The
Gravel bicycles are trendy. They are fun, versatile and allow you to enjoy routes on ground tracks and without asphalting roads. This can lead to more than one to wonder if a Grave can replace a Mountain Bike. If this is your case, you may be interested in reading what I have to tell you.
Before continuing, it is necessary to clarify that this is a post of pure opinion, based on my experience using a serious bicycle in all types of land, including Mountain Bike tests.
🚲 Related: What is a serious bike for?
I will put special emphasis on the use I have made of it in more technical areas, routes designed for mountain bicycles, whether they are
Hardtail or of
double suspension.
First, the serious bicycle I used was a Canyon Grail CF 8.0 with the following characteristics:
- Mechanical SRAM FORCE.
- 1x11 development with 42t and piñonera car 10-42.
- 160mm hydraulic disc brakes.
- Specific canyon handlebar for grave with double height, designed for climbs (grip up), descents (medium grip) and plain (cover below).
- 40mm Schwalbe covers, with a lot of tachy. We talk about light but delicate roofs.
I used the bicycle for five weeks, combining the grave with the road. I left my Canyon Exceed mountain bike to prepare technically to perform pure btt march single with the serious bicycle.
This is a Mountain Bike march that is celebrated in Carbonero el Mayor (Segovia), on a 66 kilometers and 1,300 meters of accumulated slope. The land is configured with rapid tracks and trails, some trialeras and many short walls, with slopes of more than 15%.
During the weeks prior to the test I made two types of routes with the Grave: road more clues, and more technical zones. The idea was to dominate the bicycle in order to face the challenge with guarantees.
"Rolling with a serious bicycle on track how they are going to compete against youth"
Performance on tracks and road
In this field it is where a grave develops best. Since because of the type of land we have no need to lower pressures in the tires, we do not appreciate any ballast on the road.
You can not compare the feeling of facing a false 3% plain with an Aer -type bicycle, but it goes modely fast. The sensations are good.
On the track it is where a Serlal makes a difference, and I do not mean only the speed, but to the feeling of going rapidly. Accustomed to going to 20kmh with a mountain bike, with a Grave, we can easily reach 30kmh, and the sensation produced by this speed difference is indescribable. You feel like poel competing against youth. One last.
On the other hand, we have comfort. Gravines have a great background geometry. The posture is more relaxed than in a
Road Racing Bicycle, or that in one of Ciclocross. Therefore, on tracks and road we can eat kilometers and kilometers without feeling fatigue on shoulders and back.
Performance by technical zones
With regard to shooting by technical traces, everything depends on the cyclist's technique. While a serious bicycle has not been conceived to lower trialeras, these can be faced with guarantees.
In my case, when living in Asturias, where
Mountainbike It is, say, technical, I can say that my capacities when going up and down complicated areas are good. I do not consider myself a cyclist with some skills to highlight, but everything that I find is usually up or down, as touch. It is something that is simply achieved with practice.
During the weeks that I had the grail canyon I made three quite technical routes, with uploads in repes reaching 20% and with trialeras. Mud areas, large stones areas (bowling) and roots areas. A little of everything, and everything for mountain bike, even double suspension.
Performance in a MTB test
You can see what happened running the march BTT pure singletrack with a serious bicycle in the following video:
https://youtu.be/zWw6Am8fezg
Next I describe the conclusions I took after facing the test with the grail canyon.
Carbon is very resistant. I weight 86kg and I measure 182, and with a grail cf size m I have faced very very very fast on broken track and with stones and rocks, where the bike did not generate any insecurity or instability.
The pressures must be low, around 2 bar for my weight. Above a very annoying rebound is generated, and below we run the risk of
kiss rim. A
mousse Panzer type can be a good option in this type of bikes.
TUBELESS Yes or yes. In my case, with the covers of Schwalbe I had a couple of punctures. Nothing serious, so the anti -snack fluid did his job. It is true that in the pure singletrack I cracked the cover with a piece of slate, but hey, we can say that it could have passed anyone.
Related: Advantages of wearing tubess wheels on Mountain Bike routes
Going up is hell, development is very limited. It would be equivalent to a 1x12 Eagle with a 34-teeth dish and 10-50 in the pinonera, where we cannot use the two largest pine nuts. That is, a 10-36. Very bad in very steep and technical areas. With a 38 -teeth dish it would be enough, although in a false downward plain by road, you can say goodbye to your friends.
Bike management in trialeras: The descents are always faced in the middle zone of the handlebar. The matter is to always have the index finger in the brake, half act. If we grab ourselves, it is impossible to stop with guarantees.
And you will think the photo: And what about the posture? How do you face a 30%drop? Well, however absurd it seems, it gets quite well, although not fast. The technique to be used is to pass the armchair between the legs and support the stomach in it. Thus we get the correct weight balance and take the bike to the site. In no case did I feel above the handlebar, which has happened to me on a couple of occasions with mountain bicycles
Hardtail (Front suspension) and without telescopic roam.
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
As I have already indicated in previous paragraphs,
With a serious bicycle with generous tires and the appropriate pressures we can face all types of land safely, as long as our skills accompany. Now, the problem is another: enjoy.
According to fellow Edu, "on those technical routes and in the pure singletrack, with a mountain bike you had a much better had." I have to prove him right.
A trialera with a serious bike can be lowered, but with a mountain bike, it is enjoyed. A 20% technical climb with a mountain bike rises, but with one of serious.
