How gravel sport wanders around the terrain

Gravelbike auf Singletrails

Gravel is on everyone's lips. And many mountain bikers are surprised to see new faces suddenly appearing on their trails: Hipsters on racing handlebars, usually in a good mood - and just as often pushing. Bike editor Dimitri Lehner has picked up on this trend in a trenchant column.

"It's all nonsense," says Lehner. At least when gravel bikes are steered where he doesn't think they belong: on rough enduro trails. This reminds him of past sporting fads: windsurfing in the 1980s, when the boards got smaller and smaller just because it was cool - even though hardly anyone knew how to ride them. Or the early days of snowboarding, when everyone wobbled down icy slopes on butter-soft boards. A gravel bike suits MTB trails about as well as a Land Rover on a freeway.

However, as clearly as Lehner criticizes, you can see his sympathy between the lines. For him, gravel is a ticket to freedom, away from traffic, into the forest, on gravel paths and into nature. His plea: get back to the heart of the matter. No wide tires, no dropper posts, no full suspension - but lightness, simplicity, immediacy. "Keep the gravel in gravel biking," writes Lehner. Because sometimes less is not just more.

You can read Lehner's entire blog post here: tour-magazin.de

Dimitri Lehner, bike magazine

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