If you had to choose just one bike, what would it be? It’s a question always floating around BikeRadar towers – often the answer is a gravel bike.
It's not that we have anything against road or mountain bikes, but the possibilities gravel bikes open up and the limitations of other discipline-specific bikes are hard to ignore.
While gravel is harder to define these days, with various niches carving out the segment, the following reasons apply to all gravel bikes wherever they sit on the gravel spectrum.
1. Versatility
Point number one. Pound for pound, gravel bikes are the most versatile bikes you can buy. Don’t believe us? Listen up.
In our experience you can enjoy riding a gravel bike on almost everything bar technical mountain bike trails. Even then, if you have big enough tyres, you may be surprised what a gravel bike is capable of.
Road riding on a gravel bike? Unless you’re racing, we’ve found them to be plenty fast enough, while being nice and comfortable as well.
If you want to go touring, no problem – gravel bikes often have plenty of mounts for all your luggage and trendy Instagramable accessories.
A hardtail mountain bike or – though their less commonly seen these days – cyclocross bike would come in second when it comes to versatile bikes, but they don’t quite have the gearing range or luggage mounting options of a gravel bike.
Obviously, if you’re trying to win a Grand Tour or a downhill World Cup, then you won’t be doing it on a gravel bike. But for the rest of us, this versatile machine could be exactly what we need.
2. You can run almost every tyre
While we’re on the case of versatility, let's talk tyres.
Gravel bikes can run different tyre sizes, widths and tread patterns without too much trouble.
One day, you may want to run beefy meats for gnarly shredding, or swap to something slicker for paved missions.
Granted, you may need two different wheelsets if you intend on swapping tyres regularly, but that's still cheaper than buying a whole other bike.
3. Plenty of gearing
Gravel bikes give you the most options to dial in your gearing choices.
While many choose to use 1x groupsets for their simplicity and good off-road manners, if you’re looking for truly versatile gearing that will help you thrash on the road, spin up steep off-road climbs or go touring, then a 2x setup can be used on many gravel bikes.
Granted, if you’re doing something hyper-specific like a ten-mile time trial on a gravel bike (why?), or an ultra-distance race, then you might need a different setup.
However, for most people, under most circumstances, stock gravel style gearing will get them through just about anything.
4. You can vary your ride position
Gravel bike geometry is traditionally a touch more forgiving than a road bike, and a bit more aggressive compared to a mountain bike. This means it strikes a good balance between the two.
However, it also means you’re only a couple of upgrades away from modifying your gravel bike into a more focused machine – in either direction.
If road riding is the flavour of the month, sticking on a slightly longer, negative rise stem and some narrower bars could make you more aerodynamic.
If you’re doing serious long-distance off-road touring, a shorter stem or a few additional spacers should make for a less stretched-out and more comfortable position.
People have even been known to put flat bars on gravel bikes, effectively turning them into an old-school mountain bike.
5. Gravel bikes are fun
Gravel riding bridges the gap between road cycling and mountain biking, combining off-road exploration and the thrill of covering long distances at great speed.
There's a reason why the gravel segment is one of the fastest growing – it throws the traditions of road cycling out and promotes the raw fun of going out on your bike and exploring nature.
The community and the style of gravel racing are much less formal than road cycling, and have proven to be popular with a host of professional riders who chase gravel success alongside their road careers.
- Read more: Gravel racing explained
In mountain biking, the act of 'underbiking' – where riders choose a bike that is less suited to the technical terrain to make the trail more engaging – has become popular.
Gravel bikes are the end game of this mantra, with their joint-shaking ride reminding us of the pure fun off-road riding can be without half a foot of suspension on either end of the bike.
