I tried an "adventure gravel bike" (dropper, suspension, 50mm tires!)
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- čas přidán 15. 12. 2023
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I bought my gravel bike because it was described as the “pickup truck of bikes”. It’s great for rough country roads in my area. No dropper, no suspension, just a bike that I can ride in a lot of situations.
You can also bring it for bikepacking. I bought a Gravel bike two years back, and it has brought me everywhere: trails, around the country, bike camping. It can do everything depending on how you set it up
More like a mini cooper
_just a bike that I can ride in a lot of situations._
You guys are a marketer's dream.
@@superyamagucci how is that wrong, its the fastest urban bike, its faster than a mtb everywhere except on single with sand
ocks\mud, its more comfortable than a road bike so better for longer distances. There is a lot of bullshit marketing around it, now casuals are buying suspensions and ruining it for example, but the claim of versatility is legit.
@@BostilCensurado
You can ride any bike in a lot of situations.
I am new to mountain biking and I LOVE your channel’s content. Happy holidays to you and your family! Be blessed always, looking forward to reconnecting and being inspired with your amazing content next year
Glad to hear you're taking a break. Another fantastic year in the books, I enjoyed watching along. Cheers to you and yours brother!
As a gravel rider it was fun to see a mountain biker with an open mind trying out a gravel bike. I liked that the test was done both within intended use and outside. Makes it clear that the two bike types are cousins, but clearly also quite different. Good work and good vacation :-)
Thanks man! I'll be doing a lot more gravel riding in the future. Super chill and a great way to get a long zone 2 ride in
I think mountain bikers are more naturally attracted to gravel bikes than most roadies. We're used to bigger tyres, suspension and handling sketchy surfaces.
I'm just about to buy my first gravel bike -- a Cannondale Slate, with a Lefty fork and 650B wheels. At 9kg, its waaaaayyyyy to heavy for my roadie pals, but it feel featherlight to me!
All it needs is wider bars -- 440mm seem's narrow to me after years on 780s. But I have my eye on a Surly Truck Stop bar in 480mm that might do the job. If not, the Redshift Kitchen Sink bar at just over 500m could be on the cards.
Cheers
Sounds great @@BrianRPaterson Enjoy your gravel bike.
Personally, I am coming from the roadie side.
I like a combination of the speed and distance from the road and getting out in nature where I also don't need to deal with car traffic.
I see quiter a few other roadies go down that path also.
I just recently picked up a Polygon gravel bike and it’s definitely a lot of bike for the money. I enjoy your channel and look forward to where it’s headed in the new year. Keep it up and Happy Holidays
I've really always wanted a gravel rig to keep winter rides alive for me. Good content to see.
I feel like everyone is getting into riding a
gravel bikes bc for two reasons... 1) living in AR we love our dirt roads! Some of the best views of AR are located on dirt roads.
2) riding on paved roads are way too dangerous these days
Dude road biking is the most dangerous form of cycling. I was riding down Centerton Blvd the other day and I opted to ride in the grass instead of the street (no sidewalk)
@@EvansMTBSaga I have no shame in ripping down a side walk 😆
@@EvansMTBSaga when I moved to Phoenix, Az I wouldn't touch a bike lane. Lol being from Arkansas I kept to the side walks (ticket or not) this was before the bike boom here ( 2009ish)
I moved to Trinidad. CO a couple years ago to get involved in the burgeoning singletrack scene and stumbled upon the EPIC gravel in the area.
I traded my Look gravel bike for a KTM 890 one, I just installed hand warmers and I don't regret it one bit. Nice companion to my DIRT bike. 😂
Day 2 was exactly what I have been wondering about with gravel bikes Thank you!
Great content!
Rest up - refresh - spend quality time with family and come back.
Wishing a great X MAS and productive new year ahead!
Great video! Yeah, the Arkansas gravel is crazy how quick you can be in the deserted countryside!
I prefer my mountain bike, but I’ve got a gravel bike for endurance building and riding gran fundos. I think it’s an easier transition for MTBrs as opposed to a skinny tire road bike. Also, a good option when the single track is too wet to ride.
same. bombing down steep hills on gravel at 40-50mph is also a uniquely sketchy experience that is pretty addicting. the speed is fun when you're used to MTBs
Oh and if you do the fitness videos, I'd love to hear more about the zone 2 training you mentioned in your recent ebike video. Thanks for the awesome videos.
