I bought a gravel bike this winter (hopefully I'll be able to ride it this year!) Anyway, I found choosing a gravel bike incredibly difficult, especially since I haven't done much gravel riding. The variety of bikes in every price range is amazing. Not only can you not try them all, you can't usually ride them hard in the conditions you want (one local shop that sells titanium bikes will let you ride the demo bike for a weekend no questions asked). Long story, short, these videos are a big help. You can spend a week watching these reviews and get a good idea of what you want.
It is incredibly tough. Some good bikes do you let ride them and demo days organised by bike brands offer a good opportunity to get some proper testing time on a potential new purchase. Good to hear these videos are helpful
Gravel Riding: Road Riding for Mountain Bikers, Mountain Biking for Road Riders. Bridging the gap between the two tribes. Come on you know it...Mountain Bikers and Roadies like to spit hate at each other. Gravel Riding is helping to erase that divide. WE'RE ALL CYCLISTS YO!
Not really, Gravel biking is really this: Years ago we in Marin County (Mill Valley to be specific and this was the mid to late 90's) took mountain bikes and took the front suspension off and would stick rigid forks on our mountain bike frames. We would then put on skinnier tires and go on road and off. Then someone saw this for years, stuck a drop bar on it and called it gravel. It's more for mountain bikers that want to not go slow on roads with their clunky full or front suspension rigs. Also makes fat mountain bikers lose weight with street riding. Gravel is just something old called something new.
AND this is why you're seeing more people get rid of the drop bar and put in a flat bar and call it "cafe gravel bikes" which in itself is hilarious because only DB bike peeps go to coffee shops or cafes. OG real "cafe" gravel bikes were just modified mountain bikes. I have a 2016 GT Carbon Grade Ultegra and love it. Would love to get this better version because it fits wider tires and has better suspension. Thinking about taking off drop bars and putting on flat with Ultegra shifters and Shimano brake levers.
Looking to get a gravel bike soon to use it for my commute on tarmac, woodland trails and cycletracks. Probably use it as winter bike too. This has really helped me. Thank you 👍
Good choices. For what it’s worth, I can recommend the Grail, it offers a great ride and the value is top notch. Ugly welds aside. Not ridden the Ribble but their bike builder is ace
I researched the gearing after watching your 2020 video, your bike has a 46/30T chainring while the JensonUSA online vendor mentions a 48/32T . If only they stayed with the easier crankset I would order one already.
You could just put a Redshift suspension stem on the Topstone and that'll provide you with some excellent comfort for the frontend. It's even adjustable.
What I don't like about many of the current Gravelbike offerings is that they often don't come with clutch rear derailleurs. I don't expect a full GRX setup on every bike but at least a GRX or an Ultegra RX rear derailleur would go a long way - at least on the more expensive ones.
I think some of it is just down to timings, when a manufacturer has signed off a range of bikes versus the launch and subsequent delivery of Shimano GRX. It’s a situation that will improve I’m sure
@@davidarthur Good point! Hopefully this will become a defacto standart for Gravelbikes soon. I changed a Tiagra rear derailleur with a GRX 10 speed one and it really makes a world of difference on the rough stuff.
I can get a brand new 2020 GT alloy Elite (the basic model) for around 900 canadian. Seems like a great deal... felt good when I sat on it. Wonder if it’s a downgrade coming from a Cube Road SL with a Shimano 105 groupset...
Is the new Specialized Diverge equipped with future shock 2.0 any better than the GT Grade from the comfort point of view or not really? I find my 2020 GT Grade VERY comfortable but I still suffer bit at it's front end on realy rough offroad terrain and sometimes I consider buying the new Diverge suposing its front end would be more forgiving. Although I find much more rewarding to pedal the GT grade than a mountain bike, when I am not sure of how the terrain of the trail will be like I still tend to pick my hardtail cross country bike due to its suspension fork. I wonder if I would ever use again my hardtail cross country bike if I had a Siverge with it's future shock. Could anyone answer me please? Where I live I cannot test ride a Diverge, but only buy one on internet sites.
Hi Dave, i also got the GT Grade Carbon Expert based on your recommendation :) I see that you`re running about 2cm of spacers above the stem and would like to do the same with my bike - however, i read in the bike`s manual that GT does not allow any spacers to be above the stem and doing so could void warranty. Do you know why that is and do you have any problems with your setup?
