- What is gravel riding?
Well we've joked a bit on GMBN
it's a bit like old school mountain biking
but with drop bars
on something that looks a bit like a road bike,
or actually, more accurately, like a cyclocross bike.
But the questions been buzzing around my head,
who actually does this?
Is this for mountain bikers
that want to cover the miles on an off-road
or is it for roadies that want to discover new horizons?
Or maybe even both?
So I thought I needed to talk to someone
who knows all about mountain biking, road and cyclocross,
Beth Crumpton.
And with three under-23
cross-country national championships,
a road and a cyclocross racing career,
she knows how to ride all these bikes well.
Hi, Beth, how's it going?
- Hi, Neil, I'm good, are you?
- Yeah, all right, thanks.
Have you ever ridden gravel?
(logo slamming)
Gravel riding has become really popular
in the last few years.
Fire roads, dirt tracks and even single track
have become a stomping ground
of the new breed of drop bar bikes.
From lightweight carbon bikes
designed for enthusiastic fitness freaks
to bash out the miles fast, to steel bikes with bags,
bottles, tents and hip flasks,
at the lifestyle end of the market.
Gravel riding seems to grab the attention
of a broad range of cyclists.
(brooding rock music)
Beth, you've raced plenty of cross-country yourself.
Do you see much crossover
between cross-country and gravel riding?
- I think there's definitely a crossover,
especially between cross-country marathon
and gravel riding together.
Think you can see they cover further distances
on similar terrains,
so I think there's definitely a good crossover there.
- Well I guess there's the similarities, you know,
the sort of rider that likes doing big days on a road bike,
or mountain bike, is probably going to feel like
gravel biking might be for them?
- Yeah, it definitely could attract them to it, for sure,
'cause you're still off-road,
you're still covering big miles, seeing good sights
and it's definitely got something for everybody.
- Right, I think it's time for us to try it.
- I think we should have a go.
(upbeat music)
- So what about the bikes?
Where do they sit compared to a cross-country bike
and a cyclocross bike?
The nearest comparable types of bike.
The Nukeproof Digger is the mountain bikers gravel bike.
It's a mountain bike brand, of course.
It's got wide bars that are 500 mill wide
and a dropper post.
It's got a 71-degree head angle,
so a couple of degrees steeper than a cross-country bike.
And the reach on a medium is 396 millimeters,
compare that to over 400 on a cross-country bike.
The gearing is a 1x with a 40-tooth chainring
and 11-42 cassette.
Cross-country bike is likely to have a smaller chainring
and a wider range cassette, up to a 51.
Gravel bikes are also likely to have
more bosses on the frame to attach more bottles,
bags, panniers, mud guards and all the kit an adventurer,
or a commuter, would ever need.
Beth is riding a cyclocross bike.
The original off-road drop bar bike.
Cyclocross has been around for almost 120 years.
It's similar to a gravel bike but not exactly the same.
It's got a higher bottom bracket for pedaling all the time
around in muddy field and not as much tire clearance.
Gravel bikes can run wider, more comfortable tires.
So for me, my gravel bike has sort of been the thing
that I go out and do not a very long rides to be fair,
like a 20, 30K.
Kind of quick, linking up little loops of single track
with a bit of road.
What sort of bike would you ride on that style of ride?
- I think I'd definitely go for
a more relaxed kind of cyclocross bike.
So the one I'm on today is more racy,
but I'd probably pick one very similar
but with a bit more, you know, wider tires,
a bit wider handlebars,
just with more relaxed angles on my bike.
- Yeah, on my bike I'm running 38 tires, and it feels great.
Even on the road, they don't feel as bad as I thought
and off-road it's really good, actually.
I guess it gets a bit dicey in single track.
So for me, it's a leisure thing, I just go off and ride.
But we are seeing a lot of races,
big races like Dirty Kanza seems to have taken hold
and even GranGiro, what'd you think about those?
- There's definitely a market for races
and I think the scale of people riding those races
are ever increasing
and I think it's a really exciting aspect of the sport
as well, that cycling forever developing,
and it's exciting for off-road, as well,
that it gets a mix of crowd, a mix of mountain bikers
and a mix of road riders, as well.
- [Neil] It's funny, I look at some of the pictures
I see on Instagram of those epic American vistas
of endless fire roads.
We don't really have that type of ride in the UK do we?
- We don't, no, and I think that's why
gravel riding in the UK is so much different.
We've got a lot of canals, we've got loads of tow paths,
which are perfect for those gravel riding scenes to ride on
and then you've got yet open fields, as well.
And you can link up parts of woods and roads
and tow paths together.
- I guess that sort of answers the question
I posed this video,
is in the UK it's sort of what cross-riders do,
riding through muddy bogs,
and what mountain bikers do as well, riding through forests.
So I guess it's going to attract those people
to do the same sort of thing, but on a different bike.
- For sure, and I think that's what's so exciting,
especially about gravel riding.
(upbeat majestic music)
- So the gravel bike has actually replaced
the road bike, for me.
I can do those rides linking the final off-road bits
by bit of fire road, bit of road.
But what do you feel about the sort of
hipstery adventure riding, Beth?
- Yeah, I think it's exciting and fun
and it poses the fact that you can
go further for longer on those big adventures
and make a big trip of it.
- Even get away we're sticking a beer in your bottle cage.
(gentle uplifting music)
So, Beth, who do you think gravel bikes are for?
- I think it's easy to say it's for everybody.
It's a happy medium for mountain bikers
wanting something different
to not be quite classed as a roadie.
- There will be some of that I, suppose.
I'm not bothered, but definitely some money bikers
don't want to be associated with being a roadie, maybe?
- I think that is the thing,
and I think gravel riding, for sure,
helps meet in the middle. (laughs)
- It's definitely becoming so popular.
We've also got niches like the racing side of it
and the lifestyle, bikepacking side of it, as well.
Which is cool, it involves a lot of people.
- Definitely, and I think bikepacking's such a cool thing.
You can see amazing things and go to some really cool places
and meet new people, and I think gravel riding,
it can bring two different types of bike riders together.
- Absolutely.
And we've seen GCN do a lot of gravel videos,
this is you know one of the first few videos
we've done on GMBN.
But I definitely think there's a happy medium,
where, as you say, everyone can do a bit of it.
I've been to Iceland, with Si, where he rode a gravel bike,
I rode a hardtail, so the crossover's definitely there.
It's the adventure side of a gravel bike that I really like.
Stick some frame bags on and I can a bikepacking on a bike
that's more robust than a road bike
and I'm more able to cover big miles
than my cross-country bike.
I suppose it's a bit like old school bike touring
but, in my eyes, it's a lot cooler,
and don't forget you can throw in some proper off-roading
on a bike that can handle it.
More bikes, more options, it can't be a bad thing, surely?
Let us know in the comments down below
if you're into gravel bikes
or if you're curious about trying one out.