My first time at The Traka gravel race in Spain was an eye-opening experience – and there were some clear trends that speak to how gravel cycling is continuing to evolve in 2026.
While I didn’t get to ride the event itself (having magnanimously allowed my colleague, Felix Smith, to take the solitary ticket available to BikeRadar), I was nevertheless able to soak in the atmosphere and cast a keen eye over the scene during my few days in Girona.
Aside from the beautiful setting and exciting new gravel bikes on show, these were the key tech talking points to emerge from The Traka 2026.
SRAM dominates the trendy gravel scene
The most obvious takeaway from my brief trip to Spain was how dominant SRAM groupsets were in this space.
While I’m used to seeing a healthy mix of SRAM and Shimano (plus the occasional appearance of Campagnolo) at road events, the balance here was tilted decisively in favour of the American brand.
Having ridden both SRAM and Shimano’s latest gravel groupsets, I can say confidently this isn’t because Shimano’s GRX RX825 or RX827 aren’t up to scratch – quite the opposite, in fact.
Both function exceptionally well, with class-leading shifting performance, brilliant braking and excellent ergonomics.
The problem, as far as I can tell, is that Shimano hasn’t innovated at the same speed as SRAM in the gravel space, and, perhaps more problematically for a scene such as this, simply isn’t cool enough anymore.
Shimano’s latest 1x GRX Di2 groupset (RX827) only launched last summer, for example – a year later than SRAM’s Red XPLR AXS groupset.
Not only was 1x GRX Di2 late, but it also lags behind SRAM’s offering in terms of features, having one cog fewer at the rear (12, instead of 13), no direct-mount rear-derailleur design, and still lacking a native power meter option.
As a result, when we saw racers with Shimano groupsets at this year’s Traka, their bikes often featured a mish-mash of components, with many riders subbing in parts from road groupsets or third-party manufacturers to get their preferred setup.
Tech aside, it’s fair to say Shimano GRX is a less pretty and less coherent groupset range than SRAM or Campagnolo’s offerings.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, but SRAM’s latest Red, Force and Rival XPLR AXS groupsets have premium designs, with touches such as carbon cranks (on Red and Force), and two-tone derailleurs, cassettes and chainrings that lend the components a modern and appealing look.
Campagnolo’s latest groupsets offer similar premium and coherent designs.
In contrast, Shimano’s GRX components are – cassettes aside – uniformly black or grey, with little of the polish and sophistication reserved for its flagship groupsets, Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 and XTR Di2 M9200.
Of course, GRX is nominally a tier below Dura-Ace, in-line with Ultegra Di2, and Shimano has long employed the tactic of making these groupsets supremely functional yet bland (presumably as an upsell tactic).
Although we’ve seen hints of what Shimano could achieve with the wildly popular, polished-silver GRX Limited and CUES U6000 groupsets, the Japanese brand has shown little appetite to respond quickly to pleas for ‘more like this’.
But with SRAM and now Campagnolo (with its recently launched Record and Super Record 13 groupsets) offering good-looking, 13-speed gravel groupsets at competitive prices, Shimano has a lot of catching up to do if it wants a slice of this pie.
There's an audience for expensive bikes and that’s a good thing
It’s fair to say Shimano will want a slice of this pie, too, because it’s clear the gravel scene is one where the bike industry can make money nowadays.
When brands launch five-figure bikes, it’s easy to ask 'who’s buying these?', but a few days spent at an event such as The Traka makes it abundantly clear there's a market for them.
It would be easy to scoff at this and accuse the big bad bike industry of attempting to foster an atmosphere of elitism and exclusivity. But it’s worth remembering that people spending money on bikes, kit, events and so on, is generally a good thing, because it keeps cycling-adjacent brands and people in business.
I’ve no doubt there are some snobs out there, but every rider we saw and spoke to at the Traka was friendly, welcoming and out to enjoy riding their bike.
The bright community atmosphere around places such as Eat Sleep Cycle – a bike shop and cafe in central Girona – was also fantastic to see. I couldn’t help but wish my home city of Bristol had a cycling hub and scene as cool and popular as that.
