Endurance road bikes with disc brakes and bigger tire clearance started to show up on unpaved roads. In many ways, the tools for gravel biking followed behind the trends. Was the 2016 Cannondale Slate the first modern gravel bike? (Image credit: Cannondale) Gravel bikes enter the scene By freeing wheels and frames from needing to accommodate a narrow rim profile for optimal braking there was suddenly an opportunity to make frames that worked both on–road and off-road. This wasn’t just an advance related to stopping power but rather an opportunity to fundamentally change frame design in a way that opened the door for gravel biking to explode.
Another important development was also happening on the technology side: disc brakes.įaster than anyone expected, disc brakes exploded in popularity. Road cycling continued to develop, roads continued to be more crowded and less suited to bikes, and mountain bikes drifted further and further down an alternate path. Somewhere around 2016 or so all these parallel lines started to come together. No matter what type they are, though they certainly are not anything resembling a road bike, and are not well suited to multi-surface riding. So much so that there are even deep divisions between types of mountain bikes. Modern mountain bikes are incredibly well adapted to their purpose. The same evolution took place and mountain bikes changed from something resembling a road bike to a seriously specialized machine.Īs the best mountain bikes evolved, they drifted from where they started. Just like with road cycling, creative people started looking at ways to do it better.
At the beginning of the movement, the tools were poorly adapted and that was part of the appeal. They used what they had and that meant road bikes but that was a product of necessity. “But can’t you say the same about an endurance road bike?” counters another, prompting an ever-increasing dial up of the volume and intensity of the discussion.Mountain biking was born in the hills of California by people who weren't interested in contemporary road biking culture at the time. “It’s a no-nonsense bike that just lets me have fun without any pressure,” pipes up one. “If I had to sell all my bikes and could only keep one then I’d definitely pick my gravel bike.” There’s stunned silence at first then the comment sparks a flurry of nodding heads. But, some argue, you can do that with an endurance road bike too. We unanimously agree that it’s about the freedom of straying from the tarmac, and taking in fields and farm tracks. But instead of pondering over the purpose of being, we muse about what ‘gravel’ really means. After a now obligatory post-work ride, one of those muscle-flexing segment hunting gravel grinds, we reconvene. Whatever it is, brands are taking wholly different interpretations. That’s why lately bikes have been morphing into perplexing mutations: we’re talking dropped bars found with 27.5″ x 2.1″ wide knobby tires, and frame profiles designed with aerodynamic gains in mind.
#Gravel meaning how to#
Right now, it gives us the freedom to ride anywhere, and it’s exactly this sense of freedom that has led to new and diverse thinking as to how to create a bike to ride on these surfaces. Obviously it’s not a new concept, as the earliest cycling races took place on non-tarmacked roads. There’s a certain sense of ambiguity when it comes to the term ‘gravel riding’ – and even more so when you consider the vast scope of literature on the topic, creating a sort of amorphous haze.
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