Gravel Bikes

A gravel bike holds near road bike speed on tarmac, then keeps going when the surface turns to fire road, canal path or farm track. Wider tyres, a steadier position, and mounts for the things that make a bike genuinely useful. For a lot of riders it quietly replaces two or three other bikes, which is why the category went from niche to mainstream in about five years.

The range splits roughly three ways. At one end sit carbon race bikes such as the Cervélo Áspero and the Pinarello Grevil, built to be ridden hard off road and still hold a wheel on tarmac. In the middle are do-everything bikes, the Argon 18 Anti Matter, Merida Mission and Scott Addict Gravel. At the other end are steel and alloy workhorses, the Genesis Croix de Fer and Marin Gestalt, which will carry luggage across a country and still be going in ten years. Whyte sit somewhere in the middle and are built around British weather.

If you are choosing between gravel and road, the honest test is where you actually ride. If the answer includes canal paths, forest roads, potholed back lanes or a commute in the dark in February, a gravel bike will be the more useful bike more of the time. If you ride with a fast group on clean tarmac every week, look at road bikes instead.

Tyres are where most of the character lives. A 35mm tyre on a gravel frame feels quick and road-like, a 45mm tyre transforms the same bike on a loose surface. Most of these frames have room for either, so one bike can genuinely do two jobs.

Every bike is built and checked by our mechanics before it leaves. Come into the shop or give us a ring and we will work out what suits how you actually ride.

All full price bikes come with free delivery and 0% finance options.

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