Further to yesterday’s post about Peak Gravel, having lived through Peak Fixie–which, in case you’re lucky enough to have missed it, looked like this…:
[Unlike the frog in the boiling water, I can assure you that everybody knew how ridiculous this was even as it was happening.]
…I can tell you that one of the surest signs we were getting to Peak Fixie was when the so-called “fixie conversion” began to appear everywhere you looked:
The recipe was simple: take a frame, preferably a nice old road bike with horizontal dropouts (or, you know, a Softride), and then destroy it* by sticking a track wheel in the back and a Trispoke, Spinergy Rev-X, or Aerospoke in the front.
*[Converting a Softride into a fixie does not destroy it, as you cannot destroy that which is already destroyed.]
Of course Sheldon Brown had been a proponent of fixed-gear conversions long before it was cool:
And of course a fixed-gear or singlespeed conversion is a perfectly good use for an old frame. Like most trends, it started innocently enough–track bikes were expensive, but someone interested in exploring fixed-gear riding could turn an old 10-speed into a fixie for about the price of a rear wheel and a cog. However, by the time I started this blog in 2007, fixed-gear conversions had become a disease, with deranged people everywhere defiling perfectly good Colnagos in what was perhaps the darkest period cycling has ever seen:
Today, the equivalent of the fixed-gear conversion is the gravel conversion, and it’s a term so oft-G**gled that there are video tutorials and search engine-optimized, AI-generated articles about it everywhere you look:
Just as the fixie or singlespeed conversion was a perfectly reasonable thing to do in plenty of cases, so too is a gravel conversion, since replacing the tires and adding wider bars with more hand positions to an old mountain bike can greatly increase its rideability. At the same time, it can also go too far–or, in the case of the lazy gravel conversion, not far enough–and it’s when this happens that you know you’re getting close to Peak Gravel. And until whenever the next Ultraromance ride is, the best place to assess the current state of gravel bike conversions is where the rubber hits the road the supple tire hits the gravel, and that’s Craigslist. So let’s take a look, and rate them according to the Bike Snob NYC Gravel Market Index:
Let’s start with New York. There are few if any gravel conversions listed within the city limits, which either means we’re not at Peak Gravel yet, or we’re way beyond Peak Gravel. In any case, most of the conversions show up under the “more from nearby areas” heading. First, we have this:
Delusional pricing is the surest sign of Peak [Insert Trend Here], though in this case the price is fairly reasonable, at least by Craigslist standards. At this same time, this is a fairly lazy conversion, as the curator hasn’t changed the tires for tanwalls, or even removed the reflectors, much less fitted it with 650b wheels. A hastily-assembled flip like this is generally a sign of an overheated market, so I’d put that at about a 75 on the BSNYCGMI scale.
Then there’s this:
Some actual effort went into this one, both in sourcing an older frame with some style, and in attempting to implement a coherent aesthetic theme. The pricing is a bit ambitious since all the money obviously went into that Brooks, and the use of both a threaded-to-threadless adapter and the cloying term “retromod” detract from what is otherwise a decent bicycle. I’d put this one no higher than 70, though so far it’s definitely a front-runner for a JBAR Award.
*[The Just Buy A Rivendell Award is given to any rider who should just buy a Rivendell already.]
Looking for something more upscale? Here you go:
“Covid project?” Crust fork? This has “bubble” written all over it. Also, there’s absolutely nothing “gravel” about those handlebars, and overall this feels more like a basket bike that needs a basket. (We’re probably at or close to Peak Basket Bike too, but that’s beyond the purview of this particular market analysis.) Price is high, though perhaps warranted for the name recognition factor. This is an 88 on the scale.
Next up is something from Trek:
This is not a “restomod,” this is a refurbished bicycle. Also, the description says “you can entertain gravel and super wide tires in the future,” which is certainly true, as long as you don’t use this bicycle. Rampant speculation and flagrant use of buzzwords for a decidedly non-gravelly bicycle. 98 on the scale.
Things are a lot better in the Bay Area, at least if this is any indication:
It’s an old Jamis with drop bars. It’s cheap. No annoying buzzwords. The bar tape picks up the yellow accents on the frame. This bike is…a good value?!? 40 on the scale!
But then…
Not only does the ad mention both Rivendell and Crust and make liberal use of buzzwords, but the seller is also asking $750 for an old hybrid, which is indeed a hefty price tag. And unlike the endearing Jamis with the yellow bar tape, these bars aren’t taped at all:
Yes, the seller says he’ll tape the bars before purchase, but too little too late. This is at least a 90.
And finally, to Portland.
Back when I started this blog, Portland was a bellwether for all things cycling, so I figured I’d see what the gravel conversion situation was out there–but instead of gravel conversions I found people selling all their bikes:
I guess it’s over for Portland–and not just for gravel, but for bikes. And that’s not a good sign. 100 on the scale.
Taking all these in aggregate yeilds a nationwide BSNYCGMI of 80.1428571429.
Get out while you can, and go long on late ’90s/early ’00s road bikes.