Broctoon

I'm trying to figure out the same thing. I just bought a Nature Boy and now have to find places to ride it. Of course, I can ride it the same places I do my other bikes: on roads, on paved paths, and commuting to work, but its abilities will go to waste if that's all I do with it. I picked it up just because I thought it's cool and it will fill in some gaps in my fleet.

Also, I despise the term "gravel grinder." It pained me to type it just now. I don't know why this is. I will always describe my bike as a single speed gravel bike or SSCX. I guarantee you will never find me grinding anything with it.

As long as I'm wandering off on a tangent, the other term that makes my skin crawl is gruppo. What are you, Italian? Just say group, you pompous, elitist weenies! The real irony here (or just hypocrisy, maybe) is I prefer the French derailleur, even though derailer would work just fine.

I'm done now.

Colnago Mixte

Speaking only for myself, what I get out of gravel riding I don't get out of road riding is "not having to deal with cars", too many of which will ruin even the nicest paved roads.

seau grateau

If you call your gravel bike a gravel grinder you have to also call your road bike an asphalt annihilator.

TMonk

Hey man I hear you there, that's a great reason IMO.

Follow-up question: Do you ride mountain as well? I ride my mountain bike on low-tech dirt or even pavement for miles at a time to connect segments of trail. I'd see more of an appeal for a gravel bike if I didn't live in an area with many technical single track, or didn't own a MTB.

This is pure gold . For the record @Broctoon I don't like the term "gravel grinding" either, which is why I chose to employ it lol, but I'll admit but I'm being a hater which is admittedly lame

Colnago Mixte

Me? I got rid of my MTB's so everything would use 700 c wheels. Hybrids are as "off road" as I ever need. Never been into the singletrack stuff, too dangerous, with often ridiculously difficult climbs where there's little or no traction. I was shocked how hard mountain biking was, I thought it was all easy downhill stuff before I actually tried it.

My balance is terrible, so I don't do any jumps or trick riding or any of the stuff you constantly see people on TV doing. Also, no singletrack trails within probably 50 miles. So for a variety of reasons, I never got into mountain biking.

TMonk

Makes sense, to each his/her own. I love technical and challenging terrain. I don't send it off jumps or huge gaps and stuff, but I'll hit up a technical DH run any time.

bwilli88 

Something more than just a road ride but not as technical as a heavy single track. It is a bit of a challenge to go almost as fast as a road ride with the bit of a thrill like a good mtb ride.

Colnago Mixte

Slightly OT, but I had seen the Eroica 2018 Route earlier this year, but didn't go because I don't enjoy large rides like that. But I did want to try out some of the gravel roads on the route, so I took Santa Rita Ranch Road into the hills toward Paso Robles, which becomes unpaved a few miles in.

Beautiful day, great temps, fresh Pacific Ocean air, but I actually thought the roads were pretty unimpressive (YMMV). Lots of washboard pavement, plenty of local traffic, which was mostly big dual axle farm trucks and stuff. All the disadvantages of riding on a regular road, plus dust and washboard pavement, what a deal! Few vistas to speak of, no ocean views, just the same vegetation-covered dirt roads you'd see anywhere.

I have as much or more fun just riding flat country roads closer to home.

TMonk

rustystrings61 

Okay, you've been here, right?

Fifteen years ago, before the industry decided to create a whole new specialized class of bikes you had to buy and labeled them "gravel grinders," I started going on mixed-surface road rides that took in smooth asphalt, bumpy tarmac, hardpacked clay and skittery gravel fire roads. My role models for those rides were not only TdF racers back before derailleurs were allowed but also old photos of riders in the British Cyclists' Touring Club competitions and pix of "pass-stormers." When I did those rides by myself, I would frequently flip my rear wheel and change gears from 45x17 to 45x19 on cheap, $14.95 Continental Sport 700x28 tires that actually measured about 26 mm. When I picked up a riding partner who also rode fixed on unpaved surfaces, we explored a bunch of unlikely routes throughout south Greenwood County and parts of Abbeville and McCormick counties.

Tmonk asked about the appeal. This area is blessed with are numerous forest service roads, lots of dirt roads that don't warrant paving, as well as a fair number of poorly maintained chipseal roads that link them all together. And the traffic is very light and it's quiet and scenic and you're much more likely to see foxes and deer and other fauna than you will on the usual asphalt highways. Rides like this one, this one, this one and this one were all done on this bike here - and they were more fun than perhaps any other rides I've ever done.

TMonk

@rustystrings61 are you a mountain biker as well? I def. get the appeal of getting off the grid and riding in nature, I just prefer to do it on a MTB with some technical singletrack thrown in. But if that's not your cup of tea, gravel biking is the next best thing.

rustystrings61 

I did mountain biking for a couple of years, mostly in late fall and winter. There was a group here that would meet and ride with lights on the singletrack trails near Long Cane Creek and Parsons Mountain in Abbeville County. And most of us rode single-speeds, for that matter. My mount of choice for that was a fully rigid c.1990 Trek 950 with a SoulCraft convert running 34x18, and it was a blast. The drawback was it involved loading my bike up into the back of my truck, driving a while and then parking. The mixed-surface road trip involved bringing my bike up out of the basement, throwing a leg over it and riding through town to the rail trail to the back roads to the dirt roads and riding back home when I was done. That fit in better with the non-racer/hippie/10-speed/cycletouring aesthetic I absorbed when I started riding in the 70s.

Singletrack is fun; single-speed single-track even more so. But in this area, riding TO the singletrack is a drag.

