Which bike? — Velo Club Traverse

No matter how good you are, there is always something that can make you better, right? Common sense would suggest that this would be riding more, eating less and not taking a Jaeger bomb at every mountain top. But most cyclists do not have common sense. They are hot heads where animal instinct has taken over, full of lust and desire. There are so many things that you can get to make you better; there is nothing money cannot buy. It certainly can buy you a new bike which makes you a better cyclist. It is science; optimum number of bikes is n + 1 (n being the number that you currently own).

The problem is, bike frames aren’t bad, once you have a decent one it will do. Bike companies know this. Like early fridge makers, they need to think of new ways to sell bike frames. What do they do? Well, start subtly with the n+1 campaign, use new materials, then release loads of data about how thicker tyres are better - oh your frame/brakes will not support 28mm tyres? But there is an upper limit…

Not if you introduce a new type of bike… gravel.

It sure is tempting, but hang on, isn’t it very similar to my road bike?

Of course you need a gravel bike. For the last 4 years or so, I was trying to justify getting one. Wouldn’t it just make my local riding so much more interesting, open up new routes, bridlepaths would be amazing. Oh and I would definitely need one for bike packing. Take myself off for a week. What have I being doing with two gears on the front - 1x drivechains would be the way forward surely.

I dived into a YouTube worm hole. Watched hipsters and instagramers take their gravel bikes off on massive adventures. I finally got myself convinced. So I bought a hardtail MTB!!!

So for now, it is no to gravel.

I realised that the tyres on gravel bikes were getting more tread and wider. They reminded me of when I went around the New Forest 22 years ago on my Specialised Rockhopper with panniers on the back. And that worked and I was only 15!

I came to the conclusion that the window of opportunity was too small for optimum gravel bike use. A farm track often becomes rutted and sometimes turns into a footpath, all great for gravel bikes, but put in any amount of gradient and the handling goes out the window. What do you lose from having a hardtail? Not nearly as much as you gain.

I have searched high and low and this 500m stretch would suit a gravel bike

If I had a bottomless pot of cash, I think that I would probably get a gravel bike. It would probably hang in the garage for most of the year, getting jealous of the road and MTB that were being shown so much love. It would then be taken out for a ride that was mainly on the road but maybe with a section of unpaved tracks. Maybe if I was living in Germany, Scandinavia or the US, where there are much longer sections of gravel and dusty roads, then I am sure that it would get a lot of use. However, right here, right now, it just doesn’t seem to warrant it.

Road bikes can take on more than you think

In a few years, you may see me on a gravel bike, I would have succumb to my inner demons, got caught up in consumerism, blinded by fancy Instagram posts. Please remind that I have wasted my money.

This Cotic Hardtail MTB is an all round weapon, it is ok on road, great on gravel and also a lot of fun to take on the ski lifts for some downhill

******** Amendment… So it is now summer 2022. We were looking at some new bikes for the cycle centre and we ended up deciding to go for the road/gravel 3T frames. The idea being that the gearing would be great for all abilities (1 x 13 speed) and they would be still racey. We would definitely put slicks on though, can’t be having a gravel bike. They were delivered by 3T in super quick time with some 35mm “knobbly” tyres - “these would be coming straight off”, I thought. But in the interim period, I have taken it on a spin on the local climbs - feels like a road bike with very little, if any, speed lost up the Croix Fry and Colombiere. I then started to mess about with it on off road farm tracks. Then the penny sunk - gravel biking is wicked! I was always thinking of it from a MTB perspective with technical decents too tricky - but from a roadie angle, the thing is a beauty. Not sluggish up hill, which I get infruiated with my hardtail, yet able to connect the unconnectable, opening up routes that I never thought possible. So yes, it has not taken long but I have been radicalised! It’s a road ride with a little extra!