Wide Tires On Gravel: Alternative Bikes

Fat bikes make great gravel bikes. This is from 2012

Welcome back to the series on why wider gravel tires may or may not be a good idea for you. In this post I am going to run over some alternative fat tired bicycle choices which work really well on gravel. In the last post in this series I went over some things in terms of geometry when bigger tires are used and how a common gravel bike might be leveraged as an option to run fatter tires. Check the post out HERE in case you missed it.

This post will end with a bit of my opinion on the entire fat gravel bike idea and why we may be not seeing the forest for the trees. 

Okay, let's dive in on some alternatives to traditional gravel bicycles which can be utilized on gravel with great success. First up we have the fat bike.

Fat Bikes:

As soon as fat bikes were introduced as turnkey, out of the box options to ride in 2011, riders were trying them out on gravel roads. I know I did this and so did several other folks. I held a fat bike gravel group ride in 2012 which we tried as a gag, in a way, because all of us were pretty sure we'd be slower and working harder than we had on the bikes we typically were using at the time.

Rider Josh Magie on a single speed, drop bar fat bike during a race in 2019. Image by Jon Duke

Much to our collective surprise, we covered the 40 mile route in the same average time we usually did on lighter, skinnier tired bikes, and we were far more comfortable and fresh at the end of it. Since then, fat bikes took over as the bike of choice on gravel for several riders, fat bike categories were put in place at many gravel events, and to this day, fat bikes are often an advantage in certain conditions and for certain courses. If you have a fat bike, you may not even want to mess with trying to modify your gravel bike, or think about getting one of the new-fangled fat tire capable gravel bikes. You already have a unique gravel solution which should be fun and comfortable while retaining a decent amount of speed.

Image courtesy of Jones Bikes

 Plus Bikes:

So-called "Plus" bikes are another avenue which people go down to find gravel nirvana. Those 2.8" to 3.0" tires, and in some cases even wider, are a great alternative to full-on fat bike wheels and tires and are versatile in that they can not only tame gravel, but a lot of MTB terrain as well.

One of the most commonly mentioned brands when it comes to plus-bikes is Jones Bikes. Jeff Jones created a very unique, very comfortable and versatile machine which has found plenty of passionate fans who ride gravel.

Jones is not the only game in town here though. Bicycles like the Trek 1120, late model Salsa Cycles Fargos, and Singular's Gryphon Mk3 all can be set up with big, poofy 29"er or 650B plus-sized rubber and dominate gravel, dirt, and sand.

The advantages of these bikes is that you don't have a specialist, niche bike good for only one task. Plus-bikes and fat bikes can do other things very well also. So, maybe instead of modding your current gravel bike, or dropping big bucks on a brand new rig just for the chance to run fatter tires on gravel, a versatile fat or plus-bike may make more sense and be more fun. 

2025 Salsa Cycles Fargo. Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles

Maybe We Don't Need This:

Finally, maybe all you really need is your current gravel bike. Bigger tires is a fashionable trend right now and in terms of the less than 1% of racers who ballyhoo this idea, who really is going to be out there winning races because they have the biggest tire on the latest, greatest gravel bike? Probably not you or I. We're probably in this not to make a living, or get high-impact sponsorships. So, keep in mind what the Pro's are doing is mainly for the less than 1% of gravel riders. Your bike is probably just fine as is.

Perhaps the thing you "need" is to just go out for a ride, forget all about this fat tire, racer driven stuff, and have a good, fun time on a bicycle. It is most likely the reason you started riding in the first place. "Fun" and the pure joy of riding is paramount and when this gets lost in a haze of chasing a trend or anxiety about doing well at the next event is when we've gone off the rails.

"Gravel" as a way to ride or race was never started as a way to mimic Pro set-ups or be locked into any certain way of "doing it". This was more about the experiences and friendships formed through common striving to reach goals we set personally. How you crossed that finish line was unique and special and was partially defined by how you did it in the end. In a way, back then, the odder and more freakish the set up the more one was revered for their perseverance in making it to the end. It is partially responsible for why folks used fat bikes and Schwinn Typhoons, and Motobecane road bikes with 27" wheels. The whole thing was a thumbing of the nose to the previous "cock of the walk" way folks strutted about with their high-dollar machines at the start lines of road races and XC MTB events.

This isn't saying you shouldn't try things, and it isn't saying Pro riders do not have good ideas ever. No, but it is too easy to fall into that trap of having to "chase the next best thing", and this is something to watch out for with this fat tire trend. As long as people keep the main thing the main thing (fun, joy of riding, personal challenge) then we're going to see gravel riding continue to be a healthy segment of cycling.

I hope you all enjoyed this series. Now back to our regulary scheduled blog programming!