These in-depth scientific studies always seem to neglect the weight and aerodynamics of the RIDER. That is surely the biggest factor when it comes to speed and efficiency.
You should read the article, rider positionning and clothing is mentionned.
Aerodynamics of Gravel Bikes
51–60 of 211 posts
Re: Aerodynamics of Gravel Bikes
#52A gravel bike is the perfect commuter bike! At least if you're not going electric. Almost as light and fast as a road bike. But a bit more upright riding so it's more comfortable. Wider and more treaded tires means tram lines, pot holes, curbs etc. are less of a problem and can handle rough surfaces and not just asphalt. Mounting points and wider forks allow for mudguards / fenders so rain is no problem. The wider sp…
umm, hate to break it out to You, but... there's no such thing as a "perfect bike". This is why we have Rule #12 amongst the Velominati, the Keepers of the Cog. "The ideal number of bikes is always n+1, where n is the current number of bikes"
Everyone's commute is slightly different and while I use my gravel as a commuter just like You do, there's always the matter of personal preference.
What if You prefer to ride in regular clothes and "style" is a thing? Those dutch bikes someone mentioned a few comments ago are great for that.
What if You're riding through dense traffic / cityscape half of the time? A narrow bar fixie perhaps?
I like being able to get some exercise while commuting as well, but that's not necessarily true for everyone.
Re: Aerodynamics of Gravel Bikes
#53A gravel bike is the perfect commuter bike! At least if you're not going electric. Almost as light and fast as a road bike. But a bit more upright riding so it's more comfortable. Wider and more treaded tires means tram lines, pot holes, curbs etc. are less of a problem and can handle rough surfaces and not just asphalt. Mounting points and wider forks allow for mudguards / fenders so rain is no problem. The wider sp…
I agree, except on the electric part. Where I live e-bikes don't assist over 25/kmph, and I'm always above that... until, my ride home. Which is steep hill, and I'm tired, and I just want to go home. As an all-rounder it's been the best bike I've had yet, I can do just about anything with it. Very utilitarian. I ride a heap, I ride MTB, commute and also a gravel bike for fun, so I feel no shame getting that e-assist…
Sounds like you also live in Oslo? At least the nice thing is that I don't get that sweaty on the way to work..
Not sure if you misunderstood my comment? I'm all for electric bikes (my GF is getting one today actually) and how they enable many more people to bike. I love seeing parents bike their kids to school on this big ebikes, zooming past hundred cars in a gridlock. But _if_ you're not going electric, a gravel is a great bike. If you're going electric, most of the problems a gravel solve aren't really a problem.
Re: Aerodynamics of Gravel Bikes
#54> The biggest part of a bike’s wind resistance is caused by the rider. Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do with respect to the airflow around bike and rider
There's lots of things you can do - apart from losing a lot of weight, clothing and helmet design is probably the simplest, there's some good references to things that can be done here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12283-017-0234-1#...
>I don’t always use the aero tuck. I find that it’s not very comfortable for more than a few minutes at a time
I cycle on a time trial bike (not on gravel) - which has a higher saddle and longer frame so back and arms can get straight and horizontal. It took a lot of effort to get comfortable physically and mentally in that position (you hands feel a very long way from the brakes) and you do loose quite a bit of control in that position, but I don't see why a slightly higher saddle and arms horizontal but wider with hands at the edge handlebars in line with legs wouldn't be possible.
Re: Aerodynamics of Gravel Bikes
#55These in-depth scientific studies always seem to neglect the weight and aerodynamics of the RIDER. That is surely the biggest factor when it comes to speed and efficiency.
It's always funny with people having paid $10k extra to save a kilogram on their bike, and then show up on the Sunday group ride with a beer belly. But I think these articles and study are mostly written for / paid by professionals, and they don't have that much more weight to lose. But reading "The secret race" by Hamilton (one of Armstrong's team mates), they do focus obsessively on it. They would often ride for ho…
They are climbing mountains though. In a flat area this advantage nearly disappears. I have that typical cyclist underweight build and it barely helps me on gravel rides, really only when there's a direct headwind. And it's balanced by how much more I get pushed around by crosswinds.
It's definitely very significant for european-style touring races, but people overstate it for even high-level amateur rides especially in flatter areas. Which is most gravel riding.
Re: Aerodynamics of Gravel Bikes
#56These in-depth scientific studies always seem to neglect the weight and aerodynamics of the RIDER. That is surely the biggest factor when it comes to speed and efficiency.
