Confession of a Marauder on two wheels
Yes, I fell for it again. She is black; perfect in its cranks; silent in its changes of rhythm; notched and bold; anodized; integrated into any aerodynamic envelope; could be disturbing to fawns and snakes as well as being a perfect positive mold of midges and flies; it doesn't have a name because it's built in some canton in Switzerland... it's my second gravel bike.
Someone will ask: why a gravel bike? Why, always a second gravel bike? Why black? Why do you think you're always at the end halfway up the hill?
I answer the first question with one word: Freedom
I don't have an answer to the other questions but, I believe, they are due to some zodiac sign or planet that has a different course from the appropriate ones.
But, let's go step by step.
What is a Gravel Bike?
The gravel is one of the latest innovations that has established itself in the cycling world, arousing interest and curiosity for its innovative spirit with which it tackles the discipline.
For about four years (but with a boom in the last year) cyclists have been discovering this middle ground between road, off-road and cycle tourism which, in addition to letting you experience exciting routes, avoids the sense of competition and certainly allows you to go on a bike without performance and race anxieties.
You can in fact do long rides on the road, even in bikepacking, with stops to admire the view and take pictures, calmly face the steepest climbs and also dirt roads and country paths, or a more intense workout and some single trail, if that's what you need that day.
The basis is always non-competition and going without competition, enjoying the journey to the fullest and making gravel your lifestyle.
To get the best you need to have the right bike. But what is a gravel bike? Let's find out together what does gravel bike mean how these bikes are made and the difference with the other models.
How to recognize a gravel?
Gravel Bikes are designed to cover the so-called "white roads", gravel roads, but also paths and long journeys. The gravel bike is new on the market, it is different from all the others even if it takes its cue from all of them.
It is in fact a nice mix between the road bike, the mountain bike and those vintage bikes.
The road bike was the inspiration for the frame, handlebars and wheel diameter.
The gravel bike frame is usually made of aluminum, carbon or steel and has a comfortable design.
For example it has a higher trim, low center of gravity and the elongated rear end to give you good stability to the bike.
The brakes are generally disc brakes, both hydraulic and mechanical, so as to be comfortable and give you a high level of safety even when braking on the roughest paths.
From the mountain bike instead it took the knobby design of the tyres, with wider and knobby covers ideal for tackling different types of roads riding for many hours, always remaining relaxed and effortless to pedal.
Even the handlebar is made more ergonomically and the saddle is a little less light than usual, always to ensure comfort on all terrains and increase vibration absorption that gravel terrain can give.
Finally, the construction materials of gravel bikes were inspired by historic bikes - used by the great champions between the first and second world wars to tackle the unpaved roads of the time. From these also derives a comfortable and less “racing” design of road bikes, without forgetting handling.
Gravel bikes should not be confused with cyclocross bikes, cyclocross is a discipline that focuses more on competition and speed, while gravel bikes more on comfort. So a cyclocross bike, although at first glance very similar to a gravel bike, has technical characteristics and measures designed to optimize speed and is therefore more uncomfortable than a gravel bike which is less extreme.
A cook … a scientist
The performance of a Gravel.
Obviously, the speech can vary from model to model and in a correlated way from the expense. Gravel bikes have on-road performance close to road bikes and off-road performance close to mountain bikes.
Close, in a very competitive market, actually means: distant. If we could sum it up in one sentence: it does everything well but it excels in nothing.
The writing date of this article is December 2022, the technologies on these models are becoming dedicated and very specialized, therefore, all that has been reported above will be increasingly closer both to road bikes and to the other extreme of the mountain bike.
Three words for three types of bikes
For simplicity of nomenclature and definitions, we categorize all bikes into three main groups: road, gravel and mountain bikes. For readers who are familiar with the world of cycling, what I have just written above will seem like heresy; each group in turn has a further subdivision into other subgroups, which in turn differ according to the value of the setting. In short, it's a mess.
We associate each of these groups with a single word.
Road bike = Speed
Mountain bike = Adventure
Gravel bike = Freedom.
Exactly, for the latter type … Freedom. A concept that is different from the previous ones.
Freedom is the potential of any act: from being still in absolute stillness to navigating the most jagged paths of the Apennines, not to be confused with Adventure: the territory of mountain bikes because it involves adrenaline and "eating" the territory with notched wheels and built to proceed without obstacles or against obstacles.
And the speed? Racing bike environment. Road and territories experienced as a shade of colors and wind as an analog hourglass; the GPS computer is a blackboard of whole and absolute numbers, the traces depicted serve only as a reminder of lines and curves that are known even by smell alone.
Gravel? Freedom. Totipotent, intelligent in imbecile environments and imbecile in intelligent uphill stretches. That cousin you see once a year but you've liked for a lifetime and you'd like at home every minute of the year.
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