Aero gravel bikes with enormous tyre clearance are the next big trend
In terms of the bikes themselves, this year's Traka signalled that the 'next big thing’ in gravel racing will be aerodynamically optimised bikes with clearance for cross-country mountain bike tyres.
At least five brands had a new aero gravel bike with 50 to 55mm of tyre clearance at this year’s event, including Canyon, Ridley, Factor, Felt and Argon 18.
Canyon’s new Grail CFR, for example, looked to essentially be a souped-up Endurace CFR, with an almost identical frameset, save for another 20mm of tyre clearance front and rear.
Ridley’s prototype RS2 gravel bike was likewise clearly inspired by its Noah Fast 3.0 aero road bike, but with clearance for enormous (by gravel standards) 2.25in tyres.
Factor had not one, but two aero-optimised gravel bikes at this year’s event – the more endurance-focused Sarana, and a racy prototype with a radical wide-splaying fork inspired by the Factor One aero road bike.
And while gravel tyre brands have been playing catch-up and releasing ever wider versions of their tyres, many racers still turned to cross-country tyres when push came to shove.
The entirety of Canyon’s new All-Terrain Racing team was on 2.1in Schwalbe Thunder Burts, for example, as was 2025 Unbound XL winner, Rob Britton.
Ridley’s prototype RS2 was also kitted out with 2.25in Vittoria Peyotes, and Rosa Maria Klöser won the women’s Traka 360 on Continental Dubnitals.
We also spotted some exceptionally deep and chunky aero gravel wheels from the likes of Newmen and Black Inc.
Of course, not everyone followed these trends.
Sofía Gómez Villafañe rode the decidedly non-aero Specialized S-Works Crux to victory in the women’s Traka 200, for example, along with 50mm Specialized gravel tyres mounted on Roval Terra Aeo CLX wheels, as did the men’s Traka 360 winner, Mads Würtz Schmidt.
We might question whether Gómez Villafañe and Würtz Schmidt would have opted for aero gravel bikes with larger tyres were those available for their sponsor, Specialized, but we didn’t get a chance to ask either of them, so we’ll never know.
We do know, however, that men’s Traka 200 winner, Lukas Pöstlberger won using 45mm Schwalbe G-One RX Pro gravel tyres despite his Rose Backroad FF having clearance for 50s.
Gravel suspension fails to gain traction (for now)
In contrast, we saw very few riders with gravel suspension.
Rob Britton’s Factor Sarana for Traka 560 featured a Fox 32 Taper-Cast Factory gravel fork, with 40mm of travel, and Lael Wilcox finished fourth in the women’s 560 race using Specialized’s Diverge gravel bike and its Future Shock headset suspension system.
Those two aside, though, I can’t think of many suspension-equipped bikes at this year’s event – among pros or amateurs.
We didn’t interview or photograph every bike in the race, of course, but suspension systems were undoubtedly far less ubiquitous than rigid aero frames, aero wheels and big tyres.
Given the influence of cross-country tech on gravel tyres, the mountain bikers of this world might wonder why gravel riders seem so reluctant to embrace suspension.
After all, mountain bikers of all stripes use full suspension bikes because they’re faster – not just for better comfort.
And while every rider will no doubt have their own explanation, my guess is that gravel riding is, on the whole, still the preserve of riders coming from the road, and other forms of rigid, drop-handlebar bikes.
Speaking for myself – as someone who came to gravel from the road, but nevertheless wholeheartedly appreciates the suspension fork on my cross-country bike – I still want my gravel bike to feel essentially like a road bike with really big tyres, and I’d imagine many riders feel similarly.
Suspension forks clearly improve a bike’s off-road capabilities, but they also add weight, drag and complexity to otherwise fairly simple machines.
Things are still moving incredibly fast in what is still a young and fertile racing discipline, though, so maybe we will all be riding drop-bar MTBs with aero suspension forks (and 32in wheels?) in a few years' time. Cast your votes in the comments below.
