Gravel race bikes and gravel bikepacking bikes are two very different things, so why do we still call both of them ‘gravel bikes’? <\/p>
I want to divide gravel bikes into categories based on what they\u2019re built for, and I want to do it now.<\/p>\n
The exploding popularity of gravel has brought more people than ever to the world of drop-bar bikes, from dyed-in-the-wool roadies to full-send mountain bikers, via new riders dipping their toe into riding for the first time.<\/p>\n
Gravel riding<\/a> has opened up new horizons for just about everyone \u2013 including bike brands keen to jump on the bandwagon, and that means we\u2019re experiencing something of a bout of growing pains when it comes to the huge range of gravel bikes out there.<\/p>\n While mountain bikes have diversified into an ever-confusing amount of sub-genres, as the sport has evolved into wide variety of disciplines and sub-discipines, gravel bikes<\/a> are often lumped together as one category: gravel.<\/p>\n It\u2019s time for the great gravel divide to take place, to establish useful \u2013 and that\u2019s the key here \u2013 sub-categories for riders trying to navigate the huge number of options out there.<\/p>\n It\u2019s something I\u2019ve been vocal about in the past on the BikeRadar Podcast<\/a> and over on our YouYube channel when I pitted two very different gravel bikes \u2013 the Surly Grappler and Scott Addict Gravel head-to-head.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s time to commit words to the page, though, with my take on the future direction of gravel categorisation.<\/p>\n