To my mind, the greatest part of modern bikes is tire clearance. Maybe bike choice is something like: If I know what tire/wheel works best for my riding start there and work backwards to riding position.

What about between a Giant Defy and a Giant Revolt?

Ride two gravel bikes on the road with road tyres. One bike with progressive gravel geometry like a Merida Silex and one bike with more race gravel geometry like Cervelo Aspero or BMC Kaius and see if is much difference between them on the road.

I've got a hard tail mtb, full sus, road bike, gravel bike, and custom ebike. If i was gonna keep 1 it would be the gravel. Love the videos David.

I ride a gravel bike with two wheelsets: 40mm tyres on aluminium rims, and 30mm on a set of deep carbon aero rims. 2x GRX is the perfect groupset for an N+1 Killer--all the range needed for offroad riding, but still small steps between gears for when on the road. Plus, the derailleur clutch is great at killing chain slap when the going gets rough.

a true relaxed geometry Endurance with 45mm tyre clearance, mudguard and packing options.

This is the video I’ve been wanting to see. Thank you!

Great review! just what I needed to make my decision. Thanks.

I personally have one of each - a steel gravel bike and a titanium road bike. I love them both. Different use cases, and they really complement one another well.

I have an Open UP with 2 sets of wheels and it’s a joy in fast group rides and gravel races. My favorite bike

Gravel Bike for me a all in one bike.

Hi David Great video and very informative with very useful information for the cycling community 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️👍👍

Any endurance drop bar bike which has provision for a 38mm+ tyre clearance can double up as a gravel bike and is more responsive on the road than a gravel bike. Unless you are racing gravel or doing dedicated gravel riding on challenging single track through bushland then an Endurance bike is the better option for majority of weekend warriors and recreational cyclists based on my experience on owning both.

I'm still road riding my 2010 Scott Scale 50 MTB and still love but time has come to buy a road bike and I'm definitely leaning towards endurance bikes as gravel makes no sense to me.

Nice informative video! Especially about stack/ reach

Hi David, an interesting topic of which you will get 500 different opinions, personally now I am an old git I started cycling before mountain bikes and bought one a couple of years later and then did the same with gravel bikes a few decades later. I own a gravel bike a Giant Defy and various other road bikes, I don't shy away from off roading on any of them although the bike does choose what terrain I ride them on however from bike paths to light gravel (with regards to the road bikes) to quite gnarly single track. Run what you brung is my motto I do see a lot of people 'overbiked' however. Anyway I have not been to the top of Chosen Hill for a long time and a great view from the church (in the background of your clip with the Cervelo)

Thanks for this comparison. I am currently debating between a Cervelo Aspero and a Trek Domane (ENVY Fray would be in there but they are even more pricey than the Trek). I will do mostly road riding with it, including long distance 100mile + events, but I want to use the bike for smoother gravel rides as well. I have a Niner MCR full suspension gravel bike for the chunky gravel rides, but it is overkill for the smoother gravel. This kind of comparison of a racey gravel bike vs an endurance bike is what I was wanting to see. Sounds like while the endurance bike might be a little better on the road, we are not talking by enough to really make a difference.

I think the Trek Domane is the endurance bike that can do both road and gravel. Now that they got rid of the front isospeed vibration dampener unit.

I have a Cervelo Aspero 5 and I use it for road and gravel by changing wheelsets. The geometry is close to my road race bikes but more comfy. I got rid of a couple of road bikes and a gravel bike and use this bike in most instances. I can go just about as fast on the road as I can on my road bikes but I'm not as fast as I used to be anyway.

Well, like David states, it depends on what you use it for. IMO if you are doing 80%-100% off-road riding, then you'd have to go the Gravel bike route or perhaps buy a Mountain Bike if you like that setup. I personally don't like MTBs, so I'd go for the Gravel if I was always in the mud, gravel or doing cross country. However, I don't. I'm 100% on-road. I may go over minor gravel paths but that is totally different to true gravel/off road riding. So, for me, an endurance bike is what I'd buy and that is exactly what I intend to buy in the next 12-24 months. The price is the only issue. I may buy a Chinese make that have been on this channel but who knows. Anyway, gotta get back to work and then go for a ride late this afternoon. 😀🚴.

