It is great that road bikes and gravel bikes are good at different things.
Gravel bike vs road bike speed.
Road bikes will also have a longer reach and shorter frame stack and head tube to facilitate a longer lower more aero position while gravel bikes are shorter and more upright.
And they can reach speeds way higher than that of a mountain bike.
A gravel bike has a large clearance for tires.
And that can mean a lot of fun and a fresh look at where and how you ride a gravel bike can raise a smile in so many ways there are lots of.
My gravel bike is 1 or 2 kmph slower than my road bike with 32mm slicks on it mainly as its more upright in position over a 50km or so ride.
Here are some fast facts.
As usual the idea comes from the us where the countryside is crisscrossed by miles and miles of unused tracks designed to help fire trucks navigate around remote forests.
You ll still get plenty of gears for most road riding but you won t have quite enough high gears for when the speeds gets very fast like 26 mph to 30 mph or faster.
What is a gravel bike and why do i need one.
Difference between gravel bikes and road bikes.
My long low road bike with aero wheels and 28mm compass tires is materially faster than my gravel bike with a more relaxed riding position low gearing and 700 42 compass tires but they are both great at what they are designed to do and without trying to perform like the other.
Gravel bikes can handle more wear and tear than your common road bikes.
Simply said a gravel bike is a combination of a road bike happy on tarmac and a cyclo cross bike happy on mud.
In truth they sit somewhere between the two.
Gravel is faster than trail maintaining an average speed of 25 km h 15 5 mph on a mountain bike over rocky and technical terrain would put you in a very elite category.
If you are a road bike racer then a gravel bike probably won t work as your primary bike.
On the slopes of the epic jebel shams climb in oman ollie and si looked to settle the battle once and for all with this gravel bike vs road bike race.