GT was one of the first major brands to embrace gravel as a discipline, with the original Grade released a decade ago.
The latest Carbon X bike, however, looks a very different beast from the 2014 GT Grade. It has gained greater tyre clearance and a slackened head angle, and comes with a RockShox Rudy suspension fork.
The Grade X is pitched as GT’s most capable gravel bike to date and promises a fun-packed take on gravel riding.
GT Grade Carbon X frame details
The new frame retains GT’s unique approach, with a ‘floating’ triple triangle.
The seatstays bypass the seat tube, joining the top tube a few inches ahead of the seat tube junction, thus creating a third triangle in the frame shape.
High-modulus (stiffer) carbon fibre is used for the head tube, bottom bracket and chainstays, and low-modulus (more comfortable) fibre for the seatstays. Mid-modulus carbon is used everywhere else.
The slightly bowed seatstays also feature glass fibres to promote flex. A slimmed, flattened seat tube is said to create a leaf-spring effect, which GT claims offers up to 30mm of flex relative to the rear axle.
In theory, this matches the pivot-equipped Cannondale Topstone and Specialized’s Diverge STR system, without the complexity of either.
The frame is finished smartly, routing brake hoses and cables internally through a down tube port.
There are twin bottle cage mounts, with two positions for the down tube bottle to accommodate larger frame bags.
Bento box mounts on the top tube add more storage spots and there are subtle hidden mudguard mounts on both the frame and RockShox Rudy XPLR fork.
The bike has generous tyre clearance of up to 50mm without mudguards or 45mm with them.
GT’s mountain bike knowledge comes into play with routing for a dropper post, along with a bolt-on protector for the bottom of the down tube to protect the carbon from strikes.
A substantial rubber chainstay guard protects against a wayward chain.
I like that GT has kept things simple with a standard seat binder and a simpler take on cable routing – a bike such as the Grade is going to get seriously grimy and anything that simplifies home maintenance is a plus.
GT says ease of maintenance is the reason it has switched away from a press-fit bottom bracket to a BSA threaded shell.
GT Grade Carbon X geometry
The Grade’s geometry has been designed to deliver balanced handling when things get tough.
While the seat angle is road bike steep at 73 degrees, the head angle has been relaxed down to 70 degrees.
This isn’t as extreme as Rondo’s MYLC (60 or 68.6 degrees, depending on how it’s set up), but still relaxed compared to racy gravel bikes such as the BMC Kaius and Specialized Crux.
The stack on the frame is lower than the previous-generation Grade, with my size large coming in at 603mm. The reach has been increased to a long 425mm.
This is balanced using a very short 60mm stem.
This long front-centre approach is derived from mountain biking, the resulting ride position putting your weight more at the centre of the bike. When the going gets technical, this means you're less likely to be pitched over the bars.
Because the Grade has been designed with gravel bike suspension in mind, the head tube has been shortened to 162mm (from 187mm on a size large).
To my eye, it makes the Grade look racier than the previous bike, especially in larger sizes.
The length of the seat tube has also compacted because GT envisages plenty of riders opting to use a gravel dropper post (allowing for maximum clearance and drop).
The standard Grade Carbon gets a fork with a 55mm offset, giving a 72mm trail for very steady and stable steering responses.
With the Grade X here, the bike gets the 40mm-travel RockShox Rudy XPLR fork with a 51mm offset, producing a trail figure of 76mm on the fork's full extension.
The 1,099mm wheelbase and long 430mm chainstays add further stability in the rough.
| | S | M | L | XL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat tube angle (degrees) | 73 | 73 | 73 | 73 |
| Head tube angle (degrees) | 70 | 70 | 70 | 70 |
| Chainstay (mm) | 430 | 430 | 430 | 430 |
| Seat tube (mm) | 450 | 500 | 550 | 600 |
| Top tube - horizontal (mm) | 553 | 581 | 609 | 683 |
| Top tube - actual (mm) | 530 | 560 | 591 | 623 |
| Head tube (mm) | 106 | 134 | 162 | 191 |
| Fork offset (mm) | 55 | 55 | 55 | 55 |
| Trail (mm) | 72 | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| Bottom bracket drop (mm) | 75 | 75 | 75 | 75 |
| Bottom bracket height (mm) | 284 | 284 | 284 | 284 |
| Wheelbase (mm) | 1,040 | 1,069 | 1,099 | 1,129 |
| Standover (mm) | 730 | 753 | 792 | 816 |
| Stack (mm) | 550 | 577 | 603 | 630 |
| Reach (mm) | 385 | 405 | 425 | 445 |
GT Grade Carbon X specification
Because this is the most ‘extreme’ version of the Grade, the emphasis has been put on components for more technical terrain.
That means the inclusion of the aforementioned RockShox Rudy fork and a dropper post.
The fork is one of the best gravel suspension options around. With careful setup for my size and riding style, I didn’t miss a lockout function on the road or when climbing.