I will note that my primary riding buddy used to ride singletrack on his Mercian fixed-gear and 32-32mm tires. Had I been wiser, I would have gotten my Rivendell Quickbeam in 58 rather than 60 and kept it to do the same.

TMonk

Nice. I sold my MTB after college (2010) and borrowed a co-workers Surly 1x1, fully rigid 26" MTB for a while. Couple years later I caved and built my then "dream" MTB around a steel Ritchey P-650b with 27.5" tubeless tires, hydro discs, 1x10 drivetrain and a sweet Fox Float 120 mm fork. Even though it's an HT it was like night and day compared to the fully rigid 26" SS - I could actually start to ride over stuff. Now I'm eyeing a FS 29" XC rig- so it goes.

The posts here are making me realize that my preference for MTB over lesser-capable dirt machines is that I like technical stuff, have it readily available from my front door, and don't mind riding my MTB on road for a few miles to get there. Those are sort of a special set of circumstances.

If they weren't the case for me, I'm sure I'd be looking to build up a gravel bike so that I could enjoy some more natural scenery, and avoid cars. Cars man, why!

I'm sure I'll still find it in my heart to hate on newbie cyclists who jump on the gravel-grinding train, but just for sport . I think I understand the broader appeal now, especially as it pertains to more experiences dudes (and ladies) who were doing it before it was such a fad. Ultimately I think that whatever gets more people out riding is better! Paved or dirt (or wood ).

Colnago Mixte

I have to confess, if I had killer singletrack right outside MY door, I'd be out there every damned day. And i think I could eventually get pretty good at it.

The problem is, if you have not been exposed to it for a while, and try to do some tough singletrack that's beyond your skill level, it's really scary, really difficult, and very little fun. You gotta ride that stuff regularly to get good at it, or so I would imagine.

Amen brother, that's why we're all here, isn't it?

TMonk

Florida Canyon in San Diego is a small but *highly* technical area just east of Balboa Park in San Diego that's a total blast. It's not that big, but you can spend about an hour in there by looping on both sides of Florida St no problem. It's 2.5 miles from my house and so I hit it up a lot. It butts up against Morely Field Park which houses the San Diego Velodrome (where I will be headed tonight). So I'm out thereabouts multiple times a week for a lot of the year.

There is Tecolote Cyn which I can use to split my commute to work (~12 mi this route) with a hefty dose of trial, but outside of that I'm admittedly driving my MTB to ride it most of the time.

sleepy

I really enjoyed your piece here and digging the bike posted. Out of curiosity, what size tires is that bike running on?

caloso

On-One Pompino. A great do-it-all SSCX.

rustystrings61 

Colnago Mixte

Don't try Continental GP4000's in gravel or around anywhere with goatheads. They have got to be the worst off-road tire of all time, although they are of course excellent on pavement. I am running these off road in goathead country with great success against flats, FWIW:

Best Anti-Goat Head Tire I Have Found

TimothyH

Sorry I didn't see this before.

Closer to nature. Boars, waterfalls, filtering your own water, mountain vistas, etc.

More technical - speed requires better handling skills, riding light on the bike, choosing the right line, concentration on road features. Often a small variation in road surface can make a big difference in speed. Requires lots of concentration.

More difficult. There is no question on whether it is a better workout. The gravel forum agreed that gravel is 1.3x to 1.7x more difficult than pavement. Climbs tend to be steeper too.

Rough like mountain biking but with the poise and grace (and pretense) of road riding.

Wearing Assos on dirt.

Sliding the rear wheel intentionally. Siding both wheels, whether intentional nor not.

People don't care what you ride. Everyone is really, really chill, and everyone is in awe of everyone else' skills.

I'll probably think of more.


-Tim-

TMonk

@TimothyH have you ever tried mountain biking? Have you ever watched a pro XC race? Plenty of Assos and poise and grace there as well . Everything you said applies to mountain biking, difference being that the MTB is a more capable machine that you can use to go bigger/ride over more technical terrain - which is more fun if that's your cup of tea. If you have technical trails available nearby and the skill level/desire to ride them, it's the way to go.

TimothyH

Sounds like you know what it is all about and have made up your mind.

I would encourage you to try it some day.

Hope you enjoy your rides.


-Tim-

bonsai171

Tmonk,

I didn't realize you were in San Diego! I went there years ago on a business trip ( and for some reason came back even though it is so beautiful lol). Have you ridden Mission Bay Park? I know it isn't gravel, but saw a lot of bikers, so that got me wondering what the riding is like.

Dave

TMonk

I'm on Fiesta Island all the time which is in the middle of Mission Bay - a 4.25 miles flat loop one-way with no intersections. Boring to just cruise, but good if you want to hammer and not have to stop.

Mission Bay at large is lined with some really nice bike/pedestrian paths that are absolutely perfect for cruising on a low-speed relaxed bike. It's real nice to be that close to the water. I have extended family with bay-front property and so I can't tell you how many times I've rolled down the paths on cruiser bikes, or on my fixed gear ending a road ride.

Other nearby cycling attractions include Mt. Soledad (823 ft road climb) and Tecolote and Rose canyons, for nearby trail action. The view from the top of Mt. Soledad of central San Diego county is spectacular and a must-see IMO. LMK if you ever come back to visit!

TMonk

Back on topic: Rose and Tecolote are mostly un-technical and totally doable on a cross/gravel bike. Tecolote has some off-shoots with creek crossings, rock gardens, and technical obstacles that are just sick for a MTB style ride.