Bikes, a thread reborn

[Joe]

Gravel bikes are the work of the devil ?
Being serious if you need off road capability would you not be better with a XC mountain bike? I tend to use a Scott Scale 740 for off road use and a Felt FR5 (modified for improved climbing) for fast road work.
Like you say technology has moved a long way, the bikes available now are significantly lighter and will munch the miles. My FR5 was about 7.8kg before it was modified and the performance over 20 miles was unbelievable. With regular training you can push out to 50 miles without too much hassle.
But the price of bikes has gone through the roof, anything under 9kg is north of 1k. But on a positive note my old Carrera road bike (300 pounds) still got me 85 miles which is pretty impressive for an old school bike.
Ps gravel bikes are good but expensive.