The Gravel Bike Glossary (6): Gracer, Tire-Buzzer, Underbiking … what’s that?

““Do you speak Gravel?” – Gravel jargon instead of a foreign language: our glossary sheds light on the jungle of terminology and gets you up to speed in no time for your next chat.

1 Gracer

The term is a combination of Graveller and Racer. Whilst some people meditate whilst hiking, enjoy nature and take time to unwind, others know Gracer Nothing but constant competition. If no fellow rider is up for a duel, you simply race against the stopwatch or the power meter. There’s constant tension on the chain; the freewheel takes a back seat, because forward momentum is the only accepted currency. Fittingly, the Gracer prefers to ride on a Gracer: Racing bikes in the ‘Race’ or ‘Speed Gravel’ categories, which have but one goal – speed.

2 tyre buzzers

A Tyre Buzzer is the loud consequence of excessive hubris when buying tyres. The noise – an unpleasant mixture of scraping, grinding and a constant squeaking – is produced when chunky rubber knobs rub relentlessly against the frame or fork. Either you’ve blindly followed the trend for wide 50- or even 2.2-inch MTB tyres, or the mud has finally clogged up the clearance. If you want to spare your bike this constant friction, it’s best to check the manufacturer’s maximum tyre width before buying.

3. Underbiking

Underbiking describes the art of tackling extremely challenging terrain with radically inferior kit. For example, when you take your gravel bike onto bumpy tracks that everyone else tackles with enduro-style suspension. Spotted recently on the Würmtrails. Suddenly, a gravel rider whizzed past in an under-spec set-up, relentlessly thrashing his fine Bianchi over thick root loops and boulders. One can only marvel at this classic case of ‘underbiking’. Pushing the limits of cycling physics without any suspension is spectacular, incredibly bumpy and requires a fair bit of courage. And, to be honest, sometimes a fair bit of masochism too.