When Is A Gravel Bike Not A Gravel Bike?
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- čas přidán 24. 06. 2024
- Gravel bikes have opened the doors for us road cyclists to have more adventures beyond the pavement, but the common question always comes up: why not just get a mountain bike instead of a gravel bike? This got us thinking that it’s time we put both bike disciplines to the test to show that gravel bikes can do everything that mountain bikes can do ...or can they?
00:00 Can Gravel Bikes Do Everything MTB’s Can Do?
00:39 Special Guest: Blake Samson
01:25 Our Bikes!
03:04 First Challenge: 1km Time trial
05:17 First Test Results
06:20 Second Challenge: 350m Long Climb
08:24 Second Test Results
08:46 Third Challenge: Double Black Diamond Downhill Trail
11:28 Third Test Results
12:44 Conclusions!
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Which bike would you opt in for? Blake's Orbea or Hank's Canyon? 🔥
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Which bike would you opt in for? Blake's Orbea or Hank's Canyon? 🔥
This is one of my favorite colabs! For singletrack I will almost always pick a flat bar, even if it's rigid suspension
The Orbea - definitely! Less parts to maintain. Equally funny.
The orbea.
Do I get it as a present?
Rigid MTB always win. Nothing’s fiercer looking than a flat bar, rigid forked MTB
Hank and Blake back on the screen together again 🥳
What more could you want 👌
Great collab! 😁
Keep these two coming; 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
I want a Part 2 where Hank and Blake swap bikes :)
Please make it happen GCN
Yes!
I thought they were going to do that
Oooo we'll see what we can do 👀
So do I!
I love specialty bikes. I have 26 different bikes, because I believe all the hype and don't need to plan for my retirement. I have 8 different road bikes. Some built for hills and smooth pavement, some built for flat roads and rough pavement. A few built for flat roads with small hills but dry conditions, then others that are built for lots of climbing on wet roads but only at dusk. Then come the mountain bikes. I have 14 of these. Some are meant for riding at night in humidity less than 40% on downhill trails. A few that are built for early morning riding on trails where the gravel is never more than .05" in diameter and the wildlife will kill you if you fall. Then there's my top of the line mountain bike, made of vibranium and powered by the tesseract. On this bike I can ride in any dimension and it's also pretty good on actual dirt. Now then, about my gravel bikes...
lol, the first line
Do you have a commuter bike though? 😉
Great reply. But I bet you think you need 27 different bikes (n+1).
@@daveslaughter8290
Unfortunately shepshape2585 is now single because he blew by R bikes a long time ago. R being the number of bikes where your spouse divorces you.
And I thought my 2 bikes were too much sometimes 😂
Very ballsy of Hank going down that trail in his gravel bike. Great skill
He's got the skills 🔥
Love these combo videos with both Hank and Blake, they are both so fun to watch and filled with energy.
With Blake and Hank together on screen again, I’m surprised that my iPad didn’t implode due to the amount of energy from those two. Love watching these guys have a blast!
Do we need a bromance trigger warning? 🚨
Well I live in a majority flat area with tons of pavment ant gravel paths .. And 90% of my riding is local training rides for 1-2 hours after work So I ride a Gravel bike.. For me its the perfect mix of Road and gravel gives me the freedom to ride where ever I feel like on the day. And if i join my friends on a 100mile road ride I have a set of Rims with Road tyes ready..
Sounds like you've got it sorted 👌 One bike for everything then?
flat bar + gravel bike = mtb
drop bar + mtb = gravel bike
Ouroboros Cycle...
Riser bars*
So: flat bar + drop bar + mtb = mtb, and from this it follows that flat bar + drop bar = 0 ;)
This is the truth. Their bikes looked almost identical. I know the geo is a bit different but not by much.
I start to categorize by boost/non-boost dropouts rather than handlebar.
