Gravel-race versus gravel/all-road for the rest of us. Gravel-race depends on how much gravel and how chunky the gravel, and how long the race is. A flat bar aero Xc mtb vs drop bar mtb vs drop bar light rando front suspension and dropper post with 50’s vs drop bar aero road race bike with room for 32-38. That’s all for the pros. What rest of us need is endurance all road geometry, wide range gearing, room for about 38 without looking stupid going a little wider or narrower. I’m on an aluminum Diverge grx 400 with two sets of wheels, 21mm inner width with slick 32’s for all road and 25mm inner width with 50’s for farm roads riding in a hilly area and not racing.

I think it will loop back around and people soon will start to go backwards a bit, the endurance category on 35mm fast gravel tires is where we will go, because hardly anyone really rides a gravel bike on tech territory - i see most people just use them as road bikes for rough roads.

I'm old school, I recently bought a beefed up gravel bike, a touring bike. Steel frame, steel fork, triple crank and bar end shifters, love it. Will go touring with panniers on it this summer.

Great question & great answers. I agree that 'all-road' will replace road bikes, and gravel bikes will get 'wider' (wheel wise).

I've concluded that I could easily have two gravel bikes. One at the road bike end of the spectrum and one at the mountain bike end of the spectrum. It's like how lots of people have more than one mountain bike.

I love the options for all different riders and each preference. I sold five bikes and am down to one: a Crux with 47c tires mounted... and no additional wheelset. I ride 60% road and 40% gravel. The lightness of the frameset and components vs. the larger/heavier tires averages out to a low 17 pound "do everything machine". BUT, of course, I absolutely still love how-like a saddle-there is no perfect bicycle or setup that works for everyone. Options are key!

Well Sir, thank you for once being an actual bike journalist. And a really good one at that. Please continue in that direction. There are not many being capable of doing this.

A long way from peak gravel. 10 years from now: Proper mtb style gear range, 50-55mm tires, suspension, aerodynamics. I'm on a 560% range 2x with 40mm fork w/ lockout and 45mm tires, narrow bars and hidden cables. It works.

I think the aero race gravel market will become more pronounced as racers demand more advantage to compete. And like Dylan implied…imagine an aero race gravel bike with 50mil tire!

I don't know in what direction the industry will go. But for me, gravel bikes are great all-rounders, having a lot of versatility. They sit somewhere in between road bikes and XC mountain bikes. I like to make comparisons to cars here, and gravel bikes are like crossovers or SUVs from my perspective. They can handle some rough terrain, but in reality, they still behave the best on the tarmac. From this perspective, I would welcome a wider tyre clearance, overlapping with XC bikes, but at the same time, the bikes should maintain relatively aggressive, road-like geometry. I'm not a fan of suspension in gravels, though. I think the wider tyres should provide all the comfort and traction a gravel needs. More technical terrain, where the suspension can really shine, should be left for MTB In my opinion.

what a surprise -- none of the industry people think gravel has peaked.

The Gravel bike market is just so huge right now, there’s just so many choices- so many new companies hopped on the bandwagon-I agree with Dylan Johnson on tire clearance- I would like to see clearance for a 2.25” XC tire- it’s crazy how good the lighter casing of mtb tires feel….

From a marketing standpoint the gravel bike evolved from road bikes. But from a frame building standpoint, it is a tweaking of the CX bike and the CX bike even precedes the current concept of the endurance road bike. However though the place I work for sold many CX frames that were built as commuters, tourers and off road road bikes, the emergence of gravel has helped more cyclists than ever know the versatility and comfort of wider tires. Without gravel, mid end race bikes might still come specked with 23mm tires.

Fit a drop bar to my hard tail MtB… TaDa….. a gravel bike. 😂

I've been riding a moots Routt 45 with 48mm Rene Hearse tires on rims with a wide inner width, which wind up measuring around 52. I honestly can't imagine running much narrower anymore on gravel. it also affords me the ability to work single track into routes without hesitation.

The guy from Bridge was spot on in just about everything he stated. Good stuff!

I ride gravel and vary tires between 35mm slicks to 48mm knobbies, on SRAM Red, because I mostly ride road. That versatility will never die out.

