Gravel Bikes w/Mountain influences

On the surface, gravel bikes look like roads bikes as we've known them for the last 30 years for the most part. They essentially are the "road" bikes everyone in the United States really needed anyway vs the Tour de France/Pro-Tour bikes the public has been sold. However, the influence of mountain bikes is creeping in.

Case in point is my Norco Search XR gravel bike I built up last year. Originally, I did use a typical road 700c wheelset with 35-38mm wide tires. Nothing odd there. But earlier this fall I decided to see what it'd be like if I unlocked the frame's design that allowed me to run a dropper post and mountain bike like tires/wheels. The results were impressive and showed me how flexible gravel bikes can be, as well as how the value of such a set up on how I ride.

First off let's look at the wheelset. I went with the Panaracer made Pacenti Neo Moto/Quasi Moto tires mounted up to Stan's Gold 27.5 wheels. The tires were designed for cross country mountain bikes as were the wheels which weigh in at a road wheelset like the weight of 1240 grams. Not a setup I'd run for the mountain biking I do, but fantastic for where I take my gravel bike. Here in Colorado Springs, we have some great in-town trails that are part of the parks system that are a little boring on a modern mountain bike, yet a bit rough for a cyclocross bike or gravel bike even with bigger tires. But with this wheel set up on my bike, the boring trails are really really fun...and often have little traffic so it's like having your own private trail. With this setup, I can tackle many of our more advanced trails or cut through them to another road. Kinda fun. Yet on the road, the wheels roll surprisingly fast and I lose little to my normal setup of 38x700c I was using prior. Maybe 1-2mph depending, but that's been worth it for the comfort and confidence-inspiring ride of the larger tires.

Next up is the dropper post. I was sent the post to test and kinda fought the idea of even using it. But sure enough, once I did install it I was surprised how handy it really is. Like with a mountain bike, getting the seat down even just 2-3" sometimes allows for a lower center of gravity when cornering while also helping on descents off-road. And like when I broke down and put a dropper post on my mountain bike, I ended up using it far more than I expected.

With the addition of these two borrowed mountain bike products, the versatility of the modern gravel bike really shines through. It's no longer just a road bike that can safely travel on gravel roads with ease, but a true do it all bike I can tackle whatever my mood feels like tackling today. As is, I'm comfortable riding pavement to singletrack. But I also still have a set of 700c wheels as well as both slick and gravel tires when I ride with that crowd.

I predict we'll see bikes that fit up to 2.1 tires on 700c wheels and 2.4" on 27.5" in 2020 in the gravel scene. Some already do like the Otso Waheela C, Evil Chamois Hagar, and the Open WI.De as well as we've seen custom builders show off such at NAHBS in 2019. Such will make exploring by bike just a little more fun, and in parts of the country where available mountain bike trails leave a bit to be desired when tackled on a modern mountain bike, all a user will have to do is swap out the 700c wheels for 27.5 to breath new life and excitement into riding those trails.

With many of my projects right now for 2020 focused on the gravel scene, I'm excited for what the new year will bring.

How about you? What do you think will come next? Are you running 27.5 wheels with mountain bike tires on your gravel bike? Or will you in 2020? Share in the comments below. Thanks!