Once a middleman caught between a road bike, a cyclocross bike and a mountain bike, these days, gravel bikes have a spectrum of their own. On the one end, you've got the performance-oriented steeds that are basically road bikes with bigger tire clearance. While on the opposite end, you'll find the highly capable adventure rigs that are more akin to the 1990s-era mountain bikes than their drop bar, skinny-tired siblings.
Among the latter, rider isolation or suspension technologies are becoming increasingly common. These technologies are meant to provide more traction while being gentler on the body and less fatiguing, providing an overall more comfortable and enjoyable off-road riding experience. Specialized, in introducing their dual-suspension Diverge STR last fall, also claims suspension to be faster than a fully rigid bike.
