In my 30's and 40's the priority was speed.....now in my mid 50's it's all about enjoyment and comfort. Mtb all day, every day for me.

The Canyon Exeed would have been a better choice to compare to the Grizl. A light weight XC hardtail thats rapid on the flats and climbs and only a few hundred grams a difference in weight from the grizl. Put some fast rolling gravel/XC tires on the Exeed like the Vittoria Terreno and you’ve got a fast everywhere bike for less money than both of these. But at the end of the day its what ever bike inspires you most to get out and ride thats going to be the best for you.

To make this truly meaningful, they should have put exactly the same tires on both bikes. All they are really testing is the difference between the tires.

That was a very interesting experiment. I tried gravel riding for the first time last year. I did not know if I was going to like it so I rented a gravel bike. It was not a high end gravel bike; but not a clunker either. The price tag on that specific bike was around $1800. The ride was not comfortable, the bike handled horrible on loose gravel and it was scary on descents; very unstable. It did not have suspension; so my arms were still sore two days after. Despite all of this I loved the experience. I was short on budget to buy a gravel bike; so I ended up converting my old 2004 Trek 3700 mtb into a gravel bike. The bike has suspension, 1.95” tires and a ton of gears to select from. The ride is super comfortable, it feels very safe on descends, and eats rocks and loose gravel. Very, very stable bike. It’s heavy though, so it’s not fast going up hills. Old mtb’s have geometries very similar to new gravel bikes; they were not as low as the newer mtbs. In general it has been great for going out and have fun, I saved tons of money as well

Biggest difference in time comes from two things: 1) the nobby tyres on the XC 2) not using the lock-out on the XC. Also with good XC tyres you can ride your mtb to and from the track. I’ve done it for years.

Riding with friends who are on mtb while the rest of us are on gravel bikes, the gravel bikes are faster on the flat, on climbs, and on smooth descents. If the descent is very chunky, the mtb will leave us behind. It is just hard to compete with the suspension and better position for control.

Should’ve compared to a hard tail mtb. That’s essentially what the gravel bike was, with drop bars

I've taken my gravel bike to some of the tamer XC trails that I normally ride my XC bike on. It's a different sort of fun, being at my personal limit on the XC bike, and the bikes traction limit on the gravel bike. The nice thing about a gravel bike, as mentioned, is the variety of riding that it does well. I don't ever expect to beat any of my XC times on an XC trail, but it's really cool to fit in a bit of single track on a long gravel ride. I hope I never have to have just 1 bike, because different bikes do different things. Shout out for the XM/Rekon combo. That's what I run on my Spark!

Hardtail versus Gravel bike is a better comparison - for 99% of riders is a good middle ground and saves you having to byy both, Canyon knows it, that's why they arent compared on the test, I would imagine.

XC Mountainbikes > Gravel Bikes. Simple as that. An xc mountainbike can do everything a gravel bike can and a whole lot more while with a gravel bike you're limited to flat terrain.

As a 64 year old fast is not important, getting home in one piece is though, MTB for me.

Both bikes are sick fun! You killed it 🤙🏾 Great riding!

Why didn’t you lock out the suspension during the climb on the Lux? That would’ve almost eliminated your climbing concerns. Also, you’re up and out of the saddle much more on the grizzle. I think you put more energy into this bike.

Big chunky tractor tires on the Lux vs. slim low-knob tires on the Grizzl. And the Grizzl is faster... whowuddathought!!!

Road-Bikes can fit 33 tires, Gravel-bikes are trying to emulate MTBs with suspension forks, MTBs are getting lighter and lighter => Gravel-bikes becoming more and more obsolete.

Excellent test comparison! But, perhaps in the future, you might also test full-suspension gravel vs. full-suspension mountain bike, such as Niner's MCR 9 RDO full-suspension gravel bike vs. its full-suspension mountain bike like the RKT 9 RDO?

