The world of gravel cycling moved on in massive leaps and bounds in 2019 thanks to the many professionals and amateurs who have joined the ranks of gravel cyclists, and to those in the USA who have found a new type of cycling that does not involve roads.
Gravel biking in 2020 has took off big style and has already seen many big name race wins and quite a lot of big and small companies improve and build gravel bikes purely for gravel roads and gravel riding.
The biggest names in gravel bikes are no longer the usual suspects seen in road bikes. There are many new names that have come to light recently, and a few of those bikes have been ridden to 1st place recently in gravel bike races.
Table of Contents
What Is A Gravel Bike?
A gravel bike gives you the best of all worlds. It is a combination of a road bike for going out with your road riding friends, or a sportive bike, for those who want to enter and compete in any of the sportive competitions are now throughout the year.
Should you have a wad load of cash you can buy a top of the market gravel bike that will be designed for both gravel riding and road riding, giving you the absolute best of both worlds.
You will probably have a choice of 700 or 650b wheels to match your bike, with different tyres fitted for either off-road riding on the gravel, or road riding on the tarmac. If you are combining both, then you can use your gravel wheels.
A top of the line gravel bike will allow you to go out on the road with your friends on the same bike, but with either a different set of wheels, or just different thinner road tires fitted.
This is a great way of having one bike that allows you to enjoy the offroad feeling of riding through the trees and across the farm tracks and forest roads, and also allows you to enjoy the road rides with your club and mates on a Sunday.
Top of the range bikes do not come cheap (actually some do), but if you think about what you are paying for you are actually getting two bikes in one, so can really look at them both costing 50% of what two bikes would have cost you.
What Is A Gravel Bike For?
A gravel bike gives you the best of all worlds. It is a combination of a road bike for going out with your road riding friends, or a sportive bike, for those who want to enter and compete in any of the sportive competitions are now throughout the year.
It is the same almost in detail to the cyclocross bike and designed for those ( like me) who want to ride on the fire tracks in the hills or the canal tracks along the river, or if you are feeling strong, enter a cyclocross competition famous in Belgium with their own UCI Competitions, and now available in the UK.
It is a bike that can be fitted with quality and mile crunching 30mm road tyres for a smooth and enjoyable ride with friends from the bike club on their 6k road bikes, or up to 42 mm gravel riding tyres for a super smooth feeling when travelling on dirt tracks or forest roads, my preferred riding these days.
Much quicker than a mountain bike and more enjoyable unless you try and do single tracks that are not designed for bikes without suspension. If your type of riding is single tracks and gnarly tree feet, then you should stick to mountain bikes.
Gravel riding is also a great way to get out into the fresh air and exercise to burn some fat. You can go flat out if you like or just ride through the hills, forests or on the road and get the benefits of being outside in the fresh air and losing weight at the same time.
I was always a roady, up and down the silky smooth roads in Switzerland all day long covering around 100 km each time I went out. I now do around 70 km on my gravel bike but mainly through the forest tracks and paths designed for tires that are around 30 mm or more. The difference it makes to your ride is amazing and not to be missed.
My own gravel bike has a fairly smooth tire fitted of 34mm. I know this size is great for the tracks that I use through the forests, but also gives me the capability of hammering along on the road at around 30kph on the flat.
I still ride on the road, but nowhere near as often as I used too. The UK where I am from has many road riders. I feel sorry for them as the conditions for road cycling in the UK is poor, really poor. The roads are bad with hundreds of potholes, and the manner of driving in many areas is negative towards cyclists.
The UK does not have that many great off road routes designed for gravel bikes, which is a shame considering the number of cyclists there. If you know of any that allow you 50 km of quality cycling I would be happy to list them on this website.
Is A Gravel Bike The Same As A Cyclocross Bike
In many respects it is, and you could ride a pure cyclocross bike on the road no problem and use it with your mates on that Sunday ride. The Canyon …………….. Is a prime example of a gravel come cyclocross bike that won the 2020 World Cyclocross Championships but with a different set of tyres could easliy be used as your road bike.
Cyclocross is a sport mainly seen in Belgium where a road bike style with bigger, wider tires and drop style road handlebars are used to compete in serious competitions to win real cash prizes and world championships..
The courses are normally short offroad dirt and gravel tracks through forest paths as they are fast and furious courses where the rider is at 100% max from the moment the bell goes until they reach the finish line. Normally under 2 hours long but unbelievably competitive.
If you have ever entered a offroad competition you will know exactly what I mean about competative. As soon as the bell goes for the start you seem to hit max RPM on your heart rate monitor and do not seem to slow down until you cross the line for the finish.
