The Age of the Gravel Bike

From an early point in my mediocre cycling career, I noticed a strange peculiarity about the road bike market segment. No matter which major bicycle brand I looked at, there seemed to be the same trickle down formula for innovation. First, a product was featured on the pro tour. Then, after a couple of years, the product was available in various tiers of overpriced quality to the general public. This strategy of product development has been in effect for about thirty years and people are finally starting to realize that the best cycling ideas don’t always come from the top down, but from the ground up. In this case, from the gravel up.

The demand for capable gravel bikes has created some of the best product innovation for bicycles in a generation. The demand for all terrain wheels and tires alone is long overdue. Also, the advent of 650b wheels on road and gravel bikes is huge. For so many people, 700c wheels just don’t provide the best ride quality. The toe overlap alone is enough to interest me in exploring other options, especially for mixed terrain riding. After the past few winters, some New England roads aren’t much better than gravel anyway, so a 650b wheel with a little bit of tread makes perfect sense.

If the mountain bike boom of the 90s taught us anything, it’s that mountain bikes are sluggish and under-geared on the road. I would know because from 2011-2013 I completed the D2R2 on a Raleigh M80 and it wasn’t pretty. Boutique cyclocross bikes certainly dominated the scene, but when it came to climbing, they just didn’t have the right gearing. They also had a tendency to slip out on steep dirt roads. Overall, a mountain bike was too slow and a cyclocross bike was too twitchy. Gravel bikes are the best way to split the difference because they offer the best of both worlds: speed and stability.

Suspension components for road bikes was close to happening back in the 90s. Bianchi even created some well photographed prototypes for the Paris-Roubaix. However, the 90s mountain bike boom isolated the development of capable suspension to off-road bikes. The road bike market was then inundated with racer (or pseudo racer) bikes featuring more carbon fiber than the Indy 500. This created a huge division in not only the industry, but in the way people rode their bikes. In reality, however, gravel roads don’t differ wildly than a lot of single track paths. Of course, there are many trails that are beyond the capability of a dedicated gravel bike, but for many cyclists looking to ride paved and dirt roads, the prospect of needing two separate bikes is absurd. After all, who hasn’t been on a road ride and just wondered where that old dirt road leads?

The last great thing about the emerging gravel bike market is that there’s finally a sensible cycling segment that focuses on the rider's needs. Carbon fiber is great for speed and performance, but if for a weekend warrior (like me) who puts in about forty miles a week, carbon fiber is just not the best frame material. The salt on the roads in the spring is enough to ruin many carbon finishes. The spirit of cycling has always been one of adventure. Whether that adventure leads you to the top of a mountain, or down, at breakneck speeds, the spirit is still there. For many former roadies looking to get adventurous, the gravel bike is something that speaks to that inner explorer to push the limits and boundaries of what a bike ride can be.