I've been on the gravel bike thing since around 2010, and many hair-brain schemes to try to get the bike faster and more capable to include sourcing an early model C'dale Scalpel 26" with disc brakes and a small bit of efficient suspension and of course low weight...to modifying my Santa Cruz Blur Carbon (26"). My current one is a modest Ridley X-trail that fits 700x50 no problem...even fit Vittoria Terreno XC 29x2.1s but with very little clearance. Now searching for a dropbar bike (looked at the Canyon GRIZL) that fits even bigger tires. The problem is that currently my Ibis T29 29er HT is sub 20lb. My Ridley is 23lb. With Vittoria Barzos and Mezcals, it feels faster than with AM Classic Kimberlites which are road bias. With the SID Ultimate 120 locked out it just zips along on and offroad faster. The only difference is rack mounts and a bigger front triangle for a frame bag. I run bar-ends inboard for a hoods/aero position and have done long multiday gravel events on it so I know the fit works. I honestly believe that if you picked up the right 29er Carbon HT with the right bikepacking implementations, honestly the bikes will be about the same weight, but I just honestly feel like a HT MTB is just far more capable everywhere except if you're on the tarmac for hundreds of KMs. Even then, if you look at the GDMBR and Tour Divide races.....they're on Mezcals...and being a Maxxis guy (heck I was a product tester for the company and rode the Ikons prior to release), they are absolutely a juggernaut of a tire. Add a Barzo in the front and you have a legit trail slayer without very much loss in speed. Blew me away the first time trying them! Anyways..I love the hand positions of dropbars, but almost everywhere else it's just compromise to a good HT MTB. You solve the hand position thing, and I reckon a HT MTB is just better and less compromise...especially if you want one "Do it all" bike (outside of a road bike) but MTB, Gravel, Bikepacking, Commuting..

MTB wins before the video starts because you've purposely missed out alot of terrain the mountain bike would easily handle and the gravel bike wouldn't, so it's bias towards the gravel bike right away, then added to the bias course you didn't lock out the MTB suspension either... Therefore the MTB is the superior bike. Unless you're riding only fire roads and gravel paths.... 🤣🤷🏼‍♂️

In the 90s my coach always said that much of the races could be done faster on a cyclocross bike, so this isn't anything new. But after loosing the front end too many times on my "gravel" bike, it only sees low intensity training on the smooth stuff. The confidence and control a MTB offers is far more important to me on the trails.

Well that Gravel is almost a Hardtail MTB. Even got front suspension now. For real comparison you need to take a Hardtail with Race Tires, maybe get a bit higher Pressure and it will be just as fast (maybe faster) and more comfortable (and being more versatile still, with better control). MTB for me all the way (Epic Evo)

The rigid rear of the gravel compared to rear squish on mtb contributes a bunch to acceleration.

So much overlap between bikes, it really depends on the conditions, tires, and your riding style/strengths/preferences. I’m a former trackie and crit racer, but my go to is still a MTB ht.

Probably me being old and missing information, but where is this place? Looks like a right good time.

I'd like to see a full suss MTB with 40mm gravel tyres. Ive got a spare set of wheels....

Steeper descents are a limiting factor for the gravel bike, even on blue trails; just can't get my weight back far enough. Getting tired of injuries, I'm looking forward to transitioning back to a MTB

To make the test more comparable it would require a similar MTB setup, i.e. take a hardtail MTB with slim 1.9" small-knob tires and little front suspension like 30-50mm (e.g. Rockshox Mag21 or Quadra) Oh wait... that's a '90s MTB!

This is a test of the track not the bikes, this track is better for a gravel bike because it’s mostly gravel except that one bit.

Xc race hardtail with semi slicks is missing in this comparison ! Add some aero stubbies and you prolly end up with the fastest overall setup for general gravel mixed with light/easy trail riding?!?!

Very true. I rode gravel bike with suspension stem on mtb trails the other day and it was totally fine... except for steep downhills. You need to sit as upright as possible, which puts your hands on the hoods. Hands on hoods can bounce off and makes it very dangerous. Gravel bike with flat bar would be perfect... but that's basically a hardtail mountain bike. ;)

Modern Gravel bikes look more and more like old Cross bikes, which I think are great :). I wonder what would be time for Grizl if it had a straight bar.