Rode mtb since 92 and still do and can say gravel bikes in all are great as long as you get the right one for your intended use. Like mtb, they are not all the same !
I bought a marin dsx flat bar gravel bike last year its been great i just ride it around town and to the gym i was always worried about my mountain bikes getting stolen and ruining my tires on the pavement now its so much more enjoyable to put around town and its way faster and easier to pedal im happy i bought it
Evan, I’m not nearly as skilled at you at jumps, drops or stuff like that but I do ride a lot of ridged gravel on single… being in the drops (not on the hoods) could make these bigger sketch features feel more secure. Be it loose fast gravel downhills to well; insane level MTB features on a gravel bike. Just my 2¢..
Enjoy your holidays, family and break from the content production my dude!!
Enjoy your break. Thank you for the content
Enjoy your time off. Very cool recap at the end, I’ve enjoyed watching your content all year
Thanks dude! I liked seeing all of it come together too
i just heard it somewhere that "gravel bike is roadies off-road bike and mtb'ers road bike"
I bought a 2018 cannondale scalpel this year for a pretty sweet deal. Carbon wheels and a second set of wheels as well. Lock out the suspension and it’s a rigid bike. Put on a pair of skinner 1.9” tires on my other wheel set and ride with friends on dedicated gravel bikes. When the trail gets bumpy I unlock suspension and it’s so smooth. Super versatile and other than lacking a drop bar i think it’s actually a nicer “gravel bike” than some friends ride. And I spent a lot less on it too. Then I race it for fun in some xc type races with the Stan’s valour carbon wheels it came with.
I love mine, it was a super rainy year where I live so it was a perfect year for it.
as for me, a simple hardtail turned out only with a very small fork stroke
Happy holidays! Hope you have a wonderful vacation.
If you can't n+1, a hardtail MTB with a remote lockout, big chainring and big range cassette is a great MTB and can easily double as an adventure/gravel bike. Nothing beats a true drop bar gravel/CX bike though if you can have multiple bikes.
Have a good vacation bro. See you then! And Happy Holidays to you and the fam.
Fantastic bike , very brave jumping it lol il build a 26” drop bar Mtb 😂 Happy Christmas , loved watching you in 2023
I’m tempted to take my gravel bike to the next organized mountain bike rides.
Have a great break Evan and enjoy some family and riding time and we will see you again in the new year 🎉
Definitely put together some "Best Of...", "My 2023 Favorites", (etc) videos to post while on your break to keep the CZcams Channel analytics/algorithm alive. An epic 2023 season! Looking forward to what's coming in '24! Keep doing what you do 😁👍‼️
Thanks for your 2023 hardwork man, you deserve a quick nap too , jajaj happy holidays until Feb
Thanks Carlos!!
My gravel bike is my biggest "surprise" bike. Meaning, I was surprised at how much I enjoy it. I didn't expect to like it as much as I do.
I'm with you too. Road is too boring and too dangerous. But gravel was a perfect mix of road and MTB
I've chucked my gravel bike down MTB trails but it's not fun. It's sketchy and if you keep it up you'll break something. Maybe your face. Gravel bikes are for getting out, covering distance and not having to worry about jumping on a trail and seeing where you end up. If I go out on my gravel bike I'm riding straight from my door, whereas on the MTB I either end up riding or driving to the 'proper' trails. On the gravel bike everything is a proper trail!
Yeah i agree! I won't be going back to singletrack unless I just happen to stumble upon new stuff and it's like a recon mission at that point haha. I'm pumped that I have a gravel road starting less than a mile from my door!
“You break it, you buy it” 😂 but dude, the gravel riding here is incredible. What I like most about gravel riding is the speed, plus the views are great also! Just got to watch out for dogs, that is a serious issue 😅
Completely off-topic: the 80s synth vibes in the background are 😎
enjoy your time off and happy holidays in advance.
But yeah, gravel bikes are fun and great for smashing intervalls on some more interesting terrain than roads.