Slack/steep head tube angle....😂
Honestly, I don't want gravel bikes to be as good in terrain as mountain bikes. If they would be, what for the distinction? What I love about gravel bikes (and I tend to lump them together with allroad and some endurance bikes) is the versatility they provide. They still have that roady DNA and can be really fast on tarmac, but allow us to explore comfortably also gravel and hardpack roads or even some single tracks. For me, this is great, because in cycling I seek mostly the compromise between speed/efficiency and adventure/exploration/touring. If I can avoid heavy traffic this is also brilliant. But when it comes to really technical trails and challenging terrain or gravity-oriented sports this is not what I'm looking for and I believe this should stay an MTB's territory. Said all this, I think an XC MTB could fulfil the role I'm interested in reasonably well, apart from speed on the tarmac, perhaps.
Yes, that is why I have a gravel bike. I commute, do errands, and do long gravel and road rides all with my gravel bike. It's nice to ride through town, jump on a single track, and end up on a gravel road. I still have a speed close to a road bike, but it can take me through some bumpy terrain as well. I love doing country rides so now I can get off the main paved country roads and do some gravel and not worry about traffic flying by me at 50+mph. I actually gave my roadbike to my mom because I don't use it anymore because I would rather have the versatility of my gravel bike. I do have my full suspension mountain bike, though, because that is something the gravel bike can't do too well.
For what I like to ride most days, the gravel bike is the perfect bike for me.
Very interesting point! Gravel bikes are great at bridging that gap between road and MTB but you for some things a mountain bike is just better 😉 Will you be giving xc a try?
@@gcn I would love to but unfortunately, I can't afford multiple bikes. This is another reason I fell in love with gravel bikes. I really can have one bike to do it all (within reason, of course). I rather lean towards roads - being paved or not, but roads still. So I guess I would rather upgrade from my entry-level gravel bike to something higher-grade. XC will have to wait for better times. 😉
Blake's head unit is making me anxious 🫣
Blank make a great duo, similar levels of energy.
Blank…that’s what we’re going with? Not Hake?!
The bromance is real 🤣
Bhlanke are awesome as a duo
great vid guys - would like to see the same dude trying both bikes , you're both different levels of fitness / skill :)
Love those crossovers. Great bike choice! Thanks Hank&Blake!
Increasingly, one of the best bits of the GCN videos is great rock n roll guitar riffs as music filler! Rock on!
I am 100% sure these 2 are brothers. Always love seeing them both together in a video.
That was the best challenge! Great job!
Super entertaining, thx Black and Hank
These two are just brilliant together💪🏼😀
Forget the old school MTB or gravel bike gubbins...the boys are back in town!!! When these two are together, it's impossible not to chuckle..maybe they're the new chuckle brothers!!!
Love you guys !!! What fun !!
Love seeing you 2 together great fun at the end of the day it's horses for corsures
Not fair, cos I own a Canyon Grizl, but Hank's got my vote.
The drop bar seemed to make most of the difference on the downhill if you ask me.
For me, not having a driver's license, I'll pretty much always start my ride some distance away from any off-road terrain. I live like 10km away from the closest interesting off-road trails, so it's great to go there and back again on a gravel bike instead of a full on MTB. If I ever go on a proper multi-day off-road trip I can always fit some wider tires and indeed maybe even a dropper.
The roadie in me loves the gravel bike.
I also ride a fully rigid fat tire, so I am also loving Blake's rigid mountain bike.
They are both so so sleek, and beautifully crafted, I just can't pick just one...
We definitely need more Blake and Hank content. Or Hank and Blake, depending on which channel it is on.
OK! That climb almost gave me a heart attack wahahahaha. Quite intense🤣🤣🤣
I think Blake coasted in the middle part.
Keep these 2 doing challenges! Love these videos! Canyon wins the beauty contest, the orbea needs a 100 mm fork!
I love the setup of both bikes in this video! I ride a dropbar gravelbike with 27.5 MTB tires for some fun on the rougher stuff. to improve the fun I'm thinking to upgrade with a suspension stem and a dropper. No "rules" at all in the woods for setting up your steed :-)
Hank and Blake in the same video is a guarantee of fun and energy 😂 . I love the Orbea, it looks really nice and clean.