Let's be honest here, most of us knew which would be quicker overall! You put a gravel bike on what predominantly looked like a trail for MTB! And forks look pre '92! Who puts sussers on a gravel bike? 😁

Agree the Exceed would have been a better FS comparison or their hardtail. Also, you have to take into account the gearing, gravel bikes have a larger front chainring for comparison. So, of course, it's going to accelerate and be faster. Also, the gravel bike is lighter weight and less tire contact with the narrower tires for less ground friction. All the factors impact speed. Is the gravel bike more work in the tech? Sure, because it requires more of the rider's attention and skill since you don't have the suspension to smooth out the trail.

It's about the feel and the general enjoyment of the ride, got rid of my mtb's cause I seriously lost the fun factor riding them due to how capable they are these days. Just to get the same enjoyment level that the earlier mtb's gave, you are having to risk bad injuries on tracks that are on the demanding side of techincal. I now would rather ride cyclecross & gravel bikes these days over any mtb just for the overall fun factor & challenge that you get without having to risk the injuries, the real bonus is you can ride to the bike park then ride back home if the bike park is a reasonable distance wise and still have a good time, the enjoyment factor really matters once you get into your late 40's early 50's and past injuries are catching up to you.

I was in a mtb race and I was surprised to see fellow rider on gravel bike smoke me in various sections...

Its an interesting concept this gravel vs xc. It seems very give and take. i did a similar back to back across a 10 mile stretch of towpath, not at all techy but with the odd root and bump here and there. Across the whole ride the trail 29er was only 4mins slower, and actually was noticeably quicker in certain parts. It also had a more consistent average speed whereas the gravel bike had to slow down and then accelerate a lot more. I reckon across a longer day the 29er would prb be the better bike.

Did the suspension on the gravel bike make a big difference? (over a stiff fork). Reason I ask is because I'm thinking of buying a gravel bike (sonder camino) which has the option of the 30mm Rudy fork. I don't need it for any technical trails but i'd like to be more comfortable going through bumpy fields/bridalways etc. Do you think the 30mm Rudy would be worth it?

haven't seen the end, but my bet on the MTB

The mtb can also ride rougher terrain than what you ride, where the gravel bike would just.. not, you'd have to walk. It's a fun test but at the end of the day, the intended use is different and where the two bikes meet is really a specific kind of trails that you'd rarely ride on the MTB if you were an experimented rider, and that you wouldn't ride on the gravel if you weren't an experimented rider.

Enduro bike all day around for all rides

Thanks. Cool vid.

Try doing the same loop for 3hrs on each bike. The results will be much different i am 100% sure.

I always wonder about the safety of riding my carbon gravel bike on off road trails… If mtbs didn’t need to have thicker tubes for safety, why aren’t they the same thickness as road/gravel tubes?

For a short moment i thought I was watching GCN. Looked up to check the channel name. Used to be a compliment yrs ago, not so sure now..

The more flowing and hardpack the terrain gets, the more the gravel bike with simply the better aerodynamic riding position will be. And the more technical the terrain gets, the faster the mtb will be. As for tire rolling speed, its the tire itself that counts, not the width. i cant make out any difference between a 40mm terra speed and a 2.35" thunder burt in terms of rolling (the thunder burts are a bit heavier to accelerate of course, but even that is not night and day) but boy, a maxxis rekon just feels sooo draggy compared to those two.

Single Speed Tracklocross bike versus Single Speed MTB.

I would like to see aerobars on flat hybrid or light xc mtb . Vs aero road bike or cyclocross on a 10 mile tt. With max tyre 40mm and 33 for cyclocross.

gravel bike is like superior in mix train 50% tarmac 50% mountain track. if the track mostly are mountain track mtb will be quicker gravel have less traction and comfort compare with mtb

Interesting MTB choice given the terrain with a more trial orientated XC bike. A hardtail or at least full XC FS bike would have made more sense on that terrain. I am sure pro MTBers with a HT available would have gone for that on that course.

