Get £10 off the fantastic 1000W Cooks Professional Stand Mixer, Whip up some of your best bakes yet with this powerful and easy-to-use stand mixer. Some will find the fact it commands a significant premium over comparable steel bikes hard to swallow, and it’s heavier than similarly priced carbon options too. Our favourite bikes from the 2020 Gravel Bike Field Test. … All that matters are the effort and the solitude. Tubeless tyres are also commonly found on gravel bikes, because the latex sealant provides a degree of insurance against punctures. They’re versatile enough to be in their element virtually anywhere, be it the local park for your first overnighter or parked on the ferry in Puerto Yungay halfway down the Carretera Austral. A mid-range build from a major brand will likely cost in excess of £2,000 / $2,800 but should feature a carbon frame and hydraulic disc brakes. It’s reasonably priced too, particularly for a, Read our full review of the Reilly Gradient, Despite being the most affordable carbon fibre Canyon Grail, this model still arrives with a great spec. clutch-equipped rear derailleur and hydraulic disc braking. Even still, the bike finds a good balance between high-speed gravel cruising and low-speed rock crawling. With stack and reach figures similar to Cannondale’s Synapse endurance road bike too, the Topstone makes a compelling option as a do-it-all bike (if you’re looking to break the n+1 cycle). Likewise, many gravel bikes come with 1x gearing and wide-range cassettes. The premium Titanium version of our Fargo frameset features a 3/2.5 seamless tubeset, split-able Alternator v1.5 dropouts, and our feature-rich Firestarter 110 Deluxe fork. The slender aluminium frame and carbon fork include plenty of fittings for touring or bikepacking accessories as well as the usual mudguard mounts. Its geometry is on the racier side for a bike of its kind, making it perfect for singletrack blasts. Buying a gravel bike is not easy since you have to consider many factors as well as features of this bike. Unfortunately, when things go back up, the Topstone isn’t exactly a mountain goat thanks a bit of junk in the trunk, tipping our scales at 10.26kg. You've been subscribed to our newsletter. There’s a huge amount of clearance, with room for 45mm tyres if you’re on 700c wheels or a full 2.1in with 650b wheels in place. Cannondale Topstone 105 ($1,750) Frame: Aluminum. All the fittings are present for full-length mudguards and a pannier rack, too. The alloy frame is well presented with clean finishing and plenty of bottle, rack and fender mounts throughout. Fargo Ti brings the amazing ride quality of titanium to the mixed surface, bikepacking world of the Fargo. The Diverge is a supremely versatile bike that could successfully do everything from fully-loaded touring through to ultra-light gravel racing. The Checkpoint SL 6 comes with a 50/34t crankset and 11-34t cassette, giving a 1:1 climbing gear for when the gravel gets really steep. The chart below provides a general suggested height of range for Cross/Gravel Bikes sizes and is not exact. Sizing may vary across brands. A simple swap of tyres is all it takes to make this a bike that shines both off-road and on. This is one of the most fun bikes to ride of its kind and yet it retails for less than the frameset of many other gravel bikes. Whether you like long road miles, bikepacking, gravel grinding or tame off-roading, the Quincy can take on all of those – meaning some riders could feasibly consolidate their bike collection into just one. Unfortunately, the narrow internal width of Merida’s narrow Comp SL wheelset means you’d have to plump for a wheel upgrade at the same time. By combining a long reach figure with a short stem, the aluminium frame of the Silex 400 positions its rider perfectly to make the most of its brilliant off-road handling. To get even more from the Silex chassis, we think this bike could do with tyres a little wider than the 38mm Maxxis Rambler parts that come as standard (42mm is max for this frame and fork). We love the timeless look of this bike and its ride delivers a pleasantly damped feel that’s devoid of fatiguing buzz. BLACKBOROW OFF-ROAD EXPEDITION / WORLD TOURING / CREATIVE THINKING. Giant’s shock-absorbing seatpost is very effective at reducing trail buzz, although the 30.9mm hole it sits in will willingly accept a dropper post should you want to maximise the bike’s handling on descents. The combination of an angled top tube and hydraulic dropper post allows Gestalt to get into some pretty unruly terrain. Thanks! It’s good on road and great off road but also includes all the fittings you could require for bikepacking. A simple swap of tyres is all it takes to make this a bike that shines both off-road and on. With a 50/34t crankset mated with an 11-34t cassette, the Grail gives you a 1:1 climbing gear. The Substance CRX may be Vitus’s first foray into the world of gravel bikes but you’d never know it. The bike will take 650b x 52mm or 700 x 45mm rubber, and has room for three bottles with room for a frame bag. The carbon frame and fork is particularly comfortable and sports mudguard mounts as well as room for three bottles. With a slack front end and a steep seat angle, the bike puts you in an aggressive pedalling position, yet maintains predictable, surprise free handling on and off the road. It’s a composed off-roader that manages to. Newly revamped, the Grade has matured into a fully-fledged gravel grinder. Fargo still offers the streamlined and reliable shifting of SRAM’s Apex 1 groupset. The CGR could happily clock commuting, fitness, adventure or even training rides. Some of our most legendary models have been crafted from CroMoly, and our 2020 steel all-road bikes carry on that legacy. It all comes together in a package that’s uniquely suited to backcountry odysseys on singletrack, doubletrack, gravel, and more. You can fit 700c, 29er or 650b wheels, making this is a chassis you can really tailor to your preferences. The Salsa Fargo Apex 1 is a burly steel frame gravel bike. In the early days, riders tackled these endurance events on cyclocross bikes with the largest tyres that would fit between the stays. The drivetrain is geared towards adventuring with a 40t chainring at the front and an 11-42t at the back, and the simplicity of the 1x drivetrain did not go unnoticed. 33 of the very best gravel bikes tested and rated by our team. That means you can alter the bike to offer a racier or more relaxed feel depending on which terrain you’re tackling. April 15, 2020. Lauf True Grit. View Archived Bikes. See our full review of the 2020 Salsa Warbird Carbon. I’m not competitive but I enjoy a good challenge, and I’ll say “yes” to anything that puts me in over my head or involves type 2 fun, as that’s where life’s spicier moments seem to live. Twitter. Steel is an indispensable part of the Salsa lineup—it always has been. cycle). It’s a real hoot off road with true mountain-bike character while mudguard bosses, fork-mounted bags and a third bottle boss at the down tube make it a viable option for adventuring or even tough commutes.