# Gravel grinding, fad, trend, or real



## freezin_is_the_reason

I'm seeing more and more about gravel grinding. I've been doing since last summer and even got a cross bike to do some rides with.

Benefits:

Much less traffic
Opens up miles of otherwise untouched riding
Adds a slight bit of tech to road riding

Down sides:

Riding gravel on skinny tires can get a bit tiring on the hands
Slower speeds than road riding
Not as techy as a nice bit of singletrack

So, does this gravel thing have legs? Will I look back in a few years and think that the cross bike was a good investment or wonder why I ever felt like I needed one? 

Thoughts.............


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## Tom Kunich

You know dirt roads don't have to be gravel to ride a cross bike on? And since it's been around since the very beginning of bicycles in the late 1800's I don't think it will go away any time soon.

Along the California coast are actually thousands of miles of trails for such riding and it is great fun. Though the next cross bike I build will have a flat bar.


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## Kerry Irons

freezin_is_the_reason said:


> I'm seeing more and more about gravel grinding. I've been doing since last summer and even got a cross bike to do some rides with.
> 
> Benefits:
> 
> Much less traffic
> Opens up miles of otherwise untouched riding
> Adds a slight bit of tech to road riding
> 
> Down sides:
> 
> Riding gravel on skinny tires can get a bit tiring on the hands
> Slower speeds than road riding
> Not as techy as a nice bit of singletrack
> 
> So, does this gravel thing have legs? Will I look back in a few years and think that the cross bike was a good investment or wonder why I ever felt like I needed one?
> 
> Thoughts.............


Just a new name for something people have been doing for 100 years. People jump into cycling without knowing any history or get the mind set that there's only one kind of riding and then get surprised. And of course then somebody comes up with a "catchy" name in a magazine and we have the next hipster craze. And BTW there were hipsters before the term hipster was created.


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## JChasse

Kerry Irons said:


> Just a new name for something people have been doing for 100 years. People jump into cycling without knowing any history or get the mind set that there's only one kind of riding and then get surprised. And of course then somebody comes up with a "catchy" name in a magazine and we have the next hipster craze. And BTW there were hipsters before the term hipster was created.


What Kerry said. I've loved gravel roads for decades. Much prefer them on a 'cross bike. I don't really enjoy riding on most dirt on a road bike with 23-25 mm tires - i think that's just annoying.


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## freezin_is_the_reason

While the concept of riding gravel roads isn't new, the organized rides are something relatively new. By organizing & naming it, the people holding these events are in essence "creating" a new catagory of riding. 

My argument/question is does "gravel grinding" as an organized category have legs?


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## crossracer

Actually I do think it has legs. 

For one it's using roads most motorists arnt using, which is good for both of use.

It allows you access to many miles of rails to trails. Also awesome. 

I feel it's easier for organizers to hold an event that doesn't close main roads and allows some awesome racing at slightly slower speeds. 

I've also do a combo route here in Delaware, it's road, dirt road, abandoned roads, and light trail rides. Much fun. 

Is it a but of the newest greatest thing going on, sure, but I honestly feel it's great for the sport. 

And my cross bike now sports flat bars, bar ends, and 700x45 mm conti tires. Want to talk about your fun ride, think light weight mtn bike.

Bill


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## kjdhawkhill

I can't predict the future, but I believe I'll keep riding gravel roads as long as they are part of the safest/shortest route to where I want to go. And as long as it feels safer than pacelining in a group ride on a high traffic road.


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## atpjunkie

Gravel Grinding or what we used to call 'going out for a fun ride'

Tom Ritchey had a great quote on the subject


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## SystemShock

Hasn't Grant Petersen (of Bridgestone and then Rivendell) been promoting this kind of riding for decades?

And the majors are just now waking up to it? Oy. :skep:


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## y2kota

Sounds like fun. Just need to get, yet one more bike.


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## Bill2

Not sure what "organized category" even means but people have been riding on dirt/gravel roads for more than a century and will continue to, whether or not it's categorized or organized.


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## BruceBrown

Bill2 said:


> Not sure what "organized category" even means but people have been riding on dirt/gravel roads for more than a century and will continue to, whether or not it's categorized or organized.


Bingo. I grew up in a small town in the Dakotas that had gravel streets which connected to gravel roads, so I guess I've been _grinding_ on gravel since I first hopped on a bike in 1964. I rode some beautiful gravel roads in Austria for a decade. They were called something fancy there - _Fortsrasse_. I guess we call them fire roads in the hills and mountains in the US. Here in Iowa, gravel roads are what connect all the farm land in the counties. I'm on gravel 3 blocks from the front door of my house. 

Never thought of it as a fad or a trend. Just _real_ if I wanted to get anywhere on my bike. 

Not sure organized bike rides are a new thing, either.


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## AlanE

Here in NJ, there's one organized ride on dirt roads that has gotten bigger every year. It started 5 years ago with a few dozen riders and this year it's over 500. And then there's the growing popularity of events like Battenkill & Dirty Kanza.

