Basically a road bike, but kitted out for touring instead of road racing. It’s really used to be just bigger wheels and tires but these days road cyclists are running thicker tires as well.
Mine was in the hybrid category but does have front suspension. Helps with the craters in the roads because for some reason UK roads resemble the Donbas. Think it’s also listed as a trekking bike.
Roads, gravel paths, grass and dirt paths are generally what I go across.
I know these, although they are not as common here as gravelbikes.
Kinda like watered-down Fixies optimized for urban commute.
Will not work well in more off-road (so: “gravel”) scenarios and for touring.
Different thing, I would say.
Remember that the geometry is completely different to a roadbike. You are much more upright and less bowed.
You also have many more completely different holding positions than for a classical mountain bike bar.
Most comfortable and ergonomic ride I owned so far.
Solved basically all of the hand and back pain issues I occassionally had during longer tours on classic bikes.
Different kind of drop bars than on a road bike, though:
Wider and more upright sitting position.
Worth trying out at least once when looking for a new bike.
What is a gravelbike?
Basically a road bike, but kitted out for touring instead of road racing. It’s really used to be just bigger wheels and tires but these days road cyclists are running thicker tires as well.
Hybrid between roadbike and mountainbike.
Someone posted a pic of one in another comment.
I have an older one (ok, actually two…) of those:
https://www.salsacycles.com/collections/fargo
It is more on the mountainbike-y side, others are typically slightly less rugged.
Isn’t that what normal hybrids are for? I guess it looks cool though
“Normal” hybrids usually have straight handlebars. Gravel bikes usually have “drop” handlebars like road bikes.
What’s a normal hybrid?
Like a commuter bike with flat handle bars, kinda thin tires, and no suspension
Mine was in the hybrid category but does have front suspension. Helps with the craters in the roads because for some reason UK roads resemble the Donbas. Think it’s also listed as a trekking bike.
Roads, gravel paths, grass and dirt paths are generally what I go across.
I know these, although they are not as common here as gravelbikes.
Kinda like watered-down Fixies optimized for urban commute.
Will not work well in more off-road (so: “gravel”) scenarios and for touring.
Different thing, I would say.
Ah ok, drop bars are so uncomfortable…
Remember that the geometry is completely different to a roadbike. You are much more upright and less bowed.
You also have many more completely different holding positions than for a classical mountain bike bar.
Most comfortable and ergonomic ride I owned so far.
Solved basically all of the hand and back pain issues I occassionally had during longer tours on classic bikes.
So basically the “mountain bike” I had as a kid, before the started adding fancy shock absorbers and disk brakes?
All right, now I want a gravel bike too!
You had a mountainbike with drop bars?
Unusual.
Also: Basically all gravelbikes come with disc brakes, major distinction to roadbikes.
I had a Randonneur-like bike in my youth in the 80s, which had some features common with the recent gravelbikes.
I liked it very much, so was very happy when gravelbikes became a thing 10 years ago or so.
Haha, i didn’t know it had drop bars… Nope, that’s not for me :)
Different kind of drop bars than on a road bike, though: Wider and more upright sitting position.
Worth trying out at least once when looking for a new bike.
Hillbike!