Interval time! Thanks man cya next month
Gravel checks the box for creating an adventuring vibe with a lot of the same ethos as mountain biking (self sufficiency, surrounded by nature, etc). I've really come to enjoy gravel as much as my MTB.
if you want more control on singletrack put your hands on the drops, not the hoods. Yes, this does result in a really low position, but you actually have control of the bike.
damn, that is a lot of bike for that price! it would definitely make my local trails an entirely different experience… which is exactly why people ride those instead of cross country hardtails. Variety is fun!
I love my gravel bike so much I'm removing the Fox 34 from my hardtail (my least favorite bike as it is) and replacing it with a rigid fork. Gravel forks are cool and all, but I prefer cush core and a shockstop suspension stem.
i own two bikes a short travel fs trail bike and a gravel bike. i love going 100+km rides on the gravel bike. the perfect second bike i take it everywhere
From Montreal Canada! Evan, I can't but help but agree with you. Gravel bikes are fast and light. But I would take a XC MTB any time. :). My favorite MTB channel!
In my experience, the greatness about gravel bike is the dropbar. You can have multiple hand position for comfort on long journey than flatbar on XC bike.
I think you will have more control in the singletracks if you use the drops of the handlebar
Hey Evan. I really enjoy your content. I've been racing BMX for almost 40 years now and was even the track operator at my local track for 7 years. When the pandemic hit and everything shut down I got a gravel bike and I was hooked. I've also been mountain biking for the past 5 years and now I'm helping coach a local junior development mountain biking program and just finished my first season as a local high school mountain bike racing coach as well. Basically my message is to try as many as the cycling disciplines as possible. The skills and fitness from one helps when you do the others. Have fun on the gravel bike. Hope to see you next time I'm in Bentonville.
Heck yeah Todd thanks for the message! I'm gonna try all the disciplines for sure!
@10:17 LMAO, nice work with the background track.
Evan Happy Holidays to you and your family
My gravel bike replaced my hardtail. It scoots along just fine on roads to get me to the easier dirt trails. If I'm driving my bike to the trails, I use my full suspension rig. I'm thinking of trying out a 30mm gravel suspension fork. If it works out, the hardtail is being sold or I'll give it to a buddy getting into the sport.
As a mtb rider I would say they aren't skilful enough to ride proper trails. Most of them are coming from the road. They are more familiar with the road handlebars. Flat bars are far really stable on descents. An old school (steep hta) mtb is a better choice for multiple day tours. Flat bars, 2,25 wide tires are amazing for gravel paths.
I want a full suspension gravel bike with 60mm tires lol. But my god you got to ride the V9X
I am in SoCal and I got myself a gravel bike to ride easier trails and keep things exciting...it is an exhilarating ride, exactly cause it is sketchy.
Once drop curious, especially on non-man-made transitions etc like these, you will find the limit VERY fast. I mean, no dig @ your courage to sent it, but even 18in drops to flat are far different than these smooth transitions you have @ Bentonville.
If you want something for non-flowy or easy singletrack that gets remotely techy and you start venturing away from a gravel bike with a redshift stem and 45-50mm tires, you are better off on a light HT. My Team Marin (alloy XC HT) with Fox 34 SC 120, a 170 dropper, Hunt XC alloy wheels, Scorpion XC RC 2.4 tires and full XT built was far cheaper than this Polygon and is under 26.4lbs with pedals and cages etc. But getting it over 16-17mph on flats is a chore, while my alloy gravel bike that is not that light (Checkpoint ALR, some 22lbs w/o bags with 700x42 Pathfinder Pro tires) can do more than 20mph with less effort.
Too bad I am too close to the urban sprawl madness to have any of the dirt-roads you were showing @ the first half of the vid.
It is fun tho that you find it "less agile" than a MTB...it is way more agile, and thus unforgiving, while "slack" MTBs are numb to your steering inputs by comparison and thus plow.
Thanks for the comment! I went down the path of long travel for a while but I'm headed towards going more and more under biked!
@@EvansMTBSagaLove underbiking.
Taught me a lot, the biggest lesson of which was - IMHO - how seriously "over-tired" we are on Minions and Butchers and Magic Marys...
The biggest upgrade you can make for your bike's speed in order to try "underbiking", is a really fast set of tires, i.e. Rekon Race or Ardent or even Ikon, or far better priced Specialized Fast Track front/Renegade rear etc.
Happy Holidays!
