- Today we're gonna be talking about
why your gravel bike may or may not be right
for the Cyclocross course,
and some of my favourite tips
for when you go to the bike shop
and you're looking for a new ride.
(industrial echo)
(low strumming sound)
So as the days get a little shorter,
and the night temps get a little cooler,
you start to get that feeling.
Cyclocross is in the air.
Your next thought is that you start day dreaming
about mud
and off cambers but then reality hits
and you ask yourself,
"How can I save a little bit of money?".
It might be tempting to think that your gravel bike
can tear it up on the cross course.
And the truth is, they might just be able to.
With all of the different titles that these bikes have,
Aero gravel, Regular Gravel, Cyclocross.
What is it that makes these bikes different
from one another?
(beating music)
So the first thing that we're gonna do is test these bikes
against each other on a small course that I made
just down the street from my house.
So first up is the Grevil,
just as I ride it on the gravel roads, with 42C tyres.
- [Voice] Three,
two,
one.
(upbeat music)
- In the other corner is the Orbea Terra
which is Orbea's gravel bike
and it's mounted up with Continentals 35C Cyclocross tyres.
Three, two, one. (grunts)
(upbeat music)
'Kay, last up is the Canyon Inflight Cyclocross bike.
It is the challenger but it's on its home court advantage.
I've got 35C Continental Cyclocross tyres on this.
Let's see how she does.
Three, two, one. (grunts)
(upbeat music)
Okay, so before we get to the results
of that very hotly contested race,
and trust me there were fans everywhere.
We're gonna talk about the three things
that I think are the big factors when you're picking
a Cyclocross versus a Gravel bike.
And those things are tyres, drive train,
and geometry.
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This bike, the Grevil, the Pinarello Grevil
has 40C tyres, you might be thinking,
"Hey, you know what, I got Grevil,
I can rock up to the Cyclocross race, no problem.
These tyres are probably better
than what the Cyclocross bikes have.
They're bigger, they should be better.
Bigger is better right?"
Maybe, have to wait till the end to see the results.
But, I'll say this, while they are bigger
and they do have a bigger contact patch
and typically they get better tread
and they'll be a little bit softer ride.
They are harder to get up to speed.
So every time you go through one of these tight turns
and you're dodging in
and out, that can add one second, half second
every single turn, if there's 30 turns, you know the math.
This bike, the Orbea Terra had the 35 Conti's
as did the Canyon.
These tyres get up to speed
a little bit faster traditionally
and so that's why on Cyclocross bikes,
you usually have a little bit narrower tyre.
(gentle music)
Now we're gonna talk about drive trains.
One by or two by, that's always the question.
And the truth is, is that it comes down
to personal preference.
I've won
and lost on both systems
and I've enjoyed them both the same.
They have differences though.
One of the big things about a one by system
is that I would say it's a little less versatile.
So meaning, if you're on the cross bike, it's good
because it allows you to have a cleaner setup upfront.
It's got the clutch in the back
and you don't have to worry about any chain suck
or anything like that, it's just one ring.
Just, it just goes.
When you've got a two by system,
you've got a lot more versatility,
especially if your bike is gonna double up as a gravel bike.
This bike has a 46 33 10 33,
meaning it has one to one gearing, 33 33.
So if you're gonna use your bike on gravel,
well then a 33 33 is one to one.
That is pretty good gearing.
You can go up a 10 minute climb with these big tyres
with a lot of ease.
So can you race Cyclocross a double?
Of course you can,
and I did for a long time.
I can only say there were a handful of races
where I really enjoyed having a double
and otherwise I was always in the big ring crushing.
So if you need more versatility, go with a two by.
If you're happy just being a full-time cross rider,
cross bike that's all it's doing,
one by is probably your jam.
(gentle music)
Okay, so I am not a bike geometry expert
by any stretch of the imagination
but being a pro for a long time,
you end up picking up a couple things
and you know what this means
and that means, so I'm gonna go through
a couple of the measurements that I think are important
on these bikes.
Okay, so first up is the seat tube angle
and that is important because if you're too steep
on a single cross bike you're gonna definitely feel
all of the bumps,
and if you're too shallow,
well then you're not gonna be in enough control.
These bikes all share the same seat tube angle at 72 degrees
Okay, so next up is head tube angle.
You can imagine that like this is 90 degrees, 70,
72, this is 70.5 as is the Orbea Terra
and the Canyon though is 72.
That's the big difference that I see.
It's steeper, it's a little bit sharper.
That's where you're gonna get that fast turn
so you come into something, it's a slower turn
because you're on a Cycloross course,
you have to scrub a lot of speed to make it through the turn
you get through the turn, but the Canyon's
because it has that sharper angle,
it's able to turn a little bit quicker
and a little bit more efficiently at that slow speed.
Whereas these bikes that are more slacked out,
they're longer, they have more, you know, geometry
that suits that long gravel riding style.
That's there this bike's gonna differ
entirely from the Canyon.
Okay so you think that you heard me on the geometry?
I know it was very technical, but this is YouTube,
you can go back
and you listen to it again, it's free, no problems.
So the big takeaway though, these bikes, little gentler,
little longer, little you know, they steer a little nicer.
Longer rides, think the gravel bikes longer ride.
This, the Canyon, for speed.
Cyclocross voom voom voom voom voom.
Steeper, sharper angles okay?
Other key differences in these bikes?
Bottom bracket height, very similar,
traditionally Cyclocross bikes have higher bottom brackets
so that they don't hit their cranks in the mud
or on the off-camber sections.
And these gravel bikes typically a tiny bit lower
to be able to kind of lengthen things out longer wheel base
makes it little bit more pleasant riding.
'Kay, then you've got the tyres.
The tyres on this bike, 45's is what the Grevil is,
will accept, probably even a little bit bigger.
This, I'm not sure if the Canyon would accept bigger tyres,
so you'd have to factor that into your decision
and the Terra, I would say is somewhere in the both of them
but Canyon you can see has really focused
on the back of the bike in mud clearance.
That has been their big thing with this bike.
You can see it is just a massive space in there.
Where I don't know that the Grevil has as much clearance
but it can fit those bigger tyres.
So, that is the information that I have for you
about these bikes
and the differences.
It's all about what you want
and what the bikes gonna do.
What you're gonna do with the bike the most
and if you're okay with giving up a little bit here
and taking a little bit there.
It's up to you.
(gentle music)
There are differences in these bikes.
No question about it.
They have different geometries, they have different purposes
but what were the results of the test around the track,
you have to know, I also really wanted to know
that's why we timed it.
So the Grevil came in at 32 seconds around the track.
Next was the Orbea Terra at 29 seconds
and then the winner, I know, it's a Cyclocross course,
but the Cyclocross bike, the Canyon came in at 27 seconds.
And those reasons for that are all in what I said earlier.
The snappier geometry, the short chain stays,
all that stuff, the smaller tyres all allow the bike
to get up to speed faster so it's not a surprise
that a purebred Cyclocross bike does better
on a Cyclocross course.
But would you want to ride that bike for five or six hours?
That's up to you.
I've ridden tonnes of bikes
and they all have different geometry
and they can all be set up to be really comfortable.
But you have to pick
what is going to make a difference for you.
What are you gonna do most with the bike
and that's what went over here today.
So if you liked this video,
and you wanna give it a thumbs up, leave a comment,
please do.
If you wanna check out other great gravel videos,
check them out over here
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