A bit more zing could be added to your route by following the Osprey singletrack trail. This is a fast flowing blue graded route which is fine on a hardtail so should be OK on a gravel bike. The Osprey diverges from your route above the Castle and rejoins it after about 3 miles. After the initial climb much of the Osprey is downhill through magnificent forest glades of great variety. We finished off by riding round Kielder Water, best done on a quiet day.

You definitely had the right bike for you, nice gravel loop there. If you love your bike and get a kick out of riding it every time then that's what it's all about, right? 😊

I agree about E bikes I have recently bought a Haibike trekker e-bike and I am 68 years old and found it was getting more difficult to ride my old hybrid up gradients. I would not be riding now without my ebike

I have 3 ebikes and multiple non-ebikes and I love them all. Living in an area that it’s 17 degree slope just to get out of our area to go and ride and not being young the ebikes make it so we get out and enjoy our rides. I love my Bianchi e-allroad gravel bike that is the best of all worlds for gravel and road and after I added the kinekt seat post and stem it makes riding gravel tons of fun so adding them it added a little weight but it being an ebike it’s a no brainer. My Trek Allant 8S commuter bike that weighs over 60lbs is awesome for quick trips to town and it’s very stable on the road at speed because of the weight and with the Bosch motor it keeps me moving quickly to town and leaving my car at home. The full carbon Trek eCaliber mountain bike is just fun, lightweight and great fun on single tracks and it makes me work but gives me just enough assist to make climbing easier and the day lots of fun. Love your videos and I love that ebikes get friends out together again and no matter how old they are and in what shape they are you can all get out and enjoy !!!

Agree with the comment that e-bikes allow riders of different fitness levels to ride together. I do 250 rides a year on a light XC MTB and my wife rides her E-MTB, mainly in ECO mode and we ride together. I would say that you CAN get just as much of a workout on an e-bike…it’s just that you don’t HAVE to. You can always back off and boost up the power when you want it. If I was starting the sport today, I’d have one of each.

I actually think an E-gravel bike is the optimal point we'll get to soon. Something you can ride for 30k on your own power on roads without it feeling a drag (which a standard MTB does, an Ebike certainly does), to get to your hills/gravel etc. Turn the assistance on, and it help you around your ride (say 50-60k) but being a bit lighter than MTB and gravel/cross setup rather than MTB, thinner tyres (say 40mm), no need for suspension etc. You wouldn't need a MTB to ride those Kielder Forest roads, same for likes of Dunkeld area, Aberfoyle etc. But currently as far as I know if you want the e assistance then you have to buy a MTB ebike. Imagine a little engine in your arcadex that you can turn on after half the ride...

Nice car ❤

Once you go ebike, that’s it - you’re not coming back, I use my gravel bike at Kielder, even the MTB trails on the other side of the main road are doable. But I do also have a 29HT for general riding and a more enduro 29FS for the steeps.

I own an Ebike, but I also own 2 gravel bikes and two road bikes. One thing I never forget, or take for granted is how far an ebike will take you into the wilderness. If you don't have the fitness to pedal it out without power if the need arose, you're in serious difficulty.

Think e-MTB have there a place and it would mostly be for mountains, you don't need that amount of suspension travel for normal gravel. If weight wasn't such an issue I could see it as a good contingency in a normal e-bike but I would want unassisted pedal function