Glad my buying advice was useful to you. I think the issue is about ensuring the star fangled nut or compression device is surrounded by the stem to ensure proper fitment. Most brands state a 5mm spacer minimum above the stem. Does this make any sense and does it help? I would recommend trimming the steerer tube once you've settled on the right height
Hi David. Really enjoying your content! I’d value your thoughts if you don’t mind! I’m pondering a bike purchase as I want to do some gravel riding and perhaps some bike packing also winter road use. I can’t decide whether to go for a gravel specific bike like your Fairlight or trade my carbon emonda in for a ti or carbon do it all road/gravel/bike packing ride. I live in north Wiltshire and ride the same area as you. The Emonda is great but can beat me up and bit on a long day! Thanks again for the great content! Russ
I am interested in a tech video about trail geometry. I have been comparing trail across the spectrum of all-road bikes (calculating in a spreadsheet). Many gravel and endurance road bikes seem to fall roughly in the low to high 60s. I have an old road racing bike with sporty 58mm of trail. I am surprised to see the GT Grade Carbon at very sporty 54mm of trail. I would expect the GT Grade to be very responsive in the steering but perhaps not stable enough for some in rougher terrain. Thanks.
i bought a norco threshold because the price was just too good, thinking it would be basically the same thing. now i'm going to confess that i miss my mountain bike a lot. this thing is harsh and i don't see myself doing any semi serious trails on it at all. if i were to trade it up for an actual gravel bike, maybe even grade, would i notice a big difference, or should i just stick with the plush ride of a hardtail i'm accustomed to because honestly i can't say i feel the speed on this thing all that much more.
The Grade might offer a bit more comfort than your Norco but it might not be the big difference you're looking for. It does sound like you're better sticking with a hardtail if it suits your riding style and local trails better. I honestly don't think gravel bikes where everywhere and for everyone
I bought a GT Grade Carbon elite 2020 with the intention of gravel riding but I find that I only ride on the road so I put a 105 groupset and gp5000 tyres on it and ride on the road....I am now looking at buying an endurance road bike but I’m not sure how much difference there would be...would I be better off continuing with the GT grade and upgrading the wheels to something lighter and more aero or just put the money towards a new road bike and convert the grade back to being a dedicated gravel bike/winter bike?
@B2theM 1 I still have the grade and just use it as a road bike. I didn’t upgrade the wheels, I decided to save that money and put it towards a road bike, then there has obviously been a huge bike shortage so as of yet I haven’t got a new one…I will wait until spring and see what’s around, until then I’ll just keep using the grade as a road bike…it’s perfectly fine…just not quite the right size for me which is another reason I want to buy a new bike.
Another good vid. Ta. How does that 105 level version fare without a clutch mech? I would be tempted to swap it out for an rx or grx one... Must get a bit clattery on the rough.
Also as far as i can tell, the only difference between that and the one above is di2 and a carbon crank.... For an extra 1200 quid. Even the wheels are the same. So that 105 version is the sweet spot.
Thanks! It's a little noisy on the roughest descents but overall it hasn't been that bad. Not dropped the chain once either. If I was buying it would probably stick on an RX or GRX
Geometry and tyre clearance are the key differences. What sort of riding do you want to do? Gravel bikes make great commute bikes because they are tough with big tyres
Not really, gravel bikes have more mounting points for bike packing purposes, a road bike will have less. The rider position is not bent as much as in a road bike, this is good for long distance rides.The gearing is also different than road bikes. Most road bikes usually have caliper brakes for saving weight, but gravels generally are disc brake.
I bought a gravel bike this winter (hopefully I'll be able to ride it this year!) Anyway, I found choosing a gravel bike incredibly difficult, especially since I haven't done much gravel riding. The variety of bikes in every price range is amazing. Not only can you not try them all, you can't usually ride them hard in the conditions you want (one local shop that sells titanium bikes will let you ride the demo bike for a weekend no questions asked). Long story, short, these videos are a big help. You can spend a week watching these reviews and get a good idea of what you want.
It is incredibly tough. Some good bikes do you let ride them and demo days organised by bike brands offer a good opportunity to get some proper testing time on a potential new purchase. Good to hear these videos are helpful
@@davidarthur now do the long term review of the Cannondale Topstone and convince me I made the right choice, Dave.
