2022 Gravel Bike Buying Guide

Gravel bikes are among the most versatile ones you can buy, designed to tackle a number of different surfaces with ease. Gravel Bikes have drop bars - and are best to be seen as a halfway house between a mountain bike - they are useful for all kinds of cycling, meaning they are one of the best choices for a cyclist looking for a bike that can do a bit of everything - these bikes have good levels of tyre clearance, and wider gears - meaning they are as comfortable off-road, as they are on the daily commute.

Why Buy A Gravel Bike?

To a certain degree, this question has been answered above - Gravel Bikes are the perfect bike to own. They can take you to on a long bikepacking adventure; they can be your perfect partner on the daily commute, and they can also allow you to enjoy riding off-road, allowing you to reach places a road bike simply cannot.

Gravel bikes have a massive following, and in recent years bike manufacturers have spent a lot of time perfecting their gravel bike recipes, allowing a rider to choose a bike which fits their riding requirements. Several different frame materials are also available, including super strong, lightweight carbon fibre.

Aggressive And Sporty Gravel Bikes

Aggressive Gravel Bikes are similar to cyclocross bikes, although they have much more tyre clearance. These bikes are usually constructed from lightweight alloys and carbon fibre - and are ideal for gravel bike racing or for those looking for a winter training bike, getting ready for their summer racing on the roads. These bikes are easily identified by their aggressive geometry and narrow tyres. The design of these bikes allows them to remain competitive in more relaxed, local road cycling competitions.

Relaxed And Touring Gravel Bikes

Relaxed geometry gravel bikes are more suited to people riding recreationally, choosing to go on adventures (long & short!) on their gravel bikes. These bikes will have mounts for luggage and mudguards - and have a taller riding position, for increased comfort for longer days in the saddle and increased visibility. Although they are slower than race gravel bikes - these bikes have plenty of comfort to make up for it.

Gravel Bikes With Suspension

Suspension Gravel Bikes increase the comfort levels available over relaxed and touring gravel bikes. Cannondale’s Kingpin suspension system is one of the best systems available - it manages to maintain the stiffness and efficiency that a gravel bike needs with increased comfort, which is perfect for endurance riding.

Electric Gravel Bikes

Electric Gravel Bikes add another feather to the cap of the gravel bike, as well as being able to get you to most places - including on-road and off-road, an electric gravel bike allows you to go further and go faster than ever before. The downside is that electric gravel bikes are pricy, but the increased range and power is well worth the price in our opinion.

Gravel Bike Features

Although at first glance, a gravel bike can look very much like a road bike - there are several features, some visible and some difficult to spot, which define a gravel bike. Below, we run through them:

Tyre Clearance

The tyre clearance of gravel bikes has been referenced a few times in this article already. It’s one of the most important factors in choosing a new gravel bike - ensure that you choose a tyre clearance that will suit your riding, with demanding off-road terrain calling for 42mm tyres. Some gravel bikes only have clearance for 37mm, which is enough for standard tyres.

Tubeless tyres are a popular choice for gravel bikes, and we would argue they are almost essential for those heading off into the rough stuff. Tubeless tyres require tubeless compatible wheels and tyres, which many gravel bikes come with as standard. As well as preventing pinch flats from rough terrain, tubeless tyres also allow the rider to run lower pressures - increasing grip levels.

Gearing

In developing the best gravel bikes, manufacturers use a range of different components - borrowed from road bikes and mountain bikes alike - to offer the best gearing for the varied terrain a gravel bike encounters. Whilst higher end gravel bikes will have a 1x groupset, 2 and 3x groupsets are not uncommon.

Brakes

Gravel Bike Brakes need to be more powerful than road bike brakes, so it’s essential that gravel bikes are kitted out with disc brakes. Disc brakes provide braking confidence across steep descents, uneven, loose terrain and even muddy trails. Most gravel bikes are equipped with mechanical disc brakes at the lower end of the gravel bike market, while at the higher end, most gravel bikes are fitted with hydraulic disc brakes. Hydraulic disc brakes are more complex to maintain than mechanical disc brakes, but do provide better braking performance out on the trails.

Frame Mounts

Gravel Bikes are designed to let you push the boundaries of accessible terrain and also distance. As such, most gravel bikes have mounts for mudguards, luggage and water bottles - allowing you to accessories your gravel bike with the kit you need, to ride for longer.

Low Bottom Brackets

Stability is at the heart of a gravel bike, which is why we see low bottom brackets across all gravel bikes - creating a low centre of gravity for confidence and performance across all kinds of terrain.

Wheel Sizes

A lot of gravel bikes have dual compatibility regarding tyre sizes - they can run 700cc for hitting the roads hard and fast, and they can also run 650b’s (27.5 inch) for off-road terrain.