It's always funny with people having paid $10k extra to save a kilogram on their bike, and then show up on the Sunday group ride with a beer belly. But I think these articles and study are mostly written for / paid by professionals, and they don't have that much more weight to lose. But reading "The secret race" by Hamilton (one of Armstrong's team mates), they do focus obsessively on it. They would often ride for ho…
> It's always funny with people having paid $10k extra to save a kilogram on their bike, and then show up on the Sunday group ride with a beer belly.
Ah, the smell of fresh gatekeeping in the morning. You don't know what road these people are on, just their current state. For all you know, they've already dropped dozens of pounds and are happy with their own improvements. Never look down on a fat person on a bike.
Re: Aerodynamics of Gravel Bikes
#57A gravel bike is the perfect commuter bike! At least if you're not going electric. Almost as light and fast as a road bike. But a bit more upright riding so it's more comfortable. Wider and more treaded tires means tram lines, pot holes, curbs etc. are less of a problem and can handle rough surfaces and not just asphalt. Mounting points and wider forks allow for mudguards / fenders so rain is no problem. The wider sp…
umm, hate to break it out to You, but... there's no such thing as a "perfect bike". This is why we have Rule #12 amongst the Velominati, the Keepers of the Cog. "The ideal number of bikes is always n+1, where n is the current number of bikes" Everyone's commute is slightly different and while I use my gravel as a commuter just like You do, there's always the matter of personal preference. What if You prefer to ride i…
Of course! But I just wanted to give gravel some love! And spread some awareness of their existence.
I think most casual bike riders don't recognize them as a separate bike from road bikes. So they think it's either a dutch styled bike or a road bike, and if neither fit they end up commuting by car or so instead.
Re: Aerodynamics of Gravel Bikes
#58I started biking around three years ago. Lots of biking, like 5000-8000+ km a year.
As long as I don't weigh my ideal weight and aren't planning on becoming a machine myself, I have zero interest in spending anything in optimizations which will make my bike a better one. I don't care if it could go faster or be more lightweight, spending 600€ for the bike was enough. The cheapest 30€ Schwalbe tires are good enough; I didn't even have a single flat tire this summer after I learned to avoid driving over blackberry branches.
And I really enjoy it. During this summer, with the extreme heat, where I loved the 28°C in the shade of the woods I was thinking about how much I'm going to hate this fall, and now that it's here, I love breathing that cold, fresh air and smelling the humid forest. The only thing I hate is when there's frozen snow on pavement in the winter.
The only thing I spend money on for biking is quality clothing appropriate for the seasons and accessories like good smartphone holders or bags.
Re: Aerodynamics of Gravel Bikes
#59I am an out of shape former racer who has ridden his bike 10 times in the last two years. I have a dad belly and rarely work out at all. I recently did The Rift this summer - a 200km gravel race here in Iceland that people come from all over the world to race. I did it on a carbon cyclocross bike from my racing days with file treads. I felt like the light weight of my bike outweighed just about every gravel fad that'…
> I know US Midwest gravel races are effectively flat, but acceleration is greatly improved with a light bike too.
While this is a "on the paved road" race... you should check out Horribly Hilly Hundreds in Wisconsin - https://www.horriblyhilly.com
Re: Aerodynamics of Gravel Bikes
#60A gravel bike is the perfect commuter bike! At least if you're not going electric. Almost as light and fast as a road bike. But a bit more upright riding so it's more comfortable. Wider and more treaded tires means tram lines, pot holes, curbs etc. are less of a problem and can handle rough surfaces and not just asphalt. Mounting points and wider forks allow for mudguards / fenders so rain is no problem. The wider sp…
Gravel bikes are good commuters, if you like drop bars. Many commuters prefer flat bars for the more upright riding position, which allows for a better field of view for misbehaving drivers. You still also have the classic problem that higher end bikes lose all the commuter friendly features. Carbon forks and frames often lose mounting points for fenders+rack. The marketing vision of a gravel bike is someone expectin…
> You're stuck with heavy bikes with poor gear ranges, super low end components, cable brakes, etc.
Hmm, not my experience at all. At least the market here there are no "cheap" gravels. For around $1k-$1.5k (which is the cheapest gravels available here) I've gotten hydraulic breaks, Shimano GRX groupset, an OK weight etc.