Road Cycling is Dead, Long Live Road Cycling
Mon, May 4, 2020 In the words of Yogi Berra, “It is déjà vu all over again,” at least it is for me. In the early 1990s the cry was, “Road Cycling is dead, mountain bikes are the new thing.” There are all these safe trails, away from cars, just waiting to be explored. All you need this special bike to ride them.
Today I am hearing the exact same thing about gravel bikes. Before I go further, let me say this is an observation, and is in no way meant to be a put down, of mountain biking or gravel bikes. I have noticed in recent years, it has been proven that wider tires not only have less rolling resistance, they can be run with less pressure making for a less bumpy ride on rough surfaces.
So, did wider tires lead to the interest in riding a road bike on gravel and dirt roads, or was it just the bike industry looking for another bike boom that the mountain bike had brought? The mountain bike boom was special and may never happen again on the scale it did.
Mountain biking was developed by a small group of enthusiasts, starting out building bikes for downhill racing, based on old balloon-tired cruiser bikes. From this group came mountain bike builders working separately from builders of road bikes like me, and others of that time.
By the time the big companies like Giant got into building MTBs, they had become what I saw as an adult version of the BMX bike. It coincided with a whole generation of twenty- and thirty-year old’s who had grown up riding BMX bikes in the 1960s and 1970s.
Many were new to cycling and it brought them into the sport. The mountain bike became a world-wide phenomenon, and many of today’s professional road cyclists got their start in mountain bike racing.
A few hard-core roadies remained, and road cycling never completely went away. By the new millennium road biking was gaining popularity once more, with new people joining the sport, crossing over from mountain biking.
The bikes I built in the 1980s were road racing bikes and were never really suited for leisure riding, but it was what people wanted at the time. Many people saw these bikes in bike stores and fell in love the sparkling paint, and polished aluminum, they just had to have one. When they rode them however, it was hard work, their back hurt, their ass hurt, and the bikes were over geared for most newbies.
I see bikes I built in the 1980s come up for sale on eBay, some in pristine condition, they have never been used. The sale of all these bikes that were never used, initially helped keep me in business, and today ensure there is a plentiful supply for the current enthusiast, and on into the future.
In 1982 I met John Howard for the first time, I built him a custom ‘dave moulton’ frame, built with Reynolds 753 tubing. He said it was the best bike he had ever owned, and he often rode it on dirt roads in the semi-desert east of San Diego.
This was not what I would have recommended for a lightweight frame, but I figured John Howard knew what he was doing, and it would be a good test for the frame. The bike had the skinny 22 mm. wide tubular tires of that era.
My point is you could ride most road bikes on dirt or gravel roads that are reasonably level surfaced. The bikes being touted as “Gravel” bikes, as I see it are simply bikes more suited for leisure riding. Bikes that I might have built myself back in the 1980s, had there been a call for such a design at the time.
However, one man alone cannot start a trend, it takes many all agreeing and saying the same thing, at the same time, which is what is happening now.
But is road biking dead? No, and it never will be. Riding on a dirt road into the unknown maybe fun and adventurous, but eventually one will tire of the bumpety bump of the rough surface, and long to be back on smooth asphalt.
There is no substitute for the feeling when you stomp on the pedals, and the bike immediately responds, and rockets forward. The speed, the wind in your face, and the sound of the tires ringing in your ears. Even the dull ache in your legs, somehow feels good.
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Reader Comments (8)
Good post, and I agree with your thoughts. Road biking won't go away, it's just too much fun!
I cannot be the only person wishing your blogs went on longer, and even more in-depth. I enjoy your continued thoughts on the industry, the sport, and the hobby we all share.
Thank you!
"We'll still be road cycling even when it's no longer cool."
Excellent post Dave!
Road riding will have its peaks and valleys, but will never go away.
I’ve OFTEN taken my Fuso on smooth dirt/gravel roads and paths. It handles great on and off road!
Sorry, but your truth really isn't the only truth here.
I am not dissing on road riding, I love it, but suggesting that it is superior to mountain biking or gravel riding is just short sided.
I am one of those people who grew up on a BMX bike, and I loved every minute of it. Growing a bit older, I bought what I could afford, mostly beaten up touring bikes with a drop bar, I liked them. But when mountainbikes appeared, that changed everything for me! I was hooked! I stayed hooked for years, and then, gradually, started loosing interest a bit. I was allways an avid runner, and trail running took over mountainbiking's place. I love the outdoors, what can I say.
Fast forward a decennium or so, and I went to an event where a lot of new bikes could be taken for a good test ride. I rode a few high quality, high cost, full suspension bikes, out of curiossity. I hated it. It was like riding a tank over a twig. Easy, boring, and therefor not much fun at all. Then I saw there were also two garvel bikes to try out. I took them for a spin, and I LOVED it. Absolutely stoked, before I even finnished my first lap.
Turns out I lost interest in mountainbiking because it had gotten ever more 'extreme', mtb's lost all their simplicity, they had gotten too expensive, it was just not for me anymore.
And here was gravelbiking, giving me the same joy mtb's had done 20 years ago. Narrow bars, racy position, simple brakes, simple gearing, and needing all your attention and skills to tackle the terrain.
I still had the same mtb I have had for 26 years, and I recently (after saving for the needed components) transformed it in to a gravelbike / monster cross bike / whatever you wanna call it. I took of the suspension forks (it didn't have suspension originally), put on a simple steel fork, flared drop bars, a 1x 9speed cheapo group with decent gear ratio, and I have never had more fun with that bike then right now. It's a blast!
