Six of the best 2021 – Gravel bikes | All terrain adventuring machines

Gravel bikes are all the rage right now. The market has become flooded with so many options that there is something for everyone. Here are six of the best that we have ridden and reviewed over the last 12 months or so.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments, no doubt we are wrong…

Find great gravel routes on komoot: https://www.komoot.com/collection/993693/uk-alternative-gravel-rides-sand-rock-slate-and-urban-riding

⚫️ Other videos that might interest you

🎦 6 of the best gravel bike upgrades

🎦 First ride! | Scott Addict Gravel 2022

🎦 An epic Scottish gravel ride with komoot & Scotty Laughland | Finding the UK’s best routes

⚫️ In this video

0:00 Introduction
0:55 CONDOR BIVIO GRAVEL THRU- AXLE FRAMESET
3:18 MERLIN MALT G2X GRX
4:57 GIANT REVOLTO
7:07 CANNONDALE TOPSTONE CARBON LEFTY 1
9:49 KINESIS TRIPSTER ATR V3 FRAMESET
12:14 RIBBLE CGR 725

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gravel bikes are the popular choice these days and we can see why these bikes suit the needs of many everyday cyclists far better than a road bike and features like a relaxed riding position stable handling wide tyres mud guard mounts in many cases and hydraulic disc brakes make a gravel bike an easy one to recommend to newer riders and those looking for one bike to rule them all here are six of the best gravel bikes that we’ve ridden and reviewed so you can sleep easy knowing that these really are among the best bikes on the market before we get to the gravely goodness we’d very much appreciate if you could subscribe to our channel if you like this video then give it a like and you can even hit that bell icon to get notified each time we post a new video but back to the bikes to form our selection of bikes for our six of the best series we always turn to the people that have actually ridden these bikes the road cc reviewers and the condor vivio is one that our reviewers said absolutely must be included boasting a beautifully made columbus steel frame with a stunning ride quality the condor vivio gravel is well suited to long adventures whatever the terrain the comfort levels are impressive while the endurance based geometry delivers a machine that is stable on loose surfaces but with just enough edginess that you can really have some fun a steel frame even a quality one like the bivios is never going to compete on the scales against the top of the range carbon frame but to be fair to the condor it totally defies its 10.3 kilogram weight thanks in part to the sensible ratios of the shimano grx group set but mostly because of the get up and go way it rides the vivier gravel is an absolute blast give the pedals a kick and the condor feels responsive and while you still get that lovely smooth feel of the steel tubing stiffness is very impressive the tube lengths give quite a racy position the 55 centimeter model that we’ve tested comes with a 555 millimeter effective top tube and a 135 millimeter head tube that’s quite a low front end on a bike of this type but it’s what we think makes the vivio fun yet reasonably predictable it’s not such an aggressive position that you aren’t relaxed when resting on the hoods for long stints in the saddle but when you do want to get a lick on you can stretch yourself out crouch down on the drops and really go for it it’s slacker front end long chain stays an associated wheelbase mean that while it is a placid machine on the tarmac on the gravel it behaves like a race bike does on the road if you get my drift the handling is precise without being twitchy if you hit some loose gravel at speed in the middle of a corner there’s so much feedback coming through that beautiful tube set and full carbon fork that even though the bike is sliding sideways you know exactly where the tires are heading and you can hold that slide until the grip comes back now we’ve reviewed the bivio as a frame set as condor’s website allows you to spec it to suit your riding ours came with a shimano grx 815 di2 2 by group set a mixture of doda zero and condor finishing kit plus a cell italia saddle condor’s own hand built wheels are shot with continental terra speed tyres that little lot would set you back 3 700 pounds which isn’t stupid money for a bike of this kind but there are cheaper builds available before you start worrying that our collection of gravel bites is going to be full of expensive options here we have one of the best value bikes on the market right now [Music] merlin’s maul g2x keeps a lot of what we loved about the first model the g2x has been given a few geometry tweaks that make it more accessible to a wider range of rider heights but on the whole the malt still has neutral and balanced handling which makes it ideal as a first graveler it’s also the perfect bike for those who enjoy spinning for hours off-road without having to focus too much on what’s going on underneath the tires you can just kick back and enjoy the scenery that makes it sound a little dull but in fact it is the opposite it’s fun to ride because it’s so controllable and easy to live with which also makes it pretty efficient on those longer rides that’s only helped by the comfortable position the new geometry allows the steering is still quick enough to deal with the trails though it’s not quite as sharp as the more race or into gravel bikes we’ve ridden but you can still chuck this thing about should you want to get a shift on this relaxed handling means the malt isn’t as lively as a road bike once on the tarmac in the dry anyway but it’s not trying to be a replacement so it’s