One Bike to Rule Them All

[Zebra]

My own ‘choice’ surprised me; my Epic Carbon 29er, with a spare set of Roval wheels, and Roubaix Pro 700 x 30 tyres, has become my ‘road’ bike, commuter bike and MTB (since I sold my Spez Tarmac Pro)….

yes, you would think it is just an MTB with option of road/gravel wheels, but two things WORK for me; lockout front and rear, for road, and then theBIG revelation for me was fitting SQLabs mid bar ‘ends’, which mimics riding on the hoods on a road bike, so much so that when I commute (30km in, 30km out) I figure I spend easily 80% of my ride on these mid-ends, a game-changer since they give me a road bike feel.

cheers, nice thread you started!
chris

[Kixx]

Great topic and one close to my own heart. As others have said, compromise is inevitable and has to be part of your mindset. I'm at a point in my life where I ride for the simple joy of being on a bike: fair to say my racing snake days are behind me. I had 3 bikes hanging in the garage - Scott carbon for the road, Commencal enduro and a Zaskar conversion to single speed. And found myself reaching for the Zaskar 99% of the time no matter what riding I planned to do.

Fast forward in time, the Zaskar had an unexpected demise and I replaced the other two with a Kona Unit rigid steel. To which I can fit drop bars and slicks (650B), add 100mm travel to the front end and is quick to convert between geared and ss. I get almost as much satisfaction fiddling with which set up as I do from riding.

Everyone is different but this works for me.

 

 

[BrentCGP]

2 hours ago, Wayne pudding Mol said:

I ride the Ti version of this - this is their steel one which is more reasonably priced - I run it with 50c tyres on mtb rims.  I do ride a lot of nice gravel but I also go through some pretty technical rocky stuff and descents - I have limited skills and this goes pretty much everywhere - it does take 650b wheels so you can really beef it up.  I nearly went this route but found the 50c on the Lauf fork a better all round option.

on the tar it’s super comfy and by no means slow 

that said one bike to cover everything involves compromise and enjoying the challenges where you machine isn’t ideal 

My bike handling skills are so much better because of this bike, I’ve gone from extremely crap to ordinary 

so while I am punting a curve because that’s what I have, I’d just say that an adaptable gravel bike with the right attitude is the best holiday bike 

And there is a Big Kev in the pipeline I see that takes 29 2.1s.. I'm holding on, sourcing an F-Eagle setup for my steel frame now and when time and money allows........ Been riding carbon dualies and hardtails for 16 odd years and don't miss them one bit since getting a 'gravel bike'... But everyone is on a different journey too, I  couldn't be bothered with technical trails anymore. Was doing it long before there where 1000 others to share the trail with.. that said I ride a bike park with mates at least once a week, but just do it a lot slower ????

I don't think a do-it-all bike exists.. but there is the perfect bike that will suit 99% of what YOU enjoy doing.

[MajG]

4 hours ago, MudLark said:

I think I got reasonably close by converting a Trek Procaliber into a gravel bike. I call it my GADA bike. Go Anywhere, Do Anything. It doesn't excel at any one thing but it does everything moderately well. You *can* go anywhere and do anything with it. 

How is the damping on the rear in comparison to a normal hardtail? 

Isospeed actually worth the hassle and does it require any specific maintenance 

[Jewbacca]

I tried to have '1 bike' and realistically it lands up being a bit of a hack.

I now have 3. A really nice road bike, a really nice 120mm/120mm down country MTB and a complete hack bodge gravel bike/commuter.

This way I can ride on the road with my mates 2 or 3 times a week, hit the trails comfortably with the right weapon and commute/ride in the rain and do Swartberg or around the pot or hit the road/greenbelts etc without care if the weather is a bit meh as I am not at all precious about my hack bodge commuter. It is rad though, but not worth much in zar

There is no way I could tie those together. The social aspect of cycling is really important for me as I don't really socialise much outside of riding and surfing.

I also don't own a BMX, but it's something I'm working on.

[Eddy Gordo]

5 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

I tried to have '1 bike' and realistically it lands up being a bit of a hack.

I now have 3. A really nice road bike, a really nice 120mm/120mm down country MTB and a complete hack bodge gravel bike/commuter.

This way I can ride on the road with my mates 2 or 3 times a week, hit the trails comfortably with the right weapon and commute/ride in the rain and do Swartberg or around the pot or hit the road/greenbelts etc without care if the weather is a bit meh as I am not at all precious about my hack bodge commuter. It is rad though, but not worth much in zar

There is no way I could tie those together. The social aspect of cycling is really important for me as I don't really socialise much outside of riding and surfing.

