There are lots of important bike concepts in this video, I hope you learnt something today! 🏆 For more knowledge, check out my Bikepacking Bike Buyer's Guide: www.cyclingabout.com/bikepacking-bike-buyers-guide/

5 years later, gravel bike will be mtb again.

Don’t know about most people but I have 1 bike and will likely always only have one bike. I got a gravel bike 3 years ago that was way closer to road than MTB and it suits me really well. Since then gravel bikes have just moved more and more towards MTB. There is a gap now between road and “gravel” I honestly don’t know what I would buy now.

The touring mountain bike I got 20 years ago would now be categorized as a gravel bike. Interesting.

I'm definitely a gravel bike man but it seems we are going in the direction of dissolving the distinction between gravel bikes and hardtail XC bikes. And I think gravel bikes should stay something in between the road and full terrain - something like the bike version of a crossover or SUV. For me, a gravel bike (and this is purely personal) is still a type of bike that feels better on the road but is capable of taking us in some more rough terrain if we need to. But the real off-road tracks should stay reserved for MTB. Drop handlebars might be not enough to keep the distinction. More 'road-like' geometry may be the key feature here.

It's also nice to see lower gears on more entry level groupset. I'm so glad to see CUES has a 40/24 crankset

Gravel bikes...the most misunderstood sector in the history of cycling. If they were named "all road" we wouldn't have the "they're just MTB's" nonsense.

The future of gravel bike is a 29er, full suspenion XC bike with a dropbar. Seriously.

Great as always. Thanks! I just bough my first MTB today, and learned a lot from your videos.

The videos of your channel are always packed with tons of valuable infos. It may be the only channel, where I often rewind to make sure to capture every word. I‘m planning to replace my 16 yrs old Stevens Trekking bike next season with either a Rohloff or Pinion Smart Shift touring bike and I found your buyer‘s guide valuable narrowing down candidate bikes. Living close to Idworxx‘s factory it was one of my favs… until I realized how crazy $$$ expensive it is.

Yes! The bike industry is slowly reinventing the HT mtb. Keeping my HT, I need to look cool in future times.

There are two gravel bike setups that are relevant for my riding. A setup that allows fairly fast street riding and then some gravel and LIGHT trail added in. And then another drop bar gravel setup that is more conducive to rougher road and trail bikepacking. And it seems that bar choice and tire size on the same frame will satisfy both of these needs for me. Adding Redshift suspension stem and seatpost to this same frame has made this setup cover just about everything.

I'm looking forward to put drop bars on my downhill bike and call it a gravel bike

Wow, I'm only in the middle of the video and I already feel like you've covered all the most important things.

Love your work. Very informative, thank you.

Awesome video like always! Big fan here, and also fan of Dylan!!

I think Gravelbikes will be made in more categories and not just Gravelbike. Like Road has Aero, Climbing and Endurance, or MTB has Cross Country, Trail, Downhill and Enduro, Gravelbikes could be made in categories like touring (the basic Gravelbike of today), xtra offroad (with suspension and MTB tires) and race (no mounting points, made for speed). Many already have this, like the Canyon Grail would be a race Gravelbike and the Canyon Grizzl is for touring, bike packing, commuting and so.

Another great video. Thanks Alee!

I almost thought it's an april fools special how much gravel is backtracking to old solutions... Now as i'm half through i'm hoping the next segment will be about how flat bars will improve steering 😁

Really like your view on things. It always opens my eyes again.

I really don´t get why people think that a single chain ring drive train is a good option for a gravel bike thats supposed to be a kind of do it all bike and especially for that I would choose a double front chainring but I guess everyone has their preferences

Got to say what a refreshing video this is on KZfaq. Dispelling all the myths with actual logic and backed up with science, succinct and not here to pander to the KZfaq masses (which often feel like a horde of retro grouch cyclists with tall poppy syndrome - anything but rim brakes and 26" wheels from the 90s is considered scary and conspiracy from big bike).

Great and very reasonable outlook. So excited about the near future of this bike category. Wider tyres (tubeless) and a Rudy Ultimate suspension fork, that’s what I am looking for at my next gravel bike. I miss the fun I had with a Stigmata equipped with 650B wheels and 2“ tyres. It was so forgiving, felt playful in any terrain and was fast too.

