I know these, although they are not as common here as gravelbikes.
Kinda like watered-down Fixies optimized for urban commute.
Will not work well in more off-road (so: “gravel”) scenarios and for touring.
Different thing, I would say.
Remember that the geometry is completely different to a roadbike. You are much more upright and less bowed.
You also have many more completely different holding positions than for a classical mountain bike bar.
Most comfortable and ergonomic ride I owned so far.
Solved basically all of the hand and back pain issues I occassionally had during longer tours on classic bikes.
Different kind of drop bars than on a road bike, though:
Wider and more upright sitting position.
Worth trying out at least once when looking for a new bike.
Hybrid between roadbike and mountainbike.
Someone posted a pic of one in another comment.
I have an older one (ok, actually two…) of those:
https://www.salsacycles.com/collections/fargo
It is more on the mountainbike-y side, others are typically slightly less rugged.
Isn’t that what normal hybrids are for? I guess it looks cool though
“Normal” hybrids usually have straight handlebars. Gravel bikes usually have “drop” handlebars like road bikes.
What’s a normal hybrid?
Like a commuter bike with flat handle bars, kinda thin tires, and no suspension
I know these, although they are not as common here as gravelbikes.
Kinda like watered-down Fixies optimized for urban commute.
Will not work well in more off-road (so: “gravel”) scenarios and for touring.
Different thing, I would say.
Ah ok, drop bars are so uncomfortable…
Remember that the geometry is completely different to a roadbike. You are much more upright and less bowed.
You also have many more completely different holding positions than for a classical mountain bike bar.
Most comfortable and ergonomic ride I owned so far.
Solved basically all of the hand and back pain issues I occassionally had during longer tours on classic bikes.
So basically the “mountain bike” I had as a kid, before the started adding fancy shock absorbers and disk brakes?
All right, now I want a gravel bike too!
You had a mountainbike with drop bars?
Unusual.
Also: Basically all gravelbikes come with disc brakes, major distinction to roadbikes.
I had a Randonneur-like bike in my youth in the 80s, which had some features common with the recent gravelbikes.
I liked it very much, so was very happy when gravelbikes became a thing 10 years ago or so.
Haha, i didn’t know it had drop bars… Nope, that’s not for me :)
Different kind of drop bars than on a road bike, though: Wider and more upright sitting position.
Worth trying out at least once when looking for a new bike.
Hillbike!