Gravel is good for distance, seeing the great outdoors, I converted my hybrid bike, it already had a 75mm air fork, hydraulic disc brakes, took those up to 180mm with sintered pads, surly corner bar copy, wider gravel tyres with tpu tubes, its a hoot but i know its limitations, it was never for gnarly rides before and still isnt, but it is more capable now
My friend had one and in my opinion it's good for riding when you're too tired to ride mtb
I think gravel bikes are really good for when you just start riding after a leg/foot injury
Sounds counter intuitive, but riding in the drops actually makes the bike handle way better in rougher terrain, when I first got a gravel bike I also rode holding on top of the hoods, but after a while I tried riding in the drops, it feels very strange at first, but you get used to it pretty quick, and it is way more stable riding rougher terrain that way, just food for thought
Even Blake on GMBN when he hit some massive jumps, in the drops, Sam Pilgrim doing gnarly stuff on a gravel/road bike, in the drops, look at any really good rider doing crazy stuff on road/gravel bikes, it is always in the drops
This MTB’er just bought a Giant Revolt Advanced Pro. It’s certainly more flexible than a pure road bike.
Gravel biking is such a fun way to get out. It’s a whole new style of exploring and makes even the green trails fun if you hit some singletrack.
Looking at the specs, I’d widen the bars before going longer stem. I run 480mm bars, gives me more of the feel of MTB handling
It's funny cuz road is on the trend of going super duper narrow now. Like 320 or something crazy. Maybe 360
@@EvansMTBSaga It's almost like the two are trying to differentiate themselves from each other. But my gravel came with 460 and just the little added width was a noticeable (positive) change, plus a 10mm shorter stem.
I've ridden gravel bikes since 2014, basically in tandem with mountain bikes. The two disciplines go hand in hand for me, they're both important to fitness and can help the other. Gravel biking gives me the opportunity to clock in longer endurance rides, in both time and distance, compared to my local singletrack options. It's a great for early season riding when the trails are still muddy or covered in ice, and it's a fallback when the trails are wet. I personally feel guilty riding muddy trails.
Around where I live there are dozens of cool historic roads that are no longer maintained, or if they are, very minimally maintained. These roads are fun to explore, and can offer offer loose surfaces, water bar jumps, rock gardens, rock jumps, stream crossings, and more. Being able to play around on a lightweight, responsive bike and then find beautiful vistas leading to 50mph descents, is fun for me.
Not more fun than mountain biking, but I don't understand the hate AT ALL.
It has been said, but definitely get into the drops/hooks on anything sketchy. Lower center of gravity, more secure handhold, and better torque on the brake levers (even helps on hydraulic brakes, but absolutely necessary on cable actuated discs 🫣).
Love the gravel bike for hitting the miles and not worrying about paths less travelled. Can’t beat gravel/road bike for chewing up miles at a good pace. Enjoy the bike and the time off. 🤙
I bought mine for damp/wet days when trails are no fun/not rideable. I thoroughly enjoy riding it now. I have to think sometimes which one i want to ride.
What do you think about the new fox 32 TC fork?
You switched out that epic drop thumbnail for one that I could have made on my phone? I like your style!
Haha which one do you like better? The video is a 10/10 so just throwing poop at the wall
@@EvansMTBSaga the drop pic was cool but after seeing the small drop in the video it was rather misleading. That bike is pretty cool tho man.
Hard to choose between a gravel bike and hardtail. I swapped my gravel for hardtail, but the gravel o had was steel and very heavy
hey evan i’m a local here in gilbert. i’ve recently gotten into mountain biking since my dad gave me his bike before passing. i’m a student up at NAU in flagstaff right now loving some trails up there. i haven’t been able to ride my bike yet due to lots of issues with the forks and rear shock. would love to get it on the channel some time
Oh man I moved to Arkansas a year ago
Well I wanted to try out road bikes...all the roads here are gravel.
Plus it cost the same as your big box store mountain bike on sale.
Amazing
Curious about the training channel. I bought a smart trainer last winter and it transformed my season. On my first single track ride in the spring, I was setting segment PRs where previously I was seriously hurting. Raced the BT Epic this fall and though I didn't set any records, I was able to do it without destroying my legs. In 24 I'm training for the Leadville stage race... Feels crazy, but I can't wait.