When Specialized Epic's with drop bars win knarly gravel races , and a Scott Scale HT frame is as light as a diverge or checkpoint frame , a renegade 2.1 is as light as a Pathfinder pro 1.9 , .. The future of gravel is 148 and 110 boost spacing . Current gravel bikes might resemble 90's MTB's , .. but New MTB's are lighter and faster , .. longer and lower , .. Lael Wilcox won some gravel races on an epic , and the bicycle station recently won a gravel race on a new world cup epic .. That's people who want to go fast , .. while UCI gravel races are won on endurance road bikes , .. XC race bikes are fast on Gravel , Scott has introduced the term "super gravel" with it's latest scale , .. they made a suspension corrected rigid fork for it , .. With that fork and light wheels , .. it's really endurance bike light , .. and it's gravel bike light with a SID .. With an Easton AX drop bar , 1X12 GRX shifters , it has a 55 mm chain line and it will take big chain rings ... It's not a 90's hardtail , .. it's probably the future of gravel ..

When the video started I thought, "I wonder if he'll talk to Dylan..." and there he was - the first one. I'm starting to feel like an outlier in wanting a traditional road race bike. If I want to ride gravel, I have to drive a fair distance to do so and if I'm driving to ride then I'm riding a mtn bike. Road riding is what I do out of my front door. A current road race bike with 30c tires is still wider than my 2016 "all-road" GT Grade that can barely fit a 28c and far more than mid-90s Colnago that barely fits a 25c.

I’ve been running a Crux for 6 years now. On road (w diff wheelset), gravel and cx. I agree w Dylan J re fast rolling mtb tyres for gravel - they’re as fast as most grav tyres. I run conti speed king 2.2 on front on my current Crux at 18psi w 45 Terra Speed on back. Front fork will take 54mm width. I do many gravel races/rides. I just did a 112km gravel ride in Beechworth, Australia that had dry slippery corners, rocky downhills, some single track and some tar and I passed many good riders on downhills and corners not because I was more skilled, just that I had more grip and confidence. For me mtb tyres (up front) is about safety and fun with your riding buddies!! I’ve also had an 80mm Red Shift stem for years now that smooths the trails a bit. Gravel is ecotherapy!!

Dylan Johnson is, of course, going to see it from a racer's perspective. Because, well, that's what he does and he's young enough not to have much experience outside of that realm. But, cool, yes, what he describes is the ultimate bike for him. For the riding I do, aero means very little. I'm more interested in a reasonably light and compliant frame that will take moderate sized tires, say 45-48mm. The bike should climb well on pavement and on gravel. The handling should be predictable, and my on bike position should be comfortable for all day riding on a mixture of terrains and surfaces. Being hunched in a really aero position holds no interest, but the drop bars provide extra hand positions and a more aero profile for riding into the wind. I also want the bike to accommodate a rack and other bikepacking luggage (Something that Dylan likely doesn't care about.) My point being that there are different kinds of gravel riders with different needs from their bike. A bike can either be dialed for a certain discipline or a moderate to mediocre tool in a variety of riding styles. It is good the industry has recognized that and produces a wide variation of configurations. For example, I also don't want a gravel bike that takes much wider than 50mm tires. To get more clearance you begin to make a variety of other compromises in the design that then seem to make it more of a mountain bike. Personally, I don't want drop bars on more demanding and rougher terrain. You just don't have the control that you do from a flat bar, you're sitting too far forward, and braking is really hard on your hands on long descents with drop bars on rough terrain. Different types of bikes exist for very good reasons.

Classic KZfaq. Ask industry people if we’ve hit the end of the profit potential line. Shocking that everyone feels like there’s room to grow.

It's really interesting how gravel biking has evolved into two general camps-pure gravel, which leans more toward MTBs, and endurance/all-road, which leans more toward road. Horses for courses, and the perfect justification for possessing more than one bike!

It will never peak, David, but when it does, it'll become vintage gravel and we'll all be buying modern replicas of those classics from 2024. And I like what Dylan says about tires vis-a-vis flats. And I'd much prefer a larger tire and no/fewer flats than the other way around and it'll be fascinating to see what Dylan discovers as our favorite gravel scientist. And thanks again, David, for your intrepid reporting and maybe next time you'll get a scoop from Dylan. 😀

Great insight 👍

aero rode bike with MTB tires. Love it

I agree with Dylan, infact I own a 3T Exploro (road aero bike with 27,5"x50mm tires) and a Lauf Seigla with their magic suspension fork. Couldn't be more happy.

