Pentland Hills - The Best Gravel Trails

[@RustyRidesGravel]

Today I learnt about how not to stand if you want to actually be visible for the camera! Every day is a school day!

[@d0tmatter244]

Oo

[@RossFinnie]

Had a bit of fun the other weekend coming down the Dreghorn Drop with bikepacking bags on, think I got the brakes pretty hot that morning!

[@RustyRidesGravel]

It's a bit of a beast for sure! Not sure I fancy going up it though!

[@jonnylindsay3645]

Hi there. Great video. Heading to stay with friends next week and hoping to take my gravel bike. Lots of smaller trails in the video - are there decent loops for 1-3 hr rides?

[@RustyRidesGravel]

Hey thanks for watching. It's basically a big playground of trails and tracks to ride about on. You can make loops as long or as short as you like really. Nothing is waymarked so a bit of planning or local knowledge would be needed for sure before heading out.

[@davidthomson211]

lovely new bike mate, probably not easy to source just now either!

[@RustyRidesGravel]

Cheers! It is a lovely bike. To be fair I wasn't sold on the pictures, but seeing it in the flesh and I was sold on it.

[@arnopr]

Great overview! Did you ride all these trails on a gravel bike? I'm fairly new to offroad cycling and trying to decide what flavour of hardtail or even suspensionless bike to get to enjoy the Pentlands after moving close (Bilston), perhaps you can advise? I'm reasonably fit and want to efficiently (quickly) cover lots of distance ranging around the Pentlands on 1-2 hour and occasional day-long rides, including the less travelled reaches, e.g. stretching out south (as far south as Dunsyre Hill). For fitness, to explore, and simply enjoy being out in nature. Not specifically looking to tackle gnarly trails, tricky technical terrain etc. unless exploring where I want to go requires it, so already veering away from trail hardtails like Vitus Sentier, and even the recent slew of XC hardtails with slacker (apparently) than traditional XC geometry. Considering a Giant XTC SLR 29, which is more traditional XC geo (apparently), light for XC, thinking it'll be fairly fast and nimble. But if I can tackle the terrain I want to tackle with a gravel bike, that's tempting, as I'd enjoy the more direct feel without suspension (could lock out XC front sus I guess?), lighter weight, more aggressive riding position, and because I might end up travelling faster. Also on smooth paths gravel gearing should allow me to go faster than XC bikes whereas even upgrading front chain ring to max clearance on XC bike (e.g. 36T on the Giant XTC SLR 29) may frustrate due to spinning out. A concern on the gravel bike side, besides the obvious geo being less confident on tricky terrain, is max tyre clearance and no suspension (on most current sub £2000 gravel bikes). I worry about not being able to fit tyres better capable of dealing with lots of mud (or Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro during for Winter fun). And no suspension: even if I don't care as much about losing comfort, it might mean needing to slow down to pick line carefully, which might get frustrating and be slower overall. For comparison, on road around town and recently Midlothian paths I ride a 700C x 38mm on a Koga World Traveller frame with Alfine 8 hub gear & belt drive. This can tackle some easy trails fine, but uphill on the main rocky path from Castlelaw for example, forget it (maybe problem as much gearing and geometry as tyres). My question is based on the above what do you reckon would be a better choice: a gravel bike like the Canyon Grail or their slightly more rugged Grizl 7, possibly with (small travel) front suspension, or an XC bike like the Giant XTC SLR 29? If I were to simply stick to paths like the ones you've shown here would a gravel bike be as fast, or faster, than the XTC? Would it be able to deal with these paths during the muddiest time of the year, or would the XC bike be much preferred / faster because more reliable year round? How about if I want to go off of trails like these to get where I want to go, e.g. down to Dunsyre Hill, would I then really need the capabilities of an XC bike? Any insights and advice appreciated!

[@arnopr]

Also I'd more or less written off CX bikes because although fast and nimble perhaps a bit too narrowly focused in their strengths and terrain suitability, potentially too twitchy (high BB?), and their tendency to have even less tyre clearance than gravel bikes due to some racing regulations. But if you reckon I may want to consider any do say :)

[@RustyRidesGravel]

Hi, thanks for the comment - sounds like you have some mega decisions ahead, I can see why you can't decide on what's best. I don't have any form of mountain bike so all my routes are done with a gravel bike. I would say that although I complete all the trails I do, there are still a fair few that a mountain bike would suit way better - maidens cleugh or Scalextric in the pentland hills for example. It does sound like maybe you might get a bit frustrated with the compromise of a gravel bike when doing pure mountain trails, I don't know. What I can suggest is, talk to a local bike shop - the guys at criterium cycles is where I go - Paul and Keith are legendary and will know way more about your predicament than I could hope to. Go and pop in for a chat I say. Good luck with your decisions, let me know what you settle on, hope to see you out on the hills one day!

[@arnopr]

Thanks a lot for that perspective, it does help! I'll check them out and ask around more for advice :-) cheers! (and will try to remember to leave a comment once I do decide :) )