Gravel Bikes Have Changed — Here’s What You Need to Know (2026)

Whether you're bikepacking or racing, when it comes to gravel I'd always go for a bike offering as much tyre clearance as possible. IMHO, there's no downside to to having more clearance, you don't have to fit wide tyres, but can if you decide you want to at a later date.

If you need a flat bar and large knobby tires…..that's called a mountain bike.

I’m so stuck with this

I’m starting to ride gravel and road in between

I’m really stuck between

Canyon grizl cf7
Or
Pinarello grevil f7

Both great bikes

I already have a road bike I use for racing and fun

So wanted something for gravel and off road but so stuck

Gravel is never going to catch on.

Gravel bikes are so stupid tbh.

Which bike is the one you just bought, the green one?

So, if you do anything other than competitive racing, you want the most durable biggest possible tire clearance 3x drivetrain bike… External cable routing, steel or aluminum frame, fat bike frame geometry. Probably a primos, surley, salsa, or Ozark trail. Or a good old 90's MTB if you aren't going far. You know, normal bikes for normal people.

I'll use to buy
CUBE NUROAD C:62 RACE NEBULA´N´BLUE 2026

Help! How do I choose a bike when the bike shops do not allow you to ride them, except around the shop floor or their tiny car parks? Before I spend $ and lock in a bike, I would like to know whether carbon wheels are going to be worth the price. I am coming from a low base – for 26 years I ride to work daily on a cheap city commuter – and now want to cycle rural gravel roads weekly.

Dave, what's the brand of gilet vests with pockets you're wearing in this video? Particularly at 0:45 seconds, the green one.

I will repeat what I wrote on another video bike brands killed XC mtb the day they decided to cut cost and make them 1x so don't make the same mistake and buy a x1 gravel, x1 might work for pros because their team will change the chainring according to the race, the reality is unless you live on flat lands you need 2 rings 1 for steep climb 1 for max speed, only 2x can give you both, major brands like Fox predict that XC is dead as they see their xc suspension sales plummet, all those riders go gravel (or ebike but that's another topic) do not go 1x unless you can afford and have the space for several bikes, there's a reason why with my 2016 3×11 xc mtb I ride alongside gravel and road cyclists but never see one mtber I have a 22-30-40T you know of fast I can go with my 30T ? 25kph you don't want that on a gravel, I see some 1x gravel have 42T you'll go fast but you'll never climb what I can with ease on my 22T, you really need 2x I'm not a road cyclist but I do 72 miles and climb cat 4-1 road climbs all the time so I know well what you need to "gravel" it's what I do just with a full suspension bike (that can be totally locked, another mistake that killed XC they removed the lockout and only offer firm shocks now) oh yeah don't buy a gravel with less than 50mm clearance you want the choice, you can still ride road race tires with enough clearance but you can't ride larger tires than recommended as they will rub your frame and if you have a carbon frame that's really bad

I primarily road ride anywhere from 25-60 miles. It would be nice to be able to take the occasional detour onto a gravel road without worrying about flatting. So thoughts on make/model/gearing and tires?

I was looking for a drop bar bike, it had to be usable all year round, i didn't want 2x like my giant fast road. Never used a drop bar gear change, fitting mudguards as well, really liked a cube ???? But didn't have my size, eventually bought a Lapierre cross hill 3, mudguards, never ridden it off road, lovely low gearing for uphills, but slightly too low for down hills, but it's worked in the worst the British sea side winter can throw at you.

Flat bars and suspension and knobby tires. is that a gravel bike?

That’s similar to my Trek 6500 hard tail MTB with 1.75 inch about 40mm tires.