Yeah, it’s basically a roadbike with thicker tires, or an older mountain bike with road bike handlebars ment for going over gravel or anything that isn’t asphalt.
I heard people converting mountain bikes from
the early nineties to gravelbikes, because the frame is perfect for that!
Mountain bikes have been getting increasingly descent oriented, i.e. they’re good for going down rough tracks really fast. But that also means they’re less suitable for longer distances in less rough terrain, which is a niche that’s been filled by gravel bikes. Also road bikes are only really suitable for well maintained tarmac. Where I live all roads like that have heavy car traffic, so I prefer riding on back roads or forest tracks, which a gravel bike is much better for.
There’s a blurry line between a cross country mountain bike and a gravel bike at the best of times. It’s also been done to take a brand new XC hardtail such as the Scott Spark, and make either a gravel bike or a drop bar MTB, depending who you ask.
Yeah, it’s basically a roadbike with thicker tires, or an older mountain bike with road bike handlebars ment for going over gravel or anything that isn’t asphalt.
I heard people converting mountain bikes from the early nineties to gravelbikes, because the frame is perfect for that!
Mountain bikes have been getting increasingly descent oriented, i.e. they’re good for going down rough tracks really fast. But that also means they’re less suitable for longer distances in less rough terrain, which is a niche that’s been filled by gravel bikes. Also road bikes are only really suitable for well maintained tarmac. Where I live all roads like that have heavy car traffic, so I prefer riding on back roads or forest tracks, which a gravel bike is much better for.
Explains why they all had such fat tyres when I saw mountainbikes in a shop recently.
There’s a blurry line between a cross country mountain bike and a gravel bike at the best of times. It’s also been done to take a brand new XC hardtail such as the Scott Spark, and make either a gravel bike or a drop bar MTB, depending who you ask.