Once upon a time gravel bikes used to sit somewhere between road and mountain bikes. By exploiting the benefits of the latest components and manufacturing, they combined the speed and efficiency of a drop-bar all-road bike with a more stable geometry, wider tyre clearance and kinder gearing from the mountain bike world for fast riding on and off tarmac.
But things didn’t stop there. ‘Gravel riding’ is a broad church and manufacturers have quickly developed bikes to fill every possible niche: from high-paced UCI racing to multi-day adventures to reckless fun on technical MTB trails.
