00:00Would you rather a gravel bike that looks like a road bike, something that can fit mountain bike
00:05tyres, or something that is super lightweight? Well, with gravel bike brands going absolutely
00:10berserk during May, there's plenty of choice, but who's got it right and who's barking up the
00:15wrong tree? Here's a look at nine hot off the press gravel bikes and my opinion of them. This
00:21is Cycling Weekly, let's get into it. We'll kick off with this fifth generation specialised crux,
00:28or as I like to call it, the Narmac. Why? Well, it looks just like an SL8 Tarmac, other than
00:35it fits
00:3655 mil tyres, comes with wheels with super blunt edge, and is designed to reduce rider fatigue
00:42on bumpy terrain. Like the Tarmac, it is really light. The S-Works model has a frame weight of
00:47789 grams and complete builds start from 6.9 kilos. As you'll soon see as we go through this list,
00:55Specialised isn't the only brand to have gone big on aero. The Big S claim that this is nearly 10
01:01minutes faster over Unbound 200, in no small part thanks to being 15.2 watts faster than the previous
01:08generation at 45 kilometres per hour. To be fair, every tube has some quite radical changes, and I
01:15think the result is rather good looking. This is a good looking bike, right? This one then, it does look
01:21as though Specialised has got their gravel race bike bang on. Good clearances, good looks, impressive
01:26weight, and very little in terms of compromise. From the people that I know that have ridden one,
01:31it also sounds like they haven't cocked up the handling either. I'm definitely sticking this one
01:35on the wish list, but it does come at a price. Next up, well, Ridley, they provided me with the
01:42best
01:42road bike surprise in 2025, with their Noah Fast 3. It's not a bike that I thought was going to
01:50be
01:50for me, but the ride feel, the comfort, the speed, and everything else about it far outperformed any
01:55preconceptions that I may have had. Now, the Belgian brand looks to repeat this success on gravel,
02:01and can probably also lay claim to the deepest head tube on a gravel bike. Spotted at the tracker,
02:06this aero gravel race bike has the letters RSS written on it, which we're told stands for Ridley Speed Shop.
02:11Just like the Crux, it seems to have enough space for super wide tyres. They're rumoured
02:16to be 57 mil of clearance, so it beats it in that regard, but it is likely to be heavier.
02:23I've got a lot of time for this brand at the moment, and the initial signs look good for this
02:27new gravel bike. I'm hoping we can get one of these in to ride. One new gravel bike that has
02:32swung
02:32under the radar somewhat is the Look G85 Sezal. This, once again, is a performance-focused gravel bike,
02:39and we spotted an even racier-looking version missing its integrated storage at the Sea Otter
02:45bike show last month. Unlike other releases, though, this one makes no aero claims, instead
02:50positioning itself as more of an all-rounder. No problem with that, but it does only have space
02:56for 50 mil tyres, which could see this date quicker than some of these other competitors.
03:01I'm also not too struck on the aesthetics, but feel free to disagree with me in the comments.
03:06But at the moment, with a £2,500 price tag for the frame set, a 1,090 gram frame weight
03:14despite no aero claims, this one, I feel like it just misses the mark.
03:19From playing it safe to, well, the opposite of playing it safe, this is the unreleased
03:25factor that was also spotted at the tracker event, and it appears to borrow plenty of tech
03:29from the one aero road bike. The idea with these super-wide forks is that the air is going
03:35to get messed up by your legs anyway, and they'll create less resistance in turbulent air than
03:40laminar air. We know that the prototype will fit at least 53 mil tyres, and to be fair, you
03:46probably fit whatever you wanted into the front of it. We also know that it does have down-tube
03:50storage, quite similar in design to the Factor Monza. Is this a hit or a miss then? Well,
03:56I'm sure it'll go down well with the racers. The Ostro gravel is getting a little bit long in the
04:01tooth now, and this looks like a radical but welcome update, with all the features that I'd
04:06be looking for in a gravel race bike in 2026. It probably won't be for everyone though, and Factor
04:12looks set to continue its line-up of, well, specialist tools rather than, well, a reducing
04:19skews kind of direction. Speaking of which, Factor does have a gravel bike, which might well be up the
04:25street of, well, the more general public. It's called the Serana, and its purpose is to go long
04:31and go fast. This one is literally covered in mounting points. You can buy it with a suspension
04:37fork at the front. It'll take 57 mil tyres. It once again has down-tube storage, and the rear end
04:44is said to act like a leaf spring to maximise comfort and be just as great to ride on hour
04:4920 as hour 2.