Gravel Riding: Road Riding for Mountain Bikers, Mountain Biking for Road Riders. Bridging the gap between the two tribes. Come on you know it...Mountain Bikers and Roadies like to spit hate at each other. Gravel Riding is helping to erase that divide. WE'RE ALL CYCLISTS YO!
100% agree!
Not really, Gravel biking is really this: Years ago we in Marin County (Mill Valley to be specific and this was the mid to late 90's) took mountain bikes and took the front suspension off and would stick rigid forks on our mountain bike frames. We would then put on skinnier tires and go on road and off. Then someone saw this for years, stuck a drop bar on it and called it gravel. It's more for mountain bikers that want to not go slow on roads with their clunky full or front suspension rigs. Also makes fat mountain bikers lose weight with street riding. Gravel is just something old called something new.
AND this is why you're seeing more people get rid of the drop bar and put in a flat bar and call it "cafe gravel bikes" which in itself is hilarious because only DB bike peeps go to coffee shops or cafes. OG real "cafe" gravel bikes were just modified mountain bikes. I have a 2016 GT Carbon Grade Ultegra and love it. Would love to get this better version because it fits wider tires and has better suspension. Thinking about taking off drop bars and putting on flat with Ultegra shifters and Shimano brake levers.
Thank you for the tips of how to design a gravel bike!
Looking to get a gravel bike soon to use it for my commute on tarmac, woodland trails and cycletracks. Probably use it as winter bike too. This has really helped me. Thank you 👍
Great glad it was useful, thanks! Gravel bikes are ideal for that sort of riding. Got any particular bikes in mind yet?
@@davidarthur tempted by the Canyon Grail AL or Ribble CGR AL
Good choices. For what it’s worth, I can recommend the Grail, it offers a great ride and the value is top notch. Ugly welds aside. Not ridden the Ribble but their bike builder is ace
I researched the gearing after watching your 2020 video, your bike has a 46/30T chainring while the JensonUSA online vendor mentions a 48/32T . If only they stayed with the easier crankset I would order one already.
You could just put a Redshift suspension stem on the Topstone and that'll provide you with some excellent comfort for the frontend. It's even adjustable.
That is a very good call
What I don't like about many of the current Gravelbike offerings is that they often don't come with clutch rear derailleurs. I don't expect a full GRX setup on every bike but at least a GRX or an Ultegra RX rear derailleur would go a long way - at least on the more expensive ones.
I think some of it is just down to timings, when a manufacturer has signed off a range of bikes versus the launch and subsequent delivery of Shimano GRX. It’s a situation that will improve I’m sure
@@davidarthur Good point! Hopefully this will become a defacto standart for Gravelbikes soon. I changed a Tiagra rear derailleur with a GRX 10 speed one and it really makes a world of difference on the rough stuff.
SRAM might have something to say about that though ;)
I can get a brand new 2020 GT alloy Elite (the basic model) for around 900 canadian. Seems like a great deal... felt good when I sat on it. Wonder if it’s a downgrade coming from a Cube Road SL with a Shimano 105 groupset...
Is the new Specialized Diverge equipped with future shock 2.0 any better than the GT Grade from the comfort point of view or not really? I find my 2020 GT Grade VERY comfortable but I still suffer bit at it's front end on realy rough offroad terrain and sometimes I consider buying the new Diverge suposing its front end would be more forgiving. Although I find much more rewarding to pedal the GT grade than a mountain bike, when I am not sure of how the terrain of the trail will be like I still tend to pick my hardtail cross country bike due to its suspension fork. I wonder if I would ever use again my hardtail cross country bike if I had a Siverge with it's future shock. Could anyone answer me please? Where I live I cannot test ride a Diverge, but only buy one on internet sites.
Awesome ! Could you please tell me what size of the GT grade are you riding and how tall are you ? Thank you
It's a size medium and I'm 5'11". I find the fit to be spot on and didn't need to make any changes to the stem length etc. Hope this helps?
@@davidarthur Hi, medium size means size 55? Thanks :)
Hi Dave,
i also got the GT Grade Carbon Expert based on your recommendation :)
I see that you`re running about 2cm of spacers above the stem and would like to do the same with my bike - however, i read in the bike`s manual that GT does not allow any spacers to be above the stem and doing so could void warranty. Do you know why that is and do you have any problems with your setup?
