As I’m looking to get back into riding after being away from it for a few decades, this helped answer a lot of questions for me. Gravel bikes are capable enough to be ridden quickly by skilled riders on easier singletrack trails. Have you used a mountain bike for gravel riding or a gravel bike on mountain bike trails? In my case, I had to choose a bike that better suited my ambition. This is the reason gravel bikes are shorter and have drop handlebars, their lineage is much closer to road and touring bikes. The bike industry has spent many years categorising bikes. Gravel bikes use drop handlebars becaus… This is a really great article. You can delve into geometry and such, but to me the biggest difference between a light xc mtb bike and a "gravel" bike is that the gravel bike has drop bars. Love the look of a pinarello but they all have drop down racing bars. In this article I get into three aspects of frame geometry: trail, wheelbase, and ride height. If your goal is to have diverse rides even on the same trails and make it feel different, Get a 29er and also a gravel bike that can take 650 wheels and tires. The only gravel "rule" you should worry about is having fun. I achieved a top-10 finish in the Dirty Kanza 100. I reckon I’ve ridden 90+% of my normal MTB trails (Surrey Hills, N Downs, S Downs) on my gravel bike. Click on a point to delete it, or click and drag to move it. Georgia. I ride to top, while she makes it halfway then walks. This turned out to be true, as our ride quickly left the pavement and went into beautiful forests, with wide double-track trails that seemed perfect for a gravel bike. I’m about to upgrade my trail bike to lightweight Canyon Lux, and I think it is steep and efficient enough with the lockout to be a great gravel bike. So I am trying to decide between a Gravel bike and a XC MTB. X-STRADA GLORIOUS . Everything from mountain bikes to most dual sport focused hybrids can rack up the miles with a smile. Take, for example, a gravel bike and a mountain bike each equipped with a SRAM 1x drivetrain. Is your dream to finish the Dirty Kanza 200 gravel race or something similar? Hey David, But what is the difference between them and a gravel bike? The combination of flat handlebars, suspension, wider tires, and mountain bike geometry gives riders maximum stability, traction, and control. Mountain bikes will, of course, be faster than gravel bikes on true mountain bike terrain like technical singletrack trails. Got old and fat, but recently lost weight, and the question was where and far and what kind of bike? Did that to get more areodynamic and lean forward. I enjoyed this article a lot. Find your perfect gravel bike at Canyon. My guess is it will likely only fit tires in the 25mm width range. Giant etc. Our knowledgeable and experienced team are waiting to help you create the perfect experience for you, so you can get back to doing what you love: exploring the world, on and off the bike! Gravel bikes are equipped with drop handlebars while mountain bikes use flat handlebars. Cannondale's Topstone Lefty is a gravel bike with air-suspension, Getting air or descending steep trails at speed is where a mountain bike comes into its own, We check over 130 million products every day for the best prices. A gravel bike is a drop-bar bike designed to let you ride over many different surfaces. A lot of its supremacy is simple due to tyre size. They have more relaxed geometry and much more tire clearance. The downsides of gravel riding with suspension are the additional weight and loss of efficiency. While mountain bikes use flat handlebars yet the available travel remains comparatively low at only gravel bike on mtb trails... Promotional rate of 0 % APR with a rigid gravel/touring bike that came with 3 inch tires … days. Anyone who owns one about your experiences with the Maxxis Re-fuse 700 – 32c tubeless tires 35mm seemed a tire. 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