not exactly a big deal on its standard 35 mil schwalbe g1 tyres it rolls well enough and it’s not a chore through your gravel link cut roads stick a set of wide slicks on though and it cruises at a decent pace and covers big miles in relative ease and comfort should you press it into the commuting duties it’s mild manners only help on the wet cold and greasy roads the shimano grx 600 group set is brilliant and while you do step down to grx400 brake calipers overall this is a very good bike in terms of value at 1199 from one bike that delivers on the value score to another the giant revolt zero offers very impressive performance on the road and in the woods with an easy agility that makes it fun to carve through the corners the fast rolling tyres aren’t for the committed off-roader and the alloy frame can be a little harsh despite its carbon fork but the revolt zero is a fine all-rounder and there’s nothing to hold you back on your commute or weekend road rides either how fast the bike is and how nicely it climbs despite the reasonable heft of 10 kilograms will surprise you it doesn’t feel sluggish at all and we’ve been fortunate to test some of the very expensive gravel bikes over the years but we’re still impressed with how well the revolt zero conducts itself geometry is loosely based on endurance road bikes but with slacker angles and a longer wheelbase for extra stability and for pure enjoyment and grim factor off-road the giant does not come up short at all where you can detect the difference between this and more expensive bikes is in the lack of suppleness on the road there’s a fair amount of feedback through the contact points on hard surfaces even with the tyres at low pressures it’s never overly intrusive but the revolt zero certainly can’t match the silky smoothness of a carbon or titanium gravel bike okay the comparison is maybe unfair but it’s worth bearing in mind the combination of the short stem and swept back contact xf defuse handlebar is great for riding off-road having the handlebar close makes cornering and generally controlling the bike much easier than if it’s stretched out ahead and while the overlies top section still provides good comfort for cruising along a short reach to the hoods and drops gives you total control one thing we love about giant’s bike is that the tubeless setup comes ready to go with sealant inside the bike shop that you buy from will do this for you meaning one less thing for you to do before you can actually go out and ride if you’re looking to embark on some of this gravel and adventure fun that’s sweeping the land at the moment but don’t want to spend a massive chunk of cash the revolt zero is seriously worth considering especially as it’s also so versatile and ideal for daily commuters looking to enjoy the benefits of big tyres disc brakes and relaxed geometry [Music] cannondale’s top stone carbon lefty one is a technological tour de force a sub 10 kilogram full suspension gravel bike with a monoblade lefty fork it’s also a hoop to ride and well suited to fast riding on a wide range of surfaces yes it’s expensive but nice things often are first things first do you need a full suspension gravel bike given that the rough stuff fellowship have been hiking doors super galaxy tourers and such like across inappropriate terrain since the 1950s it’s easy to argue you don’t need a gravel bike of any sort to have fun off-road and if you’re going anywhere you probably need suspension there’s a whole world of mountain bikes out there waiting for you so is the top stone a niche within a niche with limited appeal we’d argue not off-road surfaces are bumpy stop me if i’m getting too technical and that’s why the trending gravel biking has been towards larger chamber tyres 10 years ago you’d have been hard pressed to find anything bigger than a 740c nowadays 650b wheels and 50mm tyres to fit them are fairly commonplace go any bigger than that though and the tyres don’t work nearly as well on the tarmac adding a small amount of suspension gives a comfort gain on the rough without really sacrificing speed on the smooth provided you do it right and cannondale has done it right with the top stone carbon lefty at the back the suspension is a combination of the frame and the seat post there’s just a single pivot between the seat stays and the seat shoe cannondale claims the system offers up to 30 mil of rear wheel travel if the suspension at the back is as simple as it comes the opposite is true of the front the lefty oliver fork on this bike is specifically designed for gravel riding and again gets just 30 ml of travel the process of adjusting to a mono blade fork like the lefty oliver is similar to the process of adjusting to carrying bikes on a rear-mounted carrier on your car you spend the first few miles fretting that it’s all going to go horribly wrong and then you forget about it and enjoy the rest of the journey now the upshot of all this tech cannondale has crammed into the top stone is that it’s a great bike to pilot over less technical stuff and it’s not compromised on the road either even though the approaches to suspension at the front and rear are very different the bike feels very well balanced away from the suspension the geometry offers a good balance between speed and comfort for your six thousand six hundred pounds you’d probably be hoping for a fancy spec sheet and that’s what you’re getting sram’s force e-tab axis and 12-speed eagle axis components combine to give you a 40t chainring with a whopping 1052t cassette there’s also a rather cool looking cannondale hologram save system bar at the front end so