FAST GRAVEL BIKES

Riverside GCR FORCE AXS XPLR

£4,000 | Decathlon’s value-packed premium gravel ride

Weight 8.60kg (L) Frame Carbon Fork Carbon Gears SRAM Force AXS XPLR (10-44t, 44t) Brakes SRAM Force hydraulic with 160mm rotors Wheels Reynolds ATR carbon Finishing kit Alloy seatpost, Fizik Argo Terra X5 saddle, Ergo alloy stem, Ergo alloy bar, Hutchinson Touareg tubeless 40mm tyres

Riverside is Decathlon’s gravel-specific companion to Van Rysel, the pro-tour proven race bike brand. Like Van Rysel, the GCR has UCI certification, making it eligible for gravel racing at the highest level.

The carbon frame and fork certainly look the part with the on-trend muted colourway and understated graphics. Under the paint, standard-modulus carbon is blended with high-modulus strains in the bottom bracket shell and head-tube to increase stiffness.

With a claimed frame weight of 1,058g (Medium) and fork weight of 442g, it’s competitively light. The frame features dropped seatstays and a slim, standard alloy 27.2mm-diameter seatpost. This allows you to swap in a carbon or dropper post down the line should you wish.

Fast and light

It looks to be aimed more at racers and day riders than multi-day eventers and bikepackers. There are just two bottle cage fixings (though the down-tube gives two bottle-position options), and neither fork mounts nor provision for mudguards. The seat-tube does have mounts for a front derailleur, though, so it could be run as a 2x. There’s clearance for 42mm tyres, less than both the Cérvelo’s 46mm and the Argon’s 45mm.

The geometry is also more race orientated, with steep head and seat angles and a low stack. However, it does have a fairly short reach, generous chainstays to help with bigger tyre clearance, and a long wheelbase for some added stability.

The price seems impressive for a bike with SRAM’s Force AXS XPLR groupset and Reynolds ATR carbon gravel wheels. Even Canyon’s equivalent Grail CF SLX 8 AXS costs £5,099 with Force AXS and Zipp 303s. Look a little deeper into the specification, though, and the bar, stem and seatpost are all own-branded alloy, and the Force AXS XPLR groupset isn’t the latest version; it’s the previous one. Although the shifters and chainset have been redesigned and the hoods are smaller, little has fundamentally changed in the new version (as on the Argon) though.

The decent Reynold’s ATR wheels are gravel specific and have a 40mm-deep rim with a 23mm internal width, but the claimed weight of 1,685g is more than the wheels on the other bikes on test. The Hutchinson Touareg tubeless tyres come with bottles of sealant, ready to install.

The Fizik Argo Terra is a great saddle: cushioned enough for rough gravel yet sleek enough to not be intrusive. The X5 here is the base-model cro-mo railed one.

Good gearing

The GCR is a capable bike that’s well suited to faster gravel and mixed-surface riding. The Touareg tyres, with tightly spaced gridded tread, have good grip in the dry and don’t feel squirmy or sluggish on tarmac either. They pack with soft mud quickly, but clear quickly too.

The bike’s handling is nicely neutral. It feels like a good endurance bike on the road while off-road its steady steering responses are just what you need when traversing bumpy, double-track trails and large, loose-gravel sections.

“It feels like a good endurance bike on the road while off-road it holds no surprises”

On smoother surfaces, the GCR is fast and it responds quickly enough. The XPLR gearing with a top end of 44-10 is plenty fast enough for hair-raisingly fast off-road descents, while the 1:1, 44/44 gear will see you pedalling up the steepest gradients. The Force group performs as well as ever, with slick, positive shifts, powerful braking and brilliant chain control. Some riders also prefer the more substantial hood shape you get on this old version when riding rougher off-road terrain.

It’s only when the going gets both fast and rough that the Riverside struggles. At the back it’s OK thanks to the superb saddle, tyre compliance and some give in the seatstays. Up front, however, the stiff alloy bar, chunky oversized fork and substantial head-tube combine to rattle your tooth fillings and numb your fingertips. In fact, more than once I had to slow down to get the GCR back under control. The bar already has good tape on it, so you could try a carbon bar, though I’d fit something like Redshift’s ShockStop stem or even a gravel suspension fork.

Also consider…

A little less

Riverside CGR SRAM Rival AXS £2,700
You’ll get the same slick, French-designed frameset, but here it comes with SRAM’s wireless Rival groupset and Fulcrum’s RR 900 wheels.

A lot less

Riverside Touring 920 £1,599
A tough alloy allroader with SRAM Rival 1x, hydraulic disc brakes, chunky 29er wheels and tyres, and a front dynamo hub to power your lights.

Photography Russell Burton