In addition to the benefits cited by the OP, I think the growing popularity is the appeal of doing something a little bit hardcore, or outside the mainstream. It's kind of like the growing popularity of events like Tough Mudder for runners. Lets people think they are some sort of badass.

Time will tell if it's a fad or a trend. Reminds me of fixie riding - got real popular for a while then tapered off (at least in this area).


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## wim

BruceBrown said:


> Bingo. I grew up in a small town in the Dakotas that had gravel streets which connected to gravel roads, so I guess I've been _grinding_ on gravel since I first hopped on a bike in 1964.


Similar experience, except in Germany. The best cycling roads around the city of Ulm on the Danube were all gravel, and cyclists of all kinds just rode on them elegantly and relatively fast. No one was "grinding" anything, and no one thought it was "hardcore" to ride those roads. The fad is the word "grinding," not riding gravel roads.


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## robdamanii

I've no problem riding dirt on a road bike. I don't believe it's going to fade away either.

On the contrary, it appears cycling is returning to its roots, what with the first grand tours and races being held on unpaved roads.


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## AlanE

robdamanii said:


> . . . it appears cycling is returning to its roots. . .


That's what they said about fixies.


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## tednugent

Singlespeeds still have a cult following on the MTB world, including Singlespeed races (unicycles count also)...






back on topic...
Marty's Reliable is trying to do a Patriot's Path based Grand Fondo type ride also (in addition to their Grand Fondo)....


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## Bill2

BruceBrown said:


> Bingo. I grew up in a small town in the Dakotas that had gravel streets which connected to gravel roads, so I guess I've been _grinding_ on gravel since I first hopped on a bike in 1964. I rode some beautiful gravel roads in Austria for a decade. They were called something fancy there - _Fortsrasse_. I guess we call them fire roads in the hills and mountains in the US. Here in Iowa, gravel roads are what connect all the farm land in the counties. I'm on gravel 3 blocks from the front door of my house.
> 
> Never thought of it as a fad or a trend. Just _real_ if I wanted to get anywhere on my bike.
> 
> Not sure organized bike rides are a new thing, either.


Here in Italy they call them strade bianche or more commonly strade sterrate. They are all over- numerous ones leading to our village. The Italians will pave one for a few miles and then it becomes again sterrata, so often when riding my roadbike I end up riding unpaved roads.


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## Wookiebiker

It's nothing new, but gaining popularity.

Why is it gaining popularity? I would venture the increase in riding of dirt roads comes from the increase in popularity of Cyclocross. People now have bikes that handle dirt roads easily, they get practice during the off season on dirt roads and keep their handling skills better throughout the year and there are less cars on those roads.

Several early season races here have gravel sections in them ... including this past weekends Gorge Roubaix. These races generally culminate in about 100 flat tires and it's a race of attrition more than a race of fitness since after the first gravel road pass all the neutral wheels have been used and those without a spare kit are done for the day, regardless of how good they are on the bike.

Personally ... I hate riding gravel roads on my road bike. The handling is sketchy, you slash up your tires, get more flats, beat up a nice road bike and all in all ... IMO they suck. If I have a cross bike I can live with them, but they are not that enjoyable ... on a MTB they are great for fitness training on the bike, but not much else.

In the end ... I avoid races and rides that involve gravel sections since I tend to gravitate toward the trend that "They Suck", but have teammates that love them. 

On another note, a teammate of mine is a masters racer and has osteoporosis ... it's just way to dangerous for him to get on dirt roads due to the chance of a front end wash out and breaking multiple bones. 

If you like them ... ride them, just don't expect everybody to be on board with riding them.


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## Herbie

while people have been riding gravel forever, the organized and group feature of this type of riding is something different in this country. I really want to try one as something different. I don't want to treat it as a race, but rather as an event like an organized century. Around here the country roads are all chip and seal. there are a few gravel sections, but you really have to hunt to find them Two years ago I bought a Salsa Fargo for self contained camping trips. I think this 29er with road bars would be ideal. 

by the way when I used to go to North Dakota with my former wife, I got plenty of experience with gravel. It was 7 miles to the nearest pave road unless you wanted to get on the interstate, which was legal. Using the interstate got the gravel down to 3 miles. Can't say I enjoyed those miles on a road bike.


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## crossracer

I started last year leading some dirt road rides, I got a few people to come out and ride a bunch of roads they normally never see. It is alot of fun. Not for everybody true, but still another great way to ride a bike. 
Bill


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## moonmoth

It's a fad term being somewhat promoted by manufacturers that are looking grow into other markets by offering frames that are suitable for dirt roads and accept wider tires. Yes, that's mainly a cross bike but a lot of the masses don't know that. Of course, the old grizzled riders will tell you that all you need is your road bike with some 25mm tires but that doesn't help the bike companies because they want to carve out a new marketing category. Trek supposedly is bringing some of its Domane decoupler technnology to a new offering suitable for dirt roads and Specialized has something in the works as well.

You'll hear this "gravel grinder" term a lot more, unfortunately.


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## AlanE

tednugent said:


> back on topic...
> Marty's Reliable is trying to do a Patriot's Path based Grand Fondo type ride also (in addition to their Grand Fondo)....