I also don't own a BMX, but it's something I'm working on.

Yeah, I am in more or less the same boat. Although there is a bmx, but its my sons. I am considering selling the roadie, and changing the ht into a gravel/ road monster bike. but its just a dream at present.

[MORNE]

18 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

snip…

I also don't own a BMX, but it's something I'm working on.

 

[Danger Dassie]

From what you've described it sounds like a really good hardtail should be a consideration, or a lighter gravel bike with enough clearance for MTB tyres. 

[Wayne pudding Mol]

3 hours ago, MORNE said:

Plus the steel one would make you more metal since the Ti one is the….’S-works’….of gravel bike????

Edit: amazing color that. If they made them in my size it would have been a serious contender for my new project. 
ps: to me “the one bike to rule them all” is also a comparatively low maintenance bike…so no, anything with suspension doesn't count. Well any non mechanical suspension at least. Ill draw the line at coils and leaf springs.
 

Benky is a pretty tall dude - not sure of the specs of their XL for giants like you 

[Sid the Sloth]

4 hours ago, Wayne pudding Mol said:

I ride the Ti version of this - this is their steel one which is more reasonably priced - I run it with 50c tyres on mtb rims.  I do ride a lot of nice gravel but I also go through some pretty technical rocky stuff and descents - I have limited skills and this goes pretty much everywhere - it does take 650b wheels so you can really beef it up.  I nearly went this route but found the 50c on the Lauf fork a better all round option.

on the tar it’s super comfy and by no means slow 

that said one bike to cover everything involves compromise and enjoying the challenges where you machine isn’t ideal 

My bike handling skills are so much better because of this bike, I’ve gone from extremely crap to ordinary 

so while I am punting a curve because that’s what I have, I’d just say that an adaptable gravel bike with the right attitude is the best holiday bike 

Which Lauf are you running? I have the option of running a friend's trail boost on my gravel bike but it might be a bit overkill... also only a couple of 100 extra grams for a much more comfy ride though. 

[MudLark]

1 hour ago, MajG said:

How is the damping on the rear in comparison to a normal hardtail? 

Isospeed actually worth the hassle and does it require any specific maintenance 

It is surprisingly forgiving. It's light years different to a hard tail. I was really surprised when I first rode a Procaliber at a Trek open/demo day. I rode it across sections that I know well from my dual sus in Delta Park (my dual sus has the Fox Re:Aktiv two way shock, which is not as forgiving as 3 way). That what was triggered the idea of building an all purpose bike on this frame. Plus I have long wheelbase XL and with the slack head angle its a hugely stable bike but with good clearance too. The Isopseed requires no maintenance. 

[DJR]

6 hours ago, MudLark said:

I think I got reasonably close by converting a Trek Procaliber into a gravel bike. I call it my GADA bike. Go Anywhere, Do Anything. It doesn't excel at any one thing but it does everything moderately well. You *can* go anywhere and do anything with it. 

I like the acronym  - GADA

But to be honest, for me, the closest I can get is 3 bikes to combinedly give me 1 GADA (1 really fantastic road bike, 1 really great old classic steel bike that also functions as a gravel bike, 1 lovely playful mtb trail bike)

Edited July 3, 2021 by DJR

[RocknRolla]

So It’s 3 bikes to rule them all?

[Emazing]

The heavy metal frames of gravel bikes makes them unpleasant for the short few hours to one day rides most of us do. If you planing a three  week to 3 year slow ride they fine. They not fun they heavy and cumbersome. There is no perfect bike it depend on what you like to ride and “were you ride”.  
I use my gravel on the road and it made me love road riding its like a magic carpet ride. It a carbon frame and on smooth gravel was ok but on slightly rougher stuff I was dreaming of my MTB with 2,35 tires.  The roads are in such a bad shape in many parts of SA that I find the gravel a perfect bike for smooth comfortable and kind of fast riding with out fatigue. 

Edited July 11, 2021 by Emazing

[Prince Albert Cycles]

I had 1 of the 1st steel prototype Farr frames . 700 wheels shod with 43 Panaracers and a Lauff fork . And EagleGX . Am too old to use a 34T upfront so ran out of speed on the flats . But it was a comfortable ride .

if I was restricted to 1 bike only I will settle for my carbon Flash hardtail Lefty . 

[porqui]

16 minutes ago, RocknRolla said:

So It’s 3 bikes to rule them all?

No !!

The N + 1 will always remain.