The Lauf fork has quite an advantage over a suspension fork; it's half the weight (400g versus 800g), zero maintenance (as opposed to regular maintenance on hydraulics), are MORE aerodynamic than a regular fork (5w apparently) as apposed to a penalty on hydraulic suspension forks, plus it is proghessive damping (due to the spring design) and has zero lag like a hydraulic fork. Yes, I did my homework, that's why I have one! Leaf springs are a no brainer on gravel bikes

Got the Priority Apollo Jan 2023 and absolutely love it. The belt drive is awesome, love the ultra low maintenance and silence of the bike.

Gravel bikes with larger tires ,front suspension...how far away from hardtail MTB we are !?

Great content, thanks for posting! I plan on purchasing a gravel bike this summer. The information in this video could not have come at a better time.

My 3x10 currently has not only 573%, as shown in the video, but 764% range: 42-32-24t / 11-48t For more ground clearance the 42t can be replaced by a 32t sized bash guard: 582% range, going 2x10. It's a shame, what's going on with front derailleurs at the moment…

Hmm lot of interesting information. Thanks for the video

This one is close to home. My custom steel gravel bike is one year old now, has a 30t 1x setup with 10-50 rear on 650b; plenty of low gear fun. I don't need the aspirational high gears, I can spin up to 25mph just fine, anything above that I should be coasting anyways. Add in tire clearance for 55mm f/r, and a Lauf suspension fork, and seems I have just about all the points made. and there are times I wish it had a Pinion instead of AXS. ah well.

Hybrid (light frames, wider tyres, endurance position, higher bottom bracket) is the way to go for 90% of us. The only weight penalty should be the tyres and the forks. Single speed front gears (40:10-44) may make up for it.

Excellent video

I like it and later I watch. Thank you for your content.

The XC bike perfected, with the comfort and riding posture of the roadbike. Beautiful. It's a bike that can do anything. I love my 25mm tyres, but i'd be lying if I said I didn't want a gravel bike.

My current gravel bike is a 1x carbon. Low weight - it gets up hills well. And legs adapt. Good VO2 max training which is healthy and fun (I like high intensity workouts, a buzz).. Low maintenance, 1x and SRAM 1 to 1 shift ratio , full outer, keeps working in mud no tuning, lasts ages before need to touch. And only one cable. I also like under biking challenges, keeps my skills sharp. If I fancy a rest or comfort I have my my XC bike handles that, esp with wide upright bars, and it does more besides. If you wanted ONE bike, a gravel bike with 2x or expensive eagle and suspension would be fine. Or just an XC HD!

I remember having a mountain bike from the 90s. Hard Tail with front suspension, mountain bike tires. I loved it. I wish they used that same design again. Now mountain bikes are extreme with real shock systems, etc.. I don't want that.

All this depends on where you live and ride. We have a lot of hills where I live, and I use a 38x28 for my lowest gear. I put a 28 on my wife's bike and took off the 40t dinnerplate. I can't stand huge jumps between gears. If I have to get out of the saddle and stomp on the pedals, so much the better. If you ride some nasty climbs in the mountains or are older, then the dinnerplate on the back is perfect.

4 years ago i bought a Cube gravel bike. Impossibly tall gears 50/34 with 11/32 cassette. New square taper bb and 42/26 with 11/34 transformed the bike

Excellent information. As a teenager in the 70's, I remember changing the tires on my old heavy Schwinn Continental, to a more rugged tread as I routinely took the bike on regular asphalt, tar-gravel and gravel roads with some moderate light trail included. I noticed an increase in efficiency since the old style road tires did not float as well on the gravel which tended to cut deeper into the gravel resulting in increased workload from wheel spin and side slips in turns and ruts. I was still able to hit 40 mph on a steep portion of Spalding Dr in Dunwoody Ga. Finding a bike suitable for a teenager in similar road conditions today could be another interesting article. I think a gravel bike with a couple of different tires would be a great choice. Gearing, suspension and drives I guess would depend on economic and mechanical repair aptitude.

So in other words... the industry should've left well enough alone and put drop setup's on MTB. A no-brainer, otherwise, exhausting irritability.

Like so much in the bike world, things evolve in spirals, at first diverging, encountering limitations, then revisiting what was but somewhat differently ie the bike packing movement with the move away from racks and panniers to soft bags and straps, found there was not enough volume, too much wagging of seat bags and then a move back to racks (now carbon and about 2-3xs as expensive as the previous metal ones) and bags that sort of look like panniers but apparently aren't panniers. The one thing the bike industry is not, is static. A bored consumer is no longer a consumer. Still, I find the innovations in gearing and belt drives to be exciting. signed, Hopeless Consumer.

