What is a Gravel Bike? – Is it Worth a Buy!

The section below will go through the features that identify a gravel bike and what makes it unique from other bike categories.

Keep in mind that gravel bikes are all-around bikes, so they’re likely to have a couple of features overlapping with other bike designs.

Geometry

Generally speaking, many gravel bikes have a less aero sitting position, and their frames are pretty slack.

Of course, there’re exceptions, such as endurance road bikes (class of gravel bikes), but most have a relaxed sitting position.

Understand that gravel bikes, as with the traditional road bikes, have drop bars, which are associated with aerodynamic bikes.

However, the drop bars on a gravel bike aren’t as pronounced as those on a road bike.  The gravel bar doesn’t keep you in an aggressive or tucked position, so it might be a good fit for beginners or cyclists with back medical issues.

At the same time, however, the bars aren’t as flat as those of a hybrid; you’ll hardly feel pain or fatigue after an hour into the ride.

Instead, the gravel bike provides a relaxed stance with the flared, wider handlebars.

Nevertheless, it’s still hard to pass the gravel for a road bike in terms of geometry, but the former has massive stability gains when doing off-road.

The longer wheelbase, longer head tube, and slacker head angle provide a more upright stance and the stability to shrug off obstacles and for off-roading.

Handling a gravel bike is much easier and doesn’t have much give or play as a typical road bike.  For example it’s not nimble but will keep you in control, allowing you to ride even with no hands.

In addition, I appreciate how the gravel frames are shaped to cushion your ride and extend the in-saddle comfort.

But as I mentioned earlier, your off-road riding terrain will most likely influence the geometry level on your gravel bike.

For example, suppose your idea of cycling is primarily navigating the road and paved surfaces and may be mixing things a bit on a dirt trail and beaten track. In that case, I’d recommend the gravels with the endurance bike geometry.

The endurance bike geometry is more forgiving and less aero.  It’ll keep you in a more upright and relaxed position.

However, if your idea of cycling is navigating the technical off-road sections and doing lots of mountain biking, you’ll probably want gravel with a mountain bike geometry.

Frame Material

As with any other bike, gravel bikes come in a range of frame materials.

But two of the popular frame materials from gravel are aluminum and carbon.  Both materials are ultra-light while providing much-needed strength.

Aluminum, however, is affordable and a standard frame material in most gravel bikes.

On the other hand, carbon frames are reserved for the more expensive bikes.  The carbon frame is lighter than aluminum while remaining strong.

Either way, your choice of gravel frame material should be robust, considering the gravel bikes have to deal with different demanding environments a road or cruiser bike won’t have to deal with.

Tires

The tire size is a noticeable visual difference between a gravel bike and a road bike.  Most road bikes tire at 32mm, while gravel bikes can go as high as 40mm.

The wider gravel bike tires have greater versatility than the skinnier tires.  Yes, I love my road bike and road riding in general, but the skinny tires usually take a beating on the crappy bitumen, especially on the long rides.

And now that I do most of my commuting and outdoor training over the gravel and dirt trails, I’ve grown to like the big, cushy, and knobby gravel tires.

The wider tyres roll over bad tarmac, obstacles, loose surfaces, and other debris like a champ.

However, on the weekends, you’ll realize that road bike tires, with their limited contact patch on the ground, roll and handle faster than gravel bikes.

I’m not convinced that the gravel bike is sluggish, only that they’re relatively slower (slower speeds) than a road bike tire.

In any case, depending on your fitness level and terrain, you may find it easy to keep up with your road bike buddies during the group bikes.

After all, if you think of the shape of the gravel tyres, you’ll realize the actual contact patch and the rolling resistance on the ground isn’t any different at all.

Of course, I can’t say I prefer one tire over the other, but it’s more like which is the right bike for the ride.  A roadie will always be faster, while gravel can take on different terrains with slower rolling.

But, if I had to pick one, I’d go with the gravel bike tire because of its unmatched versatility and multi-functionality.

Along with the wider tyres, something else to keep in mind is most gravel bikes tend to run on tubeless tires.

A tubeless tires setup lets you maintain lower tyre pressure, create a wide contact patch, and avoid pinch flats.

Wheels

A key feature of a gravel bike is the plenty of wheel clearance, which provides the opportunity to run significantly bigger tires.

The suspension fork tire clearance on a gravel bike creates room for bigger tires.

But generally, gravel bikes come with the 650b and 700c wheels as standard.  The bigger and wider 700c is, however, more popular.

Brakes (Disc)

Typical gravel bikes feature hydraulic disc brakes.

The disc brakes are ubiquitous on most new bikes anyways, but they’re crucial for a gravel bike because they distance the brakes further away from the dirt for effortless braking.

