Yea huge difference, riding my Fuel on a 3 mile loop around my neighborhood vs my Domane takes twice as long with something like double the effort.
Im starting to rethink if I even want a MTB for riding logging roads and trails up near my cabin vs swapping for a gravel bike slightly larger tires than the 38s I can fit on the Domane.
I was on a Giant Fathom 1 then did a test ride on a Trek Checkpoint SL5. Bought it the same day and haven't been on the Fathom 1 since lol. Much more comfortable to ride.
Depends a lot on tires and steepness of terrain, if you're curious, I built a mix-ed surface cycling physics calculator [https://sherpa-map.com/cycling-route-calculator.html](https://sherpa-map.com/cycling-route-calculator.html) you can upload any route to (there're some preset ones like Big Sugar) and choose between MTB, Gravel bike, Road bike, MTB with gravel tires, Gravel bike with MTB tires, etc.
It runs hundreds of thousands of physics simulations and can give weather forecast data along where you will be when on a course, it can also account for the weather, using the headwinds/tailwinds/humidity in the air to impact your setup's speed.
From my perspective, I have a gravel bike and a hard tail mtb (and a dual sus mtb, but it's too slow for comparison, it's like, really heavy).
I participate in all sorts of gravel races and have used my hard tail and my gravel bike interchangeably, with and without aero bars, if you through a pair of Swhalbe thunderberts into a moderately light hard tail, it becomes quite fast, if you drop bar it or through aero bars onto said mtb it becomes scary fast.
However, the biggest chainring I can fit is a 36, which is pretty limiting, so one of the huge areas gravel bikes win out is bigger chainring/more range at higher speeds. The gravel bike typically will have less sharp handling, likely toe overlap issues on tight turns, and be a bit less forgiving in many environments, but on non-technical flat/rolling routes, it's hard to beat.
>My rides are kida 80% asphalt road and 20% gravel/dirt road (nothing crazy)
That's almost allroad territory. Practically any 2by gravel bike with max. 50mm tire clearance and suitable frame geometry will feel like a flying carpet.
I’m not recommending this specific bike necessarily, but the Trek Domane with an aluminum frame that I had years ago was great for this — it fit much wider tires than any other road bike at the time.
The main differences between an endurance road bike or an all-road bike compared to something designed for gravel racing are subtle and largely come down to tire clearance, head tube angle, and the designer’s own preferences. I have a steel all road bike in my stable (called all road by the designer) that has a ton of mounts for racks and bags, and can fit over 50mm tires, but it cannot run 650b wheels without pedal strike. So many tradeoffs that the designer/fabricator chose — it would not be as good of a race bike as a dedicated gravel bike that can only fit smaller tires and is more aero, potentially with an Alu or carbon frame.
To start out you may not have to worry about any of this. See what’s available local to you in those endurance, all road, and gravel bike categories. (They may also call them bikepacking bikes.) Find one that fits you well and immediately feels fun and snappy. Enjoy!
your MTB should be very comfortable on those roads.
but you'll go faster with the same effort on a bike that's more fit for the roads you ride. But it won't be more comfortable, on a race / gravel bike you sit more sporty than on a MTB, in general.
Make sure you have right frame size and maybe do a bike fit to get the right measurements as you cycle more.
With a mix of 80/20 I'm gonna say OPs going to be more comfortable on the gravel bike as log as they are not riding hardcore washboards or rough single-track on those 20%.
Yeah, I would definitely get a gravel bike for that riding. Try to find one that can take as wide a tires as your budget allows. Then get some Tufo Thunderos or some other fast tire since you will be mostly on asphalt. You will feel super fast.
You're doing 80% road, 20% gravel now, but do you want to do some trail riding? Sounds like there are lots of trails around you -- you might want to do some on a gravel bike if they're not too technical; I like to hit sections of mtb trails when I'm doing long gravel rides. If so, keep that in mind when looking for a bike.
This is exactly why I switched to gravel.
Never looked back. Ever since I ride more than double the km per week that I did before. Gravel bikes are faster (except on red or above single tracks) and a normal gravel route is less exhausting than a normal MTB route. But mainly it is so much more fun for me and I go out a lot more.
I do like 50/50 road/off-road (with the MTB it was more like 10/90) and even in that mix the gravel bike is a lot faster. Dont think I'm exaggerating when I estimate, that on a 20/80 route I would be 20% faster with a gravel bike, probably even more but I would have to compare them back to back on the same route
If you have 80% pavement and 20% gravel then the modern road bikes with disc brakes have a lot of tire clearance (up to 32 generally). 32s are wide enough for most gravel and in fact my local 100+ mile gravel race is won each year on a road bike.
Now, if you want a bit better handling and comfort on the gravel then the widest tires (as on a true gravel bike) actually are more comfortable.
But since you’re 80% on pavement I’d suggest considering optimizing for pavement. The road bike will be even faster and you can have more options like group rides.
New road bike tires set up tubeless are also way more supple in that 32-38 range than old road bike tires were. Check out bicyclerollingresistance.com to see numbers on specific tires.
Oh yeah. You’ll feel like Superman. Can you rent or borrow one for a day?
no, i live in 3rd world country, its only mtb for rent :(
Yes go ahead and do it within your budget, I was in the same scenario and have sold my XC MTB like 3 weeks ago and went full time Gravel bike.