Gravel riding is also a great way to get out into the fresh air and exercise to burn some fat. You can go flat out if you like or just ride through the hills, forests or on the road and get the benefits of being outside in the fresh air and losing weight at the same time.
Choosing The Right Bike For Gravel And Road
In 2018 and 2019 my dream bike was always The MEGA BUCKS Specialzed Sworks Diverge. This was what I used to look at and wish I could own. At a price of around £8000 there was no way I was ever going to see one in my house. At the age of 60 I could not justify owning a bike like this as it would never repay me.
Fortunately I never bought one and spent so much money on a bike that does not quite live up to its name. It is sold mainly to those who have a shed load of cash to buy one. The Sworks Diverge is not actually a bike designed purely for gravel AND offroad,
It is a very expensive frame combined with a top of the range wheelset and a top of the range groupset.
Fortunately few more gravel bikes have now shown the light AND overtaken the Sworks as the most wanted bike to buy for gravel riding and road use.
So move on down the ladder Mr really expensive Specialized Sworks Diverge and make way for a few more exciting options for a much smaller price.
Expensive Bikes Means Real Warranties
It is amazing how many people still buy a gravel bike, or a road bike for that matter for all the wrong reasons:
My mate has the same bike and says it is the dogs bollocks
It is a top of the range bike
It has won races here there and everywhere
It has been given 5 stars in all the top magazines
It is fully loaded and looks the mutz nutz
It has all the top SRAM electronic kit fitted
It has all the top Shimano electronic kit fitted
It has the best wheels ever
These are great and something I always looked at when drooling over my next bike. Sadly for me it was nearly always a 2nd hand bike or a ride to work scheme in the UK.
I could never justify 8-10k on a bike.
The Importance of a Frame Warranty
What you should really be looking at if you are a gravel rider is the FRAME WARRANTY. You will more than likely be buying a new bike which means the frame warranty counts as the number one priority.
A frame warranty is normally ONLY FOR THE ORIGINAL OWNER. No use to you when you buy it 2 months down the road from Tom and Jerry as the warranty will be invalid. A 6k 2nd hand bike will more than likely have NO WARRANTY and no comeback should it crack on your first ride through the forrest.
Now, when a lot of these bike testers are doing their bit for the company they are looking at and their magazine, take a look at how many of them actually list the warranty of the frame and wheels.
These are the two most expensive items on the bike, and in all fairness, the two most likely to fail. A warranty on these two items would be a great start.
Sadly wheels warranties are normally none exhistant, and frame warranties vary from 2 years ( yes 2 measly years) to UNLIMITED LIFETIME WARRANTY OF THE ORIGINAL OWNER.
HOWEVER: Some of the companies are really CRAP as they have a catch within the warranty, and not everyone sees the catch. With some of them you have to register your new bike WITHIN 30 DAYS of buying it, or the warranty is ONLY FOR A LIMITED PERIOD. SHITTTTT
In our reviews of gravel bikes, we list what we think are THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS. The frame warranties. If there is a warranty for the wheels, it will also be there.
We have a separate list of bike companies and their warranties for frames and wheels.
Our List of Gravel Bikes
We do not go into details about the bikes and how it rides and handles. What we do is list the warranties, components, prices, and places to buy, plus a couple of reviews from cycling magazines.
You will have to decide the other facts on frame size and choice.
The bikes we like the most with great warranties will be at the tops of the list, with those with lower quality warranties lower down the pecking order. Those with abismal warranties will be at the bottom of the list. It is your choice.
Our gravel bikes will include steel, titanium, aluminum, and carbon frames from any frame maker who builds a gravel bike. If the bike you are looking for is not here then please drop us an email and we will add it.
The components will be from SRAM, Shimano, and Campagnolo and wheels will be mentioned if we find a warranty for them.
We only list the main name of the groupset that the bike is using and rate that groupset on what others have said about it in the past, or on our experience. With that in mind I am not currently a big fan of SRAM having had issues with my current groupset in the middle of my gearset on my current gravel bike.
In all the years I have used shimano (road, mtb and gravel) I have never had any issues like the current one with SRAM that I could not sort out.
Plus SRAM is not a easy groupset to mix parts around, unlike shimano where you can mix Road with Offraod parts quite easily.
For my own problems I have just reverted back to an old system of days gone bye. A 10 speed groupset of Dura Ace levers with an XTR reverse rear mech. Climbing mountains with gears in reverse has always been the easiest setup I have had, and one I have just gone back too.
I am still not a big fan of electronic even though it has come a long way in recent times. I like to have full control of my bike and be able to make adjustments on the move if I need too, and that is not always possible with electronic parts.