In addition, the gravel bike wheels for the disc are stronger regarding rims and spoke pattern, so they can take on the demanding needs of gravel riding.

The consistency and reliability of disc brakes are handy, especially in wet conditions, which is crucial for gravel bikes.

It also leaves room for the wider gravel bike tyres for off-road cycling.

However, the low-end gravel bikes are fitted with mechanical disc brakes and cheaper rim brakes.

Gearing

Gearing is key for a gravel setup.

It’s mainly important when going off- road and doing lots of hill climbs.

Generally, gravel bikes come with a slightly lower set of gears, handy for navigating the technical terrain and sustaining the steep prolonged lower limbs.

Of course, you can still use your saddle power, but it’s of little to no help on lower traction, and this is where the low gears come into play.

You can’t really get anything out of the saddle, especially when the conditions are loose and on a climb, so you need the low gears to spin the hill and avoid wheel slip.

Some popular gearing systems for gravel bikes are Shimano GRX, Campagnolo Ekar, and SRAM XPLR.

But the key decision when choosing a gravel bike gearing is what setup to use.  The two popular setups for most bikes are:

1)      1X

2)      2X

Most compact chainsets have 2x gravel cranksets, which drops the chainring sizes.

The 2x crankset is ideal for taking your gravel bike off-road and navigating the hills.  Simply put, I’d recommend this crankset for hill climbing.

On the other hand, the 1x crankset with just one chainring.  It involves getting rid of the front derailleur.

It’s a much simpler yet reliable system.  While it doesn’t offer the hill-climbing reliability of the 2x crankset, it allows you to rack up miles with the least effort.

In addition, it keeps your chainring running smoothly and avoids slippage when your gravel racing gets a bit bumpy.

Weight

Generally, gravel bikes are light but not as light as road bikes.

But unless you’re a weight Winnie, it doesn’t make much of a difference.

Personally, I’m not worried about the weight, actually, and a few grams here and there don’t really change my handling or ride quality.

However, if you still insist on getting an ultra-light gravel bike, be ready to dig deep into your pockets.

The Santa Cruz Stigmata, for example, is a great choice.  It’s a really low-weight gravel bike, and depending on the frame material, it could go as low as 17 pounds.

I’ve one, and while it’s a bit expensive, I’m pleased to have an ultra-light bike for the gravel road that is also capable of gravel.

I can also fit the Stigmata with the nice wide tires for ultra-comfort, and still enjoy the reliability on the gravel, something most lightweight bikes can’t.

Accessories

A gravel bike should appeal if you always find yourself carrying stuff with you that doesn’t fit inside a bike backpack or is too heavy to strap on your shoulder while off-road riding.

Besides the all-road wide tire, a low gearing range, and relaxed geometry, gravel bikes have proper mounting points for accessories and luggage.

The mounting points include panniers, racks, fenders, and mudguards.

I’m particularly a big fan of the mudguards because I usually cycle through the limestone-trodden paths and rough stuff.  The mudguards keep the lime, mud, and water from splashing on my body.

Pannier rack mounts also come in handy when commuting to work, providing an ideal location to store my luggage.

A typical mounting set also includes bolts on the down tube for holding water bottles.  It’s a nifty feature that comes in handy for long-distance bike rides where it’s challenging to top up on water reserves.  The water bottle cage also doubles as a tool keg, keeping your pockets free.

Other Factors

Gravel bikes typically come with wide bars and drop bars that flare out.

The wider and flared bars add to the bike’s overall stability and make handling the gravel bike on the technical off-road terrain much easier.

The bars offer extra controllability to the bike when dealing with obstacles and off-road ruggedness.

And the good thing with the bars is they shallow-drop, and not as much as the standard road bike drop bars.  It means they keep you in a relatively tucked-in position for effortless wind cuts, but not so much that you strain your back muscles.

However, understand there’re other classes of gravel bikes with a dropper seat post.  They’re more common in the high-end gravels and those designed to navigate the gnarlier off-road surfaces.

The dropper bar is adjustable using levers on the bar to raise or lower the saddle.

Electric Gravel Bikes

Electric bikes, popularly known as e-bikes, are increasingly growing in popularity.  Today, it’s normal to see e-bikes, even on adventure bikes such as mountain bikes and gravel bikes.

The greatest benefit of e-bikes is pedaling assistance.  The electrical motor helps with pedaling, allowing for an effortless ride.  It comes in handy, especially when doing long stretches of gravel road, navigating steep hills, or detouring on the beaten paths.

Of course, the pedaling assistance you’ll get depends on the electric motor use.  There’re also a couple of other factors that will determine the power efficiency and delivery, such as battery size and terrain.