Replacing my roadbike and hardtale for a single gravelbike.

[Kom]

On 12/12/2023 at 12:15 PM, PappaWatTrap said:

I want to replace my 2011 Merida Scultura and 2014 Scott scale 930 with a single gravel bike. 

I enjoy the odd road race here and there with the yearly Argus to see if "This year is my sub 3 year". I enjoy riding in Jonkershoek but enjoy the climbing more than the coming down so would always opt for the fire roads down seeing that its still harsh on the Scale coming down Armageddon. 

Would I regret such a decision and would I still be able to push it in the odd road race if I put some skinny road tyres on the gravel bike? I guess its all in the legs, the real question is would I feel such a big difference between the road and gravel bike if I put on proper road tyres on the gravel bike, Like the GP5000 tyres.

Has anyone tried racing with a gravel bike on the road with road tyres, and how was the experience?

i easily did 3hrs at 94.7 on @MongooseMan gravel bike, with 38c pathfinders. I still hold my best PR on that bike with those tires riding up to Constantia lookout from the bottom of Hout Bay.

Your quest is a good one - easy decision AFAIK - just make sure you research which gravel bike - not sure i would recommend titanium or steel etc but some nice alloy and carbon variants with 1x will do the trick.

[Wyatt Earp]

If speed is not a big concern, you could easily sacrifice the road bike for a gravel bike.

If you enjoy riding off-road, and you aren’t used to riding fully rigid hardtails, you will have a problem with the gravel bike off-road.

Also bear in mind, even if you had the hardness and skill, your are running small volume tyres and you won’t be running them at a low enough pressure to try and compensate for that lack of suspension, you will wreck rims.

In short, gravel and mountain bike and life should be good.

[Mamil]

I am lucky to have mid tier road, gravel and dual suspension MTB and I would be hard pressed to give any one of them up. The ALU gravel bike on the road feels sluggish and quite dull on the tar in comparison with the carbon road and I don't have the skills to take the gravel bike around the trails.

If I was forced to sell all three and buy one high end bike I'd probably take the top of the range gravel bike but I know I'd be browsing the classifieds for a MTB very soon.

[Mountain Bru]

I think what might be a better or more interesting question than the OP is "If I have R50k to spend on bikes, how many bikes should I buy?"

Basically, you could get a pretty decent carbon gravel bike with higher-end components for that money, but would you be better off buying a R25k road bike and R25k hardtail (for example)? You might have to compromise on not having the the best components on each bike, but you'd have the advantage of having a bike that's better suited to the terrain you're riding. 

Obviously maintenance is going to cost more on the 2 bike option, but in principle you'd ride each bike half as much, so that would kind of balance out. But some costs would be doubled, like if you wanted a power meter on each bike. 

(I know that for some, the answer is "buy an S-Works road, gravel, hard tail and dual-sus and an S-Works helmet to match each one and move on with life", but please spare a thought for us plebs that have more ambition than budget)

Edited December 14, 2023 by Mountain Bru

[Mountain Bru]

On 12/12/2023 at 12:15 PM, PappaWatTrap said:

Hi everyone

That time of year when everyone has the need for a dramatic change,

So this is my end of year "crises"

I want to replace my 2011 Merida Scultura and 2014 Scott scale 930 with a single gravel bike. 

I enjoy the odd road race here and there with the yearly Argus to see if "This year is my sub 3 year". I enjoy riding in Jonkershoek but enjoy the climbing more than the coming down so would always opt for the fire roads down seeing that its still harsh on the Scale coming down Armageddon. 

Would I regret such a decision and would I still be able to push it in the odd road race if I put some skinny road tyres on the gravel bike? I guess its all in the legs, the real question is would I feel such a big difference between the road and gravel bike if I put on proper road tyres on the gravel bike, Like the GP5000 tyres.

Has anyone tried racing with a gravel bike on the road with road tyres, and how was the experience?

Considering the original question again - 

It really depends on what gravel bike you're looking at, and how much you want to spend. If you just want to sell those 2 bikes and use only that money to buy a gravel bike, it's gonna have to be a cheap gravel bike, in which case I think you're better off sticking with the 2 bikes. 

But if you want to sell the 2 bikes and throw some cash into the equation, then things change because I think a higher-end gravel bike will be more capable on the road. You're gonna have to fork out for a carbon frame, and maybe carbon wheels too, if you want it to feel remotely like a road bike. In which case, maybe consider a secondhand Giant Revolt, but I think that would require you to put R15k to R20k into the deal after selling your current 2 bikes. 
 

[openmind]

An option is to get a gravel bike and work on your skills:

 

[PappaWatTrap]

Reading through all of the posts I think I have realized that replacing the carbon MTB hardtail would be difficult. I get too much of kick out off feeling the immediate power transfer and negotiating the single tracks to find the smoothest line. 

My roadbike isn't worth much but the value I get out of it would be difficult to replace. 

 

Now speaking hypothetically and in a perfect world where I just have all the money one could want. I would replace my roadbike with a Scott Addict Gravel, light and responsive but can be used on the road or gravel. 
 

So guess for now I'm keeping my bike the way they are

 

 

[Kom]

On 12/15/2023 at 7:28 PM, PappaWatTrap said:

So guess for now I'm keeping my bike the way they are

This has and probably will remain the status quo for many folk this and next year: “ride what you have”

The bike industry is in turmoil with supply and demand while it recoups from post covid demand-mania.

[The Ouzo]

On 12/17/2023 at 9:23 AM, Kom said:

This has and probably will remain the status quo for many folk this and next year: “ride what you have”

The bike industry is in turmoil with supply and demand while it recoups from post covid demand-mania.

but i think, if you have the cash, then some bargains will be available to be bought

[Newbie321]

I'm at the opposite end of this, bought a dual suspension to replace the hard tail and honestly has reinvigorated my love for MTB'ing. My poor road bike is mostly gathering dust