I love the gearing on my old hardtail-a 44-32-22 triple. The triple makes the bike extremely versatile. I suspect gravel bikes with suspension will eventually have 80-100mm forks. If you're going to have a suspension fork, you should have 2-3" of travel, in my opinion. Think about this-an XC mountain bike frame, with a 38-28 or 36/26 crank coupled to an 11-42 cassette. The Deore 10s rear derailleur has this capacity. There is a Deore 36/26 crank for 148mm frames. If only there were drop bar shifters which could work with mountain derailleurs. Use a drop bar and bar end shifters? I'm seriously considering installing a 2x, Deore 10s on my Fuji Bighorn hardtail. The Fuji has a 68 degree head tube angle-much more XC than trail. It also has four ports in the downtube for cable routing. Rear brake, rear derailleur, dropper tube and possibly front derailleur. Even with a flat bar and bar ends this may be the best "gravel bike" for my personal needs here in Colorado.
I’ve got some great examples in south Birmingham Alabama that show how much blending the gravel with the road can excel at the cycle-plurality… commute-schred-commute for-the-win!
Love Blake on the Alma.
Just bought an Alma M30 for me last week, this bike is a rocket 🚀
And as always, great chemistry between you guys 👌
Nice! Fully ridged or with suspension?
@@gcn With suspension :)
And I was extra lucky, as Orbea seemingly ran out of the RockShox Sid Base that would have come with the M30 and instead upgraded to a Fox 34 SC Performance, which usually comes with the pricier models.
I also went for a dropper, although it's only 80mm.
I LOVE these pair together
in 2016 I got a rigid fork Giant Toughroad with a flat bar, it was called a hybrid bike by the industry back then. I loved it, took it everywhere, and I mean on the top of the mountains! Then I realized I like mountain biking to muck and got a hard tail for a few years, then a Canyon Lux Trail! This is the perfect toll for the rides I like most, mountain crossings... But I did not get rid of the Giant hybrid, used it as commuter bike, touring bike for some holidays with the family, and this winter I transformed it into what we call today a gravel bike, added a dropbar, shifters and hybrid brakes to keep the price down! I fell in love with it again. It's perfect for forest single-trails, bike-packing adventures... I still have the Canyon and a road bike as well... the perfect toll for the job at hand...
Canyon. Of course… coming from owner of a Cannondale Slate with 30mm travel lefty and dropper. That’s my monster gravel for SF Bay Area roads and fire roads. It’s a blast to ride at any speed with 46/30 11-40. Yes, it does work.
It’s not a pure road bike nor a mountain bike. It’s a little bit of both. It suits the terrain and my style of riding.
It's always beautifu to watch the most beautiful tandem of Hank and Blake! Thanks GCN for the fun and refreshing video! Cheers and happy cycling!
We love filming with these two 🎬 Anything else we could get them involved in 👀
@@gcn how about an epic bikepacking trip here in South Korea and ride the either Incheon to Busan or Sokcho (DMZ) to Busan (South Korea East Coast) Cross Country Trails and even the Jeju Island Fantasy Trail! 💖💖💖
My birthday present this year in the Grizl On. Just waiting for my size to be back in stock
Really making me consider adding a dropper post to my Topstone. I like the bike so much. You can ride it to the trail reasonably fast and do about 90% of obstacles a fully mtb can handle.
I own a gravel bike because - I leave my house and ride the road for 10 miles, hit 8 miles of single track and ride home. The gravel bike allows me to have fun on single track and take longer rides on the road. I have two sets of wheels, one with 35mm road tires and the other with 42mm off road tires. Yes I'm not as fast off road or on road as a dedicated bike but I'm 60 and just ride for fun and exercise. If I did buy a MTB again it would be steel frame hard tail with 120mm fork.
My 2013 Surly Krampus makes a fine gravel grinder. Super comfy!
I love the way Blake initally rode in laughing all cray cray 🤣
This is a fantastic video
This seems great verification of "not the perfect tool, but it'll get the job done" for gravel on a more mountain setting. Sometimes your map estimates the route poorly, or conditions change, or you take a wrong turn. Nice to see the gravel bikes can do it in a pinch.