You should do a video on the Lauf Fork. Zero maintenance and it improves aerodynamics!

I put a 46t cassette on mine with a double 48/32 chainrings. No more grinding up steep climbs. A deraileur extension is all that's needed to make the grx deraileur work with a wide angle cassette. Easy and cheap

The Lauf fork seems to be well-suited for gravel bikes without the maintenance headaches.

Its a great time to be alive!

A lot of those bikes are darn close to XC hardtails with drop bars. Fluidity in bike categories is a GOOD thing, IMO. It's just funny to hear 'gravel bikes are getting better' when they really just get more similar to bikes designed for offroad / mountain use.

I have a fuji Jari 2.1 I purchased a couple of years ago. The thing has that many braise on fixing points for racks and bags and bottle racks it makes for a great touring bike.

Bought a Giant Toughroad flatbar for steep and rough gravel roads. Waiting for the Shimano 820 groupset to trickle down to the cheaper bikes.

gates belt drive and pinion is aweseome it tried the mcu last year on the euro bike.... also a small suspension (lockable) ont he seat and the fork is pretty helpfull

Nice to see Avaghon at the end of the video. A small brand from my hometown Rotterdam.

Thanks for the stream. I appreciate the info.

If you are competing then obviously efficiency is very important, for the rest of us, who don’t keep our gears & chains spotlessly clean we are probably no worse off. I wouldn’t swap back to a chain & gears from my belt drive but then I don’t compete or climb very steep gradients. I admit a lower gear (Alfine 8) would be nice to save some effort but losing a few kilos would probably be more effective. The pinion gearbox looks interesting & should offer lower gearing as the problem with torque is handled by the gearbox & not the rear hub & again, losing a couple of kilos would compensate for the weight increase & unsprung weight should also be lower.

Love your videos! Tempted to put a Thunder Burt Super Ground 29x2.1 on my Checkpoint SL. However once I put on road wheels, I dont want a wannabe mountain bike. Suspension fork really doesn't fit that use case imo

The Trek District was such a great model that I found too late to actually get my hands on. Belt drive with rear gearbox and front dynamo hub, plus fenders and cargo rack? Commuter perfection. Now if they came out with an electric version I might just cream myself.

Thank you, great as always. Q: Will those emerging suspension forks still allow (my preferred) classic touring configuration with a low rider rack on the front fork for a pair of old-fashioned panniers? Greetings, an old touring/trail biker

My Schwinn Paramount mountain bike has a 3x9, Deore groupset, takes wide tires, and rack mounts for touring. . I have a Titanium road bike, and thinking of a new Lynsky titanium gravel. I like the new geometry and bigger head tube for stability, disc. Etc.

All we need now is flat bars so you can get to the brakes, an extra chainring, lightweight barends and I've finally got my 1990's MTB back 🙌👌💪❤️

Is there any endurance road or gravel bike with a carbon frame and suitablility for a Carbon belt drive and a Rohloff or Pinion available? For the moment, I'm playing with a touring bike steal frame with a Rohloff, DT Swiss gravel rims, GP5000 32mm road tires and aerobars. Good and confortable, but 13.5 kg and far from agressive...

Why is everyone so sensitive about how you call a bike and what niche should not be covered? Isn't it great that we get more options and variants and you can get exactly what you want? Of course there is some overlap - so what? Most (stock) XC hardtails are fairly different from gravel bikes, even those with a sus fork. Most are not made for riding fast on flatter terrain (and i don't mean xc-fast, but roadie-fast) but gear much more towarda more rough and more uphill. I love my XC (fully), but it is just a different experience compared to riding my gravel bike. On a side note: modern gravel frame geometry is nothing like 90ies MTB, repeating that statement doesn't make it true.

Spot on.

I built my Gravelbike with a 50/34 105 crank and a 42/10 XG cassette. So, plenty of range

I don’t think a 38x52 drivetrain is needed at all. I’m 65 years old and I still can climb double digit grades with my gravel bike. I have a Specialized Diverge with a 42x11-42 drivetrain running stock wheels and 700x42 tires. I’m sure there out there, but I have yet to find a hill I couldn’t climb. My cadence slows down to 70 and my speed to around 6 mph on big climbs, but I’m okay with it. I don’t have to stop at the top to recover for a minute either. My conditioning is good, but ordinary for anyone who cycles year round. Just my opinion. I enjoy the videos!