Is there a gravel bicycle that can run the Shimano 48-31 chainrings with the 10-45 or 10-51 MTB cassettes?

I rode 45 miles earlier today on my 2023 Synapse Carbon 4 endurance bike with 35c Gravelking SS tyres on it (they come up at 37mm when measured....digital calipers kinda thing)....I did around 40% off-road (mostly gravel sections), and it copes very well indeed on this surface with a Redshift stem on the bike and, looking at the tyre clearance it has, you could easily fit a 40c in there for more comfort.....It has similar clearance to my old 2017 gravel bike...I do believe that bikes are shifting to a one bike fits all scenario.....It seems logical.... Saying that, I just have a few bikes to cope with everything around my area from MTB's to a retro rim brake road bike with 28c tyres.....

I have an Aspero5. I run my bike with Zipp303s wheels and 28mm road tires all the time. My ONLY drawback is the front chainring is too small on the Shimano GRX Di2 2x group set.

Gearing is the biggest reason I keep a road race bike in addition to my gravel bike, I tried the 2 wheelset thing. Sometimes you just want to go ride fast for fun and I cant scratch that itch with gravel/endurance geometry and the same gearing I require on gravel around me.

Could you add a cx bike into this comparison too?

Hey dave im looking for a roadbike with fendermounts for winter riding. My main bike is a slammed sl8 and i prefer the geometry of said bikes. Can you recommend any frame for that purpose?

Disc brakes were the pathway drug to this range. Personally, I still believe there is a difference and I’d keep the setups and configuration different.

All serious cyclists who ride regularly need more that just one bike. Several times over the years I have had a mechanical on my main bike which put it off the road for several days waiting for parts to arrive. If I never had a second bike then I wouldn't be able to ride. A road bike and a gravel bike makes sense because you can use the gravel bike off-road as well as a Winter bike. Any combo of road, gravel, MTB etc suits. No-one I know that I ride with has only one bike.

I struggle to see how the Cervelo's stack is measured to the top of the frame instead of including the top cap, which makes the effective stack higher and the effective reach shorter than what the spec sheet says.

Cervelo DNA, more versatile, and at half the price. The Aspero is the clear winner.

Hi David, love the vids! As a newer rider I’d be really interested in seeing an aluminium bike shootout; specialised allez vs giant contend vs trek domaine al, cheers

I'm very pro the idea of the N+1 gravel/road killer. To me, bikes like the Aspero are heading in the wrong direction. I've been riding a Vassago Donnybrook since about 2015 - 72 ha, 73 st, 430mm chainstays with 75mm drop and room for 45mm tires. It is fine on the road, but it feels like a gravel bike on the road with road tires, but that is essentially the Aspero with different frame materials now. The previous Aspero splits the difference better, but maybe the market wants a more stable bike, but given some the clearances I have see on bikes with 420 or shorter chainstays, I'm feeling that is the N+1 is tighter geo with bigger tires.

My n+1 killer do it all bike is a lauf seigla mullet 1x with three different tires: 32mm slick, 45mm fast gravel tire, and 56mm xc mtb tire... I really don't understand how anyone can call either of the bikes in the video a "do it all"... Though at the end of the day, even I have another bike: full-squish mtb. Oh, and my old cx bike that is now a foul-weather commuter.... So much for the n+1 killer lol.

Have AllRoad bikes with 40mm tire clearance killed gravel bikes?

I belong to that bunch of fellows for which too much choice is confusing. What I see here are two bikes I would probably classify in the same category. I don't mean there is no difference between them, but I would rather treat those differences as an interspecific variation, so to speak. From my perspective, the problem with a modern typology is that there is a ton of overlap between supposedly separate categories of bikes. This overlap can be seen in what those bikes are capable of, but also in the geometry and spec. I like more what for example Canyon did with their gravel bikes. Both models, Grizl and Grail are advertised as gravel bikes. If I recall correctly, they even have the same geometry. But one is dedicated more to adventure and bike packing, and the other to racing. Such kind of typology I can understand. But when one makes very similar bikes, differing in some minuscule details, and one is called a road bike and the other something different, then I'm confused. While I can see a difference between a road bike and an MTB, or even between a road bike and a gravel bike, at the same time it's hard for me to see cyclocross bikes as something different than a specific subset of gravel bikes (though I'm aware cyclocross appeared earlier). I guess those small differences can be important for semi-pro and pro riders, or serious amateurs looking for marginal gains. But I look for something different in cycling - adventure, joy and freedom. Maybe this makes me incapable of appreciating the modern typology of bikes.

