It's not just that it's a lazy trope spewed out by thirsty social media trolls - it's that they say it as though it's a bad thing.
The reasons they aren't, are so many and so obvious, I won't bother recounting them here. But frame materials, brakes, wheels, tyres, gears, and every other component are all orders of magnitude better than their 90s counterparts. So what's left? The geometry. It's no secret many 'modern gravel' bikes' geometries converge to a point of great similarity (if not singularity...), which is no accident nor coincidence. There's also no hiding the fact this ends up rather close to typical 90's MTB geometry.
There's a reason for that - they ride great! 90s mountain bikes were (and are) amazing. They are nimble, agile, climbed well and were comfortable and efficient enough to ride all day. They flexed, they shimmied and they sometimes they juddered, but man they were fun. The brakes were rubbish, flat tyres were just a fact of life, bent wheels and chain suck were commonplace. Advancements in all these things make modern gravel bikes so much better than your old Rockhopper it's not funny. But what the best of these modern bikes haven't lost is the simplicity, responsiveness and versatility those great 90s MTB's gave us.
The 90s were also, for many of us of a certain age, our youth. Mountain bikes were fresh, new and exciting. They gave us a freedom to just go and explore: the woods, the farm tracks, the big fire roads, the occasional bits of singletrack. Anything was possible, trail access wasn't (mostly) an issue, you could just ride. We rode, raced DH, XC, trials all on the same bike. We toured on them, commuted, just rode to the shops. We made habits and friends for life. Riding was a joyous thing - not something to be measured out in watts, calories or the size of that gap you dropped. Finding a whole genre of modern bikes which brings back some of those feelings and give us that range of versatility and fun is to be celebrated and relished - not decried.
What would be the alternative? To throw away these simple, practical versatile bikes? Pass an edict saying 'no head angle shall be steeper than 70 degrees'. Force everyone to be riding long and slack mtb's with 0mm stems and yard wide handlebars?
Gravel bikes have a similar silhouette and geometry to 90's mountain bikes - and that's a beautiful thing. So the next time someone drops a 'nice gravel bike, looks just like my '93 Stumpjumper' on you, smile and nod and say "yeah, they were awesome bikes".
6 comments
I do find the phrase ‘Gravel bikes are just 90’s mountain bikes’ to be neither a compliment nor a trope. It is just not true. If someone still has 1990s MTB and wants to ride it on gravel etc. by all means. 1980s-1990s MTB were rad for their use cases.
There are some people who ride bikes from the 1960s and are happy with them, and some bikes have iconic designs that did not change much in the past 70 years. The question is not whether the design is old or not. It is whether the bike is functional for its use case or not. In that case, the answer pertains to the quality of the gravel bike rather than its concept. Gravel bikes are diverse by nature from gravel racing bikes, to adventure gravel bikes. Some even subdivide them into all-road, gravel racing, adventure gravel, and adventure bikes. The frames vary from CX inspired frames to XC inspired ones.
I rode MTBs of the 1990s & later and I ride gravel bikes now. There are certain rocky terrains that I did on my MTB back in the day that I dare not do on a gravel bike. There are other gravel, mud, grass, single track terrains that I would rather do on my gravel bike as it can handle these terrains well, with the added bonus of some speed.
The differences are:
1. Tyres: MTBs in the 1990s had wider tyres 2+ inch, current gravel bikes hover over 40mm
2. Handlebars: most MTBs in the 1990s had flat or riser handlebars, while most gravel bikes come with drophandlebars
3. Brakes: MTBs in the 1990s had rim brakes, disc brakes were relatively new. Gravel bikes come equipped with disc brakes by default
4. Frame material: in the 1990s it was steel and aluminium. Gravel bikes come in steel, aluminium alloys, carbon, titanium and magnesium (all-road).
5. Wheels: MTBs in the 1990s had 26", Gravel bikes come in 700c or 650b
The common things:
1. Ability to manage on-road, all-road, and off-road.
2. Fully rigid frames, suspension was relatively new in the 1980s-1990s
Yes indeed, may the adventures continue!
@jose – well, it’s the articulation of my immediate thoughts whenever I see or hear the comment that “gravel bikes are just 90s MTBs” – which happens all the time. As you say – there are many things which make them different, I think I make that clear. But yes, there are also some things which make them similar – they are the bits that made 90’s MTB’s fun and versatile, and which make many modern gravel bikes fun and versatile – that was my point. Sorry you missed it and didn’t enjoy the article.
History rewritten. Gravel bikes are 28 inchers. 38, 44mm wide 700C rim tires. 90’s mountain bikes were 50, 52, 54mm wide tires and yes, 26 inch. A 26" tire is not a 28" tire. This story seems to be one of those: “What TF do I write about? Oh I have an idea.” Bad idea.
Some people like to be grouches (the Gravel bikes are just 90s MTBs folks – not you – you rock) just for the sake of being grouches I think. I don’t get it, but they exist, ya know.
Merry Christmas, Sam!