It's not too surprising that a bunch of guys trying to sell bikes said, probably very sincerely, that we haven't reached peak gravel. They love what they're doing and they want to promote their own particular agendas. And sell bikes. I fully agree with the guy who said that most riders want an all-road bike that can go reasonably fast on tarmac and still do some light to moderate dirt roads. I personally ride my gravel bike nearly all the time, but I live in a city and 90% of my riding is on paved surfaces. My "gravel" bike has 32mm road tires and MTB flat pedals on it, and by necessity it's a road/commuter/lite touring bike. I want my bike to be able to do multiple non-racing things and still be relatively nimble and fun while I'm riding around in my normal, non-lycra clothes and shoes. A gravel bike with absolutely no suspension at all is pretty much perfect for that kind of thing.

One metric not mentioned here where there's real opportunity for advancement in the "gravel" sub-segment (and the cycling industry overall) is ... *_VALUE_*

Listening to Dylan Johnson I bought the right gravel bike with the 3T Extreme (aero and big tyre clearance) but I am waiting since end of January to receive my new bike. I am pretty sure that’s because they don’t have enough orders on this quite expensive bike before they start producing the next bunch of bikes in the Italian factory. I agree with Michael Yakubowicz; if it’s your only bike, a gravel or all road bike will be the best weapon of choice. But on the other hand; if you like bikes, new tech, new designs, just go get them, ride them and have fun with all of them. Just not at the same time unfortunately 😂. That’s at least how I keep doing it. Keep the fire burning 🎉

My gravel bike has 66mm tyres, 135mm rear travel and 140mm at the front.

I respect DJ. He’s a beast, but no one is gonna win a big Gravel race stacked with pros on big mountain bike tires any time soon. They need to make better tires, not bigger ones. The bike industry is hurting bad…we all know, yet no one said we need to make better bikes cheaper. Instead the industry will make micro adjustments each year and raise prices. I feel all these retailers are just out of touch with cycling. It’s just a business to them. Well maybe focus on staying in business.

if money, and storage space, is no object, multiple bikes is the way forward, one for road, one for touring one for rougher gravel routes, one for smoother gravel one for all out gravel races. But it's possible to have one bike with two sets of wheels that can do it all with very little compromise. You would want a 2x set up though, more 2x options is the way forward/backward.

I am gravel all the way. My flat bar full sus rig has 2.3 inch tires and an MTB geometry it's a beast

Very insightful, I think, to say that in 10 years we'll regard road bikes the way we now regard tri bikes. Road bikes are crazily impractical, but do serve a social purpose in a wildly unequal society, giving narcissistic men something else to spend $10k on-upping their "friends" with 🤣

Great to se Dylan J crossing over here...

Good stuff! I'm somewhat with Dylan. Can I wish for an updated Crux with a touch of aero, a touch more clearance (48-50), and UDH😄 I say this knowing I need something now and am about to get a used current version Crux rather than wait for whatever is coming from Spesh or others🤣

The “I’m broke and will hate any video talking about new stuff I might want” crowd is gonna love this video 😂

I’d like to see a gravel bike more like a mountain bike. Long, slack, low with a short stem, fully rigid but with a straight bar. I think bent over drops are stupid on dirt. But, I think tires no bigger than 45. So, rolling resistance is good on gravel and road. Otherwise, it might as well just be a mountain bike. That’s what I would like.

I just got the 50mm pirelli gravel H and loving them so far :)

Can't wait to buy some new gravel gears!

Surprised and a bit disappointed no one mentioned gears with wide range (for climbing steep gravel switchbacks loaded with full bikepacks while retaining racer's top speeds ) and close steps for undulating terrain.

Currently on 47mm rubber on my Creo 2…it’s a beast of a rig but can still beat the crap out of me due to the stiffness of the frame, regardless of the Future Shock. I’d love a suspension fork for it, but it’s already a heavy bike when ridden power off.

Just keep spending money bro.

That Bridge guy was on to something.

Folks neglect to mention the two things that keep tires at 45mm and under are the use of front derailleurs and the exponential increase of rotational weight when you go beyond about 42mm. Also most riders seem reluctant to go to 27.5 on gravel because it doesn’t seem necessary to increase width but that may change with the right tires and rims. A final factor is that Boost spacing on XC/trail, adventure bikes make it impossible to swap wheelsets between gravel and mtb. I suspect that ultimate gravel tire width will closely align with GRX chainline.

I have a Lauf TR fork on my Salsa Cutthroat with Redshift suspension stem and seatpost- V comfortable and works v well off road, with Terraveil Rutland 29x 2.2

Would love to see videos on the Lauf fork

I need advise: what is/are most road close gravel bike/s? Specialized Crux as a candidate?

