Originally Posted by
Ditto1958
Then along came the mountain bike fad. Suddenly everyone had to have a mountain bike, despite the fact they never rode anywhere but roads and paths. Soon after came “cross” bikes, and hybrids...
Cyclocross was a thing long before MTBs were.
Originally Posted by
Ditto1958
Now gravel? Same thing. Great if you ride trails. Otherwise slower and heavier than needs to be for riding pavement.
Again, nothing wrong with gravel bikes. What is wrong though is marketing them for everyone when they’re not for everyone. Most people ride on pavement and benefit from fast skinny tires and light frames and components. And marketing gravel bikes, hybrids and mountain bikes to everyone means other styles are no longer offered by large bike brands.
When I want to ride a route that includes pavement, dirt roads, and singletrack, none of my other bikes will handle ALL of it better than my gravel bike. This is pretty typical for the kind of gravel bike rides I do. Same with my friends who ride gravel bikes. It's not about being excellent at one thing, it's about being competent at lots of it. When you see someone riding a gravel bike on pavement it doesn't mean that's the only place they've been that day.
I don't see gravel bikes being marketed for "everyone". I see them being marketed mostly towards experienced riders who want to expand the type of riding they do. Generally speaking, gravel bikes either lean towards racing or adventure riding. Both of those things are not generally for newbie/"everybody" riders.
Just because a pure road bike is faster on pavement doesn't mean it's the best choice for all people who ride only pavement. Some folks aren't worried about getting down the road as fast as possible, and prefer the more comfortable ride of gravel bike geometry, wider tires, or the utility offered by multiple mounting points. There is also the factor of versatility. On a recent vacation, taking multiple bikes wasn't an option, so I took my gravel bike with 2 sets of wheels. On the days I chose a route that included dirt, I used my wheels mounted with 40mm gravel tires, and rode a bunch of stuff where most other folks were on MTBs. On the days I chose a route with only pavement, I used my alternate wheels mounted with 32mm high-performance road tires. Sure, my road bike would have been a little faster, but I was riding solo, and didn't care about being my fastest. Overall, the versatility of the bike was perfect for my needs, and I'll do the same when we make the same trip next year.
Once again, someone ignorant about gravel bikes is making assumptions about gravel bikes.