The gravel bike is the best entry level drug to cycling. Period. It's the one that you can recommend to anyone who doesn't want a traditional bike. It ticks all the boxes, some of them half but it can do everything. N+1? Who says you're allowed to only have one bike? Gravel bikes are great but in every regard just a compromise. Comfort? Not the best. Speed? Not the best. Offroad? Not the best. On-road? Not the best. If you find yourself wanting more in any of these subjects you will have to get a second bike. I did. I got me an endurance road bike with a max tire clearance of 33mm. That way a 30mm tire sits snug and tight in the frame. My bike scores higher in comfort, speed and on-road which is perfect because 95% of my riding is on paved roads and I am a little bit of a speed junkie. Are endurance bikes going more gravel now? 100% they do. Most manufacturers have released their latest models with 40mm clearance and the "all-road" bike (former 33mm to 37mm tire clearance) that was inbetween road and gravel seems to be replaced by endurance bikes which in return try to be more gravel while gravel by itself is being interpreted by manufacturers more towards mtb or road anyway. That is confusing to everyone who is not willing to put in hours, weeks or months into research for their next bike. Everyone who is undecided needs to go to a big dealer with lots of choice and a test track. Try out as many bikes as they allow you to ride until you find what fits you. Do not buy online if you don't know exactly what you need! My brother is now stuck with a €3.5k bike that makes him unhappy but it looks cool.

A do-it-all bike has to have fender mounts in my area, so it's such a shame that the Aspero doesn't have them... Btw, since when did Cervelo became the budget option 🤣

Just waiting for the new Revolt with integrated cables

There is no difference other than more tyre clearance between gravel and endurance. Geometry can be all over the place depending on brand. Chose a Gravel bike because there was a good sale offer that gave me a better specced future proof bike when I got a gravel bike for the money. It rides like a dream.

unpopular opinion, most bikes are the same, over and over again its going over the same thing, weight, aero, stiffness and tyre clearance, most bikes are extreamly simular, just all the money spent on marketing make them look special

Road bikes have same problem as smartphones. Samsung, Iphone etc they all look the same.

please try to review van rysel edr cf. i think it is the best value bike there is.

Where is the Using the road bike as a gravel bike test ride?

You can close the difference between the two bike types by comparing a 2 by crank not 1. There are plenty of options. Why use a one by as a gravel/road bike when there are two by so best of both worlds. Top end speed you lose 1.x mph top speed but you get a lot more range going up hills. So please do an apples for apples comparison with a gravel bike with say sram rival axs with 2 by and 12 speed.

Seriously a gravel bike is all in one because your riding surface might change or even your preference. If you buy an enve which is a whole lots of money, when you decide you need wider tires or your bum starts to hurt a little too much for your comfort, it's too late. Modify your gravel bike to an endurance set up or maybe just get an enve mog.

At this point non-progressive gravel bikes are basically the same as all-road endurance bikes

ive twice seen people on asperos absolutely killing a bunch of roadies, both on flat and uphill! :) Its definitely a 1-bike imo

So, what I'm hearing you say is, the ENVE MOG is the best bike.

Areo mtb

Enve

Not the best looking bike from Cervélo this time!

Like 99.99% of SUV owners, virtually all miles for gravel bikes will be used on roads only.

I love my Grizl, I have 3 wheel sets with 3 different tires. Best Buy I’ve ever done 🫡

As a roadie, I absolutely hate gravel bikes. They are just MTB with drop bars. Eundurance/Allroad bikes should be the do it all bike! It can go on MTB trails, but not too sluggish on Asphalt!

Alu gravel bikes are too heavy. Carbon gravel bikes are too fragile for offroad. Im sticking to carbon road bike and alu mtb.

First? Wow

Put 650 wheels on your road bike .. problem solved

They look heavy and slow