Sy Reene

Well Ok, but the other forums aren't actually titled "Road Cycling (Recreational)", or "MTB Cycling (Recreational)". If Gravelbiking by default means it's recreational (I guess there's no pro circuit for this), then even more so seems unnecessary to have the Recreational qualifier.

Riveting

How much can I increase the width of my gravel bike's tires, before it transitions from a gravel bike to a fat bike? I always said I didn't want to own a fat bike, and I just want to make sure I don't cross the line.

Sy Reene

If you put drop bars on a hybrid/fitness bike, is it now a gravel bike?

Happy Feet

Yes.

There is no one gravel bike just as there is no one road bike or mountain bike. Within each genre there are further sub divisions such as hardtail, FS, Enduro etc... Having a forum where those subtleties can be discussed makes sense. The recreational designation keeps the discussion somewhat open ended as otherwise it would simply default to the current fastest design specs. Same thing with road cycling vs road racing. It's six of one, half dozen of the other as to what you call each one.

Sometimes the question of what qualifies as a gravel bike depends on regional geography and whether one approaches it from a user or consumer POV. Gravel in British Columbia might be different from gravel in Kansas and what someone actually rides might be different from what the manufacturers describe or what is trendy this season.

wipekitty

Easy.

Post pictures in Gravel/Cross. Talk about dropping the roadie and the virtues of GP4KS2 in Road, and bonus if you ask whether the GP 5000 tubeless would have worked better.

If any pedestrians, runners, or dogs got in your way on the MUP, that goes in General

RiceAWay

When we all road steel frame bikes we all would just ride down anything that resembled a road. We have a "Bay Trail" around the San Francisco bay and a good deal of it is unpaved and finished with gravel. After it is there long enough it ages into a fairly hardpacked trail and when it wears enough to have too much mud on it they drop another load of gravel on it. The same for MANY of the trails around the San Francisco peninsula and out to the coast. Of course these things are all around California. I have no problem riding on them. Though it is a bit more comfortable now with 25 mm smooth tires than it was with the high pressure 23's.

Yes I have a couple of CX/gravel bikes - a Redline Conquest and a Ridley XBow but I'm trying to sell them since I can do the same thing with my Basso Loto.

blackieoneshot 

OP checking in, it was an honest question. Cross and gravel overlap for sure, but gravel ain't racing.

HTupolev

It is when it's a race.

Happy Feet

I think that is why there is the recreational designation as gravel races and dirty fondos etc... are becoming more popular, hence the trending push towards fast road geometry with bigger tires. If you aren't into that the options open up quite a bit.

And yes, older road bikes make good gravel bikes (my old Apollo 27" with a 700c FG wheelset runs treaded 32's with plenty of room to spare) but it's a stretch to say a modern road bike would also be good for gravel. The tire clearances just aren't there.

mstateglfr 

A lot of people who have thought otherwise for years will be shocked to learn they havent been racing.

hillyman

I see the OP point. Under the C&GB title does say; " This has to be the most physically intense sport ever invented. It's high speed bicycle racing on a short off road course or riding the off pavement rides on gravel like :The Dirty Kanza". We also have a dedicated Racing forum for the Cyclocross"
Seems like some threads about recreational and some racing. But here at BF mixed doesn't always end well.

Maelochs

Dude .... really? You came here and asked a Serious question? Get with the game, bro.



Well, if you wan to be a buzz kill .... i'd guess that there hasn't been a dirty, lumpy sub-forum because ... no one else ever asked. I assume if there were a lot of purely gravel-riding posts, there would be a specific dirty, lumpy, non-competitive page launched to accommodate them.

So ... more seriously .... I'd think if you pulled out all the posts which were specifically related to gravel riding, and started posting a lot of purely gravel-riding posts, so that the mods had reason to believe the forum would be reasonably active, such a forum might be created.

Much easier though .... petition the mods to change the title of the existing forum to "Gravel Riding and Competitive Cyclocross."

Let those CX guys whine ... they are tough, they can take it.

mstateglfr 

true.

but that forum is relatively drama free, bicker free, and overall supportive and informative. Its the antithesis of the general cycling and road forums.

Maelochs

We can change that.

redlude97

You have to pass through monstercross to get to fatbike designation