00:00Gravel bikes. What's not to like about them? They're incredibly versatile, they're good for both evening blasts and multi-day
00:06treks, and capable of handling a whole spectrum of terrain, from pan-flat double track to swooping single track.
00:14Gravel bikes even make for a pretty handy urban utility steed, with their plethora of mounts and chunky tyres.
00:22Of course, there are plenty of reasons to buy a different style of bike, whether you're racing on the roads
00:27or hitting up gnarlier trails.
00:29But you can't really criticise gravel bikes for not performing in spheres that they simply weren't designed for. That's not
00:36really very fair.
00:38Still, despite being the cycling industry's current golden child, there are still some pervasive problems that the overwhelming majority of
00:45bike brands could do with addressing.
00:48So, without further ado, here are some things that really annoy us about gravel bikes.
00:57Gravel bikes are really over-geared. Even with the gravel-specific group sets currently on the market, the gears offered
01:04on gravel bikes simply don't go low enough for a huge swathe of their intended use.
01:10Sure, gravel riding on open double track is perfectly well catered for, but when riding off-road with a full
01:16set of bikepacking bags, the gears simply don't go low enough.
01:20Let's put things into perspective with Trek's XE racing machine, the Supercalibur.
01:26In the top-level racing spec, it comes with a 34-tooth chainring and a 10-52 cassette.
01:32So as not to overstuff this section with numbers, I'll use the Supercalibur setup as a reference point and then
01:38relay everything back to that.
01:40And do remember that the Supercalibur is set up for racing. XE courses can be very steep, but so too
01:48can the trails that you find yourself on with a gravel bike.
01:51And racers don't have to contend with all the kit that you would be carrying if you were bikepacking.
01:56Sure, with SRAM AXIS and Shimano Di2, you can set up road shifters to work with mountain bike cassettes and
02:03get similar ranges.
02:05But let's keep this to setups that have single-tooth jumps in the cassette progression for smoother riding on the
02:10roads.
02:11With those as the rules, SRAM offers the lowest gearing with a 43-30 crankset and a 12-speed 10
02:19-36 cassette.
02:21Then comes Campagnolo, pairing a 13-speed 10-44 cassette to a 38-tooth chainring,
02:28followed by Shimano, which boasts only a 46-30 crankset and an 11-speed 11-36 cassette.
02:35But all three of those options give a bottom gear that falls in between the second and third easiest ratios
02:41on the Trek Supercalibur.
02:43A cross-country mountain bike has two gears lower than the lowest gravel bike.
02:48And in the case of SRAM and Campagnolo, both those options are seriously expensive.
02:54You only need to look at the Trek 520 Touring bike and its 26-36 bottom gear to see that
03:00gravel bikes have remained hopelessly overgeared
03:02for a large amount of the segment of the riding that they're supposed to be designed for.
03:11Traditional rack mounts are disappearing.
03:13The versatility of gravel bikes is one of their major selling points.
03:17Yes, aesthetics can be divisive.
03:20Surly's bottle-boss heavy approach gave rise to the term fork warts,
03:24but there are options for mitigating their visual impact, from zip bits to plain simple grub screws.
03:30But with that in mind, it's more of a shame that more and more gravel bike brands are removing more
03:35and more traditional mounting points,
03:36at the same time as decking out the fork legs, top tube and down tube.
03:41The humble rear rack and mudguard mounts don't cause any problems with cross-compatibility and their usefulness as a cheap
03:48and easy way of boosting your luggage carrying capacity and ability to stay dry is unquestionable.
03:54We would hazard a guess that the bike industry doesn't want to dilute the gravel look of saddle pack, frame
04:01bag and bar bag and other bikepacking paraphernalia with that of an old-fashioned set of panniers and mugguards.
04:09But, we say, if there's no good reason for taking those mounts away, why impose this arbitrary limitation of what
04:16people can and can't do with their own bike?
04:23The vast choice of tyres is a blessing and a curse.
04:28Much like road and mountain biking, there's a whole load of different tyre options out there to riders.
04:33However, unlike both road and mountain biking, the gravel tyre has the very tough job of trying to perform well
04:40on multiple terrains.
04:42This means that there's a whole lot of options out there, but it does create a bit of a double
04:46-edged sword situation.
04:48On one hand, you've got plenty of choice for whatever parkour you'd want to ride on.
04:53But on the other hand, you're left wondering what part of the ride you want your tyres to perform best
04:58on.
04:58Do you choose something that works for all the muddy trails around you, or do you opt for something that
05:04works really well for all the fast riding that you do, or do you opt for some sort of halfway
05:08house that only kind of works on both?
05:12Tyre choice can be a really tough one to navigate, and it often resolves in a lot of trial and
05:17error before you find something that works really well for your local area.
