Time to rethink drop bar bike categories?

[@obikedog]

I like this breakdown. For a long time I thought my CAAD 10 would be my last bike. Then disk brakes came along. I bought a Pinarello Grevil (gravel race) which I use for races, training and also multi week bike tours. I wanted a new road race bike to replace my CAAD so bought a Bianchi frame and built it up. Now integrated headsets have me selling that old Grevil for its replacement! The evolution of bikes and kit is to some a source of despair. But I love the innovation in this industry and am happy that I am constantly able to try out new things!

[@Grandadgreyhair]

I had a go not easy 1)Road Racing - fast riding on roads, typically stage races, hill climbs,sportive events, audax rides and club rides. 2)Time trialling - used for specific discipline events 3)Traditional road touring - multi day road touring carrying significant loads 4)Adventure all road and tracks endurance bikes - made for going fast on roads and tracks with minimal kit 5)Gravel off road and road adventure bikes - made to ride anywhere up-to xc level difficulty of routes with or without fully laden kit for multi day rides. 6)XC mountain bikes - designed for pure speed on purpose built off road circuits 7)Trail bikes hard tail and full suspension - designed to ride at trail centres, and local trails where the bike is agile and fun to ride 8)Enduro all mountain bikes hard tail and full suspension - designed for events and big mountain riding where significant technical obstacles and features have to be navigated. 9)Downhill mountain bikes full suspension - designed to descend very steep and difficult / extreme terrain as fast as possible.

[@paulaspinall919]

What a stunning ride! The colours and views are splendid. Well, I beg to differ. I found nearly four years ago I was not able to build my mileages reliably, however much I wanted and tried, so I bought a very ersatz Giant Xplore electric beast. I gradually built my mileages while mostly using low levels of boost and eventually achieved the 60 miles limit of the battery. Flat bars. Panniers. Mudguards. Flat pedals. Flat head. Bugger all Lycra. A, B, C roads. Gravel tracks (my favourite). An old drovers road where a lot of the gravel was in excess of 300mm diameter. I’ve learned how to push. My arms and legs ache. A lot. Just from the memory. OK I’ve only done 3,500 odd miles in that time but the number of times I realise how much I am smiling. Even in the most phenomenal squalls. This ancient duffer who has a permanent reservation in a local operating theatre is a very happy bunny. Very. My bike and my dog have nearly banished a lifetime of shitty depression. So. That’s my No5. I still thoroughly enjoy watching you on your ‘whippet’ bikes. Thank you.

[@peterdelmonte9832]

Great comments. Most cyclists have zero interest in going fast or faster. Most riders nearly always cycle alone. Most might occasionally ride off road…though the state of our roads is quite similar…but mostly only on tarmac. They need to be comfortable, able to carry some shopping and not need to grapple with technology that isn’t needed by them. So a longish wheelbase without toes and front wheels arguing; wider supple walled tyres; a semi upright riding position and simple low gearing with simple to maintain brakes. Also, most cyclists are not from the N+1 category. They have one bike and no thought of another. These folk are getting older and as wealth creeps ever more to the already rich, older people will use elec assist bikes as their mode of transport. I listened to a 77 year old just yesterday on his second powered bike saying exactly that. My local town centre has ever more pannier bagged elec bikes locked in the supermarket bike racks. This should be a powerful lobby group. Manchester seems to be pursuing that path of action, recognising the fewer car society. Arthritis stops me riding with drops (and the vast majority who have them admit to hardly ever “going low”) so I have Jones loop bars but all rounder or porteur bars or something similar would be equally practical without needing a lung constricting lean. I love seeing people riding flat barred Raleighs with the original chain guard and saddle bag, still shopping on them after 40+ years of ownership. Those were far more appropriate (and lighter weight) bikes than the cheap so-called mountain bikes that all but replaced them for many years.

[@GrahamFootBicycleLover]

To me it's quite clear when it comes to adventure bikes. Road, Offroad, and able to do both but neither well as the others. I've ridden everything over the years but have a leaning to offroad. Road is road, light weight, road specific geo and wheels. Thats a road bike. Offroad adventure is basically a mountain bike, lets stop faffing around. An XC mountain bike is spot on, a lot of the world's top bikepackers now use an xc hardtail or full suss. Then you have the middle ground, the people who just want to play at both, they can put up with a slower road bike, and a bone shattering out of control offroad bike. Thats it. Gravel is fine on gravel but this is the UK. You mentioned GBDURO, 2.3 tyres are everywhere, or in our brand ambassadors case, a 4" tyred fatbike, he came home 4th because he could ride where others walked. Basically there are just 3 types of adventure bike, everything in between is just a compromise, or very very specific bike for one event/ride and you have a garage full of variants. Hope this makes sense.