Aero mtb tires coming in hot

I don't know when it will "peak" but if/when it does I hope it stays up there for a long, long time. This is a good time for regular schmoes to get some really nice bikes that are actually fun, enjoyable, and still just a bit "aspirational" Long gone are the days of going into a shop and drooling over the "real bikes" with Italian road-race geometry and 19mm tires...only to be told by some snide sales-schmuck that "the hybrids are back there, Magilla". Now there are "real bikes" for everybody (even if they do still cost too damn much).

….Dylan says…”my ideal gravel bike would be an aero road bike that can fit MTB tyres”, …But Dylan, it already exists. The 3T Exploro Ultra is an all road gravel race bike with road bike geometry designed specifically to be aero with 50-60mm tyres. It’s an awesome gravel race bike. Gerard Vroomen was ahead of the game. The 3T Exploro Ultra is seriously underrated. + most gravel bikes can already fit 50mm tyres in 650b wheels! which are also seriously underrated.

When is a trend not profitable? When a new trend takes it place. There will always be new trends to sell.

I want three (3) things: 1. An inverted suspension fork with accessory mounts 2. A dropper seat post with 20mm of suspension. 3. Steeper seat tube angles.

I think a gravel bike could be closer to a mountain bike and more upright too. My mountainbike is easier to ride in most conditions than my Diverge.

I think mullet builds will become "standard", SRAM XPLR makes little sense when you know you can go from 440% range to 520% range on a 1x by swapping to a mullet build. Choose the chainring size appropriate to the conditions and you're pretty much good to go.

All-Road bikes will take over with their 40mm clearance.

Waiting for full suspension aero gravel bike

0:46 Dylan is standing beside the peak gravel bike. Eventually the industry will catch up to Dylan.

Bikes that ride on dirt roads (gravel). People will always need bikes to ride on dirt roads. Maybe they will improve in a way to better carry items as one goes into the back country.

I just want to see gravel dropbar shifters being fully compatible with mountainbike derailleurs.

It's almost like cycling a continuum that goes from road race bikes to dh mountain bikes. Depending on the terrain you ride and how you ride it bikes are being created to fit that niche.

The staying power of the pure road bike continues to amaze me. As it was for me, I'm sure all newbies entering the sport have thought to themselves, why does a bike have to be restricted to a 25/28mm tire? For someone to who isn't yet immersed in the market or culture, what they're now calling an all-road bike should be the default for a road bike. It would be an unconvincing argument to a newcomer that a bike frame should not be able to support a larger variety of tire sizes. You can talk about all the minute aerodynamic gains from having the fork legs closer together or the seat post closer to the rear wheel, but you'd get more people into road cycling if you weren't trying to convince them that they need to learn with nothing but 28mm of rubber between them and the road. It should be perfectly acceptable to ride a road bike with 32mm to 40mm tires.

Peak gravel will be: 60mm suspension front and rear, with lockout you won't even notice when its smooth. Tires will be around 38mm, for aero and efficiency. Integrated fenders, to improve aero and keep everything clean

Gravel is the new road in the United States, fear of getting smoked by a car/truck/SUV isn't going away. The issue is, at some point everybody that wants a gravel bike bought a gravel bike. Less purchasing will eventually lead to less technology innovation.

Dylan wants a 3T Extrema

...obviously fully gravel is coming soon but i think we will see the same for road in the future.

I think gravel potential is highly dependent on country and terrain. Trying to force a one size fits all to hugely different terrain, environment, road condition, doesn't work for everyone. I see a divergence towards US gravel (bigger tyres) and European gravel (more roadie). With the US gravel going up to 29x2.2 (essentially a drop bar XC bike), and the European gravel topping out at 38c (essentially an all-road/cyclo-cross). I see a bigger interest in Ti over Carbon across the board billed as durable/comfortable, especially for the European gravel. I see a small market segment for "aero gravel" with racing gravel bikes around 45-55c clearance and dropped seat stays, full integration, and electronic shifting, together with low RR knobbly tyres. Essentially an aero XC MTB. Overall, I think we'll see a divergence rather than convergence of bikes, eventually morphing back to their origin bike types (XC, cyclo-cross, touring) in time.

Im hoping that gravel bikes will go the same route as mountain bikes and be full suspension. In my experience my xc full squish demolishes my gravel bike on anything but roads or really tame trails. The rest of the time the added comfort and capability makes the xc bike a far better tool for the job.

I am building my titanium flat bar gravel and I didn't even think go lower than 50mm tyres.

is Dylan Johnson using the TR boost 29?

Hybrid/Gravel/Cyclocross what's the difference?

