The guy who has the Monstercross News Facebook page seems obsessed with creating and defending his tiny niche called Monstercross. In his eagerness to set himself apart , he has even begun to provide narrow but incorrect definitions of other genres in an attempt to preserve his special world!! This from his facebook page today!! lol
Answer: Nope. Now first off I agree the gravel bike designation is a bit silly, but welcome to the bike biz. Anyway, a gravel bike is essentially a cyclocross/road bike that can take bigger tires designed with normal drops in mind. It's rideable on singletrack, but still a road bike art heart. Which isn't a bad thing.
Monstercross sits between cyclocross & a mountain bike. Dirt drops set up right make it handle better off road and typically a knobbier tire than most would use on a gravel bike. In short, it rides off road far better.
Now, that said a monstercross bike will be at home on gravel no doubt and will lose little to a "gravel" bike with similar tires/gearing.
Van Dessel WTF, Otso Warkin, Salsa Fargo/Cuttthroat. I'd associate those as being monster cross bikes. Bikes that are taking 29er wheels. Gravel vs monster is a tire thing really.
I think if your “different categories” are based on the same bike/platform and can be changed back one for the other at any time they are the same bike, just setup differently. I suppose something like a fork swap(rigid445AC in place of suspension/29”/100mm) along with drop bars might qualify. Fork can be changed back, but it’s a different bike/platform as set up.
I'd call that a fair enough definition and agrees with my thinking even if it is somewhat shades of grey. Right now, since "gravel" is popular, we've got bikes that take tires anywhere from 38mm to 2.5" or more called "gravel". Realistically, that doesn't help things because if everything is gravel, then it starts to become meaningless. Look at the MTB market, all sorts of divisions based on tire size, suspension, geometry, etc.
In my head... CX/Gravel are the criterium and endurance bikes of dirt/gravel roads MC/Adventure are their cousins designed for offroad and singletrack?
All just different shades of hybrids, right? I sort of like the ambiguity. Buy / build what suits your needs / wants. The rest is just marketing for n+1. To plagiarize the Rodeo Labs TD3 page... _____ What if there were no bicycle categories?
What if nobody had told us that we needed a different bike for each day of the week and every different riding surface?
What if a bike was neither good nor bad at anything? What if, instead, it was merely a capable tool for testing yourself and proving your own mettle? _____
I didn't buy their bike, but I like their way of thinking. _____
Hey, look at me not look at dates and resurrect an old thread - nice work
What if nobody had told us that we needed a different bike for each day of the week and every different riding surface?
What if a bike was neither good nor bad at anything? What if, instead, it was merely a capable tool for testing yourself and proving your own mettle?
IMHO bikes are like clubs in a golfer's bag. Sure, one can use a putter off the tee but aside from playing putt-putt this generally isn't the best choice of clubs.
Put another way: every bike is a compromise. Just a few: - Handling: Quick steering versus stability - Weight: Speed versus reliability/endurance and versatility - Gearing: Tight closely spaced jumps for road/CX racing versus wide for mountain & touring
My road bikes suck in gravel and my fat bike sucks on the road but is pretty good as a mountain bike. But my full suspension mountain bike has far better control in technical descents where the fat bike likes to "beach ball". My gravel bike has far wider gearing and room for wider tires than my CX bike - and in soft stuff size matters. My commuter, with 40mm tires, lights, fenders and rack is reliable and great for hauling stuff. But the bar end shifters, heavyweight puncture resistant tires and 3x9 drivetrain is far from ideal on fast rides. And don't even get me started on the Frankenbike conversions (aka vintage mountain bike drop bar 26'ers) which are more of a monster cross than a gravel or CX bike.
Exactly. Unless you have pretty modest needs, the idea of one bike that can easily do everything with just a wheel change is a pipedream. If you enjoy different types of riding and/or live in a area with a real winter and ride year-round, you're going to need more than one type of bike. Riders' "stables" of bikes evolve to fit their needs. For me, that means a minimum of a road bike, a 'cross/gravel bike, a (hardtail) mountain bike and a fat bike. Let's just say I've exceeded that by a fair amount.
The biggest change from years past is that there are now off-the-rack bikes to suit every need, so making "Frankenbikes" is much less necessary today.
But Frankenbikes building is so much fun... My next project is a Nishiki Alien which happened into the Bike Co-Op. The finish is a bit beat up so I'm contemplating whether or not to have the frame refinished. If I happen across an inexpensive set of 650b wheels I'd also like to setup a bike with those.... I'm pretty sure it's a cult and/or addiction problem but alas I'm not alone (read: perhaps I need a support group?). https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/828426-show-your-vintage-mtb-drop-bar-conversions-258.html
I think the opening definitions seem pretty accurate, except personally I tend to go more for the term ‘drop bar mtb’ as I think it’s more descriptive than ‘monstercross’.
Different people have different needs and preferences. The cool thing is we can now buy or build bike that are well suited to many different styles of riding.
The only one who needs true categories is the UCI, for everyone else bikes exist on a sliding scale, where each bike might have some characteristics from a neighboring catergory,
I think of the sliding scale in terms of high speed, rough terrain capability:
Track bikes Crit Racing bikes Endurance Road bikes Cyclocross bikes Gravel bikes Dropbar Mtb’s XC racing bikes Trail bikes All Mountain/aggressive trail bikes Enduro bikes Downhill racing bikes
You left out a few categories. TT/Tri Bikes should be after Track bikes. "Road Racing bikes" would fit between Crit Racing bikes and Endurance Road bikes. I would also add "Cyclocross bikes" before Gravel bikes.
I have a garage full of bikes, but just ride one (mostly*) I have a quiver of wheels and tires though! ;-)
My CX/Gravel - is super fast on a lycra road ride - Is comfy for a long road ride - Is amazing fun on rolling single track - Gets me to work fast and fun commuting. - does great in the winter (I prefer G-Ones for winter/snow).
Obviously there are exceptions at the extremes: I have a track bike for the velodrome, as that is the only bike allowed in that kind of environment. And, with 51 degree banking, ya gotta have a very high bottom bracket. ;-) For mountain biking that will break parts on a ridged bike, suspension is required.
My 'cross/gravel rig is by far the most versatile bike I own, though I don't use it on snow and ice. I prefer wider rubber for snow and always use studded tires when it's icy.
It's also great for traveling, as swapping tires (and perhaps pedals and/or cassettes) makes it a good road bike, which provides more ride options when on vacation. I use tires with tubes for this, as it eliminates any mess when swapping back and forth. Of course, the tubes have sealant in them.
![[biggrin]](https://cdn.websitetoolbox.com/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif "Big Grin - :D")
