Guava Spot Force AXS review: an impressive gravel all-rounder that's not cut out for technical trails

Barcelona-based specialist gravel bike brand Guava has a single model: the Spot.

Models start at £2,950 for the mechanical 12-speed GRX-equipped bike and rise to £4,950 for this flagship bike with a blend of Force AXS XPLR and Eagle GX AXS, carbon wheels and a carbon cockpit.

Because all Spot frames are made to order, you can choose from a range of nine frame colours and 10 decal colour options, giving you a choice of 160 combinations.

Such singular focus has its plus points – the fact is, the Guava Spot can more than hold a candle to more established bikes and brands.

Guava Spot Force AXS frameset details

The Guava Spot’s frame maximises tyre clearance, given it’s compatible only with 1x drivetrains (there’s no provision for a front derailleur).

For 2x fans, this may be a deal breaker, but when the asymmetric chainstays are accounted for, the bike offers 50mm tyre clearance in 650b and 45mm in 700c, while maintaining an optimal chainline for wide-ranging 1x drivetrains.

The frame is well equipped for year-round bikepacking, with fender and rack mounts, triple bottle cages and top tube bag mounts.

The down tube houses a storage compartment with a tool bag included. It features a clever magnetic latch from Fidlock that uses the same self-locating slot-in catch as Fidlock’s Pinclip system found on the brand’s saddle packs.

At the front, the head tube and headset route cables and hoses fully internally using FSA’s IS52 N.55 ACR headset system – this sees the brake lines pass internally down the front of the fork steerer.

The bottom bracket shell is the threaded 68mm BSA standard and frame is compatible with standard 27.2mm-diameter seatposts.

Guava gives a claimed frame and fork weight of 1,185g and 475g respectively for a size large.

Guava Spot Force AXS geometry

The geometry on my size-large test bike combines a 71.5-degree head tube angle and 73-degree seat tube angle with a racy 601.2mm stack and 420mm reach.

The long and low shape continues across the sizes. Throw in the 1,037mm wheelbase and 430mm chainstays and it suggests a bike at the racier end of gravel design.

This bodes well for those looking for more of an all-rounder than a technical trail bike – it puts the Guava into the realms of Specialized’s Crux, Giant’s Revolt and Canyon’s latest Grail.

Guava Spot Force AXS specification

This nominally SRAM Force AXS-level mullet build uses Force AXS levers, a 40-tooth chainring (38 and 42t options are also available) and a SRAM Eagle GX AXS rear derailleur, combined with a wide 12-speed, 10-50 tooth cassette.

Guava’s own carbon post is topped with Selle Italia’s short Model X saddle.

At the front, Guava’s one-piece bar and stem combines a subtle flare and gentle rise. Smartly, the shape of the bar either side of the stem is a standard round profile, meaning bar bags, GPS mounts, lights and other accessories will fit easily.

The Volte Level carbon wheels are also Guava’s own design. These combine a 28mm-deep carbon rim with a 25mm internal width and are wrapped with WTB’s Riddler tyres in a 45mm width, set up tubeless.

Guava’s website is currently evolving, giving more options on tuning builds with multiple saddle options, tyres, bar widths and a new option for Hunt’s latest Gravel Carbon Race 40 wheelset (all subject to price up or down-charges, of course), as well as paint.

The Guava Spot Force AXS represents very good value. In context, a Specialized Crux Pro with the lower-level SRAM Rival AXS XPLR groupset and alloy finishing kit is priced at £6,300.

The Argon 18 Dark Matter comes with Force AXS XPLR and carbon wheels for £5,500. Canyon’s Grail CF SLX Di2 offers similarly good value at £4,799, though, with an 11-speed 2x Shimano GRX Di2 drivetrain.

My test bike weighed 8.89kg, with two bottle cages and an out-front computer mount.

Guava Spot Force AXS ride impressions

The Spot’s long and low sporty ride position, combined with a stiff and responsive feel, makes for a bike that’s a lot of fun to ride fast. On tarmac, the Guava feels much like an endurance road bike.

The WTB Riddler tyres are superb on the road. The knobbled yet low-profile tread doesn’t squash and squirm like more aggressive mud-focused gravel tyres.

That said, the 45mm volume and tubeless setup mean there's plenty of scope to play with tyre pressures. Dropping a few psi helps add both comfort over choppier surfaces and grip when the going gets sloppy.

The Guava one-piece cockpit is a particular highlight. Often, one-piece bars and stems bring about awkwardness when fitting accessories such as lights, out-front mounts or bar bags.

The Guava Gravelbar cleverly has standard round sections either side of the integrated stem, making fitting extras easy.

I also like that the bar is shaped with a 15mm rise from the stem, Specialized Roubaix-style. It means, down in the drops, you get the racy edge of the Spot frame’s layout, but up on the hoods or tops, it feels more like a cruising mile-muncher.

The Spot is at home on wide-open gravel roads and double-track lanes, thanks to the stable, unwavering steering that doesn’t get smacked offline when hitting a rut or rock.

Add in its stiff responsive feel, low weight and the 10-50t cassette, and it’s an impressive climber. It was equally at home whether I was stomping on the pedals out of the saddle on steep road climbs or sitting in and grinding up steep loose-surface climbs.

The inherent stiffness of the complete bike – the Volta wheels adding some rigidity along the way – makes the Spot something of a handful on fast, rutted descents, though.

The Guava tended to skip across the surface rather than absorbing impacts, which bikes such as the GT Grade, Rondo Ruut and Pivot Vault do so well.

It’s a similar outcome when riding more technical terrain – tight twisty singletrack isn’t the Spot’s forte.

However, it was fun to test myself and the bike on this sort of terrain, and it's certainly not a handful like some of the best gravel race bikes – such as the BMC Kaius and Factor Ostro Gravel.

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Guava Spot Force AXS bottom line

The Guava Spot impressed me. Its well-thought-out geometry hits the handling middle ground superbly, making it a versatile all-round gravel bike that gives more than a nod to competitive off-roading.

The specification offers great value for money and there's a lot of choice to finish the bike your way.

As tested, the finishing of the frame is excellent, and Guava’s own components are top-notch – the excellent cockpit design and the wheels are highlights.

The frameset has all of the fittings needed to build a bikepacking bike and it would serve as an excellent all-weather, do-it-all bike.