The TransX dropper post is cleverly cabled up to the left-hand Apex lever, so actuating what’s usually the shifter here drops and rises the post through its 70mm of travel (50mm on smaller sizes).
These are the highlights of the package, but the rest of the build is all good solid stuff.
The drivetrain is SRAM Apex 1x – the 11-speed version rather than the new 12-speed mechanical.
A 40t chainring with an 11-42t cassette offered me ample range with a lower-than 1:1 ratio bottom gear and a 40/11t big gear.
The Grade X rolls on WTB’s ST Light i23 rims built onto Formula hubs. The alloy rims are 23mm wide internally (ideal for larger gravel tyres) and tubeless-ready.
They are shod with WTB’s Resolute Light 42mm-wide tubeless tyres. GT supplied the bike set up tubeless.
The bar and stem are both GT-branded alloy items. The short stem is simple and stiff, while the Droptune RS bar has a subtle 16-degree flare and is well-shaped.
WTB also provides the Silverado SL Fusion saddle.
GT Grade Carbon X ride impressions
The Grade X is brilliant off-road, it’s really that simple. I haven’t experienced a gravel bike at this price that comes anywhere close to just how impressively the Grade X rides.
It feels every inch a match for our 2023 Gravel Bike of the Year, the Giant Revolt X Advanced Pro 1, yet somehow comes in at £2,500 less expensive.
The 10.64kg weight seems hefty on paper, but like the Giant, it doesn’t ‘feel’ heavy.
The fork smothers chatter brilliantly well and the back end isolates you from wearing vibrations, meaning the GT feels fast yet composed on gravel.
The WTB tyres, with their tightly packed knobbled tread, run quickly on byways and ungraded surfaces.
On loamy forest trails and in damp weather, they coped well in mud; the tight tread can pack in the sloppy stuff, but they shed it quickly and keep grip where other similarly pitched tyres have faltered in the past.
The comfort of the Grade also makes for great off-road climbing performance – the suppleness of the ride helped me keep traction and stay fresher for longer.
The most impressive trait is when you hit singletrack and tight, technical woodland trails with plenty of elevation changes.
It holds a line through turns with ease, and natural berms and banked corners can be railed with confidence.
I had no qualms sending the bike down steep technical trials, the rocks and roots posing a challenge to me, but not the bike.
Being able to drop the saddle out of the way in an instant also opens up more manoeuvrability and meant I wanted to explore way beyond the norms of gravel riding.
The ride position enables you to get your weight balanced when gradient and traction are against you, and though the fork ‘only’ has 40mm of travel, it never feels limiting.
The clever fork design never hits the limit of its travel, with the progressive ramping of resistance taking the edge off bumps and containing disruption from bigger hits and drops.
The Apex gears performed without a hitch, with secure shifts and a secure chain. The brakes offered ample, controllable power.
A niggle is that they could become quite vocal after being spattered with rain and muddy puddle water, but this pales in the grand scheme of the bike’s overall performance.
GT Grade X bottom line
The GT Grade X is a wonderful companion off-road and, though not a gravel race bike, it’s no slouch on the road either.
Its off-road prowess, however, positions this bike at the pinnacle of the new school of more extreme gravel rides, with a frame that is the match of more complex rivals.
What puts the icing on this exciting cake, though, is the price.
The fact that it all comes in at £3,000 makes the Grade X stand out as an absolute bargain at a time when we’ve seen rapid inflation of bike prices. For that alone, GT should be applauded.
Product
| Brand | gt |
| Price | 3000.00 GBP,4000.00 USD |
| Weight | 10.6400, KILOGRAM (L) - |
Features
| Fork | Rockshox Rudy XPLR, 40mm travel |
| br_stem | GT 3D Forged SL Alloy, 31.8 |
| br_chain | SRAM Apex, 11-speed |
| br_frame | Grade Carbon Frame, Triple Triangle design feat. floating seatstays |
| Tyres | WTB Resolute TCS Light, 700x42c, SG2 dual DNA compound, TCS aramid bead |
| br_brakes | SRAM Apex 1, rotors 160/160mm |
| br_cranks | SRAM Apex 1 Wide, DUB, 40T |
| br_saddle | WTB Silverado SL Fusion |
| br_wheels | WTB ST Light i23 TCS 2.0, Formula hubs |
| br_headset | FSA No.42 ACB |
| br_shifter | SRAM Apex, left side dropper actuator |
| br_cassette | SRAM PG-1130, 11-42T |
| br_seatpost | TranzX Dropper Post, 27.2mm (S/M-50mm, L/XL-70mm) |
| br_gripsTape | GT Gravel Grip Premium Tape |
| br_handlebar | GT DropTune RS, Alloy, 16° flare |
| br_bottomBracket | SRAM DUB BSA, 68mm wide |
| br_availableSizes | S, M, L, XL |
| br_rearDerailleur | SRAM Apex1 |