Ah the dynamic duo is back! Still loving the bromance. :). Honestly both bikes are really good, but bike needs will be based off what riding you do/want to do for best results.
I'm all about the Orbea, but I'd still install a dropper post. I'd choose a dropper over suspension in most applications.
I need to point out that in the days before droppers, we'd manually lower our seats before a long downhill section, like I think Blake realistically would have done for that last challenge if it weren't for the match-up of features.
Looks like a blast. I'd do stuff like this on whatever bike with my friend
Glad to see the brothers together again 🥰
Always fun shooting with these two 👌
Love my Grizl 7 AL Suspension. I took it Bikepacking and it was a blast. Good Tire clearance for somewhat harsher rides and the suspension fork kept my hands from going numb on those long days auf continous gravel riding. it doesnt do it all but it does everything for me
Sounds like a great purchase! 👌Where did you go bikepacking?
Blake is always on full blast LOL
Honestly the gravel bikes just look so clean I love the look, and couldn't agree more, they've pushed the roadie adventures way out past the tarmac and I'm happy to see the segment growing 😊
In terms of looks I vote for the Canyon. It's the gravelbike I'd love to have. I'm a mountainbiker and I do have a rather downhilly gravelbike - unfotunatelly without a dropper - but wide 650B tires and wide bars. Kudos to Hank, I find riding trails on my gravelbike much harder than on a cheap hardtail even and I am way slower. Nevertheless, I got to say that my gravelbike always feels like my least necessary bike purchase. The dropbar experience is very nice, especially changing hand positions on longer rides. Nevertheless, I often think that I'd be faster and/or have more fun on an XC fully or hardtail. However, I specifically bought it to keep me off the rougher trails and just enjoy a pedal which works quite well.
Well done guys!
I love my flatbar gravel bike 😊 a Specialized Turbo Vado SL
gravel biking started with people trying to get away from branding, commercialism, lycra, attitudes, status through branding, busy blacktop surfaces and traffic, and eventually.... became everything above. and now we have guys who need to make living, toying with words and styles and definitions and very pricey toys others lather up over acquiring.
Lycra.....is just more comfortable so why the hate on it? I think it comes from those peeps that just don't look decent in the shorts, usually because of too much chub! Lol😂
That Orbea is a beauty. I have a very similar looking thing with flat mtb bars and no suspension, but on a chromoly steel frame. Fantastic all-rounder and gets loads of looks!
What brand is the steel frame? Sounds like a real adventure wagon 👀
The 4th and final race, which looks better... both are nice bikes so it's a draw from me.
Blake wins the overall.
Great show guys
i love the look of both bikes but i'm a sucker for a good looking HT so for me blakes orbea wins, really like the colour too.
Years ago when i bought by bike, actually many years ago, there was no gravel bikes at the time. I ended up choosing a Scott sub i think first gen marketed as a hybrid road/off road bike
These two make the best crossover episodes.
Love the looks of the orbea more myself.
Blake bike looks best but what I really want to say is that it is amazing to see those 2 together
As a massive fan of two wheels, I like the looks of both bikes.
Probably looking fast on the on-roads too.
Blake will always make for a great video...
Are there 2 bigger hams than Hank and Blake? I haven't seen them. Love these two together.
13 stone :) (watching from the NL)
With MTBs (even the HT) becoming more and more gravity oriented (because races are more and more technical), gravel bikes perfectly cover the area of riding of the “old” XC bikes
Would you now pick a gravel bike over the traditional hardtail?
Loving the Bro-energy
Fair play to Hank for taking on that challenge against Blake, typically loads of energy and didn’t hold back! We all want to see the bike swap as I think Blake’s skills were what kept Hank just behind…it was close!
The ore a looks better by a mile. Though I’d be really happy with either bike tbh. So good to see you two in the saddle again.
Both great bikes... can't go too far wrong either side 👀
Hank and Blake are the most fun duo.... both bikes are pretty damn nice, I've got a Canyon Grizl myself but I'd gladly ride that Orbea.