05:21But we do wish that the process of choosing a tyre was a little simpler.
05:26And actually, this takes me quite nicely onto my next point.
05:32There aren't enough aggressive tyre options for gravel bikes.
05:36This is less one for the frame manufacturers, and probably one for the manufacturers of tyres.
05:42Why can't a decent mud tyre for gravel bikes be produced?
05:45It really doesn't make any sense why this segment of the market is just so barren.
05:52Of course, there are 33mm wide tyres, which are directed at the cyclocross market.
05:58And these models are excellent in deep and sloppy mud.
06:01But in being so narrow, it makes it hard for them to be used anywhere else, especially where they may
06:07be subject to impacts on the rim from rocks and roots.
06:10At the other end, the mountain bike sphere is absolutely jam-packed with as many mud-specific models that you
06:17could shake a stick at.
06:18But they all typically come in at 2.3 inches in their smallest size, so they just don't fit the
06:24overwhelming majority of gravel bikes.
06:27Quite simply, what's needed is a tyre that comes in a width from 40mm to 56mm that has widely spaced
06:35and tall knobs,
06:36so as to dig into the slop and then quickly shed any of the mud that gets picked up.
06:41There are some models, like the Schwalb Ultra Bikes, which get close, but these could do with slightly taller knobs,
06:48and ones that aren't quite so thin in lateral direction.
06:52Squares are generally better than rectangles.
06:55For some riders in deserty conditions, the need for such a tyre won't even register.
07:01But for riders whose trails turn into mush in the winter, well, we would be very grateful for more aggressive
07:07gravel tyres.
07:13Gravel bikes are quite expensive.
07:15Aren't gravel bikes just expensive drop-bar mountain bikes or hybrid bikes?
07:19Well, we'll happily talk for hours about the nuances between them.
07:23But doesn't that kind of cut to the heart of the issue?
07:27Many of the differences are indeed nuances.
07:31Yes, there are cases when a gravel bike is best,
07:34when the need for speed and off-road capability is balanced just so that either a road bike or a
07:40mountain bike simply won't cut it.
07:42But for long rides that are more about the adventure rather than speed,
07:46is a gravel bike really that much better?
07:50Really?
07:51With a strong road background, there is much to be said about the familiarity of drop-bar shifters
07:56and the position that you adopt on the bike.
07:59But in terms of the roads that you'll be able to cover and the sights you'll be able to see,
08:03you'll do just as well on a hybrid bike, but with the gear range, the tyre clearance,
08:08and all the mounting points that you could ever need.
08:11The Cube Travel is an excellent example of this.
08:14It combines a dynamo front light, full-length mug guards, a pannier rack, a robust kickstand,
08:20and clearance for tyres up to 2.15 inches in size.
08:24It does have a 3x9 drivetrain, but the jumps between the gears are hardly any bigger than you'd find on
08:30a 10-speed 1136 cassette
08:32that you'd get with any entry-level Shimano GRX, and the absolute range is much greater at both ends
08:39compared to any of the other gravel group sets.
08:41And all of that for about a grand.
08:43It's a struggle to even get hydraulic disc brakes on a gravel bike for that price, let alone anything else.
08:53Gravel bikes can be a bit of a halfway house.
08:56When you look at a gravel bike, it may be easy to see them as a glorified parts bin from
09:00a big bike manufacturer.
09:02You've got drop bars paired with big burly tyres that are generally mated to 700c wheels,
09:08and more often than not, a fully rigid frame, but with a group set which is just as confused.
09:13You'll have shifters that look like they've come from a road bike, and gearing as if from an XC bike.
09:19While this slightly bizarre combination of components may seem haphazard,
09:23it does culminate in a machine that will allow you to power over rough terrain.
09:27As we all know though, rough terrain can encompass a hugely wide variety of parkours.
09:32So while you can set your gravel rig up to take on what most may potentially opt for a hardtail
09:37mountain bike,
09:38you can also create a build that's streamlined for fast rolling gravel roads.
09:43The result is something that may never be the ideal weapon of choice, but does work the majority of the
09:49time.
09:50We've seen the pros take to gravel at the Tour de France, aboard the same bikes that they race on
09:55the road with.
09:55We've also seen Mathieu van der Poel adapt to Canyon Ultimate to run gravel tyres,
10:00which he then went on to pilot to third place at the Gravel World Championships,
10:05with his teammate going on to win the race.
10:07So, while it is annoying that in many circumstances there will be another bike that will do the job better,
10:13we can't also deny the sheer versatility that a gravel bike provides.
10:18Well, there we have it.
10:19That's everything that annoys me about gravel bikes so far.
10:23Is there anything else that you think I've missed out?
10:25Let me know down in the comments below.
10:27If you enjoyed the video then please do drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more content and
10:32I'll see you again very soon.
Comments