$8000 for the latest gravel tech with big tyre clearances and suspension systems. Or €4000 for an extremely capable carbon XC hardtail.

I can attest that the latest gravelbike i build a couple of weeks ago comes with most the mentionned improvements compared to it's 2023 version. Tyres went from 38m to 45mm standard. While the brand says max 45mm. They also said max 38 on the previous model (where people just used 42mm's in general) Looking at the clearance 50mm should be fine. This is with the same Q-factor and possible 2-by set-up as it's predecessor due to the dropped chainstay. Also cables now next to the headset. Really well done. It's actually pretty easy to replace the line. As 1 came with a faulty one out of the box. I had to replace it myself as i order straight from importer. The downside you have to drop out the fork. so it's a bit more work. But very easily accesible and decent achieveable curves. While the cheaper versions still have sub optimal gearing options. Like the one's in my fleet. The more expensive versions come's with 1 by with huge MTB casettes. Here the max gradients is 12% but only for a very short time. Prolonged up to 8% for 80m of elevation change. The traditional gearing is fine here. It has a carbon fork though. But the manufacturer change the frame to accomodate one if you'd want. Maybe later they will add it in new trims. Basically what the video mentions at 9:10. I don't like the gearbox or rear hub options. Yes they're low maintenance. But if you do that to save money. Just get a GRX 400 drivetrain. Those chains and casettes cost pennies you will never recoup those expensive gearboxes and rohloff hubs.

You mention wider clearances for tires. How about 650B? We already had the option to go wider by making the diameter smaller. What is your opinion on this? Thanks for the great video again!

I would have loved your comments and comparaison about the LAUF fork that is a zero maintenance and very light 30mm suspended fork..

regarding the fork : well, here we are back with MTB's, can't wait for maintenance on it regarding the gearbox belt : introducing belt generalization and gearbox, supposely to be more reliable (which I don't doubt but if you need maintenance on it, that won't be the same price than a derailleur). I chose a gravel for it's simplicity : now in this era, we are speaking of adding electronics, batteries (for shifting), gearbox and forks. I'll stick with my cables and my dumb derailleur to adjust...

The SOMA Wolverine had 3 of the mentioned features in 2014, including belt drive compatibility.

Superbe exposé! 👍

When I have build for myself a gravel bike 4 years ago with GRX 2x11 with SLX cassette 11-50 and air for RockShox Paragon with 50mm of travel. Everybody were looking at me that I should not do this. Now a day manufactures doing the same. Ehhh 😂

2 years with a gravel bike and they'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands and this is after decades of riding mountain bikes on 4 month trips around the world.

I ride my old MTB. Thanks.

My gravel bike has a GRX 2x12 , 31 front 34 rear is already quite capable

Evolving towards mtb hardtail! No one needs that crap,you can ride almost any trail or path or road,on your mtb hardtail! Greetings from Croatia 😎

Can you feel the increased resistance of a Pinion gearbox when pedaling uphill or at any other speed? I have ridden some Nexus hubs (on public bikeshare) and some feel almost the same as a derailleur, while others feel like there's a small coffee grinder in the hub. With a belt and a different gearing system, I wonder if Pinion is smoother than Nexus.

Talking about suspension, curious if you had any vibration data regarding Specialized's future shock? Understand a suspension fork is superior but just curious to know how suspension stems compare.

Easy solution to hills is to use a Wolf Tooth and appropriately larger cassette with your GRX. Simple and cheap solution. Don't need a new derailleur.

I guess it depends on the kind of road / path you have available in your region. As you said gravel bike is made for back road network away from the big majority of car traffic. That said where I live, that network is at least still 80% road (albeit not that smooth) and the gravel part is mostly hard packed dirt/gravel so pretty fast rolling anyway. So for my used case (and frankly, most of the european cyclist one), the perfect gravel bike is close to en endurance road bike, with a slightly longer wheelbase, no suspension, and 35 to 45mm tires depending on the thread pattern, the kind of terrain you ride, and the rims you have. If you live in a relatively flat area, narrower handlebars with next to no flare and deeper rims is gonna make more difference to the effort you produc than big tires and suspension. That said, the wider choice of gearing and internal gearbox is a welcome addition to biking in general.

Decades back, I noticed cross country tires on sale, gravel riding was always possible.