Why not get both 😉
Best bike bromance ever 👍 Please send Hank to Whistler with Blake
That MTB would’ve been ideal when I lived in Budapest. Would’ve been mint on all the shared use hiking trails.
Now that I live in SE Michigan, MTB trails aren’t technical and it’s flat, so I’d go with the gravel bike.
Nothing better than 2 crazy bodies in the same video.
More videos of these 2 presenters please.
helmet straps inside glasses damn it Blake 😊
what a match up!
Blake and Hank = instant win!
Blake's bike for the task at hand .... Hank's is to gravel what hybrids are to road....can work but not as good...
Love Hank. Love Blake. Love GCN. Simple as
that was FUN!!!
What a great comparison. My MTB journey started on fully rigid bikes, but with rim brakes. Sketchy was the order of the day. They both look fantastic. I love the cleanliness of the Orbea, but for the kind of riding I do most often now, the Canyon may be better... This is the closest comparison of bikes possible! They are both built for the same thing…. If I really had to choose though, it would be Si’s Colnago G4-X!
Hahahah we're afraid Si's Colnago isn't an option 😉
I know, he needs it for the Worlds 😊
I love these twins!
Hank, Blake Both bikes are nice! A brilliant challenge however I think you should do it again on each others bike against time 🙂 to make it a thorough challenge!
We'll see what we can do 👀Do you think the results would change?
I still think that a light MTB is more versatile than a Gravel bike. Add some fixing places for bags, rolling tires, comfortable cockpit - bike for all terrains, all fun. No denying that Gravel bike is fast on even stuff if you ride only gravel/dirt/fireroads... but if you wanna expand terrain - only MTB.
Love this comparison videos just a shame each bike is not tested by each person.
Also the challenges should be a bit longer to really see the difference.
You were not comparing bikes on the first course; you were comparing riders...
So ho many takes did you do for the down hill? 😁
I noticed in some shots Blake has a Go Pro in a mouth mount in some of them and some he doesn't, just saying .
LOL I wouldn't use a mouth mount myself I tend to have contact with the planet during those types of downhills, I would probably need to go see the Dentist after going to the ER.
The gravel bikers are about to invent the mountain bike...
Marketing likes this
I that Orbea had sliding dropouts it could be my Ssp! Luv me some rigid carbon forks : )
They’re both 🔥
So does a bike like the Trek dual sport with no suspension and 50mm slightly knobby tires hit the sweet spot?
The Orbea is a thing of beauty, although I'd probably add shocks and a dropper.
They do a hard tail version of this bike 🙌 Sounds like it could be a great fit for you!
I tried converting my old Cannondale into a gravel bike 10 years ago, but heavy 26” wheels, drops and wrong geometry didn’t cut it
My husband has a gravel bike with a dropper and a suspension fork that he rides on some MTB trails just to prove he can. So, I would have to say my favorite is the Canyon.
Use to do it in the 80 s with a cyclo cross ,
Orbea 100%. I ride a gravel bike for off-road adventures because I have 10 miles between me and the trails, but would way rather be on a mountain bike on the dirt. Pain from rough terrain is much less than the grind getting back on the tarmac though.
2,832 days living off a bike, Cannondale m900, love using a hardtail with strong geometry.
Awesome Jim! Keep smashing it 🙌
hanks a young man, so why does he remind me of a dad trying to be cool🤣 Great video
That Orbea is sleek as! I think a rematch with the bikes swapped is in order though.
Do you think the resuslts would change?
@gcn I think it may be interesting. Definitely not meaning Hank any disrespect, but Blake is pretty wild on most bikes, but Hank on the MTB on the climb? Feel like there's only one way to be certain 😉
I own the canyon, so ill vote for the grizl. Beautiful bike.
Have to be Canyon as it’s more versatile with suspension and dropper. That Orbea looks great but not comfortable at all.
Those are both lovely bikes... I just wish I could afford one! 😅
Great video, I prefer the Canyon personally, but both look amazing. This further goes to prove that if you need one bike to do it all, get a gravel bike. #jackofalltrades
Hardtail
For the technical stuff, I would have loved to see them switch bikes to see if that changed the outcome.