I'll stick with riding my superlightweight racey 29er mtb with short travel fork and within the decade the rest of the industry will catch up. Have been riding the times equivalent version of this type of bike since the late 80's and these have always been consistently my favourite type of bike to do everything on. From tackling TDF climbs to sketchily riding World Cup downhills, on the same bike, on the same ride...

Well, I just bought into the trend, so I guess we’ve peaked. 😅

Light gravel frames is the need. Affordability is and must be the goal. AUD$3K is the max you should charge new customers.

A big clearance drop bar bike keep the charm of a road bike and the charm of off road adventure. And fitted with fat low pressure tires is the also the best commuter. I agree with the bridge guy. Today is very close to the “do it all bike” myth

Waiting for agro-gravel - full suspension with a motor

Gravel is dead? Never!

After the MTB we now have a gravel hype. And innovation for gravel bikes will only go so far that u can still differentiate it from a mtb or road and possibly buy a second bike. The glorified Allrounder would canalized the other sports bike markets.

“Fairly new discipline.” 😂

Coming from road, bought a couple of gravel bikes. Dont appreciate the substantial weight increase. I can see the opposite if I came from a MB.

Gravel bike is the normal bike with more aero handlebar, made for daily commuting and training.

I think one of the Mistakes the industry makes is the focus on highly specialist machines, driven by racing and its multitude of disciplines, I have Room for one bike, it has to do it all, shopping, fitness riding and off road exploring. a Decade ago, the industry made such a bike, it was called the mountain bike, with 26 inch wheels and flat bars, 21 Gears it was, beginner friendly, short rider compatible, looked easy and inviting to just get on and ride. And the industry has abolished it, Now sales going down the pan, because its making bikes for its mates, not for the general public.

I feel like they are slowly becoming just drop bar mtn bikes. Adding front shocks etc.

Someone elsewhere pointed out the challenge of a 50 mm+ tire and "aero" when it comes to gravel racing machines. UCI just ditched the big-time 'cross races in the USA...how long before the gravel racing fad runs it's course too?

I think the wheels and geometry are still not there, it looks like regarding wheels, the industry is still experimenting, about geometry, i agree we can split the gravel into same as road categories, agree also regarding tyres size, plus the segment is still defined

Now if only a gravel can cost as much as a car will be best for all cycling!

7:40 - this guy gets it. Normal "non pro" riders should be riding endurance geo. Period. Full stop. Even if you want to go fast you are NOT a pro! Stop selling bikes to consumers, meant for pros !! the So called All-road bike SHOULD replace all road bikes if you are NOT a pro. !!!!!

Ask @dylanjohnson, get a speech about tires.

a true gravel race rig that is winning at a high level today will still be winning five years from now. I mean, what are they gonna' do make these bikes faster. very little. in so many ways, gravel racing parallels road racing; light, stiff, simple bikes without bs gimmicks (and excess weight) win races.

I have to agree with Dylan and Michael Y.

I think Gravel has established itself firmly as a category. It isn't going anywhere.

Meanwhile, its Saturday morning, the sun is out , and I'm gona ride by gravel bike with some friends 🍻

New road bikes have massive tire clearance. That’s more interesting to me.

Gravel bikes are for the most part following the historic path of mountain bikes - I'd say we're somewhere early mid 90's in the respective mtb/gravel evolution. So following this logic - There will be a splintering of genres and bikes more adapted to each. Performance Race - Adventure/Tour - Adventure/Trail - Performance Endurance... Then the UCI will take over the Performance Race in like 6-10 years and ruin everything. So We've not hit the peak.

Gravel is at the moment…I honestly have no idea what it is nowadays. There is a clear split: Bikes that are embracing the road bike side of their heritage, and coming almost a full circle back towards road, and then the ones that are so near to turning back into the mountain bike. Somewhere in between there are the so called „adventure bikes“. And a normal person, who does not have any delusions of wearing colourful Lycra and becoming a „weekend pro“ but just wants to ride a bike for fun, has no idea what to buy. In my neck of the woods, when I look at the ads for used bikes, there are by far more „gravel“ bikes for sale than any other kind. Mostly by owners who wanted to get into the new thing, but it’s not for them.

Gravel will be 50-55 mm tyres, rear suspension & a dropp bar. Road will become more like endurance bikes & the rest will stay as is

gravel bike is a mountain bike with drop bar

Not the peak. When the aero monstercross arrives, wake me up.

Lol absolutely shocking you got 2 solid minutes of @DylanJohnsonCycling talking about tire width.