Who of you are thinking about buying a gravel bike?

[Pikey]

This thread made me take my gravel bike in road trim down here today ..... damn it was fast . Luckily no punctures . Although having the panaracer gravelking 32’s on,is not exactly a full on road tyre like the schwalbe pro ones . But it certainly ain’t a gravel tyre for anything other than flat dirt roads (well for me at least )but it held up just fine and hauled along at some pace ....awesome fun ????????

 

Another string to the niners bow ✊????

[Wayne pudding Mol]

Indeed, I was super skeptical, until I had a good on a Trek Checkpoint for the weekend. A karoo road, jeep track and road route that would have been a boring old schlep on my Pyga 110 (which i love), turned into an absolute jol.

 

The fact of the matter is that the majority of South African mountain bikers are actually off-road cyclists. Most of can do 100km without a worry, but can't ride a 1m drop off. Many may prefer a more efficient gravel bike to an MTB.

Taken me a while to accept it but your last paragraph describes me

[Pikey]

Sold my road bike last year and contemplating getting a gravel grinder in its stead.

Also toying with the idea of turning my merida big 7 into a gravel grinder. Just still unsure if i should go 650b or if 700c is a better option

NSBB has turned his merida big nine in to a monster cross / gravel / go anywhere do anything bike ....

[fanievb]

Dont do it Fanie.

 

 

[NotSoBigBen]

NSBB has turned his merida big nine in to a monster cross / gravel / go anywhere do anything bike ....

Done thousands and thousands of K's on this bike!

[Slowbee]

A 100km shortcut between Laingsburg and Ladismith is reason enough - the added challenge of no suspension just adds to the excitement.  Did learn quickly that your rear mech must have a clutch or smooth gear shifts are not possible 

ok, that is it, where be this road, other than in between these two towns ?

[Vetseun]

This thread made me take my gravel bike in road trim down here today ..... damn it was fast . Luckily no punctures . Although having the panaracer gravelking 32’s on,is not exactly a full on road tyre like the schwalbe pro ones . But it certainly ain’t a gravel tyre for anything other than flat dirt roads (well for me at least )but it held up just fine and hauled along at some pace ....awesome fun

 

Another string to the niners bow ✊ 

Ma se hare, that is a nice bike

Edited March 11, 2020 by Vetseun

[wildwindfr]

Done thousands and thousands of K's on this bike!

Really like this.

Wish my Fuji could take bigger wheels at times.

Our road can get badly corrugated and sandy at times.

At other times it can resemble a river.

Season depending!

I have put around 10000km on the fuji.

[Pikey]

Ma se hare, that is a nice bike

Ma se hare ????????????????????..... haven’t heard that in ages .

Thanks dude,stoked on that steel steed ????????

[NotSoBigBen]

Really like this.

Wish my Fuji could take bigger wheels at times.

Our road can get badly corrugated and sandy at times.

At other times it can resemble a river.

Season depending!

I have put around 10000km on the fuji.

I have 2 sets of wheels ... The ones in the previous photo have 42mm gravel tyres mounted and I used those at SouthXSouthEast, this set has 38mm slicks (not tubeless but I run them tubeless) and I use them for most rides!

 

Often ride out to Vaal Marina and back (+-200k's) on these, mostly gravel roads and they work a charm! 12 000+ kilometres on this bike as a gravel bike, used it as a single speed rigid before that...

 

[Ashchest]

Have a look at the Farr dot gravel bike tyres.........................

 

Was my biggest tyre mistake ever!  

 

But I just love my pathfinders   

[Ashchest]

I love my Gravel bike!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wildwindfr]

I would love to able to run 29x2.2 tyres on a frame and change to say 700x35 or 38c tyres (2nd wheelset) if I do a road event.

Hoping to be able to do the Kremetart this year, missed it the last 2 years due to work obligations.

 

Maybe in 2 years time when my son's studies are paid I may be able to buy a bike again. Seriously look at a steel or titanium frame then.

[ChrisF]

Sold my road bike last year and contemplating getting a gravel grinder in its stead.

 

Also toying with the idea of turning my merida big 7 into a gravel grinder. Just still unsure if i should go 650b or if 700c is a better option

 

I have the Big 7 XT Edition as my commuter.

 

Nice thin tires (thin in MTB terms) works nicely.

 

Even with the front fork semi locked it has just enough travel to soak up the road surface, without loosing too much energy

 

 

If I was doing longer distances I would change the 3x to a 2x with a larger ring in front, to get more top speed.

 

 

 

These 650B bikes are not the flavour of the month, and dirt cheap to pick up.  Nice tires, right gearing, and you have a very nice dual purpose bike.

[NotSoBigBen]

I would love to able to run 29x2.2 tyres on a frame and change to say 700x35 or 38c tyres (2nd wheelset) if I do a road event.

Hoping to be able to do the Kremetart this year, missed it the last 2 years due to work obligations.

 

Maybe in 2 years time when my son's studies are paid I may be able to buy a bike again. Seriously look at a steel or titanium frame then.

#SteelIsReal [emoji41]

[Farrnus]

Indeed, I was super skeptical, until I had a good on a Trek Checkpoint for the weekend. A karoo road, jeep track and road route that would have been a boring old schlep on my Pyga 110 (which i love), turned into an absolute jol.

 

The fact of the matter is that the majority of South African mountain bikers are actually off-road cyclists. Most of can do 100km without a worry, but can't ride a 1m drop off. Many may prefer a more efficient gravel bike to an MTB.

" The fact of the matter is that the majority of South African mountain bikers are actually off-road cyclists. Most of can do 100km without a worry, but can't ride a 1m drop off. Many may prefer a more efficient gravel bike to an MTB. "