Glad my buying advice was useful to you. I think the issue is about ensuring the star fangled nut or compression device is surrounded by the stem to ensure proper fitment. Most brands state a 5mm spacer minimum above the stem. Does this make any sense and does it help? I would recommend trimming the steerer tube once you've settled on the right height
Looking at the GT Grade, Canyon Grail, possibly Cannondale Topstone Carbon, and or lefty , whats your opinion ?
Hi David. Really enjoying your content! I’d value your thoughts if you don’t mind! I’m pondering a bike purchase as I want to do some gravel riding and perhaps some bike packing also winter road use. I can’t decide whether to go for a gravel specific bike like your Fairlight or trade my carbon emonda in for a ti or carbon do it all road/gravel/bike packing ride. I live in north Wiltshire and ride the same area as you. The Emonda is great but can beat me up and bit on a long day! Thanks again for the great content! Russ
I am interested in a tech video about trail geometry. I have been comparing trail across the spectrum of all-road bikes (calculating in a spreadsheet). Many gravel and endurance road bikes seem to fall roughly in the low to high 60s. I have an old road racing bike with sporty 58mm of trail. I am surprised to see the GT Grade Carbon at very sporty 54mm of trail. I would expect the GT Grade to be very responsive in the steering but perhaps not stable enough for some in rougher terrain. Thanks.
Leave it with me then! Sounds like it's a topic you've been spending a lot of time getting your head around with the spreadsheet, I'm impressed.
i bought a norco threshold because the price was just too good, thinking it would be basically the same thing. now i'm going to confess that i miss my mountain bike a lot. this thing is harsh and i don't see myself doing any semi serious trails on it at all. if i were to trade it up for an actual gravel bike, maybe even grade, would i notice a big difference, or should i just stick with the plush ride of a hardtail i'm accustomed to because honestly i can't say i feel the speed on this thing all that much more.
The Grade might offer a bit more comfort than your Norco but it might not be the big difference you're looking for. It does sound like you're better sticking with a hardtail if it suits your riding style and local trails better. I honestly don't think gravel bikes where everywhere and for everyone
I bought a GT Grade Carbon elite 2020 with the intention of gravel riding but I find that I only ride on the road so I put a 105 groupset and gp5000 tyres on it and ride on the road....I am now looking at buying an endurance road bike but I’m not sure how much difference there would be...would I be better off continuing with the GT grade and upgrading the wheels to something lighter and more aero or just put the money towards a new road bike and convert the grade back to being a dedicated gravel bike/winter bike?
@B2theM 1 I still have the grade and just use it as a road bike. I didn’t upgrade the wheels, I decided to save that money and put it towards a road bike, then there has obviously been a huge bike shortage so as of yet I haven’t got a new one…I will wait until spring and see what’s around, until then I’ll just keep using the grade as a road bike…it’s perfectly fine…just not quite the right size for me which is another reason I want to buy a new bike.
Another good vid. Ta. How does that 105 level version fare without a clutch mech? I would be tempted to swap it out for an rx or grx one... Must get a bit clattery on the rough.
Also as far as i can tell, the only difference between that and the one above is di2 and a carbon crank.... For an extra 1200 quid. Even the wheels are the same. So that 105 version is the sweet spot.
Thanks! It's a little noisy on the roughest descents but overall it hasn't been that bad. Not dropped the chain once either. If I was buying it would probably stick on an RX or GRX
Hmm not sure why that is? Hopefully they'll bring out a full GRX version soon
Have you used the new WTB Raddler tyres yet Dave?
I've got a pair but I've not gotten around to fitting and riding them yet. Soon though!
david arthur great! Thanks for the reply will look forward to your thoughts
Do u know why their sizing goes from 51 to 55? Not sure which one to go with.
What is the difference between a gravel and hybrid bike? Im getting a bike and im confused.
Geometry and tyre clearance are the key differences. What sort of riding do you want to do? Gravel bikes make great commute bikes because they are tough with big tyres
No mention of the Giant Revolt?
Not in this video but that’s a good shout
@@davidarthur Subbed! Looking forward to that review 😁
Idk any road bike that take 32s
Not really, gravel bikes have more mounting points for bike packing purposes, a road bike will have less. The rider position is not bent as much as in a road bike, this is good for long distance rides.The gearing is also different than road bikes. Most road bikes usually have caliper brakes for saving weight, but gravels generally are disc brake.
Why do your feet look so big around 9:12 minutes in? 😃❤
Ha ha hadn’t noticed until you pointed it out 🤣