I race around on it on paved roads, and I love the speed and snappyness (I put on suiatble tires too of course), and then when I see a nice looking path or track, I dive in to it and love that too. And no, that will not 'tire me eventually'. Riding a bike that makes things too easy, that tires me, be it a race bike on the road, or a modern mountain bike on the trails. What I have now is the best of both worlds.
Seems like we’re now in the bikepacking era too. I’m in the process of getting a touring bike. The frame arrived at the shop and one of the guys there sent me his list of suggested components. It included knobby, 50mm tires and rims to accommodate them; a 12-speed, 12x50 “1-by” drivetrain; and some other new gadgets. He’s a great (young) guy but he assumed I wanted the shiny new toys most of their customers have been buying. When I told him I was just getting into touring after 30 years on a racing frame and wanted to go “old school” — road tires (although 38mm) and a triple crank — he seemed dumbfounded. He listened and apparently took down the info I gave him — that is, I wasn’t expecting to do much, if any, riding on mountain trails. I’m a paved-road guy and wanted a “traditional touring set-up. And I wanted to be able to climb walls fully loaded, and to have some zip to get around LA for errands and other things when lightly loaded. He repeated it all back to me and it seemed we were in sync. Ten minutes later the shop owner called. He wanted to double check if I understood what kind of bike I was asking for. “Do you have experience with a triple crank?” he asked. When I told him I was 60, that I had ridden triples before, and that I would be focusing on riding on paved roads, he was satisfied. “We’ll be happy to do that, no problem. We just don’t get many requests like yours.”
The gravel bike I believe is another marketers way to keep the sales of bikes ticking over. I heartily agree with Richard in comment 5 “He’s a great (young) guy but he assumed I wanted the shiny new toys most of their customers have been buying.”
As you said Dave, a gravel bike is a leisure bike, with the biggest drawback many of them have a single ring transmission, which loses the flexibility of a double chainring set up. Not a problem if one is riding on their own, but puts you at a disadvantage with a group with a double. To me it makes more sense for off road to use a traditional cyclo cross bike with tighter angles closer to a road bike, and how less “ comfortable” will it be with the same wider tyres, a decent saddle and proper padded shorts.?
I help out in the LBS when they need a hand and the customer base that want the shiny new toys are alive and well. They research for eons on the internet, buy the spiel put out by the marketing dept. and focus groups, and are instant converts to what’s next. Now some are asking if their single ring gravel bikes can be converted to a double set-up.
If you can recall the World Tour Pro Team that suddenly folded a couple of seasons back “ Aqua Blue” that famously rode a 3T bike with a single ring set up.
here’s the cobblers from the sponsor....
“A single ring drivetrain eliminates the front derailleur and one chainring, reducing frontal area, creating space for unobstructed airflow and freeing up the design of the seat tube to shield the rear wheel even better,” says 3T.
last word from Aqua Blue rider Adam Blythe.
"Blythe was speaking to the Bradley Wiggins Show on Eurosport about the team’s collapse, saying that he believed one of the key reasons was the single chainring bike they had to use, which Blythe said left you feeling “knackered.”
"Adam Blythe says the 3T Strada one-by bike is a key reason for the demise of the Aqua Blue Sport team.
The Irish squad announced that they were folding last week with financial troubles, before quickly pulling out of the Tour of Britain less than a day before the race was due to start."
“It’s just like a track bike with gears on it. There’s only one chainring and if you imagine you’re doing a climb, normally you’d have a 38 ring to drop down to but now you’ve just got a 10 cassette that goes up to a 42 with a 50 chainring on the front. So you’re knackered, you can’t race around in a one-day race let alone a two-week race or one-week race.
“Day one I was like this is not a good idea, but the team signed up to a contract with it and that was it, so we had to deal with it.
https://road.cc/content/tech-news/243853-aqua-blue-boss-lab-rat-thing-costing-us-results-so-was-he-talking-about
Don’t ya love the power of hype.?
Road biking is for leasure.
Mountain biking is for a workout and excitement.
Gravel biking is for exploring nature's beauty.
For me, each has a purpose and equally enjoyable.
Late last year I pulled up next to a guy on a gravel bike, I astride my 2008 steel Russ Denny Fuso, and he asked if I was heading to Calavera(s), where mountain bikers ride. I looked at him incredulously, and told him I’d be on my Breezer MTB if I was. He said: “That’s no fun, it would be too easy, you should ride that bike.”
What? That does not make any sense. Isn’t riding as hard or easy as You make it, not your bike? I ain’t out to “make it harder when I hop on my bike”. A few recent comments on your posts, Dave, have mentioned the goal of making riding a bike easier. I don’t understand that either, because I never thought of designing a bike to make riding easier. You can design brakes that work more efficiently and have better modulation, frames that absorb shock but also handle well, tires that resist flats and grip better without adding weight, clothing that breathes and feels better to wear, and chains that not only look cool but last longer.
But make cycling easier? In all my years of riding have I thought about making it easier. I just rode, whether on the road or off-road on a mountain bike. You didn’t even noticed how good of shape you were in until the season ended. Condition had more impact on how “Easy” riding was than any equipment could.
During the 2013 Kenda Cup season final on Snow Summit, Big Bear, I was passed by Tinker Juarez, and he had 1.9 tires, which looked skinny compared to my 2.1’s. He of course won. I also saw a guy riding a single-speed road bike, at the Sagebrush Race, and that reminded me of driving a stock VW Bug in the Baja 1000!
The trend in mountain bikes has been to go wider: wider rims, wider tires, wider hubs, “Boost Spacing” (which keeps going even wider). But all of that is engineering changes, driven by bike companies that hire more engineers than people who produce the product.
Ends up those companies have more problems keeping up than me.