[@rsrnsrwds]

Great analysis, Simon! I agree. The fun part will be to actually define these categories. In the last few months I took a drop bar road touring bike and put a flat alt bar on it plus a few other minor mods. Not all bikes have to have drop bars.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Oh the moment we get into flat bars the whole things blows wide open!

[@seanmorgan4099]

Having ridden a Cervelo road carbon bike for years, I bought a basic alloy gravel bike, then a half decent carbon gravel and now a Wondercross titanium gravel bike. It can do nearly everything and surprisingly nippy - but now aged 57 I am not worried about speed and just enjoy riding. I reckon this Wondercross is just about perfect and don’t see me upgrading ever again. Yes, a forever bike !

[@SimplyBllisss]

Great video Simon. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Couldn't agree more. Keep up the great work. You are creating some of the very best content on KZbin!

[@sdavidleigh6642]

A Clydesdale doing Sprint Tri's at age 68 with goals to be middle of the pack (less injuries, less pain). Last year I trained on a mountain bike plus interval stationary- heavy clunky strength builder and then time torture. As a veteran I was satisfied. Got a gravel bike (GB) and will do the same strategy. GB is almost too much fun to ride. Would love to just keep beating back old man death with a smile on my face. Nice vid.

[@petergoebelsmann4631]

I started in the early 80s with a normal steel racing bike, which then became a triathlon bike. A 26 inch bike came next, especially for the long distance triathlons. Then another racing bike: it had to be carbon and later another carbon bike with electronic gears. But this bike was already an endurance bike and I still ride it. But then the gravel bikes came on the market, and finally I got a bike for all kinds of tours. It's a titanium bike and it will probably outlive me. I'm also your age, and speed has long since ceased to matter to me. I enjoy long and extensive tours. If I want to, on the road or on gravel roads. My carbon endurance bike stays in the garage more and more often, because I love riding my titanium bike more and more. I should have bought it much earlier.

[@chriscohlmeyer4735]

A 1969 Schwinn Continental 10 speed was my everything bike - corn fields to gravel to pavement and single track trails. Late 90's Giant TCR - keep it on pavement, gravel you wondered which would fall apart first you or the bike. Full suspension MTB was fun but a lot of energy bouncing your way up hills so switched to a hard tail - nice but slower gearing for flatish road parts. Onto a "gravel specific" bike - good gearing for roads and gravel and some MTB trails, many mounting points for "gear", decent ride on gravel, no problem on easy to medium single track and a challenge on hard tracks, extreme tracks and jumps - I'm getting too old for that. Your four categories sound quite reasonable but I'd name them as road race specific/narrow tires, road/gravel adventure some tire width restriction, gravel/road adventure wider tires, and finally gravel race specific increased tire options according to the track.

[@erichschmidtke248]

The scenery in your videos is always so stunning, inspiring, you maybe said once this is Scotland?

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

This one was shot on the Isle of Mull, just across the water from where I live on Scotland’s west coast.

[@matauboy]

My 98 Specilized Rockhopper with no suspension but widish tyres and an alloy frame is my current bike. I guess. I'll have to consider the different categories when I wear this one out🙂

[@dewindoethdwl2798]

I have a pleasing range of bike options to match my plan for the day. However, when in doubt or limited to one bike (e.g. holiday), I take my Boardman CX on its 34mm tyres. It seems to morph to the job more than adequately. Face it, once you’re rolling you can adjust your outlook and just enjoy whatever you’re riding.

[@johngrattan6343]

Of all my bikes I still take my 40 year old Claud Butler Dalesman classic steel tourer pretty much everywhere.

[@andygolborne5747]

That's great but the point being there's now huge amounts of choice around if and when you are looking for a new bike.

[@wescheslak9408]

Great video. I agree on the categories.

[@davidrowe8747]

When it comes to gravel and touring/long distance, I don't understand why the assumption in the media is still that these should be drop bar bikes. My gravel/adventure/touring bike (that got me from Land's End to John O'Groats, as well as across the Trans Cambrian Way) has flat bars, Rohloff hub, wide tyres and a fully rigid steel frame. Some of my companions on LEJOG riding sleek lightweight carbon "gravel" bikes rather snobbily sneered at my set-up. When we got to the high peaks of Scotland, with steep climbs and driving wind and rain, they had to get off and push, and on the last day from Bettyhill to JOG, the 50-mile gusts forced them to give up altogether. I, on the other hand, didn't walk one step, just kept my nose to the wind and pedalled at 2-3 mph. Flat bar bikes rule! ;-)

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

I think you just need to look at the Tour Divide rigs to see the value in flat bars over big rougher distances, otherwise it’s fairly personal.