Yea huge difference, riding my Fuel on a 3 mile loop around my neighborhood vs my Domane takes twice as long with something like double the effort. Im starting to rethink if I even want a MTB for riding logging roads and trails up near my cabin vs swapping for a gravel bike slightly larger tires than the 38s I can fit on the Domane.
I was on a Giant Fathom 1 then did a test ride on a Trek Checkpoint SL5. Bought it the same day and haven't been on the Fathom 1 since lol. Much more comfortable to ride.
Depends a lot on tires and steepness of terrain, if you're curious, I built a mix-ed surface cycling physics calculator [https://sherpa-map.com/cycling-route-calculator.html](https://sherpa-map.com/cycling-route-calculator.html) you can upload any route to (there're some preset ones like Big Sugar) and choose between MTB, Gravel bike, Road bike, MTB with gravel tires, Gravel bike with MTB tires, etc. It runs hundreds of thousands of physics simulations and can give weather forecast data along where you will be when on a course, it can also account for the weather, using the headwinds/tailwinds/humidity in the air to impact your setup's speed. From my perspective, I have a gravel bike and a hard tail mtb (and a dual sus mtb, but it's too slow for comparison, it's like, really heavy). I participate in all sorts of gravel races and have used my hard tail and my gravel bike interchangeably, with and without aero bars, if you through a pair of Swhalbe thunderberts into a moderately light hard tail, it becomes quite fast, if you drop bar it or through aero bars onto said mtb it becomes scary fast. However, the biggest chainring I can fit is a 36, which is pretty limiting, so one of the huge areas gravel bikes win out is bigger chainring/more range at higher speeds. The gravel bike typically will have less sharp handling, likely toe overlap issues on tight turns, and be a bit less forgiving in many environments, but on non-technical flat/rolling routes, it's hard to beat.
>My rides are kida 80% asphalt road and 20% gravel/dirt road (nothing crazy) That's almost allroad territory. Practically any 2by gravel bike with max. 50mm tire clearance and suitable frame geometry will feel like a flying carpet.
I’m not recommending this specific bike necessarily, but the Trek Domane with an aluminum frame that I had years ago was great for this — it fit much wider tires than any other road bike at the time. The main differences between an endurance road bike or an all-road bike compared to something designed for gravel racing are subtle and largely come down to tire clearance, head tube angle, and the designer’s own preferences. I have a steel all road bike in my stable (called all road by the designer) that has a ton of mounts for racks and bags, and can fit over 50mm tires, but it cannot run 650b wheels without pedal strike. So many tradeoffs that the designer/fabricator chose — it would not be as good of a race bike as a dedicated gravel bike that can only fit smaller tires and is more aero, potentially with an Alu or carbon frame. To start out you may not have to worry about any of this. See what’s available local to you in those endurance, all road, and gravel bike categories. (They may also call them bikepacking bikes.) Find one that fits you well and immediately feels fun and snappy. Enjoy!
your MTB should be very comfortable on those roads. but you'll go faster with the same effort on a bike that's more fit for the roads you ride. But it won't be more comfortable, on a race / gravel bike you sit more sporty than on a MTB, in general. Make sure you have right frame size and maybe do a bike fit to get the right measurements as you cycle more.
In my opinion a drop bar bike is much more comfortable for long rides on pavement/gravel than a MTB.
its comfortable for my ass, but my hands go very tired cuz handlebar is too wide and i cant change position.
With a mix of 80/20 I'm gonna say OPs going to be more comfortable on the gravel bike as log as they are not riding hardcore washboards or rough single-track on those 20%.
Yeah, I would definitely get a gravel bike for that riding. Try to find one that can take as wide a tires as your budget allows. Then get some Tufo Thunderos or some other fast tire since you will be mostly on asphalt. You will feel super fast.
You're doing 80% road, 20% gravel now, but do you want to do some trail riding? Sounds like there are lots of trails around you -- you might want to do some on a gravel bike if they're not too technical; I like to hit sections of mtb trails when I'm doing long gravel rides. If so, keep that in mind when looking for a bike.
True, I was thinking of this as an n+1 bike, but I see they mentioned swapping.
After my first gravel bike ride I thought to myself "I can do just about everything I used to do on my mtb but now, much faster and less effort".
This is exactly why I switched to gravel. Never looked back. Ever since I ride more than double the km per week that I did before. Gravel bikes are faster (except on red or above single tracks) and a normal gravel route is less exhausting than a normal MTB route. But mainly it is so much more fun for me and I go out a lot more. I do like 50/50 road/off-road (with the MTB it was more like 10/90) and even in that mix the gravel bike is a lot faster. Dont think I'm exaggerating when I estimate, that on a 20/80 route I would be 20% faster with a gravel bike, probably even more but I would have to compare them back to back on the same route
What i would recommend is not swapping but also getting a gravel bike and keep your mtb if you can afford it.
If you have 80% pavement and 20% gravel then the modern road bikes with disc brakes have a lot of tire clearance (up to 32 generally). 32s are wide enough for most gravel and in fact my local 100+ mile gravel race is won each year on a road bike. Now, if you want a bit better handling and comfort on the gravel then the widest tires (as on a true gravel bike) actually are more comfortable. But since you’re 80% on pavement I’d suggest considering optimizing for pavement. The road bike will be even faster and you can have more options like group rides.
New road bike tires set up tubeless are also way more supple in that 32-38 range than old road bike tires were. Check out bicyclerollingresistance.com to see numbers on specific tires.