]

Hardtail for sure. You can have a 36t and depending of your tires you can be very fast on roads, gravel roads, desert type flat roads, and still have the capabilities for downhills / uphills, and pure mountain. More comfort ride position, fork. etc.

[reinholdachleitner]

The Gravel bike would be my choice but awesome GCN video, really nice to see Anna and Manon racing.Hope there will be be more in the future.

[daviddunbar]

Need more videos with Manon and Anna, throw Jenny into the mix and you'll have great content

[fangxx]

Great duo right there. Would love to see more content with them together.

[Sozzled]

I remain unconvinced by gravel bikes, especially in the UK. They can't cope with the really rocky stuff, which is much of the off road terrain here. Today I did a ride which covered road, rocks, gravelly tracks, mud and boggy fields. Did it all on my hardtail MTB which never missed a beat. Gravel bike just wouldn't have coped.