you’ll have plenty of tech to geek out on with your riding buddies the kinesis tripster atr is a founding father of the new gravel adventure bike scene atr stands for adventure tour race this third iteration of the bike feels like it’s come of age in terms of its adventure capability while keeping the comfort road manners and reasonably lightweight it’s always had for covering distance at speed it’s an excellent frame set around which you can build any number of different bikes the tripstar atr v3 remains the same thing it’s always been a multi-surface multi-purpose drop bar bike made from cold drawn butted seamless titanium tubing like the v2 before it the new bike has 12 mil through axles now with a neat removable lever and flat mount discs this new v3 bike is built from an entirely new tube set but the ride is familiar and remains everything you could want from a bike that by its nature can be built up to do very different types of riding the tripster atr v3 is simply a lovely thing to ride it has the sort of unhurried calm that translates into distance at a reasonable speed we mostly rode the tripster on 36mm challenge strada bianca tlr tires which are big enough to cope with proper gravel roads which we’re lucky enough to have a bit of round here while not giving too much away on the flat set up like that with a shimano grx di2 group set and a flared bar the tripster feels like a bike that’s at home on the road but comfortable well beyond it too the v3 features some small changes the bottom bracket shell has been redesigned it’s still an external threaded design which is always welcome but the internal diameter has been increased so you can run di2 cables internally even if you’re using cranks with a 30 mil axle the stays have all been reworked both to increase compliance and to add a bit more heel clearance the seat tube weld area has been enlarged to beef up that section of the frame kinesis expects more of the v3 atr bikes to be carrying loads on the frame in terms of clearance the v3 bike will take a 45 mil tyre but it’s also happy running on 650b wheels where anything up to a 50mm tyre will fit our test build came with a grx gi2 group set which we really love reynolds ar 41x carbon wheels and challenge strada bianca 36 mil tubeless open tubular tires a lovely build for a lovely looking frame set we’ll round out our six of the best with the bike that took off-road cc gravel bike of the year for 2020 [Music] the ripple cgr725 is a superb doodle drop bar machine that offers a traditional looking frame with modern detail plus comfort versatility and great value the combination of steel frame and plump but fast rolling 47 mil tyres delivers a comfortable ride on dirt while still being plenty quick enough on the road with sorted handling that’s a happy medium between stability and steering agility it’s quite possibly all the drop bar bike you need for gravel road or commuting the cgr 725 is ripple’s steel framed option in the versatile ctr lineup with all bikes getting very similar geometry but offering you a choice the low weight of carbon the affordability of aluminium or the more premium pleasures of titanium while the skinny reynolds 725 tubing means you get some traditional good looks the downside is a little extra heft in the frame a claimed 600 grams or so over the aluminium cgr we’ve tested previously it’s nice and modern elsewhere though with a full carbon fork and neat tapered hem tube with internal bearings plus 12 mil through axles at either end there’s a full complement of rack mud guards and bottle mounts including a bento box mount on the top tube so you’re well catered for cgr stands for cross gravel and road and the geometry is a blend of selected carts from each discipline we’re the fairly tall head tube for good off-road position low bottom bracket for cross stability and figures that split the difference with a road bike elsewhere while jack of all trades a master of none is sometimes a negative comment it’s probably the cgr’s main strength unless you’re lucky enough to have a wallet deep enough and garage large enough to house every subset of riding niche from pure road to pure gravel having one bike that’s equally happy taking care of the daily commute plus weekend gravel or road riding adventures is a strong plus part of the beauty of this bike is that rivel allows you to tweak pretty much every element of the build once you’ve chosen your base group set trams apex 1 by 11 speed group in this case it starts out as a fairly gravel focused build with 650b mavic axiom wheels and chunky 47mm tyres as standard but we made a few alterations to the stock setup for extra travelling ability the result is a proper do anything go anywhere drop by machine that’s as happy racking up some big road miles as it is heading off fully laden for a bike packing adventure we found the riding position on our test bikes we spot on while the 140 mil long head tube on our small sized frame meant a nice halfway house between fully upright touring feel and bite the stem race position the real ace card is that all this is backed up by extremely impressive value there’s a solid kit list for the base build that’s only improved further by the ability to fine-tune the spec to make it more suited to your exact needs if we had to reduce ourselves down to owning just a couple of bikes the cgr 725 would be a very strong contender for the one of those that had drop bars well those are six of the best gravel bikes agree with us then remember to like and subscribe for more don’t agree with us the comment section is just below tell us what bikes you have in your top six