Tomorrow the training channels first video drops. Come back tomorrow and I'll have a video talking about making 2024 the best year ever (or at least better than this year)
You can ride all the undemanding trails with just a simple XC hardtail! No need for the gravel stuff 😅
Nice ride no mind to have a bike like that around. Can you lock the forks in place?
You can put the compression in firm mode but not a true lock out
So awesome to see you trying gravel. The exploration factor is what's so fun about it. Really sick that polygon makes a gx axs bike instead of xplor like most. Now they just need a carbon frame option 👌
gx axs has to be the most produced off road groupset at this point. im sure they have huge discounts for manufacturers
@@EMBIKES *wireless off-road groupset, maybe. It is a product for high(er) end bikes which are a small % of global sales. But I agree that the eTap Eagle AXS compatibility is great...cannot wait for Sram to f-it up, just like they did with everything else on their drop-bar lines...
Enjoy your well deserved break!
I love gravel bikes. Although I don’t use front suspension or a dropper because I don’t feel I need those at all.
I feel you should not going over board in making it like a hardtail with drop bars.
Is it even a gravel bike with suspension fork? Or just a xc mtb with dropper?
I’ve always been a bit gravel curious but if I only have time for a ride, I’d rather that ride be single track as opposed to gravel. But there’s got to be something about it.
I just got started on gravel coming from mtb. I've got a road bike that I only ride paved paths around our lakes or on big, supported rides with a couple hundred other people. I enjoy the road riding but not the risk of getting killed so my road/distance riding is limited. I was wanting to see how far I could ride in one sitting and doing laps around the lake gets boring after about 2 and that's me about 26 miles with some good hills. So enter gravel.
I used Ride with GPS to plot a route and took my XC hard tail and went. I ended up with 76 miles and about 7hr 20 min of saddle time. Probably at least 4.5 hrs of that was on gravel/dirt roads and I saw four or five cars that entire time. It was just me, the open Oklahoma sky and some cattle and horses. It was very quiet and peaceful mile after mile. Just a nice bike ride where you could turn your brain off and pedal. Now I've got a gravel/adventure bike with tons of mounts for bags and racks and I'm planning on some .ulti day bikepacking/touring next year.
Enjoy your break sir.
Personally love all bikes. I bought one because its that road bike feel on offroad trails.
What jersey you wearing in this? Very similar to my hometowns colours
I once rode my road bike on a gravel road. It was not like this 😂 you make me wanna get a gravel bike 😁
Haha I see tour de france dudes going off road sometimes. I didn't think road bikes could ever go off road before. I guess the gravel bike can handle it cuz I have 50mm tires with 27 psi compared to like 100 psi 23mm tires on road. You back riding?
@@EvansMTBSaga a good bit on the road bike, not as much as I'd like to on the MTB. Gotta get back to those trails but it's sucks to drive a good bit for the really fun trails!
That's an insane bike!
I guess I was hoping for an explanation of why someone would ride a gravel bike over MTB if not racing and still confused.
Wasn’t that an XO1 cassette?
New drone is awesome!
Haha I have no clue about the cassette. I got it second hand two years ago and people had said it was XX1
Have a great break!
I know this has nothing to do with gravel, but you should try the cannondale ht 3 hardtail
Personally, I ride a gravel bike to ride further on easier trails and mix with pavement. I think a gravel clicks the boxes for me because I like being out riding and exploring trails and back roads all day. I don’t think you need to depend on an eMtb to climb faster or pace faster on flat roads. You just need a gravel bike and your fitness. I guess you could have a hardtail XC marathon mountain bike and have something more over-biked on gravel roads but better on single track.
Did you get this idea from Gabriel wibmers video that just came out?
That bike is pretty sick. Have you tried carving the canyons with that thing?
I do not know of any canyons around here but I did carve a couple gravel corners and it felt pretty good! Excited to learn about the traction/handling over time
@@EvansMTBSaga Nice, going DH on a road bike on twisty roads is fun too!
On a side note. Who just saw Gabriel Wibmers gnarly new video drop on the gravel bike?
