Gravel Bike Vs Road Bike Speed
Simply said a gravel bike is a combination of a road bike happy on tarmac and a cyclo cross bike happy on mud.
Gravel bike vs road bike speed. 2020 canyon neuron 9 0 ltd 2015 khs sixfifty team 2019 salsa warbird. As usual the idea comes from the us where the countryside is crisscrossed by miles and miles of unused tracks designed to help fire trucks navigate around remote forests. It is great that road bikes and gravel bikes are good at different things. A gravel bike is in many ways a combination of an endurance road bike and a cyclocross bike.
The goal is to ride on flat surfaces as fast as possible and it really does not take that much effort once a person gets going. You ll still get plenty of gears for most road riding but you won t have quite enough high gears for when the speeds gets very fast like 26 mph to 30 mph or faster. 3t is evolving its gravel bike aero obsession and. At first glance not that different from a cyclocross bike gravel bikes are actually distinct and often closer to an endurance road bike.
It s designed to be fast and efficient and also burly making it the perfect option for those who want the option of exploring dirt roads forest roads and the occasional bridleway as well as riding on tarmac. I did a 60 mile ride on gravel on a road bike with 28mm tires one time i was actually slower than on my gravel bike and i was sore as hell the next day. In truth they sit somewhere between the two. Niner s mcr 9 rdo has taken the dual suspension gravel bike theme even further with a proper rear linkage and shock boasting 50mm of travel.
My long low road bike with aero wheels and 28mm compass tires is materially faster than my gravel bike with a more relaxed riding position low gearing and 700 42 compass tires but they are both great at what they are designed to do and without trying to perform like the other. If you are a road bike racer then a gravel bike probably won t work as your primary bike. Road bike road bike vs gravel bike. Gravel bikes are almost never the best weapon for speed.
With skinny tires premium parts perfect geometry and more people who invest in a road bike want to maximize their speed as much as possible. And that can mean a lot of fun and a fresh look at where and how you ride a gravel bike can raise a smile in so many ways there are lots of.