Since 1817 when Baron Karl von Drais made the first bike called swift-walker, bikes have been kept developing their shape, materials, and features. A bike that we see and ride nowadays is the best version people can create by seeing the history of bike development this whole time. And yet, bikes are still developing and we never know what material, shape, and features that bikes will have in the future.
For these past decades, bikes were barely used as a vehicle for most people around the world as we already have motorcycles, trains, cars, planes. Steel gravel bike or other types of bikes are only used by commuters who choose cycling as their hobby. Most people count on machine vehicles to go somewhere. However, when the world should suddenly stops because of the pandemic, many people get back to this wonderful vehicle.
As we cannot go outside or visit public places freely just like before, we need to stay at home for no one knows how long. People are trying to find fun, active yet safe activities that can take away their boresome. Riding a bike becomes such a popular activity that is done by many people all around the world lately.
No wonder if bike companies are really happy with commuters’ enthusiasm to get back riding. Steel gravel bike becomes one of the most popular bikes for many commuters to choose. Let find out why people like gravel bike.
Reasons Why People Choose Gravel Bike
A gravel bike is just like a combination of other types of bikes, for instance, adventure bike, road bike, and mountain bike as it takes some features of those bikes. It is perfect for riding around your place or city, and it is also great for the long ride. A steel gravel bike is perfect for on roads and also off roads such as gravel roads, sandy, bumpy, and soil roads.
That ease is not the only reason why people like to choose gravel bikes rather than other bikes. The best reason why people like steel gravel bike is because it is customizable. To know more about those reasons, keep on reading this article.
TIRE
You can apply a wide range of tires, different sizes, read patterns, and widths on your gravel bike. The bigger volume of tires, the more comfort, rim protection, and greater compliance as well. When you are planning to have a ride on rough roads, you can change the tires and adjust them with your need.
Once you finish the ride and get back to the city, you can use the normal-size tires that you already have. It is very easy to adjust the tires because it is suitable for a wide range of tires. Then you do not need to prepare another specific bike for off-roads when you already have the gravel bike.
Riding Position
Another thing that can be customized from gravel bikes is the riding position. This time, when you just want to relax by having a ride around your area, you can use a flat bar gravel bike to have an upright position. This position is really comfortable even for hours.
Meanwhile, when you plan to have an off-road ride, you can change the handlebar into a drop bar. You can have a leaning forward position while off-road riding. This position will make you ride faster and comfortable because you can lean your body forward.
Gears
If you are able to customize the tires and riding position while using the gravel bikes, the gears are also possible be adjusted. You can adjust the gears and suit them with the surface of the roads you will ride on. This amazing gear of gravel bike can be used for riding on a 9-mile trip or even climbing up a hill with bumpy and gravel roads.
Steel or Aluminium Material for Gravel Bike?
Some materials are usually used to built gravel bikes such as steel, aluminum, and even carbon. Those materials are usually being compared to each other to find out which bike that has the best material. Each of those materials clearly has its own characteristics and it is different from another.
On this part, steel and aluminum materials will be explained more.
Steels
Best value steel gravel bike becomes many commuters’ choice as steel is more reliable and stronger compared with other materials. The most beneficial characteristic of steel is its elasticity which is good for shock absorption. The elasticity and strength combinations that create steel becomes highly reliable.
Besides, steel material is also much capable to prevent the bike from damage and stress circumstances. Even though a gravel bike with steel is not the lightest one, but the weight is still understandable because it includes normal. The feeling you will feel while riding a steel bike and the quality of the ride is incomparable to the other styles of bikes.
Steels are also able to reduce and absorb the dampen shocks and vibration while you ride on bumpy or gravel roads. This strong reliability will give you a more comfortable and smoother ride than you ever expected to be.
Aluminum
Another material mostly used in the manufacturing industry is aluminum which is well-known for its lightweight comparing to other materials. Bike companies usually use aluminum alloy to create stronger and stiffer bike frame as it is made from steel. The lightweight aluminum bike frame only has one-third of the density.
To make it even stronger, bike companies use oversized tubes for the frame bike so that it requires stiffness. It will need more than twice the volume of steel materials when they are using an aluminum frame. This way, the bike will be more stable and stiffer so that commuters will be able to ride safely and comfortably.
Even though the aluminum bike is lighter and has been designed specially to prevent harsh rides, this is still not enough for some commuters. That is why some of them prefer steel gravel bike that has strong and reliable characteristics. The size of the tubes also makes bikers a little bit uncomfortable while riding for hours.
which one do you prefer steel or aluminum for gravel bike?