Sounds Epic !!! Keep us posted.


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## Jay Strongbow

Interesting. Next thing you know someone is going to invent riding on cobble stones.


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## den bakker

Jay Strongbow said:


> Interesting. Next thing you know someone is going to invent riding on cobble stones.


that's old
call it "floating on cobbles" and have two ride next to each other and it's something new


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## Jay Strongbow

wim said:


> Similar experience, except in Germany. The best cycling roads around the city of Ulm on the Danube were all gravel, and cyclists of all kinds just rode on them elegantly and relatively fast. No one was "grinding" anything, and no one thought it was "hardcore" to ride those roads. The fad is the word "grinding," not riding gravel roads.


I can credit those roads/trails in Germany for getting me back into cycling as an adult. I hadn't been on a bike in like 20 years and I rented a bike one day on a trip to Germany simply because I couldn't think of anything else to do and by chance strayed of the regular roads on the gravel paths. Within an hour I was kicking myself for not cycling at home and made plans to buy a bike once I get back home.
I can't even describe how stongly those trails made me realize how much fun cycling was and what I was missing at home. This wasn't in Ulm but Mittenwald (Bavarian Alps). So nice. And just like you said....cyclists of all kinds on those roads/paths. The crosscounty skiing must be fantastic in the winter too.


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## tarwheel2

We have very few dirt, gravel or unpaved roads where I live. There are parts of NC to do, but that's mainly in the mountains or near the coast where there are large national forests. I love the idea of having a cross bike or gravel grinder but I'm not sure where I would ride it.


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## GRAVELBIKE

y2kota said:


> Sounds like fun. Just need to get, yet one more bike.


_Every_ bike is a gravel bike.


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## Kerry Irons

crossracer said:


> It allows you access to many miles of rails to trails.


Just curious as to why they aren't "rail trails" instead of "rails to trails." After all it is the Rail Trail Conservancy. I've seen this usage a few times and cannot understand where it comes from. Some of our locals (non-cyclists) use the same term.


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## wim

Kerry Irons said:


> Just curious as to why they aren't "rail trails" instead of "rails to trails."


I think the official name of the conservancy is "Rails-to-Trails Conservancy." They do call the trails "rail trails" or "rail-trails."


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## DocRogers

Where I live (southern Maine) I have one paved road and two gravel roads out of my neighborhood. They're short (couple miles for the longer one), so I don't want to just take the mountain bike (unless I'm going on a trail ride), so a bike that's good on bumpy gravel roads, but still efficient on the road, opens up a lot more possibilities for riding.


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## Carverbiker

When you put two type A personalities together they will compete, if they happen to be bike riders near a dirt/gravel road they will race on it. I forsee a shortage of the later long before the former but neither anytime soon. They appeal to me as its a bit of a hybrid of road and mountain. I will need to continue looking for one I am good at!


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## SystemShock

GRAVELBIKE said:


> _Every_ bike is a gravel bike.


Not the ones that can't take a tire larger than 23C. Or have 'stupid-light, to the point of being fragile' -type construction.


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## BigTex_BMC

Whats with all this talk about cross bikes, up until the early/mid 70s it was fairly common to race on unpaved/gravel roads and they did it on bikes that would be consider inferior by today's standards. The pro's ride Roubaix and Strade Bianche on roadbikes, so I say throw some cross tires on your road bike and HTFU!


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## den bakker

BigTex_BMC said:


> Whats with all this talk about cross bikes, up until the early/mid 70s it was fairly common to race on unpaved/gravel roads and they did it on bikes that would be consider inferior by today's standards. The pro's ride Roubaix and Strade Bianche on roadbikes, so I say throw some cross tires on your road bike and HTFU!


assuming the road bike can accommodate wider tyres than 23/25 which is often not the case today. unlike 40 years ago


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## BigTex_BMC

den bakker said:


> assuming the road bike can accommodate wider tyres than 23/25 which is often not the case today. unlike 40 years ago


specialized roubaix armadillo tires (available in a 700 x 23/25 clincher), along with running lower tire pressure and you'll be fine.


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## den bakker

BigTex_BMC said:


> specialized roubaix armadillo tires (available in a 700 x 23/25 clincher), along with running lower tire pressure and you'll be fine.


depends on the gravel road.


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## NJBiker72

You don't need a cross bike. I use my Secteur with wider tires (28). Maybe a little hairy at times but it is a good change of pace. 

But just one more of those this year. 

Then back to the race bike and skinny tires.


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## joeinchi

I don't think it's a broad trend. If you have gorgeous climbs or miles of coastline nearby, why would you spend time on a dirt road? If, however, you live in a flat, landlocked part of the world, I think gravel grinding offers a new way to have fun on two wheels.

It's more of niche and might have staying power ... but only in select areas. $0.02


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## Tom Kunich

I don't have any problems running a road bike on dirt or gravel roads as long as it's flat. But if there are hills or even good humps you can find yourself with your nice shiny road bike all scratched up faster than you can say, "cyclocross tires".


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