Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

There was a GCN video about using them on descents. It's gotta be safer than sitting on the top tube... But I don't see why you'd want that on a gravel bike, it's only full-blown roadies going down Alpine passes at 100 km/h who'd need them, not people riding gravel bikes.

The only situation I can think of where this makes sense is if you're riding a really long route which is 90% road and 10% downhill/dirt jump or something weird like that? i.e. you need close-to-MTB capability for short bits of a ride but are mostly crusing on tarmac at road bike speeds where an MTB would be too slow.

10% downhill/dirt jump

Eh?
So...cruising at road bike speeds on knobblies and suspension..
But then you want to do a couple of table tops at Fort Williams?

@PhilDAS I'm all for both, but the lines are getting a bit blurry now. A light, fast, XC bike will be far more capable than this. This just seems like an a bike by numbers. Hey we haz the tech...we can build madness!

Saying that....would totally have a go!

Might be nice if your local "gravel" is more like 4"+ rocks? (sounds miserable tbh)

You don't necessarily need knobblies for off-road... Maybe if you live somewhere nice and dry like the US and your off-road is dusty rocky stuff that you can do on semi-slicks. Doesn't make as much sense in the UK admittedly.

In a way it makes even more sense on a bike like this because your position is already super aggressive (compared to an MTB) on a road bike. If you've ever ridden down an MTB trail on a CX bike you'll know what I mean, it feels like you're about to tip over the bars at any moment due to the saddle to bar drop and steep angles

So...cruising at road bike speeds on knobblies and suspension..
But then you want to do a couple of table tops at Fort Williams?

yeah, doesn't everyone do this on a daily basis? this is a key thing I make sure all my bikes can do

I can make my London commute a 6 mile bridleway rip, complete with rooty sections and short (slightly) technical descents followed by 6 miles of london promuter smashfest. Would be good to have a bike that ruled at both. I can even think of one bit where the dropper would be useful.

chingford -> epping forest -> canal -> CS2 -> aldgate?

#guessthecommute

Ha. Nope, Kingston, Ham woods, naughty bits of Richmond Park, naughty bits of Wimbledon Common, Wandsworth, Battersea park, Embankment, Westminster. Best in the morning when less peeps about but the best sections are done going the other way.

Absolute dog's dinner, the uglier cousin of the Slate. Get a MTB

Get a MTB

New thread title?

You joke but who wouldn't want a bike that could do that?

A ride where rocky or steep trails are sandwiched with road miles?

Sounds legit. I’ve used rigid 29ers and cx bikes for that. And touring bikes. A dropper could be neat.

@Howard took the words outta my mouth

Bet you could smash the South Downs Way on that, if you were good.

frysquint.jpg

Some CX racers swear by dropper posts. They run 1x and rig up the left brifter to dropper post. TrainerRoad how-to here
Doesn't quite invalidate the 'just get a MTB argument' but there's proper precedent for droppers on dropbars at least.

Gonna guess at US CX racers?

it is a typical n+1 bike

Of course! The land of full-sus MTBs winning cash prize CX races.

dropper aside i think an interesting concept is also the ability to run relatively high tyre pressures on rough roads with the full sus setup

just get a MTB

Why? Even on a 180mm full susser hitting berms and 8ft+ drops, the lower the better in terms of tyre pressure. Squirrely feel is not magically offset by having suspension.

Not always. I've been running my tyres down around 15psi and I actually think it is a bit too low for me. Doesn't roll fast enough.

More to the point, you're not gonna get much braking power from that front disc.