04:51The Serana is designed for ultra-endurance racers, but I think that this is probably the most
04:57versatile bike that Factor has ever released. It's got custom bags too. It's suspension-corrected
05:02for a 30 mil travel fork, and one thing that I particularly like is the fact that it takes a
05:07standard, round-profile 30.9mm seat post. That means you have more choice of dropper posts.
05:14The negatives? Well, there's only two colours, and I'm not sure about what this bit on their website
05:20means. Zero structural drift in stiffness after 40 hours of continuous simulation.
05:25Are other people experiencing that? Might need to do some more digging on that.
05:29Felt is back, and they've been busy. Not only do they have a new road bike, but also
05:34a new gravel bike, the Breed. It's certainly light, not as light as the Crux, but it's still a sub
05:40-1
05:40kilo frame, and complete builds are close to 7 kilos. It's got plenty of aero claims, and can take
05:46a 54 mil tyre at the front, and a 52 mil tyre at the rear. It's got the same bar
05:52as that new Nexar
05:53road bike, but the one thing that I just can't get over is the height of this fork. So, Felt
05:59say
05:59it's like that because it's been suspension-adjusted, but personally, I think that Felt has got itself a
06:05bit confused here. This is a lightweight race bike, and if you want to fit suspension to your gravel bike,
06:11then personally, I'd be choosing something which can take more than a 52 mil tyre at the rear.
06:17Do you agree? Do you disagree? Let me know down below.
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07:12to take advantage of up to 20% off. May really has been a wild month for gravel bikes. We've
07:19still
07:19got three new gravel bikes to cover. This is the Argon 18 Antimatter. Cool name, I know. It launched in
07:27the middle of May, and well, yeah, it's a looker. It does have integrated storage. It's also got some
07:33rather fetching custom bags in partnership with Apidura. It ships with zipped super wide explore
07:38wheels, and it will fit up to 55 mil tyres. I was having a look at one of these in
07:43the flesh the
07:44other day, and it really does look like a nice bit of kit, especially in this sea foam and neon
07:49colourway. Argon 18 had what appeared to be a tough few years over Covid, and so it's great to see
07:55them
07:55back firing on all cylinders. This is a bike that I'm very keen to ride.
08:01And then this one, this is the new Caius from BMC. The Swiss brand says it's for pure gravel racing
08:07speed that's faster and more capable than ever. Apparently it's the answer to every racer's
08:13biggest dream. It's got the brand's own carbon wheels too, complete with carbon spokes. First time
08:19I've seen a set of those. It's got space for up to 52 mil tyres, and some lovely touches such
08:24as
08:24the aero bottle cages, and a rather clever bar system which looks a lot less faff than some
08:30integrated cockpits. This one here weighs 7.1 kilos, and I think it looks really good. There are
08:36a few things that I would change though. It ships with these continental 45 mil taro competition tyres.
08:43They're undoubtedly very fast, but are they not a bit niche? They wouldn't be much good on some of the
08:49gravel that I've got around me, for example. This one is definitely worth considering if you want
08:54speed, but you don't need those mountain bike tyre clearances. And our final bike is a new Canyon.
09:00It's not yet released, so no official figures, but it looks a lot like a new Grail CFR. Now,
09:07Canyon hasn't been afraid to try new things on the Grail in the past. Remember that double-decker
09:11handlebar? That put me off buying one of that generation. But this one seems to be in agreement with
09:17the new norm. Super wide clearances, some aero touches, and have a look at this handlebar. Aero.
09:24Let me know which one of these gravel bikes you'd choose in the comments below. If you enjoyed this
09:28content then please give it a like, subscribe to the channel for lots more road and gravel content,
09:32and hopefully there'll be some reviews of these bikes dropping soon. We'll see you next time.
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