- Right, I think cross country mountain bikes
could be the ultimate off-road bikes.
They'll go up anything, they're super light,
and you can pretty much ride down everything as well.
- Alright, I'm not gonna disagree with that, Neil,
but if you ask a roadie what the ultimate do-it-all
bike is, they're probably gonna say a gravel bike.
Yes, that is really a thing.
Roadies do need special bikes for riding on gravel.
They can do pretty much what a road bike can,
but they can then start straying
into mountain bike territory.
Treading on your toes, Donny.
- Well, I think cross country bikes are more fun,
they're versatile, they'll win hands down.
- Alright, well, I'm gonna stand up
for the humble gravel bike then.
I think we should probably put this to the test.
What a place to do it as well, in the Dolomites
in the Sudtirol Region in the North of Italy.
I think we can find out which one is gonna be best.
- This is gravel bike versus cross country bike.
(rock guitar music)
- Before we get started then,
what actually is a gravel bike?
Let's clear that up, shall we?
At first glance, definitely looks
quite a lot like a road bike, and it does certainly share
an awful lot of the same DNA.
Drop handlebars are a must on a gravel bike, I'd say,
because otherwise you then end up having
an XC mountain bike.
Tyres, however, are normally an awful lot thinner
so generally between 35 mil and 40 mil wide,
so that's about 1.5 inches.
The size of the wheels are actually the same as a 29er,
so also the same as a road bike,
but you can get gravel bikes that have 27.5-inch wheels
and proper mountain bike tyres on.
So that does start to blur the boundaries
and a little bit more towards XC.
Then, the position on here, actually the bike itself,
the top tube is an awful lot shorter
than you'd find on an XC bike,
then that's because, when you're riding drop handlebars,
you spend most of your time holding onto the brackets here,
so that's an awful lot longer.
The position that you end up in, then,
is probably quite similar.
Otherwise, the only other thing is that
gravel bikes tend to be fully rigid.
Not always, but generally.
And actually when you ride one, it feels an awful lot like
mountain biking did back in 1991.
(wheel whirring)
Right, Neil, challenge number one.
A flat, five kilometre gravel time trial.
- What is that gonna prove?
- The supremacy of the gravel bike.
- And what is a times trial?
- It's like downhill but flat on gravel.
(upbeat instrumental music)
Okay, so riding fast on the flat
on gravel might not be like fun fun,
but being able to go quickly more easily,
which you can do on a gravel bike compared to an XC bike,
means that you can also go further more easily as well.
And that is one of the big things
about riding gravel is that you can explore,
you can get to new and different places,
and you can do it all without stressin' yourself
too much out on busy roads or technical trails.
(upbeat instrumental music)
- This is not fun, and rubbish, in fact,
'cause Si has got me beat on this one.
(upbeat instrumental music)
'Kay, Si, you have me beat on the 5K flat time trial.
Right now, this test is about versatility,
so we're on the single track, it's rocky, it's rooty,
it's what a mountain bike was designed for.
- Yeah.
(upbeat electronic music)
Hang on a minute, Neil.
Hold up, wait, Neil, wait!
(upbeat electronic music)
- Hey, so that was a lovely bit of single track,
bit rocky, bit rooty.
Obviously, I want a cross country bike,
but I've still got pretty wide tyres, suspension fork,
loads of traction, loads of comfort.
Also, I've got 720 mil wide bars so loads of control.
I wouldn't fancy ridin' that on a road, sorry, gravel bike.
How was that?
- Well, it was good fun.
I'm not gonna lie, though, I would have loved
to be riding my mountain bike down there.
That is for sure, but, although you've definitely
proved that cross country mountain bikes
are technically more capable,
I think gravel bikes, just slightly different.
You could just do a bit more adventuring on them, Neil.
- Adventuring ...
- So with that in mind, to prove the supremacy
of the gravel bike over the XC bike,
I challenge you to a 10 kilometre gravel climb.
(wheel whirring) (mellow electronic music)
- Si, are you sure this is gonna prove anything?
- Not completely sure but it's gonna be good fun, mate.
Everyone loves a 10K gravel climb.
Come on, let's go.
Aw, crikey, whoa, easy, mate, whoa whoa whoa!
(upbeat electronic music)
I was a little bit concerned that that might happen.
I know firsthand just how fast lightweight
cross country hardtails can, in fact, climb.
The only difference really between these two bikes
is the position.
Are you more comfortable with wide handlebars,
they're a little bit more upright,
or do you like to be a little bit
narrower and a little bit lower?
- Well, today my bike felt good, super light still,
obviously, tyres felt really fast rollin',
so, yeah, cross country bike climbs really well.
I think actually the next challenge as well,
tyres might come into play a bit more.
This is the technical climb.
(mellow electronic music)
Right, here we go, I've got big tyres, 30 psi.
I've got suspension, I've got really low gear,
should I need it, while tryin' to get up this hill.
- Alright, so I've got slightly skinnier tyres
with quite a lot of pressure in so I don't pinch flat.
But I do have aerodynamic wheels on there,
so I'm looking cool.
- Alright, the person who gets the furthest is the winner.
- [Si] You probably wanna go a bit faster!
- [Neil] No.
Hare and the tortoise.
- [Si] I could probably walk quicker!
- [Neil] Grinding the gears.
(mellow electronic music)
This is what you call I'm King of the Mountains.
- [Si] Is he still goin'?
- [Neil] Oh, not bad.
(mellow electronic music)
- [Si] (laughs) Well, hell.
(laughs)
Alright, fair enough, Neil.
Alright, Neil, I won't argue.
You have successfully proved that cross country
bikes are technically more capable,
but I would just say at this point,
I see that that's part of the beauty of gravel bikes
is that they don't make things so easy,
so you don't need difficult trails.
They make even the simplest
and more basic trails interesting.
- Sounds like quite a poor excuse to me.
- Well, yeah, it's the best I got,
Neil, it's the best I got.
How many gears has your bike got?
- [Si] I've got 11, but I could have 22 if I wanted.
- Well, I've got 22.
How wide are your bars?
- 440 millimetres
- [Neil] 720.
- Alright, how many hand positions
have you got on your 720 millimetres?
- One, I got one pair of hands.
- I've got five, and one of them
is that built-in bar end, beat that.
- (laughs) How heavy is your frame?
- It's about 1200 grammes, but it's kind of relatively
inexpensive aluminium. - Mine's 870 grammes.
- Alright, how heavy if your front fork, though?
- Well, that's 1800 grammes.
- [Si] Mine's 440 grammes.
- How much travel has your front fork got?
- Like, that much?
- Dear, oh, dear.
- We are going 'round in circles now.
Do you know what we need?
We need a decider, like an ultimate challenge.
Something like 113 kilometres
of gravel, off road, like a mountain bike
marathon race or something.
- What, do you mean in the Dolomites?
- In the Dolo--you know what?
I've been sittin' on this all lunch time.
What about it, Neil, the Dolomiti Superbike
113 kilometre mountain bike marathon race?
- You're on.
- Let's do it, right, if you wanna see that video,
then make sure you check it out.
You can click just down there, in fact,
and you get straight through to it.
Who is gonna be the winner, gravel or mountain bike?
- Who knows, click on the GMBN logo to subscribe
and over here for more information about the bike
I ride at the Superbike Dolomiti.
Thumbs up, I've got this bike.
- Yeah, good luck, Neil, you're gonna need it.