I'm SO glad that people are finally realizing that wider tires are so much better. So tired hunting for a bike, and everything I find maxes out at 40-45mm, and often lower with fenders

For me, XC is the best, because in indonesia we have a lot of local trail. Actualy we don't have gravel area

The "more capable" gravel bikes mostly seem to be bought with the same logic as people buy pickup trucks. "What if I want to bikepack up a mountain one day", meanwhile they are used for 80 km rides with an extended cafe stop on mostly roads. I completely understand drop bar bikes with some extra tire clearance, makes sense for the average rider who doesn't really care about getting the last bit of speed on the road to go for a bit more comfort and ability to use some gravel roads. But by the point you add suspension and those massively wide flared bars, you've probably arrived at owning a worse mountainbike.

Agree with below. Gravel bikes will eventually overlap with XC mtb's. Probably have some hybrid bars.

Since you are a bicycle travel channel, I sometimes miss a reflection of repairability in your videos. Is it really the best idea to take the latest tech - maybe a pinion gear box with electronic shifting and some fancy suspension - around the world or is it in some cases better to just have a rigid steel mtb, that you can most likely repair everywhere? I like that I am capable of understanding and repairing my bike everywhere and I think this is a dimension that needs reflection if you are seriously travelling and not only doing fancy overnighters in europe or america

Cool video. Would be interested in the formulas behind the gearing calculations...want to upgrade my current gravel bike for exactly that reason..It doesn't have a gravel specific group set, yet - as they did not exist back then. It came with a Ultegra group set with 50/34 and 11-32 cassette, so not even 1:1 ratio. Still not sure if I should say goodbye to the two-by or how the new two-by wider range group sets (e.g. GRX 12s with 46/30 and 11-36 cassette) compare to the one-by.

Exactly, MTB with drop bar

If I want to climb a 12 to 18% grade as a 195 lb rider, what would be the best crank to cassette mix?

Evolving and accepting its an xc bike after all 😊

It is happening again. A) Someone invents new bike for a specific need. B) it dies out or gains huge initial popularity. C) it gets developed further and people start competing with it. D) A competition you say? Well then we are going to need rules. E) the thing now is regulated by international comitee and to qualify as the thing you must be able to fulfiil the racing regulations. F) new invention is required to meet demand of people not competing. This time something slightly different, but not that different.

Future biking should lean more towards ebikes tbh. Gravel bike or however you name it, is still just a normal bicycle with little modification here and there such as handlebar, tires, frames. However it costs a lot more than some older bikes such as MTB. It's just marketing.

Speaking of suspension: could you do a review of Redshift Cruise Control drop-bar grips?

Just bought a Poseidon Redwood for $500 off the official website. Hope this helps whoever is looking for one

any thoughts on lauf forks?

@cyclingabout you have mentioned gravel bike getting suspension. Cannondale has introduced the slate with mtb gears and lefty suspension 8 years ago... The topstone even introduced a back sus. The future of gravel is more like fully suspended e-gravel bikes. Ho no, we have the Cannondale Neo Topstone, a fully suspended e-gravel bikes that is a couple of years old. A detailed review would be great because you excel at that.

pinion can handle max input torque of 250Nm before it starts slipping. 250Nm of momentary torque on a technical trial is definitely within reach of a strong rider. i use this stuff on my commuter bike and when i have to go fast from a standstill, on a high gear, they it sometimes does 'slip'. on top of reduced efficiency you also get a bit of a 'squishy' feeling under the feet - it's not as direct as a chain drive. all fine for me on my commuter bike, but i dont think i'd like it on a sporty recreational bike.

Cannot wait reinventing the Klunker 😂

Hmm I tried 2 used e-bikes with the enviolo system with belt now and both bikes felt so slow. Maybe it’s that enviolo system get slower over time?

Going from a 6.6% gradient to a 9.4% gradient is an increase of 42%, not 30%.

Now - which drop bars to fit to my 90's Kona MTB...

I can't be the only one begging for more flat bar gravel bikes. I know all the jokes in the comments are about how we're just getting closer and closer to a mtb, it's true, but that's kind of what a want, a more comfortable and versatile mtb with minimal/no suspension, steel frame, etc. I feel like builders are intentionally avoiding flat bars because they are afraid of the mtb similarities and feel that gravel must be drop bars, but lets be real, when it comes down to doing fun gravel routes, the drop bars are seriously inhibiting. And if you're gonna tell me to just buy a 90's mtb, I already have one. I just want to be able to buy one in a shop with modern components