[@johnbronze8630]

And yet I have used my Vielo V+1 bike packing on the Badger Divide, Cairngorm loop and many of the Southern Cycling UK routes. I think it was perfect for this, albeit fitted with 50mm tyres. I think its so good for bikepacking that I'm going to get the second version of the the Vielo and have one set up permanently with 50mm plus tyres and one with 45 mm fast tyres. I think its the tyre width that the bike will take that classifies it. For me the "fast, far" type of bike suits me.

[@simonpage2941]

It's a fascinating subject! As I've reached my early 50's I've decided an electric gravel bike is for me! The Niner RLT E9 RDO.... 😅 I've installed a 2.1" front x-country MTB tyre on the front & 50mm aggressive gravel tyre on the rear! Both Schwalbe..... It's great fun & super capable! What category would it fall into? Does it matter? At least it's a talking point, the most important point is that we get out and ride!!!!

[@andygolborne5747]

I went for a gravel (Ribble SL) when I was looking for a bike I could do pretty much anything on, and so far it's great. Yeah, it could be lighter and it could be a bit better at this and that, but (with a second set of wheels) it's done great mixed road and trails; pretty gnarly off road (Dalby Red route it was excellent); gravel sportives; touring and local trails. Sure there are new categories, but pick a bike you feel comfortable on and get out there.

[@boydsargeant7496]

Interesting. Never given it much thought. Have started to wonder if I need my so-called mountain bike and if I need a gravel bike of some sort, some thing for a one day ride of road but no where near needing suspension.

[@robinmacandrew103]

For me… at either ends there are: 1.Asphalt light drop-bar 2. Off-road light trail/xc suspension flat bar. And in between there are all-road drop-bar and flat-bar bikes with a combination of interchangeable suspension and dropper options that prioritise comfort, distance and adventure (bikepacking). I’d like all 4 bikes but I own the middle two bikes because I’m happy to compromise a bit on speed for the options that all-road drop bar and flat-bar bikes offer. As an aside… I think this term gravel is odd. It’s rare I’ve come across any ‘gravel’ on my bike. And it’s even rarer that I’m wanting a drop-bar bike when I’m on anything other than asphalt. The only time I find myself riding drop-bar off the road is if it’s part of a longer ride the majority of which is asphalt.

[@ianccrook8899]

Simon, another quality video. Thank you. If I could only have one bike, it would be my Trek Checkpoint. Current models make a very good gravel, touring and r endurance road bike - especially with a second set of wheels with road tyres.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Nice one Ian - I know folk with that superb bike.

[@SwampyDuckRidesAgain3636]

Gosh categorising bikes. I started as a kid on a Raleigh Shopper and guess what it went everywhere and I used it for bike packing a few riad bikes later and it was a Dawes Super Galaxy and guess what it’s went every where and did bike packing as did the Al MTB. Many years later and my carbon road bike wearing 28’s was doing gravel (mind you riding it the other day I wondered what possessed me). The Domane with its 32’s was doing gravel and bike packing and it wasn’t until the other year I went out and got a gravel bike my Pinarello with its 650b 47’s is doing both and was quite happy on the road with less aggressive tyres. It is however a lot comfier doing gravel. So yes there’s perhaps categories but back in the old days we used what was available and didn’t even know we were doing gravel😂

[@scottw4202]

What if instead focusing so much on classifying the type of bike, we focused on the type of riding & terrain you want to do, and just accept that some bikes will be suitable for more than one of those uses.

[@davidbuckland5976]

I largely agree. I wonder if there's room for the word hybrid in there or is that splitting hairs !

[@roccotarulli2464]

I'm not in the category of rider like you. My experience on a multi gear bike started with my 10 speed Peugeot I bough when I got my first summer job back in the early 1970's. Now I ride something called a hybrid bike. I do miss being able to ride on the rode with out my hands on the handle bars though. Where does the hybrid bike fall in to you list of bikes.

[@TheNealQ]

My main bike is still my 1994 Dawes Galaxy, It's what I need it to be.

[@seltunkoko]

Hope you're doing well ❤as always Another Adventure ❤

[@veggiebiker]

I reckon anything with drop bars should have 'sports' as the 'genus' and then gravel/touring/road as the 'species' Hybrids should be called road bikes!

[@Guitar6ty]

I ride an Electric Mountain bike on hilly roads with loads of potholes. I used to do commuting on a Mountain bike for the simple reason that it wont get as many punctures and can cope with potholes. As I am now in my 70s I feel justified of using an electric mountain bike still got to peddle but takes the strain out of cycling and makes the whole experience far more enjoyable. I also do not follow the fad of dressing head to foot in black its a really stupid fashion fad as other road users wont see you. Be right wear Bright.