Evan, have you tried/used any 7000 series aluminum Thomson Elite bars, stems, or posts; or maybe their 3/2.5 Titanium posts and riser bars?😁
I've only used their seat posts but can't say that I noticed a difference other than having a cool Thompson logo 👍😀
@EvansMTBSaga I knew nothing about his Great products until 2010. I was looking for a 130mm stem and all I saw was a Thomsom. I asked Scott whom owned the store I was in. Scott said "Thomson makes awesome products." That was good enough for me😁🤘🤘
I've been using the Elite stem ever since, along with a pair of 7075 aluminum Titec
H👹llbent riser bars (I'm using 25.4 bars) and the post since 2018. I weighed 260lbs at one time, and that post is still going🤘🤘
I love my gravel bike because its much more comfortable than my road bikes for commuting, both geometry, wide tires and wide bar - and I can commute less than ideal roads, grass etc. I wouldnt use my fully mtb for commuting because of service intervals of suspension and because it would just be too much - only use my mtbs for trail - guess I could go hardtail mtb but I feel the gravel bike is more efficient - besides a bike rack doesnt seem off on a gravel bike, it does on mtb and road bikes… I love my gravel bike just as much as my mtb, just very different beasts and purposes…
I have a road bike... turning too sharp on gravel will prove that wider tires make a better navigator of loose gravel than the skinny cut through the wind rims and tires. My bike is too narrow to put wider rims on it. But I cannot afford to buy another bike for gravel purposes..when I have a mountain bike already. Enjoy your time off!😊
🤣🤣🤣 you mean a Short Travel Hardtail with drop bars!
My cube nuroad gravel bike is 22.5 lbs.. I only have 40mm tires and no dropper, I probably will switch out the seat for carbon and go tubeless this spring
Dang nice! Im gonna take the dropper off and put it on another bike. It was not needed for the gravel I rode
@@EvansMTBSaga yeah I wanted a dropper originally but I don't do single track anyways when riding my gravel bike so it would have been wasted..
evan’s tubeless conversion saga
Gravel biking is all about the ride experience. Sure your MTB will do it comfortably, but i don't find it as enjoyable. Plus I can run a road wheel set, bike pack and gravel it up all on the same bike.
Well said!
Try cyclocross I herd Bentonville has lots of great races I think you’ll like it
Oh man I'd love to do CX but I've only seen one race here so far. If you know how and where they have info on CX races here let me know
@@EvansMTBSaga for every race I just use USA cyclings website that has a race finder.
Wow. I didn’t know that Bentonville does cyclocross events.
Have a good break!
Every time I walk into a bicycle shop and try to talk to them about going from mountain bike to a road bike, they keep pushing me to a gravel bike. So maybe that's why everybody's buying a gravel bike because that's what the shops are pushing.
you need to check out the Rule of Three routes.
You should be in the drops on the singletrack. But, it is NOT meant for drops. But you can rip singletrack for sure on gravel bikes
Haha gonna try next time but they're so low!
Enjoy your time off!
Why do you even dropper on a gravel bike ? Just curious, i ride MTB and have never tried gravel. As you mentioned, gravel isn't intended for drops and things like that, what's the purpose of having dropper than ?
You might not do jumps on a gravel bike, but you definitely do go down some insanely steep dirt hills on them which would otherwise be too dangerous to do with a really high center of gravity. The lower you can get down, the better. All the more problematic when you realize the wheelbase of (some) gravel bikes is way too short for steep downhill terrain (something more gravel bike manufacturers need to rectify). The forward bias (weight distributed too far over the front wheel) of gravel bikes just makes for the trifecta of steep descending disaster.
It is partly these three things that caused me to have a really bad crash at a very tough bikepacking race recently. I was the only one riding a gravel bike. Everyone else had mountain bikes. I bit it on a super steep downhill. The wheelbase on them is just way too short, and not being able to get my center of gravity lower (or more back) made it that much worse.
At that point with the dropper, taper cast fork and 50c tires you’re better off just riding an XC hardtail and to be honest I would say that’s really overkill for a gravel bike. What makes them fun is the whole “underbiking” aspect of it. Try a gravel bike that feels more like a road bike and you will have way more fun on long gravel roads and even a lot of single track to be honest.
There was a good video by Dylan Johnson about how drop bar mountain bikes are faster than somthing like this polygon gravel bike. Definitely check it out if you have the time.
But in my opinion real gravel is taking a rigid bike with no dropper and kinda just pushing the limits, and I guess kinda that’s why people like gravel because it’s really a ton of different things. No one has really found the true spirit of gravel 😂