Let’s talk Gravel Bikes

Let’s talk Gravel Bikes

We’re back on my series ‘If I was getting into cycling today, what would I buy?’ and after a lot of requests I wanted to do a bit of research on entry level gravel bikes.

There’s not quite as much in the sub £1k range as the road bike category, but compared to when I bought my first gravel bike around 4 years ago, things have changed a lot and there’s some really nice options for people just getting into Gravel.

If you’ve got any questions, thoughts, or bike recommendations that I’ve missed, get involved down in the comments section.

#cycling #bikes #gravel

if I was getting into cycling today what would I buy and after a lot of requests today we’re talking about gravel bikes for me there’s two non-negotiables when it comes to buying a gravel bike one it has to have hydraulic brakes and two it has to be one bike i’ve been riding one by on gravel for the last couple of years now and honestly it’s just better no front gear changes up technical climbs no chain drops and just generally fewer things to go wrong first up is a notable mention from Canyon their Grizzle 5 is a really nice frame taking a lot of the trickle down from their higherend bikes and I especially like this beige it’s got loads of mounts for bike packing a carbon seat post for added comfort it’s got Shimano’s new Q’s group set on there which basically a gravel friendly mountain bike setup and the gearing is great but it’s a little bit on the heavier side it’s only 10-speed and is the most expensive of the bunch at £1,449 now the next two I would really struggle to choose between them first up is the Vanzo Gravel AL which is a rubbish name but thankfully the bike is really really good we’ve got 12speed ShraMM we’ve got 50 mil tire clearance hydraulic brakes flared bars and again this comes in beige which I absolutely love and all of this for £1,300 is seriously impressive but it’s not all good the wheels aren’t amazing the gearing is not quite as good as the next bike I’m going to mention but I do like the flared bars the tires are good and being able to go into a Decathlon store to see it and to try it is a massive plus and finally we’ve got a bike from a manufacturer that I’ve not really mentioned on the channel before this is the Cube New Road EX and this bike is incredibly good value you’re getting Shimano’s topend GRX 12speed group set decent wheels and great tires and at this price point it’s actually really light at just over 10 kilos but it has one massive downside it only has tire clearance for up to 45 mil tires if it wasn’t for this one thing i think this bike would be the absolute slam dunk of the list that said all three of these bikes are great options and I think you’d be pretty happy with any of them and with a wheel upgrade in the future something like these Vel 30 mil carbon wheels or the FR Sport C5S you would have a seriously capable gravel bike that could go head-to-head with bikes even double their price