Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

What's the context here??

ISIS BB.

Drop isis

That is sort of what makes them fun though. Pingin’ 40mm tyres down a loose rocky decent, clinging on for dear life and hoping you front wheel doesn’t dig in and fling you over the bars to certain death, is sometimes what you want out of a ride

Although I’m more in the camp that “gravel” bikes are a bit of a con, we should all still be riding cross bikes with 33-35c tyres.

I have 44c tyres on my bike currently and they just feel really heavy

Badger Divide somewhere north of Glen Lyon

Some 45 tyres felt heavier than other, also look at the weight as there are some around 450g (light) up to 650g (heavy).

It is also why 650b is nice, big and light.

Anyone got a Kona Sutra LTD?

Although I’m more in the camp that “gravel” bikes are a bit of a con, we should all still be riding cross bikes with 33-35c tyres.

I have 44c tyres on my bike currently and they just feel really heavy

My 650x47c are 401 grams, tubeless.
My wife has a 650x42c that is 373 grams, tubeless.
Nothing heavy about that, and they are full of squishy comfortable air.

The thing with 33c tyres is that to get grip you need to ride at low pressure, but the risk of pinch flats is too big.
I ride 45c and still I have to pump the tyres more than I'd like to.

On top of that, the smaller wheels spin up a little faster than the bigger wheels, so 42mm can feel like it accelerates quicker than it look.

I don’t want to be comfortable

yep

What are you using?

I have Pirelli Cinturo 700x45 and they supposedly have a decent rolling speed but are outrageously heavy (over 600g) each. I know weight shouldn't matter so much, but I can really feel the difference compared to Gravelking SK 700x38, which were around 400g IIRC. I'm also taking the bike on planes a reasonable amount, and always right on the edge of weight limit, so even a few hundred grams reduction here and there helps.

I'm also realising more and more that I simply don't need such big tyres 90% of the time as usually on road or dry hardpack). Tempted to do a gravel tyre multi-criteria decision analysis thing.

Try Conti Terra Speed. They are excellent. They come in a 45, but only 60g lighter than Cinturato and they don’t last as long.

Sounds like carbon rims and expensive tyres should sort most peoples issues.

Get the Vittoria Terreno Zero, especially if you rarely use it off road, and big slick tyres work surprisingly well except for mud.

The Pirelli is much tougher and felt fast off road and roll well on the road; you can kinda feel the weight when accelerating but that’s about it.

Edit; TBF I ride with carbon wheels which massively offset the tyres weight so the difference is quite small.

Is Arkose still the forum approved budget gravel bike, and if so, does anyone have a small frameset ideally with 12mm TA front/rear so I can lift and shift the stuff of my bike. TIA

turtles all the way down

Why be comfortable when you can just be home an hour earlier?

Ride heavier tyres. Stop less. Eat more. What's not to like?

Rene Herse. Have a look.

I got the 650x 47 switchback hill for myself but personally find it too big for general use. It's really wonderful on gravel and rough surfaces, especially with loaded bags, which is what I got it for.

My wife's Babyshoe pass is a much better choice for general use and functions perfectly well in rough stuff also.

There are a few more asphalt oriented options and knobby options as well in both 700 and 650b.

The Loup Loup is the best for 95% road.

Yeah I wanted a set up that I could rip over gravel loaded up. We have a lot of that around here.

Gravel bikes are just road bikes that don't cause back pain. God save the 650b 42s.