Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

That's a good question; they all have pros and cons. I will try to list the key differences here but yes my first effort this year was 1st April and that was pretty brutal conditions given all the rain over the winter and spring so I can imagine how the March trip was.

https://www.strava.com/activities/11166104464
161 km
1,676 m elevation
L2B from Cheam using the classic Ranmore common, north downs, downs link, south downs route that I have been riding since the noughties on my MTB. Its quite tough and some of the trails are more MTB style than gravel but I've done it so often I know it by heart. It seems to take forever to get to the top of Pitch Hill and then you can see the south downs way off on the horizon but once you drop down to Cranleigh and join the Downs link you cover the distance quickly.
I went over the top of the South downs on the way out. The section over the south downs way via the top of Devil's Dyke is amazing but it is a very long, tough climb to get up to the radio station at the top and then you have a fair few miles of rolling SDW trails which have more climbing. But the views, big skies and feeling of being all alone in a very large space are great.
From Brighton I head back to Shoreham and join the Downs link there and retrace my steps to Christchurch Hospital and then on the road to Horsham station as I can get a train to Epsom, my local station from there. Horsham is on the Southern network and the train carries on to London Victoria via CLJ if needed although it is a slow train.

https://www.strava.com/activities/11084786520
111 km
990 m elevation
L2B using a cross country route from Epsom towards Wisley that I was keen to try out. This avoids the tough north downs climbs and I also went into Brighton via Shoreham so avoided the south downs as well. So a fairly simple ride but perfect for early spring when everything was still underwater.
As mentioned, on April 1st this was mudbound for many parts of the north downs but those have subsequently dried out and are currently rideable.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9406603922
81 km
716 m elevation
For some reason we got the train to Dorking and then rode from there. The shortest of the options but a mate was trying to help me unravel the best way through the surrey hills and we wanted to road test this one.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9346200951
132 km
1,038 m elevation
L2B starting at Kingston on Thames. Again heads further west avoiding most of the north downs climbing and is based on the official BHF L2B off road route. This is a very long and winding route and took a long time heading West before finally going south. I got lost a few times around the Wisley A3/M25 roadworks as the route goes directly through the works (all the workers were very helpful) and it was quite painful. I haven't bothered repeating this one.

https://www.strava.com/activities/12137933387
151 km
1,219 m elevation
The route I rode yesterday. Starts at Sigma sports and follows the Esher/Bookham trails I would normally ride on a weekend and then out over Ranmore common via a long but nice climb to Polesden Lacey and then another long climb from Westcott up Leith Hill.
This is pretty much all the climbing on this route and beyond Leith Hill it drops you onto the Downs Link quite a long way past Cranleigh which is good because you avoid that annoying section where you have to double back on yourself (near 'Baynards' on the map) but bad because there is a lot of long road sections which seem pointless when there are alternative options available. There were also a couple of cheeky sections where we were forced to use the Surrey/Sussex borderpath (a footpath). It was quite rideable but I try not to do this if possible.
An annoying detour off the downs link just after Southwater and just before Mary's (ex-Stan's bike shack) saw us hacking our way through overgrown brambles for 30 minutes when we could have followed the correct route and covered the same distance in 5 minutes.
it's fast but for me it's a bit too much on the road.
Once we got to Steyning we spent a few minutes thinking about whether we should go over the south downs but we decided to keep to the planned route and head via Shoreham.
After fish and chips at the Regency the other two headed to Brighton station and I headed back to Shoreham and up the Downs link to Horsham as per previous trips.

So it depends whether you want long, fast, climby or a mixture of all three.

Amazing thanks for the detail, will try a few out

Varia radar thingy presumably

https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/518151

Are we going to talk about this?

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Get two

Looked at a few gravel bikes and ended up ordering one of these. If it’s as good as the reviews say, I’ll be happy.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aWRvPz21G8

This looks good in the flesh. As does the groupset.

That looks like a crux killer if I ever saw one.

Great looking bike tbf.

This all makes perfect sense to me. Have fancy bike for one thing, need another bike for another thing... have two fancy bikes. Two bikes is always the answer.
Pre-emptive dibs please if you sell one :)

I was thinking that Trek's one man London marketing team had been absent for a while

Welcome back

Can't compare with a big SWORKS sticker.

The Trek is a much better deal, you get 500g more carbon for your money in the frame alone.

Tyre clearance

Twerks?

.

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The Crux can clear 700c x 47, or 650b x 2.1. If you need more tyre width than that, you are going to be under biked.

You need more tyre width than that if you want more grip and speed.

The Checkmate doesn’t clear 700x47. Silly for a new gravel race bike as Lifetime Grand Prix riders are pushing tyre width to >50mm now. Not because they are underbiked (they can ride a MTB whenever they want), but because they want to go faster on an aero, lightweight, rigid drop-bar bike. Lachlan Morton won Unbound on maxed out clearances with a 2.1 front tyre. I think you’ll see the pro gravel racers choose the new Checkpoint SLR over the Checkmate, even though the latter has been designed for them. The brief changed a lot in the last 18 months.

Conti Race King 50mm has much lower rolling resistance and more grip than 45–47c gravel tyres. Plus the reduced fatigue of higher volume. That’s the way it’s going.

Anyway, apols, this should probably be in the Pro Cycling thread.

How any people in the UK are seriously racing gravel events?

The MTB tyres thing has only really kicked in properly this year remember. That Trek was probably designed 3-4 years ago.

That’s my point.

oops i didnt spot your 'brief has changed' comemnt. I concur

How many people in the UK want grip, comfort and speed?

Tyres are getting wider across all disciplines. This Checkmate is way off the mark.

The hallowed Arkose cleared 47c about a decade ago. Genre-defining bike. Values can only increase.

What are the current Grav / touring frames that take 2.1 tyres? Rack / guard mounts essential.

Feel like Fairlight have been leading the way for a long while now. New Croix Der Fer missed the brief too.

Been on some chunky trips recently and my partners Arkose doesn't cut it anymore.

Looks like someone was stacking shelves in a paint shop and tripped over.