GT Grade Carbon Pro LE review | Gravel Bike of the Year winner

Now in its third iteration, the latest GT Grade is the brand's most off-road focused incarnation yet.

GT’s new flagship version of the carbon Grade comes with Shimano’s latest 1x 12-speed GRX gravel groupset, a carbon seatpost, a WTB wheelset shod with WTB tyres and a WTB saddle.

The original Grade was one of the first mass-market pure gravel bikes, and as the versions have passed, the off-road prowess has grown.

This latest generation takes more inspiration from GT’s mountain bike heritage and knowledge than ever before. It makes the new Grade Carbon one of the best gravel bikes around.

GT Grade Carbon Pro LE frameset details

The GT Grade’s frame combines high-modulus (high-stiffness) carbon fibre for the head tube, bottom bracket and chainstays with low-modulus (comfort-enhancing) fibres for the seatstays, and standard-modulus carbon everywhere else.

This latest frame design retains GT’s unique layout, with its floating triple-triangle back end.

This signature design sees the seatstays extend past the seat tube, anchoring on the top tube (creating a third triangle) and not attaching to the seat tube at all.

That approach enables the seat tube to flex at the bottom bracket without being anchored by the stays.

The seatstays also use a reinforced glass-fibre material through their mid-section, which flexes much more than carbon.

These combine with the leaf-spring like seat tube shape to create a claimed 30mm of ‘travel’, although it’s arguably more accurately described as flexion, given there are no moving parts.

It’s a smart yet simple idea that forgoes expensive and heavy pivots or suspension, like those found on Specialized’s Diverge STR and Cannondale’s Topstone.

The tyre clearance sits at 50mm without mudguards and 45mm with them. The Grade Carbon comes with a removable mudguard bridge, so it can accept full gravel mudguards.

This latest Grade Carbon has moved to a threaded bottom bracket, too, away from a press-fit model.

GT Grade Carbon Pro LE geometry

The GT Grade’s geometry is more off-road specific than the two previous generations. The head angle is a slack 70 degrees in a size XL (the previous generation was much steeper at 72.3 degrees).

This is paired with a steep 73-degree seat angle, which pitches you over the bottom bracket, in theory opening the hip angle for better power transfer.

The frame geometry has been made suspension-corrected – meaning the standard carbon fork is longer and the head tube shorter at 162mm (size large) to allow for the greater length of a fully extended suspension fork.

The bottom bracket drop has also shifted to a lower 70mm (from 75mm) to allow for the larger gravel tyres.

The ride position is much more progressive, with a longer reach of 425mm and a lowered stack of 603mm (down from 612mm). This is offset by a shorter stem (GT specifies a 60mm model across all sizes).

Overall, the idea is the rider’s weight is distributed more evenly, improving off-road control.

The seat tube is much shorter than the previous generation and the top tube slopes further. That improves standover clearance and allows for a longer, more exposed seatpost, or a dropper post, to be fitted. It’s a specification choice available on GT’s rowdiest specification of the Grade, the Grade Carbon X.

The Grade Carbon fork has a 55mm offset, giving a 72mm trail (with 40c tyres), promoting very steady and stable steering responses.

GT Grade Carbon Pro LE specification

The Pro LE build is GT’s top-spec model; the heart of the build is Shimano’s latest 1x 12-speed GRX RX820 groupset.

The 40-tooth chainring and 10-45-tooth cassette pairing is lighter geared than the Merida Silex, which has a 42t chainring with a 10-51t cassette.

The GRX hydraulic disc brakes, with 160mm rotors, are about as good as gravel braking gets, as is the mechanical shifting.

The WTB wheelset uses the 2.0 version of the ST i23 TCS rim, with its low 18mm depth and 23mm inner width.

The rear freehub uses a 6-pawl design with 60 points of engagement for a fast 6-degree engagement angle. They aren’t the lightest gravel wheels, at just under 1,800g a pair (claimed), but they’re not lead weights either.

The wheels are shod with WTB’s raciest gravel tyre option – the Vulpine – in a wide 40c size.

The tyre profile is noticeably round, which WTB claims is intended to mimic a large-volume road tyre, with the added benefit of spaced knobs on the tread’s shoulders to improve grip off-road.

The Vulpine has a dual compound on its tread too, with the shoulders using a softer compound than the central strip – again to enhance both on- and off-road performance.

