Gravel bikes show no sign of slowing down in their progression, and while titanium and the more affordable end of the gravel spectrum are pushing their own boundaries when it comes to terrain capabilities, it's carbon where we’re seeing the most diversity to meet the needs of the modern gravel rider and racer.
The evolution of the aero-optimised gravel race bike from road-based designs with increased tyre clearances towards a more balanced mix of aero and progressive off-road geometry continues apace.
Bikes such as our current gravel bike of the year, Parlee’s Taos, are showing the way.
Suspension is making inroads, too, with Specialized’s original Diverge STR and Cannondale’s Topstone Lefty the trailblazers. We're now seeing monster options such as Lee Cougan’s Innova Super Gravel and Trek’s radical CheckOUT.
Merida Mission
Merida’s Mission was launched to sit alongside its progressive-geometry rugged rambler, the Silex.
Merida describes the Mission as a crossover bike, bridging the gap between gravel and road riding. Think of it as an all-road bike, but one where the major inspiration comes from dirt rather than tarmac.
The design has an emphasis on light weight and aerodynamics.
The previous Mission had CX in its name, giving more than a nod to its cyclocross potential. The new Mission may drop the CX, but it certainly wouldn't look out of place lining up in the ever-popular winter race series.
As for gravel, it has already been raced to a podium placing at the UCI Gravel World Championships in 2025, under Matej Mohorič.
With modest 40mm tyre clearance, it won’t be the gravel option for everyone, but if your idea of the ideal gravel bike is one that can cut it on the road too, the Mission CX might be just what you’re looking for.
It's priced competitively, starting at £2,250 for the 4000 and rising to £7,000 for the SRAM Red AXS XPLR-equipped 10k.
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Salsa Flyway
Salsa’s original Warbird name for gravel race bikes has been retired quietly. In its place comes an all-new Avian-inspired design.
The Flyway (named after the path taken by migratory birds) takes the lightweight and versatile template from the Warbird and brings added comfort from the bowed slender seatstays, and versatility with a myriad of mounts on the frame for bikepacking prowess.
It gets a new more progressive geometry and longer reach designed with shorter stems in mind. The head angle is relaxed and the bottom bracket lowered to aid stability. Then there’s a steeper seat angle and short, dropped chainstays to add pedalling efficiency and sharpen up the bike’s agility in the rough.
The frame has clearance for 50mm gravel tyres and the fork 57mm.
The Flyway is available in the UK as a frame only (£3,000). US riders get a choice of models, with two carbon layups. The ‘standard’ gets a 1,200g carbon frame and the DLX (Deluxe) frame drops to 1,050g (size medium).
Prices start at $3,499 for the Flyway C GRX and rise to $11,999 for the Flyway C DLX Red XPLR.
State Carbon All-Road Gravel V2
State has proven with the V2 that a modern carbon gravel bike with all the latest standards needn’t cost a small fortune.
The V2 comes with the checklist of gravel requirements ticked off: UDH rear dropouts, a T47 bottom bracket shell, an integrated cable-routing option, 55mm tyre clearances, and 1x or 2x compatibility. It even has down-tube storage.
The frameset is priced from $1,119.99 in the US, or £861 in the UK.
The base $1,995 / £1,533 build buys you a 1x12-speed State drivetrain (a rebranded L-Twoo setup) and either 700c or 650b wheels. There are lots of upgrade options, with SRAM groupsets, and DT Swiss or Zipp wheels available.
Trek CheckOUT SL
Trek’s first full-suspension gravel bike isn’t ‘just’ a reworked mountain bike design. It was conceived from the ground up as a 700c gravel bike, utilising the new XL version of the RockShox Rudy XPLR fork with its 50mm of travel and increased 57mm tyre clearance. This is matched with a SIDLuxe air shock at the rear, providing 55mm of travel.
The CheckOUT gets a new, more adventurous geometry, aiming it at more rugged terrain than the brand's more race-focused Checkpoint.
The CheckOUT design is designed to be versatile, too, so while you can use it to conquer singletrack and more testing terrain, it’s also intended to pique the interest of ultra-distance riders with its pivot-enhanced rear rack and range of storage bags. That's added to the fatigue-reducing comfort full-suspension can bring.
Trek offers the CheckOUT SL in two models – the SL5 at £4,500 / $5,799 / AU$6,999.99 and the SL7 at £6,500 / $8,999 / AU$10,999.99. It also comes as a frameset for £2,700 / $3,699.99 / AU$6,300.
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Basso Palta
Basso’s original Palta brought handmade Italian quality, aero-optimisation and Basso’s integrated styling to gravel. The third-generation Palta retains all of that, but adds increased tyre clearances of 52mm at the front and 50mm at the rear.
The frame gains down-tube storage, while the geometry has been refined, moving it away from the super-aggressive, road-derived earlier iterations to a more balanced shape between racing and rugged terrain.
For bikepackers, Basso has the Terra in its line-up. It has, however, paired up with bag-making supremo Apidura for a range of bags built to complement the Palta’s clean lines.
Prices start at £3,999 for a GRX 1x mechanical bike, rising to £5,399 for the top-spec SRAM Force XPLR AXS build.
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Rumours of new carbon gravel bikes for 2026…
Aside from these five great new bikes, lots of rumours are swirling. There are whispers around a new Specialized Diverge, alongside an update to the flyweight Crux.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Diverge comes with full-suspension, like the groundbreaking STR, and if the Crux gains the tyre clearance that US gravel racers have been clamouring for.
Scott may well have a new version of the aero-race based Addict Gravel, and Argon 18 will be complementing the brilliant new Dark Matter with a more raced-focused gravel ride.
If it takes inspiration from the highly regarded new Nitrogen aero road bike, we could see something to rival Cervélo’s S5-inspired Áspero 5.