[@paulaspinall919]

ps: Most of the guys in my local cycling club have drop bar whippet bikes. AKA road bikes. Why are they only on the ‘tops’ 98% of the time?😎

[@m__r1100]

Drop bar hybrid. 😉

[@teaboy6340]

Your categories seem to work and there’ll always be bikes that sit on the boundaries. Although each of these would also have an e-bike equivalent but these are just the categories of drop bar bikes, there are plenty of other types of bike and rider out there. I have and can only ever accommodate 2 bikes. One is a Brompton the other I have to decide which of these is right for me

[@yarivyos]

ha, good vid. I would say that every cat can be subdivided between hobbiest $$and racer $$$$. Even gravel adventure, because somewhere there is someone racing a multiday race. Every cat has a bike thats 1500 local currancy vs 10,000 local currancy or more. There are as many individual models of a line of bikes as there are training zones 🤣

[@rossmax767]

Bicycle Quarterly has been covering these types of bikes for years now and redefining them as ‘All road bikes’.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Yes that’s what the makers FARA call it - it’s even part of the name F/AR.

[@MrFrescocotone]

Amazing video as usual. What is your saddle / handlebar height difference, and reach?

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

No idea sorry. It’s different on each bike and this one has been sent back after review.

[@neilfox9540]

Maybe swap 3 & 4 around in the order?

[@fergy1ful]

I wonder how many categories of rider you could come up with? Then have a go at matching them to your bike categories!

[@UVJ_Scott]

At 75 I’ve found a full suspension mountain bike to be the safest and most enjoyable bike for me.

[@ddsdss256]

Interesting--I have (as Monty Python would put it) nearly one of those types. I have a road racing bike, but only use it indoors these days as it's too dangerous to ride on the road with all of those morons (generally in gas-hogs), more worried about connectivity than situational awareness. I used to race mountain bikes and still prefer the geometry of my "classic 26er" on technical single-track to my newer "Built for Fun" full-susp 650B with it's "flow-oriented" geometry, ridiculous 1x11 gearing (often hard to get the right ratio), and way-too-wide bars (which I had to cut down). Meantime, I wouldn't hesitate to take a road bike on most of the terrain you show (water crossing aside)--Paris-Roubaix anyone?

[@tonyb9735]

I have never understood drop bars on gravel bikes. In the upright position (which at my age is most of the time, and always when off-road), drop bars compromise fine control of the brakes and steering, just when you need it most. I have always found it odd then that the one thing that gravel bikes are terrible at is riding on gravel. Lovely on the tarmac but get on the canal towpath and they are bloody awful. Give me an old lightweight hard-tail mountain bike with modern gravel tyres every time.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

It must be body types. I’d far sooner have drop bars.

[@tonyb9735]

@@alwaysanotheradventure Really? Not wishing to be pedantic, but I just watched this video again. There is not a single shot of you with your hands in the drops. You are almost always in the hoods (where your steering and brake control is compromised compared to flat bars) or on the flat part near the stem, where you don't even have access to the brakes! Maybe my idea of gravel biking is a bit more geared to off-road than yours. Granted too, that I came at gravel by way of mountain biking, so that probably colours my perception.

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

@@tonyb9735 It's a fair point, which might partly be because of the way I sit and ride when filming. There's also the angle of my wrists when on the hoods - they drop naturally into that position. On a flat bar, my wrists have to rotate. On really rough ground, it's fair to say I'd prefer the flat, wider position.

[@mediumrick7667]

Call 'em whatever you like, just ride your bike.

[@aaronalto3034]

The bike industry is all about telling people with needs to fit in and needs to impress their riding pals with the latest BS. Keep it simple and ride what you can easily afford and don't worry about keeping up with the Jones's. Another silly thing the industry has done is to do away with front derailleurs, so you have to have a monster spread rear cassette with big gaps in cogs, so you go from grinding slow, to over spun cadence in the top half of the cassette. A tight rear cassette is way more efficient, and serves one beautifully with two or three rings up front.

[@krbrleko]

MTB?

[@alwaysanotheradventure]

Drop bar bikes in title. Once we get into MTB there’s almost as many again!

[@aboversite]

All these bike subclasses are just a marketing gimmick. Your personal fitness or lack thereof is the driving force so to speak. I am hard pressed to see the point of owning anything more than a road bike and a mountain bike.

[@Ken-jp1gr]

Bit off topic, but I wouldn't buy that bike. I prefer to support my local bike shop.

[@randyandjody]

Agree with the categories but feel these categories have already existed. For #3 I just think of that as a Bikepacking bike.