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For me, the key to this is when there are inevitably sections of road to deal with when linking up trails. In my experience the riding position of my MTB encourages a different attitude towards riding, my heart rate avg will be lower every time. The same was true while I had a Surly Troll on loan, which kind of split the difference between my gravel bike and my hardtail. It was v neatly in the middle for times on my usual loop as well, which makes sense given it's rigid but flat bar I guess.
There's also the shout of using the same bike with different tyre/wheel options for different stuff, which is something I've done a lot personally.
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A gravel bike is best in gravel. Problem being there's very little in England. Still a lot faster in the road sections, just not very good at rowdy stuff.
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at what point is a good cross-country hardtail going to be superior?
When you also have a car to transport it out of London
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at what point is a good cross-country hardtail going to be superior?
In my view, the drop bar gravel bike is a bike I can use everyday, whether a mountain bike isn't exactly something I can commute on and do road riding regularly.
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jackbepablo
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@dadbike
With all the drop bar bikes with clearance for 650b 2.3” tires, meant to “tackle tough terrain”, at what point is a good cross-country hardtail going to be superior?
Even for some “gravel” races around here an XC bike with appropriate gearing will almost certainly be faster and maybe more fun.
*Disclaimer: I own and ride a drop bar bike on 650b 50mm tires and enjoy it immensely. It regularly sees single track, but I know an XC hardtail would do most of what this bike does as well or better.