The bar and stem are both GT-branded alloy items. The short stem is simple and stiff, and the Droptune RS bar has a 16-degree flare and felt well-shaped in my hands.

WTB also provides the Silverado SL Fusion saddle.

Trek’s Checkpoint, with 2x Shimano GRX and Bontrager Paradigm alloy wheels, comes in at a similar £3,700, while Cannondale’s similarly specced GRX and alloy-wheeled Topstone Carbon 2 L is £4,500.

GT Grade Carbon Pro LE ride impressions

I was impressed by GT’s Grade Carbon X when I tested it last year. That suspension-forked bike with a gnarlier build proved to be one of the best-performing, and best-value, gravel bikes for the most technical terrain.

For context, this flagship model of the range, with a lighter carbon fork, faster rolling stock and 12-speed mechanical Shimano GRX, places the Pro LE model as much more of an all-rounder.

The Grade’s ride is everything I want from an all-round gravel bike. On smooth tarmac and lighter gravel roads, it’s rapid – even with its more off-road focused gearing.

I never found the Grade wanting when riding fast. Yes, your cadence is faster than average at higher road speeds, compared to the 42-tooth chainring on the Merida Silex, or the 2x 48/31 found on the Canyon Grail, but it’s all the speed you need.

I like having the range the GT has at the lighter end – not having to get all the way up towards the 45-tooth sprocket on steep climbs is good for the chainline (and wear over the long term). Yet having a 40/45t combination (lighter than 1:1 ratio) is a boon when things get steep and technical.

At 9.22kg, it’s not as light as its pricier rivals from Canyon and Orbea, which is to be expected, although it undercuts the suspension-equipped Santa Cruz Stigmata and is a full kilogram lighter than the similarly equipped Merida Silex.

It rides like a lighter bike, however. The combination of a light, claimed 980g frame and a wheelset that’s responsive with quick freehub engagement feels amply stiff where you need it, yet has the compliance of a good hand-built alloy wheelset.

The wheels are wrapped in cushioning tyres with a fast compact tread, and it all comes together as a bike that feels very smooth over moderate surfaces.

Get into the choppier rutted stuff and the brilliance of GT’s flexible back end really comes into play. With the achievable movement at the saddle, the Grade rides like more complex suspended gravel bikes.

It really is one of the smartest designs available and it’s commendable for its simplicity.

I almost expected there to be an imbalance between the rigid front end and the flex-tail rear, but it works brilliantly. The front end feels taut and responsive, yet because of the longer fork and more relaxed head angle, it knocks the edges off jarring ruts, roots and bumps.

And, because GT has used a short stem, the steering responses haven’t been diluted.

Take the Grade deeper off-road and it doesn’t come up wanting. The Vulpine tyres don’t have the necessary grip for soggy, muddy conditions, but they just about manage, and many may wisely choose to switch tyres to suit certain seasons or conditions anyway.

The Grade’s handling is a beautiful balance between nimble and flickable, yet the steering never feels anything less than in control.

The Droptune bar has a drop compact enough to encourage riding in the drops, and the flare isn’t so extreme as to put the ergonomic GRX levers in an odd position.

Plus, with the lever shape of GRX, it’s easy to get the same brake feel at the hoods as you do from the drops.

In those very tricky bits of navigation through slippery wet roots and rocks on switchback woodland descents, riding up on the hoods isn’t compromised by inferior brake feel.

The brake rotors got a little scrapey after a particularly wet test ride, where the bike got submerged in flood waters on a couple of overwhelmed trails.

However, the brake performance never lagged and the GRX mechanical shifting never put a foot wrong either.

GT Grade Carbon Pro LE bottom line

If the GT Grade Carbon X wears its mountain bike roots proudly on its sleeve, the Grade Pro LE comes across as a singletrack ripper, but dressed in Lycra.

For the price, I can’t find much to criticise about the Pro LE.

For half of the year in the UK, the WTB Vulpine tyres will lack grip in damp, slippy conditions.

The cable/hose routing that enters into the down tube can get in the way if you run a bar bag, too. However, that really is about it for negatives. Compared to its rivals here, it's great value.

Although there’s little I’d change on the Pro LE, it’s a frameset that could stand some serious upgrading. It could easily become a gravel superbike that’s got all of the handling chops you could ever want, and make for a lightweight do-anything bike equally capable of racing.