How did your body feel after the diff bikes too? Gravel bike would likely be a lot harder on wrists, back, etc for that kind of riding. And that's assuming you don't crash! Sure you can do that stuff on a gravel bike if you want to but (I'm 50+) it's not how I want to ride my gravel bike really.

please do a trio comparations with a Rigid mtb with dropper 🙏🏼

After about 3 years the last Keurig stopped working kzfaq.infoUgkxBrV-RbF5Nk0Rlt9i15aao-YMzqzTG8Vf initially was able to unblock, however eventually we couldn't fix. That one was a replacement unit sent by the manufacturer after we had problems with our very first Keurig. This works fine (lol, at least for now) however I didn't realize the water reservoir was so much smaller than our prior unit. With 2 people having one or two cups of coffee each morning, it seems like I'm refilling it daily. Otherwise just happy to have the convenience of pod coffee vs. making a morning pot.

But the shocks on the mtb can be locked for better power transmission.

Most mtb riders are a sociable lot so speeding uphill is less important, to joys of going downhill, so why would you buy that something that is not. there are may that rid to there local trails have fun all day and ride home I for one do

Gotta change outfits between bikes 🙄

This was awesome! I would be curious to know how an “all mountain”, 160mm enduro bike would compare with a “bruiser”, 170/180mm enduro bike.

I would like to see a comparison on a smooth gravel road between an XC hardtail with fast rolling tyres and at least 34T front chainring versus an agressive gravel bike with 45mm tyres... Is gravel bike on a gravel terrain really that much faster than a fast XC bike?

Needs to be an xc hardtail rather than full suss. No way you'd choose a gravel bike over that

A 9 speed geared dirt jumper can challenge both bikes.

What if xc rider on his bike will compete with xc riders on CX circle ?:)

gravel looks like 90's bikes with droppers.

Nakonec to !

Shouldve gone with Niner MCR since youre using a full-sus MTB ʕ⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴥ⁠ꈍ⁠ʔ

Now please repeat the test on a red or black trail...

I ride stuff like that on my gravel bike without a shock

No one is using a gravel bike in XC races, hardly even hardtails anymore, end of story.

No fault of the rider, but the trail was clearly much less slippery for the second run.

Gravel bike is better overall.

A gravel bike will always be quicker than a 120mm full suss bike on smooth gravel roads.

you didn't touch the lockout? wtf...

Why can’t you ride the mtb to the trail?

You put down the saddle manually on the gravel without it i think you would have crashed there.

Put some tech in this test. Mtb will blow it away

ill better get the 90s steel bike with modern drivetrain and beat the shit out of the modern bikes with only 400euros :D

Whay trail bike why not xc Xc will beat gravel bike any time

impossible to understand anything

At that pace, they gonna invent one type of bike for each specific subdivision of terrain you're riding on. When will that nonsense stop? Only good for racers and the happy few who can afford the n+1 expensive bicycle.

Horses for courses, as they say

short answer: NO

As fast as possible?

Why are you comparing a hard tail to a soft tail? Any cycling video that comes out of the UK is just confounded. Who is responsible producing this content? Like it’s just astonishingly bad each and every time.

Stop with gravel ! It is only marketing !

I could ride a womans shopper on that terrain

Just ride a fully rigid steel singlespeed mtb

I got a gravel bike and sold the road bike, not the mtb. Green and blue trails are accessible to anyone. Very few of us are ever going to be hammering a group ride, let alone a road crit. There's not competition between gravel and mtb. Its the road bikes that are discardable.

Still trying to make gravel bikes relevant in 2023 💤

.. to avoid any gaps or drops.. Really? And you still want to compare a mtb with a gravel bike?

A gravel bike is not a mtb ~ get real.

I think the Grizzly Gravel bike would have been way faster than 30 seconds if you would have road the Gravel bike first. After the second race you were not even huffing and puffing. When you finish the first race with the mountain bike you were out of breath.! I give the Gravel bike 20 more seconds because I think you wasted all your energy one the first test.